The Elephant Parable

Dialogue has the power to deepen

our awareness of reality.

A colourful example of this insight is

an ancient Indian story around an elephant.

In the parable, a group of blind people surround
an elephant to learn about it’s shape.

After touching the elephant,

they compare their experiences:

“An elephant has the shape of a tree.”
 says the person who touched it’s leg.

“Oh. No, no, an elephant is like a wall!”,
 says the person who touched it’s side.

“No way, an elephant is like a snake!”
says the person who touched it’s trunk.

The people fight with each other about
who is right and who is wrong.

Until a wise man walks by who describes

the entire elephant and says:

“Each of you is correct! And each of you has only a partial perspective! You need each other to see the full picture!”