Passing the light

I recall that during buddhist camps, there would always be an event called passing the light. Participants were given candles and arranged in a circle. A person would have his candle lighted, and he would pass the flame to the next person, who will in turn pass it to his neighbour. It signifies that the light of wisdom being passed to all the participants.

During the previous NTUBS FOC, I noticed that the candle used was lotus shaped, and it was not always easy to light other's candle with it. If your candle's flame is weak, it will be difficult to pass on the flame. The shorter your neighbour's wick, the bigger your flame has to be to light it.

In the same way, unless one is well versed in the dharma, it would be very difficult to convince others to learn from it. The weaker a person's aptitude for receiving the dharma, the better practioner of the dharma you have to be to teach him.

I had a few Buddhism vs Christianity discussions with fellow students in Canada, and many of their questions left me stumped. I was simply unconvincing in my explanations of the dharma. My flame was simply not strong enough for others to recieve it. To me, practising the dharma is not good enough; I have to be able to pass it on.

I shall have to work on that.