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Mirror of Materialism...

Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:48:01 -0400 To: am-global@earthlink.net From: Melanie Kellogg Subject: Mirror of Materialism... Baba "A'loker utsa're-- kuya'sha'r path dhare, giyechile du're..." (1755) Purport: Baba, You are the most gracious One; You save everybody. Baba, with the emanation of Your divine effulgence, those following the foggy path have returned back to the house. By Your grace, those who fell into sin and staticity have come back onto the path of truth and righteousness; they have come back onto the path of dharma-- their home. Baba, by Your grace they have again come under Your eternal shelter. Baba, because of You, there is truth and dharma. Because You are the effulgence remains. Baba because of You there is life. By Your grace You bring bliss and warmth to all. You shower Your love and affection on everyone. Baba, those who forget You become engulfed in the cimmerian darkness of avidya maya. Those who do not surrender at Your lotus feet and those who neglect to sing Your name, they remain oblivious of the divine truth and plunge themselves in the deep abyss of self-pity and confusion. O' Baba, by Your grace I know only You. Only this truth I know: You are mine and I am Yours. Baba I do not know about the divine world nor about the mortal world. I do not know about heaven or hell; nor do I accept those myths. Baba, I do not know about right and wrong, or virtue and vice. Baba, by Your sweet grace my mind is fully focused on You. Baba, I only know You-- I only accept You and You alone. Baba, You are the ocean of my life. Baba, please be grace by showering Your causeless grace...
HOW MANY ENGLISH WORDS ARE NOTHING BUT A MIRROR OF MATERIALISM AND MALE-DOMINATED SOCIETY
Namaskar, As an ideal, our Marga is a microcosm of how society should be in the true sense. And by Baba's grace His pristine example reflects even down to our mode of expression and use of language. However, the same sterling precedent has yet to be set in the common society wherein for their own gain exploitative classes have run rampant and injected innumerable crude themes into the society that got so deeply embedded that it colors the language itself.
LANGUAGE IS A MEASURING ROD
In this way it is commonly seen that language is a reflection of the mental standard of any given community. The point being that the status of mind and style of speech are inseparably linked. And in this regard-- even in the general society-- there is a tremendous gap between oriental and occidental expression. As in the current era, the male-dominated capitalism of the west has set its own negative standard.
HOW IT TAKES EXPRESSION IN LIFE
From morning to night, a string of words and phrases decorate contemporary western life that are wrought with crude innuendoes and / or superficial patterns of speech. Perhaps the worst victims of all this are females, although no doubt many other communities have also been intruded upon. All authored by a suppressive, male-run society operating on debased tendencies. And by this way the language has been totally colored. Of course as Ananda Margiis, knowingly we refrain from indulging in such ways of speaking yet as this disease is spreading uncontrollably from west to east we should also be vigilant not to let it land on the shores of our present AM society. And ultimately we should rid it from the general society. Here following are a few of the many, many terms that are a product of a superficial capitalistic way of thinking and / or a lustful male mind-set. (a) Pig-tail= In order to exploit females and look down upon and create an inferiority complex on them, this word and others like it were carried into the society by debased male leaders. Because by treating females like pigs as if their hair is nothing but pig tails, it helps secure male dominance as they can push down the self-confidence of women. And continue to pave the way for more male domination-- ensuring that females remain as objects of sensual enjoyment. (b) 'Male-female connection'= Here again a crude sexual innuendo is used to refer to inanimate electrical components, or what used to be known as a plug and socket. But in male-capitalistic style just they are dragging down human existence where crude sensual desires run wild and everything is calculated according to sensual experience. (c) 'lady's finger'= This is yet another concocted male term to turn what is an ordinary vegetable known as okra into a crude reminder to one and all that the female body is nothing but something for male consumption. (d) 'meaty'= And in the today's western culture fruits and vegetables are termed as 'meaty'. So instead of using the more fitting term of 'pulp', the degenerated state of mind infuses tamasik oriented terms to describe even sentient things. In a similar way the term 'sweet meats' is used for desserts. (e) 'chicken breast'= Characteristic of lustful thinking so many terms are applied to give "appeal" to something. (f) 'skin'= Just as the meat-eating culture of the west had to get through the skin in order to get to the meat of slain animals, such persons infused the 'skin' term to refer to the peel of the fruit. (g) 'kill two birds with one stone'= This is one of a whole slew of terms that reflect a superficial, uncaring capitalistic attitude that thinks that this whole creation is just something for their own personal enjoyment. So whatever pain or hardship others have to suffer-- whether it be peoples, animals, or plants-- all that is secondary to the self-indulgent pleasure derived by the capitalist. So in their self-centered, superficial thinking such terms are a pervasive such as: 'More than 1 way to skin a cat' etc.. (h) And dozens and hundreds of more examples are there.
