posted February 19, 2008 09:38 PM              

Once there were six blind men, and one day they heard that the local prince had acquired a new elephant. The blind men had heard of elephants, but they had never met one. So they decided to go to the palace of the prince and find out what an elephant was. When they reached the palace, the guard let the six men in. The first man touched the elephant's side, the second touched the trunk, the third felt the tusk, the fourth man the leg, the fifth the ear, and the sixth the tail. They then rested under a tree and began to talk about their experiences.

"Now I know the elephant is like a wall", said the first man, who had touched the trunk.
"Oh no! It is like a snake", replied the second man, who had touched the trunk.
"You both must be stupid", objected the third, who had touched the tusks. "The elephant is like a spear".
"Have you gone mad? The elephant is like a tree", cried the fourth man, who had touched the leg.
"You are all wrong. The elephant is like a fan", said the fifth man, who had touched the ears.
"No, no, it is like a rope", yelled the sixth man, who had felt the tail.

A huge row ensued. They were about to come to blows when the prince came to ride the elephant. He asked, "Why are you all so agitated?"

"We cannot agree on what an elephant is like", said one of the blind men. "We all touched the same animal, but to each of us the animal was completely different".

The prince laughed. "The elephant is a large animal; its side is like a wall, trunk like a snake, with tusks like spears, legs like tree trunks, ears like fans and a tail like a rope. You have to put all those aspects together, then it is the whole elephant".

This story reveals that all knowledge is impartial. Realising this, we can be free of fixed ideas and opinions. Free of fundamentalism. We can accept plurality of beliefs and yet be free of beliefs.

Rise to the complete and holistic view. Look at the world and see it whole with all the wealth of its attributes.