Danger of Having & Not Having...

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:44:06 -0000 To: am-global@earthlink.net From: "Hariish Dev" Subject: Danger of Having & Not Having... Baba "Esechile a'ma'r ghare kon se pu'rn'ima'y..." (PS 4075) Purport: Baba, by Your divine grace You came to my house on one full moon night. It was such a memorable and unforgettable occasion. With Your infinite grace, in song, in dance, and with the pull of the heart, You made me lose myself in Your divine splendour. Baba, I became fully enthralled and captivated by Your exquisite beauty. Baba, by Your grace on that special full-moon night You compassionately listened to all the inner feelings of my heart. You intimately understood all my suffering. Baba, by Your grace You gently removed whatever pain I had. With the august presence of Your sweetness, on that very full moon night, You created one beautiful époque in my life. Baba, it is beyond my understanding why You suddenly went away-- leaving me all alone. Since then so many seasons have passed in waiting for You. Now after such a long time, that distant memory of Your divine arrival to my house on that full moon night has become completely covered by the thick fog of time. Baba, please be gracious and come to me. Please do not forget that You are mine and I am Yours...

== DANGER OF HAVING AND NOT HAVING KNOWLEDGE ==

Namaskar, As we know, on the path of yoga, balance is the key. There must not be too much nor too little of anything. Whether it be food, sadhana & service, study, or any other endeavour, everything must be in balance. That is our approach and that is why AM is madhya ma'rga, or the middle path. Baba is also careful to point out that this balance applies to the realm of knowledge as well. Having too much or too little knowledge is dangerous. That is Baba's teaching.

DANGER OF TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE

According to Baba, knowledge is to be attained only for arriving at the proper path. And that proper path, of course, is the path of spirituality, or sadhana. Beyond that, the the over-accumulation or misuse of knowledge is a liability, a hazard. That is the problem with having too much knowledge, or knowledge that is misdirected Here is Baba's brief story about this. Baba says, "Physical [worldly] knowledge is like the leaf of a shala tree [a tall evergreen with large leaves] on which people take meals. As long as you have not eaten, there is a value in the leaf, but the moment you have finished your meal, the leaf goes into the dust bin to be licked by the street dogs. When you come to realize that this physical knowledge of yours is only worth licking by a dog, then devotion will arise in you. Then you will acquire true knowledge." (SS-19) In the above story: (a) The person holding the leaf is a sadhaka; (b) The leaf plate (pattal) is knowledge. (c) The food on the leaf that gets eaten represents that knowledge which we internalise and use in our practical spiritual life, i.e. sadhana. (d) The food that remains on the leaf after the meal is that mundane knowledge which has no utility in our spiritual practice. (e) MORAL OF THE STORY: The leftover food on the leaf, i.e. that knowledge which is not used for sadhana and spiritual life, is useless and should be tossed aside and licked by dogs. It has no values in our human growth and development.

APPLYING THIS IN LIFE

Baba's basic teaching is that we should be careful not to fill our lives with excess knowledge that has no practical value in. Rather all that we learn should be internalised and used to enhance our own spiritual life and serve others. The classic example of over accumulation of knowledge is the proverbial university professor who has all kinds of theoretical knowledge and can speak Latin and Greek, but has no idea what food to eat, how to take care of himself, or how to help others. All day long he wastes his time in accumulating more and more knowledge that has no practical value nor any use in life. This is not the proper way to live on this earth. That is just like excess food that should be tossed aside and eaten by dogs.

CASES OF EXCESS KNOWLEDGE INSIDE AM

Unfortunately we do not just see this unfolding outside AM. This over-accumulation or misutilsation of knowledge happens inside our Marga as well. Please excuse me, but we see this occurring with some, certainly not all, but with a few of our wholetimers, and even some margii postholders etc. For instance, every WT has expert theoretical understanding of yama and niyama. They teach these tenets all day long. Yet a few of our wholetimers engage in smuggling, living a luxurious lifestyle, or even skipping their sadhana lessons. In that case, all that (excess) knowledge that they acquired about yama and niyama is useless. It has no practical value. Instead it is a liability. Because those few wts think that they know everything about yama and niyama, and hence they cannot be taught by others. Such Wts have a vanity of knowledge. Yet what they "know", they do not follow in their daily life. In which case that "knowledge" is nothing but an impediment to their growth. And the worst part is that since they think they know something, then they are neither able to listen to others, nor willing to learn from others. Then of course there is the case with those few Wts who follow groupism. Each and every one of these workers (i.e. the few who indulge in groupism) can give a beautiful two-hour lecture on neohumanism and universalism, but in their own life they are confirmed groupists. And in turn, they will use their knowledge in tricky ways, i.e. to convince others with flowery language to also join their group, yet all along they will speak of the virtues of universalism. Unfortunately, this is how some WTs have lured unsuspecting margiis and field workers into their group. All this then is also just a clear-cut case of accumulating excess or misused knowledge. Knowledge for knowledge sake, or just theoretical understanding, is that which takes no proper expression in their own life. Knowledge is to be internalised, not collected, nor used to misguide others. That is Baba's teaching, nay His strict warning. Baba says, "If people have developed intellects which are not properly directed, and there is no administration of the sadvipras, people become polished satans and inflict sufferings on others." (AFPS-6) The worst outcome then is if people use knowledge to misguide and deceive others. Baba terms such persons as "polished satans". We should be wary of such beings. To the degree that we can bring theoretical knowledge into benevolent practice is the degree to which our knowledge base is useful to us. One should not thrust themselves onto the road to hell by using their hard-earned knowledge to deceive others for selfish causes. Such persons future is not bright.

