ORIGINAL A’NANDA VA’N’II FOR NEW YEAR’S DAY

Baba

== ORIGINAL A’NANDA VA’N’II FOR NEW YEAR’S DAY ==

Namaskar,

This is a beautiful message for this New Year’s Day.

“Marching ahead from cimmerian darkness to the stratum divine is the true spirit of life. Staticism, superstition and narrowness stand for cimmerian darkness. Ensconcing oneself in the Cosmic Soul is the life divine. Striving ahead, together with the entire universe, along the path of spirituality is verily the greatest task for humanity. I hope, in the fresh dawn of the New Year’s day, you will all ponder anew this eternal and sacred Truth.” (A’nanda Va’n’ii #32)

Namaskar,
Paresh

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Gradually All Will be in Jail

Date: Thu 30 Dec 2010 06:38:25 -0000 (GMT)
From: Pradiip Bauer
Subject: Gradually All Will be in Jail
To: am-global@earthlink.net

Baba

Introduction to PS #2327: In the following song Baba is lovingly guiding
one disciple who is confused and totally immersed in materialism.

“Cora’ba’lir pa’r’e keno gar’e ya’o ghar…” – P.S. 2327

Purport:

Why are you building castles in quicksand. Have you never examined the
matter carefully. That structure is shaking profusely because of the
soft foundation. Since ages you have been wasting your time in
constructing that castle on quicksand. You have invested huge energy
along with blood, sweat & your own hard labour to build it. All the
while you were indulging in your own dreamland– foolishly thinking that
this “thing” will give you permanent satiation. You were never ready to
admit that this is temporary and ephemeral…

Note: In the above song quicksand means materialism and castle means
building one’s life.

== GRADUALLY ALL COUNTRIES WILL BE IN JAIL ==

Namaskar,
Security checkpoints, I.D. requests, curfews in cities, bodyguards,
metal detectors in schools, police barricades…

Terrorist attacks, pirate ships, car bombs, explosions in the market,
hotels under siege, open gunfire at crowds…

Luxury mansions, corporate profits, exploitation of resources, 1st World
vs 3rd World, starving villagers, disease-plagued communities, 1
dollar-a-day sweat-house factories…

So long as this grossly materialistic vaeshyan era is in vogue, the more
our global family will be held in check, until finally literally
everyone will be living in jail, not even able to go out to buy food or
get a drink of water without being frisked, questioned, ID checked, and
watched.

MATERIALISM BRINGS FEAR

There are finite, limited resources on this earth. And capitalists are
gobbling them all up. Whether it be oil, bananas, land, diamonds, coal,
timber, or whatever, capitalist enterprises are fast identifying and
swallowing up every perceivable resource– whether that resource exists
in their own backyard or not.

We are fast reaching that point where 99% of the world’s resources are
owned by 0.1% of the world’s people. With each and every passing day, we
move closer and closer to strangling the common citizens for the last
bit of wealth on this planet.

This is what is happening in this abhorrently materialistic era where
humanity’s infinite longing is sidetracked into the pitfalls of limited
worldly wealth.

Baba says, “Human beings have unquenchable, infinite physical longings
and out of these physical longings capitalism came into existence.”
(‘Talks on Prout’)

Baba says, “Capitalism must be forced to abandon its ferocious hunger by
taking strong measures.” (POD #2)

So when a few are gobbling up all the resources and wealth to satisfy
their misguided longing for material gain…

…In that case, there is bound to be a backlash. There is bound to be a
reaction. That is why those top capitalists are ever more fearful about
such a retaliation and increase security in every conceivable corner of
social life.

The United States employs hundreds of thousands in their intelligence
operations. Because they know well that when the US has taken all the
world’s resources then other people are not going to be happy about it
and will retaliate, sooner or later. We have now reached that point in
human history.

CAMPING TRIP EXAMPLE

Today’s global climate can be likened to one camping trip where a small
group of people embark on an outing to a small place where there are
limited resources. Then if one or two persons were to quickly hoard all
the resources on that island or hilltop, and the rest of the people had
little or no means to live, then naturally those common campers would
strike back at those who had snatched up all the resources. This is
human nature. Even people who would not normally fight or seek revenge
will rise up if a few are stealing all the wealth and forcing the rest
to live as paupers.

TERRORISTS ARE NOT THE ROOT CAUSE

So while terrorism cannot be espoused in any way, shape, or form, it
would also be foolish to deny the fact that today’s global terrorism was
born more out of capitalist exploitation than by Muslim extremism.

No doubt the Muslim religion is dogmatic and misguided in its ways, but
the current terrorist attacks did not suddenly appear out of thin air.
They are a response to a certain set of conditions: Capitalists stealing
all the world’s wealth and then legalising that process.

Thus whether they be pirates from Somalia, car bombers from Pakistan, or
hijackers from Egypt, all such terrorist attacks are a secondary
problem. The main cause is extreme capitalism where all the wealth has
been sucked up by a few. And then to retain that wealth, millions and
billions are spent on security, surveillance, and the like.

In which case, everyday citizens are forced to both (a) live in the
danger of a terrorist attack at any moment, as well as (b) be looked
upon as suspects by those greedy, fearful capitalists.

Before the rise of extreme capitalism, political leaders would casually
roam the streets without any fear or problem. But now even low-grade
politicians move around with a small army of security guards. The ripple
effect of that fear is that everyday citizens must show their ID card at
every street corner – or nearabouts.

YOUTH FEEL THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE

When certain countries have snagged all the wealth– and it is visible
for all to see on the internet– then innocent youth in far distant
lands take a vow. They think, ‘Why should I live surrounded by flies in
these slums when those people from afar have stolen our resources and
exploited our people for labor’. When such youths realise that despite
their best efforts they will never be able to become part of the
well-to-do, they reason that they have nothing to lose.

In that way, they join street gangs, or get involved in guerrilla
warfare, or sign-up in a terrorist training camp. They think this is the
only way for me to get ahead, otherwise those capitalists will just suck
me dry, just like they did to the rest of the people in my community or
country.

With this ‘nothing-to-lose’ attitude, youths take to the streets, and
today we are seeing the results.

BABA’S BLESSING

So long as capitalism is the leading system, then people’s minds will be
diverted to material gain and exploitation will be the theme of the day.
A few will have everything and the rest will have next to nothing. That
is the capitalist dream. To date, they have gotten success. And their
success has given birth to terrorism and this age where our airports and
streets are turning into maximum security prisons. This problem will
only increase with the continued rise of capitalism. By Baba’s grace we
must usher in that era of spirituality and Prout and rid the world of
the noose of capitalism.

Baba says, “These capitalists are the unworthy sons and daughters of the
Cosmic Father because they go against the principle of cosmic
inheritance. They should be cured of their ailments. To fight capitalism
is therefore within your goal.” (‘Talks on Prout’)

Baba says, “We have to divert physical longings to psychic and spiritual longings to
avoid a fratricidal war, and thereby safeguard human rights.” (PNS-15)

Namaskar,
Pradiip

***************************************
Uniqueness of Ta’raka Brahma

Baba says, “A Maha’kaola is one who makes others kaola by his infallible
spiritual guidance. But Ta’raka Brahma is a different Entity, a unique
Entity for He is the spiritual preceptor, social preceptor, Kaola, and
Maha’kaola, all in one. He is also something more: He acts as a compass
in every stratum of society.” (NKS, ’97 Edn, p.50)
***************************************

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Are Your Clothes Killing Others?

From: “Marc Pele”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: Are Your Clothes Killing Others?

Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:11:48 +0000

 

Baba

 

== ARE YOUR CLOTHES KILLING OTHERS? ==

 

Namaskar,

This article reviews one particular fashion that is wreaking havoc and causing the illness and death of thousands of people.

 

It has been the fashion to wear faded and worn looking blue jeans. Consumers in the US and Europe pay top dollar for such products. Tragically, what many do not know is that in order to make such jeans, low-paid workers in countries like Turkey, Bangladesh and elsewhere work 12hr shifts, day after day, exposing their lungs to noxious dust and poisons.

 

By this harmful process, countless workers have contracted a ghastly lung disease (silicosis) with no known cure. This leads to their imminent death.

 

This industry, which produces 5 billion pairs of jeans a year, has ruined the lives of countless young people in distressed “third-world” areas. Read below how capitalists in the denim industry have exploited so many in order to turn a big profit.

 

Our duty is two-fold:

1. We must not use such products and logically convince others to also abandon or boycott these types of jeans.

2. We must spread this message around by forwarding all reports on this topic.

 

 

BABA’S PROUTISTIC GUIDELINES

 

Before reading the below article, “Fashion Victims”, we should keep in mind Baba’s noted Proutistic guidelines:

 

1. Psycho-Economic Exploitation: In this mode, capitalists create a market for goods that the public does not need. But in their blindness and naiveté, the common people get duped by this capitalist trick. By using some or more of the below mentioned strategies, ruling capitalists have made sand-blasted jeans a big-ticket item with consumers around the globe. Well-to-do consumers buying these sandblasted jeans have plenty of clothing, but buy sandblasted pants because they are the fashion of the day.

 

Baba says, “Psycho-economic exploitation is the latest form of dangerous and all-devouring capitalist exploitation. It is a special type of exploitation which first weakens and paralyses people psychologically in various ways, and then exploits them economically. Some of the methods of psycho-economic exploitation include…the extensive propagation of pseudo-culture [like crude sandblasted jeans].” (AFPS-9)

 

In this above chapter – “Capitalism in the Three Spheres” – Baba describes further how these capitalists carry out their agenda of psycho-economic exploitation. But certainly one of the ways is introducing pseudo-culture and marketing items like stylish sandblasted jeans.

 

In our Proutistic model, there is no scope of psycho-economic exploitation whereas capitalism thrives on it.

 

2. Profit motive not service motive: Those capitalists driving the fashion industry are neither involved in the welfare of their workers nor in the welfare of the public; their only interest is to make money. Such an approach is at the utmost in the jean industry.

 

Baba says, “In capitalism the psychology of the acquisition of material wealth, be it land, money, metal or other property, strongly predominates. Such crude psychic urges and psychic pabula remain unchecked and unbridled in capitalism and turn into a hungry profit motive in the market system. As a result, traders, industrialists and business people suffer from the psychic disease of accumulating more and more wealth by any means, even to the point of depriving other human beings of their basic requirements.” (AFPS-8)

 

Baba says, “Capitalists start industries only where the following factors are available: (1) capital; (2) labour; (3) favourable [economic] climate; and (4) a ready market for sales. They always try to lessen the cost of production…In the collective economic structure [i.e. Prout] the profit motive has no place – here industry is for consumption.” (PNS-4)

 

Thus in Prout, all industries are developed based on the needs and use of society – in service to the public – not on one’s own greedy tendency. Those manufacturers of sandblasted jeans operate 100% on the capitalist motive.

 

3. Maximum Utilization: Prout stands for the greatest use of every object of this universe, so ruining jeans by sandblasting them before they are even sold diminishes the use of those items. So many in this world are in need of proper clothing, yet greedy capitalists are intentionally destroying new clothes because they have made selling worn-out clothing a fashion statement.

 

Baba says, “These four parts of the economy should be integrated and adjusted according to Neo-Humanistic principles to ensure the maximum utilization and rational distribution of all resources, and to harmonize human progress with all creation.” (AFPS-7)

 

Just as we would deem that person as crazy who builds a beautiful house and then ruins it in order to try and sell it at a costly price, and just as we would deem that person who builds a great car and then ruins it in order to sell it at a high price, similarly we can only think those who ruin good clothing via sandblasting to make a big profit are also crazy.

 

4. Unethical Jobs: Baba points out that money-lenders etc have no place in society as their occupation is just based on greed. Similarly those capitalists hiring sandblasters to make designer clothing are just involved in unethical work. They exploit the workers, the resources and the public to satisfy their greedy interest. There is no place for this type of occupation in the Proutistic model. Their only aim is to exploit others – just like moneylenders.

 

Baba says, “People should also not earn their livelihood by lending money and taking interest. Such persons want to lend more and more money to gain more and more interest, and they do not want the borrowers to refund the capital. The scriptures stipulate that people should not accept food from such people, because their occupations are despicable.” (SS-11)

 

 

SOLUTIONS

 

We should apply the principles of Prout to create healthy fashions in the garment industry and make maximal use of the materials and resources of this cosmos.

 

Unfortunately, those not understanding the ways of psycho-economic exploitation get trapped by today’s fashion tycoons. Hence education is necessary. Otherwise more and more will get cheated by their propaganda; that is how the fashion industry operates. They dupe 99% of the population with their schemes and tricks and the general people chase after those fashions like ants rushing towards juicy, dead bugs.

 

By Baba’s grace as we will successfully educate people about the ways of Prout – then harmful & exploitative practices like sandblasting jeans will become a thing of the past. Thousands of innocent workers will be spared from contracting harmful and deadly lung diseases and the resources of this universe will be properly utilized.

 

Now kindly read the below article and see what is going on.

 

Namaskar,

Mahendra

 

FASHION VICTIMS

By Jacob Resneck

 

How the denim industry’s downward price pressure exposes Bangladesh’s garment workers to lung disease.

 

About 24 kilometres from the centre of Dhaka, in the gritty industrial suburb of Savar Upazila, down a narrow path, a small sign reads ‘Latest Washing and Blasting Industries.’ It’s not much more than a large corrugated metal shack with room for three young men, who work shoulder-to-shoulder. In the centre of the shed is a waist-high mound of white sand from the nearby Jamuna River. The young men are armed with pneumatic guns that shoot the sand onto the denim jeans, their hands protected by heavy gloves. A few spurts on each side are all that’s necessary to give the denim that worn, softer look that the fashionistas crave.

 

There’s no ventilation, save for bullet-sized holes in the metal roof where rays of sunshine look like tangible cylinders from the fine dust and sand in the air. As the men work, there is a cacophony of noise and dust and it’s nearly impossible to breathe—with or without a flimsy cotton face mask that is supposed to provide protection to visitors.

 

The men who blast this river sand onto the denim jeans have even less protection: their faces are shrouded in cotton cloths, nothing more. Nearby, a boy a few years shy of puberty carries buckets of sand to feed the machines as men in their 20s blast away at the garments, only their eyes visible between strips of colourful cloth wound tightly around their heads.

 

Going through 2,200 cubic feet of sand per month and employing about 30 workers, Latest Washing and Blasting is a medium-sized operation, says manager Mohammed Toiubur Rahman. On the days there aren’t power cuts, it runs 24 hours a day in three shifts. Rahman says there are about 100 factories of similar size in the country. They turn out 150,000 pieces per month.

 

Rahman says his workers are paid 6,000 to 7,000 taka (4,000 to 4,700 rupees) per month, a decent salary for what he admits are uncomfortable working conditions. “This is hard work, so I give them more money,” he says.

 

It’s hard to say where these jeans will land. In Rahman’s office, at the far end of the shack where the blasting can still be heard, he offers a business card that boasts: 100% Export Oriented Garments Sand Blasting Industries. There are stacks of denim jeans with labels of no-name brands, but Rahman claims he sandblasts jeans bound for Wal-Mart stores and branded for Gap, H&M, Liberty and Primark.

 

This is where it gets tricky. Most of these brands deny their jeans are handled by subcontractors (ie. small operations like Rahman’s) pointing out that this explicitly contravenes their codes of conduct. Rahman could be boasting of associations that don’t exist or brands may have less control over their supply chain than they’ll admit. It’s nearly impossible to verify.

 

But what is undeniable is that the sandblasting of jeans with silica-rich sand is toxic. And the practice that takes place in this metal shack on the outskirts of Dhaka is exposing young men and boys to highly dangerous conditions. The workers here seem unaware of the hazard. “We just have our mask and that’s enough for our protection,” says 20-year-old Mohammad Masud Rana, who’s worked here since he was 18 and lives nearby with his shift-workers in Savar. He seems reluctant to speak further.

 

Even Rahman, who seems sincere, earnest and perhaps even flattered to have foreign visitors to his workshop, says the process is safe. “There’s no chemicals, only sand,” he says. “They take two bandannas and that’s all they need. It’s not harmful.”

 

But this isn’t true. For years, the process of pre-fading jeans for the export market was outsourced to Turkey. But political agitation led by doctors, artists and trade unions eventually forced the hand of the Turkish government, which banned silica abrasives in sandblasting in March 2009. For good reason. The sand used in the machines— natural sand from the beach—contains silica. One of the most common minerals in the earth’s crust, when inhaled it does irreparable damage to the lungs. This causes a disease called silicosis. There have been 600 confirmed cases of garment-industry silicosis in Turkey, with as many as 44 deaths in the past decade.

 

For years, silicosis was unheard of among textile workers. It’s an occupational disease mostly found among labourers digging in the ground or crushing rocks. In India, silicosis is prevalent among workers who grind and polish gemstones. The Ancient Greeks were known to have identified silicosis among quarry workers, but it took a largescale industrial disaster involving Union Carbide to bring the disease to the fore.

 

In 1927, about 3,000 labourers in the US state of West Virginia were working on a tunnel to divert a river in a hydroelectric project. When the workers encountered a high deposit of silica, they were asked to mine it for Union Carbide. No masks were provided and the workers breathed the silica dust as they crushed the mineral. Subsequent hearings by the US government caused the first laws against silica-exposure to be put in place.

 

IN THE EARLY 1990s Turkey was emerging as a booming centre for textile exports. This success lured thousands of young men from impoverished areas—ethnic Kurds in the southeast as well as migrants from former Soviet republics like Georgia and Azerbaijan.

 

“I was a kid when I started in this sector,” recalls Abdulhalim Demir, a 29-year-old ethnic Kurd who at the age of 15 was one of thousands from his predominately Kurdish Bingöl province in eastern Turkey to work in the garment industry. He found work in a shop sandblasting denims to give the pants the worn, slightly distressed look coveted by trendy consumers. “It was easy—they let me sandblast for an hour and then take a 20-minute break.”

 

Demir did not realise the dangers to which he was exposed. “There is no specific treatment; there is no cure,” says Doctor Zeki Kilicaslan, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Istanbul University and leading activist for afflicted textile workers.

 

Demir says he worked almost five years as a sandblaster and foreman in shops finishing jeans destined for the international market. He’s since lost half his lung capacity. His condition has stabilised but his doctors say a new infection could be fatal for the father of three.

 

Now activists in Turkey charge that international brands have taken their business east, where health and safety laws are even weaker. “It’s typical behaviour of a multinational— just jump, jump, jump,” says Engin Sedat Kaya, a trade union leader in Istanbul. “This technique has been strongly banned in market countries. Maybe this is legal but it’s not ethical.”

 

ONE OF THE FEW ECONOMIC SUCCESS STORIES to come out of Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries, is a garment industry that has grown phenomenally over the past 25 years. Last year garments made up about 80 percent of the country’s 15.5 billion dollars in exports.

 

Major international brands such as Levi Strauss, H&M, Gap and Wal-Mart have shifted more production to a nation where labour is cheap yet has been able to produce quality products. With legions of unemployed men and women desperate for jobs, garment workers have not seen a rise in the minimum wage since 2006, when, after eight years, it was raised from 930 taka (611 rupees) to 1,662 taka (1,092 rupees) per month. Most now agree that this isn’t enough to survive on—and many opt to work excruciatingly long shifts in order to earn overtime. Outbreaks of violence over pay are not uncommon, which have led the government to agree to form a commission to consider a rise in minimum wage.

 

Most international brands deny using suppliers that sandblast with silica. Heightened awareness—at least in Turkey and Europe—successfully led to agitation that put brands on the spot. The Gap says it has prohibited the use of silica sand since 2006.

 

“We’ve not placed any denim orders requiring (silica) sandblasting since 2006,” says Daniel Rubin, a Gap spokesman, via phone from the company headquarters in San Francisco. Other brands take a similar line. “Sandblasting material must contain less than one percent crystalline silica due to health reasons,” H&M spokeswoman Andreas Roos wrote in an email from the company’s headquarters in Sweden.

 

Rather than use silica-rich natural sand, many brands require aluminium oxide grit be used as an alternative. According to H&M’s own reports, in 2007 three quarters of its suppliers in South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) were found to be using silica-rich sand. Its follow up report claims that this figure dropped to 18 percent in 2008. Even when aluminium oxide grit is used, some workers are offered no protection at all. But even the more dangerous silica-rich sandblasting continues in Bangladesh and verifying the claims of suppliers and international brands is extremely difficult. “I think it’s a real challenge, monitoring the supply chain,” admits Rubin, the Gap spokesman.

 

“We require and check that manufacturers take the appropriate steps to avoid silicosis. We apply the same requirements regardless of country of manufacture,” insists Roos, the H&M spokeswoman.

 

Primark, a budget brand popular in the UK and Ireland, released a statement through a public relations firm in London. It doesn’t deny that its suppliers may use abrasives with silica but rather used the rationale that it follows industry norms. “In general, more than 95 percent of factories that supply Primark also supply other high street/international retail brands,” the statement reads.

 

In the statement Primark further claims to have invested in a number of measures, including warning signs in factories so that workers are aware of the dangers of exposure to crystalline silica dust. But there is a caveat in the statement: “while third-party suppliers may be aware of the dangers, and have put in place mechanisms to protect workers, these are not sufficient in every case.”

 

We go to one of the washing plants where the denim jeans are finished before they are ready to ship. Latest Washing and Blasting contracts with about a half-dozen of these washing plants. One of them is S-Bright, just down the road.

 

Kamal Hossain is the washing plant’s owner and he says “100 percent” of his garments are for export.

 

Business may be booming but price pressures from brands and larger suppliers further up the chain are causing him grief. “We struggle with price,” he admits. “Buyers, they force it down.” He rattles off figures. Sandblasting, once about 5 dollars per dozen, is now about half that. Washing was once 1.5 dollars per dozen but has dropped to less than a third of that. He complains that only the big players, who control the politically connected Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, are benefiting from Bangladesh’s garment industry miracle. “The BGMEA are getting big money from the brands, but it’s not coming down to me.”

 

THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM has a devastating effect on the rights of Bangladesh’s garment workers. Babul Akhter, president of the National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh, which claims 12,000 members in 20 different factories, says, “In

Bangladesh, there are a lot of unemployed workers so we cannot really bargain with the owners.”

 

Less than one percent of Bangladesh’s garment factories are unionised, according to the United States Agency for International Development. This is despite the existence of more than 40 labour unions and around ten labour federations. “The trade union movement in readymade garments has traditionally been very weak,” says Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Dhaka-based think-tank. Some of the trade unions are even created by the entrepreneurs in order to give a semblance of an organised workforce.

 

Khorshed Alam heads the Alternative Movement for Resources and Freedom Society, a non-governmental organisation that—among other things—keeps tabs on other NGOs. “This country is flooded with NGOs,” he says. “It’d be better to open a grocery store than another NGO.” He complains of corruption and incompetence among labour unions that often fight with each other rather than organise workers. “It looks like the unions are pushing for [higher wages] but I saw how the unions were playing a very negative role, joining hands with the owners, taking bribes.”

 

Getting trade unions to work toward a common cause has also been challenging, agrees Gagan Lal Rajbhandari, deputy director of the International Labour Organization’s mission in Bangladesh. “As in some countries—especially developing countries—there is multiplicity in the trade unions so we are working on ways to bring them together,” Rajbhandari says. “One might say there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

 

This is evidenced by speaking with ZM Kamrul Anam, the president of Bangladesh Textile and Garment Workers League, which claims a membership roll of 52,000 textile workers. Sandblasting or silicosis aren’t even on his radar. “In Bangladesh we have not yet heard anything of this because people are unaware of these safety issues,” he admits.

 

A DINGY HIGH-RISE IN THE COMMERCIAL CENTRE of Dhaka, the Ministry of Labour’s Inspectorate of Factories has few computers or signs of recent investment. Stacks of papers in binders are piled high among desks, only some showing signs of being used. Shafiqul Islam, a statistician in the department, prints out the roster of workers in the department.

 

In March of this year, it showed that the factory inspector division had 37 vacancies out of a total of 65 jobs.

 

“It’s a government policy,” he says with a simple shrug to explain the empty chairs. But that’s not all. “Our main problem is logistical support,” he says, explaining that the department has no vehicles and inspectors are required to ride crowded public buses to visit work sites. “If we had our own transportation we could easily go there.” But instead inspectors are wary of spending half their day sitting in traffic as the clogged buses inch their way through traffic. He relates anecdotes of inspectors falling prey to pickpockets on the bus and being “completely helpless” in garment centres like Gazipur, a two-hour drive from the headquarters in Dhaka.

 

But factory-level activists seem even more fearful of authorities here. “Not only my phone, all the people’s phones are monitored,” says Nazma Akhter of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation. As an 18-year-old she began organising in a t-shirt factory where she’d worked alongside her mother since the age of 11. “We were blacklisted, sacked, beaten by police and the management was bringing [in] the goons.”

