Tuesday, January 15, 2013

None So Blind

The longer I live, the more certain I am that nobody else experiences Life the same way I do. We're all walking in the same direction, but our eyes are on different things at any given time. 

Even when we believe we're both looking at the same item -- chances are we aren't,because I may be looking at its top and you, its bottom. Or perhaps your eyes are closed at this precise instant because you needed to blink, and mine are open.

Are you familiar with the parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant? There are numerous versions (and lessons gleaned) from this tale, depending on whether it's the Hindu, Jain, Sufi Muslim, Buddhist, Anglo, etc., spin or another. There is even a modern twist involving quantum physics. 

Basically, a number of people who cannot see the elephant each feel a part of it and insist that the whole of the beast is like what they experienced (tail is like a rope, leg is like a tree trunk, ear is like a huge fan, etc.). The "moral" of the story depends on the culture and purpose for telling it.

There's even an elephant joke that flips the tale on its head:
Six blind elephants were discussing what men were like. After arguing they decided to find one and determine what it was like by direct experience. The first blind elephant felt the man and declared, "Men are flat." After the other blind elephants felt the man, they agreed.~~Wikipedia

To remain fully rounded, we may as well laugh about these differences in perception as well as perspective, and do the best we can to get along.~~GH

2 comments:

McKenna Donovan said...

This is such a loving and gentle way to remind us of the reality of our lives. Also, I love the use of the beautiful duck, because it's obvious that each person's eyes will be drawn to a different part of the duck, at least initially.

Love this post! Going to tap it in my FB page. Thank you!

Ginger said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this so much. :)

Yes, the duck spoke to me -- so much to see, so many places to look and savor. I'm glad you "see" what I saw.

Thanks for going the extra mile to comment, McKenna.

Hugs,
Ginger 011513