• "The world is a dream" and Yogananda
• Yogananda's Dream Teachings: A Comprehensive Survey

"The world is a dream" and Yogananda

"Escape While You Can"

Noel Coward once sent identical notes to the twenty most prominent men in London, saying, "All is discovered. Escape while you can."

Twenty of them abruptly left town.

❖ A man's best friend and worst enemy is himself [American proverb, Ap 234].

"The world is an illusion" and what is deduced from it

To handle illusions with skill is to penetrate them.

Many teachings are not likely to be helpful. Either in general or to you personally, at your present stage of development, and in your particular circumstances. However, some teachings help. Who are they? What are their hallmarks? To what degree is some yogi counsel sound and truly of value? Such topics are not always easy to find out of, and blind faith in authorities is hardly the best thing to go for if you strive to know.

The basic issues of this section: Do not be deceived and misled by wrong teachings, fragmented teachings, or distorted teachings, or higher teachings you are not ready for and cannot relate to very well. And to give yourself the benefit of doubt should work out fine too, if you handle it much in accord with basic scientific research skills.

When you read Yogananda (1893-1952) fragments, try not to be misled into thinking all the world is shit and something to be forsaken, for that is not a correct finding, according to Ramakrishna (1836-86). He was fond of mangoes [Goa 217-18]. As for Yogananda, one day he exclaimed, after dashing to a place where there were mangoes for him, covered with mango juice and contentment. "How I have missed this fruit in the West! A Hindu's heaven without mangoes is inconceivable!" [Autobiography of a Yogi, chap. 46]

Try to ascertain how helpful various quotations or summaries are. I am going to elaborate on just that point further down. For now, a few verses of the Bhagavad Gita:

Bhagavad Gita verses

Bhagavad Gita 16:7 and onwards tells of wrong teachings in its way. A few verses of Swarupananda's translation from 1909 runs like this (emphasis is added):

The persons of Asurika nature know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither is purity found in them nor good conduct, nor truth.

They say, "The universe is without truth, without a (moral) basis [inherent righteousness, dharma], without a God, brought about by mutual union, with lust for its cause; what else?"

"Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect and fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction." (Srbg, v. 7-9)

Here is something from Sivananda's online translation, with Sanskrit transliterations heading the verses:

Pravrittim cha nivrittim cha janaa na viduraasuraah;
Na shaucham naapi chaachaaro na satyam teshu vidyate.

The demoniacal know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither purity nor right conduct nor truth is found in them. [16:7]

Asatyamapratishtham te jagadaahuraneeshwaram;
Aparasparasambhootam kimanyat kaamahaitukam.

They say: "This universe is without truth, without a (moral) basis, without a God, brought about by mutual union, with lust for its cause; what else?" [16:8]

Etaam drishtimavashtabhya nashtaatmaano'lpabuddhayah;
Prabhavantyugrakarmaanah kshayaaya jagato'hitaah.

Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellects and fierce deeds, come forth as enemies of the world for its destruction. [16:9]

Srila Prabhupada's online translation of 16:8 is "They [those who are demoniacs] say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control." [Link]

Nikhilananda's translation, which includes commentaries of Shankara, speaks of men of demoniac nature, who maintain that "The world is devoid of truth, without basis, and without a God." [Wa 326-27]

Yogananda is credited with translating the Bhagavad Gita too: "They [the demonic] say: The world has no moral foundation, no abiding truth, no God or Ruler; produced not by a systematic causal order, its sole purpose is lustful desire - what else?" [Yi 141]

There is a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by Yogananda too. While he comments at length on many other verses, these ones go barely commented. He draws in general words like egotism and sensual gratification, hypocrisy, ostentatious displays, anger and greed, but passes by the Gita verses that define demonics (asuras), without any comments. [Gt 974-75]

Some key terms

Asuras. The Sanskrit original speaks of asuras. Some translate asura into demoniac, yet the views of asuras in Hinduism vary. In the oldest veda, Rigveda, the Asuras are not yet demonized. Mitra and Varuna were asuras, and many other deities who were Asuras in earlier times later became known as Devas. Thus, some of the most revered gods of Hindus are asuras. It is only in later writings of Hinduism that asuras are the bad guys. The Bhagavad Gita has that the main Asuric qualities are pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance, apart from materialistic views of life.

