I found out that Rumi wrote a poem that
seems to be what the commercial in the
previous entry is built off of:
Some Hindus have an elephant to show.
No one here has ever seen an elephant.
They bring it at night to a dark room.
One by one, we go in the dark and come out
saying how we experience the animal.
One of us happens to touch the trunk.
"A water-pipe kind of creature."
Another, the ear. "A very strong, always moving
back and forth, fan-animal."
Another, the leg. "I find it still,
like a column on a temple."
Another touches the curved back.
"A leathery throne."
Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.
"A rounded sword made of porcelain."
He's proud of his description.
Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way.
The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are
how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.
If each of us held a candle there,
and if we went in together,
we could see it.
Previously I said wasn't sure that
it was possible to see the "whole."
I loved what Rumi said,
"Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way."
So maybe we can understand the
"whole," however it would seem
that what another person believes
to be the "whole" is a whole other
story, and perhaps that is something
to remember and consider as well
when interacting with others and
reacting to what we believe to be
true based on our potentially
limited perspective.
Your thoughts?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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