Phoney Mother Enterprise

Sound, elevated thinking processes can be harnessed to improve a life. Budding or growing mental independence may be helped on and up through certain well-prepared and well-timed tales too.

A phoney mother, father, brother, and sister - all by title - are hardly better than real and carnal ones, but maybe titles of such a "fake family" kind look reassuring. The clergy finds it fit to "play on" those false labels. If it did not serve their ends, they might have dropped the misnomers, biologically speaking.

For your own good, try and stay away from a "mother" who is not a genuine mother, but uses such a title to impose something on you, for example rigmarolic and quite redundant servility to her gurudeva.

Mind the logic involved in this and that

If a bird will not come to its nest but flies higher and higher, it eventually falls into the hunter's net. - I Ching, hexagram 62.

To be fair, hexagram 62 speaks for being aligned with the natural set-up, and against going too far. Birds do not fall into the hunter's net because they tried to fly higher and higher, but for other reasons, most likely. Perhaps Richard Wilhelm's hexagram comment comes true in only two percent of the "fly higher and higher" cases. If so, it is what happens in the other ninety-odd percent of the cases that might be interesting. It is a bit like what happen to those who try to climb Mount Everest. Not everyone of them die a horrible death up there. In October 2003 there had been 1,924 ascents of Mount Everest (more than 1,300 different climbers), and 179 people had died, says "Mount Everest news - Mount Everest by climbers". [More]

Get Proficient in Dealing with Ensnaring Teachings

Disciples make all the trouble and differences. They begin to create narrowness and bigotry. The pure Message becomes diluted with ignorance. - Swami Yogananda, "Oriental Christ", East-West, March-April 1930.

Yogananda started out as a disciple himself and remained so for years. He should know about all the trouble he caused. Or do we have an example of "The cow forgots she once was a calf (Proverb)" ? And in his forties he hailed fascism and dictatorship. May I suggest it turned out to be a flop, as he sent disciples into World War 2 to combat dictators he had formerly written well about - Mussolini and Hitler.

Blaming decline, decay, decadence and one's own inconsistencies and quirks only on the disciples, can that be fair and solid? In some cases it may be so, but in many cases it stands out that "It takes two to tango." You should keep an eye open to the disciples that make an entrance in your life and be so proficient that in most cases you do better than blaming it all on the guru disciples s part of the white-washing of largely unbecoming guru adaptations, for a good guru does not have to blame all disciples like a schmuck,. It was Yogananda who instigated the "Cry for Divine Mother and She will come" practice, and talked too big on many occasions, apart from contradicting himself on significant issues, and hailing dictatorship too. I suspect that some who take him seriously, might get neurotic from it. Neuroses and misfortunes may be yours soon enough anyway.

You may have found that some 'man-fishers' play on great-sounding words and form snares too. Lack of genuineness or authenticity can comes to the fore by half-camouflage and retouching of "big guy's nasty features" and much more.

Learn to be well guarded in public and be reluctant to commit yourself; that is a side to "Safety first". There may be much help in adding "some degrees of maybe" to so many all too common 'yes' and 'no' responses.

The Likert Scale

I like the Likert scale (from Rensis Likert). It is widely used in statistics too. You may use it to sort out your feelings and attitudes in difficult matters. You can use the fingers on your hand to sort things out by it. Better still, write down your responses:

"strong no", "no", "neutral/maybe/don't know/unsettled", "yes" "strong yes" (thumb up)

A thumb up marking could mean "strong yes", for example, and 5 be used as the number for it. You may next sort and weigh many responses too. This scale is not difficult to work with. Use it to sort your likings and responses to many things.

Some respond by "yes" without verifying. "It is easier to believe than to doubt [American proverb, Ap 166]." Others respond "no" without knowing enough. None of these responses are professional. Compare, "Twin fools: one doubts nothing, the other everything [American proverb, Ap 166]." The best may stick to a cultivated or cultivable "maybe" and next decide whether and how far they would like to inspect things for themselves or their next of kin. In this way many get some measure of progress and may thrive too. "When in doubt, find out — Knowledge may grow with skilled doubts [Cf. American proverb, Ap 165]."

It is not enough just to be hard-headed. One is supposed to be rational and fair in encounters too.

Estimate figures

An 'estimate figure' is tentative. It suggests - maybe your most favourable responses: (a) in private; (b) among friends; (c) fit for the public. These may differ, for it generally pays to be more guarded in the public sphere than among friends, for example.

In the public sphere, being sceptical and not settled may pay well, in time. "Not settled" may be translated into "I haven't made up my mind on that yet" - it often suffices in public. What you do otherwise in your private life and among good friends is your own business. Official statements need to be very careful and well enough guarded, or jarring may set in. And a practical, all right truth may be a rare find. Some are found in textbooks, though.

Another figure:

Not a few men and women think that truth has something about it that is credible. With sectarians it may be opposite, though. Besides, unwelcome truths may be disliked and easily discarded. Hence, in bad quarters a solid and applied truth may be as rare as an unappreciated gem. Compare Kurt Lewin's "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" [Sop 11].

Something accepted as true, may be the result of social bargains. Moreover, we may not have to express ourselves further (in public) than to a "very, very credible" level.

Knowledge comes within limits. Stick tentatively to some 'middling course', quite as an Indian professor suggests with reference to the life of Shyama Charan Lahiri, Lahiri Baba. For all that, a fair approach may differ from the unsure guy's "middling" responses over and over.

It was at Ranikhet ... that he received the Blessed touch of his Master under whose benign influence he became the greatest exponent of the Yoga Cult in modern times.

There are different and conflicting accounts regarding the meeting of the Yogiraj with his Master ... and his initiation. The conflict seems to be between the spirit which claims to start from a rational and scientific basis and rejects all improbable incidents as entirely unbelievable, and that which blindly accepts everything—facts and legends, however improbable and fantastic—as gospel truth the validity of which cannot simply be questioned. The truth seems to stand midway between these two extremes". [Professor Jogesh Chandra Bhattacharya, in the book Shri Shri Gurabe Namah Yogiraj Shri Shri Lahiri Mahasha, chapter 3.]

Express soundly if you can and be on your guard

Majestic-looking guys do not always seem to talk along modest and sensible lines. that is their business, but it does not have to be yours. Fairly often blunderbuss talking serves them. It may be good to go for careful, nuanced precision instead.

Also, to neglect sound testing is not a work of wisdom. Yogananda tells that yoga is testable, and not detestable. And as for Yogananda, many succumb to romantic tales and intrigues of his making, as Marshall Govindam suggests.

One has to be prepared for emotionally tinged biases, tense build-ups, intense situations and yearnings, guesswork that "folks agree on" and old rigmarole that just might get the better of some people. Still, some guru followers might want to explore some of the tidings that come up unless bigwigs and group agreements erect blocks in the way - they do.

Common sense is not as common as many think. Therefore there is quite a need to examine inspirations and ideas well. If there is enough backbone (truth) in an axiom, it stands being put to the test in good ways.

One of the hallmarks of general science is yes to examination (deep study) of tenets, not refusal of investigating them in adequate, fair ways.

Rational coping is worth striving for. It does not exclude modest tentativeness. See if the main line of an argument is fit, if it is convincing, if the parts "marry" each one another fairly well. Intrinsic consistency is a good asset.

Also see whether the tenets match your main experiences or some of those of your forefathers, and try to gauge how far you might be able to make good use of them in time, in case, and what the cost might be. Much is up to you.

It also pays to be prepared for unpleasant encounters, even academically.