Misuse & Abuse...

From: "Gagan" To: AM-GLOBAL Subject: Misuse & Abuse... Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:12:38 -0000 Baba "A'ma'y cha'r'iya' kotha' ja'o e nirajane..." (PS 665) Purport: Baba, You are my closest One. O' my Beloved, where are You going in this isolated, lonely dark night-- leaving me all alone. O' my dearmost Baba, please do not go away from me. Baba, why are You making me cry so profusely & letting me float in the tears of my devotional longing for You. Baba, please smile always in my mind, constantly radiating Your sweet, divine love. Baba, by Your grace I have loved You so intimately in dhyan; You know it well. Baba, You are my dearest One. But if You were really a good person You would not play this heart-breaking liila with me each and every moment; You would not leave me in this dark hour. Baba please be merciful; please remain here along with me. Baba, there are countless devotees with great qualities & talents who love You very much. Indeed there are numerous persons with top-notch merits & virtues who have deep longing for You. Because of this, it seems there is no place for me in Your mind-- neither during daytime nor nighttime, neither in dream nor in awake state: Never. O' Baba, please do not leave me alone. Please shower Your causeless grace on me by keeping me eternally in Your divine shelter...

== MISUSE AND ABUSE OF PSYCHIC FACULTY ==

Namaskar, One of the main problems in the world today is the misuse of human intellect-- that is Baba's distinct guideline. Baba says, "Now everywhere, in cent per cent of the cases, there is wastage of human psychic potentiality. The psychic potentialities of human beings are immense, but people do not utilize them because most of their valuable time is wasted in undesirable thoughts, in psychic extravaganza." (YP) So the misuse and abuse of the human mind is one of the chief defects of today's humanity. And verily we see this occurring in thousands of ways. From crude movies to junk literature, and so many other things like degraded art, filthy websites, materialistic pursuits, name, fame, pornography, money, sexually laced advertisements etc. The list goes on and on. Verily, in this modern era, the human mind gets exposed to and deluged with countless unfavourable images and crude ideas; and in result; the mind gets sunk in degrading thoughts. And not only that, even when one is involved in so-called free-time or daily duties, the mind gravitates towards staticity-- because the mind flows much more easily downward than upward. That is also Baba's teaching. Hence there is this common malady nowadays-- wastage of human psychic potentiality. That is what Baba terms it. And even good people get dragged into this degraded approach because of the mass-produced pseudo-culture that abounds in all corners of the globe. And this yields a terrible result for the humanity.

MUST PROTECT OURSELVES: OUR DUAL CHALLENGE

As Ananda Margiis, we must protect ourselves from this common malady and terrible epidemic. And the best way to avert this situation-- the best way to counteract this staticity-- is to fill our mind with Baba's teachings. If the mind is always vibrated with His ideals, then naturally it will remain in a positive or elevated state. And the more it remains in that state, the more it will want to remain there. That is the rule. So how to do it? It is not possible to always being doing sadhana and kiirtan. Plus we do not have time to always sit down and read Baba's books. We have so many worldly works to do. How then can we keep the mind always involved in His thought? And how, in this terribly busy era, are we going to learn and inculcate all of Baba's teachings. He has given discourses on every aspect of human cognition and beyond. How can we become bring these ideas into our own unit understanding. That is the dual challenge for Ananda Margiis: To keep the mind elevated and learn His teachings.

A SOLUTION

One clear-cut solution to this dual problem is to use technology to enhance our practice of svadhaya. No doubt we have so many physical works to do, but if when doing those things like-- cooking, bathing, driving, walking, cleaning etc-- we are able to listen to Baba's teachings then that will bring two highly desirable outcomes: The mind will remain elevated and we will gain greater familiarity and understanding of Baba's divine teachings. And now in this digital era, it is easier and easier to follow this approach. There are thousands of ways to listen-- from walkmans to iPods, from tape-decks to cd players, from i-Phones to innumerable other gadgets. Plus there is computer generated voice as well, so we need not take the time to record all those things in real-time in order to listen. So really we have all the tools at hand. All that is needed now is the desire and the habit. If we cultivate the desire that really we should learn all His teachings and if little by little we are able to implement a way to do this, then certainly we will be successful. Thus, whenever any moment arises we should listen to Baba's teachings-- while going to work, when brushing our teeth, while doing asanas, when eating food. If we utilise all those moments in the day, we will find that in a single day we can listen to a large volume of His teachings-- and that will keep the mind elevated as well. In that case, there will not be wastage of our human psychic potentiality. So we have everything: The path, the material, and the way.

