How to Dissolve a Dispute?

Many a time we come across situations where our opinion is different from the others regarding a particular thing. We are thinking from our perspective and our angle whereas the other person is talking from his perspective and his angle. So how should we behave or handle or manage this kind of situation? This is a common question as whichever field we are in there are bound to arise disputes and we should learn how to manage them effectively.

There is a beautiful example of this kind of situation in Hindu mythology. The story is named “Anekantavada”. Here there are 5 blind people and they are said to describe an elephant from their perspective. Person 1 touches the stomach of the elephant and says that the elephant is like a water tank. Person 2 touches the leg of the elephant and says the elephant is like a pole. Person 3 touches the trunk of the elephant and says that the elephant is like a snake. Person 4 touches the tail of the elephant and says that the elephant is like a rope. Person 5 touches the elephant’s ear and says that the elephant is like a fan.

If we see this example then we know that all the blind men are telling the truth. We can justify the truth when we see it from a sighted person’s perspective. From this example, we learn that we should try to see from some other angle and from another’s angle. We need to see from which context everybody is presenting their views. Similarly to dissolve a dispute we need to understand other people’s perspectives rather than sticking to our own perspective and creating a dispute.

Similarly, another example we can see is on the cricket field. Where there is a crucial decision to be made regarding the out and not out of a player, on-field umpire refers to the third umpire for the decision. Here the third umpire views the situation from 3–4 different angles and camera positions so as to clearly decide whether the player is out or not out. To get to a decision we are bound to see from a different angle.

So, anytime now if there is a dispute regarding the point of view of ours as well as others try to see the other people’s angle and by doing this activity we can understand their views and dissolve a certain dispute.

Let’s see some of the benefits of doing this small activity

1. Our brain gets a new direction to think

2. Our communication skills improve

3. Convincing power improves

4. Our lives get easier as we are dispute free

5. Less anger, more understanding is developed

6. People will respect us more and value us as we understand their point of view

I hope you enjoyed the article and importantly would learn something from this and apply it in your day-to-day life. Thank you.

Written by: Tanmay Shah (Instagram: @tanmay_012)

Vociferous Writers (Instagram: @vociferouswriters)