When elephants fight ...

[soaring crane]

... it's the grass that gets trampled.

 

I assume most everyone here is familiar with the axiom, and with the meaning i.e. it's the little people who suffer when tribes or nations go to war.

 

But a friend posted it to Facebook recently, in the middle of a discussion about human vanity i.e. the vain powers go to war and the powerless suffer for the vanity of the powerful. I pointed out to her that taken literally, the saying is a perfect example of human vanity in itself, that only a vain human could have thought it up.

 

And now I'm wondering if anyone here can see where I was in my thoughts.

 

 

[suninmyeyes]

not yet . maybe becouse it is late and my brain is not at its optimal .

[Marblehead]

... that only a vain human could have thought it up.

 

And now I'm wondering if anyone here can see where I was in my thoughts.

Or at least understood the significance of its truth.

[soaring crane]

The metaphor implies that the innocent grass is killed through the actions of the warring elephants. But the grass isn't killed. The grass, as all plants, lives beneath the surface, hidden from view, unconcerned with human and elephant activities. The grass pushes its green shoots up into our world to spread it's seed, but in truth can live many, many years without once showing itself to us.

 

So, what really gets hurt during the elephant fight isn't the grass, it's the human image of the way things are supposed to be. There's supposed to be green grass there, to beautify our world and to benefit us. But when it it gets trampled on, our personal world is affected and we react with faux indignation, crying over the loss of green life when it's really our own priorities that we're lamenting.

 

This is something to think about when 'standing like tree' - the real tree is the root system, below the surface. The trunk and branches and leaves are pushed upward and outward to keep the cycle of life going, but they're only a useful, and temporary, mechanism whose ultimate purpose is to nourish the mother organism which is below the surface.

 

Always return to the roots, to the source.

[traveler]

The analogy works when you explain it to us. I recall a quote from ACIM that seems to fit:

 

The Spirit is perfect, the mind is learning, and the body is just a tool. (ACIM)