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?”
[Source: http://www.awakeblogger.com/2008/09/the-10-very-best-zen-stories/]
Related posts:
Subscribe to
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric 11.12.09 at 11:43 am
I think of “Finding God in All Things”, and I think of our need for community (such as the community of authors at Loyola Press and the community of People For Others) to know God.
Paul 11.18.09 at 8:30 am
Eric,
You are the only one to comment on this story! Thank you, good and faithful friend. I wonder what happened to (all) the others?
Paul