 

Three members of Bangladesh’s Special Branch—the intelligence wing of the nation’s police—even pay me a visit while reporting this piece. Akbar Doulat and his two silent colleagues arrive promptly at 9 am in the hotel lobby. They wear ironed shirts, pressed slacks and expensive mobile phones are holstered on gleaming leather belts. They gently question me over coffee. “Garments here is a lot of money,” the policeman says, fingering his yellow collared shirt to emphasise his point. “It’s made here so cheaply and sold out there for so much.”

 

Being a visitor on a tourist visa, admitting my interest in health and safety in the garment industry would be tantamount to signing my own deportation order. After about an hour, the inspector releases me with a warning. “You are welcome here as a tourist,” says Doulat, his gaze steady. “Stay away from NGOs.” The police have an army of informants, he adds, who would report back on my movements.

 

GETTING INSIDE A GARMENT FACTORY isn’t easy. Plants are constantly the site of unrest over late payments of wages or worker safety. Unless you’re there to do business, the gates are often highly secured. Economic Development Zones—sprawling industrial areas like Savar Upazila on the outskirts of the major cities of Dhaka and Chittagong—produce for

international brands with household names.

 

Getting access to the factories, unless pre-planned and scripted, is even more difficult for doctors. “Even we can’t enter—they don’t allow sometimes,” complains Dr SK Akhtar Ahmad, director of the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine in Dhaka. “Normally, they don’t allow visitors. If they allow [inspectors] it’s a visit with very limited access.”

 

It was Turkish doctors that sounded the alarm over silicosis amongst sandblasters. A published study in 2008 found that of 145 former sandblasters examined, 83 percent had respiratory problems and more than half had developed silicosis—evident from chest x-rays. “Considering the high prevalence of silicosis in such workplaces, further problems are inevitable in the future unless effective measures are taken,” wrote lead researcher Dr Metin Akgun at Ataturk University in Erzurum, Turkey.

 

But medical professionals in Bangladesh have yet to make any connections between lung patients and sandblasting. Dr Mohammad Abul Faiz is a former Director General of Health Services, the office responsible for overseeing the country’s health. He listens intently to a description of the hazards workers blasting jeans are exposed to and admits to being ignorant of the practice but says he’d like to learn more. Clothing manufacturers are often shielded by the government. “The garment industry is a big source of foreign currency for Bangladesh,” he says. “Occupational health is always not addressed appropriately for a variety of reasons.” Faiz says regulations and protections exist but are not always possible to enforce, a point heard again and again in this country.

 

Whether garment workers have fallen ill from silicosis is a question that remains unanswered. Doctors, nurses and even labour advocates have little to no awareness of the risks and it seems unlikely that an impoverished garment worker could reach a lung specialist even if he were to fall ill. “We on the medical side cannot know the technical data because of the lack of studies,” admits Dr Mohammed Shahedur Rahman Khan, assistant professor at the National Institute of Chest Disease and Hospital. An impromptu tour of his hospital’s wards, the second largest in the country, fails to turn up a single former sandblaster, though some had worked around sandblasting and were familiar with the practise.

 

“I saw with my own eyes that from river sand they treated jeans and other things,” recalls 28-year-old Mohammed Abul Kalam, a patient who had been admitted a week earlier for coughing up blood. “The guys that worked there, the company did not supply them with masks and some could not afford them.”

 

Most shops we saw had at least paper masks but fell far short of the expensive respiratory masks required when working with silica-rich natural sand. “It’s inadequate,” agrees Dr Mirza Mohammad Hiron, head of the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital. “Those paper masks give no protection.” But the only silicosis victims he’s encountered have been stoneworkers.

 

Yet diagnosing silicosis is difficult, as it shows common symptoms found in other respiratory diseases like asthma or even tuberculosis. “We receive patients with respiratory distress but we often treat it as asthma,” says Dr Ahmedul Kabir, an assistant professor at Dhaka Medical College.

 

And it’s telling that Dr Mohammad Nazibur Rahman Khan, who runs the largest health clinic in the area and sees many garment workers, says that “in Savar, [in February] there were 95 confirmed cases of tuberculosis.”

 

(Page 3 of 3)

 

WITH AN EMASCULATED LABOUR MINISTRY and ineffectual and corrupt labour sector, policing the health and safety of garment workers has largely been left to the international brands themselves who are most concerned with seeming like

good corporate citizens.

 

Consumer pressure is the only weapon they have to force brands like H&M to protect worker safety. “The power is held in our country, where our companies are inflicting this on the rest of the world,” says British activist Anna McMullen at Labour Behind the Label, a rights group based in England. Around the corner from her office in the English port city of Bristol, the shops advertise brand new fashion jeans for as little as 15 pounds (1,015 rupees) a pair. The downward pressure on consumer prices translates into more pressure on suppliers to produce quickly and cheaply.

 

McMullen argues that this kind of cheap fashion has a high human cost. This was illustrated in Dhaka when a garment factory under contract with H&M caught fire last March. Workers were locked inside, fire escapes were blocked and 21 people perished while another 50 were seriously injured.

 

Recriminations flew and the brand was immediately the target of international condemnation. Like its competitors, H&M has a robust Corporate Social Responsibility department (CSR). These are offices on the ground meant to ensure suppliers comply with minimum health and safety requirements lest the sweatshops become an ethical liability for the brands that they supply.

 

CSR staffers don’t usually talk to the press. But outside business hours in the cafeteria of Dhaka University, a former student turned CSR officer agrees to speak to me, as long as I don’t reveal his name. He’s since abandoned campus radicalism and gone to work for Wal-Mart.

 

Since 2002, he says he’s visited about 60 washing plants that use sandblasting and very few are outfitted with proper safety masks. As an industry inspector for Wal-Mart, suppliers have no choice but to open their doors to him, and he’s seen workers in sandblasting shops exposed to deadly hazards.

 

“I know in some countries it’s already banned—like in Turkey,” he says. “Now they practice it in different washing plants and they’re just using paper and cotton masks.”

 

The audit teams hired by international brands are honestly trying to prevent lapses in health and safety, even when the business office is focused on the bottom line. “Brands are mostly concerned with quality and punctual delivery,” he says.

 

Brands have gone to great lengths to clean up their image, translating into grandiose corporate social responsibility reports, factory auditors and, in the case of Bangladesh, even a letter to the prime minister urging the government to raise the minimum wage in the interests of social stability.

 

“Unrest among the workers in this sector is seen as a risk among our companies and could cause damage to the reputation of Bangladesh as a reliable sourcing market,” reads the letter signed by a dozen brands, including Levi’s, Wal- Mart, H&M and Gap. “It is a discomforting fact that the current minimum wage level in Bangladesh is below the poverty line calculated by the World Bank and thus does not meet the basic needs of the workers and their families.”

 

LEVI’S AND WAL-MART were both signatories to this letter. Levi’s began supplying Wal-Mart in 2002; by early 2004, they’d closed the last of their US factories and moved all their production offshore. To be fair, the Levi’s facilities in Bangladesh were some of the safer ones. At Opex Apparel in Dhaka’s Narayanganj District, workers were observed using

sandblasting guns that sprayed aluminium oxide grit rather than the cheaper silica- rich natural sand. They were even outfitted with respiratory masks with air being pumped into them. Resembling astronauts, they were fully protected from the clouds of metallic grit that ground the jeans. The only apparent lapse was that the workers sorting pairs of jeans alongside them wore no protection.

 

After contacting Levi’s to report that not everyone was wearing their masks, the company responded within 72 hours to say it had conducted a surprise audit on the factory.

 

“We confirmed your reporting, that not all workers in the area were wearing masks,” wrote company spokeswoman Kelley Benander in an email to The Caravan. She said the team had told the factory to draw up a health and safety plan that meets the company’s standards. “We will continue to assess Opex on a regular basis to ensure that this corrective action plan has been implemented.”

 

If only all suppliers were under so much scrutiny. But they aren’t. Many suppliers subcontract their work to make things cheaper and faster, even though they risk losing lucrative supply contracts if they’re caught. “Sometimes the front office, the front factory, is compliant and you know they can’t supply that much product,” explains Mustafizur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. “But they are supplying from subcontracts and those subcontracts may not comply.”

 

But the bottom line remains the bottom line. Rahman says there’s a disconnect between a brand’s inspector and the in-house buyers whose mission is to keep production costs down. On a pragmatic level, brands would like to see higher wages to stave off the industrial unrest that has been known to explode among dissatisfied garment workers.

 

“If there is some commotion or turmoil in our industrial belt there is not a single entity that can really control the agitation or sit on behalf of the workers,” he warns. Brands realise that this does not bode well for stability in the sector, he says. Past statements from the garment sector’s industry group, the BGMEA, have often tried to lay the blame on foreign agitators bent on destroying Bangladesh’s lucrative industry. But few take this claim seriously.

 

What is clear is that as long as consumers seek the cheapest garments and brands race to the bottom in prices, there will continue to be a system that will perpetuate deplorable working conditions in places like Bangladesh.

 

International brands, on many levels, do try to stabilise the situation by pressuring for better workplace conditions. But they, like their customers, are loath to pay the extra premium for safety. “When they are sourcing they go for the cheapest source,” Rahman says. “So there is what we call a hypocrisy between ethical buying and ethical sourcing.”

 

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“See the Bright Side”

From: Satiish K Bhatia”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: Solution: “See The Bright Side”

Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 06:53:33 +0530

 

Baba

 

“Toma’r a’sa’-ja’oya’ hoy na’ kabhu, prabhu ekatha’ jeneo na’ ja’ni…” –

P.S. 274

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You always remain with me & with everyone eternally; that is why

it is said that Your arrival and departure never happens. I am aware about

this eternal truth, but even then I do not know and I remain forgetful. I

know this very thing but also I do not know.

Your welcoming and Your farewell are not possible because You are

eternally present. This is such a mysterious thing that I know and even

then I do not know. I do not like to believe. Sometimes I think You are

near and sometimes I think You are far. That is my misunderstanding.

Baba, You have created this world in such a way that when anything is

flourishing or blooming that very time the seed of destruction is hidden

within. In due course it perishes. This type of divine play is going on in

this cosmic cycle, eternally.

On the one side with Your two eyes You saturate everyone with Your love,

and on the other side from Your third eye the flame of fire is coming which

burns everything. In this creation of Yours the sweetness of effulgence is

always accompanied by the black shadow of death which falls gradually. But

in this entire divine play You are the black shadow and You are also the

effulgence; You are everything. Baba Your welcoming and farewell never

happens because You are omnipresent…

 

 

== SOLUTION: “SEE THE BRIGHT SIDE” ==

 

Namaskar,

With 2010 drawing to a close and our organisation now riddled by problems

for 2 long decades, as a family we must critically understand what we must

do to right our ship. This letter offers some thoughts: “We must see the

bright side.”

 

Every Ananda Margii is aware that Baba guides us to “see the bright side of

everything” (See Note 1). And while the phrase seems to be quite simple,

still there remains some basic misunderstanding about this by a few persons.

Let me explain further.

 

 

SEEING THE BRIGHT SIDE MEANS

 

ROOTING OUT ALL DOGMAS

 

In dharmic fashion Baba sets the tone that in our AM we are to see the

bright side of everything and side by side oppose all sorts of dogmas,

exploitation and wrongdoings in order to guide the society on the proper

path. However a few people in their confused & superficial way cannot grasp

how this is all working together. So instead they foolishly reason that

seeing the bright side means not pointing out the negativity in society, or

not fighting against injustice. But this is just their daydream.

 

For greater clarity then we should see Baba’s practical working style and

other related examples to best understand the inner sense of “see the

bright side”. And we must learn that by this very system we can clean

the organisation as well – ridding it from dogmas and groupism. That

is the need of the hour as 2011 is now upon us.

 

 

EXAMPLE OF RAISING CHILDREN

 

In one regard it is just like how parents view their children. Proper

parents always see the bright side with regards to their children’s growth

and development. With love and affection they see everything; they never

overlook the lesser qualities. And by this way they are seeing the bright

side and watching out for their child’s welfare.

 

For example a mother may think, ‘Okay my child has 80% very good things but

to help them improve and make them more bright certain aspects of their

life need correction.’ So the mother lovingly tells her child, “Don’t be

lazy. Study more. Go and prepare your lessons.” All those things she tells.

By this way she identifies and addresses the defective behaviours of the

child. All done with the benevolent motive to correct those wrong habits

and thus increase the brightness of her child. Means this is seeing the

bright side.

 

Whereas ‘seeing the negative side’ means if anybody does not want to make

someone else better, then they will only abuse others with the intention to

put them down. Many persons do like that. But this is very bad and this is

not at all working hand in hand with seeing the bright side. (See Note 2)

 

That’s why Baba guides us that we should have a sympathetic opinion

regarding the person to whom we are dealing. And then find out their

mistake, and remove that.

 

 

SEEING THE BRIGHT SIDE MEANS RECTIFICATION

 

The whole spirit then behind “seeing the bright side” is to rectify the

defects in order to build up a seamless and vibrant society. And who is not

aware that the present humanity is suffering from many ailments. So in

dharmic fashion Baba exposes all the various problems and ailments that

are present in the society. Such as dogma, negativity, exploitation by

capitalism, crudity of communism, and many more things. Baba is

highlighting the fact in bold letters that now society has very little on

the good side. To rectify the situation, Baba guides us to think in a

pointed way and remove the disparities and exploitation. Then society’s

brightness will come and shine more and more.

 

Hence by seeing the bright side the main intention is to fix the problem.

To make others aware about the defect and address and repair it. And make

the situation better and better. So in AM our aim is to fix society’s

various problems. And toward that end Baba has also graciously given the

solution to each and every problem as well. So ours is the practical approach.

 

In contrast, those who just criticize and abuse others without ever

offering any solution– that approach is negative (See Note 3). And no

well-intentioned person will do like this.

 

For example, a mother doesn’t only criticize her child. Rather the mother

instructs, “Don’t be lethargic and negligent about your health & hygiene.

Go and take bath.” So here the mother’s basic point is: ‘don’t be lazy on

the point of cleanliness’. So this is not mere criticism. Because

immediately following comes the direction to go and take a bath. And by

that way the child will be clean. So the intention of the mother is to

improve the child’s condition. This is seeing the bright side.

 

Similarly if someone says that “My neighbor often gets himself drunk and

may one day hurt himself. We should help him.” Out of a feeling of concern

if someone talks this way about their neighbor, then that is not a negative

action. Rather, it is positive. Because the person wants to make their

neighbor better– he wants to see his brightness more shining. And in that

way a solution has been given to help him.

 

Likewise people wash their clothes with the same positive motive– to

remove the stain and make their clothes more fresh. So finding out the

stain does not mean one is seeing the negative side or indulging in

anything detrimental. Rather by taking the time to remove the dirt one is

making everything brighter and more clean.

 

 

BABA DURING DHARMA SAMIIKSA

 

And of course the top example of all is Baba’s role during Dharma Samiiksa.

There, in historic fashion, Baba goaded so many sadhakas unto the path of

supreme beatitude by lovingly pointing out their defects and mistakes.

And in this way those devotees moved ahead with increasing speed toward

their cherished Goal.

 

 

DONE WITH BENEVOLENCE, NOT LIKE COMMUNIST APPROACH

 

So in this process of “Seeing the bright side”, the benevolent motive is

the main factor. Whereas those seeing the dark side criticize without the

intent to help. That is where their approach is wrong and completely

poisonous.

 

For example, take the case of the communist’s approach (See Note 3).

Communists always try to blacken the name of the capitalists by telling

about their negative qualities like greed etc. But the communists’ approach

is completely wrong. These communists are a prime example of those who see

only the dark side. They see the negativity, abuse the capitalists, but

they don’t have any solution. They don’t have any solution or positive way

to fix the problem and elevate the standard of society. Just out of their

self-interest they are tall talking about other’s black spots. By this way

those who do not understand get befooled by those communists.

 

A related approach happens with political parties in the democratic system

as well. In the US, mostly Republicans but Democrats as well, such party

leaders only aim is to sabetage the other party’s programs to make them look

bad. This manner has nothing to do with “seeing the bright side.”

 

Likewise, nowadays the various group camps in the organisation are endlessly

involved in underming and and mudslinging one another. The reason their

manner is mudslinging and not “see the bright side” is because heir only intention

is to put the other group down and gain the power. Righting the organisation by

following ideology is not their way.

 

 

OUR AM APPROACH IS TOTALLY POSITIVE

 

Whereas our true approach in AM – Baba’s example – is not like that and the

directive ‘See the bright side’ works in a completely different way.

 

Regarding the defects of capitalism Baba outrightly exposes the

short-sighted, materialistic, and selfish nature of capitalism. And side by

side He provides the Prout– which is the perfect solution. Because by

implementing Prout everybody will become healthy, and everybody’s face will

be shining with joy. Because step by step the physical problems will

vanish, the psychic ailments will be identified and solved, and by this

will people will be able to advance in the field of spirituality. And thus

build up a strong and healthy God-centered society.

 

So all around, Ananda Marga’s teaching is ensconced in the motive of

welfare: By pointing out the injustices and negativity, fixing the problem,

and leading the whole society along the path together to the final

desideratum.

 

And that is what we must do in order to rid our Marga from groupism: Identify

the problem and solve it by implementing Baba’s neo-humanistic teachings.

 

 

BABA’S BLESSING

 

Hence the supreme spirit of “See the Bright Side” is imbibed in each and

every moment of Baba’s working style and is embedded within the entire AM

ideology.

 

Thus as Ananda Margiis we are living in the world, and our duty is that we

should help clean the society and make it better. Likewise we are living in

this organization (AMPS) so our duty is to not overlook the wrongdoings.

 

Rather, we should find out the problems and fix them. If something is not

going according to Baba’s teaching then we should rectify that. By this way

our organization will be better and better.

 

By properly following the inner spirit of Baba’s divine guideline of “See

the bright side” that is the only way to move ahead and build up a healthy

and vibrant society free from exploitation.

 

Namaskar,

Satiish

 

 

NOTE 1: SEE THE BRIGHT SIDE

 

During countless DMC gatherings and on other auspicious occasions

Baba graciously recites the following Sanskrit shloka in giving His

blessing– the central idea being: “See the bright side of everything”.

 

“Sarve’tra sukhinah bhavantu sarve santu nira’maya’h;

Sarve bhadra’n’i pashyantu na kashcid duhkhama’pnuya’t.

Onm’ sha’ntih onm’ sha’ntih onm’ shantih.”

 

 

NOTE 2: BENEVEOLENT INTENTION IS A MUST

 

Here below Baba points out that if someone only indulges in

pointing out the negativity in others without any benevolent intention to

build up their character then that is very harmful and wrong. That is 100%

against the spirit of seeing the bright side. Please read the below examples.

 

Baba says, “In many cases the behaviour of teachers is far more despicable.

Even after studying volumes of books on psychology teachers deliberately

hurt the sentiments of their students with offensive remarks. Instead of

trying to reform the bad habits of their students, they assail their minds

with caustic language.” (HS-1, p.8)

 

Baba says, “There are many teachers who wound the sentiments of a student

by ridiculing either his caste or his father’s profession saying, “The

plough suits you better than the pen, my boy,” or “You had better join your

father at the potters wheel.” Even today such utterances come out of the

mouths of many teachers.” (HS-1, p.8)

 

Baba says, “If a student is ugly there are teachers who will grimace and

say, “Your intelligence is like your appearance.” In addition to all these

offensive remarks, many teachers adopt other methods of torture and

intimidation while presenting their lessons.” (HS-1, p.8)

 

So in these above examples those misguided teachers are not acting

according to the spirit of welfare. Hence their ways have nothing to do

with seeing the bright side.

 

 

NOTE 3: NEGATIVE LEFTIST APPROACH

 

We have seen how communists only indulge criticism after criticism

without any practical intention to remedy the situation.

 

Baba says, “Those who are leftists in the world are even more

dangerous…they are deliberately seeking out the dark and dirty aspects

of life and, like flies, growing fat on the secretions of society’s

festering sores. It must be remembered that flies do not heal sores–

rather they exacerbate them, because the very puss of these sores provides

them with their vital juice. So the filthy aspects of society are the only

wealth on which these [leftists] subsist.” (PNS-10, p. 24)

 

 

***************************************

Uniqueness of Ta’raka Brahma

 

Baba says, “A Maha’kaola is one who makes others kaola by his infallible

spiritual guidance. But Ta’raka Brahma is a different Entity, a unique

Entity for He is the spiritual preceptor, social preceptor, Kaola, and

Maha’kaola, all in one. He is also something more: He acts as a compass in

every stratum of society.” (NKS, ’97 Edn, p.50)

***************************************

 

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Cause of Terrorism

To: AM-GLOBAL

From: “Phoenix Chapman”

Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2010 14:35:28 -0700

Subject: Cause of Terrorism

 

Baba

 

“Tumi bha’lor bha’lo saba’r mukh ceye…” – P.S. 3392

 

Purport:

 

Baba, among all the beauties You are the most beautiful. Baba, You look

after and care for everyone. You have lovingly brought the divine

effulgence– taking trouble to cross the cimmerian darkness to reach here.

Baba, smiling blissfully in the rhythm and tune and showering Your divine

love, You go on fighting against innumerable obstacles in order to save the

devotees. Baba, You saturate everyone’s heart with Your divine love.

Baba, everyone is Your very close and intimate relation; no one is alien

for You. Everyone is most dear to You; everyone is the jewel of Your eyes.

Baba, by Your grace, You go on thinking and caring about one and all. Baba,

keeping everyone along with You, You go on moving forward on Your divine

path.

 

Baba You are ever-present with everyone. You saturate everything and

everyone with Your divine love and grace. Whether it be on those sadhakas

who are calling out to You while undergoing penance on the dark amavasya

night of the nil moon, or on those suppressed people undergoing untold

suffering that was never spoken about. You fill everyone’s heart with the

soothing balm. Baba, You have graciously lifted & lovingly placed those

downtrodden people– who were lying in the dust– on Your divine lap.

Baba You are most beautiful and You grace everyone immensely. Baba, Your

glory cannot be explained…

 

 

== CAUSE OF TERRORISM ==

 

Namaskar,

These days more and more efforts are being made to stop terrorism: body

scanners at airports, more ID checks, and so much snooping, spying, prying

and peeking.

 

The million dollar question, in the minds of many people around the globe,

is: How to put at end to terrorism. From Saudi Arabia to France, and from

Afghanistan to Washington DC, the burning question is, ‘What makes these

terrorists tick?’, ‘How to end the war on terror?’.

 

And certainly the answer or solution is quite straight forward. It is not

at all difficult. Baba has made it plain as day. Yet it remains elusive to

those “most adamantly involved” in seemingly wanting to end the war on

terror– such the various leaders of the so-called free world.

 

Here then we should address the matter at the very root. Why do people

become ‘terrorists’, and how do we put an end to their terrorist activities.

And indeed everyone should write in with their thoughts and ideas on this

burning topic which, at this point in time, so wholly consumes our planet.

 

 

NOT JUST MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS

 

Many think that terrorism is a matter of faith. They think that in order to

be a terrorist one must be of the Islamic religion. However, this just is

not so. Certainly, the Muslim faith has its faults & defects and surely we

all know that Islam is the home to some of the world’s most sought after

terrorists, even then it has to be recognised that in and of itself, the

Muslim faith is not the root cause of today’s terrorism. Islam is not the

source of people’s terrorist leanings.

 

 

TERRORISM IS A BROAD TERM CARRIED OUT BY MANY PEOPLE

 

To understand the situation better, we have to recognise that terrorism

exists on many levels and to varying degrees. At this point in time, on the

most global & destructive level, team Bin Laden exerts its terror on the

most well-known monuments and edifices around the world. But that is not

the only plane in which terrorism exists.

 

For example, in Los Angeles, NYC, or any major American city, there are

gangs comprised predominantly of black Americans or Hispanics that create

terror on the streets– senselessly harming, robbing, and killing others

and making otherwise good neighborhoods totally unsafe.

 

Similarly, in India, there are numerous villagers and townspeople who at

any moment may wantonly burn a loaded passenger train down to the ground or

ruin any number of public properties, thereby threatening the welfare of

innocent people.

 

Another case in point is in France, where angry youths, who are French-born

but of Algerian or Moroccan descent, engage in car burning and other gross

acts of vandalism on a nightly basis.

 

And certainly we have all heard the horrific tales of what senseless

destruction and hostile attacks go on in South Africa, Honduras, Iran,

Turkey, Israel, and so many other countries around the globe.

