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Both are Ignorant

Date: 02 Jun 2009 23:14:54 -0000 From: "Divyacaksu Deva" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Both are Ignorant Baba "Tumi ka'che theke karo du'r..." (P.S. 2377) Purport: Baba, You are so close but even then You are very far, very distant. This thing I know that You remain with me side by side-- You are hiding in my mind also. But even then You are beyond my reach. I always cry to get You. My heart remains full of longing. In search of You, I have visited many countries and countless distant places. I have searched in the mountains, in the jungles. In so many places I have wandered around in search of You. I have taken baths in so many holy ponds, rivers, and places-- different pilgrimages. But I never tried or cared to look within, never did I look in the deep core of my heart in order to get You. That is why I did not get You. Just I was completely misguided and by that I was searching You externally. Baba, with me You are playing a divine liila since eternity. Between You and me this loving divine play is going on and on. Sometimes You come very close and sometimes You go far, far distant. But always You call me from there and pull my heart towards You by playing Your flute. Baba, You are very close even then You are distant...
== BOTH ARE IGNORANT ==
Namaskar, In our Ananda Marga, our goal is Parama Purusa - no second or third entity. Baba is the focus of our each and every thought, word, and deed. That is our ideal. Naturally then, when we do namaskar, we are paying salutations to Him, to that Supreme Consciousness residing within another unit being. It is not that we are saluting that person, per se. That is not at all our endeavor. Only we are paying our respect and homage to Baba in the form of that person when we use the namaskar greeting. Unfortunately, some completely misunderstand this basic aspect of AM life. They think people are saluting them or that they are saluting another human being. This leads to ego, vanity, feelings of inferiority, and all kinds of delusions in the mind - as well as doing the greeting improperly. In that case the whole namaskar salutation is ruined and one will be degraded. Many may deny any wrongdoing in this regard, but there is a sure-fire system to understand who is doing namaskar properly, and who not. The aim of course is not to embarrass anyone but to save them from degradation and keep all moving on the sentient path.
QUICK REVIEW OF NAMASKAR
Although we all use or namaskar greeting on a daily basis, here are some of Baba's clear-cut guidelines about this practice. After reviewing these guidelines we will apply our litmus test so you yourself can see who is misguided and ignorant about the namaskar salutation. First Baba clearly states that when doing namaskar, we are paying salutations to Parama Purusa - The Divine Entity. In the dogmatic religions and in the kingdoms of old, people would bow and salute other human beings. Our namaskar mudra is not at all like this. Baba says, "Tadekam' jagatsa'ks'iiru'pam' nama'mah. “If there is anyone to whom spiritual aspirants should surrender, if there is anyone to whom they should pay salutations, it is Parama Purus'a.” The system behind salutations is to look for the Supreme Being that is the inner essence of a person, and to pay salutations to that Parama Purus'a." (SS-11) So the first point is that when doing namaskar we are recognising the Supreme within another jiivatman, we are not bowing or greeting one other human being. Here is Baba's next guideline - that we should always be ready to do namaskar first. Baba says, "As ideal human beings you should not wait to give namaskar after another has greeted you: you should rather take the first opportunity to greet others. When someone greets you, it is merely common courtesy for you to salute back; you do not become an ideal human being thereby. Rather one who seizes the first opportunity to salute others is the ideal. So you should always make an effort to do namaskar to others first: you should not care whether the person whom you greet will greet you in return or not. (When people come to me during personal contact, I greet them first whether they salute me or not.) By giving honour to others you will not be belittled, you will rather enhance your prestige." (AMIWL-11) Thus Baba's teaching is that we should always strive to be the first to do namaskar. None should fall into the complex that, "I am better than that person or I am more senior than that person so they should salute me first." To think like this is to both degrade and cheat oneself. One is degraded because they have forgotten that namaskar is a salutation to Parama Purusa - not to any individual or oneself - and they are cheating themselves because they are missing out on the opportunity to greet the Supreme. So these are two classic aspects of Baba's guidelines about doing namaskar: First that we are saluting Him in the form of a unit being and second that we should be vigilant to do namaskar first.
