My Swami says great northern beans are a diamond. But white beans are a black dot  avoid. On the package of dried beans I bought, it says "great northerns" but below that in smaller letters it says "large whites".  So are they northerns or whites? Do I eat them or not? I've never had them before. I don't digest beans very well, anyway. Any thoughts?

I would treat them as "great northern beans" and consider "large whites" to be a description of a great northern bean.

Great northern beans:

http://www.dadamo.com/typebase4/depictor5.pl?268

White beans:

http://www.dadamo.com/typebase4/depictor5.pl?451

The packaging could have an "800" number to call for questions during normal business hours. If so, call them to verify the type of bean used. If they are using anything other than Great Northern they will tell you.

There is no phone number on the package. I soaked them overnight in water with lemon juice, rinsed them well this morning, and cooked them over low heat until tender. I guess my husband will have to eat the rest of them because one small helping gave me terrible heart burn and I had to take a bromilaine tablet for digestion. Oh, well.