 

By this wide-angle view, it becomes quite clear that terrorism and its

subsidiary categories of extreme vandalism, heated rebellion, and even

non-cooperation, are not confined to the Muslim world alone.

 

 

WHAT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF TERRORISM

 

In each and every human being there is a desire to express. People want to

share their smiles and joys with those around them and communicate the

various ideas that blossom in the seed vessels of their mind. People have

an inherent desire to share their finer qualities with those around them in

a nice manner. In essence, everyone wants to live on this earth in a

benevolent way.

 

Baba says, “By nature human beings are peace-loving, not war-loving.” (PNS-17)

 

Thus people are genuinely good and wish to share their human quality with

others.

 

So then what is the problem? Why is that terrorism exists– in one form or

another– on every continent and in every country around the globe?

 

It happens when people’s basic human rights are taken away. When people

feel repressed, constricted, fed-up, and suffocated by the ruling parties

of the day, and when there seemingly is no recourse to be taken, and there

is nowhere else to turn, that is when even good humans are led onto the

path of terrorism.

 

That is why the blacks and Hispanics in America resort to gang warfare;

that is why the Algerians in France do the same; and that is why various

people from Muslims to village folk have adopted such radical means.

Knowingly or unknowingly, all done to express their anguish about their

existential existence and lack of human rights and respect.

 

So it is not just a question of economics per se; rather, it is more a

matter of human rights and dignity– and the lack thereof. First and

foremost, that is where terrorism takes root.

 

And if we look around the world today there are any number of cases where

this is going on. In some places certain citizens are deprived the right to

vote; in other places whole sections of the population are deprived of the

right to an education; in some lands some are deprived the right to make a

decent living; in some regions needy people are deprived of such basic

necessities as food or medical care; and in so many countries, people are

unjustly jailed or attacked for voicing their opinion. Around the globe

there is a rampant disregard for human rights by the leaders of today.

 

And when any community feels that it has gone too far and there is no other

way out, then the easiest and most accessible avenue is to vent their anger

and frustration through terrorist activities. By that way they can send a

clear-cut message to the world that, ‘Me and my people are not pleased with

the way things are going on’. Justified or not, this is what the terrorists

do.

 

So as long as such conditions exist where people are deprived of their

human rights, then we can expect to live side by side with terrorism.

Unfortunately, this fact the present day leaders do not understand or do

not want to understand. And instead they try to root out terrorism by

malicious and forceful means, but that does not work. Rather it only

heightens or escalates the terrorist activities.

 

 

PRESENT DAY SYSTEMS DO NOT RECOGNISE HUMAN RIGHTS

 

At the start of this 21st century, the ruling governments only give lip

service to upholding and honouring the rights of the people. Either in the

form of capitalism, communism, fascism, or military dictatorships, the

common people suffer at the hands of such leaders.

 

Baba says, “These systems have created suppression, repression and

oppression in the minds of the people.” (PNS-17)

 

In such a state, where there is rampant frustration, angst, mistrust, and

suffocation, then there is going to be a backlash. That backlash may result

in the smashing of a school window, the blasting of a firebomb in a crowded

market, or the flying of airplanes into the world’s tallest office

building. Such tragic outcomes are bound to happen when people’s human

rights are not recognised.

 

Here again, Baba sends out a message to the ruling parties of today.

 

Baba says, “In all human actions the tender touch of humanity should be

present. …The economic structures in the world today, however, are not

based on human rights.” (POD #12)

 

Thus in such a void of humane leadership, the seeds of terrorism are sown.

 

 

TERRORISM BECOMES A WAY OF LIFE

 

Even then, it should not be considered and concluded that terrorism is a

natural and justified response. It is not. And certainly there are some

inherently cruel people who jump on the terrorism bandwagon to indulge in

violence for violence sake.

 

Yet at the same time terrorism cannot be wholly condemned or eradicated if

we fail to understand that underlying cause. If the very causes of

terrorism are not addressed then we would be foolish to think we can put an

end to terrorism. That is one part of the problem.

 

On the other side of the coin, it should also be understood those who

indulge in destructive means like terrorism make it their way of life. That

is, they do not just use violence against their oppressors but against

anyone– even their own people etc.

 

For example, the various Islamic terrorist teams do not just fight against

the US capitalist machinery but they also engage in terrorist warfare

amongst themselves. So even though a rival Islamic tribe may not be

infringing on their human rights, but even then at the least bit of

provocation the scene will escalate into a full fledge terrorist feud.

That is because, resorting to wonton destruction and senseless harm is an

easy outlet and it becomes one’s habit. In that case, it just expresses

anywhere and everywhere. Even if such a simple thing as a baker not making

one’s bread according to their exact liking, then a mafia man or a

terrorist may blow that baker’s head off. Such becomes their crude way of

dealing and their debased frame of mind.

 

So once started, terrorism breeds more terrorism.

 

 

PARENT-CHILD EXAMPLE…

 

In one way we can look at this entire situation of world-wide terrorism and

its cause with the following analogy.

 

In a household where the parents fight and beat one another, then it is

readily seen that the children resort to the same measures, either in their

childhood or adult lives, or both.

 

 

…APPLYING THAT TO THE WORLD ARENA

 

Similarly, in a political environment where the world leaders do anything

and everything in order get their economic goals and political agendas

met– such as invading another country for its oil or imposing suppressive

tactics on whole sectors of the population– then it is a sure thing that

similar ploys will be adopted by the people. And such defiant persons will

become terrorists.

 

Without making a judgment on the terrorists themselves, there is no

question that the very penchant for terrorism stems from the exploitative

way in which the world leaders operate. But instead of changing their ways,

those repressive leaders adopt harsher tactics against the terrorists which

in turn only gives way to the more pervasive occurrence of terrorist

activities. This is the nasty cycle.

 

But this is the very fact that the likes of Bush and Cheney do not like to

know, or do not wish to admit.

 

 

THE SOLUTION:

 

GUARANTEEING HUMAN RIGHTS

 

The solution to the problem of global terrorism then is to treat all on

this earth as humans. All should be respected and granted their God-given

rights. This much recognition is needed. Once done, then surely terrorism

will meet its end.

 

To achieve this outcome, those at the helm must extend fundamental rights

and cardinal human values to all. That means the following rights must be

recognised and guaranteed to all: right of security, right of livelihood,

right of indigenous linguistic expression, right to an education, right of

cultural legacy, right of spiritual practice, etc. Once these are extended

to all then terrorism will be relegated to the pages of history.

 

That means no nation like the US, France, or Britain can go into our out of

another country in order to exploit its resources or people. And no

capitalist nation may force people from a distant land to come and be their

labor force etc. All these types of present day tactics must be banished if

we wish to see the end of terrorism.

 

And indeed the people are ready for this peaceful turn of events.

In which case those in power must drastically mend their ways or expect to

be removed from their chair. That is the inevitable outcome they are

inviting.

 

So again, back to the main solution, once all the people are assured their

human-ness, then surely terrorism will be a thing of the past.

 

 

BABA’S BLESSING

 

By Baba’s grace the day is soon coming when the collective humanity will

rise up and put forth the sermon that the time has come to build a world

human society based on cardinal human values.

 

Baba says, “‘All human beings belong to one race. Everyone has equal

rights. Human beings are brothers and sisters!’ These sadvipras will

sternly warn the exploiters of society, ‘The exploitation of human beings

cannot be allowed!’ and, ‘Religious hypocrisy cannot be tolerated!’ Giving

a clarion call to the fragmented human society from beneath the saffron

flag, the symbol of service and sacrifice, they will proclaim at the top of

their voices, ‘Human beings of the world, unite!’ And they will sing in

chorus:”

 

Sam´gacchadhvam´ sam´vadadhvam´ sam´ vo mana´m´si ja´nata´m,

Deva´bha´gam´ yatha´pu´rve sam´ja´na´na´ upa´sate.

Sama´nii va a´ku´tih sama´na´ hrdaya´nivah,

Sama´namastu vo mano yatha´ vah susaha´sati.

 

Namaskar,

Phanindra

 

 

Note 1: CHARTER OF RIGHTS

 

Here Baba neatly outlines the rights that must be granted to all– and once

done we will surely have a world fraternity where devoid of any terrorist

activity.

 

Baba says, “The formation of a World Government will require a world

constitution. A charter of principles or bill of rights should be included

in such a constitution and encompass at least the following four areas.

First, complete security should be guaranteed to all the plants and animals

on the planet. Secondly, each country must guarantee purchasing power to

all its citizens. Thirdly, the constitution should guarantee four

fundamental rights – spiritual practice or Dharma; cultural legacy;

education; and indigenous linguistic expression. Fourthly, if the practice

of any of these rights conflicts with cardinal human values then that

practice should be immediately curtailed. That is, cardinal human values

must take precedence over all other rights. All the constitutions of the

world suffer from numerous defects. The above points may be adopted by the

framers of different constitutions to overcome these defects.” (AFPS-8,

‘Requirements of an Ideal Constitution’)

 

 

***********************************

– The Solution –

 

Baba says, “Whenever there is a conflict between the brain and the heart,

intelligent people should respond to the call of the heart. The books in

A’nanda Ma’rga philosophy are all absolute knowledge. The proper mark of

identity of absolute knowledge is that it must be universal, rational and

psychological. Certain instances of absolute knowledge are as follows– the

goal of human life is the attainment of Brahma; human beings are the

progeny of Parama Purus’a…by dint of sa’dhana’ or spiritual practices

human beings gradually become divine.” (PNS-18, p.10)

***********************************

 

Read Full Post »

Two Stories

From: “Jayanta Deva”

To: AM-GLOBAL

Subject: Two Stories

Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:56:36 +0000

 

 

== TWO STORIES ==

 

Namaskar,

I looked at the caller ID on my phone and saw it was Dada calling back again. I was wondering what he wanted as I thought we had finalized our plans for pracara at the college.

 

“Namaskar”, I said.

 

Dada replied, “Cancel the pracara program at the college. I can’t go there I will be attending an LGBT party.”

 

“What? Where?” I replied.

 

“Don’t you know, there is a big party sponsored by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual). I want to attend that.”

 

I said, “Dada, are you joking. We do not attend such big parties by LGBT.”

 

Dada said, “Do not be so outdated. Ananda Marga does not believe that monks should remain in caves; this world for enjoyment.”

 

I told Dada, “That is 100% against our conduct rules. We cannot go there and do that.”

 

Then Dada told me that I was off-based and that I did not understand. I tried to convince him but after a long talk I could not.

 

I did not know what to do.

 

I thought for a moment and then phoned another Dada. I quickly briefed him of the situation.

 

He said, “Look here. Our Ananda Marga society is dynamic and includes all. Going to a gay party is not a big deal. If he wants, let him go. It is fine to participate fully in such a party. We are getting many new people this way.”

 

Dada further replied, “Do not become old, outdated and stale. There is nothing wrong with alcohol and drugs either.”

 

I said, “Are these not against our conduct rules as given in Caryacarya, Avadhuta conduct rules, and Organisational / Procedural Orders.”

 

Dada said, “Why are you living in the past – throw away those old things. Those codes given by Baba are half-a-century old, they must be changed according to the times. That is what Baba has said. So we will be updating and amending all those old rules. This is a new era.”

 

“Remember, we are not Catholics who live in the dark ages. We are revolutionaries. We change with the times. Our avadhuta order is going to change. Soon all avadhutas will start marrying. There is no need for celibacy.”

 

“In this modern era, all these conduct rules as given in Caryacarya, Avadhuta conduct rules, and Organisational / Procedural Orders etc are to be changed because they are outdated.”

 

After hearing his lecture I was left speechless…

 

Just I am curious: In order to satisfy their baser vrttis some want to change Caryacarya, and our Organisational / Procedural Orders etc. Are such events happening in your area also?

 

Namaskar,

Jayanta

 

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Why Should Any Sincere Devotee Sacrifice for Factional Cause?

Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2010 05:48:38 -0000
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: Mandal.Virendra@bharata.net…
Subject: Why Should Any Sincere Devotee Sacrifice for Factional Cause?

Baba

“A’ka’shabhara’ a’jake ta’ra’…” (P.S. 2523)

Purport:

Baba, the sky of this amavasya night is filled with the stars. The sweet, nectar-like breeze is blowing mildly. The mind is floating in divine ecstasy from the known to the unknown world– towards its final destination. Baba, ensconced in Your ideation, my mind is getting lost in Your divine bliss.   Baba, the lily flower is constantly looking towards the sky; the aroma of flowers is emanating all around. They have forgotten themselves and lost their awareness about their own unit existence. They restlessly move in the attraction of one call.   Baba in Your longing I am sitting alone, counting the stars. I understand that by Your grace I have lost myself in this beautiful atmosphere and the attraction of Your love. Baba, You are ever-gracious and You are always remaining by my side and guiding me. Baba, on this amavasya night my heart is yearning and longing for You. Please grace me by coming closer and still more close…

WHY SHOULD ANY SINCERE DEVOTEE

SACRIFICE FOR ANY FACTIONAL CAUSE?

Namaskar,
The aim of any ideological sadhaka is not to preach any sermon per se. All that they share in their letters are the teachings of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji. And we are simply passing on His message to our Guru Bhra’ta’s, i.e. disciples of Baba.

THEIRS IS NOT AN IDEOLOGICAL FIGHT

The present group fight in our Marga is not an ideological fight. Here ideological means Baba’s divine teachings, not any group agenda. This fight is all about their own selfish group interest. Here following the is the logic and reasoning in support of this fact.

Since 1990, so many injustices have been done related with ideology, yet none of these following points are ever raised by these group leaders – i.e. H, B, or EC. Rather they are the perpetrators.

1. Destruction of BP rights and imposition of the Fake BP Manual;
2. Expulsion used as a weapon since 1995  when all groups were living under one roof;
3. Countless intentional scriptural distortions such as placing “Translated from the original Bengali” on the cover page of all AM books, even if those discourses were given in English or Hindi;
4. Elimination of the margii based ACB system: Advisory Committees & Boards;
5. Curtailment of margii rights;
6. Creation of dogmatic pilgrimages in Ananda Nagar, Kolkata, & Jamalpur, and many other places;
7. Issuing of Fake Ananda Vaniis;
8. Victimisation of countless innocent Ananda Margiis;
9. Bangalisation of AM teachings;
10. Ruination of Prabhat Samgiita by using filmy singers etc;
11. Not recognising Silent Action as a fundamental right;
12. Rejecting English and Hindi passages spoken by Baba and only translating the Bengali portions of Baba’s holy DMC discourses which were given by Baba in three languages;
13. Treating Baba as a mortal being by using the shraddha mantra for Sadguru Baba and the imposition of dogmatic Mahaprayan;
14. Construction of dogmatic memorials to limit Baba to a particular land or place;
15. And so many more ideological wrongs.

Note: Please do write us if you wish more information on any of the above points.

Yet, no group ever raises any of these universal points related with AM teachings / ideology. They only raise their own selfish claims based on their group agenda for post and power.

So all this infighting is nothing but a factional power fight. In that case why should margiis quarrel, give their resources and time, and do & die in such a fight when it is all about selfishness and grabbing the post – and nothing else.

Regarding the above listed ideological points related with margii rights and scripture etc, neither the factions of Tiirthananda & EC, nor B faction, nor H (i.e. Ranchi faction) support these purely ideological issues. Never do they ever raise these items – they only raise points of personal lust for post and power.

Then why should any sincere devotee sacrifice themselves for this cause of infighting and group agenda. There is no ideology on either side. That is Baba’s teaching.

BABA’S TEACHING:

THEY FORGOT THEIR IDEOLOGY

In addition to the quote about the two Buddhist groups noted in the original letter on this topic (see note 1), kindly review this below teaching:

Baba says, “About thirty-five years ago [in 1936], a war was going on between two countries, the citizens of which have the same religion (Buddhist). When the soldiers went to war, their mothers used to pray to Lord Buddha to save the lives of their respective sons. What will Lord Buddha do? Save this man or that man? Both have the same “Is’t’a,” but both parties have totally forgotten their ideology. If they were established in the ideology, they would not have gone to war.” (SE)

The above teaching is a sound file (titled “Baba is on my side”) of Baba’s voice from Purnea DMC 1971 which is posted to the left side of the AM-GLOBAL blog, http://www.am-global-01.blogspot.com/

KEEP BALANCED MIND

With all due respect, when the mind is filled with emotion then rationality fades away. So when two people want to talk on substantial issues, they should not pre-judge anything. Keeping an open mind and using one’s power of rationality is of utmost importance.

WE ARE UNIVERSALISTS

One other point of note: As Ananda Margiis we are neither Indian, nor American, nor Filipino, nor members of any other nationality or group. We are universalists. Our outlook should not be pro-Indian or pro-American  etc. Only we should see the world through the eyes of our neo-humanistic ideology.

WHEN TO FIGHT

Indeed there is a time to fight:

Baba says, “Fight for your Ideology. Be one with your Ideology. Live for your Ideology. Die for your Ideology.” (Ananda Vanii #14)

So we should fight for ideology. But when two or more groups are just involved in their own selfish infighting and rush for power, and when no group is willing to stand up for any true ideological issue, and when margiis are getting confused by groupist propaganda, then the main job at hand is to awaken others.

Baba NEVER says, “Fight for your group agenda. Be one with your group agenda. Live for your group agenda. Die for your group agenda.”

Namaskar,
Virendra

Note 1:                                 BABA’S FOREWARNING:

SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE BUDDHIST MONKS OF OLD

DO NOT REPEAT SUCH INFIGHTING

Now please read the following quote. It is very clear. Baba has forewarned us not to fall in this very trap of infighting as occurred with those Buddhist monks 2500 years ago, but now some Dadas are committing this same blunder.

Baba says, “Great differences in opinion developed among the bhikkus (monks) some time after his death. Two groups of bhikkus emerged – Sthaviravádii, the southern school of Buddhist doctrine, and Mahásáḿghika (the northern school), which later on became known as “Hiinayána” and “Maháyána” respectively. But that was not the end of it. Innumerable branches and sub-branches emerged, countless philosophies of Sthaviraváda, Vijiṋánaváda, Shúnyaváda, Mahásukhaváda, and Atisukaváda. Each one of these groups became so engrossed in their own so-called ideologies, doctrines and subdoctrines that they did not have any time to do any constructive work.” (AFPS-4)

In His above teaching Baba is describing how the Buddhist monks divided into factions and spent all their days in infighting. For this reason they could not do any real service to the society. That is very real history and therein lies Baba’s distinct warning.

Tragically, nowadays in AM, all our top Dada have separated into various groups – B, H, EC etc – and they are consumed in battling one another for supremacy. That is the unfortunate scene that has developed in the Marga. A classic example of this is the legal battle going on in NY. The two groups involved are committing all their energy, time, and resourceds etc into this group conflict, and hence they are unable to serve the general society. Is it not a mirror image of what transpired long ago?

==> This above note is an excerpt from the posting, Baba’s Forewarning On NY Court Case. To read that entire letter visit:

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2010/12/babas-forewarning-on-ny-court-case.html

*********************************************
Religious Dogma and Females

Baba says, “In the past it was the practice in India that if a woman heard the recitation of the Vedas even by accident, molten lead was poured into her ears. This was done because if women were not suppressed they could not be easily exploited and ordered about to do menial work, like maid servants.” (PNS-16)

Note: Religions have always suppressed and exploited various sections of society in order to impose their dogmatic ideas. Weaker, minority groups always suffered terribly at the hands of religion. And always it was always the all-powerful clergy who soaked up the benefits. That is, all the rules and regulations were bent in favour of the dominant class, i.e. the male clergy etc.

So since the birth of religion on this globe, various anti-social and harmful activities have been done in the name any particular religion. In that circumstance, in order to protect the downtrodden masses, the state or government has had to intercede and declare those religious decrees to be unlawful.

For instance, in the US, the state has stepped forward and opposed the false rule that black and whites should not marry. Yet for years and years the dominant white churches opposed these inter-racial marriages. But, in the due course of things, the US government has declared such inter-racial unions, i.e white-black marriages to be legal. Likewise in India the government has come forward to make ordinances against the Hindu tradition that the wife must burn herself to death by throwing herself on the husband’s funeral pyre. Now this dogmatic religious tradition is basically outlawed and not done anymore. Plus in the US, the government has declared that polygamy is illegal– a man can no longer keep multiple wives. So the Mormon religion and others like it in the US can no longer impose rule that a man can have as many wives as he likes.

In all these circumstances when religion has imposed hateful and harmful rules against the weaker sections of society, at some point the government was forced to take a stand against those religious dogmas by declaring them illegal. This we have witnessed in nearly every country around the globe.

So today when the various Muslim communities impose the idea that women must wear a veil in public, then soon we are going to see this reversed by various governments. And in some places this has already begun.

Especially so because, at present, radical Muslims use the veil as a way to hide the face of their terrorist attackers. In that case, it is the duty of the government to intercede and declare such veils as illegal. Because in the present moment, in the name of wearing a veil, both male and female Muslim terrorist bombers sneak into public places to carry out their attacks. Because in many countries, male policeman are prohibited to ask females to lift their veil. Then that veil becomes a special tactic of Muslim religious radicals to sneak their attackers– either male or female– into public events and carry out their destructive plans. Because anyone can hide behind that veil and go where they like. All because of their dogmatic religious rule that females must cover their face with a veil in public.

Given this, states and governments have no other recourse than to outlaw the dogmatic provision that females must always move in public wearing a veil. And soon we will see this law come into effect pervasively. Because at present, dogmatic Muslim leaders are imposing this illogical rule on females and side by side using this as a means to carry out their heinous activities.
*********************************************

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Only a Week Away

Date: 24 Dec 2010 06:12:48 -0000

From: “Gurucharan Yadav”

To: AM-GLOBAL

Subject: Only A Week Away

 

Baba

 

“Pita’ ma’ta’ bandhu sakha’ a’ndha’re a’lokavarttika’…” (P.S. 218)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You are my most intimate and loving One; by Your grace You are so

close. Baba, You are my father and You are my mother; You are my friend as

well as my eternal companion. Baba, You are my everything– my One and

only. By Your infinite grace You are that divine lamp of effulgence, always

guiding me along the proper path in life. Baba You are everywhere. By Your

grace no one is ever alone or helpless. You are ever-present carefully

watching over everyone. Baba, by Your grace You are always residing in my

heart.

Baba, with Your infinite compassion, no matter how difficult the

circumstances are, You are always present to provide a gentle touch.

Amongst the thorns & tears You are the soothing balm of the lotus flower

which relieves all pains and sorrows; and in scorching heat of the burning

fire You are that refreshing, calm, cool sandalwood. Baba, You are the

ultimate Savior. When one has lost everything then in that bleak hour You

are the only shelter. You are that divine jewel which makes everything else

into a shining jewel as well. By Your touch, unit beings become divine.

That is Your causeless grace. Baba, You are the best of everything. In the

beautiful rose garden where all the flowers are aromatic and fragrant, You

are the most gorgeous– You are the most beautiful. Baba, You are the most

effulgent Entity in this vast universe.

Baba, You are the Cause of everything. You are the Source and You are

the Origin. Baba, because You are, I am. You are the breath of my very

life. Without You my whole existence is meaningless. Baba, You are my

dearmost, You are my everything. You alone are the eternal lamp of my

heart. Baba, please grace me by keeping me in Your divine shelter…

 

 

== ONLY A WEEK AWAY: FAKE ANANDA VANII ==

 

Namaskar,

Next week the various group leaders will be finalising their

devious plans and issue their fake Ananda Vaniis. However

this way of theirs is not at all proper. Because blinded by their group

interest they will select some partial quote and mislabel that by titling

it as Ananda Vanii– when in truth it is nothing but a fake Ananda Vanii.

Yet this they have been doing for years. So let us again take a look at

just what exactly is going on.

 

 

THE BEAUTY OF BABA’S ORIGINAL ANANDA VANIIS

 

Baba’s true Ananda Vanii messages which He has given twice annually on New

Year’s Day and on Ananda Purnima are very precise and pointed way like an

arrow. They are complete discourses in and of themselves. They are not part

of any larger discourse and they are not just a quote or partial paragraph.

Instead, Baba’s true Ananda Vaniis are 100% full & complete and ready to

stand as is. Plus they are unique and new in their own particular way–

never a repeat of previously released material.

 

In total Baba has given us seventy four of these divine guidelines

known as Ananda Vaniis. Each with their own special beauty; each with their

own timeless message. And Baba has Himself specially collected them all

together and marked them as the Ananda Vanii Samgraha. And these alone

stand as those unparalleled and dharmic messages which Baba has so

graciously blessed us with during the time of His global DMC gatherings.

 

So in the realm of Ananda Vanii, Baba’s specially given messages are the

biggest asset in this entire universe. For these are what Baba wants to

call His grand and golden teachings of Ananda Vanii.

