Learning Activities

The "Elephant Story"

When working on social justice issues, I try to remember the Hindu parable of blind people touching different parts of an elephant. The one who touches a leg thinks they've touched a tree; the one who touches the trunk thinks they've touched a snake; etc.

If anyone in the group fails to speak with integrity about the part of the elephant they experienced -- assuming that, because others' experience or perspectives does not sound the same as their own -- the entire group will be unable to understand the whole.

If anyone in the group fails to speak with humility about what they think their experience reveals about the whole -- assuming instead that their experience is the only truth involved -- they will be unable to understand the whole.

Is it True/Right/Good or False/Wrong/Evil? (Or, "The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant")

© Center for Service-Learning and Social Change (Kevin LaNave) Sept 21, 2000

Objectives: The steps of social justice education contain several dangers.

On the one hand, there is the danger of being too self-righteous, unwilling to recognize that "what I believe" is rarely completely right -- and that "what others believe" is rarely completely wrong.

On the other hand, there are the dangers of being too deferential (avoiding disagreements and tension/conflict for the sake of not alienating others, or not putting ourselves at risk) or of giving into total subjectivity (the creed that "what I believe is right, is right for me" and "whatever you believe is right, is right for you" -- and that there's no real objective standard for truth/right/goodness or error/wrong/evil).

This activity raises the issue of these dangers, and offers an alternative vision of a community journeying together ever more deeply into truth and goodness.

Procedure:

  1. Begin by asking students how many of them have ever been involved in a "discussion" (or "debate") about some of the specific moral issues that we will be examining in this course.

    Then invite them, either in individual reflection or large group discussion, to think about "when those discussions/debates have gone well" and "when those discussions/debates have not gone well".

  2. Share the following story with the students, indicating that it is based on a story from the Hindu religious tradition:

    Once upon a time, there were three people who went searching for God/the Truth.

    They heard of a wise elderly woman who lived deep in the forest who had an important clue for their search. One afternoon, after several days of trying to locate her -- getting lost from time to time, having to hack their way through tangled branches -- they finally found the hut in which she lived. When they entered, they discovered her seated by the fire. She looked up at them, her eyes inviting their question.

    "We are searching for the meaning of life (or 'truth', or 'God'), and we have heard that you have an important clue that you could share with us," one of them said.

    She smiled for a few moments, then quietly said, "I do -- but I will need you to trust me." And they agreed.

    She walked over to a small table, and picked up three pieces of cloth. Handing one to each of them, she said, "Tie it around your eyes, so that you cannot see anything through it." They did as she asked.

    "Now," she continued, "I am going to lead you further into the forest. We will need to walk slowly, and you will need to hold one another's hands." So they joined hands, and walked out of the hut and deeper into the forest.

    After about an hour, she halted. "We are on the edge of a clearing," she told them. "I am now going to take you forward into the clearing, but only one at a time. There, you will touch something with your hand. I will do so silently, and I will also ask that you not speak."

    She led each of them forward to touch what was in the clearing; then, after all had done so, she said, "We will now return to the hut. It is there that I will allow you to take off your blindfold, and ask you to speak."

    An hour later, they arrived back at the hut. She led them in, and sat them down around the fire. "You can now take off your blindfolds," she said. "And I would invite you, one at a time, to talk about what you touched in the clearing."

    The first one said, "What I touched was hard, and round, and high." He paused, then turned to the woman. "I think I touched a tree -- and that you were trying to tell me that the meaning of life (or 'truth', or 'God') is like a tree."

    The woman smiled, then turned to the next person, who looked puzzled. "I know that what I touched was hard -- and it was high. But it certainly wasn't round. It was flat. . . . I think I touched a wall -- and that you were trying to tell me that the meaning of life (or 'truth', or 'God') is like a wall."

    The woman smiled again, then turned to the third person, who looked even more puzzled. "I, too, know that what I touched was hard. It was round -- so I know it wasn't a wall. But I know it wasn't a tree, either, because of the way it moved around like a snake. . . . I think that's what I touched -- and that you were trying to tell me that the meaning of life (or 'truth', or 'God') is like a snake."

    The woman smiled, and was about to speak when all three began to speak at once.

    (Pause, then continue) The parable has different endings, and we will consider two of them.

  3. Share the following ending:

    The three men argued with each other about who was right, and criticized each other for being wrong.

    The wise woman tried to calm them down, to listen to one another, and to share what she had to say . . . but it was no use. The argument became so heated that eventually all three of them stormed out of the hut, and went off in different directions, uttering threats to one another as they went.

