The Blind Men and the Elephant
A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, "Sir, there are living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge in constant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul dies with the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth. What, Sir, would you say concerning them?"

The Buddha answered, "Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, 'Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind... and show them an elephant.' 'Very good, sire,' replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, 'Here is an elephant,' and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.

"When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?'

"Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, 'Sire, an elephant is like a pot.' And the men who had observed the ear replied, 'An elephant is like a winnowing basket.' Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.

"Then they began to quarrel, shouting, 'Yes it is!' 'No, it is not!' 'An elephant is not that!' 'Yes, it's like that!' and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.

"Brethren, the raja was delighted with the scene.

"Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus."

Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering this verse of uplift,

O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.

Two points of contention, nohands, first, a link citing the original source is required in order to comply with copyright issues, and secondly, as this is a discussion forum a comment from you regarding the reasoning for posting this 'parable' would go a long ways towards shaping or directing the discussion you're hoping to initiate. On their own 'inspirational' tracts are usually relegated to blog entries.

MM

Good job, officer. Everyone's in line...

hehe
sory sir here is the link
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/story/index.html
i had learned my lesson hehe

Well, only partially. Again, what exactly is it you want other members to discuss concerning this thread? It would be helpful if some insight were offered in order to generate some sort of response. Just asking members of various religious persuasions to 'read it' isn't enough to justify it's inclusion.

hehe sory again sir
I would like to know the opinions of skeptics of paranormal events
if they only see the one side of everything?? Also what would everyone's
opinion about this one hehe?
Although im not opposing the skeptics
I just want to know their reactions...

No hands is just saying, everyone is blind except the 3rd.

Nice one. The topic u want to discuss with this thread may be.. 'what is reality'

hehe ty

For me the wisdom of Buddha is the same as the wisdom of Christ.

Peace,

RadicalGnostic

Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those that a chick which has not broken it's way through it's shell might form of the outside world. --Buddha

Buddha is the man!

hehe
can i ask everyone here
what if a man commits suicide??

A person who blindly states "I don't believe it" is just as incorrect as the person who blindly states "I believe it". They are 2 sides of the same coin. Some people with beleive something because they want it to be true. Others disbelieve because they DON'T want it to be true. One needs to weigh the facts of the matter objectively and let the evidence speak for it self.



what of it? If a person commits suicide, they feel that they have no other option.

And what does that have to do with anything?

I love the blind men and the elephant story. It's an excellent lesson that more people should consider.

I tend to agree with RadicalGnostic... Buddah and Christ were of the same wisdom.

hehe nice replys
people must reconsider everything
I think we have explore more and more

I think when someone commits suicide his/her soul will be
reset then he must see from everyside of the world again
Im tired so I must see