In the Spirit of Community - The Blind Men and the Elephant
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In the Spirit of Community - The Blind Men and the Elephant
Many of you will know this story 
I like the Jainist version of this story because noone's wrong...but I can probably learn more from my neighbours perception of the 'Elephant'....
Wishing everyone a happy safe sober and clean holiday season
D
ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, "Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don’t get in arguments. In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking. This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.
ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, "Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don’t get in arguments. In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking. This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.
ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN
Wishing everyone a happy safe sober and clean holiday season
D
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 6,902
Thank you Dee. I'd never heard that either. I'll note it down in my recovery diary later, because I reckon it'll help me lots of times in the future to reach that elusive Acceptance which always seems so key to my own recovery.
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Awesome, thanks Dee for sharing this! Exactly how I tend to see different views and experiences about a topic, recovery and other areas. Sometimes I am being told that it's indecision or commitment phobia but I guess that's one way of looking at it...
Happy Holidays to you!
Happy Holidays to you!
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Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 919
A good story.
I have found that the only way, the ONLY way, to convince someone of something new or controversial is to show them that it coheres with their already existing beliefs in some way.
People think they are open minded but none of us really are. We all want to be right. And we usually absorb new beliefs only if we can accept their relationship to our current beliefs. There is a lot of psychological and philosophical literature on the matter (the latter being my specialty).
I have found that the only way, the ONLY way, to convince someone of something new or controversial is to show them that it coheres with their already existing beliefs in some way.
People think they are open minded but none of us really are. We all want to be right. And we usually absorb new beliefs only if we can accept their relationship to our current beliefs. There is a lot of psychological and philosophical literature on the matter (the latter being my specialty).
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: NSW - Australia
Posts: 14,524
There's a elephant in the room. This one .
If I could only post videos I'd send you all "I really Like Christmas, white wine in the sun", by Tim Minchin, an Australian guy.
Look him up the Christmas one if you have time, it is really great. Makes ya cry.
. If I could only post videos I'd send you all "I really Like Christmas, white wine in the sun", by Tim Minchin, an Australian guy.
Look him up the Christmas one if you have time, it is really great. Makes ya cry.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
I was once working with an older autistic child. I asked him to draw a picture for me. He drew a small enclosed space, something similar to a place where a pet hamster might live. There was a place to sit, a bed, a TV,, a video-game console, and some food and something to drink. There was no obvious way to get in or out. When I asked about the picture, he told me "That's where I live."
I brought the picture to a colleague and observed that it seemed that the child might feel trapped and with no means of escape. My colleague said "Maybe, but what I see is that he lives in a place where he has everything he needs."
I brought the picture to a colleague and observed that it seemed that the child might feel trapped and with no means of escape. My colleague said "Maybe, but what I see is that he lives in a place where he has everything he needs."
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Just bumping this.
I think the great thing about this forum is that we very rarely forget we're all on the same team - our paths may be a little different, we may disagree from time to time, but we all want to get to the same place.
In a spirit of unity
D
I think the great thing about this forum is that we very rarely forget we're all on the same team - our paths may be a little different, we may disagree from time to time, but we all want to get to the same place.
In a spirit of unity
D
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,755
I remember the poem from when I was a kid.
The Blind Man And The Elephant - Poem by John Godfrey Saxe
It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.
The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
'God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!'
The second feeling of the tusk, cried: 'Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!'
The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, 'I see,' quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!'
The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
'What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain,' quoth he;
'Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree.'
The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; 'E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!'
The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
'I see,' quothe he, 'the elephant is very like a rope!'
And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!
John Godfrey Saxe
The Blind Man And The Elephant - Poem by John Godfrey Saxe
It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.
The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
'God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!'
The second feeling of the tusk, cried: 'Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!'
The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, 'I see,' quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!'
The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
'What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain,' quoth he;
'Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree.'
The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; 'E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!'
The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
'I see,' quothe he, 'the elephant is very like a rope!'
And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!
John Godfrey Saxe
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