The Blind Men and the Elephant

The Blind Men and the Elephant is a Buddhist story about the dangers of not being open-minded. It goes something like this:

There was once a cruel king who entertained himself with the sufferings of others. One day, he had his servants gather people from his kingdom who have been blind from birth. He had them taken to his palace, where he showed them an elephant.

The blind men touched different parts of it, and thus came to different conclusions about what an elephant is. They presented their views to the king, but as their views were all different, and all of them were adamant that only they were right, they got into a fight — much to the delight of the cruel king.

The Buddha makes a point with the story that we always only see things from a certain perspective, and thus what we see or think is never the full truth. Ultimately all views are mental fabrications, and if we hold too tightly to them, it only serves our unhappiness. Being closed-minded often leads to cruelty and aggression. On the other hand, being open-minded leads to peace, both inside and out.

The Buddha finishes his teaching with these words:

“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.”

The story can be found in the Tittha Sutta (Ud 6:4) in the Buddhist scriptures.