Try not to bellow for long gone others to come to you.

Yogananda's "Come to me as Buddha" [Invocation] The numbers in front are added for the sake of comments. 1. Lord Buddha, like a vein of shining ore in rocks of a gloomy gorge, thy message of mercy illumines a cruel world. O Heart of Pity, one day, to save a lamb from sacrifice, thou didst offer thine own body. 2. Loftiest Soarer in Renunciation's Skies! beneath thy God-lifted eyes the inner kingdom of ego faded away into invisibility. Thou didst forever forsake meadows of sense comforts, rivers of greed, prickly cacti of selfish worries, tall trees of temporal ambition, and gaunt deserts of desires. 3. Thine entire being was irrevocably set on attaining Transcendence-Nirvana. Under a banyan treet thou didst make an unbreakable tryst with Spirit: Beneath the banyan bough On sacred seat I take this vow: "Until life's mystery I solve Until I gain the Priceless Lore, Though bones and fleeting flesh dissolve, I'll leave this posture nevermore." 4. Thy solemn thoughts still roam in the ether, searching for ecstasy-tuned minds. 5. Thou Symbol of Sympathy, Incarnation of Compassion! give us thy determination, that with urgency we, too, pursue Truth. Teach us to seek the Sovereign Remedy, as Thou didst, for the ills of mankind. 6. May thy blessings, O Buddha, help all mortals to attain the Great Awakening! -Paramahansa Yogananda, Whispers from Eternity 1959: 176.

Yogananda:

I don't pray. That may seem a strange thing to say. - Yogananda, in Man's Eternal Quest, 1982:121. [A rhyme! But don't disregard he wrote a whole book of "answered prayers", Whispers from Eternity]

Comments to the above

Title. "He who sees Dhamma, . . . sees me; he who sees me sees Dhamma. Truly seeing Dhamma, one sees me; seeing me one sees Dhamma." - Buddha, in Vakkali Sutta (SN 22.87). — Dharma (Pali: Dhamma) is a word with many meanings. In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order",[ and also the [main] teachings of Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dharma is also the term for "phenomena" (WP, "Dharma").

1. Genuine Buddhism, on the other hand, advocates "avoid going to extremes". The Gentle Middle Way bears its name because Buddha does not advocate going to extremes, and not degenerate sacrifices either, such as sacrificing oneself for a lamb. Buddha further says in the Apannaka Sutta, that the best sort of human "torments and tortures neither himself nor others."

2. An essential part of renunciation is forsaking lesser joys for greater joys. Yogananda is into that that too, in his Autobiography. The hub of the Middle Way and the good life is to meditate, and by-and-by life may get a lot more enjoyable. Or: The Path of Buddhism is made for ascending and progressing away from dukkha (sufferings, stress, pain) and into sukha (good and sound happiness, pleasure, ease, or bliss, including joyful levels of meditation. (Consider a gliding scale for such gradations)

3. To threaten and vow one's way to "get there" may not work in all cases. The way Buddha advocates is gentle, one of avoiding extremes of ascetism and despair. The Gentle Middle Way sketches how. Further: Apannaka Sutta. Balanced food intake helps meditation. Some learn it a little late, but then teach it, they too. For example, Tibets accomplished yogi patron Milarepa realised after long years of severe, extreme ascetism: "That was not necessary, after all!" (Evans-Wentz 1969:204-09, paraphrase) - The big thing to do is to learn a superior meditation method and do it with skill. That is what Buddha is into in the Bhumija Sutta. Study the researched effects of different meditation methods to make an informed choice among them.

4. Do thoughts really search others? Where is the evidence, in case?

5. The secret of higher meditation to take to heart: "Don't seek and search, but glide away". It suggests "learn to transcend" - Another fit point: "By helping yourself, you help your world." Your world is part of a wider world, which is part of a lot more.

6. Buddha's blessings are what he tells in ancient Sutras (discourses, Pali: suttas). Meditations and meanings are found there. "You want his blessings? Read he means in the ancient texts (sutras), meditate carefully and understand more also." He says in the Mahaparanirvana Sutra, "He honours me best who practises my teachings best." (Narada 1988, 287) - Alternatively: He who practises my teaching best, reveres me most. - Buddha.

Further: "The doctrine is certainly to be studied, more to be practised, and above all to be realized by oneself." - Narada (1988, ix)

Twisted

Yogananda's own guru taught that self-sacrifice is worse than foolish, as humans have greater value than sheep. Yogananda writes about that in chap. 12 of his Autobiography.