 

 

GROUPISTS MAKE THEIR FAKE ANANDA VANIIS

 

Yet in the name of Ananda Vanii the various group leaders are going against

Baba by infusing their own dogma and creating their own Fake Ananda Vaniis.

Whereby they are pulling some quote out of context that is obviously

incomplete as it is part of a different discourse and then in misguided

ways labeling that as Ananda Vanii. All done for their own selfish interest.

 

So their whole way of dealing is just their dogmatic approach and has

nothing to do with letter or spirit Baba’s sacred and divine messages of

Ananda Vanii.

 

Because as we know each and every Baba’s teaching has its own special and

unique value. And to misuse or distort them in some twisted and concocted

manner will not bear any fruit.

 

 

EVERY TEACHING HAS IT OWN SPECIAL APPLICATION

 

(a) For example take the case of CaryaCarya: It is one of our AM books but

it is not suitable for purposes of svadhyaya after dharmacakra. If used for

this purpose then that is wrong. But this Caryacarya is absolutely perfect

& blemishless as our smrti shastra– or social code. Because Caryacarya is

the social code of AM. But it is not for use as svadhyaya after dharmacakra.

 

(b) Similarly when we want to know about the depths of AM philosophy then

we have to read AM philosophy books like ‘Ananda Sutram’ and ‘Idea and

Ideology’ etc. Reading CaryaCarya by itself is not going to meet the

purpose of learning the whole AM philosophy in deeper sense. But surely if

to perform a marriage, shraddha ceremony, or any other type of social

function etc, then CaryaCarya has highly significant role.

 

(c) Likewise, when singing a song to start the paincajanya or dharmacakra

program then the book ‘Idea and Ideology’ is not going to help. Neither

will ‘A Guide to Human Conduct’ or ‘Shabda Cayanika’. To sing the song,

only Prabhat Saungita book is suitable.

 

(d) And when reviewing critical matters on politics and economics then

books like ‘Strange Experiences’, ‘PR Sarkar stories’ or ‘Ideal farming’,

etc, may not be excellent to refer. Rather we should seek support from the

Prout series.

 

The whole point being here that all of Baba’s divine books are 100% perfect

for their stated purpose– thus all are of equal importance. No one is high

no one is low and Baba has given each for a particular use, i.e. for their

own golden purpose.

 

Yet when taking a quote from one book and then labeling it as Ananda

Vanii– that is not at all going to work.

 

And on the top when goaded by selfish desires, then that malintent, misuse

or wrong-use goes against the whole spirit of those teachings. Then it

creates a create a very poor and sinful showing. And that is exactly what

is happening in the case of the Fake Ananda Vaniis being made by those

groupist kingpins.

 

 

MISUSE USE OF DHARMIC THINGS IS ADHARMA (SIN)

 

Thus those who are misusing certain quotes and wrongly calling them as

Ananda Vaniis are misguided in their ways. Nobody has right to change and

manipulate Guru’s things in that way. What He has given for a particular

purpose is absolutely perfect and nobody should try and change that.

If anybody believes in or adores Baba then they should not go against

Baba’s desire. When Baba Himself has made & named and given the title as

Ananda Vanii, then that should be honored and revered as such.

 

Thus what right do the various groupist leaders have to splice other

passages and change the title of the discourse which Baba Himself has

given. It goes completely ultravarious to the ethical code– let alone the

dharmic code of discipline and sanctity of Guru-disciple relation.

Tantra is very strict. If anybody is going against Guru then they should be

ready to face consequences. Prakrti will not spare them.

 

 

BABA’S TRUE AND BLESSED ANANDA VANII

 

Here following is one of Baba’s special messages of Ananda Vanii.

 

Baba says, “Human civilization now faces the final moment of a critical

juncture. The dawn of a glorious new era is on its one side and the

worn-out skeleton of the past on the other. People have to adopt either of

these two. You are the spiritual soldiers, you are the worshipers of Life

Divine, hence I call you to adorn this crimson dawn deluged with glorious

light. Victory is surely yours.” (A’nanda Va’nii #26)

 

Namaskar,

Gurucharan

 

 

Note 1: WRONG WAY GIVES A POOR SHOWING

 

If anyone is carrying a glass of water in hand to serve your friend. Then

it is ok– quite fine. But if anyone is putting that glass on their head

then that is looking odd, completely wrong.

 

Similarly a putting tie and coat on facing forward is proper and ok, but if

that same coat and tie are put on facing backside that is not good. And

anyone doing like this will be treated as foolish if they try to attend

their office looking like this. Or it may be looking like they are some

drama party member, or some joker etc..

 

Same way in marriage ceremony if anybody started singing the Shraddha song

(death ceremony song) at the marriage function itself then everyone present

will think that the singer(s) are crazy. Here the song itself is not at

fault. The fault lies with the singer, who has no sense which song should

be sung when, or who purposely has ruined the scene.

 

Likewise taking a partial quote and presenting it as Ananda Vanii is not

the way.

 

 

Note 2: OTHER LETTERS ON FAKE ANANDA VANII ISSUE

 

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2010/12/case-for-ananda-vaniis.html

 

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2010/12/getting-rid-of-dogma.html

 

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2010/11/who-makes-fake-ananda-vaniis.html

 

 

***************************************

Our Dances

 

Baba says, “The heel of the foot is related to the sound ta’, the ball of

the foot to the sound dhin, and the toes to the sound dhae. In the

kaos’ikii dance all three are utilized to some extent. But in the

ta’n’d’ava dance ta’ is utilized more than dhin [and dhae not utilized at

all]…Actually, both tandava…Actually, both ta’n’d’ava and kaos’ikii are

more physical exercises, useful to the body, than they are forms of dance.

Kaos’ikii serves as a medicine for twenty-two diseases — it is a panacea.

The ta’n’d’ava dance is an all-body exercise, by which even the brain and

its nerve cells become strengthened. Ta’n’d’ava is a very vigorous

exercise.” (AV-15)

****************************************

 

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Organisational Order Related with Food Distribution

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:58:49 -0000

To: am-global@earthlink.net

From: Mukunda

Subject: Organisational Order Related with Food Distribution

 

Baba

 

BABA’S ORGANISATIONAL / PROCEDURAL ORDER

 

RELATED WITH FOOD DISTRIBUTION

 

Namaskar,

Here is one important guideline from Baba related with our various food distribution programs. As many are aware, Baba’s procedural / organisational orders are His explicit edicts for how we are to carry our Marga activities and run the AMPS structure.

 

 

PROCEDURAL / ORGANISATIONAL ORDER: 168,164 (JULY 1969)

 

FOOD FOR ALL, PAINCA SEVA, NARAYAN SEVA

 

AND PACKAGE PROGRAM of R3 OF ERAWS

 

In Baba’s organisational order (168, 164) He clearly says that all Ananda Marga offices, jagrtis, units etc which run any type of soup kitchen, cheap kitchen, food distribution center, or food related relief project must not use tamasik food items to feed others.

 

Here is the exact line quoted from Baba’s organisational / procedural order of R-3 ERAWS of July 1969:

 

“No tamasik diet will be served from such kitchens.”

 

Thus when operating any such kitchen of Ananda Marga where we are serving food to those in need, we must not use any tamasik food items. That is Baba’s explicit mandate

 

 

WE MUST NOT DISPLEASE BABA

 

Of course no sincere margii wants to displease Baba by going against His guideline. If one is not aware about the above mandate and doing something contrary, then that will yield an unfavourable result.

 

Just as an unknowing child will get burned if he puts his hand in the fire as the fire will not spare him, similarly every sadhaka should follow dharmic guidelines and not serve tamasik food to others, otherwise prakrti will not spare them.

 

One should not forget that in all AM service projects you are serving is Baba Himself. If you do not remember this fact then your “service” is no service at all. Because to whom you are serving, you must impose the ideation that you are serving Parama Purusa Himself.

 

Thus under no circumstances should you serve tamasik food to Baba (Guru) who is in the form of a poor, homeless, sick, or needy person. This must never be done as it will produce a bad result.

 

Finally, may we all remember this following teaching: If you make God unhappy then Guru will save you, but if you make Guru unhappy no one can save you.

 

Shiva ruśt́e gurustrátá;

Gururuśt́ao na kaschana.

 

Baba says, “If Shiva [Parama Purusa] gets angry, the Guru will save you, but if the Guru gets angry, no one can save you.” (AV-5)

 

Namaskar,

Mukunda

 

Note: Nobody should become emotional in this critical dharmic issue. This guideline is taken directly from Baba’s organisational mandate. So we should view His teaching with our with rational mind; we must not become emotive. That will save us from us from all kinds of troubles and predicaments.

 

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Prout: Save Money with Psycho-Economy

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:14:47 -0400
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: dharma@eco-net…
Subject: Prout: Save Money with Psycho-Economy

Baba

“Aja’na’ Pathik eseche…”  – P.S. 4490

Purport:

The Parama Purusa Ajana Pathik has come. He has filled this mortal
world with the love of flowers and fruits. For Him no one is distant, no
one is alien, everyone is His own– close and intimate. He has wiped
away all the tears and removed the suffering of everyone. Baba has come
riding on the chariot of effulgence. He is associated with one and all
through His ota and prota yoga. He is pulling everyone with His divine
attraction and with the blessing of His varabhaya mudra. Today Baba has
come. The whole world is inundated with His love– His grace….

== PROUT: SAVE MONEY WITH PSYCHO-ECONOMY ==

Namaskar,
This letter contains something for everybody– how to save money and be
healthy by paying heed to Baba’s Proutistic teachings of psycho-economy.
And yes this letter relates well to those in certain countries where
“year-end, holiday shopping” is an all-out offensive for capitalists.

AN ONGOING, UNDETECTED, BALLOONING ISSUE

The ills of capitalism are fast rising to the surface: Inflation, energy
costs, mortgage lending, collapsed banks, ‘bear market’, corporate
buyouts etc, etc. These terms make the headlines every day.

However, there is one aspect of this materialistic, free market economy
that is causing great harm yet going largely unnoticed– or at least is
going mostly undiscussed. Probably because it is accepted as being
‘alright’ by most of the people, by the general public.

Namely, as we know, today’s capitalistic system is based on the
profit-motive, not on consumer needs. In result, corporations or
businesses make piles of money by convincing susceptible consumers of
buying products which they do not need. And the chief outcome is that
that business is praised, honoured, and heavily rewarded $$$, what to
speak of rebuked and rectified. That is one side of the story.

The other is that countless consumers waste what little money they have
by purchasing those unneeded & often harmful products, such as
cigarettes, alcohol, junk food, coffee, pornographic videos, gambling
etc. Or in countries like the USA, people buy more of what they already
have in order to keep up with the rage of fashion. That is why people
have 50 or even 100 expensive, name-brand shirts in their closet, when
really only a few cheaper, yet high-quality varieties are needed.

Or sometimes like with computer parts, they are all manufactured in the
same place, and then various companies put their own labels on those
items. But consumers– do not see this– only they chase after that
company label, and pay two or three times the price for the very same item.

So in one way or another people are lured into buying, buying and buying
things which they do not need– or pay more for what they could really
buy for less. Nearly everyone is ensnared in this debacle. All because
companies take extreme measures to convince the innocent public that to
get ahead in life or to enjoy living then xyz product is a “must-have”
item, or be left out in the cold.

This is the awful environment in today’s capitalist system. And most are
unaware about it or too helpless or stuck to do anything.

TEENS ARE MOST AFFECTED

Tragically, this is the on-going issue in today’s economy: Consumers get
duped into buying products either which they do not need or that will
not be beneficial for them, either mentally or physically or both. But
because of massive advertising, good citizens have been brain-washed
into purchasing those things. Sadly, it is most often our youths– our
teenagers– who fall prey to this.

Teens buy sexually-laced movies and videos, designer clothing,
extraneous gadgets, and so many things which they think they need in
order to look ‘cool’, ‘hip’, ‘modern’ etc. And while for years and years
this practice was going on primarily in the US, now because of the
internet and the growing Asian economy, this negative trend has spread
all around the world.

Outside of teens in general, the second most affected population is
probably women, with teenage women being the most victimised, overall.
But in one way or another everyone is affected. Most certainly even you
and I, to some or more degree.

Below please read more about this systemic problem as well as Baba’s
perfect solution: Psycho-economy.

HOW IT HAPPENS

In the dizzying array of today’s advertising battlegrounds, general
citizens are bombarded with thousands and thousands of advertisements
each and every day. Of course, the more television one watches, the more
newspapers one reads, the more internet surfing one does, the more one
is prone to getting exploited. Because those advertisements and media
messages goad a person to look or act in certain way; and, the general
people get lulled in that direction, knowingly or unknowingly.

And this pull is only further emphasized by countless movies, books,
billboards, and subtle and not-so-subtle messages from fellow consumers
etc. Verily it is everywhere and nearly everyone is caught up in this
mess, whether they wish to admit it or not. Some people may not have the
money to purchase what they desire, and they are also caught up–
because they will suffer from an inferiority complex, thinking that they
are a low-life for not having that expensive car or costly home or
expensive shoe etc. So nearly everyone gets caught up– one way or another.

But again, our teenagers are often hit the hardest. In fact, one
sexually provocative novel for teens recently sold 20 million copies–
and this is in an era when hardly anyone ever reads anymore or buys
books. Just imagine how many more are reading those same passages online.

Because teenagers are such an impressionable and innocent group, they
are regularly targeted by corporate advertising departments as well as
by individual scammers trying to make a big sell.

The problem with all of this is that families end up spending whatever
little money they have on items that they really do not need for their
survival, or on things that are harmful for them. Because people
purchase things which they have the psychic urge to buy based on crafty
advertising etc. And most of the time, such purchases lead to the
degeneration of mind as well as degrading habits & life practices like
on-line pornography, crude cosmetics, skimpy clothing, etc. And this may
even force a family to go into debt or forgo the purchasing of basic
essentials of life like food, rent etc.

This is the very grave and real problem which burdens hundreds of
millions– if not billions of people– on a daily basis.

HOW PROUT CAN HELP: PSYCHO-ECONOMY

So what is to be done in the face of all of this.

By Baba’s grace Prout philosophy has the exact answer: consumer
education– true consumer education. Not just issuing a cheezy Q & A
pamphlet about how to shop like many consumer advocacy groups publish,
but rather giving a pointed analysis with graphic demonstrations and
protests that will awaken the masses as to what is going on and how they
are getting exploited, befooled, and duped. This highly important aspect
of the Proutistic enterprise is known as psycho-economy.

Baba says, “Psycho-economy…endeavours to eradicate exploitative and
unjust economic practices, behaviours and structures. It will counter
all economic and psycho-economic exploitation and make people aware of
how capitalists, in their singular or collective roles, exploit society
and create unhealthy, artificial demands which not only poison the mind
but encourage dangerous habits detrimental to psychic sanctity and
expansion. The first and foremost duty of psycho-economics is to wage a
tireless fight against all degenerating and dehumanizing economic trends
in society.” (PNS-12)

Only psycho-economy can start to open the eyes of the people as to how
they are getting ‘taken for a ride’ day in and day out by cunning,
ruthless capitalist exploiters.

A PROBLEM WITH OUR VALUE SYSTEM

Right now, in all the materialistic-oriented countries, which are
growing in number day by day, the whole concept of what it means to be
human is getting lost. People measure themselves based on how their hair
looks, what they own, how they look, what brand of clothing they wear,
and so many other useless and superficial measuring rods. The whole
society is falling in this direction because of living under a
mass-media blitz, 24/7. This creates the desire of buying useless items
and going into debt by overspending, or it creates in people the
inferiority complex that they are not as good as others simply because
the name-brand of their shirt is different.

Here below Baba warns us of what happens when there is this degree of
psychic bankruptcy on the planet.

Baba says, “If there is a lack of prama’ in the psychic sphere, then
many omissional and commissional mistakes and defects are bound to enter
into their art, architecture, literature, philosophy, science and other
branches of human knowledge. Dance may lose its rhythm, painting may
lack proportion, music may lose the harmony of its melody and rhythm,
and in the various branches of literature there may be an overgrowth of
the parasitic weeds of immature expression.” (Prama-1)

And that is exactly what we are seeing now. Each and every aspect of
human life is infested with crude ways of living and being, and
capitalist exploiters are making billions by selling these degrading
things to the public.

HUMAN VALUES MUST NOT GET LOST

So perhaps the first policy of our psycho-economic statutes that needs
to come forth is teaching everyone what it means to be human. Humanness
is not based on what you wear or what type of soap you use, but is based
rather on sadhana, service, and sacrifice. It is these qualities that
create a true human being.

But capitalist blood-suckers have imposed their will on the public in a
totally different way. Such that a person is someone who has a new
i-phone, mercedes-benz, swimming pool, etc etc. This foresaken,
materialistic recipe leads to the degeneration of mind and the gross and
vicious cycle of selling one’s soul by investing more and more in
superficial, material ornaments.

MASS EDUCATION NEEDED

Only through Baba’s teachings on psycho-economy can humanity escape from
this harmful loop.

Baba says, “Human society today has reached the stage of degeneration
and, as a result, is lost in the wilderness of economic bankruptcy,
social unrest, cultural degeneration and religious superstition.” (Prama-1)

Thus only by becoming aware and awakened to the capitalistic strategies
can we lift out of this crude era. Only by breaking this bondage of
slavery and regaining our purchasing capacity can we fight this
capitalist onslaught.

So we should all understand and teach others about it means to be a
victim of capitalism and the consumer society– i.e. purchasing things
we do not need and basing the value of life on material gains. All this
is nonsense.

As Ananda Margiis, we have a far greater ability than the common people
to slip out of this trap. But even for us it may not be easy. We have to
take an honest look at how we are living.

So the whole process of education is two-fold. People need to be taught
the real value of human life and spiritual practices as well as be
guided as to how to avoid the psychic trappings of those capitalist
exploiters. Both aspects are needed.

MORE MONEY IN THE POCKET

As soon as one opens their eyes even a wee-bit, then the first thing
they will realise is that they have a lot more money in their pocket
than they did before. And secondly, they will feel mentally free from
the oppressive wave of capitalist advertising.

This is an absolutely huge topic so cooperation amongst all is needed.
All should write in with their thoughts, comments and experiences. I
could not possibly write it all here, now.

BABA’S BLESSING

By His grace we will burst this false bubble of capitalism and provide
real socio-economic values that promote the true fulfillment of human
life– the realisation of a spiritual ideal.

Baba says, “By propagating spirituality, implementing PROUT and
rendering selfless service to suffering humanity, you will be able to
elevate the standard of human beings in a very short time.” (PNS-18)

Namaskar,
Dharma

***************************************************
Fate of Egotistical People

Baba says, “It is only when the human beings, become puffed up with
vanity and misuse the power granted to them by Parama Purus’a, that He
steals everything from them. Hence, He is called Darpaha’rii – the
stealer of vanity…Vain people suffer a similar fate when their vanity
is destroyed as the balloon faces when its air is let out. But, does
Parama Purus’a snatch away everything from everyone? No, He takes away
only when the unit beings try to create obstructions in the flow of
His creation.” (APH-4, p.247)

Note: In the above teaching Baba warns us about the fate of arrogant
people. As we know the ultimate antidote is developing a devotional link
in life and surrendering to the sweet will of Parama Purusa. Then in
that case arrogance will not get the scope to crop up. Unfortunately
some in our Marga overlook their devotional practices and instead get
wrapped up in their own plans and programs. Such persons can be easily
recognised as all day long they tell, ‘I did this or I did that… I
delivered one lecture and all were amazed… I created one project… or
I should be the ruler…’ and on and on they go about their own unit
deeds & desires– intoxicated by their little accomplishments and
imposing their will on others. To lovingly rectify such persons, Parama
Purusa describes above what dramatic intervention He takes. Looking
around today, we can see how some in our Marga have already undergone
this thing and others are going to experience the same similar fate.
***************************************************

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Adoption & Pornography

Adoption & Pornography

Subject: Adoption & Pornography

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:38:52 -0000

From:

To: AM-GLOBAL

 

Baba

 

“Tumi eso, tumi eso a’ma’r ghare…” – P.S. 3190

 

Purport:

Baba, You are so charming; please come in my mental abode– in Guru

cakra. I go on waiting for You constantly in uninterrupted fashion after

lighting the lamp of hope in my heart.

Baba, You are always so gracious. I get You in my dreams. By Your grace,

I get You there. When I wake up then I go on thinking of Your tales and

talks. On my each and everything, the sketch of Your love is painted.

Baba, I always remember You; even if I want to forget You still I

remember You. When I yearn for You so strongly then in my heart I feel pain

in longing for You. It is then that the thought comes that I should forget

You– because by that way at least it will be peaceful. But it is difficult

for me; I cannot forget you.

Baba, in the deep core of my heart You are always residing there. The

whole universe is saturated with Your divine love. You shower Your

causeless grace on everyone. Baba, please come in my mental abode; You are

my everything…

 

 

== ADOPTION AND PORNOGRAPHY ==

 

Namaskar,

Yoga and Tantra aims at the complete unfoldment of human life– enabling

each and every unit existence to blossom fully. It follows then that from

the very tender moment a child emerges from the womb, or even before then,

tantra places great emphasis on the care & well-being of the infant.

 

Tragically in this present era, especially in our materialistic west, there

are countless social ills undermining and ruining the raising of our

children. And while there are numerous angles to view from, this particular

letter focuses on the controversial topic: Adoption and Pornography.

 

 

A CASE STUDY: YOUNG GIRL FROM RUSSIA BROUGHT TO US

 

Note: This below description reveals somewhat alarming and graphic

information about child abuse. All readers should be aware and proceed

keeping this in mind.

 

In the late 1990s, an American man registered with an adoption agency and

went through the long and arduous process of adoption. At the end of this

1.5 – 2 year period, the man was approved and a young three-year-old girl

from Russia was placed in his custody. According to the rules of adoption,

he was now the legal and recognised parent of this child.

 

This began a tragic and disastrous scandal that will shock even the most

experienced counselors and social workers who “have heard it all”.

 

From day 1, the man used the innocent young girl in lewd sexual acts and

posted those things on the Internet. Here is not the occasion to reveal all

those nasty details etc, but from the tender age of 3 up to the age of 10,

the deranged man kept the girl as his own personal, sex toy. His entire

rented apartment was made up of 1 main bedroom where the two of them would

live together and sleep. And when the deranged man would go out from the

house then he would lock the young girl in the basement. This was going on

day after day for years. And to fund his crazed lifestyle, he would film

pornographic and erotic acts performed on the young girl and publicize and

sell them on the internet. In this way the years passed and obviously

throughout it all he kept his own identity secret.

 

Authorities began to investigate those scandalous images posted to the

Internet and ultimately after a lengthy investigation they uncovered who

the offender was and brought the man to jail etc.

 

Unfortunately the terrible damage was done: the young girl was jarred for

life. There was no way to undo the years of terror and abuse.

 

Only now authorities are looking into how the adoption agency could have

“approved” such a man for being an adoptive parent.

 

Tragically, there are many such sick adults who engage in this type of

nasty endeavour as the Internet is used as a medium to profit from child

pornography.

 

 

“SAFEGUARDS” TAKEN BY ADOPTION AGENCIES ARE NOT ENOUGH

 

In the aftermath of such a tragedy, adoption agencies are considering what

they could have and should have done to prevent such a disaster that has

permanently scarred the young girl for life.

 

Some advocates say that the adoption agencies should make routine and

follow-up visits to the adopted children after they are placed in the

custody of their new parents.

 

Others say that the standards and regulations for adoption should be made

even more strict.

 

Still others suggest that multiple social agencies should be involved while

others want schools to take a more active role.

 

And some authorities recommend making harsher laws and increasing the

punishment for sex offenders.

 

These are some of the many proposals being made to avert such crimes in the

future– crimes which rob another human being of their life. But with their

limited approach, nothing which they propose will be a final solution to

the problem. Because the ills of materialism can not be solved through

materialistic means.

 

 

ANANDA MARGA’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE MATTER

 

Here Baba gives us a step-by-step look into the matter: From the raising of

the child to the elimination of the problem to the positive method how to

move ahead.

 

Firstly, in AM, Baba reminds us again and again that children are very

impressionable and parents have a tremendous impact on the growth and

development of the child.

 

Baba says, “The mental outlook of children has already been moulded in a

particular fashion by the influence of their family environment before they

start school. No matter what or how much they learn at school, it is

extremely difficult for them to free themselves from the influence of their

family. Drawing on what they have learned in the family, the immature minds

of children begin to learn about the world and understand it, and to

receive ideas and master language so that they can express those ideas.

