== IGNORANCE ==
Namaskar,
With much hope and excitement, various margiis and acaryas are hosting a
24 akhanda kiirtan this Saturday, March 14, to celebrate the new
Faridabad (Haryana) jagriti.
In their email invitation, they say that it is their desire that this
new jagrti will "become the epicentre of [a] united Ananda Marga."
In their simplicity, exuberance and joy, they have great faith that this
new jagrti will be a boon for our Marga - that it will bring unity in AM.
At the same time, we all have to remember that no building or physical
structure can bring unity. Unity is based on ideology, not anything
mundane.
Baba says, "Human unity is purely an ideological unity, which means
unity in the psychic sphere." (PNS-15)
MISGUIDED ATTEMPTS AT UNITY IN THE PAST
In the past also, various people tried to bring unity through different
mundane programs.
Most notably, Mahatma Gandhi tried to unite all the dogmatic religions
by building places of worship where everyone could to perform their own
dogmatic rituals. But making a place where some could pray facing east
and others could pray facing west, where some would use idols and others
would resort to crude puja, where some would sacrifice goats and others
would give bread, where some would pray to Allah and others would chant
Rama - all those things could not work together to bring a harmonious
human society. Merging the various religious dogmas under one roof did
not bring unity, it only brought bloodshed - and lots of it.
That is why during Gandhiji's time, there was so much religious strife
and torment. As much as he tried to create unity, his approach was
totally misguided. Unity cannot be built by gluing various dogmas
together under one place of worship. That will only result in more dogma
and fighting, not unity.
But such was Mahatma Gandhi's misunderstanding. Such was his ignorance.
CANNOT CREATE UNITY BY DRAGGING GROUPIST DOGMAS INTO AM
Similarly, in this present day, we cannot expect to create unity in AM
by dragging all the groupist dogmas together. That will not work - not
at all. To think that way is to fall into the abyss of ignorance.
Thus when well-intentioned people build a new jagrti, they should not
expect that with this building all will come together with their various
factional agendas and live peacefully - i.e. forge unity. As much as it
would be nice if it were that easy, but that is not the way to bring
unity in our Marga.
Yet unaware about what else to do, this is the approach that many good
people are taking. They think: "Let's bring all the groups together at
this retreat site near Bombay or at this jagrti near Delhi and let there
be equal representation of the various groups and by that way we can
bring unity."
But this is not Baba's ideal and that is not the path towards true unity.
Rather to bring unity, we must wipe out all the groupist dogmas and
implement His ideological teachings. It is an internal phenomenon and
cannot be achieved through physical structures, like building a new
jagrti per se.
Baba says, "Human unity is purely an ideological unity, which means
unity in the psychic sphere. Where there is psychic unity, physical
unity will also occur. In the realm of unity, unity is always psychic –
ideological unity means unity in the subtlest level of the mind." (PNS-15)
Only when His preachings of neo-humanism suffuse the human heart can we
have unity in our Marga. To this end, strong sadhana and rational
thinking must prevail and all must leave their dogmas behind. Then they
are fit to enter the psychic abode of Ananda Marga.
Just as Baba would not let anyone be initiated int AM until they
renounced their caste identity, similarly no one can become a true
Ananda Margii until they give up their groupist orientation.
Just gluing the dogma of Mahaprayan with the dogmatic Jamalpur tiirtha
program, and then giving representation to both B and H will only
exacerbate (i.e. worsen) today's groupist struggles. It will not bring
unity.
We can only create unity when we are united in Him - not in our own
factional agendas.
Baba says, "One Cosmic ideology will have to be propagated too, and that
ideology is that one Supreme Entity the Cosmic Entity is the goal of all
living beings. This spiritual sentiment will keep human beings united
for all time to come." (TTP)
EK CULHA, EK COWKA, EK MANAV SAMAJ
Again let no one be discouraged from building any jagrti and we
certainly do not want to undermine the great efforts that went into
making the new jagrti in Faridabad. All are to be commended for this
project.
But to think that a jagrti alone can bring unity is to plunge the mind
in ignorance.
In their invitation to their akanda kiirtan program, the organisers
declare, "Ek Culha, Ek Cowka, Ek Manav Samaj" - i.e one stove, one
kitchen, one human society.
But this should not be taken literally.
For instance, if various dogmatic religious all cook their non-veg food
on one stove then that will not bring peace and unity amongst all the
religions. Something more is needed.
