The Elephant In The Dark Parable

Many many years ago, I was told a story about people who had never seen or heard of an elephant before.  From what I could recall, when they finally came in contact with one, they were blind-folded and based on what part of the elephant they were touching, they each developed their own strong belief about what an elephant was.

I couldn't remember where I heard the story or what all the particulars were . . . what I DO know is that it has been popping into my head a lot lately so I tried looking for the story and I found that it was based on a book called "The Elephant In The Dark" written by Idries Shah (and like any good game of "telephone" I had some of the details wrong . . . i.e. the men were blind, not blind-folded) but the basic premise of the story was accurate.  Here is a summary written about the book:

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. 

In the case of the first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said "This being is like a thick snake". 
For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. 
As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. 
The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". 
Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. 
The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

The blind men discover their disagreements, assume others are lying, come to blows. 


I can see why this story keeps coming into my mind, as it seems to be a good depiction of what is playing out in our world right now. I see people passionately holding on to certain beliefs based on what they believe to be true (what part of the elephant they are touching) . . . and I see people coming to blows over what other people are saying because based on what THEY believe, certainly the other people must be lying (or they are conspiracy theorists or idiots).  :-)

What we aren't considering is that maybe it's ALL true. Maybe because we are only looking at one piece of the pie (or elephant) and because we aren't seeing the big picture (the whole elephant), we aren't able to see that each of us is holding a piece of the truth.

Maybe what we see feels like the truth because it is based on what we have learned, what we have experienced, what we have been exposed to.  Maybe it's not that we're "blind" but because we're wearing different glasses, with different prescriptions (or filters), we are seeing something different.

So here is something to consider . . . What if we are ALL correct? What if all of us are touching the elephant but the elephant is so big that we can only understand the part of the elephant that is right in front of us?

How much unity might we be able to create if we considered that we are "right" and so are the other people whose views we are fighting against? Sit with that a moment . . .