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Inner glasses

A spiritual talk using a parable to illustrate how perception shapes reality.

"Some Indians tried to import European cows because they give more milk. The poor cow, who was used to green meadows... could hardly see any green grass; it was only dry."

"Put green glasses on her eyes... And she began to eat, eating and eating and eating—psychologically."

The speaker narrates a story about a European cow brought to an Indian desert, which refused to eat the dry grass due to homesickness for green meadows. A visiting yogi suggests fitting the cow with green glasses, which successfully tricks it into eating. The speaker uses this analogy to discuss how humans perceive the world through their own subjective "inner glasses" and the importance of mastering one's consciousness.

Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Summer seminar

How we perceive things in this world depends on us. If you wear green glasses, you see everything as green. There is one little story—a true story—from the field of psychology, concerning a psychological treatment. You know that in every landscape on this earth, God has made different creatures. According to the climate, the way of living, the way of eating, everything is different. Dogs that live with the Eskimos would suffer in the hot desert, and dogs that live in a hot climate would suffer with the Eskimos. But we humans try to change nature, and that is why poor creatures suffer. We have different kinds of cows in India, and you have different kinds here. Your cows give more milk; our cows give less. They can survive very hard conditions, but these cows cannot. They are very tough. In this modern civilization, where transportation became easier and it takes only a few hours to bring things from one part of the world to another, this story took place about fifty or sixty years ago. Some Indians tried to import European cows because they give more milk. They brought one cow to a part of India where I live—a desert, dry, where it rains hardly five or six times a year. The poor cow, who was used to green meadows and eating a lot of green grass, came there and could hardly see any green grass; it was only dry. She ate less and less, became thinner and thinner, and you could see her bones. She gave little milk. They put a lot of grass in front of her, but she would not eat. She was homesick for the beautiful Hungarian meadows, the pusta, with nice green grass. She gave up eating that horrible, dry, old grass. So they called a veterinary doctor. What disease does she have? Why doesn't she eat? It was a disease of taste. We like to eat what is tasteful for our tongue. Hungarians like hot paprika, but people in Norway do not like spicy food. When humans get food according to their taste, everything is okay. When people come back from holidays, they talk for weeks and weeks about eating. That poor creature had no free will, no decision to come back to the European country. The veterinary doctor said, "Well, everything is okay, she's healthy, but she doesn't eat." He mixed some salt or minerals into the food she should eat, but the cow would not eat. There was living one sādhu, one yogī. It happened that he came to that site where people were standing and looking at the cow. The cow was like an exhibition for all: "How does that animal look which gives forty liters of milk?" The yogī also came there and was surprised: "This very thin, starving animal can give forty liters of milk? Why don't you feed her?" They said, "No, do you see? A lot of grass is lying in front of her, but she doesn't eat." So he asked, "From where is this cow coming, and how is their field looking, their grass?" They said everything is green, green meadows, at least seven months green. He said, "Well, then I can tell you how to make her eat." He told them how: "Put green glasses on her eyes." They laughed. He said, "Well, that's your decision. Make green glasses for the cow, and I can tell you she will eat." And they made big, big green glasses. And she began to eat, eating and eating and eating—psychologically. We sometimes see the world differently. We can see only how we want to see. We are changing our inner glasses. Therefore, it is very hard to say what is reality. There are color-blind people; they don't see certain colors, and that is very unpleasant. Sometimes it happens to normal people when they are overtired or nervous; under stress, sometimes they don't see a certain color, and a car accident happens. What we call micro-sleep. And that micro-sleep causes many accidents. Therefore, our life is a play of consciousness. Our consciousness is changing. But we have to master our consciousness with our intellect, with a healthy way of thinking. Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Summer seminar

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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