Sages appear no different from ordinary people, yet indeed they are. This may create problems. Since the time of Buddha people have found faults in the actions of saints and sages by relying on their own, narrow-minded world view. Sages and sound practitioners are open-minded and have no concern for conventions others may prize highly. An elephant treads a wide path.
Prejudiced people are like rabbits that scamper along narrow paths and hide in burrows.
The rabbit thinks the elephant is clumsy because it cannot walk down the narrow track and fit inside its burrow. A person who has never left a windowless room has no idea what the sky looks like. If he bores a small hole in the wall and peers through a hollow reed to examine the sky he will conclude that the sky is a little round patch of blue. If you tell him about the sun and moon, the galaxies, clouds, rainbows and stars he will think you crazy. Yet, although a teacher may sometimes be eccentric or outlandish, he should not feel he is free to do anything he wants.