This book is the first English-language translation of the collected core-teachings of the Indian sage Swami Prajnanpad (1891-1974). It captures the raw confrontive rhetoric of a brilliant philosopher, scholar and psychologist. But Prajnanpad, unknown to most of the West, was so much more. He is revealed in these pages as the hidden spiritual genius that he was. This Master was first recognized by Western seekers in the 1950s when a small contingent of French intellectuals journeyed to India to meet some of its great exemplars of wisdom. One of those seekers was the renowned TV and film producer Arnaud Desjardins, who had already met and filmed many profound dignitaries including the Dalai Lama, Sufi saints, and the luminaries of modern-day India -- Anandamayi Ma and Swami Papa Ramdas. Finally, Desjardins was directed to the backwoods of Bengal to meet Swami Prajnanpad who would transform his life. The teachings Desjardins received from his Master form a psalter of succinct life-altering prescriptions based in the most refined non-dual Vedantic tradition, yet wedded to the self-revelatory methodologies of contemporary psychology. Prajnanpad celebrated the need to express and fulfill human desires, to allow the body to feel deeply, and to recognize the immaturity of most adults in the modern world. He devised a spiritual-psychological system known as “Lyings” in which initiates would lie down and be guided to get in touch with long buried memories and stuffed emotions. Throughout the time of his apprenticeship, Desjardins kept copious notes of his teacher's recommendations (Les Formulaes). They included such pithy sentiments as the title suggests, along with many others of enigmatic and quotable worth, such as “Never believe a thought associated with an emotion.” Far from mere platitudes, however, Prajnanpad demanded that students take such teachings to a deep level, recognizing the radical action and consequences that such guidelines would demand of them. The commentaries on these pith instructions, in the words and expanded explanations of Desjardins, become a handbook of guidance for the aspirant on this path of self-knowledge. Seekers of any tradition will find here a way grounded in reality and applicable to life in the 21st century. Without such in-depth self-understanding, the author and commentator demonstrate, we will continue to remain trapped by the prisons of our own minds never reaching the full potential of our humanity. "Never believe a thought associated with an emotion." -- Swami Prajnanpad Arnaud Desjardins (1925-2011), a French spiritual teacher, began his career as a filmmaker for French TV. Through his documentary work in Asia he met eminent spiritual persons of the day, including Anandamayi Me, Swemi Ramdas, Dalai Lama and Afghani Sufi sages. His introduction to “work on self” came through Gurdjieff's teaching, particularly under Jeanne de Salzmann, and culminated in discipleship to the Hindu teacher, Swemi Prajnanped, who became his root guru. For over forty years, Desjardins worked with thousands of students worldwide. His teachings are recorded in over 20 published books. An important part of our spiritual transformation implies that we replace, little by little, the wrong laws, created by the psyche, with the understanding of the true laws that run the universe, allowing us then to get to a clearer, more objective view of ourselves and of the world. By putting us into contact with things as they are and no longer as we dream and distort them through our projections, this new point of view leads us, bit by bit, to get out of situations of conflict that we, most of the time, have created because of our ignorance, thereby allowing us to live more and more in harmony with others. It constitutes the solid ground on which may root our inner growth. Swemiji Prajnanpad's wise sayings (or “Formulas” as the French refer to them) are useful for that. They are not to be followed in a labored way. Each person is different, and the immediate step for one is not necessarily that of the other. But these maxims of life transmitted by Swemiji, if we let ourselves be soaked by them, constitute in the end a healthy ground in our psyche that becomes a type of balance for our usual thoughts. They spring up at the right moment to confirm a sudden awareness, reinforce our practice or merely inspire us. They may accompany the whole of our process and, at certain times, even play a decisive part in determining the course of our lives.