________________
APPENDIX.
Day-Dreaming to Order.*
In these days of cheap printing and of cheaper opinion we do not find it in our heart to blame the dreamer" for his rushing into print with his Dream Problem.' Some might, indeed, go further and thank him, not for the discovery of anything grand, or useful, or new, nor for the promulgation of anything genuine, but for his preaching, in a quaint and not quite uninteresting way, a certain cheap and worn out method of satisfying the natural craving for happiness which arises in every heart. One is almost tempted to congratulate "the dreamer"-whoever he be, whether the brilliant editor and compiler of the book or only some shy and backward friend of his, hiding himself behind the pseudonym to escape from the inevitable and naturally unpalatable cross-examination by friend and foeon the unique distinction of being initiated, and that in a dream, by his own mental-creature of whom it is said that he was also previously "required to act as the guru of Ram Chandra, who, born of worldly parents, had utterly forgotten bis Godhood' (p. 333).
That our friend's method is cheap does not admit of doubt, for one has only to turn oneself into a day-dreamer to realise the promised reward, the only other condition being that one should not pry too closely into the nature of the stuff to be supplied to him. We are sure to find the whole thing simple and fascinating, if we only agree to accept it on trust on the word of its propounders. We are assured by the compiler, his phantom preceptor, Vasishta, and several of the contributors to the book, that the matter is essentially one for experience, not for intellectual analysis or controversy. The procedure prescribed is the simplest imaginable: deny the reality of the world, get into bed
• A review of the "Dream Problem" by Dr. Ram Narain, L. M. S, of Delhi, published by the author himself, price in paper cover Rs. 3.
Jain Education International
www.jainelibrary.org
For Private & Personal Use Only
