== ACTUAL PROGRESS ==
Namaskar,
We all know that the singular, one-pointed goal of human life is to
advance towards that Cosmic Hub. This is the great endeavour of human
existence. And this is commonly known to each and every A'nanda Ma'rgii.
For this reason Baba guides us that actual progress can only occur in
the spiritual stratum-- i.e. when by dint of one's sadhana and by His
grace the radius or distance between the sadhaka and Parama Purusa is
decreased. So coming closer to Parama Purusa is the only progress.
COMMON MUNDANE OUTLOOK
Nowadays in the general society it is the common belief that purchasing
a bigger house, or getting job promotion, or having one's name printed
in the newspaper etc-- people generally think that this is a sign of
progress. But Baba says no. Indeed even becoming a professor in Sanskrit
is not a sign of progress. Because Baba's explicit guideline is that
progress can only occur in the spiritual sphere.
So whatever "advancements" one makes in the physical and mental spheres
do not count as true progress.
For example, if one gets a big job promotion that is only a sign of
worldly change with respect to time, place, and person. Such a promotion
in and of itself does not bring one any closer to Parama Purusa. Indeed
it may even create a huge amount of vanity where one begins to forget
Parama Purusa. So what to speak of progress-- that job promotion may be
anti, if the result is that one moves further away from Parama Purusa.
PROGRESS= MOVING TOWARDS HIM
So Baba's entire teaching is that actual progress means moving towards
the Supreme Nucleus-- towards Baba. And that can only be done in the
spiritual realm.
Baba says, "Actual development, actual progress, cannot be in the realm
of physicality or in the psychic world. Actual progress is where the
proximity to Parama Purus'a is increasing -- that is, going closer to
Parama Purus'a. That is progress. But while moving in this way, if the
mind remains in that position, if the a'tma', spirit, remains in that
position, only man invents new dress, and television, or radio, or so
many teleprinters, and so many newer vehicles, is it progress? No.
Progress is -- what? When he comes near this point. That is the only
progress."
"So there can be progress only in the spiritual sphere. In physical and
psychic spheres there cannot be any progress. You will be where you
were. Only when your spirit, your a'tman, your soul, comes closer to the
starting point, that is the only progress, that's why there can be
progress only in the spiritual stratum. Do you follow?"
"...Spirituality means that which helps you in moving towards that goal
from where you started your long journey. To go back to the original
home after passing through so many lives, is the spiritual practice and
spiritual progress." (AV-14)
Here again is Baba's guideline on the point of true progress.
Baba says, "We must remember that actual progress can be made only in
the spiritual stratum. There cannot be any progress in the physical
stratum, or the physico-psychic stratum, or even in the psychic stratum.
Whatever is known as progress is actually change of place and nothing
more."
"Always remember, human life is very meaningful, and human beings can
make it more meaningful through their own efforts. You have got human
life. By dint of your actions and your sa'dhana' you will increase the
value of your human life. Why should you live like ordinary humans?
Become extraordinary! Extraordinary people ultimately raise themselves
to divinity. That is, humans become devata's [gods], and devata's become
Parama Brahma."
"As you have got a human body, utilize it at every moment. Let there be
maximum utilization of your very existence. Make your existence great by
dint of your extraordinary action. Your life will become more and more
meaningful if you do more and more work and more and more meditation."
(SS-24, p.110)
Namaskar,
Gurucharan
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Blind Man's Understanding
Baba says, "In order to enable human beings to remove the mundane
afflictions while keeping the Goal firmly in front of their eyes, PROUT
philosophy has been formulated. There was no other alternative than to
formulate PROUT." "Had it not been done, human misery would have
lingered on for centuries and the opportunist and mean-minded people
would have continued mercilessly exploiting the innocent." (AV-6, p. 52)
Note: As explained above, Prout philosophy has been formulated by Baba
for two distinct fundamental reasons:
(a) To keep the mind fixed towards the Goal-- Parama Purusa.
(b) To solve all the problems in human society.
The overall idea being that any theory that does not have a divine Goal
and only focuses on solving society's problems will not only render
itself useless but will prove to be disastrous also. History has shown
this. Here following is further explanation.
In the first paragraph of Baba's above cited message, He is giving His
special guideline that Prout is spiritually based, and that it 'keeps
the Goal firmly in front of one's eyes'. And by this divine ideal, Baba
has given Prout to alleviate the problems in all the sphere's of life.
And in the second paragraph of the above quotation, Baba is telling us
that materialistic approaches like communism utterly fail to properly
guide the society. Communism attempted to cure the social ills by
redistributing the wealth etc. But without a proper goal, communism only
wreaked havoc on the people; communism just created more problems and
worse destruction. So any socio-economic theory must be spiritually
based-- this is Baba's teaching in Prout (Ref: PNS-6, p.27).
Unfortunately these days, some so-called Proutist leaders in
superficially advanced countries are busy misguiding others by claiming
that certain non-margiis are also top-grade Proutists. Such so-called
leaders wrongly think that spirituality is not needed for being a
Proutist. So such leaders' understanding is comparable to one blind
person's evaluation of an elephant. Blind people conclude that an
elephant is like a rope or a pillar, depending upon what part they
touch. So their understanding is devoid of any real sense. Similar then
is the understanding of those so-called Prout leaders who think that
Prout can be led by non-margiis. Their level of understanding is no
better than that of one blind man.
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