ONE OTHER SPECIAL POINT
Baba has also detailed another important quality of the namaskar salutation by clearly telling the import of the mudra. Sometimes people fail to bring their thumbs to the trikuti point or their palms to their heart. But Baba has given a pointed explanation about this. In brief, bringing the palms to the triktui point helps focus the mind and honor Parama Purusa and when bringing the palms to the heart we offer all our feelings unto Him. See note 1 below for Baba's extended explanation about the special significance of our namaskar mudra.
SPECIAL LITMUS TEST
Now that we have the most essential points about our namaskar mudra clearly in mind, it is time to apply the litmus test to see if we and those around us are doing namaskar properly or not. If you, me or anyone walks into a room and waits for others to do namaskar to them, it means they clearly do not know that meaning. Because if in our heart and mind we understand that namaskar is in fact a salutation to the Supreme, then one will be vigilant and ready to quickly to namaskar to anyone they see. Forgetting this point, then one will think, "I am a man of respect, let others salute me first." In that case, one will not do namaskar first. That means they have totally misunderstand the entire essence of namaskar. In such situations, they are merely demonstrating their own idiocy or ignorance. You may have seen such situations. If you walk down the hallways these days in Ranchi or Tiljala, so many big Dadas will never say namaskar to their junior workers. Rather such Dadas will expect that all should respectfully do namaskar to them and in response they may casually wave or nod their head. When any high posted Dada does like this, then they have totally degraded themselves by totally forgetting the divine truth that namaskar is being done to the Supreme, not to them. But instead such Dadas are puffing up their own ego and vanity thinking that the namaskar salutation is a reflection of one's own greatness or social standing. Such is the height of their blindness and ignorance. Then if one tours any overseas sectors, often we find that those who have become family acaryas fall into this same awful predication. With their new found title, such family acaryas think all should honor them by doing namaskar first. Again, this is nothing but the proof of their own ignorance. Then of course, whether acarya or not, any arrogant person is prone to degrading themselves in this way by thinking that namaskar is being done to them. So we should all think - review the situation in our own minds - and make sure that we are not falling into this trap, nor allowing others to do so. We should know that when doing namaskar we are offering our salutations to the Supreme.
SPECIAL LITMUS TEST (Part 2)
Of course, no problem exists in isolation - it is never or hardly ever a one-sided affair. Two people are most often involved in any wrongdoing. Same then is the case with the misunderstanding about namaskar. Up till now, we have been primarily discussing the ignorance of the person who is receiving the namaskar salutation. They wrongly think that namaskar is being done to them. The other side of the scenario is the person who is actually doing namaskar. The proper spirit should be that we are paying our salutations to Baba, the Supreme One. But it sometimes happens - either to us or others - that we are thinking that an important person has entered the room so we should quickly go and do namaskar. Or we may think that the person before me is so great that I must be extra careful to show him my respect by doing namaskar very slowly. Or anytime the thought infests our mind that the salutation within namaskar is being done to the person in front of us, and not Parama Purusa, then the person doing namaskar has also fallen into dogma. That is sign of one's own ignorance. Thus whenever a so-called great person walks into any room waiting for others to do namaskar to them and whenever a person sees a so-called great person and think I must honor them by doing namaskar, then in that moment, both parties involved are 100% ignorance. Both are misusing and abusing the namaskar salutation and degrading themselves.
