A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born and brought up there. And it was a small little frog.
One day, another frog that had lived in the sea came and fell into that well.
The frog of the well asked the newcomer, “From where are you?”
The frog of the sea replied, “I am from the sea.”
The frog of the well questioned: “The sea! How big is that?”
The frog of the sea replied, “It is very big.”
The frog of the well stretched its legs and asked, “Ah! Is your sea so big?”
The frog of the sea said, “It is much bigger.”
The frog of the well then took a leap from one side of the well to the other, and asked, “Is it as big as this, my well?”
“My friend”, said the frog of the sea, “how can you compare the sea with your well?”
The frog of the well asserted: “No, there can never be anything bigger than my well. Indeed, nothing can be bigger than this! This fellow is a liar, he must be turned out.”
Such is the case with every narrow-minded man. Sitting in his own little well, he thinks that the whole world is no bigger than his well.
– Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhans
Ramakrishna Paramhans (1836-1886) was an Indian Hindu mystic whose parable-based teachings espoused the ultimate unity of diverse religions as being means to enable the realisation of the same God. After his demise, his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda popularised his ideas and founded the Ramakrishna Order, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission which provides charity, social work and education.