Life, 1911-02-16 · page 4 of 44
Life — February 16, 1911 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a letter-to-the-editor debate about "Prana" and the "Imaginary Life"—spiritual and mental practices gaining popularity in early 20th-century America. A correspondent questions whether Life magazine should promote mental disciplines and "Prana" (rhythmic breathing exercises) as viable alternatives to ordinary existence. The editors respond skeptically, dismissing the concept as essentially an "advertising dodge" designed to extract money from credulous readers. The cartoons mock practitioners: one shows someone in exaggerated meditation posture; another depicts a figure labeled "Henceforth, Imaginary Life for me!" in a satirical surrender to the trend. The satire targets the era's proliferation of wellness fads, New Thought movements, and self-improvement schemes promising mental transcendence—suggesting they exploit vulnerable people seeking meaning.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
at IS the Imaginary Lifo ‘ A CORRESPONDENT “WHO EX- PRESSES DOUBT IS PUT UPON THE RIGHT TRACK. E have received the following letter, which has been handed over to us by one of the departments of the unreal LIFE. By uareal, rean, of course, the coarse physical Lire, ch this typographical explanation ap- According to you I am only an illusion. That is to say, I ama plain, ordinary human being, not conscious of anything else but what I sce and feel. You sce Iam quite candid about this; and, as man to man, I desire to have you answer fairly and squarely the follow- ing questions: First—What is the Imaginary Life that you are blowizg about so much? What does it look like? How do you get one of those mental laughs out of it that you refer to? Is it as full of advertisements as the regular PR AN LiFE? If so, what's the use? be enjoying a copy of the Imagin- yogi departments, to help them; but, other than this, we have no interest in their opinions. Reading between the lines of this correspondent's letter, however, it is easy to see that it is he who is putting up a “bluff.” Underneath his trumpeted display of doubt as to our motives can be discerned an intense curiosity. He tries to make himself believe that we are a fraud, while at the same time his anxiety to find out the truth lies on the sur- face. For this reason, it gives us a peculiar pleasure to set him right. People like him are just the ones we can help the most. First—The Imaginary Life is the central emanation from Prana. Prana is the only reality—a knowledge of which can only come by rhythmic breathing. Our correspondent should therefore practice rhythmic breathing before each meal. From Prana, we unhe state, comes the Imaginary Life, which consists each week of a hun- dred or more pages of pure mental Tous droits reserves. only faintly explain this process to so pos me * Second—According to you, my ie gon S bro ZZ joy, contributed to by the master subliminal self may at this instant ro ya BSS ZZ winds of all the ages. We can MZ ” ary Life, but if I don’t know it, what difference does it make? If there is anything else that belongs to me that I haven't caught up with yet—why, I want to know it. What's the good of your telling me that my subliminal self is taking a mental joy ride, if I can’t see him doing it? Third—I notice that you offer to lend mental money to anyone who asks for it, without any secu- rity. What I want to know is: Why should anyone who leads an Imaginary Life need any mental money, anyway? And isn't this just a bare-faced bluff on your part to attract attention tothe coarse, physical Lire? It's my opinion that there isn’t anything in it but an advertising dodge to make materialistic money. Yours vulgarly, 2 P. S.—Please don’t vibrate any answer to my subliminal self. I want an animal reply. >The As a rule, we pay no attention to correspondents who accuse us of mercenary motives, or assume that we would stoop to any kind of an advertising “dodge” in order to in- crease the circulation of the physical LirE—something in which we are not particularly interested, although we un- derstand that it has been going up lately. Our reason for this silence is that no reply would do any good. We are sorry for the people who thus misjudge us, and we hope, in time, by sending them certain vib- ations through one of our Calc’ 2 x ) 0s sox & anyone not attuned to the Imagin- ary Life, but it is sufficient to say that every humorist, every joke writer who has ever lived, is now contributing to the Mental Life. In order to subscribe to this emana- tion from Prana, or the Imaginary Life, you have but to desire to send fifteen mental dollars to Gee. Ime. Mit. At the end of a week you will begin to feel better. No mat- ter what your surroundings may be, you will feel a joy-smile creep- ing over you. This is only the first number getting in its work. That's the proof. Our correspondent will get his own answer, if he only makes the initial effort. Now, it may seem foolish, but try it and sce. We guarantee the result if you are sincere. With regard to the ad- vertisements, we will say no copy of Mental Life would be com- plete without them. This is the only way that all mental desires can be for me! : ultimately satis- (Concluded on page 337 fe wa oo 0 mi comicbooks.com