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Monday, December 24, 2007
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Two versions of the elephant parable, going back 2000 years.
The original is a sort of poem.
The point being is that,as far as the elephant is concerned,
all of them were, in part, right. All of them, of course, wrong.
collectively, correct.
So here is the classic:John Godfrey Saxe's( 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend, 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 observationMight satisfy his mind.The First approach'd the Elephant,And happening to fallAgainst his broad and sturdy side,At once began to bawl:"God bless me! but the ElephantIs very like a wall!"The Second, feeling of the tusk,Cried, -"Ho! what have we hereSo very round and smooth and sharp?To me 'tis mighty clear,This wonder of an ElephantIs very like a spear!"The Third approach'd the animal,And happening to takeThe squirming trunk within his hands,Thus boldly up and spake:"I see," -quoth he- "the ElephantIs very like a snake!"The Fourth reached out an eager hand,And felt about the knee:"What most this wondrous beast is likeIs mighty plain," -quoth he,-"'Tis clear enough the ElephantIs very like a tree!"The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,Said- "E'en the blindest manCan tell what this resembles most;Deny the fact who can,This marvel of an ElephantIs very like a fan!"The Sixth no sooner had begunAbout the beast to grope,Then, seizing on the swinging tailThat fell within his scope,"I see," -quoth he,- "the ElephantIs very like a rope!"And so these men of IndostanDisputed loud and long,Each in his own opinionExceeding stiff and strong,Though each was partly in the right,And all were in the wrong!MORAL,So, oft in theologic warsThe disputants, I ween,Rail on in utter ignoranceOf what each other mean;And prate about an ElephantNot one of them has seen! The story is much older than Saxe .The original parable originated in China sometime during the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) and goes as follows:
"Three Blind Men and an Elephant"One day, three blind men happened to meet each other and gossiped a long time about many things. Suddenly one of them recalled, " I heard that an elephant is a queer animal. Too bad we're blind and can't see it.""Ah, yes, truly too bad we don't have the good fortune to see the strange animal," another one sighed.The third one, quite annoyed, joined in and said,
"See? Forget it! Just to feel it would be great.""Well, that's true. If only there were some way of touching the elephant, we'd be able to know," they all agreed.It so happened that a merchant with a herd of elephants was passing, and overheard their conversation. "You fellows, do you really want to feel an elephant? Then follow me; I will show you," he said.The three men were surprised and happy. Taking one another's hand, they quickly formed a line and followed while the merchant led the way. Each one began to contemplate how he would feel the animal, and tried to figure how he would form an image.After reaching their destination, the merchant asked them to sit on the ground to wait. In a few minutes he led the first blind man to feel the elephant. With outstretched hand, he touched first the left foreleg and then the right. After that he felt the two legs from the top to the bottom, and with a beaming face, turned to say, "So, the queer animal is just like that." Then he slowly returned to the group.Thereupon the second blind man was led to the rear of the elephant. He touched the tail which wagged a few times, and he exclaimed with satisfaction, "Ha! Truly a queer animal! Truly odd! I know now. I know." He hurriedly stepped aside.The third blind man's turn came, and he touched the elephant's trunk which moved back and forth turning and twisting and he thought, "That's it! I've learned."The three blind men thanked the merchant and went their way. Each one was secretly excited over the experience and had a lot to say, yet all walked rapidly without saying a word."Let's sit down and have a discussion about this queer animal," the second blind man said, breaking the silence."A very good idea. Very good." the other two agreed for they also had this in mind.Without waiting for anyone to be properly seated, the second one blurted out, "This queer animal is like our straw fans swinging back and forth to give us a breeze. However, it's not so big or well made. The main portion is rather wispy.""No, no!" the first blind man shouted in disagreement. "This queer animal resembles two big trees without any branches.""You're both wrong." the third man replied. "This queer animal is similar to a snake; it's long and round, and very strong."How they argued! Each one insisted that he alone was correct. Of course, there was no conclusion for not one had thoroughly examined the whole elephant. How can anyone describe the whole until he has learned the total of the parts.From:Kuo, Louise and Kuo, Yuan-Hsi (1976), "Chinese Folk Tales," Celestial Arts: 231 Adrian Road, Millbrae, CA 94030, pp. 83-85.These authors note:
"Although this folktale is classified as being of Chinese derivation. India has a similar one, and so does Africa.
However, the philosophical note is typically Chinese even though the basic thought is universal; When a person is opinionated or blind to his limitations because of insufficient knowledge or smug mentality, he is as blind as if he had no eyesight."
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Sherill says:
So there you have it. Like these blind men,
we all have our own tunnel-vision view.
We'd better try and feel the whole elephant for a change,
instead of just the different parts of it.
Happy days with love and peace, for everyone.
Oh... and if you haven't seen the movie "Pay it Forward" yet,
I'll reccommend you to watch it, especially during XMAS.
Let's be there for one another, and "pay it forward".
If there's ONE thing there is lack of in our world
it's feeling compassion and being generous to others.
And isn't that what life is supposed to be?
(my humble and simple opinion).
It's all about gimme, gimme, gimme.
And if people get what they want,
they get so stingy and just don't pass it on, even if it's just a little.
If we don't give to others, and keep accummulating we will end up with this big HOLE in our hearts, and we'll be surrounded by looooots of stuff (read: SHIT), that won't bring us joy, but will burden us to death.
Wishes for love, peace, happiness and understanding...
Keep giving, keep giving, keep giving, keep giving, keep giving...
1:27 AM
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