Unhesitatingly they adopt their elders’ way of looking at the world. Hence

the primary responsibility for acquainting children with the world lies

with their parents or guardians. Children will become assets of society in

the future to the extent that their parents or guardians discharge their

duties properly.” (HS-1)

 

Reading Baba’s above directive, it becomes clear that parents are the

primary factor behind the success or failure of their children. Their

effect on the children is enormous. Here again is Baba’s guideline.

Baba says, “Children will become assets of society in the future to the

extent that their parents or guardians discharge their duties properly.”

(HS-1)

 

 

EFFECT OF ABUSIVE PARENTS SCARS CHILDREN

 

When children are reared in an abusive and contaminated environment where

the parents are totally mishandling and torturing them, then that

permanently scars the minds of those young kids. It is not something that

can be corrected easily. Because the torment and pain experienced by those

children is extremely deep seeded. Here Baba presents the extreme anguish

of those children.

 

Baba says, “The lack of cordial relations causes many children to heartily

wish for the death of…their abusive parents.” (HS-1)

 

 

IT IS THE DUTY OF ALL

 

Here Baba presents a key guideline for how to handle those situations where

child abuse is happening.

 

Baba says, “It should be the duty of society as a whole to ensure that the

children of immoral and unrighteousness parents are brought up as virtuous

citizens. If possible such children should be removed from the unwholesome

environment of their parents.” (HS-1)

 

According to Baba, once it is found out and discovered that a particular

parent or set of parents are abusing their children, then it becomes a

problem which should be properly and thoroughly addressed by the combined

efforts of the collective. One broken down adoption agency is not enough.

 

The entire society should be held responsible for ensuring the proper

raising of those children. According to Baba, that is the first step

towards rectifying this problem.

 

 

BABA’S PRESCRIBED METHOD TO ADDRESSING PORNOGRAPHY

 

Here Baba gives us insight into the next phase how to overcome the entire

problem of childhood pornography.

 

Baba says, “In certain parts of this world, depraving tendencies such as

pornography exist. Simply protesting will not stop these things: we will

have to do something positive to check it. Such positive action will create

a new stir in the human mind.” (AFPS-8)

 

Thus Baba’s solution goes far beyond the short-sighted vision of today’s

materialistic adoption agencies etc. Baba guides us that merely protesting

the matter is not enough. Raising slogans and putting offenders behind bars

will not do. That will neither cure nor eliminate the problem.

 

Baba explicitly tell us that we are to inject a new way of thinking into

the minds of those wrongdoers as well as in the minds of each and every

citizen. Exposing the criminal behavior is not enough, side by side the

positive and pure vision of neo-humanism must be presented to the people.

This will ensure their minds develop in a natural and proper way– not

allowing negative ideas to fester and take shape.

 

Here furthermore Baba gives specific recommendations as to how we are to

infuse a healthy, positive vision to overcome the evils of child pornography.

Baba says, “Pornography and other depraving tendencies will be completely

discouraged and checked. That will be our course of action. We have to

create new literature, new books, new music, new songs. We have to chalk

out a programme and act accordingly.” (PNS-12, ‘Rule of Rationality)

 

By giving the people a clean and spiritual way of living where each and

every aspect of human life is sentient and pure, then people will surely

develop in a nice way. Nourished with the freshness of neo-humanism, their

mode of thinking will be sweet and benevolent.

 

 

BABA’S BLESSING

 

By Baba’s divine grace He has blessed us with all the answers– ensuring

that on this dusty earth we will develop a beautiful world order.

 

Baba says, “There is only one ideology in the world which is not only

all-embracing but also all-pervading. Both the problems and their solutions

have been pointed out. Now it is our bounden duty to carry this message to

all nooks and corners of this world. The wind is blowing in our favour. We

should carry the message to each and every particle of marrow of this

living world.” (Prout-12)

 

Namaskar,

Balakrsna

 

 

Note 1: RAMPANT HYPOCRISY OF CAPITALISTIC LIFE

 

Life is so imbalanced in the sex-oriented materialistic countries. Such

authorities are totally inept to solve any problem. On the one side in

places like the US there is a growing concern about child abuse and child

pornography: The laws and punishment against such crimes are becoming more

strict and severe. In that case, naive and foolish people will think that

these authorities are concerned and ready to solve the problem. Simple

people think those solutions are viable etc When in fact their whole

approach is nonsense.

 

Because that same US government gives Hollywood and the US corporations

full freedom to use female sexuality to sell each and every film and each

and every product. The entire country is filled with sexually alluring

signs, posters, and billboards. Such degrading scenes fill every street

corner and bus-stand. On every television set and movie screen people’s

lower vrittis are getting stimulated. The female body is used as a selling

point for each and every company product. The whole society is littered in

that way. In that case, of course the minds of the people will get

deranged. Already they are constantly being goaded towards crude,

animalistic tendencies. In that case even good people are bound to be

degraded and thrust into pornography and sexual scandals etc.

 

Yet through it all the materialistic authorities pretend that they are

going to solve the problem. But they will never get success. And in fact,

such governments are happy seeing the people degraded and running after

sexual allurements. Because this keeps their minds dull and makes it easier

for the government to befool and exploit their own citizens. This is the

height of their hypocrisy.

 

About all this much, much more can be written. Let us simply conclude with

this fact: The materialistic “solution” is no solution.

 

Only Baba’s neo-humanism can lead the society out of the darkness and into

the light.

 

*********************************

Why Kiirtan

 

Baba says, “Now the question is, does Parama Purus’a really want people to

sing His glories? He never tells anyone to do kiirtana for Him: then why

should people do kiirtana?…Kiirtana was first invented by devotees to

give joy to Parama Purus’a, and in the process of pleasing and delighting

Parama Purus’a, the devotees lost themselves. Thus kiirtana belongs to the

category of supraaesthetic science…So of all the branches of music,

kiirtana is the best. And since music is the composite of song, dance and

instrumental music, kiirtana is not only song–it also includes

instrumental music. These three aspects of music when combined together

create such an unblemished, heavenly environment that people completely

forget themselves. This is the charm, the excellence, of kiirtana. So those

who are truly intelligent should certainly do kiirtana. So those who are

truly intelligent should certainly do kiirtana either in public, or if they

feel rather shy — in private.” (AFPS-4, ‘Supra-Aesthetic Science & Music’)

*********************************

 

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Extreme “Sadavrata” in USA

Date: 20 Dec 2010 05:28:18 -0000

From: “G Bhaskaran Reddy”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: Extreme “Sadavrata” in USA

 

Baba

 

== EXTREME “SADAVRATA” IN USA ==

 

Namaskar,

Recently an event took place in our Marga that causes us to stop and think about the way some in AM are doing “service”. Read about this below event and see what you think.

 

 

WHAT TRANSPIRED

 

On December 4th, it was reported that one Dada in California organised a food distribution program in the end of November during the “Thanksgiving” holiday in the USA.

 

Note: During Thanksgiving, many Americans sit down and eat turkey, i.e. the name of one big, wild bird that is similar in size and look to the turkey vulture. A turkey is two or three times the size of a chicken and can weigh up to 14kg (30lbs). And these wild birds are eaten during the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA. That is the dogmatic tradition. As Ananda Margiis we categorically reject this tradition of eating meat and slaughtering animals.

 

Anyway, in doing his food distribution, this Dadaji got 7 Turkeys (i.e. big, dead, feathered birds). That means Dadaji collected 98kg (215.6 lbs) from the market and donated that meat on the occasion of Thanksgiving.

 

So we should all think how appropriate this is. Should one serve tamasik slaughtered birds, i.e. turkeys, to those in need. Is this the way we do service?

 

 

SIMILAR FUTURE EVENTS

 

Collecting and distributing 98kg / 215lbs of turkey meat by one Dada for food distribution is extreme. Some say Dadaji has these future plans as well:

 

1. Distribute violent video games on Christmas to poor kids struggling in school.

2. Donate guns and ammunition to poor hunters;

3. Distribute cigarettes to poor & distressed tobacco addicts;

4. Distribute heroin to poor & distressed drug addicts;

5. Give arms to poor & distressed criminals / terrorists;

6. Distribute poison to the elderly for their assisted suicide;

7. Serve alcohol to poor people on New Year’s Eve & other festival days;

8. Distribute machine guns to thugs and gang members;

9. Give high-fat sweets filled with hydogentated oil to poor & distressed heart patients;

10. Give foods loaded with sugar to poor diabetics;

11. Distribute sharp blades to poor & distressed pickpockets or robbers.

 

Please see the email appended below for further information.

 

Namaskar,

Bhaskaran

 

 

Note 1: GOOD SPIRIT IS NOT ENOUGH

 

Here the point is that doing something with a good heart or with a good spirit is not enough. The overall effect of the action or service also counts.

 

With full sincerity if you offer poison to someone then they will still be harmed.

 

Those who do not have any idea of bhagavad dharma may say that Dadaji donated all those things with a good mind-set and we should not chase him. But one should know that doing sinful things with a good heart will not make that action virtuous.

 

Prakrti does not overlook such wrongs but rather punishes those going against bhagvad dharma. Here we should not only think by the angle of a greedy human; as neo-humanists we should think by the angle of those birds as well. Then it will not take time to understand this entire issue.

 

Dada should have given things for the people’s weflare. That is the effect of AM service. He should have only given plant and grain-based foods, i.e. sentient foods. Because our approach is never to give away harmful or tamasik foods in the name of service. Not only that, birds have their own existential value, they are not to be slaughtered for human consumption.

 

But in Dadaji’s case he gave something that is harmful – harmful both to them and the bird. So Dadaji’s dealing caused the death of so many birds and he has to face the consequences. Such type of activity is sinful – not service.

 

All around the world there are margiis surrounded by so many meat-eaters, but we do not therefore sacrifice animals and birds and feed meat to others. No true Ananda Margii does like this.

 

 

Note 2: HERE IS THE EMAIL WITH ALL THE INFORMATION

 

To: das.kiyoga@yahoo.com

From: das.kiyoga@yahoo.com

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 22:48:47 -0800

Subject: [AM-nCal] Service to Homeless, Service to DEER nor more, Service by Seminars, Service to Professionals [4 Attachments]

 

Service to Homeless Food Distribution

 

Thanksgiving is over and lots of Food is donated and under the direction of Dada Jiivapremananda, Mixed rice and Dal, 2 big containers of oil and 7 turkeys were given to the homeless.

 

Brotherly in His Service,

 

Ragu Das, SDM-LFT, 408-338-6495

 

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Re: How Culture is One

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:34:12 -0000

To: AM-GLOBAL

From: Hariish Deva

Subject: Re: How Culture is One

 

Baba

 

“Maneri gahane tumi a’cho, a’cho prabhu sada’ jege a’cho…” (4380)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You are always remaining in the depths of my mind– You never

leave me. You always remain awake. You go on working day and night, beyond

the time. You never stop. Baba, whatever You want to do, You go on doing. This whole expressed universe is Your eternal game. You are ever-present: beginningless and endless. You are ever intoxicated in Your divine flow. You are the Goal of everyone– everyone wants You. You are remaining with one and all. Those who are trying to come close to You by their virtuous deeds and shravan, manan, nididhyasana, & dhyana, only they are able to come to You. Only they are able to realise You and have Your grace and proximity. Baba,

You are grace-Personified…

 

 

== HOW HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE ==

 

~ Part 2 ~

 

Note: This letter is in reply to one margii brother who was inquiring about Baba’s use of the term, demi-culture.

 

Namaskar,

Yes indeed, Baba’s use of the term, “demi-culture”, is well known to senior margiis and those familiar with Baba discourses.

 

In fact, by Baba’s grace, I was in His divine company for field walk (May 8, 1979) in Fiesch during His Berlin sector tour in 1979. And on that tour itself Baba used the term, demi-culture. For your reference I have appended portions of that field walk in point #3 below.

 

 

BABA’S TEACHINGS ON CULTURE AND DEMI-CULTURE

 

Here are further points for consideration:

 

1. All sadhakas are aware of His guideline that human culture is one and that so-called cultural wars, distrust, and clashes between one geographical areas will cease to exist when people accept our human culture as one.

 

2. These days what people commonly think of as culture or separate cultures are really nothing more than different modes of expression – not different cultures. Human culture is one and Baba chose the term demi-culture or mode of expression to represent the different ways people express our singular human culture.

 

 

BABA’S FIELD WALK IN FIESCH

 

CULTURE & DEMI-CULTURE

 

3. As mentioned above, on one field-walk in Fiesch, in reply to the margii Baba spoke the following lines about culture and demi-culture:

 

Baba says, “You see, I have said that the human culture is one. Only, there are different modes of expressions. Now, we may say demi-culture, regarding those modes of expression. There were during the Middle Ages, three distinct demi-cultures in Europe. One Prussian, another Latanic, and the third one Iberian. “Iberian” means Spain, Portugal, and Basque….”

 

Then the Margii states: In ancient times, one human culture. Although in ancient times there was only one human culture. Baba then corrects the margii.

 

Baba says, “Even now, human culture is one. There are local differences in eating and dancing. [But] that doesn’t make culture.” (Baba’s Field Walk in Fiesch, May 8, 1979)

 

In His above teaching, Baba is clearly stating that human culture has been and remains one. Only we may say that the modes of expression, or demi-culture, vary. Those variations reflect the various ways how people eat and dance etc. That is Baba’s use of the term demi-culture.

 

4. It is our duty to use these terms, demi-culture and modes of expression, in our day to day life. We should utilise Baba’s given terminology of demi-culture in our: writing, art, literature, talks, lectures, presentations, stories, dramas and more. Gradually, by this way, Baba’s teachings on culture and demi-culture will be propagated. The concept that human culture is one is a completely new idea. We have to help teach others by our practical daily use of the term, demi-culture.

 

 

DOGMA:

 

DIVIDING HUMANITY INTO DIFFERENT CULTURES

 

5. At present, due to a lack of understanding, people think in an analytical (divisive ) way. They divide our singular human culture into many. And still this is going on.

 

Baba says, “Dogmas have taken root in the human mind. People cannot get rid of these false ideas because they have been injected into their minds since childhood. As a result, one human society is divided into different nations, and one nation is divided into different religions; religions also have different castes, and caste also have different sub-castes – what kind of situation is this? We have only learned how to divide and subdivide humanity, and we never learned how to unite the people. This is all due to the defective teachings of dogmas.” (A Few Problems Solved, part 7)

 

Indeed on this point of culture, people continue to divide humanity to such a degree until finally each and every person carries their own separate culture. This is nothing but the path of analysis (division & factionalism) while ours is that path of synthesis (unity).

 

6. For instance, some think that there is both western culture and eastern culture. And by their path of analysis they divide western culture into parts like European culture and American culture. And they further divide American culture into so many parts: Italian-American culture, Native American culture, Chinese-American culture, African-American culture, Mexican-American culture, Guatemalan American culture, Filipino American culture, Japanese American culture, Greek American culture, etc.

 

If we continue to list all there divisions then there might be several hundred classifications. Because people from all over the globe are in the US and they carry their own demi-cultural label. In the same way, this type of analysis (division) can be done in each and every land. Tragically, through that lens there is a gigantic wave of differentiation and distrust.

 

 

HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE

 

7. The solution is that irrespective of one’s mode of expression or demi-culture, human culture is one. We are all human. We are bound by one paternal love of Parama Purusa. Wherever humans are born and raised they adopt local variations which vary from place to place. So there are local variations but in essence humans are not different from one another. Human culture is one.

 

8. Here again the central idea is that all human beings are one: (a) everyone greets, (b) everyone expresses happiness, (c) everyone has something they value or holds as an ideal, (d) people share and serve food together, and (e) many similar practices can be included in this list.

 

Irrespective of their so-called caste, language, so-called race or geographical areas, and level of education etc, all have these common qualities. That is why inherently human culture is one. By superficial look, it seems that people live in different ways and have a different culture, but these are local variations that we term as demi-culture.

 

The conclusion is that fundamentally human beings are one and there are various local differences and those differences are not cultural but rather demi-culture.

 

Baba says, “According to PROUT all of society has the same culture. There are local variations in the mode or state of cultural expression, but the expression is universal. While everybody eats, some eat by hand, others by stick and still others by spoon. Indian dance is based on mudrá or dance postures, and European dance is based on rhythm, but they do not represent two different cultures.” (Prout Nutshell-15)

 

Namaskar,

Hariish

 

 

Note 1: MORE OF BABA’S RELATED TEACHINGS ON CULTURE

 

Here are some of Baba’s further teachings on the point of culture:

 

(A) Here Baba puts forth the point that culture represents a wide array of human expressions.

 

Baba says, “It [culture] is the collective name for different expressions of life. People eat, enjoy hospitality, laugh on some occasions and shed tears on others, and thereby express life through various actions. The collective name of all these actions is culture.” (Prout Nutshell-15)

 

(B) Next Baba further emphasizes how human culture is internally one with many external variations. As well-wishers of humanity we are to always rally around the common points. That will make society healthy. Those who highlight differences from one human being to the next harm society.

 

Baba says, “There are certain prima facie local variations, but there is no difference in the subterranean cultural flow of the human society. The difference is external and not internal. Culture is one for the entire world. Common factors for the entire humanity (that is, culture in the true sense of the term) should always be encouraged, but prima facie differences should never be encouraged. Those who encourage these differences help the fissiparous tendencies which endanger human progress. To establish a cosmopolitan cultural outlook, we have to wipe out prima facie differences through matrimony and other socio-economic blendings.” (Prout Nutshell-4)

 

(C) Here below Baba differentiates between customs and culture. Customs are many whereas human culture is one.

 

Baba says, “Local variations will diminish if there is a close blending between different groups of people, because this will create common customs. In Nepal there is a blending of Hindu and Buddhist customs. In Bengal there is a blending of Aryan and Dravidian customs. These local variations are called customs. Thus local modes of expression bearing local or group specialities are customs, but the expression itself is culture. Therefore it is a mistake to readjust boundaries on the basis of language and culture. Indian culture and the culture of the world are one and the same. Readjusting boundaries on the basis of customs is not possible for customs may differ within the same locality.” (Prout Nutshell-15)

 

(D) Finally, Baba demonstrates how there is both good culture (saḿskrti) and bad culture (krśt́i)

 

Baba says, “The particular expressions of life which are not considered beneficial to others are called krśt́i. To take a very common example, an English family, out of hospitality, may offer beef to an Indian guest who may not like it. The term saḿskrti also means culture. It is used in a good sense and is beneficial for all.” (Prout Nutshell-15)

 

 

Note 2: ONE MARGII’S QUERY

 

On 12/14/2010 01:12 AM, one margii wrote:

 

Namaskar, can you please reference where you got the definition of demi-culture.

 

I cannot recall Baba speaking of demi-culture.

 

Namaskar

 

 

******************************************

Animals Are More Aware About…

 

Baba says, “A crow has a natural premonitive instinct regarding storms. An owl and to some extent a dog can sense beforehand the possible occurrence of an earthquake or some other unforeseen natural calamity of great magnitude. Such power of apprehending phenomenal vibrations exists not in ten or twenty but in innumerable species of birds. Such a power is indeed of paramount necessity in their rigorous struggle for survival. Such a power did exist, too, to some extent, among the prehistoric people. But today, in this age of so-called civilization, human beings, having become extremely ease-loving, have lost that power through misuse and lack of necessity; just as their tails, their ability to move their ears and their capacity to hold things with their feet have disappeared. Now the hairiness of their bodies and the strength of their teeth and nails are also becoming extinct. The greater the pre-occupation of creatures with the struggle for existence, the necessarily gr

eater must be their power of premonition or prescience of impending danger, or else their existence will be effaced from the surface of the earth — this is the law of nature.” (SS-3)

 

Note: People often think that animals are lowly & neglected beings but that is not true. As Baba points out above, animals are far more aware about naturally occurring phenomena than human beings. On this point animals are highly instinctual and are always surveying the scene. They can forecast and predict a wide array of storms and natural calamities. In the above quote Baba indicates how humans also used to have such abilities, but now with the onset of modernity and a comfort-oriented lifestyle, humans have lost this skill. So now modern people are entirely dependent upon science to forecast the weather etc. But as developed as science is, scientists (meteorologists and seismologists) are still totally in the dark about earthquakes. They are unable to predict when and where an earthquake might occur; whereas various animals like dogs and owls have this unique gift. That’s why the recent earthquake unleashed in Pakistan, many dogs reportedly started behaving abnormally. They were restless, walking around whimpering, and going in and out of the house constantly. The dogs knew about the impending disaster that was about to strike Pakistan, and parts of India. In contrast, modern scientists did not have a clue than an earthquake was about to occur. But the dogs know. And those smart people who understood why the dogs were upset were able to help themselves and others also. So in future, we should rely upon animals to guide us about when and where natural disasters will strike. While dogs know about earthquakes, crows know about cyclones. Similarly there are numerous animals that are acutely aware about impending storms and natural disasters.

******************************************

 

 

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How to Cure Oneself of Nightmares

To: AM-GLOBAL

Subject: How to Cure Oneself of Nightmares

Date: Sun 19 Dec 2010 06:28:07 +0500 (IST)

From: Ram Sahay Kulshresth

 

Baba

 

“Toma’r na’mer bhela’y bha’siye dilum pra’n’…” (P.S. 724)

 

Purport:

 

O’ my Dearmost Baba, my whole existence is floating on the divine wave of Your name. I do not want anything from You. Desiring something from You is to stray from the path. Baba, just I want to please You and surrender at Your lotus feet. Baba, I will go on singing Your song, and adjusting to Your tune and melody. In my heart the resonance of Your tune and melody will always resonate by Your grace. And this way the caravan of my life will proceed– keeping Your sweet love with it…

 

 

== HOW TO CURE ONESELF FROM NIGHTMARES =

 

Note: This is an important letter and the title itself is significant. All too often people think that nightmares come from outside their being. So they say, “I need to get rid of these nightmares.” But in Ananda Marga we know that nightmares are a product of our own mind – they stem from inside the mind. So just as one does not get rid of heart disease but rather cures oneself of it – since the problem lies within, similarly, we do not get rid of nightmares, we cure ourselves of them. Because nightmares result from a defect within our own mind – from within our own being. And this is something which one can cure.

 

 

Namaskar,

Getting proper rest at night is an important part of the life cycle. Unfortunately, many people suffer from nightmares, bad dreams, and other psychic difficulties while “sleeping”. Actually what they are experiencing is not sleep per se, rather they are in dream state. And this dream state disturbs both their physical and mental well-being.

 

As Ananda Margiis, we are working with all segments of the population as we implement Baba’s divine teachings. In this endeavour, we come across innumerable people who suffer from nightmares and bad dreams. This is especially so in this materialistic era when many are plagued by psychic problems.

 

So we should understand well the science behind their difficulties as well as the practical solution.

 

 

POOR PARENTING CAN CAUSE LIFELONG NIGHTMARES

 

As we begin this topic, here is a real-life scenario that is deeply related with this entire issue.

 

Whether it be in the remote village or an ultra-modern urban center, poor parenting techniques goad mothers and fathers to use fear tactics to discipline their child. They say things like, “If you do not eat your vegetables then an ugly monster will bite you when you are not looking”, or they say, “If you do not behave then so-called goblins will invade your bed when you are sleeping”. Most often parents are well-intentioned, but their approach proves disastrous. Their ploys have a deep-seated effect. This can often result in nightmares and fear complexes for the duration of one’s life. So every Ananda Margii should be aware about this as we address this issue of nightmares.

 

For more about this, refer to the audio file – Baba’s Warning About Infusing Fear in Children – along the left side of the AM-GLOBAL blogsite (http://www.am-global-01.blogspot.com/) where Baba Himself talks about how one’s nightmares as a child stick with a person their entire life. Here is the letter related with that sound file.

 

 

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-harmful-it-is.html

 

 

AN IMAGINED IMAGE DURING WAKING HOURS

 

In a step by step process, we should investigate how the mind works: Specifically why do nightmares have a much more dramatic effect on the mind than one’s imagination during waking hours.

 

Let’s say during waking hours you are thinking about a so-called ghost, or reading or watching a scary tale. At that time with the immediate support of one’s motor and sensory organs, that person will realise that their fear is unfounded. Because they will look, listen, touch and even smell all around, and rationally come to the conclusion that it was an imagined image. It is not real. So in a flash that problem fades from the mind and one will feel normal, as if nothing ever happened. So it really is not a big deal at all.

 

 

WHAT IS TRUE SLEEP

 

When one is truly sleeping, then the unconscious mind, kárańa mana or causal mind, is awake – and the conscious mind sleeps. In addition the subconscious layers (i.e. the mind which memorises the day to day events and has the power of recollection) of mind cease functioning. That is true sleep. In that case, both body and mind are getting perfect rest. Then one is in a dreamless state. This happens primarily during the first 2 or 3 hours of lying down.

 

Unfortunately, in this hyper-busy digital era, most spend very little time actually sleeping.

