How New Sub-Factions are Created

From: George Kourakos To: AM-GLOBAL Subject: How New Sub-Factions are Created Date: Tue 7 Jul 2009 06:34:11 -0000 Baba 'Prabha'ter ravi bale ghuma'ye theko na' a'ra...' - P.S. 4703 Purport: Baba, by Your divine grace, the sun of the new dawn is giving the message: 'O human beings don't remain asleep in slumber anymore. You have a huge amount of work to do. A whole mountain's worth of work is in front of you t. Don't day-dream anymore; remove your lethargy. O' human beings, open your eyes and look toward the crying world at least once. Since ages & ages you have been sleeping in darkness. The whole night you were dreaming. Now do not sleep anymore-- this is not the time for lethargy and sleep. Get up. Serve those who are getting tortured and crying by removing their heavy load of pain and suffering. Look, the crimson dawn is spreading divine effulgence, everything is shining. The bright and glorious day is not far anymore. It is fast approaching. The day is coming when people will be liberated from all sorts of bondages, there will not be any pain or torture or exploitation. Everyone will enjoy blissful life. On the peak of the mountain birds are chirping and spreading this divine message. O' humans beings, the crimson dawn is knocking at your door, march ahead toward your cherished goal...

HOW NEW SUB-FACTIONS ARE BEING CREATED, EITHER KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY

Namaskar, Unity in our AM is the need of the day; unfortunately, what we are witnessing now is the massive rise of newer and newer sub-factions, sometimes done knowingly and sometimes done unknowingly. All the religions have undergone similar events in their histories. So this type of splintering and breaking away we desperately want to avoid. However, since 1990, and especially in the last 3-4 years, our AMPS is falling into this very same rut, with more and more sub-factions coming into vogue. This is now happening in various sectors and with all the major & minor players, mostly Wts and fewer margiis. It is a pervasive tendency. Here the key matter is to understand and identify what is going on, rather than to point finger at anyone per se. Because we all know that groupism is an ugly word, so once the current trends are understood then good people will keep themselves a million miles away from the formation of such factions and sub-factions.

FACTION VERSUS SUBFACTION

In essence, there are two basic qualities that differentiate a faction from a sub-faction: Speed and numbers. Yet really the two are interlinked. If a breakaway team has sufficient numbers then they will quickly split from the main body and immediately form their parallel structure. In that case they are a faction. If a protesting group does not have a sufficient number of followers, then they will hover within the main framework for a while organising their own activities until they gather more people. In that case they are a subfaction. Both of these things are happening now in AMPS. Of course prior to 1990, neither of these events could occur in AMPS as Baba Himself is dharma and He commanded and loved all. None could imagine of making a parallel structure or breaking away. However, with each and every passing moment since 1990, the loopholes in our leadership have become more and more evident-- until now things are so loose and there is such a dearth of moral force at the top of our organisation that the creation of factions and sub-factions is a regular occurrence.

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN

Basically, whenever-- in the name of protesting wrongs or creating unity-- a group is created that begins to assume particular duties usually performed by the main framework, then this become one sub-faction. For example, acarya training is a recognised operation of AMPS. And if some dissatisfied persons in the organisation start making their own acarya training program then, whether they realise it or not, they are making one sub-faction. Of course, the heads of this sub-faction may feel justified in what they are doing because the main framework is drowned in corrupt activities. In case they may feel it is the need of the hour to create an acarya training program etc. But often times what they fail to realise is that by competing with the main organistional system they are doing more harm in that they are going against the code of unity. Because their operative, whether it be well-intentioned or not, is essentially splintering the structure. And one day it will lead to a totally separate framework.

THIS HAS HAPPENED WITH SO MANY RELIGIONS

Around the globe this type of splintering and breaking away has happened with so many religions. Just take a look at Christianity. So many different sects and dissension groups were formed when certain individuals were unhappy with the leadership. So they decided to take on various operations of the church such as creating their own place of worship or making their own priests. And then as time went by, the structural gap and way of living became so wide, even though their teachings are essentially in Christian in nature, that the sub-faction becomes their very own religion. One such case is with the Mormons or Catholics and so many others. Those more familiar with Christianity can come up with so many examples. With regards to Hinduism, the same thing has happened. A reformist sect gets created and slowly but surely their activities become more involved until they are doing all the things that the main branch of Hinduism is doing. In that case they no longer recognise themselves as Hindus and instead form their own totally separate religion. Such is the case with the Sikhs. They recognise Shiva and Krsna etc, but now if you call a Sikh a Hindu, they will cry foul. So in the field of religion there are innumerable examples of how sub-factions get created and ultimately form their own separate congregation and independent structure. In the end, all that really develops is more disunity, more intolerance, and more hatred towards the other groups. And this divisiveness severely hampers humanity. Our AMPS was formed to do away with all that, yet now it has fallen into the rut of splintering and on a monthly or weekly basis one new sub-faction is being formed.

