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<\/a><\/div>\nTwo days ago I drove up to Watertown, picked Jan up at Perkins and we swung by the opticians<\/a> we\u2019ve used for the past six, seven, eight years. After nearly three years the film on my glasses that darkens them when I\u2019m out in the sun has begun to fray. Also, these are rimless glasses, and as I\u2019m particularly hard on such things, no doubt not my best purchase over the years.<\/p>\n Sadly my last eye exam showed no significant deterioration, so I didn\u2019t want to spring for the big bucks that come with replacing glasses. Fortunately our opticians have been faithfully fixing \u2019em up and replacing parts without so much as a peep. Part of why we continue to go to them even now that its rather inconvenient.<\/p>\n However, finally, the moment of truth had arrived. It was time for new specs. While tightening them up our optician saw a crack and told us the decision came not a moment too soon. In fact I need to be very careful until I get the new glasses\u2026<\/p>\n So, in a couple of weeks I\u2019ll be sporting new glasses. I\u2019ll show off the new photo promptly\u2026<\/p>\n And all this sparked some thoughts.<\/p>\n First. <\/p>\n Seeing is such a good thing.<\/p>\n Of my senses, it is right there at the top of my favorite list.<\/p>\n And living with the research librarian at Perkins School for the Blind<\/a>, I\u2019m particularly sensitive to what it means to have vision impaired or even lost\u2026 <\/p>\n It also sensitizes me to the use of the word blind as a metaphor. \u201cNone so blind as those who will not see\u201d and \u201cthe blind leading the blind\u201d immediately come to mind as negative images. As does the more complex \u201clove is blind.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Zen.<\/p>\n As most know Indian Mahayana Buddhism<\/a> came to China, met Taoism, they shacked up and their love child was Zen.<\/p>\n Among the things we inherit from that Taoist side of the family is an embracing of what the dominant society generally rejects as our preferred metaphors for the best. Water, women, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n And blindness.<\/p>\n In the Blue Cliff Record, case 76, we get a real hit of what that looks like (as it were)\u2026<\/p>\n Tanxia asked a monk, \u201cSo, where are you from?\u201d The monk replies, \u201cFrom the foot of the mountain.\u201d Tanxia then asked \u201cHave you eaten your rice?\u201d The monk replies, \u201cYes.\u201d Tanxia then leans in and asks, \u201cWhat sort of person brings you rice to eat? Has she open eyes?\u201d The monk is silent.<\/i><\/p>\n Later, Chanqing observed to Baofu, \u201cSurely it is one\u2019s responsibility to repay the Buddhas and Ancestors by giving people nourishment. How is it that the one who served had no eyes?\u201d Baofu said, \u201cThe server and the receiver are both blind.\u201d Changqing asked, \u201cIs the one who makes the most generous effort blind or not?\u201d Baofu responded, \u201cAre you calling me blind?\u201d<\/i> Now the first part, the dialog between the master Tanxia and the monk is pretty straight ahead Zenspeak. The teacher throws out bait, the student misses it. Not daunted the teacher gives another try, and introduces the question of eyes. Silence is a great answer, that is when it isn\u2019t cluelessness. I\u2019ll leave it to you to decide which is the monk\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n Then we come to the truly juicy conversation between Changqing and Baofu. Changqing Huileng and Baofu Congzhan were both disciples of the great late Ninth century master Xuefeng Yicun. Their conversations prove helpful to all of us.<\/p>\n Particularly considering the matter of blindness.<\/p>\n Now, in our times it is important to recall, always, the background of physical blindness. But, it is also important to engage this metaphor, one of the primary metaphors of human thinking, not far after standing, sitting, walking, eating, loving, and possibly taking precedence over social images such as mother and father\u2026<\/p>\n
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