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Proper Definition?

Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:06:38 -0700 To: am-global@earthlink.net From: Matt Ornbecker Subject: Proper Definition? BABA "Tumi tamisra' ma'jhe u's'a', tumi shoka'ashrute sa'ntvana'..." (PS 4619) Purport: Baba, in the deep cimmerian darkness, You are the smiling dawn. Baba, in the tears of sorrow, You are the controlling Entity. Baba, You always grace me by removing all my sorrows and agonies. Baba, in what way can I be useful for Your work. Why are You not telling me how I can be useful in Your work. Please tell me. Baba, You have given me abundant grace; my whole existence is filled with the sweetness of flowers and honey. In my mental sky-- in my world-- You are the incomparable moon. You are my Polestar. My mind is clear now-- there is no question of duality; I have no other desires. My whole existence is revolving around You. O' Baba, You are so charming and so gracious-- Your divine touch is like the soothing spring breeze, refreshing and cool. Baba You have brought me on this divine path and taught me sadhana. Baba You have given me everything. You are my Goal. Baba, in Your thundering voice, You told me that, 'you are not alone. I (Baba) am with you through My ota-prota yoga. I am always with you. Can't you hear the sound of the wheels of My running chariot. Don't You hear its call. Always I am along with you.' Baba, You are the divine Entity. And You always grace me in all the conditions-- whenever it is needed. And You are always giving me the assurance that I am not alone. That You are constantly along with me...
== PROPER DEFINITION? ==
Namaskar, By Baba's divine grace He has graciously given various special teachings for building up a spirited & singular human society. Each point has its own unique aspects and beneficial results-- including His divine teaching on 'vivaha'. However the recently released AM Dictionary (2005) defines vivaha in a most ordinary and mundane way. Yet as every margii knows, Baba's grand guideline about vivaha is anything but common and ordinary-- rather it is extraordinary. Please read the following.
POINT SOCIETY TOWARDS A SPIRITUAL GOAL
Since the very beginning in 1955, Baba's has graciously guided us to form one human society. Because the whole aim of the Ananda Marga mission is Atmamok's'a'rtham' jagaddhita'ya ca-- 'self-realisation and service to humanity. But without building up one human society this can never be achieved'. So Baba has taken strong steps to form a single human society whereby people can move towards their spiritual goal.
NEVER DONE BEFORE
In the past neither Lord Shiva nor Lord Krsna could do this. They were engaged in other ways and could not manage the strong planning necessary to bring the entire humanity within one thread. But Baba has indeed taken up this great endeavour.
SOLVING THE NEGATIVE SIDE AND BUILDING UP POSITIVELY
To bring anyone on the path of dharma a proper environment is necessary and for that one human society is needed. Towards this end, Baba has taken numerous steps. On the one hand He has involved deeply in repairing work-- addressing and solving society's ills. In this way And He has exposed and given the solutions for all those negative aspects. Such as: religious dogmas, casteism, racism, communalism, sentiments, exploitation, untouchability, color, economic disparity, etc. Indeed so many inequalities and injustices in the society Baba has addressed. And simultaneously Baba infused one very positive feature for humanity to follow. And that is His revolutionary concept of society building: Which includes the creation of more WTs and the formation of more revolutionary marriages. Society building ensures a certain stability and dynamism as well as the love and compassion necessary for enabling people to grow in a healthy and proper way. So this is one key for developing one human society. And indeed when that society is formed then there will be huge scope for people to grow in all sorts of ways and devote maximum time for spiritual pursuits and ultimately become one with Parama Purusa. So society building has a special role.
REVOLUTIONARY MARRIAGES
Indeed revolutionary marriages (RM) are a special feature of AM life and come within the scope of the society building department of AMPS. Actually the main basis of for marriage in Ananda Marga is society building. In the past Lord Buddha also neglected this important social factor so he could not form the society properly. Lord Buddha's teachings were deficient in this regard. And many religions also have not been able to create solid systems and ideals for marriage. And certainly the materialistic societies around the globe are also severely lacking on the point of marriage. But the tantric system which has been coming since the last 7000 years has a special meaning and practical aspect. And we have seen this in our lives especially in DMC when Baba used to give blessings to marriage couples. Then as I recall, His system was like this.
BABA'S MARRIAGE BLESSING
First the newly married couple would approach the dais and do sastaunga pranam to Baba. And then with both of their hands the couple would jointly offer a flower garland to Baba. Then Baba would then place His own hands around their hands along with the mala (flower garland). And then Baba used to chant the blessing and mantra as follows, 'Be like Shiva and Parvati, go on doing your worldly duties along with your psychic and spiritual pursuits, be the assets of the entire civilisation, and by your service the whole society should be benefited'. Baba also used to repeat the mantra 'Shubamastu...', meaning 'May you be blessed'. And then He would give the mala to the bride. To English speaking Margiis Baba used to say, 'little girl take this mala and keep it with you'. And when He spoke to Margiis in Bengali or Hindi this was the translation: 'mother keep this garland along with you'. So hundreds of times during DMC we have witnessed how Baba used to give His marriage blessings. And always He would begin by saying 'Be like Shiva and Parvati...' Here the special significance 'Be like Shiva and Parvati' is that during Lord Shiva's entire married life He took care of Parvati, and Parvati took care of Lord Shiva. Their marriage was ideal. It was not based on any material satisfaction or gain. Rather it was starting point of "building one society", ie human society.
