It’s story time. There once were six blind men who had never encountered an elephant. One day they came upon an elephant and touched it with their hands. The first blind man felt the side of the elephant and thought it was like a wall. The second blind man felt the elephant’s trunk and said it was like a snake. The third blind man found the elephant’s tusk and likened it to a sharp spear. The fourth blind man ran into the elephant’s leg and said, “How tall! An Elephant is like a tree.” The fifth blind man reached out and touched the elephant’s ear and decided the elephant was like a fan. The sixth blind man touched the tail of the elephant and said it was like a rope. When they got together later, of course, they did not agree about what the elephant was like.
Like the blind men, we try to make sense of what we experience and take a stab at the Truth about life. Despite our valiant attempts, no one person can see the whole Truth about life just as each blind man did not see the whole elephant. Not everyone will agree on the Truth about life; therefore, there is no absolute Truth in a way that satisfies all people. If there is an absolute Truth, then it should be one that everyone can embrace.
We have called the sum total of life by many names: “God”, “Truth”, “Reality”, “Cosmic Consciousness”, “Nature”, “Supreme Intelligence”, “White Light”, and a myriad of others. I consider them equal to each other because they are all trying to label that “elephant”. What difference does the label make? We can call it an “elephant”, the Chinese call it a “daxiang”, the Africans call it a “tembo” (in Swahili), and whoever else you consult will have another label. What is important is not the label, but the qualities of this “elephant”.
Everything is only a part of the Truth like the parts of the elephant. All the parts have value to guide us closer to the Truth. We will admit that everybody has a different point of view, but when it comes to the bottom line, often we won’t respect the views of others because we think we’re right. Again, what is important is not being right as opposed to others being wrong, but to recognize that our way of thinking works for our lives and may or may not work for someone else.
There’s a cartoon of two babies looking into their diapers and saying, “Viva La Difference!” We should actually applaud our differences because life would be boring otherwise. The Republicans would not have all those Democrats to play with. A couple argues without knowing an underlying purpose for their friction — to love each other in spite of their differences.
If you have trouble considering your view of life equal to any other, then you are victim of the “holier-than-thou syndrome”. You are certainly entitled to it, but it doesn’t come across as neighborly. After all, the essence of any faith or religious teaching is the love and respect for others and for life. Like the blind men, we each hold a part of the Truth and unity comes from realizing the value of the Truth that others see.