THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT - a Story
from the Buddhist Sutra
Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and
different religions, and each one could not agree to a common
answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly
God looks like.
The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent
elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to
the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would
"look" like.
The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that
it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched
the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The
third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a
piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and
described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran
into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an
elephant.
The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had
touched the elephant but each of them gives a different
description of the animal. Which answer is right?"
"All of them are right," was the reply.
"Why? Because everyone can only see part of the elephant. They are not able to see the whole animal. The same applies to God and to religions. No one will see Him completely." By this parable, the Lord Buddha teaches that we should respect all other ligitimate religions and their beliefs.