WHY THEY DO THIS

The next question one might ask is why they do this. Often people, and some WTs get allured into accumulating knowledge in order to place themselves above others. They think having huge knowledge will enhance their prestige and others will come up to them and say, "Oh Sir, or Oh Dada, you are so knowledgeable and wise..." But this type of false vanity or arrogance will just turn one into a beggar for others' praise. Internally one will feel empty and dry and the so-called knowledge that they do have will not help them progress in life. Or they seek out excess knowledge in order to satisfy their selfish agenda. They search for words and phrases that support their personal or group interest, and skip over the greater meaning of the discourse. People who justify fake Ananda Vaniis, dogmas, crude programs like so-called Mahaprayan, and tirithas fall into this catetory. This type of manipulation of knowledge also falls in the category of over-accumulation or misutilisation of knowledge. So one must not engage in this overaccumalation / misuse of knowledge. That knowledge which helps one grow and serve others should be internalised and practiced (such as sadhana, dhyana, kiirtan, science, philosophy), and that knowledge which is superfluous to one's life should be tossed aside and licked by dogs.

THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM: LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

From all of the above, one should be careful of their use of knowledge, but one must not then think that accumulating any kind of knowledge is therefore a burden. Knowledge is necessary and needed: It should be pursued wisely and with sincerity, not just to enhance one's prestige or to misguide others. As we know, Baba considers study to be essential. Without study or without knowledge, one will be prone to being exploited. That is His other clear-cut warning. This we see happening outside the Marga, as happened with so many native populations or in the case of people with shudra mentality. Either they sold their land for a song, or they got tricked into making a bad trade, or they got duped into sending their children to schools that did not recognise the local language etc. All these instances are cases of exploitation where one party lacked the sufficient knowledge. Unfortunately, once again we see this happening in our Marga. Of course this does not apply to everyone and since 1990 things have been getting better, but unfortunately due to a lack of knowledge a few continue to get exploited. As Baba warns us, this often happens due to a distinct lack of knowledge. Baba says, "If there is a dearth of intellectual pabulum and the intellectual standard of the people is not high, they can take “dos” to be “don’ts” and vice versa." (AFPS-6) As Ananda Margiis it is essential that we study and review Baba's ideological teachings, then we will not be prone to getting misguided by others. Then we will not get duped about the curtailment of BP rights, or false money collecting, or whatever else some Dadas do behind their tall talks. Unfortunately, due to a lack of knowledge, some become duped into fulfilling the agenda of certain crude Dadas, and in this way such innocent people degenerate terribly. Baba says, "Where the intellectual standard of the people is low, people commit blunders – prompted by such leaders they become beasts." (AFPS-6) Tragically, when some Dadas get convinced to kill one of our own acaryas as in the case of our dear brother Ac. Abhipremannda Avt, they got convinced or blinded due to their own lack of knowledge. In this way they got deceived into committing a heinous crime. Hence the cultivation of right knowledge is essential. Neither should we stuff ourselves with knowledge to create a sense of false vanity or to dupe and deceive others, nor should we remain ignorant about AM teachings and then get exploited at the hands of some opportunistic factional leaders. Regarding knowledge, we should find balance in life. That is Baba's teaching.

BABA'S BLESSING

By His grace we are to develop ourselves in the right way, along the path of vidya, and be vigilant to expose and dethrone those who use knowledge to strangle or misguide humanity. Baba says, "When will the three causes of sin be removed? Only when the sadvipras will be ready to fight against them with an iron hand. Today, at this hour, it is my call to the sadvipras of the world not to delay any longer. They should march ahead and save humanity and make the path of humanity free of thorns." (AFPS-6) Namaskar Hariish

Note 1: HOW TO USE OUR KNOWLEDGE

Baba says, "The duty of the sadvipras will be to hammer these stagnant people who are a burden to society, who suffer from inertness in their physico-psychic sphere, at the appropriate moment so that the path of human progress becomes straight, clear and well-constructed." (AFPS-6)

************************************************* Selection of Males and Females

Baba says, "It is very beneficial for society if people of sublime intelligence and brilliance reproduce more off-spring. The responsibility of rendering proper nourishment to the progeny of such persons will have to be taken by society and the government itself." (PNS-13, p.47)

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