Satya. Verse 8 starts with asatyam . . . (a-satyam . . .), which means, directly, "not satya". Satya is Sanskrit, and can mean Truth; Supreme Truth, Ultimate Truth, the Real; Brahman, Supreme consciousness, Being that pervades the world - and also "correct, unchangeable, without distortion." Satya implies a higher order, a higher principle, a higher knowledge, and a facet of universal reality. Satya is what one becomes aware of on becoming a Bodhi (enlightened, awakened). 'Buddha' means awakened one.

It is the word Sat (reality, truth, etc.) that has been adapted as satya "truth". Sat, "real, being, existing" and "true, honest, right", is used for such as "self-existent Spirit, Brahman," and also "entity or existence, essence, the true being or really existent", "that which is good or real or true, reality, truth". The root of sat is "to be".

This slender explanation shows how many Sanskrit terms can be translated in different ways, because they carry many meanings and connotations. Also, a translation derives in part from the orientations and repertoire of the translator.

1. Asura may be used as it is, or one of its (later) arrived at meanings - demoniac and demonic in the examples.
2. Satya, which is involved in verse 8, can be translated as truth, Being, real, Essence. Accordingly, demonics do not tell the world is real - that is one translation.

Key terms carry different meanings or nuances of meanings. A somewhat multiple choice of word translations from a wider range of possibilities, yield different translations, and some of them tell of asuras as demoniacs. As you may see by now, that is far from the whole truth. Likewise, asyatyam in verse 8 becomes "without truth", "without reality" (unreal, illusory). Still other options may be had from the matrix (bed) of Sanskrit word meanings. It is also up to you. However, the wise guys see what the good old tradition has to say in the matter. Different translations and commentaries exist.

"Those who teach that the world is unreal are demons" can be a potent translation. I for one would not lose that perspective, judged by the fuller perspective that is illustrated by Ramakrishna quotations [cf. Bg 16:7-11]

Yogananda rather often tells the world is a dream only, something illusory. Is that really a helpful teaching? I hardly think so. But see what else he says, or how much he speaks of it. The evidence that is collected below is from some of his major books.

Toward a Fuller Explanation

Paramahansa Yogananda, what does he really teach: is the world illusory and God? Is that the whole truth in the matter? To repeat that the world is a dream is not of much practical help, is it? How can you make use of dream stuff to get it better? Frankly, Yoganananda often leaves out telling that also, but he does say in a few places you have to bulkwark and prepare yourself against unforeseen turns and things in life, and do kriya yoga to wake up. That is his contribution. Yet there is something missing as compared to for example Buddha's orientation. However, in Yogananda's books of lectures and sermons he rarely specifies how to bulwark and prepare for trouble, and only rarely offers practical, helpful counsel, in my experience. It is far from Buddha's benign all-round way "on and up". Buddha says:

Those things that I have known with direct knowledge but have not taught are far more numerous [than what I have taught]. And why haven't I taught them? Because they do not lead to to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening.

"And what have I taught? The path of practice leading to the cessation of dukka (suffering, stress, etc). [More]

Sivananda found it fit to hand out skeletal essentials of yoga training. They can be helpful too, in that we may build some well regulated flesh of training to those structural bones if we want to. And ◦most helpful in my experience is Transcendental Meditation, and that view is supported by some compartive research also.

I have looked into some sources of what happened after Yogananda set foot on America in 1920. In short:

• He changed the repertoire of kriya techniques, leaving out some who were said to be essential ones.
• He drastically "blew up" the kriya hype.
• And he and his co-workers added lots of sermon talk to the yoga techniques he had published earlier. Many followers did not really appreciate that, as the additions were not found to be much helpful.

