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.
-As told by Rumi
C. Barks translation
All experience is an elephant in the dark.
Our senses and minds touch reality, are immersed in reality, yet cannot grasp reality within their palms.
In complexity, we reduce into simple parts.
In ignorance, we try to know.
For the sake of control, the process of exploration narrows down to an exploration of the parts.
The whole becomes a finite sum of constituents.
Result?
Dissociation from experience.
4 comments:
Why does the metaphor call for an elephant? Is it because it's so big and obvious? Or does this have Asian origins? Or does the elephant also symbolize human nature? - Explain!
-Tim
I think I just answered my own question there. It symbolizes the Soul.
-argh...
You - Explain!
The parable is gnomic. It messes with your brain.
It is very common in Asian culture to have stories give no specific teaching yet unveil truth by calling for our intuitions.
In Zen Buddhism they use koans. Questions, poems, stories which make no rational sense. However, they can have an unlocking effect, bringing about quantum leaps of intuition and understanding.
JOSHU asked a monk who appeared for the first time in the hall,
"Have I ever seen you here before?" The monk answered, "No sir, you have not."
"Then have a cup of tea," said Joshu.
He turned to another monk. "Have I ever seen you here before?" he said. "Yes sir, of course you have," said the second monk.
"Then have a cup of tea," said Joshu.
Later, the managing monk of the monastery asked Joshu, "How is it
that you make the same offer of tea whatever the reply to your
question?"
At this Joshu shouted, "Manager, are you still here?"
"Of course, master!" the manager answered. "Then have a cup of
tea," said Joshu.
--
Use the metaphor for whatever it can be applied for.
It is its essence which matters:
1.Different ways of experiencing something infinite in a finite way.
2.Reducing the infinite object to our finite way of experiencing it.
3.Everybody's rational explanation is wrong/too narrow in scope, yet everybody experienced something true.
True, but all of these little open-ended stories originate from someone's brain (something finite). Whether the writer/creator knows what he is talking about or is just spurring prose from his clouded mind, the thought has an origin which can be guessed/discovered. As a metaphor does not mean anything rationally speaking, it is actually an intuitive statement.
I see this more as a riddle than a statement.
In the case of the elephant story, I did jump to a conclusion a bit hastily probably because I didn't feel like dwelling on this too much. It is probably a combination of a great many factors. I was basing my idea on the description of the elephant - which as you rightfully said is left to personal interpretation.
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