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RE: I am a ...

in #philosophy7 years ago

I always loved the native introduction best: " I am called Squanto." Not "I am Squanto" -- that equates to too much identification with our body and this mortal existence. Simply informing someone what you are called is establishing common language rather than identification.

Your post reminds me of the story of the blind men and the elephant: each felt a different body part of the elephant and characterized it differently. But if they would have had sight, they would have been able to see that all were different parts of the same whole.

So it is with life. We are all part of the same whole. Each perspective contains some kernel of truth. This is not the same as saying that all perspectives are equally valid, because that would be like saying that the blind man was correct when he felt the elephant trunk and said the elephant was like a snake. Rather, each perspective does relate to reality in some way.

Wisdom consists in striving to weave our separate impressions into a greater whole, to look for larger patterns.