blind_men_and_an_elephant
One day five blind men, who knew nothing about elephants, went to examine one to find out what kind of a thing it was. Reaching out randomly, each began touching & feeling it in a different spot. One man reached out and felt the vastness of its side, while another grabbed onto its ear. The third blind man stretched his arms around a leg, while another was feeling along the cool smoothness of a tusk. The fifth blind man became fascinated and entwined in the trunk.
When blind men were all satisfied that they now knew the true nature of the beast, they all sat back down to discuss it.
“We now know that the elephant is like a wall,” said the first blind man. “The evidence for it is conclusive.”
Then ear toucher corrected him saying, “I believe you are mistaken, sir, the elephant is more like a large fan.”
“You are both wrong,” said the third blind man who felt a leg, “the creature is obviously like a tree.”
“A tree?”, questioned the tusk feeler. “How can you mistaken a spear for a tree ?”
“What?” exclaimed the fifth blind man who had felt the trunk. “A spear maybe long and round, but everyone knows it can’t move by itself. Couldn’t you feel the sinuous muscles of this creature ? It’s definitely a type of snake! Even a blind man could see that!”.
The argument grew more & more heated, until it erupted into a violent scuffle. The five blind men were punching off into the air as much as they were hitting into one another. All the while they were still arguing their particular points of view.
I really like the story of the five blind men and the elephant. I like what it says about the nature of truth… what it says about the enormity, the complexity of the reality we experience… moment by moment. I like what the story says about the nature of people – of men particularly.
How is it that people become so convinced about their own point of view ? How can they become so blind & stuck and hold onto their partially formed ideas to the exclusion of all others ?
I like what the 13th century Persian poet Rumi says about this story. He says, “The sensual eye is just like the palm of a hand. The palm does not have the means of covering the whole beast.”
I have been a Christian for twenty-plus years now and I have a similar sense about being a follower of Jesus. I agree with the Apostle Paul, living in the presence of an unseen God is like seeing through the glass dimly.
