Baba Story: Power of Guru Mantra

Date: 01 Jan 2009 23:18:26 -0000
From: "Indrajit Rai"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Baba Story: Power of Guru Mantra

Baba

"A'j toma'y pelum notun sa'je mor manoma'jhe..." (P.S. 886)

Purport:

Baba, by Your causeless grace, today I have gotten You in a more loving way in my mind. Baba You have come in a new form in my dhya'n. It is Your grace. Earlier my mind was busy and involved in a variety of works-- both positive and negative. But now there are no such distractions. My mind is one-pointed and only ensconced in Your love.

Baba, the path that I was moving on was a zig-zag path. There was no hope or relief. My life was covered in darkness, day and night. Baba, by the attraction of Your divine love I looked towards You. O' my dearmost, my most loving One, by Your grace the wheel of my chariot has just turned. In my dead river, a flood of sparkling fresh water has come. Baba, now my life has become effulgent.

Baba, in the past there was black darkness and after that it was even more black. The whole atmosphere was totally bleak; my whole life was shrouded in darkness. Baba, now by Your grace, You have come with Your divine effulgence. You have come with more and more divine effulgence. O' my Baba, now in whichever direction I look it feels very blissful and loving. I feel Your divine presence in my heart and all around me. Baba, You have stolen my mind and made my heart full. Baba, my heart has become full with Your love.

Baba, today You have blessed me by coming to me in a more intimate and loving way. Baba, You are so gracious. Baba, I love You...

== BABA STORY: POWER OF GURU MANTRA ==

Namaskar,
In AM, we are blessed to have a Sadguru and the story recounted in this letter about Guru mantra shows how He benevolently teaches and carefully guides us along the path of spirituality-- enabling us to grow in the more subtle spheres of life.

Of course normal type of gurus do not do all of this. They may teach something valuable or not and then leave it at that-- not making sure anyone learns the lesson.

SADGURU'S UNIQUE WAY

But being the Sadguru, Baba's divine approach is far, far different. He lovingly teaches us, then creates the circumstances for us to put the teaching into practice. Even then it does not stop there. Because in the next phase, He watches carefully to see if we follow. And finally, after seeing any weak link, He creates circumstantial pressure-- through love, affection, and scolding-- for complete redress, so that we may fully incorporate His teaching into our being. This is Sadguru's divine and special way.

Before recounting the story, there is one more point to discuss.

HOW A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION IS NEEDED TO LEARN

In this grossly materialistic era, people mostly learn through sense perception-- by having a visible, concrete example for their eyes to see and their hands to touch. Through physical presentations people learn. And that is what they tend to believe in as well. That becomes their living reality.

And even in Ananda Marga, this is true-- to some or more degree.

No doubt ours is a spiritual approach, and by His grace sadhakas progress in their intuitional practices, yet at the same time Baba has always done various types of demonstrations to give us a hands-on look regarding the subtle, invisible ways of spirituality. Using various mantras and forces of tantra, Baba would (a) withdraw the life-force from the human body and then make the body come back to life, (b) have sadhakas grab His toe to see others' past lives, or (c) use His cane to reverse an otherwise incurable disease. All these things and more, Baba has done to show us that spiritual force is something real, not something imaginary.

Because without that, it is all too easy for people-- even a very few Ananda Margiis-- to think that spirituality is just something make-believe because they cannot see its true effect or physical manifestation. One or two get befooled in this myth.

It is just like certain how Indian villagers refuse to send their children to school because there does not seem to be any practical benefit of going to school all day and getting an education-- since the child does not return home with anything tangible per se; whereas if their child does not go to school and instead stays home then that small boy or girl can collect a whole bundle of sticks during the course of the day. When comparing these two outcomes, the villager concludes that it is far more beneficial for the child to stay at home and collect sticks etc; because going to school does not yield any tangible fruit. This is the way the human mind works.

Similar is the case with spirituality. If people do not see any tangible, practical result in the external world from their mantra japa, then they tend to think it is useless or just a waste of time. That is why people are prone to follow avidya tantric gurus like Sai Baba who say a mantra and magically make Rolex watches appear out of the thin air etc. Because they see some so-called practical result.

To overcome this human limitation, Baba would regularly put forth demonstrations and practical examples to show us that spirituality is the most subtle and powerful force in this universe.

And this following story works in this very direction-- where Baba created special circumstances to teach us the inner value and special force of practicing 2nd lesson.

MUST DO SECOND LESSON BEFORE EVERY WORK

Of course we all know that second lesson, Guru mantra, and madhuvidya are one and the same.

And in the beginning Baba's basic guideline was that Guru mantra should be taken before doing any work. That does not just mean taking second lesson before performing an initiation or before starting a long journey. Rather we are to do second lesson always-- before each and every action. Before bathing, before going to work, before making any small or big decision, before sleep etc. Always.

Even then without any practical response, one may feel that it is just something ritualistic and not very meaningful.

And some of our acaryas feel that already their lives are "fully dedicated for Baba" then in that case what is the need to practice all the lessons. They were thinking that, 'Already my life is holy' etc.

But Baba wanted to teach us that we are always to keep the mind absorbed in spiritual ideation, and that second lesson is one of the best ways to do this. And by so doing, all kinds of negative microvita would get defeated and we would be protected. That is also one of the benefits. And that is what the below story also highlights.

BABA MAKES A NEW RULE:

DO SECOND LESSON BEFORE ENTERING BABA'S ROOM

It was the general style that Baba would go to the hall to carry out reporting. This happened for years and years; and then in the latter era, around 1989-90, Baba would call people to His room for conducting reporting. And it was at this time that Baba put forth the rule that one must do second lesson when entering His room.