 

Suppose you are sleeping six hours and the first three you are in deep sleep. That time dreams do not come. After that when sleep is not very deep, the subconscious mind starts functioning. So many ideas and stories are stored in the subconscious mind. And they start streaming across your mental plate. At that time you feel that those stories are real. And you say, after awakening, that you have seen it in a dream.

 

 

AN IMAGINED IMAGE FEELS REAL

 

WHEN THE CONSCIOUS MIND CEASES TO FUNCTION

 

For most people, during the majority of their “sleep”, the subconscious mind is busy at work. Only the conscious mind ceases functioning. In that case, various images stream across one’s mental plate. And those images seem real because the conscious mind is not functioning. This is known as dreaming.

 

In other words during the daytime when you are thinking about so-called ghosts, it feels as though you are just imagining the scene. However during the night when in the dream state, that very imagined image seems totally real and one views that image or so-called ghost as reality. Hence you become terrified by the so-called ghost.

 

So that which you know to be nothing more than your imagination during daytime becomes very real and terrifying at night in a dream state. Why does this happen? Because during daytime, the conscious mind is working and one can verify with their motor and sensory organs what is real and what is not. Whereas during the nighttime the conscious mind is not working. And when the conscious mind is not working there is no verification process with the eyes and ears etc, so the imagined objects become our reality. Such is the power of those nightmares.

 

As a quick review, when we imagine the so-called ghost and so-called goblins during the daytime in wakeful state, we do not get terrified by them. The reason is very simple. The conscious mind is also at work, interacting with the physical world via the 10 motor and sensory organs. As noted above, this conscious mind can check anything going on all around to determine if it is real or imagined.

 

However, in the latter part of “sleep”, the subconscious mind projects an image onto the citta (one of the layers of mind) and one starts dreaming, then that dream becomes our living reality. Why? Because the conscious mind is not functioning. The mind is not interacting with the mundane world via the brain and 10 motor and sensory organs. In that case whatever one thinks, i.e. dreams, one experiences as reality.

 

One might dream that they are in a business meeting; or one might dream of playing a sport; or one might dream of falling from the sky, or one might dream of so many things. And those dreams that a really scary such as when one is confronted by so-called ghosts or robbers, then that is a nightmare. And one accepts that frightening experience as being real.

 

 

BABA’S EXAMPLE:

 

HOW OUR THOUGHTS DURING SLEEP BECOME REALITY

 

Indeed, in one discourse, Baba describes how one of his cousins would imagine football matches in his sleep and accept those games as being real.

 

Baba says, “During sleep when his subconscious mind was functioning and not the conscious mind, the memory of the football match came alive on his mental plate. As the conscious mind was inactive, the subconscious mind could activate the nerve cells directly, so as soon as his vocal chord shouted “goal” his legs, in adjustment with rhythm of the nerve cells and fibre, kicked the ball into the goal. ” (Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell, Part 6)

 

Here the whole point is that when the conscious mind (wakeful state) is not functioning, then the imagined image projected by the subconscious mind becomes totally real such that even the physical body gets involved in that scene. That is why dreams can have such a dramatic effect.

 

 

MORE ABOUT HOW NIGHTMARES OCCUR

 

During sleep one might think of so many things: Visiting a certain place, talking to a particular friend, eating a favorite food – so many images might flash in the mental plate that one accepts as being real.

 

And when those images are of something scary then we call that dream a nightmare. It might be a monster, a serial killer, a so-called ghost, a so-called goblin, a robber, or a ravenous tiger. When we are faced with such horrifying images during our “sleep” due to the activity of the subconscious mind, then we are tortured by those dreams. Even though they are imagined, they are totally frightening for us because the conscious mind is not active. Because this is not active that is why imagined objects look real i.e. a so-called ghost, a so-called goblin, a robber, or a ravenous tiger.

 

This happens to so many people and they become terrified. Not only are they scared while dreaming, but the whole next day as well – even for months or even years after. And it can happen for many reasons. A nightmare might be based on something they saw during the day or it might result from an experience as a child. In any case, the mind has been negatively affected and it projects that image during the time of sleep.

 

Baba says, “You may have encountered yet another type of demoniacal possession, which does not weaken the conscious mind very much in the wakeful state; but during sleep such strength of mind does not exist, and as a result during sleep, while lying on his back, the person sees a nightmare of an imaginary so-called ghost sitting on his chest. Dreaming is an act of the sub-conscious mind. In the dream state the imaginary so-called ghost of the sub-conscious mind takes form beautifully and repeats verbatim to him the language of his imagination. In the dreamful state he feels stupefied with fear, due to this excessive stupefaction he starts groaning, and people take it to be demoniacal possession. Thus what is generally called a “nightmare”, is usually the vision of a person whom the dreamer had oppressed in the past and whom the weak-minded oppressor now “sees” after that person’s death.” (Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life – 5)

 

Such nightmares are so scary that anyone can get affected. For instance, even an Olympic champion boxer may lie down at night and face all kinds of fears and demons while “sleeping” as those dreams become a reality, irrespective of one’s age or worldly status. That nightmare might occur simply because of what one was told as a child, or because of a horror movie, or for some other reason. And these nightmares might plague and chase a person for their entire life.

 

 

FINDING THE CURE

 

Now that we have investigated what dreams are and how they occur, it is critical that we understand how Baba says we can cure this problem. After all, dreams, nay nightmares, can really plague a person. They can deprive one of sleep and leave one feeling frightened.

 

Here following then are some of Baba prescribed remedies for curing oneself of nightmares.

 

 

PHYSICAL REMEDIES

 

In the physical sphere there are a few things that can be done:

 

1. Don’t eat food late at night or sleep on a full belly: When undigested food remains in the stomach at night, then gas forms and that air rises and creates pressure. In result, the mind is affected and scary dreams, or nightmares, often result. Best then is to finish one’s evening meal 2 – 3 hrs before sleep. Going for a short walk after the evening meal is also advisable. Then the food will be properly digested when one goes to bed. That is one way to help combat nightmares on the physical plane.

 

2. Be sure to sleep on the left side: The best way to sleep is on the left side as that ensures proper digestion. As Baba says the right nostril must be open for proper digestion and that is what happens when one lies on the left side. In contrast, the worst position for sleeping is on the right side as that effectively blocks the right nostril. Sleeping on the back and stomach are also to be avoided. One way to keep from sleeping on the back is to tie something uncomfortable object there – such as an apple-sized rock covered with a cloth – that prevents one from rolling onto their back. In a short while one will get habituated and one will naturally keep off the back and sleep on the left side. In addition during sleep do not keep your hand on your chest as you might think that is one so-called ghost sitting on your chest.

 

All of the above are Baba’s guidelines from His discourses and reportings.

 

 

PSYCHIC REMEDIES

 

In the psychic plane, there are a few things one can do that will cure one from having nightmares.

 

First, in the hours just prior to going to bed, do not watch or see negative movies or films and thereby pollute your subconscious mind. In that case those horrifying scenes will bring nightmares. So the best thing is to engage in quiet, peaceful and sentient pursuits – like kiirtana, sadhana, and Prabhat Samgiita – in the hours leading up to bed.

 

Secondly, one should avoid any arguments or heated discussions just prior to going to bed. Those thoughts and feelings will then create disturbances in the mind during sleep.

 

The main thing to be aware of is that the conscious mind should not knowingly be involved in crude dealings (movies, scary stories etc) directly before bed. And best is to avoid those things entirely. Then the subconscious mind will not be plagued by such thoughts or images during the night.

 

 

SPIRITUAL REMEDIES

 

In the spiritual field also there are practices to be done that will cure oneself from nightmares.

 

Singing kiirtan directly before going to bed will purify the mind and create a sentient vibration. In that case one will not be disturbed by foul or frightening thoughts during the night.

 

Secondly, doing mantra japa with one’s ista mantra will certainly elevate the mind above all such lowly thoughts that might create nightmares. The mantras in Ananda Marga are siddha mantras – they have been charged by Sadguru – so repeating one’s ista mantra will certainly cure the mind of all troubles like nightmares etc.

 

Thirdly, regular sadhana practice of all six lessons will further bring the mind into a positive track. During sadhana, the entire mind is cleansed and bathed. In that case, the subconscious mind is bound to be spiritually vibrated during the night.

 

The absolute final solution is to do sadhana in a dark cemetery during the night – alone. This type of sadhana will cure one of all such fears. That is the final solution and can be learned from an acarya.

 

 

ONE FINAL NOTE

 

One last thought on this topic is that one should firmly understand that there is no such thing as ghosts and goblins. They do not exist. Therefore any nightmare about ghosts, goblins or any such monster or supernatural being is baseless and irrational. If a person can understand this in the depth of their mind, then that will go a long way in curing oneself of nightmares. For more about this see Baba’s teachings in note 1 below.

 

 

BABA’S BLESSING

 

By Baba’s grace, we have all the tools and teachings to lead a balanced life – free from all complexes and fears, including nightmares. We should help others in this regard as well.

 

Baba says, “Maintaining a balanced mind is one of the greatest virtues. There are no complexes in a balanced mind. One neither feels inferior nor superior to others; one never fears anybody nor ever gets perturbed. One maintains a mental balance.” (AV-5)

 

Namaskar,

Ram Sahay

 

 

Note 1: GHOSTS DO NOT EXIST

 

In the preface to His book, “Strange Experiences”, Baba clearly tells that He does not believe in ghosts and refutes their existence entirely.

 

Baba says, “Let me state at the very outset that I am not a believer in ghosts and spirits, demons and devils, or heaven and hell, because I have found no logic behind their existence. I know that whether ghosts and spirits or demons and devils, everything which bears the imprint of the supernatural is only the play of the mind. The appearance and

 

disappearance of such things takes place in the various kos’as [layers] of the mind due to variations or possible variations in physical or mental circumstances.” (Strange Experiences, ‘Preface’)

 

In His above teaching, Baba further explains that the entire “ghost” phenomenon occurs within one’s own psyche. As Baba says, it is just a “play of [one’s own] mind”.

 

Then in the Q & A discourse, “Some Questions and Answers on Ananda Marga Philosophy – Section B”, Baba directly asks and answers this question about ghosts.

 

“Q. 56 Do ghosts really exist?”

 

“Ans.: – Those strange figures which we call ghosts are mainly figments of the imagination. When the mind is in a weak or vulnerable state, what was previously created in the imagination now appears to be real.” (TK-3)

 

So in the above query, Baba tells that not only are ghosts imagined by one’s own mind but that such so-called apparitions tend to occur with unit minds that are “weak” and “vulnerable”.

 

And finally, Baba issues this most conclusive statement.

 

Baba says, “Ghosts do not exist.” (SS-4)

 

Thus under no circumstances should anyone be led to believe or think that Baba or His philosophy supports the existence of ghosts.

 

 

Note 2: BABA’S TEACHING FROM INTUITIONAL SCIENCE OF THE VEDAS

 

Baba says, “There is still another type of dream. Even when people are in a deep slumber, there may arise in their sub-conscious minds through their dreams, the prognosis of some good news or bad news, or even a huge calamity. The all-knowing causal or unconscious mind usually cannot express its all-knowingness due to the unsteadiness of the conscious and sub-conscious minds as well as due to its own expressional inability, but sometimes it can awaken in the calm conscious and sub-conscious minds of people in deep slumber visions of past, present or future and those visions overwhelm the sleepers minds. A surging vibrational flow emanating from the fountain head of the unconscious mind and vibrating the sub-conscious mind, is also a sort of dream; and that dream is not insignificant for its cause is the all-knowing causal mind. This type of dream we may call a supramental vision. Sometimes even in the wakeful state the cognitive flow of the unconscious mind penetrates into the subtle mind, as the result of which people even in the wakeful state, with a little concentration, can know events concerning their distant near and dear ones, this is called telepathic vision. Through the concentrated state of this telepathic vision, when conscious mind is more calm and sedate, people can visualize events concerning their distant beloved ones, enacted before their eyes in the external world or feel as if they are seeing them; this is called telepathic clairvoyance. Mistaking such acts as those of spirits many people come to believe in spiritism or spiritology. Truly speaking such incidents have no connection at all with spirits or ghosts. Telepathic vision and telepathic clairvoyance are intrinsically the same as supramental vision. They are born of the inspiration of the unconscious mind, the knower of the universe. To believe in ghosts and spirits is merely to perpetuate the cowardly mentality of the pre-historic people. But compared to supramental vision, the incidence of telepathic vision is very much less frequent, and still less is the occurrence of telepathic clairvoyance due to the activeness of the Kámamaya Kośa or the conscious mind. Nevertheless the supramental vision itself does not occur more than 8 to 10 times in the life of a person. The greater or lesser frequencies of such experiences wholly depends on ones sádhaná (intuitional practices) or saḿskáras (reactive requitals). (One, however, must bear I mind that self-acquired telepathy or self-acquired clairvoyance is something different.) (Subhasita Samgraha, part 2)

 

If you want to read more details on this subject please read Ananda Marga Philosophy, Intuitional Science of Vedas-5 and Faculty of Knowledge-3. If you do not have either one of these discourses than kindly let us know.

 

 

Note 3: MORE ABOUT THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

 

What is the subconscious mind? It is that part of the mind which memorises the day to day events. This aspect of mind is our power of recollection. With this subconscious mind you can remember your friends, what you ate yesterday, what you did 10 days back or 10 minutes back. Everything is stored in the subconscious mind. This subconscious mind does not need help from the indriyas, i.e. sensory and motor organs, to re-create stored images in the mind. For instance, even if your grandmother lives 100 miles away, with your subconscious mind you will be able to visualise your grandmother in your mind. The motor and sensory organs are not needed.

 

Without the help of the the subconscious mind we cannot do anything substantial because one will not have the required memory or knowledge. One will not even remember one second into the past. One will forget.

 

The conscious mind only works with the help of motor and sensory organs. When those organs are not functioning the conscious mind cannot do anything. It does not store any information. When you saw the monkey at the store then it is the subconscious mind that memorises that image. Later on when you tell your story about the monkey with the help of the subconscious mind then you will be able to clearly visualise that monkey in your mind.

 

 

Note 4: MORE ABOUT THE DREAM STATE

 

Baba says, “It has been said, “When a person creates a kingdom in his dream…” What is a dream? To dream is to think while sleeping….”

 

“During sleep these thoughts, in the absence of contact with the hard realities of the external world, appear to be real. Thus people who are not at all affected in the waking state by propensities of fear, anger, etc., may be deeply affected by them during dreams; because, as I said earlier, in the waking state, people know that they are imagining; but during sleep, they do not realize that the play of their imagination is going on. So during that period their dream-thoughts become hard reality for them.”

 

“During the time of waking, because there is much resistance from the external reality, there is not much speed of imagination; but during sleep, in the absence of this resistance, there is great acceleration. Within one second people can imagine a vast epic like the Mahábhárata. Sometimes during dreams the dreamers, propelled by such propensities as anger or greed, restlessly move their limbs about. If those moving limbs come in contact with any hard object, the imaginary dream is broken, the dreamer’s sleep is disrupted and the dreamy fantasy woven in nets of imagination comes abruptly to an end.” (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 16)

 

 

Note 5: WHY PEOPLE DO NOT ALWAYS DREAM IN THEIR SLEEP

 

Baba says, “Dreaming means thinking or recollecting during sleep. Now the first question that arises is this: Why do people not always think or recollect during sleep? During the wakeful state, people are always thinking or recollecting. Even when people meditate in the wakeful state, they are thinking of, or recollecting, Supreme Consciousness. In the waking state, the mind never remains inactive. Then why does it not always dream during sleep?”

 

“The answer is, the sleeping state means a state of rest for the mind. But if, before or at the time of sleep, one is tormented with deep sorrow, or becomes overjoyed with extreme happiness, or is afflicted with a serious disease, or is brooding over imaginary pains and pleasures – then during sleep if the gases in the body rise and create vibrations in the nerve cells, one starts thinking and recollecting. That is why people do not always dream during every sleep.” (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 16)

 

 

Note 6: MEETING BABA IN DREAM

 

Baba says, “In the lives of many people, a time may come when their days are full of the thorns of miseries, but at night, during dream, they transcend their pains and pleasures. Then, meeting their Iśt́a in dream, they beam with joy and laughter in the ocean of bliss. All the sufferings and sorrows of their lives, great or small, merge into that indescribable ocean of bliss. Those who experience this type of dream are truly fortunate.”

 

“Even in the waking state their lives are drenched in the drowsy sweetness of that dreamy atmosphere, and then in their lives, that dream becomes a reality. As a result, the waking state for them becomes meaningless.”

 

“Then cannot those dreamy persons do any good to the society? Yes, certainly they can, and in a better way. This state of drowsiness is not dullness or crudeness; rather it is the golden opportunity to fully utilize one’s existence by touching the feet of Táraka Brahma, as long as there is life.” (Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 16)

 

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Baba’s Forewarning On NY Court Case

To: AM-GLOBAL

From: Carson Tyler

Subject: Baba’s Forewarning On NY Court Case

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:08:01 -0400

 

BABA

 

“Shun’echi tumi dayalu, ka’je keno anya dekhi…” (P.S. 2125)

 

Purport:

 

O’ Parama Purusa, I have heard that You are the merciful One– why then

by Your work and by Your action do I see something different. For You my

eyes are showering tears; my days are passing in calling and longing for

You. Then why are You not coming close.

Baba, You know that I love You. Although I am meagre but even then I am

Your atom. The pain of the unit is the pain of the Universal; the pain of

the atom is the pain of the Cosmic. Don’t You understand this simple truth.

O’ Dearmost, please go on doing according to Your desire. Only my

request is that You keep me along with You. The pain and grief of my heart

cannot be covered. The suffering of my heart will not listen to Your

various justifications and excuses; it cannot be appeased by the mere

jugglery of words. Baba, I want Your proximity and closeness.

Baba, in the scriptures and by seeing Your glory, I heard from other

devotees that You are love personified and merciful. And that You are

caring for others. So many supreme attributions You have. But when dealing

with me I see something totally different. Here I am crying in longing, and

You do not care. Why like this? Baba, please grace me and come close…

 

 

== BABA’S FOREWARNING ON NY COURT CASE ==

 

Namaskar,

As most everyone knows, unfortunately there is a court case in NY sector between Tiirthananda and his EC group versus Vimalananda backed by the Ranchi faction of India. It is going to trial in May of 2011.

 

These persons – our Dadas – have dedicated their life for spreading the gospel of neo-humanism so it is very unfortunate what they are doing. They have forgotten their ideal and are now totally busy in their group fight. Their entire energy, time, money, resources and margii interactions are getting consumed in this way. It is very bad.

 

At the same time, the whole society at-large is suffering terribly. The common people need Baba’s ideology and teachings to fortify themselves in the struggle against capitalist exploitation, religious dogma, and the many other negative forces in society.

 

As Baba says this is the transitional period. Human society needs His divine guidelines. Baba made these people – these Dadas – the harbingers for spreading the ideals of AM, but due to their intoxication of power and post, these people started infighting. And along the way they dragged other wts & margiis into their group clash.

 

This entire situation is most unfortunate – even tragic. Society needs our help and Baba has trained these people (i.e. our avadhutas) in our philosophy, but instead of propagating Baba’s teachings they are doing the exact opposite.

 

In this situation, only our duty is to remind these people about Baba’s following guideline. At least now they should ponder Guru’s teaching and warning.

 

Here in this below teaching – which was delivered as an RU discourse – Baba is describing how long, long ago the leaders of Buddhism got consumed in infighting. For this reason, they did not have time to do good to the society. They could not serve humanity. That is Baba’s distinct warning.

 

 

BABA’S FOREWARNING:

 

SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE BUDDHIST MONKS OF OLD

 

DO NOT REPEAT SUCH INFIGHTING

 

Now please read the following quote. It is very clear. Baba has forewarned us not to fall in this very trap of infighting as occurred with those Buddhist monks 2500 years ago, but now some Dadas are committing this same blunder.

 

Baba says, “Great differences in opinion developed among the bhikkus (monks) some time after his death. Two groups of bhikkus emerged – Sthaviravádii, the southern school of Buddhist doctrine, and Mahásáḿghika (the northern school), which later on became known as “Hiinayána” and “Maháyána” respectively. But that was not the end of it. Innumerable branches and sub-branches emerged, countless philosophies of Sthaviraváda, Vijiṋánaváda, Shúnyaváda, Mahásukhaváda, and Atisukaváda. Each one of these groups became so engrossed in their own so-called ideologies, doctrines and subdoctrines that they did not have any time to do any constructive work.” (AFPS-4)

 

In His above teaching Baba is describing how the Buddhist monks divided into factions and spent all their days in infighting. For this reason they could not do any real service to the society. That is very real history and therein lies Baba’s distinct warning.

 

Tragically, nowadays in AM, all our top Dada have separated into various groups – B, H, EC etc – and they are consumed in battling one another for supremacy. That is the unfortunate scene that has developed in the Marga. A classic example of this is the legal battle going on in NY. The two groups involved are committing all their energy, time, and resourceds etc into this group conflict, and hence they are unable to serve the general society. Is it not a mirror image of what transpired long ago?

 

Here below is Baba’s furthermore teaching on this matter.

 

Baba says, “They were always engaged in vindicating their own doctrines and maligning others’. In other words, they strayed far from their original ethics and objectives. This state of affairs which began to develop in the Buddhist age is still occurring – and not only in the Buddhist sects. It is also continuing in all respects, in all spheres of life.” (AFPS-4)

 

In His above guideline, Baba is forewarning that in that old Buddhist era, those monks pushed their own narrow agendas and totally forgot Buddha’s original teachings. Likewise in AM, since 1990, top Dadas have splintered into factions and created their own separate factional agendas, totally forgetting Baba’s divine neo-humanistic teachings. That is why in in AM, infighting has become the theme of the day and that is why in NY the court case has come to the fore.

 

Baba continues His guideline on this important topic.

 

Baba says, “Wherever there are two individuals there emerge two parties. Conflicts between so-called ideologies have become unavoidable, and have become the order of the day. The reason for this is that human beings have progressed in the mental sphere but not in the spiritual sphere. The spiritual goal is one. But in the absence of this unitary goal, factionalism emerged. Factionalism does not mean only groupism; it is also a conflict of doctrines. And it will prevail until human beings accept a singular goal in the process of synthesis.” (AFPS-4)

 

In His above teaching Baba points out the cause behind all these group conflicts. In the past those Buddhist monks quarreled and fought because they totally lost sight of their spiritual goal. And instead they just rallied around their own factional agendas.

 

Similarly, all the battles, court cases and power plays going on these days in our Marga are happening for the same reason: These groupist have forgotten their spiritual goal.

 

Up above, Baba has clearly warned us what results when people forget their spiritual goal and chase after narrow-minded interests. Even then, sadly, many of our top Dadas have lost the course. Tragically they forgot Ista and started in-house battles for power. All this bickering and all these court cases – like the one unfolding in NY – will continue so long as people stick to their group agenda. When they remember the Divine Goal, then both peace and unity is easily attained.

 

Baba says, “Stop, stop – do not quarrel – there is no use of fighting – peace, peace” – uttering all these good words will not do; it will stop no one. Peace may come for the time being, but it will not be permanent; like an ash-covered spark, unrest will again flair up. If human beings want to save themselves from this catastrophe, the only way is to march forward towards a single goal. Humanity must be guided to follow the path of synthesis [spirituality] and not the path of analysis [groupism].” (AFPS-4)

 

In His above guideline, Baba warns us that words alone are not enough. The only way to create a true environment of peace is to strictly adhere to the spiritual path and follow His tenets.

 

Note: Here we should all be totally clear on the difference between synthesis and analysis.

 

Synthesis means that there is one Goal in life. My goal is Parama Purusa and I have come onto this earth to serve Parama Purusa in the form of all jiivas. Everyone has come from Parama Purusa and they are my kith and kin and ultimately I have to become one with Him.

 

Analysis means, “I belong to this group and the followers of this group are my brothers and sisters, others are alien and they are my enemies. My goal is to defeat and conquer others by hook or by crook and spread my glory all around. That is my goal of life. My approach may be soft or very polite, diplomatic or harsh or even deadly but ultimately I have to achieve my goal: To spread my glory and my group’s glory everywhere.”

 

 

MORE ABOUT BABA’S ABOVE TEACHINGS

 

Baba’s aforesaid teachings are quite clear: When one forgets the goal and chases after selfish ends then infighting is inevitable. What Baba diagrammed about the Buddhists of old is now going on in our Marga. Certain Dadas could not learn the lesson – they could not pay heed to Baba’s warning.

 

Here are further parallels that can be drawn between the Buddhist infighting of old and the ongoing groupist battles in our Marga today:

 

1. Buddha did did not forewarn his disciples about infighting nor did he give them a scientific meditation practice, hence they had no tool to clean the mind. In that sense those monks were almost destined towards infighting.

