Deeper Studies
The Six Blind Men and the Elephant
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Greetings, my friends; be at peace. Settle in by the fire--it's a pleasant night tonight where I am, but it might get chilly in your part of the world. Come sit--be welcome, and be at peace.
Tonight, I've come to tell you the tale of the Six Blind Men and the Elephant. This is a very simple story, and it won't take long to tell, but it's the foundation for many of the others. We shouldn't be here but just a few minutes, and for those of you who have heard it before...no snide comments, please.
I first heard this story from a follower of Muhammad (peace be upon him), but have since heard version from Christians, Hebrews, Hindus, Neo-Pagans--it seems that this story is popular...which is odd, for it also seems that while everyone tells the tale, few learn from it.
It seems that there were six blind men, leading each other thru the streets. And of course, as often happens in situations like this, they were in a terrible pickle. They kept bumping into walls, falling into ditches, and tripping over cats and small children--and of course, each time they tripped, they each blamed their fellows for their misfortune. "Achmed! You have led me into a wall, and I have hurt my nose!" "Ow! Mustafah! You have led me into a ditch, and I have scraped my knee!" All in all, they were truly a pitiable sight, but this is how they made their way in the world, begging alms and cursing each other roundly.
Until one day they heard of a great wonder that was come to town: a great scholar of the law, the Mufti Shabaz, had come with a marvel that none in that no one in that town had ever seen--he had brought an elephant. Well, of course you know what came next. These six blind men heard everyone going on and on about seeing the elephant, so they decided that they, too, would go and find out what the elephant was like. So cursing and complaining to each other, the six blind men laboriously stumbled to the coffeehouse where the Mufti Shabaz was taking his meal, and following the noise of the crowd, they soon came to the elephant.
One felt the elephant's leg, and said, "Wallah! See, this elephant is much like a tree, for it goes down to the ground, and up to the heavens, and it is covered with smooth, wrinkled bark! I know what it looks like, now!"
Another felt the elephant's tail, and said, "Lo! It is much like a small snake, for it is thin, and I can easily hold it in one hand! I know what it looks like, now!"
At the other end of the animal, one of the blind men felt the trunk, and loudly cried, "Nay! Not so! It is like a snake indeed, but such a large and powerful one as I cannot describe! It is so strong that, for a moment, it lifted me into the air!"
One was under the elephant's belly, and feeling with his hands, said "My brothers, I am blind, but I am wiser than all of you! This elephant is not like a snake nor a tree, but like a barrel suspended off the ground!"
And another bumped nose-first into the side of the elephant, and feeling with his hands, said 'No, you fool, not snake nor tree nor barrel at all, but very much like a wall--indeed, like the wall that Achmed led me into this morning, the insolent fool!'
Another happened to grab the very end of the tusk, and said "You are all wrong, you blind fools! The elephant is very like a great spear!"
Each one of them described which part of the elephant he felt, and was convinced that this was the totality of the elephant. They soon fell to arguing, and came to blows, while the elephant just walked away from them.
They were all wrong .... and they were all blind.
Hmph, how do you like that. I just get into my stride and the story up and ends on me. Just quits like that, it does.
But it does illustrate several points. We have finite human minds: the Universe, while still finite, is a heck of a lot larger and more complex than the human mind can fully comprehend. And most religions that I'm aware of state that the Divine is "infinite"--try understanding infinity as anything but an abstract concept, and don't be surprised if you sprain your brain!
While we cannot comprehend a finite (but really big) universe, and cannot even approach comprehension of an infinite Deity, we can understand a limited amount of either. We can learn about the stars and galaxies that fill the universe, or we can explore our concepts of belief and study our faith. Either path increases one's understanding.
The problem comes in when you try to definitively state that your understanding is superior to anyone else's. Let's look at things logically: if we are prevented, because of our finite nature, from understanding an infinite God, then instead of any one religion being "right," it is entirely probably that all religions are equally "wrong!" Indeed, the most accurate religion in the world--the one that spoke most accurately of the nature of the Gods--would have to show only the very palest shadow of Truth. When faced with the Infinite, logic, reason, and human understanding are feeble reeds, indeed.
But then someone could come along and say "But we know what the elephant looks like--for lo, the Elephant has told us in His book." Well, perhaps, that is so, but how am I to believe your Elephant Book over that one over there, or this one here, or the one they used a thousand years ago in some other place, or the one they'll be using a thousand years from now on a planet far away.
But of arguments and disputes there is no end, so for now I think we'll let the story speak for itself. "He who has an ear, let him hear."
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Copyright © 1997-2003 c.e., et seq., Justin Eiler. This text file may be freely distributed via computer, print, or other media, provided that no editing is done and this notice is included.
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