THE CAUSE BEHIND THE MALADY
And the worst part is that this disease of language is unchecked and spreading around more and more. And we can say that the two-fold root cause of this entire negative convention is: (a) The lustful thinking of a male dominated society that creates words to objectify and exploit females. (b) Superficial capitalist mentality where everything is based on selfish pleasure-- where there is not a trace of any deeper thinking or higher values. Unfortunately both of these outlooks are spreading all around the globe-- from west to east.
BRING RENAISSANCE IN ALL THE SPHERES
In His historic discourse, 'Renaissance In All the Strata of Life', Baba directs us that we are to guide the society and bring a renaissance in all the spheres of existence from language and linguistic expression to politics to economics to culture to spirituality and more. So language is also one key factor that should be purified, refined and made more sentient. So this Renaissance touches all the facets of life. Here following is Baba's call for a total rebirth in all the realms. Baba says, "The scope of the Renaissance movement is vast, and you will have to start your work from this very moment: It brooks no delay." (PNS-9, p.45) Namaskar, Maya Devii
Note 1: AM IS SPIRITUAL SOCIETY-- MUST AVOID NEGATIVE TERMS
Our AM society is spiritually based and that sentient and effulgent quality should reflect in all our expressions of individual and collective life. And we must not let ourselves get caught up in the use of such crude terminology that has become so pervasive all around the globe.
Note 2: TRAGIC OCCURRENCE (warning: strong language used in this note)
In order to thrust various peoples into lowly categories and subject them to endless humiliation so as to break their spirit and make it easier to exploit them, the ruling class in various countries like the US has invented countless degrading terms. In that way nasty slang expressions and epithets such as 'wet backs', 'niggers', 'bitch' and the like have been injected into the society in order to press down, embarrass, and dishonor various peoples and persons of the society. The whole scene is tragic and sickening to witness how a certain so-called elite sector of society ruthlessly has executed their exploitative tactics. It is horribly unfortunate & unspeakable that so many of our brothers and sisters around the globe are not getting proper respect-- i.e. the respect deserved of a human being. We are all part of the same human family, all worthy of the same dignity and love. Per Baba's order it is our duty to remove such negativity from the society. Baba says, "Each and every member of the human society should enjoy equal rights as members of the same family, but there is disparity and it is the duty of the Renaissance movement to dispel the disparity and bring about equality, equilibrium, and equipoise amongst human beings." (PNS-9, p.43)
Note 3: A RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP
Just as the standard of mind affects the quality of language, similarly oral and linguistic expression in all its forms affects the development of mind. Baba says, "Good company, good books, good literature, good songs, kiirtanas (devotional chanting) elevate the mind and the mind becomes sanctified." (MVNS, p.79-80)
******************************************** Excellent Teaching but Difficult to Follow
Baba says, "You love your son; that is alright. But if he dies, you will have immense grief. It is not true? Because a son is a finite entity, he will not remain forever. He is bound to die one day. Leaving you in boundless sorrow. but if you take your son to be a manifestation of Brahma, you need not fear in constant fear of losing him, because Brahma will never be lost. He is ever present surrounding you. This is the spirit of renunciation or vaeragya." (APH-4, p. 265) Note: This above Baba's divine teaching everybody knows, but in practical life how far everyone follows, every person should look within their own heart.
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