 

Whereas in AM the situation is totally different. Being the Sadguru, Baba has warned us about groupism; Baba has given a perfect system of meditation; and Baba has graced us with all the tools to keep the mind pure and above divisive tendencies – even then our Dadas have fallen into groupism. Does it not seem then that they are worse than those Buddhist monks of old?

 

2. During the time of Buddha, 2500 years ago, the society was quite primitive and the general populace fought all kinds of clannish battles. The society was very divided those days.

 

Since that time, the general society has developed a lot and has become far more inclusive. Racism and other crude isms are on the wane. Even then, some of our top Dadas remain plunged in battles over power and prestige. In that sense there has not been any growth. The general society has grown a lot, while certain Dadas have not. Does it not seem then that such Dadas are worse than those Buddhist monks of old?

 

3. Because of their infighting , neither the Buddhist monks of old had zero time to do any concrete work. Likewise our groupist Dadas today have no time for concrete work. In both cases, those monks are sunk in personal battles and factional feuds – hence there is no time or resources to help others.

 

4. By His grace Baba issued countless warnings to keep away from groupism, but some of our Dadas could not mange this. Instead they become one with their groupist agenda.

 

It is just like how a mother warns her children of going close to the fire, but at the soonest opportunity the children disregarded their mother’s warnings and ended up burning themselves.

 

Tragically the same thing has happened in the Marga. The whole situation is shocking and very sad to see.

 

5. Although it is sad to think this, in my mind what is going on today in AM is worse than what happened in the past between those Buddhist monks. Why? Because warnings, in the present circumstance warnings were issued by Guru, a system of meditation was given, and the general society has improved a lot in the past 2500 years. Yet, despite all of these dharmic teachings and social enhancements, some of our very own monks remain indulged in groupist feuds. For this reason it seems that what is going on now in AM is worse (more tragic) then what happened with those Buddhist monks 2500 years ago. But ultimately, it is up to you to decide the answer to this query. Only then will it be final.

 

 

OUR DUTY

 

Given the current situation going on now in our Marga, the duty of sincere margiis is three-fold:

1. Try to stop this infighting;

2. If we cannot stop this infighting then at the very least do not participate in these groupist battles and do not contribute to their token causes, like the NY lawsuit etc;

3. Instead, we should ulitise our individual and collective strength and resources in doing selfless service to the needy and suffering humanity – as Baba explains in the above guideline.

 

Baba says, “march ahead vigorously with firm steps, keeping a synthetic goal ever before them. “Caraeveti, caraeveti” – “March forward, march forward”. This should be the slogan of today’s humanity.” (AFPS-4)

 

Namaskar,

Cinmay

 

 

Note 1: REFLECTION

 

It is very simple and obvious how is it that those who are infighting could not understand. Those who do not understand, they must be intoxicated by the post otherwise it is very simple.

 

Analogy: it is well known that nicotine is very but even then millions and millions are still indulging. Similarly, Baba has forewarned but these people are intoxicated that is why they cannot understand this simple simple point which anyone can grasp and understand.

 

Baba is also telling why people cannot understand. those who goal is other than PP they cannot get it. Suppose someone has some ulterior motive of power post political gain and motive to exploit others and mundane achievement, then for them this above teaching is they cannot understand.

 

 

******************************************

Fake Devotion

 

Baba says, “Oh Lord, I am your devotee, help me to pass my examination; Oh

Lord, my daughter has attained marriageable age— help me to find a worthy

suitor; Let the bridegroom be ideal, let me not spend much on the wedding.

This type of showy devotion that simply asks for mundane objects, is no

devotion at all. Because such persons always say, “I want this, I want that.”

 

“What news can you report to a person who already knows all the intimate

details of your life? Is it not ludicrous to retell the stories of your

grandfather’s house to your mother, for certainly she knows them better

than you!”

 

“Parama Purus’a knows more than you whether you are a sinner or not, so

what is the necessity of telling Him?” (AMIWL p. 820 & 824)

******************************************

 

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Another Type of Addiction

From: Gagan

To: AM-GLOBAL

Subject: Another Type of Addiction

Date: Thu 16 Dec 2010 14:39:02 -0000

 

Baba

 

== ANOTHER TYPE OF ADDICTION ==

 

Namaskar,

In the USA, state and local governments are resorting to lotteries and gambling to generate income. The article appended below talks about this matter and if you listen to the podcast (see link below) there is a more in-depth interview detailing the effect of lotteries and gambling on the general populace.

 

Here – in very brief – is an overview of the affect of gambling on the human condition according to the stand of Ananda Marga. We should all be aware of how gambling affects one spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and socially.

 

1. The main problem with gambling is that in increases one’s greed: one thinks that they can get more money – totally free. It creates a feeling in the mind of malcontent. Because the gambling addict always feels, “I want more.” In that case they can never have peace of mind. Gambling ruins any sense of santosa and goes against the code of aparigraha as well. Because when any vrtti is encouraged, like greed, then one becomes intoxicated by that vrtti and one loses their sense. Thus those involved in gambling totally destroy their mental structure and lose any semblance of mental equipoise and inner peace. This is the root problem with gambling.

 

From this above noted spiritual and psychic problem, so many social offshoots result:

 

2. A gambling addict will destroy their family because of their addiction. They will spend all the family’s money and resources on their negative habit (addiction to gambling) and overlook basic needs like food, clothing for the children, and so much more.

 

3. When someone gambles they invariably lose all their wealth and in turn become depressed. Here again that leads to the destruction of the family as people resort to alcohol and other drugs to seemingly alter their depressed mood. That invites divorce and so many marital problems like abuse. In sum one’s home-life is wrecked.

 

4. When one loses in gambling then they need more money to support their addiction and many times they resort to cheating, theft, robbery and deception in order go get more money.

 

5. A gambling addiction will totally one’s ruin own health: physically, mentally and in all kinds of ways. Because gambling itself is an intoxicant. Intoxicants need not always be things like wine and drugs; gambling and other sorts of bad psychic habits also intoxicate the mind.

 

6. Thus the array of problems is vast. It is not just three or four points but many. Where there is gambling so many social crimes and psychic problems will mushroom. Gambling invites a negative, downward spiral.

 

7. If the casino business were a losing proposition then why would greedy moguls enter into this enterprise. Why? Because the “house” or the casino never loses. In the end the casino always wins and the common people suffer. This itself is proof that those who gamble are bound to lose.

 

8. Unfortunately in our Marga we have also undergone the ill effects of gambling. For instance, some years ago Dada Mahadevananda secretly took the entire Prout bank account from the Washington DC Prout office and went to Atlantic City, NJ in hopes of winning but he lost every penny in the casinos – thousands and thousands of dollars. Tragically this is not an isolated incident. Due to greed people try to win more money by gambling. If such an instance has occurred in your unit, do let us know as all such incidents should be dealt with and the person rectified of their problem.

 

9. Here below is Baba’s guideline for how to heal those who suffer from an addiction or bad habit like gambling.

 

Baba says, “The best psychological cure for addicts is to put them in an environment where they will be unable to think of their object of addiction for any length of time. To proclaim, “Don’t do this, it’s bad,” is futile, for it is a negative approach. If you say, “Don’t drink wine”, you are still injecting the concept of wine into the alcoholic’s mind, thus making it impossible for him to forget it and kick his bad habits. You are giving alcohol negative publicity, and it again becomes his mental object. Thus whenever he gets the opportunity he will certainly drink it again. And it may be that this negative approach encourages the alcoholic to become even more addicted. It is a defective approach.”

“These days the sign “No smoking please” is placed in many public places, but it will not reduce the amount of smoking. If society wants people to stop smoking, its approach should be to divert the smoker’s mind to other objects. A chain smoker should be encouraged to get involved in various pursuits such as music, dance, songs, culture of fine arts, etc., for if the mind remains engaged in these things it will forget its object of addiction. But the person who thinks, “I’ll stop drinking wine the day after tomorrow – no, let me see, why not tomorrow” can never kick the habit, for wine remains the mental object. The mind will try to materialize whatever it thinks about in the external world – this is its nature.” (APH-6, “Vyatireka-1)

 

10. Here below is that news article about the effect of gambling – and again the podcast (audio) is a more detailed interview with the Professor McGowan.

 

 

STATES GAMBLE ON CASINOS TO GENERATE REVENUE

 

To listen to the podcast visit this below link. At the 9:45min mark of the interview, the Professor McGowan addresses the many social and negative offshoots of legalised gambling.

 

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/16/132105939/states-gamble-on-casinos-to-generate-revenue

 

For decades, Las Vegas was the only place in the United States where casino gambling was legal. But in the late 1970s, Atlantic City, N.J., followed suit. Since then, more and more state and local governments have gotten into the game, lured by the promise of new jobs and tax revenues. Forty states now permit some form of casino gambling.

 

Recapturing revenue lost to neighboring states is now the primary reason why states legalize gambling, says economist Richard McGowan. McGowan, a professor at Boston College who has studied and written about gambling for years, tells Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies that many states legalize gambling so that money spent by gamblers doesn’t travel across state lines.

 

He points to Pennsylvania as an example of a state trying to make up for huge budget shortfalls by introducing casino gambling.

 

In 2009, Pennsylvania legalized slot casinos across the state. At the time, thousands of Pennsylvania residents were streaming across the state’s borders to New Jersey in order to play the slots.

 

“In 2008, New Jersey made $4.5 billion on gambling [while] Pennsylvania made $1.6 billion,” says McGowan. “In 2009, New Jersey’s revenue went down to $3.9 billion. Pennsylvania went up to almost $2 billion. So you had a gain in revenue in Pennsylvania of around 20 percent. And you had a negative effect in New Jersey of around 13 percent. Clearly Pennsylvania declared war on New Jersey.”

 

But the two mid-Atlantic states are not alone. Ohio approved gambling in the last election, McGowan says, because “it’s surrounded by states now that have casino gambling, with the exception of Kentucky.”

 

And California recently allowed tribes across the state to open a series of Native American casinos, with California receiving 25 percent of all revenue from slot machines.

 

“Clearly California was declaring war on Nevada,” McGowan says. “And it has hurt Nevada. And you see this in state after state after state.”

 

McGowan tells Davies that he thinks sometimes states get addicted to the new source of cash flow, in the same way that gamblers in the casinos do. And states that relied on gambling revenue to generate income — but are now losing money to neighboring states — are looking for newer ways to generate income.

 

“Not to pick on New Jersey, but New Jersey is now saying we have to revisit sports gambling,” he says. “In other words, they’re going to up the ante on gambling. They’re saying, ‘To make the Atlantic City casinos more attractive, we will start sports gambling there.’ I’m sure the two Native American casinos in Connecticut [Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun] are thinking about sports gambling. That’s another whole area that nobody wants to touch right now but clearly they’re going to have to touch it.”

 

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Deep Meaning Behind Story

Date: 16 Dec 2010 06:19:58 -0000

From: “Subhash Dholakia”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: Deep Meaning Behind Story

 

Baba

 

“Jhainjha’ jadi a’se jujhite shakati dio…” (P.S. #1783)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You are my Saviour. If in my life a hurricane or typhoon comes,

then You please provide me the strength to fight and face that negative

situation. And give me the strength to struggle and persevere.

Baba, if ever in my life lethargy and frustration comes, then please

provide me strength to hold onto Your feet. And to go on moving on Your

path. Baba, by Your grace I am treading on Your path. You please color

my mind with Your color in all situations. During both pleasure and pain.

With Your divine grace, if my mind becomes radiant then it cannot be

covered by staticity during times of cimmerian darkness. Please grant me

strength to follow Your dictates. Baba, please grace me and give me

the force to go on marching on the path of effulgence, in an undaunted

way moving ahead. And please give me strength by Your grace, to jump up

and take on ever-new tasks to serve the downtrodden people.

And please bless me by Your Varabhaya mudra. So in my life, I never

feel fear or cowardice to fight against demonic forces. Baba, in all the

circumstances I am completely depending on Your grace. Without Your

grace, nothing is possible…

 

 

== DEEP MEANING BEHIND STORY ==

 

Namaskar,

Various gurus have always used stories to communicate important ideas to

the common citizens.

 

Our human society is comprised of so many people, each with their own

interests, talents, and abilities. Some are intellectuals, some are

technicians, some are artists, and some are scientifically or

mathematically inclined etc.

 

Everyone has their own specialty, bent of mind, interests, and

understanding.

 

Hence when a guru wants to convey a teaching to the entire public, the

guru will often give the teaching in the form of a story. Because

regardless of one’s psychic inclination, everybody loves a story. All

will listen and learn.

 

Baba, being the Taraka Brahma and Supreme Guru, has also told many

stories. And embedded in those stories are the gems and jewels of AM

ideology. Hence not only should we enjoy Baba’s wonderful stories, but

we should understand them deeply and apply them in our practical lives.

 

 

MANGO GROVE STORY

 

One of the famous stories which Baba has repeated in numerous discourses

is the story of the jinani and bhakta visiting a mango grove. Everyone

in the Marga is aware about this story because Baba has used it again

and again.

 

As we recall, both a jinani and a devotee go to a mango grove.

Immediately the jinani (intellectual) becomes highly involved in

counting the trees, measuring the length of the branches, checking out

the leaves, and classifying the mangoes according to their genus type

such as Mangitera Zeylanica, Valcarrie, Bombay Ratual, Aroemanis, and

Nam Doc Mai etc. The jinani is involved in all kinds of research and

calculations regarding those mangos. In contrast, upon entering the

mango grove, the devotee goes up to the first tree, grabs a ripe mango,

sits down, and enjoys the sweet taste of that delicious mango. At the

end of the day, the jinani is very hungry and the devotee is totally

satisfied.

 

This type of mango grove story Baba has recounted various times.

 

 

IS IT SO SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND

 

Just because it sounds like a simple story, we should not therefore

conclude that the meaning is also so simple. There is a deeper meaning

that all may not be aware about. Then of course there is also the matter

of applying it to our own lives in a practical and tangible way.

 

Baba has told this story because He wants to convey its significance to

everyone. That much we all know. And the most basic idea He is giving is

that devotion is very important and we should all aim to become

devotees. This much also everyone understands.

 

Beyond that there is more to know, and that is why this story is a real

treasure.

 

 

PRACTICALLY APPLYING THE STORY HUMAN LIFE

 

When Baba says that jinanis enter the mango grove and start counting the

trees and analyzing the leaves, but miss out on the fruit, Baba is

guiding us that jinanis come into this world and study so many things,

from lokas to microvita, from kosas to cakras, but they miss out on the

real essence of life, i.e. engaging in sadhana and getting Parama Purusa

and His bliss.

 

Whereas when a devotee enters a mango grove then he eats the mango and

does not get sidetracked by anything else. Similarly, when a bhakta is

born on this earth he aims for and attains Parama Purusa, and he does

not get waste his time in other useless pursuits like name, fame, or

fortune etc.

 

Even then it is not so easy to understand.

 

 

PRACTICALLY APPLYING THE STORY TO OUR OWN LIFE

 

When a devotee eats the mango, that presents a colorful and

mouth-watering image for what it means to attain Parama Purusa. Thus

getting Parama Purusa is not some abstract theoretical notion.

 

In our day to day practical lives, eating the mango, or getting Parama

Purusa means getting bliss out of all the lessons, thinking of Him

always, and feeling His love practically in your heart.

 

Just as all the taste buds of the devotee in the mango grove are

immersed in the sweet sensation and taste of that mango, similarly a

true bhakta in this quiquelemental world practically feels Baba’s divine

vibration in sadhana and even when not in sadhana. One will practice all

the lessons joyfully, doing them will not be burdensome. True bhaktas

feel His inner sweet touch just by closing their eyes or by thinking of

Him. They are always immersed in His flow and life passes blissfully in

that way.

 

So being a bhakta is not some dry, theoretical experience. One cannot

just say that, “well I have been in AM a long time so I am therefore a

devotee of Baba.” It does not work that way.

 

One can only say they are a bhakta if they tangibly feel Baba’s blissful

presence in their heart night and day. Just like a bhakta in the mango

grove can practically taste the juicy sweetness of that fruit. So one is

only a bhakta if really attend to sadhana with great sincerity and feel

the only aim in their life is to serve and please Parama Purusa. Such

persons are not harboring any other idea related with career goals,

prestige, money, or spouse etc. Then one is a bhakta otherwise not.

 

Baba has told the mango grove story because He wants us all to know the

devotion is the most important element in human life. And He wants that

we should become devotees. And the way to do that is by wholly diving

into the realm of sadhana. Getting bliss in sadhana and loving Him in

dhyana is what it means to eat mangoes in the grove. There is no second

or third meaning.

 

Thus we should understand the inner meaning of the devotee in the mango

grove and then honestly evaluate if we really satisfy that criteria or

not. And if not, then we should put forth sufficient effort in our

kiirtan and sadhana to get our mind moving in that direction.

 

 

HOW SOME MISUNDERSTAND

 

Unfortunately, it is highly possible, or even probable, that there are

some who call themselves as bhaktas, yet they are not really involved in

tasting the mango. They are not involved in sadhana.

 

They may struggle to even sit in sadhana; they will not complete the

lessons; and their mind just flickers in various directions when doing

sadhana. Such a person then has no quality of being called a devotee.

 

But that same person may think that, “I have a good reputation in AMPS

and I have started many projects, built so many schools, and my name is

printed on the newsletter or Prout magazine”, and for that reason they

think that they are a bhakta.

 

When in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. Instead they are

merely falling into self-deception.

 

Because everyone wants to think of themselves as being a devotee, but we

should not fall prey to false notions of what a devotee is or who we

are. That is why Baba has given the mango grove story. Because it

practically teaches us who a devotee is, i.e. those fully engaged in

sadhana, and emphasizes that devotion is the only way human beings reach

fulfillment and get Him.

 

 

THE FATE OF SUCH JINANIS, WHILE BHAKTAS GET HIM

 

The jinani who is puffed up with the pride of his knowledge will never

be satisfied within, rather he will always be looking outwardly to get

some praise etc. And in the end of life they will not get Parama Purusa,

but will instead get thrust back into the cycle of life and death or

float around the universe as some kind of microvita, like vidyadhara

etc. Such is their empty fate.

 

While the bhakta will always keep Parama Purusa in the forefront of

their mind, be immersed in His bliss, and ultimately become one with

Him. That is what it means to eat the mango and that is what we are to

do in this life.

 

Baba says, “The devotee will pluck a ripe mango and eat it… the

devotees will get real bliss…Devotees will come under the shelter of

Parama Purus’a…and cross the Cosmic Cycle comfortably.” (AV-1)

 

Namaskar,

Subhash

 

***************************************

Unruly Free Mixing between Males and Females?

 

Parama Purusa Baba says, “It does not require the harnessing of any

elaborate logic or reasoning to convince people that the final outcome

of permissiveness is not healthy. But it is also true that the result of

free mixing in society, without self-control, is bad…Hence, along with

the recognition of the freedom of the two sexes, a well-judged code of

self-control will also have to be associated with their mutual mixing.”

(HS-1, p. 35)

***************************************

 

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Two Names, One Divine Entity

Two Names, One Divine Entity

From: “Aaron Tenning”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: Two Names, One Divine Entity

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:34:04 -0700 (PDT

 

Baba

 

“A’lo jhariye madhu ks’ariye a’ndha’r sa’riye tumi esecho…” (P.S. 1233)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You have come and by Your divine advent You are showering

effulgence, exuding nectar, and wiping away all darkness. Baba, You have

come– making the flowers blossom & graciously spreading happiness and

bliss to one and all. Baba, by Your august arrival everyone’s hopes and

longings have been fulfilled.

Baba, living beings were awakened by the deep yearning and pain of

longing in their heart. And with this feeling, in the anticipation & hope

of Your coming, they were awake, watching for Your arrival– constantly

looking towards Your path. Baba, this pain and longing of devotees

resonated in Your heart and You could no longer remain distant. Baba, You

have come and You are graciously pouring the basket of love– satisfying

everyone’s heart. The sleeping humanity has gotten new life by Your grace.

Baba– that river which dried up and evaporated, and that song which was

lost in the oblivion– the current of that very river and the tune of those

songs You have graciously brought along with You. [1]

Baba due to Your august advent You have inundated each and every heart

with the nectar of devotion. This is Your causeless grace…

 

 

NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA:

 

[1] The inner idea is that when Parama Purusa comes and He saturates the

heart with deep devotion, then all those feelings of love and which had

dried up start to blossom. In the above song, the river signifies the flow

of devotion and the song and melody refers to that subtler expression of

devotional feeling.

 

 

== TWO NAMES, ONE DIVINE ENTITY ==

 

Namaskar,

On and off the topic comes about why some of our AM books are signed as

Shrii PR Sarkar whereas other books are signed as Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji.

People were going back and forth wondering if these are two

personalities or one personality.

 

In addition there is general confusion about this as some think and

distrbute their propaganda that Shrii PR Sarkar and Shrii Shrii

Anandamurtiji are two different entities.

 

So here are some points related with this question:

 

(1) Look at it this way, Shrii PR Sarkar and Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji

certainly refer to one singular Entity.

 

For example, in the mundane sphere it is just like the situation of my

mother. I call her mother; my sons and daughters call grandmother or

grandma; my cousin calls here Aunty. And like this it goes on. But that

does not mean that mother is really three different personalities or more.

And further when she was working in office she has her official designation

also. Official persons were calling her yet a different name. So that

single personality, my mother, has so many names according to their relation

and work. And indeed this is the case with most people. According to

the situation they have a given name, yet all along they are the same person

and personality.

 

 

(2) Baba’s following graphic example is moving in this same direction:

 

Baba says, “I told you that the same man, Ramajiivana, is known as Rama to

his father, as Ramu at work – and his children say `Babujii’, and his

students `Master Sahib’. and when he is moving along the street wearing a

topii, the taungavala will say ,`Hey topii! Hey topii! Hey topii! He

becomes a topii. But the man is that single man Rama.” (AV-3)

 

 

(3) Who does not know that Parama Purusha has infinite names. So many names

because He has infinite attributions. Each attribution carries a different

name. In Ananda Vacanamrtam discourse, Baba says

 

“So Paramashiva, the Sadguru and Ta’raka Brahma are beyond the scope of the

gun’atrikon’a… O Lord, Thou are the controller of everything, but there

is nobody to control You. Your gun’as are beyond the scope of counting.

Nobody can count how many gun’as are there. ” (AVM, part 3, ‘Sadgurum Tvam

Namami’, p.46, )

 

(4) Seer, Poet & devotee Padmadanta also expressed like that. When devotees

asked seer Padmadanta to write some poem. He told that b/c Lord has

infinite guna, it is not possible to write by me. Then he wrote one shloka.

In that Padmadanta writes that only Parama Purusha can tell about His

attributions. And that Parama Purusa is One.

 

 

(5) So you see that infinite attribution infinite name. BABA is Sadguru so

He is like that. About Lord Shiva we know so many names and so many we do

not know also. But at least more than 2 dozen well known names are there

like: Pashupati, Nata’raj, Trilocan, Vya’gra’mbar, Paincca’nan, Vireshvar,

Mahadev, Vaidyana’th, Shiva’, Maheshvara, Ma’ya’diish, Niil Kanth,

Ganga’dhar, Gaoripati, Deveshvar, A’dipita’, Mantresh, Mahakoala, Ta’rak

Na’th, Liila’dhara, Shankar, Kalbhairav, Adinath, A’shutosh, Vajradhar,

Hara, Shambhu, Vibhu’tinath etc…

Interesting thing is nobody amongst those dogmatic Hindu worshippers of

Lord Shiva raises the point that Shiva has different/multiple personalities

according to the attribution and name.

 

 

(6) So the whole idea of my letter is that Baba is Parama Purusha. HE has

infinite names– one for each of His infinite attributions. But no one

should think that these names refer to different personalities. Parama

Purusa is one Entity with different names.

 

 

(7) Ultimate then, the conclusion was easiliy reached that Shrii PR Sarkar

and Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji are the same. One personality with two names.

 

 

(8) And top of all we know that the name Shrii PR Sarkar is for non-Margiis

and the name Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji is for Ananda Margiis.

 

Here following is Baba’s blessing:

 

Baba says, “O human beings, O’ painstaking human beings, don’t be afraid,

dont’ be disheartened, I am for you. O’ human beings please come, you

please come, I am for you.” (SS-12, p. 78)

 

Namaskar

Arjuna

 

 

********************************************

Dirty Habits Die Hard

 

Baba says, “[After] taking a bath…soap, oil, and comb should be used

every day.” (Caryacarya-III)

 

Note: All around the globe every margii is aware about 16 Points and all of

Baba’s teachings on health and hygene. Even then a few do not incorporate

all these guidelines into their practical lives. Means some do not apply

oil to their joints etc. So on paper they are aware about everything yet at

retreats one or two may even tell others to follow those things when they

themselves do not do this.

