Real Commentary on Ananda Sutram? II

Date: 09 May 2007 23:46:28 -0000 From: "Acintya Deva" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Real Commentary on Ananda Sutram? II Baba "A'lote cha'ya'te dukha-sukhate ket'eche janam kato..." (PS 1128) Purport: O' Baba, in search of You I have passed so many lives in pleasure and pain, in effulgence and darkness. My days have passed in good and bad, virtue and vice, bliss and misery. Over and over again, countless times, I have come onto this earth. Baba, in this relative world, whatever I have gained, I have lost. Everything in this material world is transitory: Nothing is stationary; nothing is permanent. Baba, whatever came to me has gone away. Even then by Your grace the lamp of my hope remains lit to get You. Baba, the cyclone of my life has come making a loud, bustling sound and it has turned my existence upside down. Baba, in this difficult situation, I have received Your grace and I want for my mind to be fully satiated in Your divine love. Even then I have lost the path and am moving in a downward direction. I do not understand what is right and what is wrong-- what is virtue and what is vice. Baba, please save me from this miserable situation, from this cyclone of my life. O' my Dearmost, by Your boundless compassion I have regained the path: I am adhering to Your teachings and I am slowly moving towards You. Baba, by Your grace today I understand You. I have learned how to move with Your divine effulgence. Baba, after wiping away the darkness, please grace me with more and more of Your effulgence so that I can become one with You. Baba, without Your grace nothing can happen. Please keep me under Your shelter and accept my total surrender...

== REAL COMMENTARY ON ANANDA SUTRAM? == - PART II -

Namaskar, Everyone knows that one particular person has made one "Commentary" on Ananda Sutram. Once again we should see how far this piece accurately depicts Sadguru's divine teachings or not.

ANANDA MARGA'S SYSTEM IS UNIQUE

In Ananda Marga there is a uniqueness that makes it quite different from the dogmatic religions. The various religions, have their various types of dogmas related with their limited ritualistic worship. Muslims pray to God five times a day; Christians have their special one day on Sunday to go to church; and, Hindus typically go on Sunday and Monday, or some on ekadashi. And still some Hindus have their special festivals. Regardless of which religion, and regardless of on which day they make their religious observation, the main point is that on other days, one need not to bother about their prayer rituals. Because these are dogmatic religions and the follow a rigid approach where one only prays in the church or temple or mosque at only particular times. In contrast, in Ananda Marga, we have our practice 24 hours a day. That's why Baba has given the dharmic guideline: 'Kuru pun'yamahora'tram', meaning, 'Do virtuous deeds day and night'.

AM PRACTICES DHARMA 24HRS A DAY

So the dogmatic religions do their rituals once in a week, once in a month, once in a life, or on certain days which are fixed. Each dogmatic religion has their certain way of observation-- whether Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, et. Whereas in Ananda Marga, Baba has given "Kuru pun'yamahora'tram'". The sense is, to practice dharma 24 hours per day.

SAME TEACHING IN ANANDA SUTRAM

And Baba has given this very teaching of practicing dharma 24hrs in Ananda Sutram, sutra 2-7:

Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah Meaning: Dharma should always be practiced

So Baba has graciously given this sutra and explained it Himself, with His own purport in Ananda Sutram. And then He has given hundreds and hundreds of discourses, to amplify the point so it will be clear to all. This very sutra--Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah-- has a special importance for all Ananda Margiis. And indeed, Baba has explained it in so many discourses. Including the very discourses on "Kuru pun'yam ahoratram"-- Do Virtuous Deeds Day and Night. And the same very idea has been expressed in various ways in other discourses as well. And the proof is that in AM, everyone knows that dharma must always be practiced. There is no time or day that we need not follow dharma. Such a thing does not exist in AM.