If you enter lengthy, winding, and bulky discussion boards like the SRF Walrus, you may find some sort of evidence about these things. But many postings are disgusting, and most are anonymous. Besides, some are in the nasty habit of deleting former posts, and even whole discussion boards may disappear from the public eye. Consider yourself warned in that matter.

Yogananda's Dream Teachings: A Comprehensive Survey

What I present below, is sourced evidence straight from the donkey's mouth: verbatim quotations and extracts published by Yogananda's fellowship. If you want an overview of the main views of Yogananda on the world as a dream and illusion, this collection may be the most extensive of its kind to date. And still I have left out a lot of similar quotations because they don't tell anything else about the Dream either.

In three books of Yogananda lectures and sermons he offers very brief or fragmented statements - over and over he makes do with things like "The world is an illusion, a dream, illusory." This he repeats with variations and some additions in various places, and in the chapter "The Dream Nature of the World" of Man's Eternal Quest [Ak 237-45].

From Man's Eternal Quest

That Yogananda tells the world is a dream, is substantiated here. The evidence gathered shows that Yogananda speaks much more of dreams than illusions; however, the meaning is often exactly the same. As mentioned above, the question is is whether such fragments are truly helpful. If they are, they answer the series of how's that the clever student may want to probe into for each statement, and do not answer in a wrong way. At times there are when's to know of too, and "why's to help adult or rational handling of the issues, rather than just be lectured to. And what's could help you in the search for more and related material, perhaps.

Furthermore, an encompassing well-rounded structure of main "grasps" or model a la Buddha gives very good help for self-help minded ones.

Our life experiences are all part of a dream . . .

Live in the consciousness of Spirit, in that oneness with God wherein you know that life is a dream. [Ak 30]

Hardly anyone tries to understand his way out of this dream drama. [Ak 48]

The universe is spoken of as God's dream. [Ak 58]

The Lord has shown me that this life is but a dream. [Ak 72]

What a dream this life is! [Ak 136]

Man is sunk in a dream of ignorance . . . [Ak 196]

The sages of India since ancient times have spoken of the universe as a materialization of the thought of God. It is easy to say, of course, that this universe is a dream. [Ak 237]

The universe is actually made out of the thought of God and that, like a dream, it is structurally evanescent. [Ak 237]

This cosmic dream universe is merely a dream, we should endeavor to think along this line. Many practical benefits will come to us . . . [Ak 238]

This world and everything in it is only a dream . . . do not take your earth experiences too seriously . . . the world is only a dream. [Ak 239]

The justification of the complications of life is that all of it is only a dream. Take it as such. [Ak 240]

Be prepared for every kind of experience that may come to you, realizing that all are but dreams. [Ak 240]

"All experiences are fleeting dreams." Practice overcoming all trials in this manner. [Ak 243]

Practice the consciousness of the world as a dream. If failure comes, say, "It is a dream." [Ak 244]

The temporal dream-nature of life. [Ak 257]

Most people are sleeping soundly throughout this dream-life. [Ak 258]

A little while you live as an individualized image in God's dream-world. You are dreaming your mortal existence; it is part of God's cosmic dream. [Ak 258]

God . . . is your real Self. [Ak 258]

You are only dreaming that you have a body of flesh. [Ak 265]

Life and death are but a passing from dream to dream. They are only thoughts: you are dreaming you are alive. [Ak 335]

The material form is only a dream in the consciousness of God [Ak 421]

This world is but a dream. [Ak 436]

Sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, cold and heat are but dreams of this world. The Lord is the only Reality. [Ak 437]

We are here today, tomorrow we are gone: mere shadows in a cosmic dream. But behind the unreality of these fleeting pictures is the immortal reality of Spirit. [Ak 457]

From The Journey of Self-Realization

In The Journey of Self-Realization Yogananda talks of dreaming the world in the chapter "A New Look at the Origin and Nature of Cosmic Creation" (p. 18-33). At other places too he speaks of world dreams and illusions.