 

So in total there are 4 categories. Those who are aware; those who are not

aware; those who point out others; and those who do not recommend this to

others. And there may be some other categories also.

 

However, Baba has made it mandadory that after bathing one should comb the

hair of the joints of the body and also apply an ample amount of oil to

those regions well. This is Baba’s distinct guideline and most margiis and

wts strictly adhere to this teaching.

 

But a very small population of Ananda Margiis shy away from this practice–

for one reason or another. It is sometimes seen that those stuck in a

dogmatic western approach to life do not like to use any oil because they

got addicted to using scented perfume etc. And there may be other reasons

why in so-called advanced countries people do not follow this point of

using oil– neither they apply it to their joints nor on their head. And in

other parts of the globe a few have their own private reasons why they

avoid using oil.

 

In contrast in those countries where oil is used more regularly used, then

new margiis readily adapt to the practice of putting oil on the joints.

Means they quickly adopt this new practice. Because their mind is naturally

open to this idea; whereas in some western nations a couple people are

reticent to ever use oil– that is why it is commonly proclaimed that this

is one of the dogmas of the west.

 

But most Ananda Margiis practice the use of oil and certainly there are

some sectors where it is even more widely practiced. And in that case those

practitioners naturally get all the special benefits. And indeed there is a

very significant reason behind all this which Baba has given. Namely that

the lymph glands are located there in the joints and by applying oil to

those areas then the lymphatic glands get the nourishment they need.

Note 2: One need not spend a lot of money purchasing oil and it need not be

an imported variety. Rather in each area of the globe margiis should use

that type of oil which is commonly available to them at at reasonable

price. At the same time the oil should not be low-grade either. It should

be a standard variety from that area. In India many use coconut oil while

in the Mediterranean olive oil is more widely available. And like that from

place to place it will vary so everyone should experiment and use one of

the locally produced oils and find one they like best. this is the

Proutistic way.

********************************************

 

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The Case for A’nanda Va’niis

Date: 14 Dec 2010 05:07:46 -0000

From: “Bhavanath Rajpal”

To: am-global@earthlink.net

Subject: The Case for A’nanda Va’niis

 

Baba

 

“Toma’r liila’ tumii bojha, a’ro keu ta’ha’ bujhite ki pa’re…” (P.S. 722)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, You are so loving and unique. Only You can understand Your divine

liila. No one except You can know the way You are playing liila. Who can

understand Your liila? Before understanding the liila of Liilamaya (Liila

Personified), I will have to realise You, the Liilamaya. In order to

understand the divine play I will have to realise You, the Controller.

Baba, You are my Heart of hearts.

Why does the sun rise in the east. And why does it always set in the

west. And why does it make a purple coloured sunset. Why do all these

things happen? Baba only You know. And why only one moon is floating in the

sky, yet by that way the night becomes effulgent with the moonlight. Why do

such things occur? Who arranges all these affairs? Why this liila? Who is

behind these things? Baba, only You know.

To know Your liila is impossible. Why snow forms on the high peaks of

the mountains; and why the color of the sky is blue; and why pearls have a

brilliant white colour. Why each and everything has its own inherent

qualities. Who can understand all this– only You Baba.

Baba, please grace me to understand and realise You. Baba to understand

Your liila is very difficult. That is why I have only one desire– to

understand You. And without Your grace it is not possible. Please grace me,

O’ Liilamaya….

 

 

== THE CASE FOR A’NANDA VA’NIIS ==

 

Namaskar,

Of all Baba’s divine teachings, Ananda Vaniis are some of the most rare.

His discourses number in the thousands; His talks on dharma number in the

hundreds; even His sutras of Ananda Sutram top the century mark being 125

in total. However in this universe there are only 74 original and true

Ananda Vaniis. So they are something quite unique– yet also a bit overlooked.

 

Here below are some important points about the great significance of Ananda

Vaniis. And in particular why we should be vigilant to get the purports of

these magnificent and eternal guidelines.

 

Already the Fake Ananda Vaniis created by groupists are getting rejected

by margiis all over, the below writing further substantiates the view that

only Baba’s original and true A’nanda Va’niis should be accepted.

 

 

ANANDA VANIIS HAVE PURPORTS

 

All along it was has been the standard practice for Baba’s discourses to be

translated into as many languages as possible– but never was further

explanation given about a particular discourse by Baba Himself. Classes may

have been offered later on by this or that acarya, but Baba never would

deliver a discourse and then directly afterwards give further explanation

about that very discourse. This was not done. Reason being that His

discourses are already explanatory in nature and contain numerous stories,

analogies, and descriptions in order to make the matter perfectly clear and

understandable.

 

In contrast, with His Ananda Vaniis the case is totally different. They are

pointed, distilled teachings given in concentrated form– hence they demand

further elaboration and explanation. For this reason Baba Himself was

delivering purports for His Ananda Vaniis during DMC itself.

 

As many are aware, Baba’s Ananda Vaniis are only a few lines in length and

Baba Himself would write it down in His own handwriting. And then that very

Vanii was read aloud at DMC in all the languages. Directly afterwards Baba

Himself would give a line by line explanation of the Ananda Vanii. This

would happen for half-an-hour or more. So you can imagine how much He used

to say. So He Himself would give the initial explanation and thereafter

others were invited to speak and share their understanding of the Vanii–

and during that period Baba would often interject in order to lovingly

guide the Margii speaker.

 

But always the system was that first the Vaniis would be read in the

various languages; second Baba would provide His own explanation or

purport; and then others were also called up to comment and say something.

This was the regular pattern.

 

All done in this fashion because Baba’s Ananda Vaniis are so dense and

intensely concise.

 

 

ANANDA VANIIS ARE SIMILAR TO

 

Altogether His Ananda Vaniis are similar to the Samgacchadhvam mantra, Guru

Puja, etc in that a discourse is needed to provide the meaning of the

mantra. Likewise Baba was giving extended purports of His Ananda Vaniis to

provide further insight about their meaning.

 

So by this way we can understand that Baba’s original and true Ananda

Vaniis are very concentrated and very pointed. Treating them as ordinary

discourses is not at alll appropriate since Baba used to give explanations

or purports for those very Ananda Vaniis.

 

Overall Baba’s Ananda Vaniis are similar to the case of Prabhat Samgiita

and Ananda Sutram in that Baba has given purports for each of these three

genres. Baba’s original Ananda Vaniis are about inspiration and moving

ahead whereas Prabhat Samgiita comes within the scope of aesthetic &

supra-aesthetic science and Ananda Sutram is our philosophical treatise.

 

But all these are similar in that they all fall in the same unique

category– as they all demand further explanation such that Baba Himself

has given purports for all these three teachings.

 

 

WHY FAKE ANANDA VANII

 

In contrast this quality or concentrated approach is not there in the

quotes of His regular discourses. Hence when groupist leaders take a few

lines from one of the standard discourses and falsely present that as an

Ananda Vanii then that is not the way & against His system. That is nothing

but a Fake Ananda Vanii. And those doing this are culprits since they are

degrading the real status of Baba’s true Ananda Vanii.

 

Finally when the Author– BABA– has given a title of a particular discourse

as an Ananda Vaniii, then if one is bringing in quotes from a regular style

discourse and calling it as an Ananda Vanii, this is all non-sense. One

cannot give a quote as Ananda Vanii. Because Ananda Vanii’s are in a

totally different league. Plus calling them as Ananda Vaniis is against Baba’s

system– and against Baba’s desire.

 

 

BABA’S BLESSING

 

By Baba’s grace we must always remember that Baba is Parama Purusa and all

He has given is apta vakya– eternal truth, so why should some things be His

original and true Ananda Vaniis be discarded, marked as being outdated or

replaced by something entirely Fake. Rather we should celebrate the dharmic

quality and everlasting value of Baba’s original Ananda Vanii.

 

Namaskar,

Bhavanath

 

 

NOTE 1: THE INTEGRITY OF TRUE ANANDA VANIIS

 

With Baba’s original and true Ananda Vaniis it is important to read

them several times in order to get the full meaning and value. Because they

are concentrated teachings of pure dharma. In contrast the present day fake

Ananda Vaniis are of a different breed since they were just “borrowed”

from an existing discourse. But Baba’s true Ananda Vaniis are special

messages that are different from His teachings in the discourses. The main

thing being that they are very dense and full of unseen wisdom. That is why

without proper explanation many may not properly understand Baba’s true

Ananda Vaniis.

 

 

NOTE 2: MAKING THE ANANDA VANII PURPORTS AVAILABLE TO MARGIIS

 

All know that Baba has given purports for Ananda Sutram & Prabhat

Samgiita– as those purports have made it into book form. But nowadays the

purports of Ananda Vaniis are not at all being recognised. Some got

recorded and some not. But none are being recognised or referred to. When

surely many years worth of Baba’s purports of Ananda Vaniis were recorded

and heard by one and all in the DMC pandal itself. So these explanations

should be accepted as discourses. A call then must be put forth to recover

and print those pristine purports which Baba has given for Ananda Vaniis.

 

 

NOTE 3: ANANDA VANIIS ARE OF ETERNAL VALUE

 

As Ananda Margiis, we know that Baba has always utilized each and every day

to bestow upon us innumerable new teachings and countless special

guidelines. Often that has come in the form of a discourse or Prabhat

Samgiita or field walk etc. In that way each and every discourse or Prabhat

Samgiita song is dated and marked where it has been given.

 

Of course, though, every bhakta clearly understands that the given

discourse or Prabhat Samgiita song has eternal and permanent value. No one

thinks that the discourse was only useful on that particular day when it

was given and that thereafter it has no relevance. None think in this manner.

Rather we all consider that the discourse which Baba has given is a

universal teaching that transcends time, space, and person– and that the

attached date is for record purposes only. In that way all Baba’s divine

teachings can be organised in chronological fashion yet retain their own

original integrity timeless quality.

 

Hence the matter is straightforward & clear.

 

Unfortunately, though, Baba’s original and true Ananda Vaniis are not

getting treated in that same dharmic fashion. Because although Ananda

Vaniis are eternal in nature and universal in application, some persons are

limiting the relevance of a given Ananda Vanii to a particular date and

year. They think that every Ananda Vanii is of January 1 of such-&-such

year or of Ananda Purnima of such-and-such year and that now it is

outdated. This is their misguided outlook.

 

So in that way Baba’s divine and timeless Ananda Vaniis are not getting

their duly deserved eternal status.

 

Just as Ananda Sutram is of a universal and timeless value, same is

the case with our Ananda Vaniis. They can be referred to and studied again

and again just like various sutras, but this is not being done.

Means Ananda Vaniis are not respected as being eternal guidelines;

rather some off the mark people wrongly consider Ananda Vaniis to be

limited to a particular time and place.

 

Just as the sutras of Ananda Sutram are treated as key points of AM

philosophy, in the same way all the inspirational guidelines which Baba has

given as Ananda Vaniis deserve that same sanctified status. But instead

they are often treated as or reduced to something temporary or passing. As

if the Vanii of 1st January 1961 no longer applies to today’s world and

that that Vanii itself is just a point of history– nothing more. When true

devotees know that all Baba’s Ananda Vaniis are eternal guidelines,

applicable to numerous situations.

 

So that injustice has been done to our Ananda Vaniis.

 

Overall then we must work to restore the proper sanctity and reverence of

Ananda Vanii. Nobody tries to relegate Prabhat Samgiita or Baba’s

discourses to a specific place or person or date– thinking that they are

antiquated.

 

Similarly we cannot blame that Baba’s original Ananda Vaniis have gotten

old like one outdated crusty newspaper. But some are doing like that– so

that should be corrected.

 

Baba’s Ananda Vaniis are timeless and eternal and have their own special

status which must be maintained.

 

 

*************************************************

Fight Against Death

 

Baba says, “The inner motivation of ta’n’d’ava is the following:

‘Destruction is inevitable, but I will continue to fight against

destruction through struggle’. So there is a skull in one hand and a dagger

in the other. The skull represents destruction, and the dagger represents

fight. The underlying feeling is ‘I will not surrender to destruction or

death. I will continue the struggle with this dagger’.” (9 Nov 1978 Calcutta)

 

 

1. In the aforesaid guideline, Baba is teaching the inner spirit of tandava.

2. Usually in this materialistic world, people fear death immensely.

Tandava is the solution.

3. During the daytime tandava must always be done with a skull and dagger,

as they are visible then.

4. But when it is dark, then a lit fire torch or flame (masha’la) should be

used. And the spirit of tandava should be remembered so that fear of death

will be eliminated from the mind.

5. This tandava dance is the only physical exercise of the brain.

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How Culture is One

Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:48:27 -0000

To: AM-GLOBAL

From: Hariish Deva

Subject: How Culture is One

 

Baba

 

“A’mi toma’re bhuliya’ chinu katadin…” (P.S. 4091)

 

Purport:

 

Baba, I was remaining forgetful and was oblivious of You for such a long

span of time. My life passed like this. I traveled on the rugged, jagged path.

Sometimes I fell down in the ocean current.

My days, full of stains, were wasted in hopelessness– without any

achievement, without any genuine progress. So many lonely, isolated nights

passed in crying in utter despair with no pra’na– just frustration.

Baba, sometimes I suffered and got hit by the cold northern breeze. And

sometimes that northern breeze took away all my hopes, inspirations, and

gains. Just I drowned in staticity and crudeness.

But now, by Your grace today spring has come. All the surroundings are

filled with the colourful flowers and sweet aroma. The dark night has

changed into a glittering moonlight, shining in the sky. Peacocks are

dancing in happiness and expressing their joy by extending their feathers.

The sweet breeze has come. It is shaking my whole existence and making

me quiver in the divine vibration. That sweet breeze is giving me the hint

and telling me, ‘Listen! the divine flute, which is resonating, it is

calling you…”

 

 

== HOW CULTURE IS ONE ==

 

Namaskar,

Commonly people think there are so many cultures: African, western, Native American, Chinese, Russian, Indian etc. Indeed, in the last two decades, various terms like multi-cultural, plurality of cultures, bi-cultural etc have come into vogue. People think humans are different according to their “separate culture”. Hence it is often thought that there are many different cultures on this planet. In that case there is no question of one human family.

 

But according to Baba’s teachings, human culture is one – not many. This letter is an effort to better understand Baba’s sublime teachings on culture, and why culture is one.

 

 

WHAT IS CULTURE

 

First and foremost, according to Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji, culture is the collective name of various human expressions.

 

Baba says, “Culture is the collective name of various expressions of human life.” (A Few Problems Solved – 6)

 

 

APPLYING THE AFORESAID DEFINITION

 

Let’s examine a few practical examples to better understand what is culture.

 

 

HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE: GREETINGS

 

As we know, when people meet then they greet each other. This practice of humans greeting each other when they meet is pervasive. It happens everywhere. A person in the hills of North Korea greets their friend; and a person from a valley in California greets their friend. In both cases, in some way they greet their relations.This is a common practice. This is culture. And because it is everywhere, that is why culture is one.

 

Of course, people from different lands may express their greetings differently.

 

For instance, in Ananda Marga we do namaskar or pranam; in some lands, people bow to one another; in other countries people wave their hand and say hello; in some places people say shalom; in other lands people embrace one another or kiss; and many resort to handshaking also. Thus there are many ways that people greet each other. But these various types of greetings are not cultures, but rather demi-culture.

 

Culture is the act of greeting, irrespective of how it is done. One this point, all human beings share a common thread; they all greet one another.

 

Some may try and bifurcate the society by dividing people into this culture or that culture. But in truth there is a common thread that is shared among all. Greetings is one such common point. Again, there may be various ways of greeting a friend, but in reality people from all various places are all doing the same thing, i.e. greeting.

 

It should be very clear that the greeting itself culture , while the way people greet one another is a cultural expression or demiculture. Demiculture may be innumerable but culture is one. That is why all humans are one.

 

To some it may look like culture is many. However, the very act of greeting another person is itself our human culture. The practice of greeting a friend or neighbor etc is shared by all peoples in all lands.

 

 

HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE: EXPRESSING ONE’S HAPPINESS

 

All over the world people express their joy or happiness. This expression of happiness is common to all. This is culture. If someone is happy in Thailand then they express their happiness, and if someone is happy in Alaska or Siberia then they too express their happiness. Expressing happiness the culture of human beings: When they are happy then they express themselves in some way.

 

It may be through art, dance, laughter, drama, music and so many ways. That is a common point everywhere. That is why human beings are one, irrespective of their geographical area. Because their culture is one, i.e. when they are happy they express their joy.

 

People of Thailand may dance in a way different from residents of Alaska or Siberia. And that difference in style is their demi-culture, or the cultural expression of that area.

 

One should not confuse culture and demi-culture. Culture is the trunk of the tree and the demiculture refers to all those branches, and twigs.

 

So human culture is one, i.e. expressing happiness when they are happy.

 

In other words in different lands, people express their joy or happiness in various ways. Some sing, some dance, some clap, some whistle, some smile, some laugh, some slap hands, and others hug. There are so many ways how people express their happiness. These are not culture, but rather demi-culture. Demi-culture are different in various lands. The main theme is that when they are happy and they express their happiness. That is common everywhere. That is culture and that is one.

 

 

HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE: HUMAN VALUES

 

Each and every community gives value or importance to something. In the west, matter or material wealth is most valued: people chase after property, possessions and money; in other lands marriage or social status is most valued; and in some places religion is what is most cherished. In each of these areas, people have a chosen arena that they revere or value most; this gives them their stamina and direction.

 

Giving value to something is present everywhere around the globe. A person of a remote village of Zaire has something that he cherishes in life and deems very important and a person of Canada living in a bustling city also values something in his life. This is the common point everywhere. Human beings have something they cherish. That is the culture of human being. Both in Zaire and Canada this is true. They share a common point in that they both value something. Around the globe, all have this. That is the common point of all human beings. That is culture. It is one. Peoples’ values may change from place to place, but the act of giving value to something is common to all.

 

In other words, that every person in every land gives value to something is our shared human culture. On this point of giving value or cherishing something, people of various lands or areas cherish different things. People in some parts of the world value material possessions, and in some parts people give importance to religion. So there are local variations, but those variations are not culture, but rather demi-culture. Then what is culture? To cherish something in life, that is culture.

 

So it should be very clear that giving value to something is culture. Every human being on this planet has this quality. This is the common thing to all. That is why culture is one. People of different areas may value different things, but they value something. And that quality of cherishing something is human culture. And that is common. That is why around the planet there is one culture.

 

In clarification: Demi-culture means chasing particular things: whether it be material or spiritual or intellectual or external beauty or art and literature – they must cherish something. This variety is demiculture and the common point of cherishing something is culture. That is why all humans are one. All have the same culture.

 

 

HUMAN CULTURE IS ONE: FOOD

 

Wherever people live together they have friends or family and on various occasions they share their food. This is common everywhere. In China, people feed their children, relatives, friends and family; and in Australia they feed their children, relatives, friends and family. The common ticket is that they share food with others. This everyone does. This is human culture – it is common and done everywhere. Thus, on the point of food also, human culture is one.

 

No doubt the person in Australia has his own style of cooking, dining, menu choices, and serving, and those from a remote Chinese village have their way of cooking, dining, menu choices, and serving. These things are demi-culture. Culture is that they all share their food with one another – that is common around the globe. The difference is these expressions are but local variations of a superficial nature. The deeper aspect is common: Preparing and sharing food.

 

The way people eat may vary significantly from place to place. Some do half-bath, sing kiirtan and do sadhana before eating; others wash their hands and feet and say a prayer; some eat with their hands; others eat with a spoon; some eat vegetarian and some take non-veg. And there are so many ways and foods people eat. The manner and style varies dramatically from place to place. But these things are not culture; they are demi-culture.

 

Here culture is practice of serving and sharing food with friends, family, relatives and neighbors. This is commonly done all around the globe. That is why Baba says that the culture of human beings is one. Everyone shares food with their children, family, friends or guests etc. Hence, human culture is one.

 

There are various ways of doing this around the planet, but those various approaches and styles are not culture; they are demiculture. The culture of human beings is one, irrespective of where you are born, culture is one.

 

We should not separate one human from another by proclaiming people of various areas as having various cultures such that they are alien to each other. Our outlook on this issue is 100% integrated – all inclusive.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

All human beings are one: (a) everyone greets, (b) everyone expresses happiness, (c) everyone has something they value or holds as an ideal, (d) people share and serve food together, and (e) many similar practices can be included in this list.

 

Irrespective of their so-called caste, language, so-called race or geographical areas, literal or educated, all have these common qualities. That is why inherently human culture is one. By superficial look, it seems that people live in different ways and express themselves but these are local variations that we term as demi-culture.

 

The conclusion is that fundamentally human beings are one and there are various local differences and those differences are not cultural but rather demi-culture.

 

 

WHY ANANDA MARGA PROPAGATES THAT CULTURE IS ONE

 

Ananda Marga wants to unite all and form one human society. This is one of the main themes: To unite all human beings. If we view culture as many then it is difficult to unite everyone. So our AM’s perspective on culture is to find common elements that all have in their general expression. It is by this way we can understand human culture as one.

 

And when people start thinking human culture to be one then it will be very easy to unite everyone. Then peace can be brought on this earth. Disunity invites violence. People divide humanity on the basis of various platforms including culture. By that way so many problems surface. By understanding culture as one we can unite everyone and bring peace.

 

Namaskar,

Hariish

 

 

Note 1: COMMON MISUNDERSTANDING

 

qqq Often, what people think to be culture is not culture but rather demi-culture. Subtle or fundamental qualities which everyone has is culture and that is prevalent everywhere. And that is what we tried to express in the above letter. qqq

 

 

Note 2: PERVASIVENESS OF THE PROBLEM

 

Some may innocently think that this issue of culture is not an important affair or that this is not a problem. Here following is one striking example of the degree to which the present day humanity has fallen into the trap of dividing people into different cultures.

 

When watching or listening to a news broadcast, reports are commonly given: “75% of Black males…”, or “15% of Asians…”, or “the majority of hispanics…”, or “Haitian immigrants are prone…” etc. People are not treated as people but rather as members of separate groups, clans, castes and cultures.

 

Here the point is that the news purports to present events in an unbiased, impassive tone. Yet the language which they use itself is divisive: blacks, hispanics, whites, asians etc. They put people in different groups as a matter of course. In turn everyone accepts this as being totally normal. Because when such an authoritative voice speaks in this way, then people take it as an unquestionable truth that there are different cultures or different races on this earth. They do not think twice about it. Just they live as if deep down we really are different and there is no common thread. Such is the dramatic or blatant manner in which people commonly think these days and this is reflected by popular and even intellectual news reports.

 

So then how should such news be reported. Firstly, people should be referred to as human beings, and not “African Americans” or “Asians” or “Latinos” etc. Everyone is a human being and it should be reported in that manner. Secondly, if indeed it is needed or noteworthy to provide differentiations, then that classifcation can be made on characteristics like lifestyle (i.e. obese persons are more prone to heart disease, or those eating flesh foods are prone to coronary heart disease), economic level, age, educational attainment etc. In all these ways we can groupify people, but not based on race. It should not be reported that on white person attacked three black people or that a chinese man started a new business etc. We are all human – that is our race & human culture is one; our manner of speaking should reflect this inclusive approach.

 

As Ananda Margiis, it is our job to change this outlook and help all come to the understanding that human culture is one.

 

 

Note 3: CULTURE CAN BE GOOD OR BAD

 

One critical point to know is that demi-culture can be good and demi-culture can be bad. When a demi-culture elevates a person or a community it is good demi-culture; and when a demi-culture degenerates a person or a community it is bad demi-culture. More about this will be written in the next letter.

 

 

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Real Wealth

 

“Ya’jinavalkya asked, ‘What would you like?'”

 

“Maetreyii replied: ‘Yena’ham’ na’mrtasya’m’ tena’ham’ kim kurya’m'”

 

“‘What will I do with things which will not remain with me permanently?

Of what use are the objects which will not establish me in

immortality?…’Please give me that thing which will remain with me

permanently, which I’ll be able to preserve forever, which will

establish me in immortality. I don’t want anything else.'”

 

“Then Ya’jinavalkya gave her a number of instructions, upon which a

major part of Raja Yoga is based’.” (AV-7, p.44)

 

Note: As described in the above quote: Really, worldly things cannot

remain with us very long. That is why ideal people run towards Parama

Purusa. Being Parama Purusa and Guru, Baba Himself has guided us how to

reach Him. On this point, we are extremely fortunate to at least have

gotten the path. Now our main duty is to follow it.

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