SPECIAL LITMUS TEST (Part 3)
One other scenario is if an aged or senior or respected person sees a 5-year old boy then they may think, "Why should I do namaskar or pay respect to this small child." This is also a diseased outlook. We must always remember that Parama Purusa is timeless and ageless and whatever form is standing before us, He resides within all. Thus none should fall into ignorance by failing to do namaskar in such circumstances.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace, He has blessed us with one very special type of salutation to recognise His presence in all circumstances and interactions. This is a spiritual boon. So we must always watch ourselves to ensure we are following the word and spirit of His namaskar guidelines. Failing that - should we become at all ignorant in this regard - then that will only lead to our degradation. Remembering Him is the path of vidya and elevation and forgetting Him is the path of avidya and degradation. When doing or receiving namaskar, we must always bear in mind salutations are being done to Him, and not any unit being. Namaskar, Divyacaksu
Note 1: BABA'S UNIQUE EXPLANATION OF NAMASKAR
Baba says, "What is our style of extending goodwill? We say, Namaska'r. That is, “I pay respect to the Supreme Entity residing within you.” You should remember this. “I concentrate all the good feelings of my mind here in the trikut'i [between the eyebrows].” In your mind there are so many propensities. Propensities are called vrtti in Sanskrit. So there are so many vrttis, so many propensities, in your mind. One portion of your mind is saying, “Today I’ll take hot rice.” Another portion is saying, “In the near future I’ll try to go to Calcutta.” Another portion of your mind is saying, “Now I’ll have to do some relief service to the people.” Another portion is saying, “I should do something concrete for the refugees.” There are so many thoughts within your mind." "Another portion of your mind is saying, “I’ll become a wholetime worker. I’ll leave my house.” Another portion is saying, “But my mother will be weeping.” Another portion is saying, “No, no, I’ll have to do something for the greater world.”" "So many thoughts are in your mind. But you should concentrate all your thoughts at a particular point, here – that is, with all the strength and goodwill of your mind you are doing this – you are touching these two palms here [trikut'i]. That is, you are concentrating all your goodwill here, because you are paying respect to Parama Purus'a residing within this body; this body; this body; this body [pointing to different people]. First do this." "And not only mental concentration, you are human beings, you have got so many sentiments also. Human sentiment, you know? When you feel much joy you burst into tears, when much sorrow you burst into tears. These are sentiments. And human beings are guided by sentiment, more by sentiment than by logic, you must not forget it – more by sentiment than by logic. So your sentiment is also there, so with all the concentration of your mind and with all the sweetness of your sentiment, from the very core of your heart, you are paying respect to Parama Purus'a residing within human structure. So you do this [palms together at mid-point of chest], and say, Namaska'r." "I think you have understood it? A very sweet idea. So it is my opinion, my desire, that human society [be] one, indivisible; it is an expressed form, a sweet expression, of Parama Purus'a, to whom you should always pay respect by doing namaska'r." (AV-30)
Note 2: NAMASKAR TO HUMAN BEINGS - NAMASTE TO PARAMA PURUSA
One other dogma floating around the fake and new-age yoga community in the west and in India also is that use of namaste. This is a bit of a separate topic, but in general one should understand that namaskar is used with human beings and namaste is only used when honoring Parama Purusa directly, not seeing Parama Purusa in the form of some unit being. Our Marga should not fall prey to this dogma. There is an important distinction with can be discussed in greater length. Suffice to say here that we should pay heed to Baba's below guideline. Baba says, "The generally-accepted rule is that one should say namaska'ra to a human being or a god or goddess, but one should say namaste or namastubhyam only to Parama Purus'a, not to any other entity." (SS-11)
************************************************* Groupist Leaders Do Like This
Baba says, "Ism (groupism etc) is responsible for disrupting human harmony. ...[When any particular] group will lose its prestige, the people in the group feel ashamed, and in that condition they do not hesitate to take recourse to ignoble means in order to save the prestige of their nation, caste, group." (PNS-16, p.3) Here above Baba is explaining this very point that for those engaged in groupism, power and prestige is everything. Groupists have no interest in the welfare of the collective society. Their interest is only in propagating their own group. And if they feel this is not getting done, then they will take any negative means they can to again bring prestige to their group. Unfortunately in our organisation various groups are doing like this. But margiis and good Wts are not supporting any form of groupism.
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