== USA & ONE NASTY RELIGIOUS DOGMA ==
~ UPDATED VERSION ~
Note: Unfortunately, my earlier letter on this topic went out
prematurely-- it was unfinished and rough. So this is the
updated version for everyone to read. Many changes and revisions
have been made.
Namaskar,
Here is a case study which shows how dogma clouds the mind and freezes
the brain-- utterly robbing a person of all sense of reason and rationality.
THE FOLLOWERS OF ONE CHRISTIAN POLYGAMOUS SECT
As many may be aware, the ultra-dogmatic, polygamous religious sect--
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (USA)-- was
run by their fallen leader & so-called prophet, Warren Jeffs. Prior to
his recent arrest, one might even say that this self-proclaimed prophet
was accepted as the absolute ruler of the sect as he would function as
"judge and jury, bank and police, and above all defender of the faith".
And no one would question what he would do or say, at least not any of his followers.
Indeed, this dogmatic Christian prophet would decide who should marry,
when they would marry, and if any follower fell in disfavour with him he
would appoint that person's children and wives to then be given to
someone else. This Christian leader had that type of dramatic,
totalitarian control. Amidst his followers, his word was law and he was
deemed as God's representative on earth.
He himself had about 60 wives and his religious sect was based on
underage marriages wherein the so-called prophet would appoint 14
year-old girls to marry-- sometimes marrying their 19 year-old cousin
and other times marrying an elder man of the church who was especially
loyal to this religious leader. And no one would question it, lest they
be banned forever from entering heaven.
Because the only way to enter heaven was by being obedient to this
"prophet's command" that men should have multiple wives and that the
duty of those women is only to ensure that their husband is happy and
satisfied. That is one of the main decrees.
Verily, everything in polygamous sect revolved around this dogmatic
prophet's word. He forbid followers to attend US public schools and
colleges and instead designed and oversaw their own education system so
that all the children could be indoctrinated into that polygamous way of
life. And indeed, that dogmatic sectarian way of life was bizarre, strange,
torturous, and illogical in thousands of ways. One senior US government
official proclaimed that, 'It is hard to believe that such a polygamous
sect exists here in America'. But not only do they exist but they totally
run several towns along the Arizona-Colorado border and have an estimated
financial worth of more than 100 million.
The most surprising thing of all is NOT that one crazy so-called prophet
would do something like this. After all, so many people do corrupt and
strange things for power.
The most surprising thing is that thousands of people revere him as
their leader. They follow his each and every command, no matter the
depth of that dogma. That is what is so surprising.
Why do those followers do like this? They have a brain; they have the
ability to reason; they have an intellect. The question then is why do
they follow this fake prophet and all his phony teachings. What is
"at-work" in this process? What is pushing them in this direction.
And the answer is what Baba has said. When the mind is infiltrated by a
dogma-- any dogma-- then it loses it rational thinking capacity in that
sphere of life.
Baba says, "Ism [dogma] overshadows human intelligence in such a way
that even if one has been defeated through logic or reason, one refuses
to accept the defeat." (PNS-16)
Thus the followers of that Christian sect lost their rationality due to
being engrossed in the dogma of that polygamous sect. They became
totally blind to the prophet's rules and lost their sense of
discrimination and the mind could not longer work properly.
It is just like if a computer gets infiltrated by a virus. Then that
hard drive loses its ability to function properly. The same is true for
a mind that is submerged in dogma. When dogma enters the mind then that
person's thinking process becomes totally shut down.
THE ANOMALY OF DOGMA
That is how dogma works; it rots the brain. That is why those followers
of that Christian polygamous sect adhere to their prophet's laws and
guidelines. Because once dogma enters the mind, one's capacity for
rational thought becomes nil.
Hence, dogma means bha'va jar'ata in Sanskrit, or the crudification of
the thinking process.
And we see this same phenomenon among radical Muslims who think that for
their cause it is alright, indeed Allah's will, to kill common citizens
and send suicide bombers into the open marketplaces etc. They believe in
this. Of course it is expected that those Islamic leaders will do
irrational things as they want to gain power. The question is why those
general Muslims follow that code as well.
People outside that Muslim sect think what they are doing is totally
ludicrous and outrageous, but those Muslim followers feel totally
convinced that suicide bombing and marrying 3 or 4 women is proper. Why
is it like that? Because the presence of their religious dogma keeps
them bound to their illogical ways. They cannot recognise the defects of
Islam.
