Touching the Elephant

Hi. My name is Tony. First time on the site which I think is a really interesting meeting place for pin points of consciousness to wink and blink at one another.

There's a story out there, and I'm sure I have it all wrong, about a sighted individual who decides to take an elephant to this small temple where there are 5 blind monks in order to give them the opportunity to interact with this wondrous animal. One blind man touches the tail and says, "It feels like a vine." Another touches the rear leg and says, "No, feels more like a living tree trunk." Another touches the side of the elephant and gasps, "I'm not sure what you're talking about but it feels like a living wall! Truly wondrous." The fourth touches the ear, causing the elephant to flap it a few times, and says,"No. It's a fan. Good for the hot times." And the last one touches the trunk, which wraps around his wrist several times, and he exclaims, "Aieeee! It is is a snake!"

When the elephant is the unmanifest, formless awareness, cosmic consciousness, absolute reality, we may touch the same elephant, but not always experience it the same way or use the same vocabulary.

And never-not-here seems like a place where we can talk about our contact with the elephant. Awareness awakening to itself. Through this human form.