SOME OF THE BACKGROUND TO SUTRA 2-7

In order to best understand this sutra 2-7-- Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah-- more deeply, one needs to understand what Baba has written in the prior part of Ananda Sutram. So let us all take a look. In Ananda Sutram, the central idea of the prior sutra no. 2-6 is that when human beings are running toward their Goal-- Brahma, Supreme Consciousness-- that special "running", that special type of psycho-spiritual movement is called 'dharma'. This we all know. Or in other words we can say, Sutra no 2-6 reveals that running psycho-spiritually in our mental flow is dharma. Yet Baba's teachings do not end here. Baba further explains that this psycho-spiritual run toward Brahma is not done for only few seconds, minutes or few hours only. It must be done 24 hours and that is our main work in life: To always follow dharma. And if anybody is not running all the 24 hours toward Brahma, then they are not following dharma 100%. And to make this point very clear, Baba has given Sutra number 2-7. The meaning is that we have to follow dharma 24 hours. We should imbibe the meaning of that ideation with every breath. No single breath should be wasted.

THE LIMITED WAYS OF THE DOGMATIC RELIGIONS

We Ananda Margiis are not like the dogmatic Muslim followers who remember God Allah 5 times a day. And in that course, they practice Nama'j or prayer. And one day is a spiritual day for Muslim people. And that is Friday. In Christianity it is also limited. For example, they do their dogmatic prayer once in a week. And the Christian spiritual day is Sunday. And on the other six days, they are not so committed to God. In their language, only Sunday is the day of the Lord. In the Hindu religion also, they adhere to a restricted program. In the morning and evening they attend temple and do bath in Ganges etc, but, during the whole day they are not very mindful about God. So in the Muslim, Christian, and Hindu religions and in all sorts of other religions, it is not taught that dharma should be practiced 24 hours. In no religion is it taught that dharma should be practiced every moment. Only in the spiritual movement of our Anand Marga is it taught that dharma must be practiced every second and fraction of a second, throughout all the 24 hours.

THE SPECIALITY OF AM AND SUTRA 2-7

So Ananda Marga is unique. There is no comparison with any of the dogmatic religions. Our approach is not just to remember God during the morning and evening prayer only etc. By Baba's grace we aim to remember Him all the 24 hours: In each and every breath. And this very special idea Baba has beautifully expressed in Sutra 2-7:

Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah.

And the meaning of this Sutra is: Dharma must be practiced always. And surely all Ananda Margiis are aware about this guideline, so this just serves as a reminder.

WHAT THE SO-CALLED COMMENTARY BOOK IS TELLING

Unfortunately one person's "Commentary" on Ananda Sutram has a totally different way of explaining sutra 2-7: Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah. If we look at the so-called "A Commentary of Ananda Sutram", on page 97, the 2nd paragraph of the 1998 Edition, there is a dogmatic story used to "explain" the meaning of Baba's dharmic sutra. In that story in the so-called Commentary, it is written that there was one farmer who was remembering God in the morning once for a few seconds while going oiut to his fields. And then again in the evening, the farmer would remember God's name for a few seconds. In total the farmer would remember God twice a day-- each time for a matter of seconds. And by recounting this crude story, the so-called Commentary book is supposedly explaining the meaning of Sutra no. 2-7. But we know this is totally false and crooked, because Baba's explicit guideline is that dharma should always be practiced 24hrs a day. Not just a few seconds twice a day like this farmer is doing.

IT IS NOT A "COMMENTARY" AT ALL

Here then the critical point is that according to Baba's teaching in Ananda Sutram is to follow dharma always-- remember God each and every moment through our Ista mantra, every breath. However the so-called Commentary book has radically confused this point on page number 97 by writing that one only remember God twice a day for a few seconds. That is the teaching of the farmer story and the "Commentary" book employs this farmer story as the main way to elucidate sutra 2-7. Yet the whole explanation is totally wrong. Because in that very sutra (2-7), Baba is clearly teaching us that dharma must be practiced during every breath of all the 24 hours each day. However the so-called Commentary book uses the Hindu dogmatic story of one village farmer to wrongly explain Baba's dharmic guideline.

IT IS JUST LIKE...

This type of so-called analogy is similar to showing one red piece of meat and telling others, "Taste this, it is a tomato." When in reality, only the superficial similarity of color is there between that piece of meat and the tomato. Here the idea is that the two objects are not at all similar as tomato is not at all representative of meat. In the same way, the "Commentary" missed the point completely about Sutra no. 2-7. The fake Commentary books says this is the explanation of sutra 2-7, but their dogmatic explanation has nothing to do with Baba's dharmic teaching. So in reality that two have nothing in common-- just as the piece of meat has nothing in common with the ripe tomato. Similarly the "Commentary" book is basically useless as it has nothing to do with the sutra, 2-7: Tasma'ddharmah Sada'ka'ryah.

