Paramhansa Yogananda tells a charming story of his first encounter with Roquefort cheese when he came to the West in 1920. He describes how he was having dinner with friends and was offered Roquefort cheese. In his words:
Everything went well until the Roquefort cheese was served. In India we eat only freshly made cheese, so I viewed the little green specks of mold in the cheese with great suspicion. My soul rebelled against it, and my brain cells warned me to have nothing to do with it.
But as I looked at my American friends eating the cheese, I mustered courage and took a lump of it into my mouth. No sooner had it landed there than all the aristocratic delicacies, which had preceded it, rebelled. There was great clamor and commotion within me, and they served notice on me that if “Mr. Roquefort” joined them, they would all leave the body. And I dared not open my mouth, but just nodded in answer to my host’s question whether I liked the cheese!
Then, as I looked intently at the faces of my friends eating Roquefort cheese pleasantly, I suddenly made up my mind. Concentrating deeply, I told my brain cells, “I am your boss; you are my servants. You shall obey me—this foolishness must stop.” The next minute I was enjoying Mr. Roquefort’s company pleasantly, and now he always receives a warm welcome when he enters my “hall” of digestion.”