Thereafter, one may do sastuanga pranam if there is space or one may just remain standing in the back of the room-- all depending on the situation. But irregardless, everyone had to internally say their Guru mantra when entering Baba's room.

Baba furthermore told that if anyone did not repeat Guru mantra then they would have to face the consequences.

How far everyone was worried about facing the consequences or not is another matter, but it quickly become everyone's habit to repeat their Guru mantra when entering Baba's room. This was especially the case with PA Dada and the various central workers who were regularly around Baba. It became part of their life to automatically repeat their second lesson when walking into Baba's room.

BABA'S DIVINE LIILA: WHAT HAPPENED ON ONE DAY

Then one day, Baba called several Dadas for reporting in His room, and one of the Dadas in that group was usually posted in a far away place. He was a senior Dada no doubt, but since this Dada was not usually around Baba, it was not his habit nor was he consciously aware about the rule to repeat Guru mantra before entering Baba's room.

So when reporting was called, then all the regular Dadas, naturally and out of fear, repeated their Guru mantra upon entering, but this other Dada just walked into the room without taking second lesson.

Immediately that Dada fell on the ground and was half-dead. No one could revive him. He was just lying there lifelessly on the floor of Baba's room, near the entryway.

Baba immediately became furious with the all the Dadas present for not reminding and warning this other Dada about the dangers of not repeating Guru mantra when entering His room. Baba scolded them again and again for being remiss in reminding him. Because now this Dada was basically dead on the floor. This drama continued for several minutes and all the Dadas stood there silently-- accepting Baba's rebuke.

Finally Baba lovingly said, 'What shall I do-- shall I save him?'.

Then all the Dadas replied, 'Yes, yes, Baba, please save him'.

Then in His liila, Baba then countered: 'But do you not understand that this boy committed a crime by not repeating Guru mantra before entering the room. Should he not get punishment for this?'

The room once again became quiet.

Then Baba said, 'Now who is advocating that he should be saved'.

No one replied; none of the Dadas came came forward. The room was silent.

(Those Dadas were thinking that Baba wanted this Dada to be punished; so they kept silent thinking that they were complying with Baba's wish.)

Then quickly Baba again turned the tables and He said, 'You are all worthless! Someone is suffering terribly and lying on the floor nearly dead and you do not think that he should be saved. Have you no compassion! Have you no shame! You are all worthless human beings.'

Then quickly the Dadas all spoke up and begged Baba again and again to please save their fellow Dada.

And accordingly Baba was gracious and that Dada was saved-- he was granted life and became completely normal once again.

BABA'S TEACHING: SECOND LESSON IS PRACTICAL

This was Baba's special way of teaching everyone that second lesson is something very practical and very powerful and that it should be incorporated into our life-- before we undertake any action. This is the very clear-cut lesson Baba was giving through this above scene. And everyone present understood and never forgot it. Because Baba was showing us that second lesson counteracts all kinds of avidya shakti and negative microvita.

So none should become lazy or remiss in any of their spiritual duties and just think that our practices are part of the world of make believe etc. None should fall into such a chasm.

Rather we are to always remember that Guru's grace is everything and by taking second lesson we are automatically remembering Him and getting His grace. And by that way, we are protected from so many negative forces. Because, our AM siddha mantras are the most potent force in the universe as they are empowered by Gurushakti-- Guru's infinite grace.

So from the above story we should always remember to repeat our Guru mantra always-- before each and every thought and before each and every actions-- no matter how big or small. Always we should repeat our second lesson mantra.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace through the regular and proper use of Guru mantra our mind will always be in a positive flow-- ensconced in His bliss. In that case, no harm can come to us.

Baba says, "[Some] think, 'I have nothing of my own. Everything is gone. I am undone.' Such a negative outlook can only be cured with the constant auto-suggestion, 'Parama Purus'a is mine,' which in the language of Tantra is called guru mantra." (AMPH-8)

Baba says, "You should remember to use guru mantra regularly before every action. One attains success in the field of action by the right application of guru mantra. Some of you, I do not say all, often forget to use guru mantra before starting an activity. If you do forget, repeat it after completing the action. When one no longer makes such a mistake, that is, when one always remembers to use guru mantra...one experiences an unbroken flow of bliss in one’s mind." (AV-7, 'An Exemplary Life')

Namaskar,
Indrajit

Note 1: ENTER THE ABODE OF BRAHMA

By second lesson, by repeating Guru mantra, we remember our Goal and enter the abode of Brahma. That is Baba's special guideline. Baba says, "One should move ahead in one’s mission after determining one’s goal. Once the goal is fixed there remains almost no possibility, of error; hence you should always remember your goal. But once you fall into the trap of error it leads to danger. This is the reason why I advise people to remember their guru mantra, to always remain aware of the goal. The souls of those people who practice sa'dhana' in this way enter the abode of Brahma." (AMIWL-10)

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Crude Devotion

Baba says, "According to the degree of their devotion human beings decide what to ask from Parama Purusa. If their devotion is motivated by too much selfishness, what will they ask? They will say internally to Parama Purusa, `Well, Mr. So-and-so is harassing me, my tenants refuse to vacate my house, and Mr. such-and-such is my sworn enemy, so, O lord, please let them go to hell. Finish them off for good. ' Now if one prays in this way, `Oh Lord, Mr. So-and-so is my sworn enemy so please let him go to hell'. The Lord will have to act intelligently because that man's enemy may also say, `Oh Narayan, let my enemy go to hell'. So Narayan will be in a fix. Whom should He protect, whom should He please? He has to handle both sides. So if any one says to Parama Purusa, `Please crush my enemy so that the thorns will be removed from my path', Parama Purusa will act as He thinks fit. It is certain that the devotees of this category will never attain Parama Purusa because it is not Him they really want. And when they don't actually want Him, they can't hope to attain Him." (AV-4, p.63)
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