• Introduction
• Yogananda's Dream Teachings: A Survey

Introduction

Don't take my word for anything. - Yogananda. (Overriding proposition)

Before 2017, about 96% of Yogananda's world claims are that the world is unreal, a dream, an illusion. But the clown does not say that he and his teachings too are part of such an illusory world . . . At any rate, those are his "purified alcohol teachings" in the matter, as pure as distilled alcohol gets.

Rectified alcohol of agricultural origin is highly concentrated ethanol made by repeated distillation. Undiluted rectified ethanol contains between 95% and 96% alcohol. (WP, "Rectified spirit")

See these things in perspective: You have do be drunk with Yoganandic illusions or a great dreamer to believe them, as the claims are of that claimed world of illusions. The deduction that the Yogananda figure is a work of illusion should fit too, if the basic premises fit.

Consider a little, for further down are over a hundred thematic and sourced Yogananda quotations on how the world is and is not - a dream, an illusion, and real.

1. On the Plus Side

You cannot say that matter is not real. It is real, in the relative sense . . . It is folly for [the ordinary man] to believe that matter has no reality - Yogananda (1993, 165).

In another place Yogananda quotes of the real and unreal, translating, "Of the real, there is no nonexistence." (Bhagavad Gita 2:16). Then he says the happy, wise one perceives Everlasting Reality, and is "a sane person in the midst of lunacy!" (Gt 208, 208) The reality is immortal Spirit, the Self, Brahman, God, he states.

2. On the Minus Side

Yogananda also said "We are all a little bit crazy." One may wonder where he got that from. Keep all possibilities open.

"We are all crazy. (Yogananda 1982:425)"

"I often say that we are all a little bit crazy and we don't know it, because people of the same craziness mix with their own kind (Yogananda 2002:270)."

A former, long-time leader of the church society that Yogananda set up (and one day regretted), Daya Mata: "All of us . . . are a little bit crazy, and we do not know it." (1976: "Qualities of a Devotee")

There are good reasons to wonder why crazy persons who allegedly do not know they are crazy, say they are crazy, and what they mean by it.

❋ Do not scald your fare with crazy people's Happy Lunacy, for it will pay no debts.

Don't discard the essential

Solid detective work should pay, even in the long run

Here are "Yogananda's sayings" on dreams, illusions and the like. They are "edited up" by Self-Realization Fellowship, SRF, which publishes them in correct and all right English. It shows up that most often Yogananda persists in saying "the world is a dream (unreal, an illusion)" in contexts where he does not explain "It is folly to believe that matter has no reality". He gainsays his quotations above perhaps thirty times more often and thereby outflanks his reality teachings substantially. Count for yourself; about a hundred quotations and their references are gathered further down.

So the SRF-edited Yogananda taught at least that "real is real, unreal is it (really)" and mishmash in between. He was not good at putting forth sustained and substantial effort to get a cogent, consistent output in the matter and stick to it. Philosophy is for just that, whereas much, assembled Yogananda output on some topics soon reveal inconsistencies. Dogmatic inconsistencies is a fall trap here.

It is difficult to be happy about inconsistent teachings over and over. But let us at least guess that part of the guru's great-looking inconsistencies might stem from being misunderstood and misquoted - perhaps as a result of lots of erroneous ideas evoked in his crazy stenopgrapher or transcriber. "We are all crazy," he said (Yogananda 1982:425). His main stenographer, later named Daya Mata, said so too. In SRF they claim they do not find fault with Yogananda's guidelines at all.

Yet, even if the following quotations are fragments, and thereby a bit out of context (below), there is too much inconsistency. Look at this quotation, for example: "When you have a pain in the body, it is very hard to realize that the body is a delusion." (Ibid).

Who says his body is a delusion, guesses wrong, also if "Illusion is itself illusory", as the guru known as Ramana Maharshi once put it (in Osborne 1971:16).

Meditation ranks above talkativeness

It is good to be aware that the talkativeness of Yogananda led to contradictions and rather misleading teachings. A bit reasoning could help: If the world were unreal, so would everything in it be too, and so would Yogananda and his blunderbuss oratory adapted to stiff Christians.

