297.-298.

297 – Why dost thou recoil from a mask? Behind its odious, grotesque or terrible seemings Krishna laughs at thy foolish anger, thy more foolish scorn or loathing and thy most foolish terror.

298 – When thou findest thyself scorning another, look then at thy own heart and laugh at thy folly.

Is it only our mental conception that sees grotesque and odious things, or are they really as we see them? And the same applies to beauty, doesn’t it?

It is certain that in the present state of the physical world, appearances are still very deceptive; physical beauty is not always the sign of a beautiful soul, and an ugly or grotesque body may conceal a genius or a resplendent soul.

But for one who has more inner sensitivity, appearances are no longer deceptive and he can perceive the ugliness hidden beneath a pretty face and the beauty concealed beneath a mask of ugliness.

There are also cases, and these are becoming more andmore numerous, where the appearance reveals the inner reality which then becomes discernible to all.

23 January 1970