The Father has given us freedom to jump into the fire of world illusion or to return to His home. It is a question of what you would like. [Dr 45]

Divine intelligence, which is Spirit, began to create, consciously willing His ideas into being as dream manifestations. He divided His consciousness, differentiating His power from His absolute nature. [Dr 20]

It must be remembered that God is dreaming it all. [Dr 21??]

Water and the body are dreams of God. [Dr 25]

Realize that this world is a dream, that the Lord has created the entire cosmos out of His thought. [Dr 27]

In every form of sense experience you must remind yourself, "It is a dream." [Dr 29]

A man came to Lahiri Mahasaya, greatly troubled. "I keep seeing the hand of a ghost trying to choke me."

Lahiri Mahasaya said, "You are frightened by your own dream."

"But it is not a dream," the man said. "I see it."

Lahiri Mahasaya said, "Still, it is not real; everything is a dream." [Dr 30]

This life is like a dream; it is just a drama. [Dr 58]

What is life? It is a temporary dream. [Dr 58]

The end of the world means the end of your dream delusions of this earth. [Dr 71]

You could conceive of a mansion floating in the ether, and if your imagination is strong enough, you might see it; and if your imagination becomes hardened into conviction, you might be able to materialize that building or be the cause of its creation through natural means. This is not a dream; it is possible. [Dr 96]

One day as I was entering my room, I saw my body lying on the bed, dead. And the Lord said to me, "How do you like that?" For a moment I was shaken. [Dr 116]

You are dreaming this finite world and this physical body . . . You cannot say that everything is a delusion and be unaffected by that delusion while you are dreaming this cosmic dream. The body does exist in this dream of creation, and so long as you are in the body, you have to admit its existence. You cannot say that matter is not real. It is real, in the relative sense . . . for the ordinary man who takes poison, the result is death. It is folly for him to believe that matter has no reality. He is in delusion to say so. [Dr 165]

When you have a pain in the body, it is very hard to realize that the body is a delusion. So we must not be fanatics. [Dr 165]

Health and sickness are dreams of the mind. [Dr 315]

My past incarnations . . . are just so many dreams. [Dr 169]

The body is nothing but a dream shell in which the soul resides. [Dr 169]

In reality there is no disease or ill health at all. Delusion causes these experiences. [Dr 172]

No matter what happens, inwardly say: "It is all right. I am only dreaming in God's dream." [Dr 281]

This world is a dream. [Dr 370]

Time and again God has shown me that this whole creation consists of nothing more than His dream-thoughts. [Dr 425]

We are just moving in a dream. We may be working and experiencing life's passing scenes, but it is not real. Only when we feel the joy of Thy Being are we awake in Reality. [Dr 427]

False dreams. Get away from them. Every minute I see how necessary that is. [Dr 430]

From Journey to Self-Realization

By repeatedly telling the world is a dream, Yogananda tries to teach detachment. Below is just a little selection from one more book of Yogananda talks.

What is really true?

Truth is relative, and truth is absolute. [Jse 107]

All contrasting illusions evolved from this one underlying Cosmic Consciousness. [Jse 185]

This world was created for entertainment [that] is not necessary either to God or to us. [Jse 34]

This world, this creation, is the dream of God. [Jse 35]

Look upon this earth as a dream, and then you will understand that it is all right for you to lie down on the bed [Jse 35, hum] You . . . have not only the perfect right but also the ability to enjoy this play with its varying dreams even as He does. [Jse 40]

This universe is God's dream. [Jse 49]

Watch this universe like a picture-play. [Jse 49]

I used to dream that a tiger was after me; I would cry out that the tiger had caught my leg. The last time I had that dream, I said, "There is no tiger after my leg." [Jse 50, abr]

God is dreaming this world. [Jse 50]

Many people don't really think. They have the consciousness that material life is everything. But this life is only a passing dream. [Jse 218]

I am but a figure in God's dream movie, as you are also. [Jse 351]

In ordinary consciousness, the body and its circumscriptions seem real, but you are actually dreaming. [Jse 375]

From Scientific Healing Affirmations

Yogananda's Scientific Healing Affirmations (2003) gives a more nuanced and well-rounded presentation.

