Hi,
I would like to share with you an old Indian fable, "The Story of Six Blind men and the Elephant." Here it is.....
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The Blind Men and the Elephant
Anonymous
A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who had all been blind since birth. They would compete with each other at every given opportunity. One day, they fell to arguing about how an elephant would look like. Since they had never seen or felt an elephant, they hired a young guide, Dookiram by name, who took them to the forest so that they could have their first encounter with an elephant.
The man who felt the elephant's side said that the animal was a big, flat thing. The one who felt the elephant's leg thought the elephant was like a column. Another felt only the elephant's trunk, and described the animal as being very much like a snake. Similarly, others also expressed their view of the elephant differently. Since they approached the beast from different directions, they all ended up with different impressions of the elephant. After sharing their perceptions, the men began disputing loud and long, each of them convinced that he was right and all the others were wrong.
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None of the men is wrong, exactly. All are faithfully reporting their honest, first-hand impressions. And yet each of them has gotten a false impression because his experience has been limited to just a part of the whole of the elephant. We too encounter in our daily life many such instances where we get to hear others' opinions that are quite contrasting from those of ours. While we may believe that we are right, perhaps, there exists an opportunity to consider others' point of view too to get a holistic picture of the situation and make right decisions.
The Best for you.
With love and regards,
Siva
I would like to share with you an old Indian fable, "The Story of Six Blind men and the Elephant." Here it is.....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Anonymous
A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who had all been blind since birth. They would compete with each other at every given opportunity. One day, they fell to arguing about how an elephant would look like. Since they had never seen or felt an elephant, they hired a young guide, Dookiram by name, who took them to the forest so that they could have their first encounter with an elephant.
The man who felt the elephant's side said that the animal was a big, flat thing. The one who felt the elephant's leg thought the elephant was like a column. Another felt only the elephant's trunk, and described the animal as being very much like a snake. Similarly, others also expressed their view of the elephant differently. Since they approached the beast from different directions, they all ended up with different impressions of the elephant. After sharing their perceptions, the men began disputing loud and long, each of them convinced that he was right and all the others were wrong.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
None of the men is wrong, exactly. All are faithfully reporting their honest, first-hand impressions. And yet each of them has gotten a false impression because his experience has been limited to just a part of the whole of the elephant. We too encounter in our daily life many such instances where we get to hear others' opinions that are quite contrasting from those of ours. While we may believe that we are right, perhaps, there exists an opportunity to consider others' point of view too to get a holistic picture of the situation and make right decisions.
The Best for you.
With love and regards,
Siva
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