Dr Leo Kim, Author of “Healing The Rift: Bridging The Gap Between Science And Spirituality” was in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 23, 2009 to speak at the University of Utah Orson Spencer Hall.
I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Kim share his insights, ideas and views on science and spirituality. I thoroughly enjoyed what he had to say. One of the ideas, or concepts if you prefer, that he shared was his view on finding “commonality” among religion, science and spirituality. To emphasize that point, he made reference to the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant. I found the following version of the story:
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, “Hey, there is an elephant in the village today.”
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, “Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway.” All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
“Hey, the elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.
“Oh, no! it is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail.
“Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
“It is like a big hand fan” said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
“It is like a huge wall,” said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
“It is like a solid pipe,” Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, “What is the matter?” They said, “We cannot agree to what the elephant is like.” Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, “All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said.”
“Oh!” everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
Dr. Kim’s view on finding commonality among different disciplines and teachings has allowed him to find the truths that permeate our lives. I appreciate that approach very much.
