Blind men and the Elephant. Perspective

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by Quigly, Apr 4, 2005.

  1. Quigly ......................... ..... Registered Senior Member

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    Blind men and the elephant

    An elephant once came to a small town. People had read and heard of elephants but no one in the town had ever seen an elephant. So a big crowd gathered around the elephant.
    Five blind men also lived in that town. They had never seen an elephant. When they heard that an elephant was in town, they wanted to find out what an elephant looked like. They could not see the elephant and hence they were sad. A small child said that they could touch and feel the elephant. Thus, they could get some idea of what an elephant looked like.

    The five blind men went to the place where the elephant was. People stepped aside so that they could go near the elephant and touch him. They were happy to have touched the elephant.

    Later, they sat down to discuss what they ‘saw’ with their hands.
    One blind who had touched the trunk of the elephant, said that the elephant was like a branch of a tree.
    The second blind who had touched the tail of the elephant, said that the elephant was like a snake or a rope.
    The third blind had felt a leg of the elephant. He said the elephant was like a pillar.
    The fourth blind had touched an ear. He said the elephant was a huge fan.
    The fifth blind who had touched the side of the elephant, said that the elephant was like a wall.
    They talked and talked. Each man thought that what he had felt was correct. They could not decide what the elephant really looked like. Finally, they decided to go to a wise man in the village who had seen the elephant with his own eyes.
    The man said, “Gentlemen, all five of you have touched only one part of the
    body of the elephant. So you have only a partial VIEW of the elephant. If you put together your partial views in proper order, you will get an idea of what an elephant looks like.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The blind men represent a large majority of humanity and the Elephant represents religion or God. It can't be fully understood through one perspective. Odds are that your small perception of God is not enough to even scrape the surface of his vastness.
     
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  3. BeHereNow Registered Senior Member

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    I am the elephant.
     
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  5. Jinoda Registered Senior Member

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    I'm no elephant, but I wish I could be felt up all the time.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    And you know there had to be a sixth blind man that felt his dong, where is his description?

    :m:
     
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  7. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    now how could YOU posibly know how vast is god?
    unless you redefine him into whatever you want him to be?
    have you seen god?
    which one is it?
     
  8. Yorda Registered Senior Member

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    All. That's what Quigly was saying. All those gods are different aspects of THE God (and not just the gods, but also everything you see!) If we believe in all gods, we believe in none, we become nothing, and only God is visible then.
     
  9. audible un de plusieurs autres Registered Senior Member

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    bad comparison, the elephant is real, even to a blind man, though he can not see it.
    the blind men used, there other four senses to get an objective mental image, of what the elephant was like.
    how can anybody use their senses to discern if a god exists. they can only get a subjective mental image, from their imagination.
     
  10. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    1,350
    how do you know??
    do you just redefine god as you go along?
    so now nature is god?
    now that doesnt make any sense!
     
  11. SnakeLord snakeystew.com Valued Senior Member

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    5,758
    Well, I've rarely ever seen Yorda make any sense.

    As for the elephant story: while it's certainly nice and entertaining, you realise it isn't useful for much in the realm of the completely undetectable/non existant?
     
  12. Yorda Registered Senior Member

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    2,275
    It's a temporary truth. How do people know the things they know? Because they think, read, listen and watch.

    Of course, if I need to. It's pointless to believe in a God I don't believe in (irrational God) I'm a living being, and living things change along times. God never changes, nor his laws, but when people advance, they know more about him, so he also seems different, although he always was what he was, but no one was able to grasp it.

    The physical universe is the effect, Mind is the cause. This world is like the heat coming from a fire (God).

    You just have to understand it: If you see 5 separate colors (gods), you see 5 separate colors. But if you see all colors at once, you see no colours, you see only light (the 'source')
     

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