""Guruji, should one offer himself [as] a sacrifice rather than kill a wild beast?"

"No; man's body is precious. It has the highest evolutionary value because of unique brain and spinal centres . . . the Vedas teach that wanton loss of a human body is a serious transgression".

I sighed in relief." [Link]

To prattle-praise what you go against, is that much?

It might be a good idea to abandon "Come to me, O thou Great One" for proper meditation. [Several Yogananda invocations - his scrambling method"]

Yogananda was striving to make an impression. Chat-praying in public beyond the boundaries of true sincerity is no small error. For one thing, he acknowledged Jesus as a guru, Jesus who said his teachings and salvation was for Jews only (Matthew 15:24; 10:5-8; Vermes 2012). Further, Jesus and likened his followers to ill sheep too, telling that healthy ones do not need him ([Evidence]. And, "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!" (Matthew 12:12)" Third, Jesus did not think much of all who prayed in public. (Matthew 6:5-6).

Don't be a praying-hypocrite who loves to pray standing and be seen by others. "Go to your room and shut the door behind you", and pray. (Matthew 6:5-6, rendered. A part of it runs almost exactly like "You're grounded! Go to you room!" if that matters here.)

Yogananda's decisions to pray in public as he often did in front of many in lecture halls, could seem out of place in the light of the "no-no" of Jesus to his Jewish followers to such praying.

To lavish insincere hails and invocations on what you really don't go for, suggests being hypocritical. Insincerity is tactless at bottom.

But compare: Just before his passing, Buddha praised a monk who did not come to see him and pay his respect to him as others expected he would do. Buddha summoned him, and the monk said: "I thought the best way to honour you was by becoming an Arhant [in deep meditation] before you departed."

Buddha said, "Excellent! (etc.) (Narada 1988:287)

In Buddha's extant teachings he enumerates 38 great blessings in the Mangala Sutta. Here is the first great blessing: "Not to associate with the foolish, but to associate with the wise; and to honour those who are worthy of honour." Further down on the list is this great blessing: "To have much learning, to be skilful in handicraft, well-trained in discipline, and to be of good speech."

Essential Buddhism

The Wheel of Dharma is to be set in motion by entering the stream and the Gentle Middle Way.

Buddhism and Hinduism teach alike: Good ones should try to live out what is handy and matters in certain basic, regulated ways without coming to harm - not great harm, so on. Some such measures may help inner development. In Buddhism it is likened to turning the wheel of dharma. The clue for a lay follower is: Even if it is not totally in accord with natural living in everything, it allows for sound pleasures, having houses and homes, utensils and other goods, and fine food - and says "Avoid killing".

Buddha lays out a careful, graded path, with some rules for lay followers and stricter rules for monks and nuns. One may seek to incorporate suitable regulations. Benefits stem from living in fit ways more than from ceremonial formalism, Tibet's patron saint Milarepa (c. 1052 – c. 1135) shows.

We could benefit from wholesomely living up to Milarepa's "The worthiest one is engaged in turning a blessed human life to the best account. - Milarepa, cf. Evans-Wentz 1969:225)."

To recognise who are true friends, compare Buddha's guidance. [Link]

In trouble? Fix it if you can

First get out of trouble, if you have identified it, and then seek to remedy it, perhaps by taking expert councel.

A man approached Buddha and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before he would practice. In response, Buddha said, "It is as if a man had been wounded by a poisoned arrow and when attended to by a physician were to say, 'I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who wounded me.' That man would die before having learned all this." (Abr.)

The idea of profiting from trouble may apply to some people, such as the resistant ones. Some problems are challenges, and some challenges may be solved, even with profit. Sound stress management gives a much similar scope too.

So be careful, heedful, and take heed of your company and try to learn something of value from the mistakes of others. Sound schooling is often about that.. Buddha warns against being with fools, not unlike the proverb "Stay away from fools that you may not be among their number". Refrain from using the criteria to harm people.

Are cult people well? A cult and sectarians have certain hallmarks, and soaring freedom of spirit and mind is hardly one.

Buddha teaches us not to give to undeserving ones, but also allows for helping many for the sake of the receptive few. One should try to balance these two concerns. [Link]

The teachings of Jesus were forbidden for non-Jews - by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew (15:24; 10:5-8).

The Missionary Command at the end of Matthew and in Mark 16:15 are forgeries, the Bible scholar Vermes finds. (2012).

One more point: It may be crooked to praise forgeries in the name of Jesus.