Another example is how recently in the US, frustrated and alienated
students fell into the dogmatic pattern of open-firing on innocent
students and professors on their university campus, senselessly killing
dozens of people. This is also a dogmatic approach-- though it is a
social dogma, not a religious one.
So these are all examples of how dogma totally consumes one's thinking
abilities and flushes all hope of rationality out of the mind. That is
why dogma is so dangerous and that is why Baba says, "Dogma no more,
dogma no more".
INSTANCES OF DOGMA IN AM
Please excuse me, but tragically, in our Marga, since 1990, various
dogmas have taken root. And it is very difficult to eliminate those
dogmas. Mainly because, some of our respected brothers and sisters who
are adhering to things like groupism, Mahaprayan, or Jamalpur Tiirtha,
do not recognise their chosen way as being a dogma.
Of course, we know the leaders of the various groups have their own
selfish interest in mind when they set-up such dogmas. Either they want
money, or control, or power, or post, or prestige etc. It is not
surprising that such so-called leaders would invent these crooked
policies. In that sense, they are no different from the so-called
prophet of that dogmatic Christian sect.
The more surprising and astonishing phenomenon is how general Ananda
Margiis and acaryas also fall prey to such things like groupism. We have
sadhana; we have Baba's teachings; we have so many plus points; even
then many in our Marga are following one groupist sect or another. And
it is not easy to convince them to give up their groupism.
What is the reason? What is the cause? Why is it that margiis and field
workers get hitched to a particular factional camp? Again, the reason is
that once the mind gets filled with the dogma of one particular group,
then it clouds a person's thinking entirely. That is why even when we
know in our heart of hearts we are all brothers and sisters and belong
together, still due to the presence of dogma we remain divided in
different camps and groups.
Hence the same operative force-- i.e. dogma in the mind-- that keeps
those Christians wedded to their polygamous sect & Muslims stuck up in
Islam, is also working to keep margiis disunited and tied to various
groups. That is the sad state of affairs.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace our Marga will soon become 100% dogma-free and spread
the teachings of pure spirituality across this entire universe. But this
can only happend when each and every Ananda Margii takes the vow within
themselves to not get caught up in dogma. We all have to take the duty
and strict reponsbility to ask ourselves every day, 'Am I following
dogma or not?'. Then our Marga will again become pure and clean.
Baba says, "Ananda Marga is the first movement aimed at liberating
spirituality from the unwholesome influences from dogma. Hence you must
not in any way encourage dogma. Rather, you should carry on an endless
fight against dogma. And while fighting against dogma, you will realize
the actual truth, and when you will come in contact with truth, you will
be established in real spirituality. Remember, you have got to be
established in real spirituality, because in spirituality alone lies the
highest fulfillment and achievement of human life...So human beings have
got to be established in human excellence and carry on a ceaseless
struggle against dogma." (PNS-18)
Namaskar,
Mukunda
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Sadhana Point- 1st Lesson
Baba says, "In Japakriya' there is only acoustic rhythm as I have told
you about acoustic rhythm Ra'ma, Ra'ma, Ra'ma, Ra'ma. But in Pran'idha'na this
acoustic rhythm maintains parallelism with mental rhythm i.e., mentally you will
be saying Ra'ma, Ra'ma, Ra'ma, there should be acoustic rhythm Ra'ma,Ra'ma. Ra'ma
like this and mentally you will be thinking of Ra'ma also i.e., the parallelism is
to be maintained, otherwise in Japakriya' where there is no parallelism what
does happen; while you are uttering the word Ra'ma, Ra'ma (Parama Purusa) as you are
chanting the word 'Ra', letter 'Ra' you are thinking of the next letter 'Ma.' Ra'ma!
Again while uttering the letter 'Ma' you are thinking of the letter 'Ra'.
Next 'Ra' and then in second stage of Japa, 'Ra'. In that case your Mantra
will be 'Mara' (death) you are uttering the letter 'Ma' and thinking of the
latter 'Ra', so your Is't'a Mantra becomes 'Mara' (death) and not
'Ra'ma' (Parama Purusa).
So it is useless to do that type of Japakriya'. Unless and until there is a
parallelism with the mental wave it is useless and where there is
parallelism between acoustic rhythm and mental rhythm it is called
Pranidha'na. In Ananda Marga your Iishvara Pra'nidha'na is not japakriya';
it is called Pran'idha'na. Pran'idha'na comes within the scope of
Dhya'na and not within the scope of japa. Do you follow?" (SS-18, p. 84-5)
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