Matter does not exist in the way we usually conceive it; nevertheless, it does exist as a cosmic delusion . . .

Spirit, through a series of processes of materialization, became matter; hence matter proceeds from and cannot be different from its cause, Spirit. Matter is a partial expression of Spirit . . . But since matter is only Spirit in a delusive manifestation, matter per se is nonexistent. (p. 27)

The difference between matter and Spirit is in the rate of vibration - a difference of degree, not of kind . . . (p. 28)

Through the power of maya, cosmic illusion, the Creator has caused the manifestations of matter to appear so distinct and specific that to the human mind they seem unrelated in any way to Spirit. (p. 29)

The phenomenal world operates under maya, the law of duality or oppositional states; it is thus an unreal world that veils the truth of the Divine Oneness and Unchangeableness. (p. 31)

From The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita

The real yogi knows God as the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss; he perceives all creation as God's dreams. [Yi 54]

Man's soul consciousness - the realization of his oneness with the eternal, all-blissful Spirit - has descended through various gradations into mortal body-consciousness. [Yi 55]

"Aum-Tat-Sat" is considered to be the triple designation of Brahman (God) . . .

The word "Sat" is the designation of the Supreme Reality (beyond creation) and of goodness (emanating from It in all creation). "Sat" also refers to the higher forms of spiritual action. [Etc.] [Yi 145]

From some more Yogananda sources

If you throw yourself at the feet of the Father and seek His mercy, He will lift you up and show you that life is but a dream. [Where there is Light, Wl 20]

From Yogananda's The Yoga of Jesus:

Spirit first gave rise to a Magic Delusion, Maya, the cosmic Magical Measurer, which produces the illusion of dividing a portion of the Indivisible Infinite into separate finite objects, even as a calm ocean becomes distorted into individual waves on its surface by the action of a storm.

All creation is nothing but Spirit, seemingly and temporarily diversified by Spirit's creative vibratory activity. (Yj 24)

Also

What Yogananda has expressed or is ascribed to him in the SRF edited The Second Coming of Christ of almost 1600 pages, is not included in this survey.

Summary of Yogananda's teachings

Yogananda teaches the world is "somewhat" real: "You cannot say that matter is not real. It is real, in the relative sense . . . It is folly for [the ordinary may] to believe that matter has no reality [Dr 165]."

In another place Yogananda speaks of the real and unreal, translating, "Of the real, there is no nonexistence." [Bhagavad Gita 2:16]. He says the happy, wise one perceives Everlasting Reality, and is "a sane person in the midst of lunacy!" [Gt 208, 208]

But most of the time Yogananda tells the world simply is not real. The reality is immortal Spirit, the Self, Brahman, God, he states, and that is his key teaching.

Back to the Core Issues

. . . but the earthly [realm is] illusory. [Babaji]

In some ways Yogananda (and other SRF gurus) teach the world is unreal, but are they?

Three SRF gurus - Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Yogananda tell the world is unreal, whereas Krishna (in one translation) communicates in the Bhagavad Gita that the world is real, truth - Satya. In several quotations further down Ramakrishna too speaks from such a view. Subtle mystics are found to present differing views - towering old yogi view that should not be left out when we speak of how the world is. The following verbatim quotations by Ramakrishna from various places in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna [Rap] contain clues.

Brahman alone has become everything.

God Himself has become the universe and all living beings.