    One of the men founded a religion that worshipped trees. Another founded a religion that worshipped walls. And the third, a religion that worshipped snakes. And whenever their followers came into contact with followers of one of the other two religious groups, there would be great conflict, even physical violence and wars.

    And back in her hut, the wise woman wept. For she was about to tell them that they had all touched the same thing.

    (Go to the board/overhead, and draw as best you can first the leg of an elephant, then the side of an elephant, then the trunk of an elephant, then the rest of the elephant.)

    Ask the students to discuss in pairs, then share in large group, what they think the moral of this ending of the story might be. Key points to listen for include:

    • the dangers of coming to conclusions that exceed the evidence, of being self-righteous and of not listening to the experiences and insights of others, of imposing one's beliefs on others
    • the importance of building one's beliefs on the evidence -- and being open to the evidence that others have to offer (and the qualities of honesty, respect, openness, etc that contribute to such learning)

  4. Share the following ending next:

    The three men began to argue with each other about who was right, and to criticize each other for being wrong.

    The wise woman tried to calm them down, and to listen to one another. So they stopped, and looked at each other.

    "She's right," said one of them. "We're friends, and it's not worth getting all worked up about."

    "I agree," said the second. "I think we ought to respect each other's beliefs, and leave it at that."

    "Besides," laughed the third, "it was probably just an illusion. I mean, how could we possibly have touched the same thing and come to such different conclusions? I'll bet there wasn't anything in that clearing. I've heard about how people like this woman can play tricks on other people's senses."

    The other two laughed, as well. "I'll bet you're right," they said; and they began to move toward the door.

    "Wait," said the wise woman, "there's something you don't understand. There really was something in that clearing -- and you all touched it. You all touched the same thing . . . and I can explain."

    But the men would have nothing to do with it. "We're too intelligent for your ancient tricks," one of them said as they went out the door and off on their way.

    And the wise woman wept.

    Ask the students: Obviously, this ending involves a greater sense of friendship between the three men; but the wise woman still weeps -- which indicates that the storyteller believes there's something deeply wrong with this ending, too. What do you think the moral of this ending might be?

    Again, have them discuss in pairs, then share in large group, what they think the moral of this ending might be.

    The dangers included in this version of the ending of the story are harder for many people to articulate, since the decision by the three men not to fight and to respect each other's beliefs is better than the close-mindedness and abusiveness of the first ending. Key points to listen for include:

    • the real dangers of failing to work through different perspectives to find deeper insights that people can share; the discounting of the wisdom of people who have lived longer than us (or earlier in history than us) as "out of touch with current reality"
    • the importance of working through the tensions and conflicts that come when communicating from diverse perspectives in order to find as much real truth as possible (without being self-righteous or abusive); the importance of being open to other ways of knowing besides direct sensory observation, and to other sources besides contemporary ones

  5. There are at least two valuable ways to conclude this activity (and they can be combined)

    1. Discuss as a class the key points that these stories illustrate, including:

      • People can have perspectives on the same reality that, while they are different, can be equally valid/true -- in part because the reality can be "large" or even somewhat "mysterious", and in part because the perceptions of the people themselves are affected by their personal experiences, their beliefs, values, fears, etc. (This point can help us hold together the value of our perspectives and the value of the perspectives of others.)
      • It's important to distinguish between a person's experience and the interpretation of that experience (by themselves, or by others). It's one thing to describe something I saw, felt, heard, etc (which is, relatively speaking, easier to do accurately); it's another to interpret it, or to draw conclusions from it (which is more difficult to do with as much accuracy). (This point can help us distinguish between "respecting the experiences or feelings of someone" and "agreeing with their beliefs or conclusions.")
      • The process of discovering truth in such situations entails both honest sharing about one's own perspectives (what we could call "subjective truth" -- which could be defined as "what a person believes is true"), genuine openness to the perspectives of others (which is also a form of "subjective truth"), and critical and humble searching for the reality about which all are seeking (what we could call "objective truth" -- which could be defined as "what really is true [regardless of whether or not people know or believe it to be true]"). (This point combines the essential need for everyone to be honest about "where they are at", to be open to "where others are at", and to be guided by the goal of discovering real truth -- not just being satisfied with the fallacy that "whatever I believe is right, is right".)

    2. Invite students to create an alternative ending that they believe would offer a more positive image of how human beings can seek and dialogue about issues of truth/right/goodness and error/wrong/evil.

      After they have developed the endings, have them share them, and then analyze them as a group. (Hopefully, the points listed in "a" above will emerge; if not, you can suggest they at least consider them.)