== IGNORANCE OF SOME CENTRAL WTs ==
Namaskar,
This entire discussion examines why some top Dadas are not aware about
the stated ideals of AM ideology.
In countless discourses Baba has clearly told us that sadhana, devotion,
and spirituality are the most important things in life, yet we often
hear some central Dadas say that Baba only cared about the work.
How did such a dichotomy develop - how is it that they so misunderstood
Baba's message.
An analysis of the above may give insight as to how after 1990 the ills
of groupism, not the sweetness neo-humanism, seeped into and ultimately
saturated our organisation, AMPS.
Kindly write in with your thoughts and opinions.
TWO OF BABA'S ROLES
When Parama Purus'a comes in human form He must attend to many duties.
Baba, as the Taraka Brahma had two chief roles: Preceptor and president.
As the Sadguru or Preceptor, He graciously laid down the tenets of
dharma so all could advance on the path of spirituality and attain
liberation. As president, He labored intensively to build an
organisation that could carry out all kinds of plans and programs in
order to best serve the society.
Both of these roles were done side by side, but somehow a few central
workers could not grasp the completeness of Baba's approach.
HOW WORK BECAME EMPHASIZED
During DMC, reportings, or RDS, Baba would spend long, long hours taking
report about the work. He might spend 6, 8, or ten hours daily in this
way. There was a huge emphasis and tremendous pressure about meeting
targets and doing work. All remember this well. The flow was so intense
and demanding that Wts were often nervous and scared, fearing that their
output was not enough and that Baba would be furious with them.
Of course Parama Purusa is always loving and His outer display of fury
is just part of His liila. Even then it was all quite convincing and
many workers were just anxiously thinking work, work, work - especially
central wts.
In their sadhana, in their time during DMC, they were consumed with the
idea of achieving their quota of opening schools, feeding the homeless,
printing newspapers etc. Because they knew that if they did not meet
their quota, they might be demoted, lose their avadhutaship, or be
publicly scolded. This was a regular occurrence.
In contrast, Baba would not demote them if they only spent 5 minutes in
sadhana, skipped certain lessons or slept through paincajanya etc.
Demotion primarily came from not meeting one's work targets.
Thus even though during DMC time, Baba was delivering countless
discourses about how devotion is the highest thing in life, karmiis are
second-rate, and that sadhana is the best use of one's human existence,
some of our central workers were fully consumed with the notion of doing
work and work only. They thought this was the be-all and end-all of
their time on this earth.They wrongly thought that this was all they
needed to do - or that this is all Baba wanted.
They did not pay heed to all of Baba's grand teachings on dharma and
spirituality.
BABA IS THE PERFECT TEACHER
At this point some may be thinking that Baba taught central workers to
only do work and nothing else, and that therefore Wts are not at fault
for not adequately learning AM philosophy and not understanding that
devotion and sadhana were so important.
But this is not true.
Baba is the Supreme Guide. He has graciously given ample opportunity for
all to move on the spiritual path and properly learn AM teachings. In
PC, in dharma samiiksa, in countless books, He always stressed the
importance of kirtan, sadhana, and spiritual life.
He even instilled the system of seminars, so that every worker could
grow and learn. At each reporting session, a seminar series was
presented - often by Vijayanandji or another Dada.
So Baba gave ample scope for those central workers to grow in the proper
manner. Whatever shortcoming or misunderstanding they have today is due
to their own negligence.
WHY IT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE WORK
Let's take a quick look at why Baba placed such a huge emphasis on work
during His daily life schedule and interactions. None of His discourses
tell that work is everything, but during His latter years, it is quite
apparent that work was a main facet of life.
We have to remember that Baba's time on this planet was extremely
limited. He spent only 35 years involved in organisational life, from
1955 to 1990. And in that period, He had to found, present, and manifest
(in one form or another), all the needed plans and programs to guide the
humanity far, far into the future.
In essence, with extremely limited resources, He had to present the
entire structure of Ananda Marga - albeit in miniature form. He had to
demonstrate everything: master units, schools, food distribution, RU
clubs, samaj movements, system of reporting, hospitals, children's
homes, newspapers, politics, and countless other types of projects and
innovations.
If He did not display something of everything at least in small form,
then surely it would have been forgotten by the humanity entirely. So
everything needed to come in physical manifestation, to some or more
degree. Thus huge work was the call of the day and those central workers
lived in the whirlwind of all that activity. Baba's energy was
tremendous. This no one can deny.
Some may contend that Baba could have used His grand powers to do those
projects and make the organisation grow, but then all would have
concluded that everything happens due to His magic, and no one would
have gotten the lesson that discipline, determination and hard work are
needed in life.
