Once there were six blind men who had never ever been in contact with an elephant, they had no idea what an elephant was. So when they heard that the head man of the village had acquired an elephant they all went to investigate what it was like. The first man felt the elephant’s ear and said, “Elephants are flat and flappy like a fan.” The second man felt the elephant’s tusk and said, “No you are wrong elephants are strong and sharp like spears.” The third man felt the elephant’s trunk and said, “No you are both wrong, an elephant is long and round like a snake.” The fourth man felt the elephant’s leg and said, “Clearly the elephant is strong and stout like a tree.” The fifth man felt the elephant’s tail and argued that elephants were like rope and the sixth man felt the side of the elephant and was convinced that elephants were like a wall. They were very puzzled as to why none of them agreed as to what an elephant was really like.
They submitted their quandary to the head man of the village who said kindly, “My dear friends you each felt a different part of the elephant so if you put all those parts together you would get a feeling for what an elephant is really like, their sides are big and flat like a wall, their trunk is long and thin like a snake, their ears are big and flappy like a fan, their tusks are long and sharp like a spear, their tail is thin like a rope and their legs are as stout and strong as tree trunks.” The six blind men thanked the head man and happily went back to their homes now knowing what an elephant was like.
Yoga Message
In the Vedas, the teachings of yoga, three kinds of evidences are described: pratyaksa, anumana and sabda. Pratyaksa means direct evidence gained through sense perception. Direct evidence is limited because our senses are not perfect. Then there is inductive knowledge or hypothesis, anumana. But such hypotheses are restricted by the limitations of our minds. Vedic knowledge is called sabda-pramana. The Vedas instruct that in order to understand transcendental knowledge we have to hear from an authority. Transcendental knowledge is knowledge from beyond this universe. Within this universe is material knowledge, and beyond this universe is transcendental knowledge.
Every Sunday at Burleigh Heads during the Sunday Spiritual Gathering we offer an inspiring talk exploring the spiritual essence of yoga. Yoga wisdom has been studied and praised for thousands of years for its clarity, insight and wealth of spiritual knowledge. The Sunday Spiritual Gathering is the chance to tap into this most ancient of sciences that has been handed down from self realised spiritual teachers since time immemorial. If you would like to learn more about your eternal spiritual nature, meditation, real happiness and life’s ultimate purpose, then this is for you.