LISTEN AND TELL WHAT YOU THINK

To start this wonderful practice of svadyaya in this modern era, a sampling of computer generated voice reading a single Ananda Vanii has been placed on the AM-GLOBAL blog. Everyone should go there and listen, www.am-global-01.blogspot.com. And then tell your thoughts. Here the whole goal is to afford maximum time to listen to and propagate Baba's teachings. As a collective, it is sure that we can get His each and every discourse into digital recorded form and we can all listen to His ideals during our free-time during the day. That will help us to better utilise our mental potentiality.

MORE FILES COMING

After you listen to the above file and give your feedback, then very soon adjustments can be made and the entire collection of Ananda Vaniis can be placed onto the blog. And of course, if anyone has a better way of doing this, then that enhanced version will be put on the blog. So it is a collective effort amongst all Ananda Margiis. And by this practice, by this digital practice of svadhaya, we will certainly be able to better utilise our psychic potentiality, thereby bringing two great results: Keeping the mind elevated and propagating His teachings. The main things is generating the habit of listening throughout the day-- whenever we have half-an-hour or even five minutes time. By doing so, within a short span, I think we will all be able to experience and notice the positive results. Look forward to pursuing this with our entire Marga community.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace, we have come in His contact and it is our duty to bring forth His teachings to the world. By maximizing our own psychic potential, we will best be able to bring this to fruition. Baba says, "All are his loving children. You boys, you girls – forget your past and start your life afresh with this subtlest and noblest idea – that you are inseparable particles of that Supreme Entity, of that Parama Purus'a." (AV-12) Namaskar, Gagan

*************************************** One Should Know

Baba says, "It is the duty of every sa'dhaka to propagate dharma so that humans will not make a mistake but will follow the path of spirituality." "Humans are endowed with intellect and the faculty of judgement. So if they do not act properly or fail to follow the path of spirituality, they are no better than animals." "Those who utilize their spiritual potential are intelligent but those who do not, and live like animals, will be born as even more inferior creatures in the next life." (Kolkata, 6th November, 1978)

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Is it Any Wonder?

Date: 11 Jun 2008 23:47:26 -0000 From: "Acintya Deva" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Is it Any Wonder? Baba "Pratham jiivane, tumi a'so niko, ta'r la'gi, mane kono klesh na'i..." (PS 379) Purport: Baba, You did not come close to me in the dawn of my life; but I do not have any agony in my mind about why You did not bring me under Your shelter that time-- why You did not come close to me and become very intimate. For that I do not have any mental anguish or suffering. But I do have repentance in my heart for why I did not search You that time. That is why my heart is burning and crying all the time. The fault is mine that in my early years I did not search You. For that I have deep remorse. Baba, that time You were so close to me-- living side by side, always. Even then I did not call You or try to search for You by learning sadhana. I did not care about that back then. Just my days and nights passed in vain, doing various useless pursuits that time in the early stage of my life. Yet, now in the twilight of my life, the more those early remembrances sprout in mind, the more pain I feel. Baba, by Your grace everyone comes onto this earth for a short span of time, for a calculated period. And there are so many works to do. Yet fruitlessly people waste their time blaming God for their misfortunes-- but there is no benefit in this. Because everyone is facing their own samskara. When they remove the umbrella of vanity, they will realise that Your grace is showering eternally. Baba, You are ever gracious; what You do is best for me. My only desire is to always remain under Your shelter...

== IS IT ANY WONDER? ==

Namaskar, Seeing the situation going on now in our AMPS, it is certainly reasonable to ask, 'How or why did we fall prey to groupism?'. This query could easily arise in anyone's mind. So let us take a moment then to investigate this topic. In a nutshell we should just know that all around the globe, groupism is looked upon as being something very honorable and venerated etc.

