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About elephant

A spiritual discourse using the parable of an elephant to explore discrimination (Viveka), the nature of God, and religious understanding.

"Your discrimination, your Viveka, is like a mighty elephant in its decisions. No one can move you, and no one can influence you in a negative way."

"God is like an elephant; everyone has a different explanation. You will not understand if you go like this. God is different. That should be understood through your mind and through your buddhi."

The speaker teaches that true spiritual discrimination makes one immune to negative influence. Using the analogy of a body's many parts, he emphasizes honoring all aspects of existence to maintain harmony. He then narrates a parable about a man who pays to learn an elephant's front from its back, illustrating the confusion in conceptualizing God through singular religious paths. The talk concludes that understanding comes from training the mind to have choice and argument beyond any one tradition.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

Your discrimination, your Viveka, is like a mighty elephant in its decisions. No one can move you, and no one can influence you in a negative way. What they call brainwashing does not exist for you, because you know the reality; you know the truth. Like this, there are many names, many symbols, and there are many things. You have to take care of this. You cannot just say, "Only this one God, and the others are finished." There is one soul and the body, and the body has many, many limbs: many organs, bones, nerves, glands, ligaments, tissues, blood, everything. And you have to respect all. There is something good for your liver, but then there is something which is not good for your heart. So you have to take care of the heart, you have to take care of the liver, you have to take care of the kidneys, you have to take care of your joints, your bones, everything. You are existing as a physical being now. Do not say, "I am the divine Self, that's all, and the rest I will neglect." You cannot; you have to breathe. And you are doing it; even when you are dreaming or sleeping, you are breathing day and night, constantly. So the entire universe is maintained by different forces, different elements, different tattvas. Not only is God there, not only is your soul here, but there are many things. We have to become aware of all and maintain harmony, understanding, love, and healthy relations. And that is all. What you can read in the Purāṇas can be misunderstood and it can be understood; it depends how you talk, how you accept. If I ask you what an elephant is, then everyone will answer differently. An elephant is an animal. But how can you describe it? It has a long trunk. There are some other animals that also have a long nose, like a long trunk, but not such a big body. Someone said an elephant has thick legs, like pillars. But other animals also have this, like what you call the hippo, hippos. They also have big legs. And it has a long and big tail, the elephant. Some monkeys have longer tails. So everyone has a different explanation of the elephant. And similarly, God is like an elephant; everyone has a different explanation. You want to know the elephant story to understand better, maybe? There were two agents who wanted to sell a very nice elephant, a big elephant, mighty and beautiful. So they were going village to village to see if someone wanted to buy an elephant. To buy an elephant is very easy, but to keep the elephant is not easy. You know how hard his breakfast alone is? You need about fifty kilos of bread; that's only a little breakfast. You need every day one big tree. And you need a person who takes care of the elephant. You cannot change them like you are changing a babysitter; he is very attached to his master. They wanted to sell the elephant expensively, of course, for about ten million crowns, ten to fifteen million. They came to one village, and many people and children ran to see the elephant, to see how an elephant looks. They came and they saw, and someone brought some chocolate, someone brought a coconut, some brought some bread. They came and they went. One man came and he was moving around the elephant very carefully, looking, checking everything. They asked if he wanted to buy it; he said no, he would not buy. Then, "What are you looking for?" He said, "Well, there are some mistakes." They thought, "My God, there must be some big mistake." And if he will tell openly in public what mistake it has, nobody will buy our elephant. So they said, "Please don't tell anyone. We will give you ten thousand dollars." He got ten thousand dollars. The next day he came again, and he was moving round and round. They thought he was still not satisfied, so they gave him again five thousand dollars. He went away. The third day he came again, very carefully observing, and he said, moving his head; they gave him five thousand dollars again. He went home, and he came forth again to get five thousand dollars more. Again he was looking carefully, and he was moving his head. They said, "Please, can you tell us what is the mistake?" He said, "It's a big mistake." "What? Can you explain to us what mistake you see so that we can explain?" He said, "The big mistake is this: I don't understand which side is the front side and which is the back side because both sides are hanging something." They said, "Yes, you are right; it cost twenty thousand dollars, twenty-five thousand dollars to clarify this mistake. Tomorrow, bring us $20,000 back, plus $5,000. We can clarify the mistakes." He went home and said, "Not tomorrow, today. Yes, please." He brought $25,000 and gave it to them. They said, "Thank you," took the elephant, and went away. He was running behind them. "Stop! Tell me, where is the mouth and where is the backside?" This is very easy. The side he is walking towards is the mouth. Bye-bye. Five thousand dollars gone. So, this story means many times we don't understand what God is. Which side should we accept? Should we go through Christianity? Or through Hinduism? Or Buddhism? Or Judaism? Or Islam? How to understand God? You will not understand if you go like this. God is different. That should be understood through your mind and through your buddhi. So, we have to train the mind. You should know more things so that you have choice and argument. If there is only one, then you can have no choice. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, 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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