It should be better to cut through the wordiness of Yogananda and lots of others and adhere to sane proficiency and corresponding teachings. Good meditation helps above silly talk over and over: the aim of the human life is not to get tricked by slightly or massively misleading words and phrases but "eat mangoes". Rather than being taken in by orator mess, take heart from something that Ramakrishna (1836-86) declared: He was fond of mangoes (Goa 217-18).

From the world of kriya yoga come lots of strange-looking sayings

The advice given here is to cut through Yogananda fragments for and against realism - at least to try not to be misled into thinking all the world is a dream as long as you are in the world and the opportunities it brings. Further, try to ascertain how helpful various quotations or summaries may be.

These pieces of advice tie are not alien in the world of kriya. Yogananda was sent to the West to help people meditate. After a few years in the USA he became an orator, and talks he held, were stenographed. He also published books quite early. Many early followers disliked that he included prayers, talks and more into the material, calling it Lessons. His fellowship, Self-Realization Fellowship, took to Yogananda words in addition to the meditation methods he had been sent away from India with. His fellowship publishes books with talks by Yogananda, basically unnecessary stuff, something to cut through.

At this point it is good to discern between the donkey and his shadow. The Yogananda words are not the Real Thing, they are shadows at best, and often confusing, self-contradicting. Therefore, cut through the shadow and get to the Real Thing in meditation. And find better teachings if you can. They are without plots that may rise to cost you dearly and steal time from higher pursuits also.

For now, a few verses of the Bhagavad Gita:

Bhagavad Gita verses

From Sivananda's online translation:

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)

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)

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

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)

In Yogananda's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita he passes by the Gita verses that define demonics (asuras), without any comments. (Gt 974-75)

Should we pity the "poor, ruined, misleading souls (demons)" or stay away from them? The latter should be the best decision, considering they lie and misbehave, want to destroy, and fiercely. Psychopaths are handled similarly: Get away from them, for they may not even want to change. (Sirnes, 1968:58-62, passim).

However, psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot. Psychopaths can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack conscience and empathy, making them manipulative. They are largely impervious to treatment. (Psychology Today. ◦"Psychopathy").

Yogananda often tells the world is a dream only, something illusory, but that is only dream talk of his . . .

Those who teach faultily so that it ruins others and causes lots of madcaps, had better rectify their messy and faulty and harm-bringing teachings.

Translations of Sanskrit passages that go into demoniac natures, may differ much. This is because key terms carry different meanings or nuances of meanings. Words have histories and contexts to look into. 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 to find out what the 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? Not isolatedly. But he was sent to the West to teach kriya yoga - that would be his answer to how to end illusion. Through a breathing system mainly, a set of yoga methods.

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Yogananda's Dream Teachings: A Survey

What I present below, is sourced evidence - 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, or the only one. 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 - Yogananda (1982, 237-45). He was illusionating a lot, but that word is not in all dictionaries, if any.

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 also indicate answers to how to wake up from illusions. 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.

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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. - Yogananda (1982, 30)

Hardly anyone tries to understand his way out of this dream drama. - Yogananda (1982, 48)

The universe is spoken of as God's dream. - Yogananda (1982, 58)

The Lord has shown me that this life is but a dream. - Yogananda (1982, 72)

What a dream this life is! - Yogananda (1982, 136)

Man is sunk in a dream of ignorance . . . - Yogananda (1982, 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. - Yogananda (1982, 237)

The universe is actually made out of the thought of God and that, like a dream, it is structurally evanescent. - Yogananda (1982, 237)

This cosmic dream universe is merely a dream, we should endeavor to think along this line. Many practical benefits will come to us . . . - Yogananda (1982, 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. - Yogananda (1982, 239)

The justification of the complications of life is that all of it is only a dream. Take it as such. - Yogananda (1982, 240)

Be prepared for every kind of experience that may come to you, realizing that all are but dreams. - Yogananda (1982, 240)

"All experiences are fleeting dreams." Practice overcoming all trials in this manner. - Yogananda (1982, 243)

Practice the consciousness of the world as a dream. If failure comes, say, "It is a dream." - Yogananda (1982, 244)

The temporal dream-nature of life. - Yogananda (1982, 257)

Most people are sleeping soundly throughout this dream-life. - Yogananda (1982, 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. - Yogananda (1982, 258)

God . . . is your real Self. - Yogananda (1982, 258)

You are only dreaming that you have a body of flesh. - Yogananda (1982, 265)

Life and death are but a passing from dream to dream. They are only thoughts: you are dreaming you are alive. - Yogananda (1982, 335)

The material form is only a dream in the consciousness of God - Yogananda (1982, 421)

This world is but a dream. - Yogananda (1982, 436)

Sorrow and joy, pain and pleasure, cold and heat are but dreams of this world. The Lord is the only Reality. - Yogananda (1982, 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. - Yogananda (1982, 457)

From The Divine Romance

In The Divine Romance. 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.