A LOOK AT THE NATIONS

So before jumping directly into the present theatrics of groupism in AMPS, first we can examine how various nations around the globe are run. As we all know well, at present the government of each and every country in the world today openly operates under the party system. For example: (a) In India, in the recent history the BJP was the ruling party; plus we all know there is also the Congress Party and various other parties. (b) In the US, the two main camps are the Democratic and Republican parties. (c) In France the major parties are the Socialist Party and the UPM, Union for a Popular Movement. (d) In Japan, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) and the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) are the two major parties. (e) In Argentina two of the many active political parties are Radical Civic Union (Unión Civica Radical) and Justicialist Party (Partido Justicialista). (f) And in Kenya there is the Kenya African National Union and the Safina party, among others. So each and every nation on this globe today has their registered political parties which essentially govern that country. And these parties are, by and large, accepted by people as being authentic, legal, official, and authoritative. In a word such parties are deemed as 'legitimate' in the eyes of the people. Various citizens may agree or disagree with the platform of a particular party, but none are calling for these parties to be eradicated. Rather a dissident will merely found or join an opposing party. So the party system itself is accepted 100%. Indeed, such parties are respected and people think this is the way to do.

PARTIES ARE NOT MERELY PARTIES, THEY ARE GROUPS

However, these parties are not just parties-- they are groups. Inside and out they function according to a groupist mentality. Their members commit to the party agenda instead of to the path of welfare; these parties cover up misdeeds of their leaders; these parties pressurise their members to follow the party no matter what; and these parties rampantly chase after power etc. Plus there are so many other indicating factors which show that these political parties function according to the mandates of groupism. So verily these parties are groups and the term 'party' is just a euphemism for the word 'group'. Hence in society groupism is well respected, but in AM we do not subscribe to groupism. Yet because of the prevailing social dogmas, groupism / party politics has not only crept into but verily blossomed in our AMPS.

NO ONE THINKS THEIR PARTY IS A GROUP

Interestingly if you directly ask party members of the various countries if their party is a group or faction, then they would say 'no'. They would not admit that they are a faction or a group, or that they function according to groupist psychology etc. None of these things would they readily admit. Primarily because, they are blinded by their own party politics and fail to understand how their party is nothing more than a group. Rather they think their party / group is something prestigious. For that we need to look no further than the recent Obama ~ Clinton battle in the Democratic party (USA). Now that Clinton has lost, everyone just talks about rallying around the party, or galvanizing the party-- as if this is something great or holy or noble. Through it all, those party leaders would never lay claim that they are playing groupist schemas etc. But if a small cluster of their party broke away from the rest of their party, then surely they would label that small cluster as being a group, or a splinter, or a faction. With regards to their own party however they would not be so forthcoming. They would not openly declare that their party is nothing but a group. Nor would the general public or even many political commentators. Because the party system has become so established in the realm of politics that everyone just accepts it as being normal. And when they tire of one party then they vote in another. That is the way it goes. Because almost none openly oppose the existence of the party system. Either because they agree with it or because they cannot conceive of there being any other way. The party system has become the defining aspect of political life. Indeed, it has become so deeply embedded within the world of politics, that people do not think that anything can be done outside party system. They do not think that a government can be formed or run without the party. Given all of the above, is it any wonder then how party politics, aka groupism can into being in our Marga. Because when top Dadas do not follow Baba's ideals then they are going to fall into the prevailing ways of the society-- which happens to be party politics-- i.e. groupism.

APPLYING THIS TO AMPS

When it came time for Dadas to take control of the governance of AMPS. Then in a flash, the various WT's broke divided themselves into various groups, or parties. Since 1990, never did our AMPS function as one holistic body. Immediately one or another faction has risen to power and worked towards their own party interests. The Sarvatmanandas and Rudranandas have always relied on their party structure to gain power and dominate. That is why we can say that there have always been various groups that rule the scene in our AMPS. But if you ask any of the ruling groups in AMPS if their faction or party is a group, they will never admit it. For example, B group does not openly declare that their clique is a group. Rather they believe they should be the ruling party of AMPS and all others who disagree with them are members of various groups. But B group will not deem themselves as being a group per se. And same is the case with the leading H faction, EC team, or NIA cluster. All are groups: they all rigidly follow the dictates of groupism. But they will never say as much. They will never attest to the fact that they are a group. Rather they think theirs is a legitimate political party and all others are mere groups or splinters etc. And to test the situation simply go up to any chieftain like Rudrananda, Sarvatmananda, Tiirthananda, Citkrsnananda, or approach any of their lieutenants and ask them if their team is a group. Immediately they will say 'no'. And to legitimise their own presence, they will say they are a political party or the governing body. Or if they are really tricky they will proclaim themselves as being a 'movement'. But in truth, all such factions-- whether H, B, EC, or NIA-- are functioning 100% according to the ways of groupism. That is their modus operendi. Because they is what they have seen happen in the general society and this party system they have dragged into our AMPS

