Marked Progress

Progress is of many kinds. To get or to be skilled is a good, old ideal that may still pay much. Good schooling is for that, and also training, for example in Buddhist living (all-round), and meditation (the acme). Some try to impress sayings deeply into their minds before reading them and considering some of them for a while. [See Lojong]

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A relevant example can be of far greater value than a mere saying.

Fair and lax men should have been leaders - so rare are they.

Have no personal favourites.

Ideas or good points can be grouped with skill, and also tact.

If about 90 percent of what is thought of as progress depletes the earth's resources and makes people underlings of machines, systems, and big data, it is far from progress for mankind. Progress for people and for technology differ. Little by little it shows up who rides on top.

Insight is quite a matter of intuition. A thought is grasped by personal insight. Science operates on top of insight and agreements (consensus). Sound and cogent reasoning ought not to be discarded in yoga training.

It behoves us to link up well, and the ability can be perfected.

It tastes of prowess to make practical use of the very best, gleaned tenets around. Great schooling is for that too. Further, it helps to learn to organise well if you have organising capacity.

Liars may get good at using hearsay and information of little worth and bring false teachings to indoctrinate lots of gullible innocents and sack them thereby. Some crooks produce goofs.

Many humans thrive on eating other lives, but we are free to improve it.

Mathematics and other fields of research is much rooted in deft use of intuition, shows Jerome Bruner [1966]. Many eminent scientists have operated on top of hunches, nightly dreams and intuitive capacities. In one study 70% of British scientists recognised extra-sensory perceptions (intuition) as a given fact.

Mind is naturally for taking and not all that much for giving.

One may rise above plotting "apes" of mankind eventually, even though it may not be easy.

One reason to stay fair and proficient: it may be needed for a sane future.

Seek to rise above mere slogans. How? The eminent method is called Transcendental Method. It is devised for rising beyond thought. Study methods may help somewhat too.

Skilled folks make use of what appears best and available, and learn to sift and strain "a little from here, a little from there".

The teaching of getting rid of one's ego is bad. Without our egohoods, being fools is our lot. Some bad gurus love to run roughshod over the much needed rational instance (egohood etc.) deep in man.

To take part in the advancing of general research attitudes and procedures, and accuracy, is generally OK, for cogent, rational use of one's inherent capacities can be tamed and dwarfed by superstition. Besides, many group adherents make their shared outlooks, rigmarole and more or less official canonisations strong, based on their shared assumptions and speculations mostly. That is an error, since it is seldom fit to speculate much. But even in strict standard science most assertions are quite short-lived. Many are of interest for a generation or two or three only. Deal with it; prefer the long-lived ones as soon as they are launched . . . You may have to cross the mainstream. If so, do it with tact.

Try to get a home before you feel at home.

We should not act to our losses. Stay away from a circle of bad influence as soon as you can.

What if you are yourself and thrive a whole lot for it? Put forth your best foot also; it could pay some day.

When your neighbour's house declines, beware the possibilities of your own (Miedler et al. 1996, 427].

You may be allowed to have a surplus, increase your income and get rid of your debts.