Similarly, having the various groupist leaders cook their chapatis on
the same stove will not bring unity in AM. Something more is needed.
Yes, we all need come together. But that coming together must be based
on manifesting Baba's divine ideals and implementing those in each and
every locale, within each and every Ananda Margii. Simply sitting under
the same roof with the mind full of groupist strategies is not enough.
Creating one building and allowing all to enter with their groupist
baggage will not lead to unity.
BABA'S BLESSING
Our days now in AM are full of complexities, but not impossibilities.
Those who built this new jagrti are to be commended for their excellent
efforts, but at the same time it is sheer ignorance to think that such a
building alone will bring unity. Unfortunately, all too often this is
the direction in which people move in order to solve the current
problems in AM. But our issues are deeper than the physical realm.
We have to go deep inside the mind, root out the groupist dogmas, and
then live each day thinking of Baba and His divine teachings. By
following AM ideology, then unity will naturally result. And by His
grace that day is sure to come.
Baba says, "Social unity and solidarity are only possible if the members
of society are inspired with... a common ideology," (APH-4)
Namaskar,
Satiish
Note 1: WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THEIR INVITATION
With so much hope and anticipation this is how the organisers sent out
their invitation for their upcoming akhanda kiirtan.
"It [the new jagrti] will go a long way in furthering the great
philosophy and mission of our Beloved Baba and we dream it to become the
epicentre of United Ananda Marga."
By now, I think all understand that no collection of walls and a roof
can create unity in AM.
By His grace, with our minds suffused in His thought, we will easily
bring unity very soon into our Marga.
Note 2: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EMS AND EK MANAV SAMAJ
Many are aware that "EMS" (Ek Manav Samaj) is a branch of our
organisation where we sit down with people from the various dogmatic
religions and talk. One of the aims is to bring people from different
faiths together so they can overcome their differences, hatred, and
anger. This is one of the objectives of EMS, which is a distinct branch
of AMPS.
But this EMS branch where we mediate talks between different religious
groups is quite different from our socio-cum-philosophical approach of
Ananda Marga ideology.
The idea and reality of a united humanity can only be achieved by creating
one human society based on ideology. In that endeavour there is no scope
or question of creating social unity by merging all the dogmas of the
various religions, or compromising with different religious dogmas. That
is never going to work - that will never bring social harmony.
The only way to create a unified humanity is to rid society from all such
dogmas and build a neo-humanistic social order based on the ideals of AM.
Hence none should think that the tenets of EMS (i.e. talking with
different religious groups) is part of the process of creating the
social aim of Ananda Marga ideology. .
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There should not be any confusion
Baba says, "Now why does He come in contact with the quinquelemental
factors? Why does He come within the jurisdictions of the
temporal-spatial-personal factors, these three fundamentally-related
factors? What's the cause? There are two reasons. One thing is, the
human intellect may get satisfaction after coming in psychic contact
with the Impersonal Entity, but the human heart is not satisfied with
that Impersonal Entity. The human heart wants something closer,
something more sentimental, something more pleasing. And that's why just
to satisfy, just to give pleasure to, His progeny, He comes within the
scope of these relative factors. Parama Purus'a becomes Ta'raka Brahma.
And the second reason is that in this created world, in this universe,
each and every progress is a progress through clashes and cohesion. And
human beings must have sufficient intellectual stamina to move forward,
fighting against all those pebbles of obstacles. When the human
intellect fails to do something new in helping society to move forward,
Parama Purus'a finds no alternative but to bring Himself within the
scope of the temporal-spatial-personal factors just to guide the
depraved and degenerate human society." (AV-12, p.43-44)
Note: So Parama Purusa must follow His vow. That is He comes for
establishing dharma. Everyone knows that dharma is getting established
by His invisible grace.
When Parama Purusa remains as an impersonal Entity then the heart of the
devotee does not get satisfied. And when He comes in human form and teaches
and guides the way to reach to Him, then He provides a ladder also. And
with that help, devotees reach Him.
We know that ladder is the process of dhyana-- which can link from form to
formlessness. That is why the culmination of dhyana is the merging into
formlessness-- dissolving the mind.
Devotees always feels that Baba is residing there-- in their heart.
We see in the history of devotion, that that each and every devotee in the
world felt that the Lord is with them. Indeed the entire composition of
Surdas and Mirabai is proof of that.
No doubt, jinanis and karmiis may be thinking in their own way, but
devotees feel that Baba is living in their heart.
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