WHAT IS THE ANSWER

So if one were to raise the question: 'How did we fall prey to groupism'. Then the leading answer is that when groupism itself is accepted and rampant all around us in the general society in the form of party politics, then we can say that this faulty mind-set of groupism entered into our AMPS from the outside. That is, since we ourselves failed to pointedly recognise the presence of groupism in the world around us, so we could not stop it from infesting our AMPS either. Thus groupism entered into our AMPS way of life from the general society. Those in AMPS adopted the 'legitimate' political approach as practiced in each and every country. Because throughout the world today, the party system is looked upon as something glorious and if anyone 'sacrifices for the party' then that is looked upon as a truly noble & selfless action. When in reality, all it is is a stamp of approval for more and more groupism.

BABA REJECTS ALL FORMS OF PARTY POLITICS

Here below however Baba warns us about and openly rejects the existence of such party politics, or groupism. Baba says, "Party politics is one of the factors which stands, or tries to stand, in the way of human unity. In fact party politics is even more dangerous than disease-causing germs. In party politics all the refined attributes of the human mind, such as simplicity and the spirit of service, slowly but surely get totally destroyed. Party affiliation commands more respect than individual ability; service to self, not service to people, is the main motto; ministerial office, rather than human welfare, is considered superior; and mass deception, political somersaults, etc., are most common phenomena." (P.O.D., pt #26) So in no way, shape, or form is party politics intended to become a part of our AM way of life. But tragically it has seeped into our AMPS like water. None can claim that it hasn't.

THE WAYS OF PROUT

How are we to proceed. What is the way out. In brief, we can say that in Prout there is no groupism. There is no party politics; there is not factionalism. In Prout we are to function as one human society-- that is as one human family. But because in the history of the world and in the society around us there is no country which has functioned under such a premise, it becomes difficult to imagine how a Proutistic system would function. That is why people are not sure how it works. But if we really want to know how a Proutistic government is to operate, we need not look any further than the joint family system, which has been in vogue in Indian village life and in so many communities for generations and generations. In that approach, all are looked upon as being part of the whole and no one is allowed to rule the family in favour of certain family members. This type of party politics or groupism is not allowed to happen in any family. And that mind-set is what is needed to formulate a proper AMPS organisation. Yet in our political life, and in our AMPS, party politics or groupism has become the norm. And it entered into AMPS because in our own minds this is what we have accepted as being normal: In some small or big corner of our minds we have accepted the legitimacy of the party system which we see rampant in the world around us.

WRAP-UP

All in all this is a vast topic with many points involved. Yet at the same time it is very simple: The party politics prevalent in each and every nation has been absorbed into AMPS, at least at present. And as always all are encouraged to write in with thoughts and opinions. Because this is one needed point for us to unearth if we are ever to move ahead and build an AMPS that is functioning according to the ways of Prout.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace, each and every Ananda Margii has within them the seeds and desire to set up our social life according to the ways of Prout. And by His grace it will not take long for us to enable Prout to sprout in our AMPS. Baba says, "We are waiting for the rising sun with crimson rays. Even now the crimson rays are a bit visible. These crimson rays are the rays of PROUT." (PNS-17) Namaskar, Acintya

****************************************** Ultravarious to Ideology

Baba says, "You should remember that a situation will never arise in this world which will give you cause for fear. It has been said that Parama Purusa is the fear of fear. That is, fear is as afraid of Parama Purusa as humans are afraid of fear." "Ananda Marga is essentially Tantra-orientated, it too, has a few special features of its own. As I have said previously, our ideology maintains that no-one need be afraid of anything under any circumstances. If anyone does get afraid, it should be understood that he is doing something ultravarious to our ideology." (Kolkata, 14 November 1978)

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