Life, 1912-08-22 · page 21 of 44
Life — August 22, 1912 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical advertisement mocking the "New Thought" spiritual movements and self-help scams that were popular in early 20th-century America. Life magazine ridicules "Swami Baa Baa," a fake guru offering to cure all problems through "vibrations" for fifty dollars down. The satire targets gullible wealthy clients seeking solutions to modern anxieties: boring dinner guests, love troubles, and marital discord. One testimonial parodies the absurdity—a man claims his "astral body" works on Wall Street while he conducts business elsewhere, getting "rich by the minute." The joke exposes how spiritual charlatans exploited Americans' desires for easy fixes and escape from industrial-age stress. By treating mystical nonsense as a legitimate business service with payment plans, Life mocks both the fake swamis and the desperate people funding their schemes. The piece satirizes pseudoscience, consumerism, and the American appetite for quick self-improvement fixes.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIPE* Do You Vibrate With Joy? For Fifty Dollars Cash Down Swami Baa Baa Will Cure Any Case of Trouble Known —Daily Sessions in Life's OR the first time in history, owing to the genius of Swami Baa Ba all have at last been put upon a practical basis. In other words, we have made these ions, which comprehend all consciousness, the servant of our will, and are prepared to deal them out judiciously to all of our customers at a, vibrations countless vib: a moderate price. By taking a simple course under Swami Baa Baa, which consists of rhythmic breathing. going into the si- lence, concentrating on brass finger bowl, door knob or other shining ob- ject, and cultivating powers of astral body and subliminal self, we can make you master of the universe. In case you are short of ready cash you can pay on the instalment plan We hesitate to mention money, but these little matters would be best ad- justed at first. We have no uneasin curselves, as the moment our custom- crs come under our influence they all become prosperous. A gentleman writes: “Since beginning your course of treatment, I have trained my astral body to be on hand at my broker's office in Wall Street dur- ing the market hours, while I at the same time am attending to my regular business. 1 thus kill two birds with one stone, getting rich by the minute. Is it not possible for me to put my subliminal self to work also? He might just as well be carning good money Vibrations forever! Give my love to Swami Baa Baa and tell him that have thrown my hat into his vibratory ring I am monarch of all T survey Yours for the red, purple and sky-blue tatvas.” since I mi does is to withdraw In a short to What the Sw you first from the world. immune to every Following are a few time become discordant noise. you Vibration Parlors—All Wealth of the things that we positively guar- antee to cure. Bores—After taking our treatments bore can affect. you. Any officious friend who has just re- turned from a trip to Europe or who is getting a divorce from his wife and wishes to relate his troubles to you, or, one of no in fact, any one who is lookin; sympathy and can talk you to death— all these will have no effect upon you; you can listen by the hour, and appar- ently take it all in, while you are in ity being bathed in four hundred million vibrations a minute from the source of all power. * 2 @ Are you in love with a beautiful girl and obliged to court her in the pres- ence of others, owing to conditions of modern life? If so, take a few lessons from the Swami and it won't make any difference. You can vibrate your love messages just as well in the Penn- sylvania Railroad Station as if you were seated in a shady glen two hun- dred miles from the nearest lemon. In other words, we eliminate all the material influences and only your soul speaks. Remember, that what y« is the only unreality. If you are home at night and run up against a lamp-post, it only exists in your mind Be king of the universe and live in the syllable Om. Repeat Om four hundred times daily, at the same time breathing rhythmi- cally. In this way you will have all vibrations going and coming In case you happen to be a married man, in four lessons we can guarantee uy will enjoy yourself in your presence under all e: When she is discharging conditions. the cook, you will be at peace with all the world, being surrounded by a net- work of vibratory influences that no mere materialistic body can affect Remember that this is the greatest is Yours for the Asking movement for harmony that has Leen known. It bears the same rela- tion to daily life that prag to philosophy; we are putting the art ever atism does of living upon a proper Swami Baa Baa treats poverty daily No. matter poor won't mind it after taking how you are, you a few les- The cost of living fades away like a snowstorm on Vesuvius. Serene, the captain of your own soul, you do not depend upon physical nourishment for life. sons, Our class in magnates meets twice a week. Swami B wealthy people to enjoy themselves by the elimination of all materialistic de- sires Each one of us is three persons astral body, the subliminal self and the ar other things a of consciousness. There are also out us, personalities, which we will mention later, for it is better for the novitiate not to know too much at once. In order to eliminate trouble must go into the silence and let your mental eye dwell upon a blue disk with you yellow circumference and green sp in the middle. This is the first sta plane, After th all harmony gradually comes to y Remember that Baa Baa is the only genttine yogi in this country. He was graduated from the Deva Uni- versity of Sankhya in 1316 and is the only y seven times on the first plane of the Other yor times failed to pass the ¢ and have had to take the same course Not so with the Swami. He is and tell age an your grandmother's nickname on sight of the lower tatvi Swami gi who has been reincarnated auric envelope s have som xamination twice. supreme, can your or by sending a lock of your hair. Initial payment fifty dollars. If you n't come in person, go into the si- lence for one hour each morning until your physical body is guided right Life’t Vibration Parlors. comicbooks.com