In English
Our ability to comprehend and acquire complete knowledge is defective and has in many cases disappeared. That is the reason why when we look at a religion, we do not comprehend the whole of it, but we take a bit of it and form an opinion. Many of you may have heard the story of a number of blind men reaching an elephant and touching it. One blind man who happens to touch the trunk of the elephant gets the feeling that it is like a big root of a big tree; and therefore, he thinks that the elephant is like the root of a tree. Another blind man just happens to touch one of the legs and he feels that it is like a pillar and concludes that an elephant is like a pillar. Another blind man happens to touch the ear of the elephant and he thinks that it is like a big fan and so concludes that the elephant is in the shape of a big fan. Another blind man touches the stomach or the tummy of the elephant and thinks that it is a huge wall and concludes that an elephant looks like a big wall. Thus each one of these people, having touched only a part of the elephant, comes to the conclusion based on the impression which that part has created, that the elephant looks like that particular part. They amongst themselves are not able to realise that it is the combination of all these individual parts that really constitutes the elephant. Thus, when people of different countries look at any world religion, they see only parts of it; and like what the blind people have thought of the elephant, each one who looks only at a part of a world religion thinks that that religion is only that part. Each one for himself is not able to get a comprehensive picture. We have to realise that the real religion is a combination of all the individual components, which each one of them is getting at. We have to believe that this religion is in essence like sacred or love. Yesterday I told you that there is only one religion and that is the religion of LOVE.