BABA'S WARNING

And indeed, Baba warns us that such division is all too easy for human beings. There is nothing great in dividing. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can make their own splinter group or sub-faction. Baba says, "Dogmas have taken root in the human mind. People cannot get rid of these false ideas because they have been injected into their minds since childhood. As a result, one human society is divided into different nations, and one nation is divided into different religions; religions also have different castes, and caste also have different sub-castes – what kind of situation is this? We have only learned how to divide and subdivide humanity, and we never learned how to unite the people. This is all due to the defective teachings of dogmas." (PNS-9) So all such types of division only creates a black stain on the humanity. Never does it hold the seed of greatness; just it places one more hurdle in unifying humanity. WHAT IS THE SOLUTION: AROUSE SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS So then what is the solution. What is one to do when one knows that the ruling body is in shambles and going against all codes of justice and morality. What is one to do when the main structure is wrought with corrupt activities and the lust for power. In that case, according to Baba, there is one and only one option: Consciousness raising. Teaching and discussing and educating ourselves about the real ideals of AM will bring about the needed change. By this way people will rally around a collective ideal and not run in disparate directions. And it will put tremendous pressure on the ruling body to either step down or change their ways. By remembering our common goal and by infusing the mind in ideological endeavors-- not political-minded activities-- then it is sure we can lift our AMPS out of its current slump and build that great monolithic structure. And the key behind it all is arousing social consciousness in AM. This is done by doing more and more sadhana, discussing Baba's teachings, and applying His guidelines to our daily life, both in the individual and collective sphere. Fueled by such an approach we are sure to create true unity within our AMPS. Baba says, "Create a great social consciousness...In all spheres of human existence...humanity should live collectively. You should live in unison. You should vibrate together to the same music. You should move in a common psychic flow. You should fight collectively against your common enemies. Unitedly you should face all problems, mundane and supra-mundane. In a word, you must reflect the spirit of harmonious collective living in conformity with the spirit of the Vedic mantra Samgacchadhvam sam'vadadhvam." (NKS: Disc 26) Baba says, "Without arousing social consciousness, it is next to impossible to bring about social welfare." (NKS-26)

WHY DOES THIS NOT HAPPEN

When according to Baba, when social consciousness is the only solution for building a healthy AMPS, then why is this not being done to the fullest extent. Some are certainly involved in this noble endeavour yet others are make one after another sub-faction. What is the reason. Firstly, a few are driven to grab the power in which case they are eager to take advantage of the weak state of AMPS and build a separate structure. So blinded by their lust for control, a few knowingly start their own subfaction or faction. Secondly, dividing is easier than uniting. Knowingly or unknowingly some think they can make things better by re-inventing the wheel through their own structure. In their naivete or cunningness, what results however is more division. Thirdly, to create true unity, patience is needed and political ambitions must be totally cast aside. One must be totally involved in the high ideal of AM ideology and not any second or third motive. Some leaders of sub-factions have not an iota interest in this hence they are bound to splinter away. Even then, none should worry or fret, because there is an abundance of good margiis and acaryas in AM who are distinctly interested in following Baba and creating a singular AM society. And as people realise how by making their own training programs they are in fact making a new sub-faction, then they will give up that course of action and instead wholly involve in the grand ideal of consciousness raising, the result of which will be magnificent: A united Ananda Marga.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace, He has infused within us a vision to build a new humanity. Bound together with one heart and our love for Him, we are sure to be successful in this grand endeavour. Baba says, "The humans of today are possessed of spirited intellect and accomplished wisdom. They are keen to advance with rapid step shattering the shackles of dogmas. They will no longer be entrapped by the illusion of opportunism. The rays of the crimson dawn of a new humanity on the eastern horizon have started weaving textures of colours on their eyelids and in the subtle recesses of their minds. As for those who have been dreaming of keeping humanity imprisoned by dogmas, their days are numbered; their blissful dreams are being shattered to pieces. I call upon all enlightened people and say: 'Go ahead with courage. The humanity has been awaiting you. Establish it in the excellence and grandeur of glory'." (A'nanda Va'nii #53) Namaskar, Gagan

Note 1: WHO IS WHO

There is so much to say about who is doing what in AMPS these days and these facts you all know. Even then here is a slight sampling. Of course any ruling regime that fails to follow Baba's teachings is just one corrupt form of leadership and their days are numbered. If any group creates their own structure and their own parallel programs then they are making more and more division. Even if they brag how their so-called publications or Prabhat Samgiita programs are supposedly better, they are doing far more harm by infusing a divisive tendency within humanity. We all know who such people are. Then if there is another team that preaches "social consciousness raising" but does so under the guise of blatant racism mixed with political ambition. Then obviously their path is doomed for destruction. And without citing any names we all know who such people are. Then if there is a Didi or Dada in a particular locale or sector who does not leave AMPS per se but just does everything in their own way not recognising the greater AMPS structure, then they are also creating divisiveness. And what little so-called goodness they are doing is vastly overshadowed by their egotistical ploy of creating one sub-faction within our AMPS structure. Such persons neither have the courage to break away nor the awareness of how to bring welfare in our Marga. We all know who such persons are. Then if any committee or team decides to take on various functions of the organisation like acarya training, tattvika trainging, or pracaraka training, then once again this will only lead to the division of AMPS. What may have started as a simple plan will lead to a massive split based on different political leaders and competing programs. And there are many more scenarios as well. So we should all look at things anew and take a careful look at our own activities and ensure we are not falling into any type of factionalism, sub-factionalism or anything derivation there of. Ours is the blessed march towards true unity and by His grace & armed with His AM ideals we are bound to get success.

****************************************** Jada (Crude) Samadhi

Baba says, "Suppose, one is a great yogii but if there is no love for his goal, then those suspended propensities are finally converted into crude matter, that is, the subtle human existence becomes like iron, it becomes like wood, it becomes like sand. What a deterioration! What a downfall! This particular type of yoga where a yogii does not bear love for the Supreme Entity is called 'hat'ha yoga' in Sam'skrta. It is dangerous for the human elevation." (AV-2, p.18)

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