(This was written in 2013 on another blog and just rediscovered again.)
One of the most enlightening stories ever told was the one about the three blind men who examined the elephant—one feeling the tail and saying, “An elephant is like a rope”; another feeling the leg and saying, “It is like a tree,” while the third felt the trunk and said, “It is like a large snake.”
Many people with two good eyes are blinder than the blind. They come upon a religion or science and grasp a portion of it without making a complete circuit of study and inspection. If it is the tail of it they chance to grasp, that becomes for them the only part that is worth grasping, and neither flood nor fire can make them let go and move to examine the leg or the trunk. None are so blind as those who refuse to see.
A matter of supreme importance in learning to know ourselves is to try to open the eyes of the mind to examine our convictions. We must learn whether or not these stubborn ideas are something which we have grasped blindly and at random before a complete examination was made of the matter involved.
I’ve come to the point where I no longer carry beliefs or speak in certainties. I only have suspicions and curiosities. I travel every avenue and explore every path. A multifaceted mindset as open as an inquisitive child’s imagination. I am not ashamed or afraid to say “I do not know.” To have the mysterious unknown fill me with its infinite and timeless wisdom.