== WHICH DADA'S BOOK TO READ ==
Namaskar,
Everyone wants to get a deeper and better understanding of Ananda Marga;
whatever one's current standard may be, we all want to increase our
knowledge of Baba's divine teachings.
Naturally then we will look for various books to read. And one obvious
question that comes to mind is, 'Which Dada's or Didi's book should I
read?'.
Because we all want to read something that will enhance our understanding.
So let us take a look--a brief overview of some of these publications--
and also evaluate what Baba says in this regard. Because Baba's
straightforward declaration on this very topic is the very precise
answer that we all need.
SOME SAY CANDRANATHJI'S BOOK
First up, some may say to read Dada Candranathji's book as that will
give us a right interpretation of AM ideology. So with all due respect
to our very dear Dada Candranathji who faithfully served Baba's mission
as an esteemed family acarya and who lived a life of honesty, integrity,
and humility, it is important that we look at Dadaji's own writings as
many may try and seek guidance from his printed works.
Unfortunately, when we look at Candranathhi's book we find various
statements like, 'Mother Teresa was a sadvipra' & 'I went into
nirvakalpa samadhi four times a day' etc.
Immediately then we have to think and exercise caution. Because by now
the verdict is out about Mother Teresa. Her many hundreds of
correspondences over the decades which have now become public have
revealed her own duplicity. In those letters she claims that she feels
God has abandoned her and that she feels so far away and she even
wonders if there even is a God. Yet on the podium she would regularly
talk as if she and God were one. This was her showy way.
Hence even the general society has come to understand her duplicity and
unsaintliness. And all along in AM we had our doubts because she was not
a vegetarian and because she failed to speak out against the many
Christian dogmas. So her dubious and questionable character is now
confirmed to be not at all good.
Yet through it all, Candranathji put Mother Teresa & Mother Teresa alone
as an example of a sadvipra in his book. Thus anyone reading his book
will get an entirely wrong understanding of Baba's ideal of a sadvipra.
Such is Candranathji's interpretation and applications of AM ideology.
And the worst part is that if the book gets printed again, then that
grave mistake will not be repaired. It will remain there, 'Mother Teresa
was a sadvipra'.
Next, in his book, Dada Candranathji proclaims that he himself regularly
went into nirvakalpa samadhi 4 times daily. Basically he is claiming the
highest realisation for himself-- i.e. someone who is beyond all the
shackles of the lower vrittis etc. Yet we all know the various fears he
had in organisational life and how he was so hesitant to take a stand on
nearly any issue. He would never come forward to fight against groupism,
scriptural distortions, or any malaise in AM until already many others
erupted on that issue. Till that time, Candranathji remained quiet as a
mouse. Not so much as a peep out of him was heard. In that case, how can
anyone really think that respected Candranathji truly experienced
nirvakalpa samadhi 4 times a day etc, since he himself was captive to
such worldly fears. Yet that is what he wrote in his book and that gives
the mistaken understanding of nirvakalpa samadhi.
And indeed not just these two examples, but on nearly each and every
page of his book there are so many erroneous statements either about
religion, yama and niyama, or various topics.
Keep in mind here that goal is not to put down Candranathji. He lived an
ideal life in many respects and that cannot be disputed. Here our only
aim is to see if by reading his book one can get a clearer understanding
of Baba's ideology. Does his explanation and expression truly put forth
the ideals of AM.
WHAT ABOUT BHASKARANANDA, ANAND MITRA
& DHARMAVEDANANDA
Then, in brief, there are other noted authors in AM like Bhaskarananda,
Ananda Mitra, & Dharmavedananda. Tragically they all bring in their
baggage of their pre-AM life and spread that throughout their books.
And it is not just that on one page their mistakes are printed but
rather through the entire book more and more mistakes are brought to
the fore.
