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Ideal Avadhuta

Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:09:53 -0000 To: AM-GLOBAL From: J. Erikkson Subject: Ideal Avadhuta Baba "Eka' tumi baive keno sab bojha'..." - P.S. 1963 Purport: Baba, You are carrying all the burdens of this entire universe. I want to serve You; please put some of that on my head-- give me something to carry to relieve You. Baba, whatever capacity You have given me, accordingly I am ready to serve You. Baba, by Your grace, I move with Your strength. And I go on marching on the path which You have guided me on. Whatever little intellect I have is because of You. All my hopes, aspirations, desires, longings-- good or bad-- everything is revolving around You. Baba You are my everything. Baba except You there is none to whom I can think is mine. Only You are mine-- no one else. Others are only superficial friends on the good days. But You are eternally my own. Baba, when due to the pain and I cry, then by Your mercy I get you. Baba, You are always there to wipe away my tears and remove my suffering. My everything is because of You. Baba, my life, my death, my entire existence revolves around Your grace...
== IDEAL AVADHUTA ==
Namaskar, As we know, Baba is very strict with regard to the standard of our Wt's and Avadhutas. Because by the formation of a strong cadre, then society can quickly be transformed and guided in the proper direction. The point being that Baba's theory of avadhuta is very lofty as the true ideal avadhuta is treated as 'second god' in AM philosophy:
"Shmsha'ne...avadhutao dvatiya maheshvara"
Thus the color of one's dress alone is not enough. Rather the conduct of our avadhutas must be exemplary in all regards. Then they can be considered as ideal-- 'dvatiya maheshvara' or second gods. Unfortunately, these days on various points a certain slackness has set in.
A CASE IN POINT
We need not consult the history books or look back in the annals of time to find such examples. Since it was just last week that one of our distinguished avadhutas engaged in the public & heralded celebration of his own birthday. All done in a grand way at one of our AM retreats. When in fact the point is commonly known to all that Avadhutas are not to pay heed to such mundane dates like their own worldly birthday. (a) Reason being that for the Avadhutas, Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji is Father, Mother, and Everything. And they have given up everything of their worldly past in His service. In which case where is the scope for an avadhuta to celebrate his own worldly birthday... (b) In addition at each and every juncture or stage of an avadhuta's development and training they are given a new name because each stage itself represents a new birth-- a new beginning. All the while leaving behind their old life. In which case where is the scope for an avadhuta to celebrate his own worldly birthday... (c) Plus for all avadhutas and aspirants Baba has beautifully explained that our present life is not our first life-- rather it is a part life. Because in the cycle of creation and moving ahead via saincara and pratisaincara until finally attaining the human framework and ultimately reaching onto the path of tantra, one has undergone countless lives and one has experienced countless births. This is part and parcel of our spiritual outlook. Thus for these reasons and so many others, the whole notion of one of our avadhutas celebrating their worldly mundane birth has no sense and goes counter to the whole spirit of being avadhuta. Even then NY SOS Dada Rainjitanandaji took it upon himself to celebrate his worldly physical birth at a recent AM function. Not only that it was done with all the glorified 'bells and whistles' of materialistic American life-- following all the traditional ways from the mundane birthday song to the making of a wish. All this was done in Dadaji's honor-- and he jumped right in with full vigor. Thus with full pomp and show and wearing the bright orange of his avadhuta uniform, Dadaji celebrated the whole affair in full grandeur-- with full birthday charm. So how far this is proper and following the spirit or the ideal of an avadhuta as laid down by Baba, everyone can plainly see for themselves-- as it is quite apparent.
SS WAS THERE AT THE SCENE
Plus this entire birthday festivity did not unfold in a vacuum-- without anyone there to see. It was not like that as SS Dada, i.e. the 'eyes of the sector', was on hand at that very retreat to observe the entire event. But SS did not so much as move a muscle to intervene. Rather he let SOS party to the sky in his birthday rituals. Why SS Dada Tiirthanandaji remained frozen is anyone's best guess. But many are telling it was because Tiirthanandaji was already involved in his own muddy dealings. Since it was at that retreat itself that a major portion of Dada's seminar presentation was spent praising & glorifying himself. When every Ananda Margii is fully aware that self-praise is not good. Hence being short on moral courage himself, SS Dada remained passive on the sidelines-- unable to utter a dharmic word to save the situation of SOS's mundane birthday party. Thus a snowball or domino effect happened-- i.e. one poor showing led to another. Otherwise what can be. And talk is further going on that when SS could not properly monitor the party celebrations of SOS which was all done under his own watchful gaze, then how can SS Dada handle administering and governing the expanse of the entire sector. So this concern is also ablaze in peoples' minds. Where to go and how to proceed in the creation of ideal avadhutas we can think further, and at the same time consider Baba's following guidelines. However one thing surely stands clear: That it is blatantly against the standard of an avadhuta to indulge in the worldly celebration of their own birthday.
BABA'S WARNINGS
Taking everything into consideration here following are some of Baba's important guidelines about acarya and avadhuta life. Baba says, "A'ca'ran'a't pa'thayati yah sah a'ca'ryah-- 'One who teaches through one's conduct is an acarya'. If you cannot learn anything from the conduct and behaviour of a certain person, why should you accept that person as an a'ca'rya." (AVM pt 23 p.150) Baba says, "Bear in mind that people may be harmed or misled by even a small weakness or defect in the conduct of an acarya...an acarya should always instruct by his exemplary actions and words." (AVM pt 31 p.18)
A POSITIVE RESOLUTION
So even while such birthday scenes and the like continue to unfold across the sector and beyond. Even then we should not give up hope or 'lose the faith'. Because if we are careful to keep a close watch then quickly ideal avadhutas can be created-- in which case fake ones will disappear from the scene. All it take is a little vigilance. And by that way in no time we will have a sterling cadre of avadhutas in the true spirit of the term. Baba says, "Shmsha'ne...avadhutao dvatiya maheshvara" Namaskar, Jayanta
Note 1: AVADHUTA CONDUCT RULE
Baba says, "Avadhuta shall always keep himself engaged in the service of Gurudeva with sincerity and devotion, in thought, words and deed, in subtle and in crude spheres, in inner and outer expressions of life." (Rule no. 28 of '32 Rules for Avadhutas') By the above teaching it is quite clear that ideal avadhutas will dedicate everything to Revered Baba. In which case the only birthday they will concern themselves with is Ananda Purnima, i.e. Baba's birthday -- and not their own unit birth.
************************************************ Sadhana Point
Baba says, "Padmasana (lotus posture): Place the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh. Clench the jaws and press the tongue against the roof of the mouth. You can maintain this posture as long as you like." (CC-3) Note: Just as sleeping needs to be done in a lying down posture. Similarly for better sadhana one should sit in padmasana. No doubt margiis are aware about this rule but even then review is needed because some are no longer in the habit of sitting in this posture, while still others have become obese which leads to discarding this rule. In addition, by seeing some sit in the wrong way, confusion can come on such basic points as to which leg to bend first or how to place the palms. Or people just plain forget to keep the tongue back, the molar teeth pressed, the eyes closed, or the spine erect. Hence for one or another reasons any or all of these points can get forgotten or missed. Not to mention that at DMS and retreats I have seen how some people keep their hands clasped together and their fingers interlinked, but this of course is also not proper. So about all these aforementioned points Baba has given the guideline in the above noted quote from Caryacarya part 3 and in the Senior Acarya Diary. So it is Baba's mandate that we should be strict in following all these things properly, as they are integral for enhancing one's movement on the path of sadhana.
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