The universe and its living beings exist on account of the Reality of Him who is known as Brahman.

The Lila is real too. [Lila is "God's play," and stands for everything moving, and that is the universe.]

The phenomenal world belongs to that very Reality to which the Absolute belongs; again, the Absolute belongs to that very Reality to which the phenomenal world belongs.

COMMENTS

Brahman is God, and here we are told that the reality of God is the world and the things that happen in it, God's Lila, that is. So the selected Ramakrishna quotations inform that the phenomenal world is reality somehow too, and therefore not to be told off as mere dreams.

Further, in higher teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, samsara (the world) and nirvana (the happy other side), are one and the same.

Yogananda speaks too much on "the dream" in comparison to that ancient and better ekam sat (Oneness is), in my opinion. He also claims his teachings are in one hundred percent harmony with the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and those of Jesus in the gospels - but such a guru idea requires awkward, wrong interpretations, for example when the Gita and Yogananda say the soul cannot die, and Jesus says it can. "Be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [Matthew 10:28]".

Moreover, advanced yogis find it fit to enjoy the world and not renounce its good things as "dreams only". Ramakrishna is quoted verbatim again, from the same book:

God is saying to me, 'You have assumed a body; therefore enjoy God through His human forms.

You have come to the orchard to eat mangoes. Enjoy them. What is the use of your calculating how many mango-trees there are, how many millions of branches, how many billions of leaves? I have come to the orchard to eat mangoes. Let me enjoy them.

Rishis of olden times, endowed with the Knowledge of Brahman and having experienced divine bliss, ate . . . even pork.

A Catholic professor, Father "Matheo", finds it fit to denounce some of Yogananda's encroaching teachings as heresy. In our time Catholics may not do more than that in the secular settings - it was different in earlier centuries, where millions were tortured, maimed and butchered by the Church, allegedly for love of their souls - but that is another story. [Link]

Now, is the repeated Yogananda decree that the world is illusory, a dream, a great mistake of his, and of two more gurus in his line? In the fuller picture Yogananda speaks the old Brahmanic view, which is that the world of senses as such is unreal, but the world seen as God (Brahman everywhere) is Reality [cf. e.g., Gt 702-03].

However, in chapter 30 of his autobiography he says just, "There is no material universe; its warp and woof is . . . illusion." And his guru's guru-guru Babaji is quoted to maintain that "The divine realm extends to the earthly, but the latter [is] illusory". [Babaji, in chap 34 of the same work]. So what does the divine realm extend to - really?

As can easily be seen from the cavalcade of quotations and abstracts above, utterances like "the world is a dream," and "the world is unreal" without any "Brahman-is-Reality context is what you get from him a lot of times [More].

Discern "basic premises", possible intrinsic connections, and fit implications if they are given. When a guru says "everything is unreal,", does it cover his own appearance and his statements too? How can it be? Or how can it be otherwise? He does suggest it in a few places - :)

Reality . . . is that which is. — Everything . . . illusion or Divine . . . must be within the Self — Illusion itself is illusory. [Ramana Maharsi, Tb 16, 19, 17]

When Yogananda and others say the Lord is the Sole Doer, you may combine some of their sayings of his to your own benefit if you can. We are dealing with a lore that is not easy to understand, as the following story from Ramakrishna suggests - not easily grasped even by a keen mind.

Unmoved and praising

Someone taught followers to see God in all beings and bow low before them.

A follower went into the nearby wood to cut down pines for timber with local men. Then he head an outcry, "A huge bear is coming." All but the follower ran off in a hurry and sought shelter. But the follower thought, "God is the Bear; why run away from God?" He stood still and began to sing praises. He did not move.

The bear dashed him with one single, hard stroke of the paw. Hurt and much damaged he lay senseless on the ground for a while. When he came through, he moaned, "It is when Divine Mother hits you the hardest you should hold on to her skirt." Then he heard an angel ask:

"Poor you. You knew the bear came at you. Then why didn't you run for your life as the woodcutters told you to?"

