The Blind Men and the Elephant

Four blind men went to "see" an elephant.

One touched the elephant's leg, and said, "The elephant is like a pillar."

The second touched the trunk, and said, "The elephant is like a thick stick or club. "

The third touched the belly, and said, "The elephant is like a big jar."

The fourth touched the ears, and said, "The elephant is like a winnowing basket. "

So they began to argue with each other as to what an elephant was like.

A passer-by, seeing them quarreling, asked, "What are you arguing about? "

They told him everything, and begged him to settle the matter.

He said, "None of you has seen the elephant properly.

"The elephant is not like a pillar; its legs are like pillars.

"It is not like a thick stick or club; but its trunk is.

"It is not like a big water-vessel; its belly is like a water-vessel.

"It is not like a winnowing basket; its ears are like winnowing baskets.

The elephant is the combination of all these."

In the same manner those quarrel who have seen one aspect only of the Deity.

---

Notes:

This familiar story is told in many ways:

• the number of blind men may vary (I usually tell the story with six; the Buddha told a version with an indeterminate number, "all the men of Savatthi who were born blind"!);
• the "likeness" may change (in my version, the legs are tree-trunks, the trunk a snake, and so on); and
• the statement of the moral is variously worded.

But they all mean the same thing: Our vision is limited, and we tend to take our limited version as the whole story.

Even this parable has many manifestations; how much more so God?

There's a sweet version of the story in verse here. It follows closely the story as I tell it.