The whole is more than the sum of its parts

In this article I will tell you a fascinating Sufi story.

Do you know the Sufi story of the six blind men and the elephant? If you don't, take a few minutes to read it now.

Once upon a time, there was a village whose inhabitants were all blind. One day, a foreign prince passing through the country stopped with his court before the village walls. Word quickly spread among the villagers that the prince was riding an extraordinary animal. It was an elephant. In that village, elephants did not exist, and the people had no idea how such animals could be made.

The townspeople decided to send six people to touch the animal, so they could then describe it to everyone else. Upon their return, the six blind men were greeted by the townspeople, eager to know what the elephant might look like.

“Well,” said the first, “an elephant is like a huge, wrinkled fan.

He had touched his ears.

“Absolutely not,” the second intervened. “It’s like a pair of long bones.”

He had touched his paws.

“Not at all!” exclaimed the third. “It looks like a thick rope.”

He had touched his trunk.

"What are you talking about? It's more like a tree trunk," said the fourth one who had touched his paws.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” said the fifth. “An elephant is like a breathing wall.”

He had touched her hips.

“That’s not true,” cried the sixth. “An elephant is like a long rope.”

He had touched his tail.

I sei ciechi cominciarono a litigare, ciascuno rifiutando di ascoltare la descrizione degli altri.

Drawn by their screams, the prince came to see what was happening.

"Sire," said an old man, "we sent six men to find out what your elephant is like, and each one says something different. We don't know who to believe."

The prince listened to the six blind men who described the elephant again.

After a long silence, he declared: "As long as everyone believes they alone are right, no one will know the whole truth. Don't the different colors of the kaleidoscope blend together to form a single, splendid pattern?"

The prince then described the elephant, putting together the six descriptions. And the villagers finally knew what this extraordinary animal looked like.

Questa storia ci permette di capire come ognuno percepisca la realtà a modo suo. Anche le nostre parti interne hanno le loro differenti prospettive che necessitano di conoscersi. Proprio per questo in Gestalt therapy The person is helped to resolve their internal conflict by recognizing and encouraging dialogue between the different internal parts that inhabit it. How is it done? The empty chair technique is an excellent therapeutic tool.

Questo principio della Gestalt guida il mio lavoro clinico: qui trovi come lavoro come psychotherapist in Florence.