Take for example Dharmavedananda's book, "Travels with the Mystic
Master. The essence of his entire book is that he is one of of the first
westerners to enter into the Tantric cult and become an avadhuta. Yet
throughout his book he goes against that very ideal. As he basks in
countless childhood memories of his family life etc, yet the whole
meaning of being an avadhuta is to take rebirth as a true tantrika and
accept Baba as their everything, and not be bound or associate with
one's prior worldly existence. But Dharmavedananda's books is like one
big stroll down memory lane. By reading his book we learn about his high
school friends, the extracurriculars he took, his mother's and father's
occupations, plus we learn about his sister's interests and we even
learn the name of his dog. All of this is written about in detail in his
so-called memoir of an avadhuta. Plus he also describes meeting with his
laokik family members outside of an AM jagriti after becoming avadhuta--
and that blatantly goes against the code being Avadhuta, as Baba says,
'no relation should exist with one's worldly family' (WT Conduct Rules).
Thus Dharmavedananda's book is meant to shed light on what it means to
be an avadhuta, yet his own printed page goes against the most
fundamental pillars of being an avadhuta of Tantra. In that case is his
book an appropriate description of Baba's ideal?
And while this letter is getting long, suffice to say here that both
Bhaskarananda and Didi Ananda Mitra both drag their own dogmatic
attachments to Sufism & Hinduism (in the case of Dada B), and
Christianity & Buddhism (in the case of Didi) in their explanations of
AM ideology. that is why their books are also completely unreliable.
And already in the past others have written extensively about this.
In brief, on page 100-101 of his book Social Dynamics, Bhaskarananda
writes that neo-humanism is nothing but a renaming of the ancient Hindu
teachings. Dada B says that Baba's divine and revolutionary concept of
neo-humanism is nothing but a reworking of Hindu theology etc. Obviously
this is entirely wrong.
And in so many instances Didi Ananda Mitra uses faulty Buddhist parables
and references to Christ to wrongly explain Ananda Sutram. This grave
error happens repeatedly, in basically every chapter and on every page.
ON GOING ERROR(S)
Thus by reading the books of our illustrious acaryas, unfortunately, one
is not going to get a cleaner or more pristine understanding of AM
ideology. Rather the whole thing will go in the opposite direction. One
will be exposed to dogmatic concepts because all of the aforementioned
"authors" and others drag their own previously dogma into AM when
writing their books. That is the problem.
And the other problem is that those mistakes do not get corrected from
one printing to the next. Each edition of the book carries the same old
problems.
So their books are basically a mess from head to toe. Maybe their
intentions were pure, but the fact stands that their works are riddled
with innumerable errors-- too many to point out.
BABA'S DIRECTIVE
Considering all of the above and taking Baba as the Supreme Guru, the
only way to proceed is to pay heed to His guideline and in the Senior
Acarya Diary, Baba explicitly warns everyone that one should first study
all the books of AM and develop a crystal clear understanding before
going on to read other books. Because AM is dharma and other writings
are not. And if we do not first properly understand that dharma of AM we
will be confused or misguided by those other writings, such as those
books written by our various acaryas etc.
So the only way to proceed is to first study all of Baba's books. That
is the only way to understand AM ideology and the dharma of life. And
that is Baba's explicit guideline for us all to follow.
Namaskar,
Jagatmitra
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Really God's Favourite?
Baba says, "There are many philosophies which tend to crudify the human
mind, and make people violent and inconsiderate. They make people
believe that they are God's favourite children, whereas the rest of
humanity are cursed. Although these views have philosophical sanction,
they do not have the sanction of the A'tman (soul)...Intellectually such
people are certainly slaves, and in the material world also they are
slaves." (PNS-18, p.15)
Note: This psychic disease is present in fundamentalist Jews,
fundamentalist Christians, and fundamentalist Muslims etc. All are bad
and guilty of this point; but especially the fundamentalist Jews &
Muslims. They feel very negatively towards those who do not belong to
their dogmatic beliefs. Muslims brand others as Quafir (demons) and Jews
label non-Jews in their own derogatory language. Thus according to Baba
the status of those fundamentalist Jews & Muslims is like slaves--
intellectually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. For more about
this read Baba's discourse, 'The Continuous Effort to Promote Universal
Well-Being-- Part 1'.
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