NO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE PAST
Prior to Lord Shiva's advent society was not at all properly formed as there was not such a marriage system. And the ones who suffered most were the children and their mothers. Basically males were escaping from their responsibility after producing children. So the whole responsibility of the children's physical, psychic and sentimental needs fell upon the mother alone. In which case the condition of the baby and mother was terrible.
LORD SHIVA'S CONTRIBUTION
Then Lord Shiva came. And for the first time in human history He gave the system of marriage. And that marriage system was primarily for the welfare of the child who will become in future a bonafide member of the civilized society. In this same spirit, Baba has created the society building dept in our Marga.
THE PRESENT SCENE
And it is the common view in western / European countries the real spirit of society building is not being followed. Because in the general society children are not properly cared for. Mostly children are not able or allowed to live along their mothers, or sleep and get love and affection from mothers even in nighttime. Unfortunately this is the common fashion these days, it is well accepted. So a sentimental deficiency is clearly visible in the children. And the second point is that mothers are getting exploited because males usually break the marriage for one or another reason. Though sometime females are the cause of this also. In our Marga society the situation is improving a lot, but in the true sense society building has not yet taken proper shape. If we look back over the history we will find out innumerable examples how on one or another ground the spirit of Baba's marriage system has been sacrificed. Although the name is society building, but in the real sense society is not getting built-- but I have deep faith that with firm determination we will reach to the goal which Baba has established.
BABA'S DIVINE TEACHING OF VIVAHA
Here this following teaching will make this entire subject more clear. BABA says, "At the beginning of evolution, humans used to lead libertine lives without any consideration for family obligations..." "The male libertines would not take responsibility for their offspring. They used to wander freely, and as a result, the entire responsibility for raising the children in their infancy would devolve on the mothers. But it was not possible for the mothers alone to bear the responsibility of maintaining the children, as a result of which many children died in early infancy. Those who survived felt themselves to be in a sea of troubles after they were weaned from their mother's breast-milk. Then they would be deprived of their mother's love, since she had to take care of the next baby. Those were the days of the prehistoric humans..." "By declaring the males to be bhartta', or husbands, Shiva fulfilled a major portion of His task for human society. But Shiva did more than that: He declared the women must be kalatra, which means that women must discharge their obligations to their husbands and their children in such a way that the latter will not have the least difficulty. Those who accepted this new arrangement were declared married..." "The Samskrta equivalent for marriage is viva'ha (vi-vaha + ghain): it means, after the ceremony, the man and the woman can no longer live as libertines or as irresponsible so-called family people. They have to discharge their full obligations as bhartta' and kalatra, responsible husband and responsible wife...." "The literal meaning of the term vivaha is 'to live one's life in a new way with a special type of responsibility.' This is the underlying significance of the Shaeva system of marriage." (NSS, Shivokti 3) Namaskar, Mahendra
Note 1: DADA'S MISTAKE IN THE AM DICTIONARY
So Vivaha is one special way for developing the society; it is one revolutionary form of marriage that brings the fulfillment of human potential through responsibility and commitment and spiritual growth. So vivaha cannot merely be defined by a single mundane term. That is why Baba Himself takes several paragraphs to explain the meaning of vivaha. But unfortunately if you look up vivaha in the AM Dictionary all you will find is the singular mundane term 'marriage'-- nothing more. By this way people will think that vivaha just means one crude love marriage where males later divorce when their sensual desires get directed towards some younger female etc. It would have been far better if those in charge defined vivaha as 'the special system of a dharmic marriages first introduced in Lord Shiva's time' or 'a union between husband and wife based on fulfillment of an ideal' etc. Any of these type of definitions would been much more appropriate. Because to only say 'vivaha = marriage' is totally misleading. Just imagine if in the dictionary someone defined dharma as 'religion'-- without saying anything more. Then people would think dharma was just one dogmatic thing. How misleading and unjust that would be. Similarly to define vivaha using one simple mundane term like marriage which is so commonly abused in this present era. Where the divorce rate is 75% in some states and where males regularly cheat on their supposed wives, and vice-versa. So in this crude era where the institution of marriage has been reduced to dirt it cannot be told that vivaha means 'marriage'. The Dictionary definition must carry the inner spirit or dharmic quality of the term. Because AM means dharma; so without that, the goal of making an AM Dictionary remains unfulfilled, lacking, or faulty.
Note 2: NOT EXISTING IN ISOLATION
The problems associated with the "AM Dictionary's" definition of vivaha do no exist in isolation. Because there are dozens and dozens of terms-- if not hundreds-- that are improperly defined in that Dictionary. That is many of the definitions do not reflect Baba's given teachings of Ananda Marga. That is why the entire Dictionary needs a critical review, not just one single definition. No one should be confused about this.
Note 3: IDEA IS GOOD; PERFORMANCE WAS POOR
A couple Dadas and lower grade type of helpers seem to have been involved in making the AM Dictionary. If done properly then surely it will be a benefit; but when a Dictionary itself is not good, then it is not just a common error. Because this book is meant as a guideline or reference for the entire society. Thus stringent efforts must be taken in future to create one proper and well-referenced dictionary. Everyone is invited to participate and help. Kindly write in with your suggestions.
*************************************** Remedy Of Disappointment & Frustration
Baba says, "Very often people become victims of disappointment for the sole reason that they forget their goal in life. If they look towards their goal, then their disappointments and frustrations will cease. Whenever a human being is created, they come within the Cosmic Mind. So when the microcosms move towards Macrocosmic Consciousness, Parama Purusa is watching-- Parama Purusa is with them holding their hands. It is the humans who do not look towards Him-- this is their misfortune." (SS-12, p.5)
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