Mirrors

If you've never seen an elephant in your life, not even a picture of it, and i had to explain to you what an elephant is, would you be able to understand what i was talking about?

The picture you'd be able to draw in your head would be based on your experiences or your imagination. Imagination, that is again restricted by your direct or indirect experience of real life. So till the day you actually see an elephant, you would have a very restricted idea of what an elephant looks like.

in other words, my description will have added nothing to your knowledge, except for triggering some of your past experiences and a wonderful process of joining experiences to make up something new, a process we often refer to as imagination.

the entire process of my explanation to you would be nothing but just a reflection of what you already know or of what lies in your consideration set for your imagination.

Extend this to the people you meet.

what are other people, then, if you are going to perceive through them, only those things that you either already know or you have the capacity to imagine?

every conversation you have with any other human being is nothing but a revelation of parts of yourself that you had not seen before. every other person you meet then, is nothing but a mirror that reflects a part of you.