Sloppy Work of Publications

Date: Tue 5 Aug 2008 23:29:27 -0400 To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Sloppy Work of Publications From: JULES Baba "A'ma'r e phulvane ke go tumi ele, phul phot'a'le" (P.S. 1442) O' Divine Entity, who are You who has come in my mental flower garden and made everything blossom. By Your grace You have awakened all the buds on those dead branches and they have blossomed into beautiful, colorful, and fragrant flowers. It is Your grace.* Baba, in the past the rose bushes had only thorns; there was not an array of colorful flowers. They had no exquisite beauty. But now in this morning dawn, by Your grace You have filled those thorny plants with beautiful flower blossoms.* O' Supreme Entity, earlier those 'campa' flowers had lost all their sweetness so the 'ali' bee* was not coming to share his loving tales with them. Baba, You have poured Your divine sweetness so now those flowers are filled with exquisite beauty & nectar. Baba, You came and secretly whispered Your loving tales to those flowers.* Baba it is Your causeless grace that You advented in my life and made my life meaningful... * 1st Para Meaning: Before Baba advented in my mind, then my life was sad and miserable. But since His arrival many sweet things have happened and my existence has become resplendent. * 2nd Para Meaning: Earlier my life was dry but then by His grace my existence became full of hope and new charm. This dramatic transformation is represented first by the bare thorns and then by the presence of the sweet flowers. *3rd Para Meaning: Here there dry heart becomes saturated with devotion and instead of feeling lost and alone, the sadhaka feels deep and loving connection with Parama Purusa. * Ali = This Bengali word 'Ali' is synonymous with the Bengali terms 'Bhramar' & 'Madhup'. And they all refer to the 'Black Bee' in English. And as depicted in the above Prabhat Samgiita, this ali, or black bee, has a very special and intimate relation with the flower. It spends countless hours in and around those flower petals, touching its pollen and examining the various parts of the flower. And sometimes the ali even gets enveloped within the flower itself when those petals close. But never does the ali try to escape by puncturing or making a hole in that flower. Just it remains inside once the petals close. And like that its existence passes day after day hoverering around the for hours and hours. That's why the relation between the ali and the flower is symbolically used to represent the special closeness that exits between the devotee and Parama Purusa. And in numerous songs Baba employs this same metaphor. to show that Parama Purusa and the devotee have a very close and intimate relationship.

== SLOPPY WORK OF PUBLICATIONS ==

Namaskar, Our AM books are for bringing Baba's divine ideals to the general society. That is one of the great uses of our printed publications. So our books are not just for senior Ananda Margiis; entirely new people will also read them. That we all know.

THE NEED OF A GLOSSARY

To help the public and newly initiated people understand Baba's ideas, a glossary section has been added to many of our publications. This glossary-- written by the publishers-- is intended to bridge the gap of knowledge: Clarifying points which the public may not know about our AM terminology. That way readers can garner a clearer understanding when going through our AM literature. Unfortunately, in the glossary section of some of our most recent publications, like Ananda Vacanamrtam part 9-10 (2007),the definitions of many words are sub-par. More specifically, the definitions supplied by the publishers fail to explain to readers the contextual meaning of the term in view of AM ideals. And that can create a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. Let's take a look at a few cases.

THE TERM 'BHAKTI'

As we all know, the term bhakti is one of the most important terms in Ananda Marga, and it is one of the most prevalent as well. So understanding the AM contextual meaning of this word is quite integral for any reader. But in the glossary of AV 9-10, all it says in for the definition of 'bhakti' is 'devotion'. That is all that is listed-- nothing else. So the definition of 'bhakti' is entirely lacking or even misleading because in the general society, the word 'devotion' is commonly used, yet its meaning is entirely different from that in AM. In the general society, a person may have devotion for their work, devotion for their spouse, devotion for their country, devotion for their friend, devotion for their diet, or even devotion for their pet dog. That is the way the term devotion is commonly used on a daily basis in the general society, especially in the west. Whereas in AM, none of those meanings apply-- not at all. In AM is bhakti strictly means: 'love for God', 'longing for the Supreme', 'selfless service to God', etc, and is characterised by the shloka, Sa para'nuraktriishvare. Thus for us, bhakti is a highly spiritual term depicting one's intimate relation with God. But in the general society, the term 'devotion' is used in all kinds of mundane affairs, yet that is the very term-- and the only term-- which the publishers have used to define 'bhakti' in the glossary of our AM books. So the whole thing, pardon my language, is a misplay or flub. Because 'devotion' is a widely used word in the general society. Hence already most readers will have a pre-conceived notion of what the word means-- yet that understanding is vastly different from Baba's use of the term, 'bhakti'. That is why it is the critical need for our AM glossary to highlight our AM ideal when defining bhakti or any other term, and not just give a commonly used word that will invariably be misunderstood. Please excuse me, but in this case of defining 'bhakti' as 'devotion', clearly the glossary in AV 9-10 falls far short of the mark. Rather than teaching the real essence of bhakti according to AM, the glossary definition invites or even perpetuates the general society's misunderstanding of the term. Whether the above was done innocently or not, whether it is due to carelessness or not, whatever may be, the point remains that it needs to be repaired. That much is certain. And certainly our dear Dadas working in the Tiljala Publications Department will earnestly apply themselves to correct such errors because they also have a deep desire to see Baba's books printed in the proper way. Most fall in this category.