AM IDEOLOGY IS UNIQUE

The bottom line here is, that AM ideology is unparalleled. It has no comparison with any dogmatic philosophy or religion. And anybody tries to give any example from a dogmatic religion, then unfortunately they just give a spoiled explanation only that in no way resembles Baba's dharmic guideline. And that is what has happened in the case of Didi Ananda Mitra's book, "Commentary on Ananda Sutram".

A QUICK REVIEW

The so-called "Commentary" book compared AM with the dogmatic Hindu religion, using one Hindu story to try to explain Baba's teaching in Sutra 2-7, "Tasmaddharmah Sadakaryah". As if these were the same thing. But to say like this, is misguided. Because Ananda Marga is unique. It is not at all a religion, but it is dharma itself. Baba says, "Ananda Marga alone is dharma and all the rest are sectisms." (SS-1, p. 63) And that dharma-- the dharma of AM-- is to be practiced all the 24 hours. That is what sutra 2-7 states. But the "Commentary" book by this Didi falters miserably in this regard. And not just on this point but from cover to cover the so-called commentary makes one pitfall after another. Those who have been through her "Commentary" book understand well that it has nothing to do with Ananda Sutram. Innumerable points are wrongly done. In that case, we should seriously consider if this so-called Commentary book should allowed to be circulated around the planet-- spreading its dogma. Rather it should be recalled and evaluated by our AM scholars, or tossed out entirely

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's divine grace He has blessed us with an incomparable ideology and the heart and soul of that is Ananda Sutram. So we should not let any tainted Commentary book mislead others on this point. Baba says, "Never before in the entire history of this world or the universe, if it could be known to mortals, has a system of life fully embracing the economic, social, mental and spiritual spheres ever been correlated in such closely knit society as in Ananda Marga." (AFPS-7) Namaskar, Acintya

Note 1: HOW TO PRACTICE DHARMA 24HRS A DAY

Some new margiis may wonder how it can be possible. In order to practice dharma all the 24 hours does it mean we have to leave all our worldly and mundane duties? One may well ask, 'How is it possible to practice dharma all 24 hours?' However in truth we Margis know that there is not even a question of what is possible or impossible. Every Ananda Margii is doing this very 24 hour practice. We are doing sadhana 2 times per day-- all the lessons. Plus before each and every work we repeat our Guru Mantra. And it is a common fact that human beings breathe in and out around 20-22,000 times per day. And during each and every respiration we are trying to practice our Ista Mantra. And that is Ardh Iishvara Pranidhan or Half meditation. And by practicing all this during the day then naturally it happens automatically at night. Hence 24hrs.

Note 2: WHAT IS THE REAL COMMENTARY OF ANANDA SUTRAM

The real Commentary of Ananda Sutram is Baba's entire AM ideology. The entire gamut of His divine discourses stand as the real elaboration of His Ananda Sutram. So if one desires to learn Ananda Sutram then the best way is to study Baba's original teachings-- not via some so-called Commentary book by you know who. That will not yield any fruit only confusion. Here the whole point is that Baba has already provided us with the real commentary of Ananda Sutram, and that is His AM ideology in the form of all His recorded and printed discourses. That is the only way to understand Ananda Sutram.

*************************************** Ideal Life

Baba says, "Human beings come onto this earth for a very short period, and within this short period they are required to complete everything. So there is a great deal of work to be done, but the time is very short. Thus intelligent people make the best use of every moment of their time - wasting one's time is the height of foolishness. Why? Because no human being will remain on this earth for long, and the very goal of human life is to attain Parama Purusa, the Supreme Stance. Human beings, while moving forward towards that Goal which is fixed before their minds, will have to perform many worldly duties. That is why it is said, 'Keep one hand on the feet of Parama Purus'a, and with the other hand do your mundane duties'." (AFPS-4)

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