Member-only story
Expanded Vision
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An old teaching story begins with a powerful king who enters a royal court where an assembly of counselors and high officials have been awaiting his arrival. Before anyone can say a word, the king bends down and draws a line on the floor of the court.
He then addresses the assembly of the influential and seemingly wise officials who serve him. Pointing to the line, he tells them that if they wish to keep their lofty positions, they must make the line he has drawn shorter. However, they must do so without cutting it or even touching any part of it.
One after another, the members of the ruling class approach the line, and each time they step back after being unable to solve the puzzle. Soon they begin to argue from opposite sides of the line.
Meanwhile, the last one to step up is an adviser who had long been a poet before being called to serve the king. Without hesitation, he draws a longer line directly parallel to the first one. Although the first line was not touched or altered in any way, it was now definitively shorter.
The king rewarded the poet for his imaginative approach and the powerful officials learned that there are ways to see that expand the typically accepted views that keep limiting knowledge and dividing people.