THERE ARE OTHER MISTAKES AS WELL

Now let's take a look at a few more terms. Because the term 'bhakti' is not the only poorly defined term in the glossary: * RAMAYANA: In the AV 9-10 glossary the Ramayana is defined as 'An epic poem of India. It is the story of King Rama, or Ramachandra'. Unfortunately, this definition is also highly misleading, because one of the main teachings of Baba about the Ramayana is that it is a mythological story-- i.e. it is not factual. Baba says, "Now, many of you are aware of the fact that Ramchandra was not an historical figure, but a fictional one: he was an imaginary character." (NSS, Disc: 6) But the AV 9-10 glossary does not define the Ramayana as being mythological etc. Rather it calls it 'an epic poem', just like that same glossary calls the Mahabharata 'an epic poem'. So both are epic poems, according to the glossary, as if both are the same. But there is a grand difference between the two: The Mahabharata is historical and the Ramayana is fictional. Yet the villagers and general public are not aware about this distinction. Baba is one of the first to promote this idea. But unfortunately, our publications personnel did not highlight Baba's unique distinction when defining the term 'Ramayana' in the AV 9-10 glossary. Hence, the general public will remain highly confused on this point. They will think it is a true story about King Rama. Furthermore, in that same glossary, the term SITA is only defined as 'Wife of Rama', and that further supports the false impression that Rama and Sita are real people from the history. Because details are being given from an authoritarian source as would be done in the case of a historical fact, yet the main ingredient is being left out: Namely that Rama and Sita are mythological characters. So this only worsens the problem.

THERE ARE OTHER MISTAKES AS WELL (CONT)

* SIXTEEN POINTS: In the AV 9-10 glossary, the term 'Sixteen Points' is defined as: 'The central pillar of Ananda Marga conduct rules: sixteen points of hygiene and conduct amid which are reiterated all other conduct rules.' Thus the glossary describes our Sixteen Points as being merely related with (a) hygiene and (b) conduct rules. Nothing else. When in fact, according to Baba, our Sixteen Points is so much more than that. It is related with all the spheres of life: Baba says, "...The complete seeds of welfare in all the spheres – physical, mental, moral, social and spiritual – are embedded in the sixteen points. Hence be firm on the sixteen points." (A'nanda Va'nii #45) So the publisher's glossary definition in AV 9-10 is totally incomplete and does a disservice to what Sixteen Points truly is. And any new person reading that glossary definition will think that our Sixteen Points only touches on a few things and is wholly absent of spiritual practice etc. Because the lackluster definition of the term written by those publishers in the glossary leads in that false direction. We have to remember that 'Sixteen Points' is totally unique to AM. No one outside the Marga will have any idea what it is. So naturally they will refer to the glossary to find out what it is. And sadly, the definition they will get there will be very poor and will not properly reflect the real dynamism of AM life. * UPANISHAD: In the glossary this term is defined as, 'Literally, 'that which brings one near'; certain philosophical teachings of the Vedas'. But here again that definition provided by the publishers is incomplete and ambiguous. OK, one need not write the entire Upanishad scripture in the glossary, but at the very least the glossary definition should describe what the Upanishad takes one near to. Baba says, "That which takes human beings to Parama Purus'a is called upanis'ad." (APH-7, Disc: 11) So the Upanishad is that which takes one near to God. That is what Baba clearly tells us. Yet the glossary in AV 9-10 fails to state that. The incomplete definition given by the publishers merely says, 'near' without defining what it is near to. Hence readers in this grossly materialistic may think that the Upanishads take one near to a financial institution, or near to the Olympics, or near to one's girlfriend, or near to the stock marker, or near to McDonald's, etc etc. Thus this definition also needs to be corrected in order to reflect our AM standard.

MORE TERMS THAT ARE INCORRECT

Other terms that are incorrectly defined or defined in a misleading manner in the AV 9-10 glossary are: Asteya, Bhajana, Bhakta, Ganesha, Kiirtana, Kurma Nadii, Sadguru, Sadhu, Sahasrara Cakra, Sanskrit, Sita, Tantra, etc.

PUBLICATIONS ARE WORKING HARD

As more and more margiis become aware of how our AM books should be printed, the more our Dadas working in the Publications Department will increase their standard. Because they want to meet the standards as expected by the margiis. Of course, internally we should all be motivated to please Parama Purusa. That is the real way to do work in this world. Anyway, what may be is what may be, if we continue to inform our respected Dadas in Publications about any errors or faulty ways, then certainly they will try and live up to that standard. So we should all be particular when reviewing AM books and at that same time keep a soft heart for those who are diligently working in Publications. Because even when they have printed a sloppy glossary as in the case of AV 9-10, if we point out their mistakes and hold them to it, then everything will surely be fixed in the near future.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace, He has given the world a perfect library and we are to ensure that it is published properly. Baba says, "The books in Ananda Marga philosophy are all absolute knowledge." (PNS-18) Namaskar, Yogendra

*************************************** Capacity of A'tma

Baba says, "Till you have a human body go on doing great work. After death in absence of the brain the mind cannot function in which case one cannot do anything. But the unit consciousness (atma) can still work. It has the capacity to work in subtle form." (Delhi DMC 1984 Discourse)

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