"I met the Sole Walker [Bear]. Our teacher told us God had taken on the forms of animals and men and is the Sole Doer. Thinking it was God coming, I did not run away from him."

The angel confirmed: "Now you tell. But why didn't you run away when God in the form of the godcutters* told you to? Anyway, what will you do?"

"I myself can do nothing, that is the guru's teaching, you know."

[Retold from a story by Ramakrishna, "One Who Sees Elephant God Should Heed The Words Of Mahut God" [Tas, No 195], amplified with Yogananda teachings]

* God is everywhere and is all, is the teaching, so that woodcutters are godcutters makes sense - sort of. Compare if you like, with "Split a piece of wood; I am there." [The Gospel of Thomas, section 77] .

❖ "It is no time to stoop when the head is off." (British)

Some Points

The helpful saying should as far as possible be introduced and ruminated on before the unhappy step, to prevent it.

It is part of the great Vajrayana tradition in Buddhism to meditate on good sayings in deep meditation, at least a relaxed atmosphere, to make them a part of your gains in life. Similar methods are used in other traditions too, including the more recently devised "Super learning" [Smo]: I suggest you make a sound recording of the valuable statements that you would love to learn thoroughly. Allow a five second's pause between each, and add some delicate or delighting background music. Play it now and then (eg, weekly, fortnightly, or more seldom) for up to fifty minutes nightly to benefit. There is no obligation to do it, though, just maturing benefits. As a result you may learn many thousand sayings rather effortlessly. This way is convenient for learning terms and curriculum keynotes too.

In our context I suggest you start with sensible Buddhist teachings to get a feel for it. And below are some gleaning from earlier chapters.

Some get helped by fun and others hardly so.

Lucid writing may in time rejuvenate you.

Vice is often clothed in virtue's habit. (British proverb) [Dp 108]

If sound proficiency breeds a clear mind, enigmas might be clarified in time.

Stay fit and bulwark against unsound biases. Therefore, "trust no Greeks (ie, strangers) carrying gifts".

"The wrong way is not made right just by many people walking it." (Norwegian)

It is healthy to stay away from bad routines and doings that degenerate our all-round fare and its solid doings.

Plenty of sane and cool thinking and circumspect evaluation is valuable.

We can hardly be too careful and modest in foreign countries and foreign waters.

Black sheep - some great artists may give that impression at first.

It is not easy to sort out what is worthwhile and fit for life.

It is safest to love deranged cult persons at a distance only.

Big lies look great to some; so take care. And take care in tune with "One rotten apple (or statement) destroys a whole basket", like a lethal virus in the organism. The system theory: one bad feature easily furthers some "domino effect" where a little sting may poison the blood in stages and later kill. "For the want of a nail . . . the rider was lost" has the same line of thinking, and deep in "A stitch in time saves nine" you get an inkling of the same problem too.

Optimal implementation is when things work very, very well.

Wise persons do not seek to be welcomed where they are talked down on, ridiculed and lied upon.

Unsound doctrine had better not be taught to children.

You do not really have to look good to be esteemed, but you have to be yourself.

Look to the deeds and the fruits before you judge, not only the words.

Do not really respect window dressing; life is safer that way.

Tweed is made from wool; not all in sheep's clothing are horrible.

Let a decent education assist provisions for old age.

To be wise and clever is to be nobody but yourself, also if dressed in comfortable tweed.

To be well versed in excellent, canonical writings is not as good as living them.

The one who strays too much, may not be helped by sane instructions.

To be well versed is good for something, and so is being discerning.

A good man practices the best that he learns, and adjusts to the facts of living too.

We should have time for tall endeavours of living where we dwell.

Jesus of the gospels said to the Samaritan woman that salvation is from the Jews." [John 4:22-33]. If this means what is says, Babaji and the other SRF gurus are Jews, and do not deny it.