Thus during the 35-year tenure as organisational President, Baba needed
to infuse a strong work ethic. There was no other way. It was a unique time.
THEY JUST KNOW WORK - NOT FAMILIAR WITH HIS TEACHINGS
INVITING DEGENERATION
Because a certain section of Wts came into AM due to contact with the
organisation - as opposed to through philosophical or devotional inquiry
etc - some central workers & others just learned that work is everything
- and they hardly ever even opened a book or studied Baba's discourses.
This may sound surprising, but it is true.
That is why some central workers are literally ignorant about AM ideals
or what Baba is truly telling in His discourses. One time two senior
margiis in my unit were listening to an audio tape of Baba's discourse
and one very senior worker came in and asked about it and expressed in a
surprised manner that, "I did not know Baba talked about such things."
When in fact Baba was merely emphasizing the importance of devotion -
something He has done hundreds of times. Meanwhile, that senior Wt
himself was present at that DMC and so many others. Yet he could not get
Baba's main message. Thus his was an entirely different experience where
work was the main theme, not the importance of spiritual cult.
And still today various Dadas talk like this - work, work, work.
Sure they may "lend importance" in their talks to doing maximum sadhana,
but often in their own life they never practice in such a way, not even
for one day. And not only that, if they see someone involved in doing
deep sadhana, they may harass and abuse that sadhaka for being lazy.
This is not uncommon.
So such top workers engage in more and more work - neglecting their
sadhana - and that brings vanity - the feeling that "I did something
great" - and in result they get degenerated, working more for their own
personal gain than for neo-humanistic ideals.
Baba says, "People of action are also not free from vanity: “I did this,
I did that – I built this road when I was a minister I constructed this
bridge when I was in the Public Works Department” – this is how people
become mad for their little “I”." (AMIWL-11)
Baba says, "Those who think that they will get Him through the actional
faculty are finally engaged in actional infighting. “I did this, I did
that, I’m not an ordinary man” – like this." (SS-21)
Thus work and work alone is not a healthy way to move ahead on the path,
rather one will fall terribly. Yet we see various Wts engaged only in
this way, falsely concluding that this is what Baba wants.
A FEW KNEW IT WAS JUST A PHASE
A few did in fact recognise that Baba's time was also a phase of work -
giving all the teachings and providing the practical examples. For
instance, before 1990, Dada Vijayanandji used to tell that sadhana and
intuitional life are for the people in the future, not today. Now is the
time for work.
Then in 1990, Dada Vijayanandji decidedly changed his course. He began
openly telling in seminars that now the time for sadhana has come. To
understand Baba we must do more and more sadhana.
How far he himself changed the style of his own life, I cannot say. But
certainly none can deny that Vijayanandji had this special insight that
maximum sadhana must be practiced to implement AM teachings and do pracara.
So He clearly recognised that 1955-90, and in particular, from 1978
-1990, was a distinct phase where work had to be done in an extreme way.
MYTH: MUKTI AND MOKSA ARE IN YOUR POCKET
Unfortunately, the more prevailing myth amongst workers - both before
1990 and after - was that there was little or no need for sadhana. More
than a few central workers thought in this way.
They often recount how Baba just asked about work and they also
foolishly smile and say that mukti and moksa are in my pocket and
that He will give it in the due course, so just forget about sadhana and
blindly and tirelessly do the work. All these things they tell.
We may have all heard one or another top Dada speak or behave in this
way. However such Dadas clearly have a mistaken understanding.
(Note: Mukti and moksa are in the pocket and Baba will give it, but
only to those deserving. So none should lose faith or worry. Here the point
is that skipping sadhana and engaging in groupism is not a recipe for attaining
salvation.)
See here below how Baba says that all must engage sincerely in sadhana
and that the Guru will not give out mukti or moksa without proper effort
in spiritual practice from His devotees.
Baba says, "To deserve the grace of the sadguru one has to follow the
system of intuitional practice with devotion and faith, and not assume
that the great preceptor will freely give everything without any effort
on the part of the disciple. Other people think that since they are the
disciples of a great preceptor and since the sadguru has come to elevate
the fallen, the preceptor will take them all along when leaving, in the
same way as a cowherd gathers together all grazing cattle before leaving
the pasture at dusk. This way of thinking is not correct. A great
preceptor does not come into this world to herd his disciples like
cattle. The great preceptor comes to liberate people, to elevate them to
divinity. People must make a sincere effort to carry out intuitional
practice (sa'dhana'). Idle dependence on the preceptor cannot obtain
emancipation." (AMEP, 'Intuitional Practice and Its Necessity)
Thus, without sadhana, one cannot advance on the path or get liberation.
