Fables of Yoga for Grown-Ups

• The knapsack, the hat, and the crumbling horn
• What kind of bird or kingly totem can be stout enough to withstand really nasty fellows, such as father-sucking devotees?
• A king tried to steal a poor man's wife - it often happens. So he had to be helped by magic - it nearly always falls later.
• The quest for a handsome bride
• Making a stubborn donkey go
• Shorthand Thoughts

The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Crumbling Horn

Mercy or pity is largely outside the real "magic" or concerns of kings.

What Kind of Bird or Kingly Totem Can Be Stout Enough to Withstand Really Nasty Fellows, Such As Father-Sucking Devotees?

Stop if you are lying, or take to lying for getting along. Also note that in the world of nature and many nations, the large or ferocious ones are hardly run over and ruined. Adamant alliance-forming and diplomacy may act for or against that, as the case may be.

A King Tried to Steal a Poor Man's Wife

It may be that our natural urges are inside weapons. And instinctive adaptations - know better than the mind-conditioned self-esteem you run along with. (Jungian thought) [cf. Olk; Jug]

The Quest for a Handsome Bride

Making a Stubborn Donkey Go

Shorthand Thoughts

• Hansel and Gretel. False friends bring no gate to reckon with a little later. (AT 327)
• Hans-my-hedgehog. A naive boy first had to harden, not soften, to marry. The tale indicates how to adapt to win a kingly babe even if you are shy and inexperienced like a hedgehog. (AT 441)
• The rabbit flock. A princess had to be united with some boy. You could get hoodwinked. Topdogs go for making servile fools of innocent people the world over. (AT 570).
• The boy of visions, he who would not tell his wildest dreams. Handsome is as handsome does. Do not tell your dreams to unwelcome intruders. Dreams can reflect intimate id aspects, intimacy. Marry rich or well in time, if you can handle what comes on later. It may not be so bad. (AT 725)
• The ardent, naive heart. Let no one steal your heart; especially not a shark. (AT 91)
• The jackal steals a baby bird. Save your home, save your nest. (AT 56)
• The midnight devil promises help, but reneges. In our days the large and hoodwinking society gets nearer and nearer to Big Brothel, and seems to have taken an inferior and downward route. (AT 821C)
• The guilty comrade falls into hell. Swearing is hardly good for anything of value. That is part of what life has shown me. (AT 136)
• The sorcerer's apprentice and the demon. It behoves a man to say the words that sends even a serviceful demon away. (AT 325*)
• The girl transformed into an animal. A raven of Self-revelation set free once and for all, could mean a lot. (AT 401)
• Quarreling vemently. In sound and good communication, bodily gestures have to take over after naive talk,when even symbols have been worn down. (AT 1365B.)
• Killing the kind bird that saved your life. A king killed a falcon for saving his life. Realising things like that a little too late in dramatic moments, makes a great impression. (AT 178)
• The ghost's son. To escape being swallowed by the earth, a man stabbed the local priest to death. He saved the church, the Icelandic congregation thought. (AT 764)
• The girl who gave her hands to her brother. With cut-off hands she could still live much like dames at court still do - being waited on, and so on. (AT 706B)
• The lore-loving Dancing Apple speaks up at last. There can be much hidden wickedness behind a family. It should be best not to rest until you have surmounted the obstacles engendered. (AT 707)
• The lord above and the one below. By perfectly concentrated Meditation [sanyama] [on the sound and the object and the thought called up by a word], there comes an understanding of the sounds uttered by all beings (Yoga Sutras 3:17)." - "By perfectly concentrated Meditation [sanyama] on mind-images is gained the understanding of the thoughts of others (Ib. 3:19)." Get a good range if you can stay sonorous for it. (AT 1355A).
• The cat husband. A girl discovered that by night the cat was a handsome prince. When she told her stepsister about the cat, the jealous stepsister killed the girl. - Not every fairy tale ends well, not every romance either. Sibling competition may get ruinous. Better take a walk. (AT 444D*)
• Treasure at home. A pedlar who lived in Swaffham dreamt that good fortune would befall him at London Bridge. There a Londoner said to him: "You are a fool to take such a journey." Then he told the pedlar of a dream he himself had had, describing a treasure trove in Swaffham. From the description, the pedlar recognised his own orchand, rushed home and found values. The tallest treasures may be at home and of the home. (AT 1645)
• The husband with a lock in his navel. The world below, is that the parts below the waist of any man or husband, in all simplicity? Being wed and kind to all sorts of aliens goes before being insulted (AT 425 L)
• The boy and the devotedthieves. A band of thieves stole a cow (and devotion) from a cowherd (insecure boy). After finding out, he visited the robbers an carried away some of their outsmarted followers' wealth. (AT 1538)
• Added: Tibetan mysticism. Tibetan lamas teach that man - or any other being - by his own thoughts and actions, creates affinities which, quite naturally, lead him to a kind of existence in keeping with the nature of these affinities. [Alexandra David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet]. The fruits of good thoughts, words and deeds are collectively known as merit. Merit may persist for a long time; stocks of it can be built up and expended . . . to ensure rebirth into a relatively pleasant situation; . . . to loosen [the world's] bonds and advance us towards Liberation. (. . .). Hence, you may be conscious of doing yourself a good turn. [John Blofeld, The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet].