WHY POLITICAL, SPORTS & FILMY HEROES ARE FAMOUS,
NOT ANANDA MARGIIS
Namaskar,
In our human society, there is no dearth of "celebrities". In politics,
Hollywood / Bollywood, and sports etc, there are all kinds of heroes who
are famous throughout the globe. They are thought of as being great -
magnificent. They are revered all over and receive huge attention.
People like: Britney Spears, the late Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan,
Madonna, etc. And not just in the pop industry, rock star politicians
like Sarkozy and Obama and top capitalists like Bill Gates fall in this
category as well. Then of course there are others like the late Princess
Diana.
All the aforementioned stars are in the limelight and receive tremendous
public adulation 24 / 7, irregardless of what they are doing.
Yet hardly anyone knows of Baba and A'nanda Ma'rga. Taraka Brahma lived
on this earth for nearly 70 years, and hardly anyone is aware of His
arrival.
Our esteemed acaryas and margii brothers and sisters are working
tirelessly to uplift humanity yet they too are basically unknown to the
general public.
What is the reason behind this? Why are self-engrossed stars embraced by
the general public whereas selfless, well-wishers of humanity are
overlooked by society.
THE FORMULA FOR ADULATION
The operative factor at work here is the level of the public
consciousness and the common psyche. People can only appreciate what
they are able to understand. And understanding demands closeness.
For instance, one can only speak fervently of the greatness of Parama
Purusa if and only if one has come close to Him. Without coming mentally
close, then one cannot recognise His grandeur.
But to come mentally close one must be somewhat elevated - and at
present the common public is low. This is not a criticism of society,
just the fact.
That is why we see people expressing unbridled adulation towards stars
dominated by crude, animalistic propensities. Because when the general
public themselves are enthralled with sex, money, alcohol and lowly
desires then their heroes are going to be those (a) who either personify
those tendencies (Madonna, Bill Gates, & Britney Spears etc) or (b) who
present themselves as being slightly higher than the public mentality
(Sarkozy, Obama etc).
Those who more elevated will never be appreciated by the common people.
That is Baba's explicit teaching (12 Dec '78)
The entire situation can be likened to 4 of our acaryas going to the
zoo. Then those animals are not going to revere those Wts because they
are meditation teachers and performing all kinds of service and welfare
activities for both humans and animals alike. Those animals - due to
their lower mental standard - are totally unable to conceive of what
those acaryas are. Hence they are not going to become excited when those
acaryas arrive on site. Whereas when the zoo keeper comes with food then
those animals will become quite enthralled.
Or look at it this way: Simple village folk do not revere those who
invented the micro-chip or the space rocket.
Why? Because it demands a certain calibre of mind to recognise real
greatness.
Thus when the public mentality is relatively low - i.e. tamasik in this
materialistic era - then the people whom they revere as being great are
not really great. Just those famous people happen to appeal to the
public standard.
Alluring people onto the path of animality is relatively easy and one
can become an instant celebrity overnight, whereas benevolently bringing
people onto the path of divinity is difficult work and few will be
interested.
NOT GREAT PEOPLE
All too often those people who bask in public recognition and fame
hanker after such praise. In the case of politicians they say what the
public wants to hear and in the case of pop stars they represent the
glamor that the public also desires. Such so-called personalities drink
up public adulation, seek of ways to garner more, and think of
themselves as great.
Here though, Baba clearly says that such famous people are not at all
great.
Baba says, "The person develops a lustful attachment for some external
words of praise, and thus becomes a slave to those words and can never
be a truly great person...They can never become great people. It is bad
to be a slave to worldly words of praise." (AV-5)
Indeed we see time and again how Hollywood heroes, sports stars and
politicians simply dance to the tune of public approval. Everything they
do is geared toward achieving more fame and notoriety. But this is
nothing but their weakness of mind, not their greatness.
Whereas the true well-wishers of society will always do what is right
and never concern themselves with public opinion.
Baba says, "Those people are great who harbour no biases and who behave
rationally both with those who abuse them give them pain and with those
who give them happiness. Such people don’t harbour any feelings of
enmity towards anybody and take no-one as their enemy. They remain the
same in pleasure or pain whether they have a positive reputation or
negative reputation. They are unaffected and unassailed in all
circumstances of praise or criticism, pain or pleasure. They attach no
importance whatsoever to any of these things. They are meaningless for
such people." (AV-5)
Thus real greatness lies in living for a high ideal; it is not and
indeed cannot be measured by public approval or fame.
Rather Baba points out that what the common people deem to be great is
not at all great. That is half the story. The other half is that the
general society does not have the requisite quality of mind to see real
greatness - even when it is standing right there in front of them.
Baba says, 'The common people misunderstand great people who act on
their behalf and for their welfare, or even if they understand them,
they do not give them their support." (HS-2)
Hence what the common people think to be great is not great and when
greatness is right next to them then they are totally oblivious that it
is there.
MUST NOT GET DISCOURAGED
Knowing the formula then for achieving fame and social recognition, no
one in AM should then get frustrated because the the public does not
recognise or support us. Our duty is to please Baba and serve Him -
living according to His mandates.
100,000 might attend a U2 concert or a sporting event, and only 3 people
may show up to attend one of our talks on meditatio. Even then we should
not be concerned and think that we have failed in some way. The fact
that a few people attend our AM event is not indicative of our ability
or quality, but rather reflects the interest and mindset of the people.
We must always remember that the ideal and message of our Ananda Marga
is far above the public standard. They are unable to recognise it for
what it is. That is why so few attend our programs - there is no second
or third explanation.
Indeed it would be of concern if suddenly we were embraced by the public
and written up in magazines and honoured etc. That would mean we had
fallen from our ideal and had somehow gotten wrapped up in lesser
activities.
In this day and age, people only run after crude Hollywood movies,
liquor, tall talkers, McDonald's and sensual pleasures - not the dharmic
teachings of sadvipras or Mahasambhuti. Thus it would be of concern if
we were suddenly part of that craze.
The standard of AM is high - far above. The proof being that even though
yoga has become so popular with the masses as tens of millions attend
classes everyday, yet still that is not translating into huge numbers of
new people in AM. If we get even a few new people who are serious about
Baba and Ananda Marga then that is a lot.
So we must not be concerned with numbers or popularity. That is not
where our value lies. Our worth to society lies in upholding the tenets
of AM.
Baba says, "The characteristic of good people is to fight against
injustice, to firmly adhere to truth and righteousness, to protect the
helpless and fight against all evil persons." (AFPS-5)
We should always remember that life is not a popularity contest - a
competition to garner the praise of others.
BABA'S PERSONAL EXAMPLE
As Baba Himself has said on numerous occasions, we should not bend and
sway according to public reaction. The public is generally low-minded
and fickle.
Again this is not meant as a snub against the common people. Just it is
His liila that He has designed it that way.
So we must always bear in mind that public acceptance and fame is not
our aim and indeed Baba Himself placed little, if any, value on that.
Baba says, "You see now that Ananda Marga’s fame is on the rise. What
should we do? We must maintain our mental balance and remain indifferent
to both praise and slander, to both joy and sorrow. A rich person once
abused Lord Buddha. He remained unperturbed. By refusing to accept the
abuse, he returned the slander. When I was in jail, I was subjected to a
lot of calumny by some people and these very people now praise me. But I
was indifferent to all their slander, and now I do not want their
adulation." (AV-1)
Always the public barometer is going up and down. Because the public
standard is low and they become easily swayed in either direction.
And the overarching idea is that the public can express appreciation
only according to their own understanding. So when the public is
low-minded we should not expect them to start singing our praises.
Rather we should know ahead of time that they are going to worship the
likes Britney Spears, Obama, and Tom Cruise etc.
Then there is no chance we will become dejected, deluded, or frustrated
- rather unaffected by public praise and censure we will move ahead in
our dharmic works and devotional practices.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace He has blessed us with eyes to see. We should not care
about public opinion and look only towards Him. Then we will keep a
balanced mind and be ready to carry out His orders and dharmic teachings.
Focusing on Him will lead us to greatness and the Goal. We are to serve
and please Him. That will bring welfare to all. And while we may not get
the respect and praise of the common people, in the due course everyone
will pay heed to what we have done on this earth, by His grace. That is
also His teaching.
Baba says, 'You should remember that those who are the actual pioneers,
the real vanguard of the society, are always a microscopic minority, but
it is they who are destined to be victorious. Those who once opposed, or
are now opposing or will oppose in the future, will in the future admit:
“Yes, we are now driving our vehicle safely and comfortably along the
very path which that vanguard once opened by clearing the jungle.” This
means that those who cleared the obstacles in the beginning will later
be recognized as pioneers. The funny thing is this, that people do not
give recognition at the time it is due. This is the natural law." (12
Dec '78)
Namaskar,
Gurucharan
Note 1: THIS TREND ALSO PRESENT IN AM
Just as the common people are unable to comprehend the greatness of
Ananda Marga etc. It also has to be noted that we have a similar problem
in AM. Many half-margiis or pseudo margiis cannot recognise the calibre
of those who really do follow Sixteen Points. Such half-margiis
complain, "Why are you so radical in your approach - you should be more
moderate and not so strict in following Baba." Such half-margiis who
complain like this are the same ones who watch pop movies etc. They were
sleeping when margiis rights were stripped away and when Baba's books
were being distorted and they tossed stones on true margiis who pointed
out these wrongdoings. Finally such half-margiis try to turn AM into a
pseudo-progressive organisation by advocating gay rights and other
social issues that run contraty to the ideals of AM. All because they do
not have the mind to understand Baba's teachings. So the phnomenon
prevalent in the general society is also present in AMPS, to some or
more degree.
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Sign of Devotees
Baba says, "When undergoing any trouble then some human beings think
that they are shelterless. But you should always remember that in this
world at any given moment you are never shelterless. Because when Parama
Purusa is with you then how can you be shelterless. So there is no
reason for any feeling of helplessness or fear in any circumstances.
Because when He is with you the strongest and mightiest force of this
universe is with you. Then what is there to be afraid of? If you
encourage fear complex it means you have the forgotten the fact that
Parama Purusa is with you. So those who are sadhakas, those who are
devotees, those who are adherents of the path of dharma, they will
always be fearless. This is the quality of a sadhaka: That he is
fearless. Why is he fearless? Because he knows that the most powerful
entity, Parama Purusa, is with him. So there is a loving relation
between devotees and Parama Purusa-- their relation is based on love.
Because of this truth the devotee is never afraid. He will never be
afraid of anyone and under no circumstances will he be perturbed.
Becoming paranoid is not the sign of devotees. Parama Purusa always
remains with you and HE always watches over His devotees. He is always
seeing how He can save devotees from any and all difficulties. So when
in this loving way Parama Purusa is concerned about you, then why will
you be disturbed. You should be fearless. There is no reason for any
sort of paranoia in the mind of devotees." [SS-16 (H), p. 83, DMC Agra
19 Feb 84]
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