That is Baba's teaching. Yet some Central Dada openly preach how only
work is needed and in the due course Baba will grant liberation. But
this is not correct. Baba does not grant liberation or salvation to
undeserving disciples who overlook spiritual life. One must make proper
efforts in sadhana.
WITHOUT SADHANA NOTHING IS POSSIBLE
Some other key points have to be noted. Without proper sadhana and
spiritual awakening, nothing good can happen.
1. Without sadhana, one cannot really understand AM ideology.
2. Without sadhana, one will be prone toward selfishness (lust for post,
power, money, name, fame etc).
3. Without sadhana, one will gravitate toward dogma, not dharma.
4. Without sadhana, one will neither be able to preach the real ideals
of AM nor inspire others to come onto the path.
Thus, as many margiis and field workers realise, sadhana is an
absolutely integral aspect toward the establishment of Ananda Marga.
All Baba teachings and discourses lead in this direction, and those with
experience in sadhana clearly understand this - yet the fact remains
that this basic teaching has escaped some of our top central workers.
They may say they know it, but their actions speak otherwise.
HERE IS THE PROOF
There was a time when we all thought that our central workers were gods
in human form, hand-picked by Baba Himself. Many of us thought that such
top Dadas were not subject to following Baba's teachings like Sixteen
Points etc. We thought that whatever our central Dadas do will turn into
gold and we need not think further about it.
However, that myth has long departed from the minds of Ananda Margiis
and today - now as we speak - we are seeing the up-close example of what
happens when people lose sight of Baba's teachings, as has happened to
some central workers.
Such Dadas did not properly learn Baba's guidelines from the get-go and
just involved in work until finally they got totally degenerated,
clouded up in their own vanity.
That is why today all such Dadas are involved in vicious wars for power.
They have [A] built up groupist armies, [B] ruined countless projects,
[C] invented so many dogmas like (1) Mahaprayan, (2) curtailment of BP
rights, (3)scriptural distortions, (4) expulsion as a weapon, (5) Fake
Ananda Vaniis, (6) ruination of the ACB etc, [D] resorted to killing
other workers, [E] spent millions on court cases for their own power,
[F] and so much more.
They have essentially torn down and destroyed everything that Baba
created in the physical sphere - jagrtis ruined, Ananda Nagar neglected
and turned into a war zone, not to mention that the entire family feeling
in AMPS has been nearly washed away. That was perhaps the strongest,
most tangible force we had, and they sucked it dry.
Indeed, the scene today is a perfect example of how NOT to establish
Ananda Marga.
Baba has given so many great teachings, but some of our top Dadas could
not understand or realise even one sentence from Baba's thousands of
discourses. Such is the ignorance of these wts and the proof is their
current behavior.
One need not believe the words in this letter to understand the point.
Just simply look out your window and see what those top Dadas are doing
and see what has become of our Marga. That is enough proof that they
missed the boat with regards to understanding His teachings.
BABA'S BLESSING
By His grace He has given everything in life. Now is the time for strong
sadhana then everything will be alright.
Those top Dadas should toss aside their groupist weapons and do sadhana.
If they have become too degenerated and cannot concentrate in
meditation, as some have admitted, then they should pray to Baba to be
merciful and express repentance for their misdeeds. Then He will surely
grace them.
As we involve more deeply in sadhana then all the high ideals that Baba
talks about will readily manifest in our Marga. Then we will have a true
AM family that will bring smiles all over the world.
Without sadhana, nothing good will result, as has been proven by various
top Dadas thus. All they have demonstrated is their ignorance of how to
live a life based on AM - now is the time to reverse this awful trend.
Baba says, "So the victory of all human beings is possible only through
dharma, only through spiritual practices. It is our duty to perform
dharma. It is our duty to perform sa'dhana'. It is your duty to inspire
yourself." (AV-31)
Baba says, "For human beings spiritual practice in individual life is
mandatory. Without sa'dhana' one cannot expect to make any progress."
(APH-5)
Namaskar,
Sudarshan
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Impending Danger
Baba says, "The common masses cannot easily realize that they are moving
towards their annihilation. So intelligent people should point out their
mistakes and inspire them to move along the path of progress. Just as
motorists are warned about a road under repair with the signboard
“Danger ahead”, similarly those moving along the wrong path should be
warned of the impending danger by the well-wishers of society and guided
along the proper path. To render this service is everyone’s bounden
duty." (Paos' Pu'rn'ima' 1958 DMC, Trimohan, Bhagalpur)
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