UNJournal Jon Lee | There is a saying that as the autumn night deepens, it is good to be close to a book under a lamp.

This is the concept of 'Deunghwa Gachin' (燈火可親), which meansm "Fraternity grows near candle light.
To the people of age, a lamp was not merely a light to dispel darkness. It was a light of hope that illuminated the path of learning, allowed for self-reflection, and enabled preparation for the future.
What is a lamp to us today?

For a student preparing for an exam, it could be a single book spread out late into the night; for parents, it could be the heart that patiently waits for their children.

For an office worker, it is the sincerity of fulfilling daily responsibilities; and for someone rising again amidst difficulties, it is the small hope of not giving up.

Students preparing for exams, trust in today’s page. For a student facing an exam, each day is long and heavy.
There are times when grades do not improve as expected, and times when one’s resolve wavers as they compare themselves to friends.

However, studying is not something that is accomplished overnight. It is the accumulation of small acts of dedication—reading a page, solving a problem, and reviewing the ones you got wrong—that eventually becomes skill. Just because there are no visible results right now does not mean today's effort disappears.
Those who read one more line, even when they think it is too late, are the ones who ultimately pave their own path. What exam candidates need is consistency rather than perfection. Taking just one step forward from yesterday is enough. Exams are important gateways in life, but they are not the final door that determines one's entire life.

Therefore, you must not lose your focus today due to fear of the outcome. A lamp does not illuminate a distant place all at once. It merely lights the one step ahead that you must take right now.

Studying and life are the same. Family is an unextinguishable lamp for one another.

The teaching of "The lamplight is dear to one another" is not necessary only for exam candidates. Our society is overflowing with words of comparison and urging rather than words of encouragement. Parents' hearts become particularly anxious when their children are facing important exams.

However, sometimes, rather than the question, "What score did you get?" A simple phrase like, “You worked hard today,” holds greater strength. Family should be a lamp that illuminates each other’s hearts from the closest proximity. If a home is one where parents wait for their children when they waver, where children offer a warm word when parents are weary, and where a couple acknowledges each other’s efforts, then a bright lamp is already lit there.

People do not live solely by their own strength. The mere fact that someone believes in you brings you back to your desk, allows you to return to work, and helps those who have fallen rise again.

In Buddhism, the true lamp refers to the teachings of the Buddha, who instructed us to live by using ourselves and the Dharma as our lamps, rather than seeking answers only from the outside. There is inherently a lamp within our hearts as well. It is simply that its light becomes invisible when greed, comparison, anxiety, and worry intensify. If you calm your mind and silently perform the duties you must do, that lamp will shine brightly once again.

Practice is no different from study. Small actions—thinking a positive thought once a day, enduring one more moment, and offering a warm word to one person—accumulate to build a person's character. Great success, too, begins with small, steady efforts.

Today's Korea needs the spirit of "Lanterns and Kindness." Rather than demanding quick results, we must encourage those who work diligently; give those who have fallen slightly behind in the competition a chance to start over; and respect those who faithfully hold their ground rather than only looking to the successful.

The true light of our society is not eloquent words. The heart of a teacher waiting for a student in the classroom, the heart of a parent waiting for their child to return home late at night, the sweat of a young person doing their best in their place, and the warmth of a person quietly extending a hand to neighbors in need—these are the lamps that illuminate the world.
A single person's small light may seem weak, but when those lights gather, they can illuminate the darkness of the world.

A word from the Master of Teachings:
“A lamp does not blame the darkness; it lights itself.”
Students taking exams, do not despair if they do not see the results today.
A single page read today becomes the wisdom of tomorrow,
And a single drop of sweat shed today becomes the power to open the door to the future.
Parents, please also become a lamp for your children. Believe in others rather than rush them, and encourage them rather than compare them.
And let us all become a small lamp to one another.

The light of a lamp is close.
Keeping a lamp close does not merely mean keeping books close.
It means keeping learning close, keeping hope close, and keeping good people and good hearts close.
I pray that the small lamp lit tonight will illuminate the dreams of the students taking their exam,
light the hearts of a family, and ultimately brightly illuminate the future of our society.