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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. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 20)

It must be remembered that God is dreaming it all. - Yogananda (1993, 21??)

Water and the body are dreams of God. - Yogananda (1993, 25)

Realize that this world is a dream, that the Lord has created the entire cosmos out of His thought. - Yogananda (1993, 27)

In every form of sense experience you must remind yourself, "It is a dream." - Yogananda (1993, 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." - Yogananda (1993, 30)

This life is like a dream; it is just a drama. - Yogananda (1993, 58)

What is life? It is a temporary dream. - Yogananda (1993, 58)

The end of the world means the end of your dream delusions of this earth. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 165)

Health and sickness are dreams of the mind. - Yogananda (1993, 315)

My past incarnations . . . are just so many dreams. - Yogananda (1993, 169)

The body is nothing but a dream shell in which the soul resides. - Yogananda (1993, 169)

In reality there is no disease or ill health at all. Delusion causes these experiences. - Yogananda (1993, 172)

No matter what happens, inwardly say: "It is all right. I am only dreaming in God's dream." - Yogananda (1993, 281)

This world is a dream. - Yogananda (1993, 370)

Time and again God has shown me that this whole creation consists of nothing more than His dream-thoughts. - Yogananda (1993, 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. - Yogananda (1993, 427)

False dreams. Get away from them. Every minute I see how necessary that is. - Yogananda (1993, 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.

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What is really true?

Truth is relative, and truth is absolute. - Yogananda (2000, 107)

All contrasting illusions evolved from this one underlying Cosmic Consciousness. - Yogananda (2000, 185)

This world was created for entertainment [that] is not necessary either to God or to us. - Yogananda (2000, 34)

This world, this creation, is the dream of God. - Yogananda (2000, 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 - Yogananda (2000, 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. - Yogananda (2000, 40)

This universe is God's dream. - Yogananda (2000, 49)

Watch this universe like a picture-play. - Yogananda (2000, 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." - Yogananda (2000, 50, abr)

God is dreaming this world. - Yogananda (2000, 50)

Many people don't really think. They have the consciousness that material life is everything. But this life is only a passing dream. - Yogananda (2000, 218)

I am but a figure in God's dream movie, as you are also. - Yogananda (2000, 351)

In ordinary consciousness, the body and its circumscriptions seem real, but you are actually dreaming. - Yogananda (2000, 375)

From Scientific Healing Affirmations

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

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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. - Yogananda (2003, 27)

The difference between matter and Spirit is in the rate of vibration - a difference of degree, not of kind . . . - Yogananda (2003, 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. - Yogananda (2003, 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. - Yogananda (2003, 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. - Yogananda (2007, 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. - Yogananda (2007, 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.]. - Yogananda (2007, 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. - Yogananda in Where there is Light, 2000, 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. - Yogananda (2000, 24)

Also

What Yogananda has expressed or is ascribed to him in the much 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 - Yogananda (1993, 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!" - Yogananda (1999 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 also?

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 views 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.

A few 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.

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, and that could mislead you [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 otherwise? Now:

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. If not, drop them. 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" (Sle): 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.

Here are some gleaning from earlier chapters.

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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 in a dream" or . . .?

Final Thoughts so Far

If the world is a dream, there is a dreamer also. A dreamer might be right on some issues.

Kentucky-born Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) learnt to put himself in a state that bordered between dream sleep and deep sleep, and answered questions while in that state. His clients included Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison and Irving Berlin among others.

In the 1930s, Cayce predicted that North America would experience chaos: "Los Angeles, San Francisco . . . will be among those that will be destroyed before New York". These events were to have happened "in the period of '58 to '98". They did not.

As for Yogananda, he foretold a third and fourth World War, Europe devastated, Russia annihilated, and England finished - and all before the year 2000 CE. You may say he was wrong. What are Jews told do with false prophets ? (Kriyananda 2011:125-26; 1973, ch 6).

Strange dreams, huh?