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‘Be willing to be a beginner
every single morning.’
~ Meister Eckhart ~
This story is an ancient parable found in Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Sufi traditions. It’s a story about six blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time.
Each man touches a different part of the elephant to understand what it is, and each man shares what they discover about it.
The first blind man put out his hand and touched the side of the elephant. “How smooth! An elephant is like a wall.”
The second blind man put out his hand and touched the trunk of the elephant. “How round! An elephant is like a snake.”
The third blind man put out his hand and touched the tusk of the elephant. “How sharp! An elephant is like a spear.”
The fourth blind man put out his hand and touched the leg of the elephant. “How tall! An elephant is like a tree.”
The fifth blind man reached out his hand and touched the ear of the elephant. “How wide! An elephant is like a fan.”
The sixth blind man put out his hand and touched the tail of the elephant. “How thin! An elephant is like a rope.”
The six men then fall into a heated argument, each convinced their partial experience is the absolute truth.
The Rajah, awakened by the commotion, called out from the balcony. “The elephant is a big animal,” he said. “Each man touched only one part. You must put all the parts together to find out what an elephant is like.”
Enlightened by the Rajah’s wisdom, the blind men reached agreement. “Each one of us knows only a part. To find out the whole truth we must put all the parts together.”
This parable was a great reminder to me to stay open and retain a beginners mindset. There is a quiet power in realizing that the more we “know,” the less room we leave for our inner truth and wisdom to arise.
It’s a practice each day, as we live in a world that continually feeds us only one version of the story.
LIVING IN THIS MOMENT 
I love this
Thanks Beth 🧡 it’s a great reminder.
I love it. I think we should get all the world leaders, blind fold each of them, and do that test with a porcupine. They still wouldn’t probably agree. Inbuilt negativity. But I too shouldn’t be negative, I suppose they are all still teachable. Great share kind lady, may we all learn to ‘see’ from our hearts 🤗❤️🙏
Haha good idea Mark! Well, as long as we see life with an open mind and heart the world will change in small powerful ways.
🙏🏻🧡
Amen to that Karen, may it be so 🤗❤️🙏
How true… great share, Karen! 👍🏼
Thanks Eliza! We will never stop learning about life 🧡🙏🏻
Karen, how are you?
Any knowledge that ends not in wisdom, ends in pride. As is seen with each of the blind men who believed each was correct in defining the elephant. It took the Rajah to show each how truly blind they were in their egoism.
-Alan
Hi Alan
I am well thank you! 🧡 I hope you are going well too. It’s nice to hear from you.
I agree. Socrates famously implied that true wisdom is knowing that we know nothing, and that we will never fully grasp the vastness and expansion of God and life. Thank you. 🙏🏻
Doing OK Kren.
Always happy to comment on our interesting and thoughtful posts.
-Alan
Thank you Alan 🙏🏻
A most appropriate story for our times. Thank you. 🙏🏻 💜
I totally agree Carrie. Thank you
🧡🙏🏻💜
I really love this, Karen. A mind that is open to learning and growing and staying in the gray area.
Yes so true. When we face long periods living in the unknown, we immediately want certainty and the familiar. May we all have the courage to learn new ways of being through these times. 🧡 Thank you Michele. 🙏🏻💜
I love this parable, Karen. I’ve never heard it before, and it does teach a very good lesson which I took away as always be open and flexible with your thoughts/beliefs… but I most like the way you write that we need to stay open and retain a beginners mindset. Beginners are generally always anxious to learn, and this is a good way to go through life 😊. Cheers to a beautiful day.
This parable is simple but a powerful reminder how each of us has a unique perspective and experience in life, and why it’s so important to remain open and learn from each other. Thank you Randall for your open heart and beautiful perspective in this world! 🙏🏻☘️🧡
Love this Karen… so true💃❤️ sending love
Thank you Barbara 🧡 much love to you too 🙏🏻🧡
OMG, love this story. I love hearing how people came to believe in the gospel for it shows God is a God of diverse ways to win Him creation to Himself. Good post.
Thank you! 🙏🏻🧡 Being open to the diversity of all life, we can learn to see and become the fullness that we are. 💛