Guan Yin lot 10 of 100
The lamp looking for fire
Even (中平). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
櫝藏無價寶和珍
只管他鄉外處尋
好似將燈來覔火
不如安靜莫勞心
A priceless treasure lies in your own box,
Yet you keep on searching in far-off places.
It is like holding a lamp and looking for fire.
Better to be still and spare your heart the strain.
What this lot says
A treasure sits in your own box while you hunt for it in faraway places. The verse compares this to carrying a lamp around to look for fire.
It advises you to stop and look at what you have. The strain of the search may be hiding the answer.
If you are chasing another degree, a new city or a different partner to find what you feel is missing, take stock first. List the skills, people and work already in your life. You may find that the next step starts from there, and that the hunting can rest for a while.
A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
The story behind it
Pang Juan observes the battle lines (龐涓觀陣)
Pang Juan was a general of Wei in the Warring States period who, as the story is traditionally told, grew jealous of his fellow student Sun Bin and had him maimed, then died after being ambushed by him at Maling. He spent his strength on a rival, which sits close to this lot's warning about searching in the wrong place.
Source: Wikipedia, Pang Juan (a traditional account, thinly sourced)
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author. No single original edition is known and wording differs between temples, so we compare named witnesses and record where they differ.
Míguāng (覓光) (the text shown above)
櫝藏無價寶和珍 / 只管他鄉外處尋 / 好似將燈來覔火 / 不如安靜莫勞心
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
櫝藏無價寶和珍 / 只管他鄉外處尋 / 好似將燈來覔火 / 不如安靜莫勞心
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
石藏無價玉和珍 / 隻管他鄉外客尋 / 宛如持燈更覓火 / 不如收拾枉勞心
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 1 reads 石藏無價玉和珍 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 2 reads 隻管他鄉外客尋 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 3 reads 宛如持燈更覓火 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 不如收拾枉勞心 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.