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Good Company

From: "Will Chaucey" To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Good Company Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:11:25 +1000 Baba "Ga'n geye ja'bo, shono na' shono tav iccha'..." P.S. 2305 Purport: Baba, I will go on singing Your song-- Your glory. It's up to You whether You will grace me by listening to these songs or not. But with these songs, in my deep contemplation, I will generate divine vibrations, by Your grace-- and go on serving You. Baba with my deep yearning I am calling You again and again without getting any response-- You are not paying heed to my call. By avoiding me maybe You are thinking that I will not sing Your song anymore and that I will remain quiet. And that in frustration, I will give up the hope of getting You. And that I will no longer engage in the flow of those divine tunes and melodies, which is inundating the vast sky, by Your grace. And that I will not utilize these melodious treasures in my practical life to go closer to You. Baba, with the strength of knowledge, wisdom, intellect, and worldly attributions, Your depth cannot be measured-- nobody can realise You. But by surrendering that very unit "I" which already belongs to You, and with the divine sweetness of singing Your name I will surely get You by Your grace. Baba, I sing my songs only for You--to serve You, to please You. Please be gracious and keep me on Your lap. Note: In the above song, the sadhaka has deep love and a strong yearning for Parama Purusa. So when Parama Purusa does not respond to his call in the way that he desires, then the sadhaka makes one loving accusation towards Parama Purusa. So actually that is not an accusation per se, but rather an intimate type of loving expression. And Baba is approving that devotees have the right to do like this and that this loving way of communication is quite natural.
== GOOD COMPANY ==
Namaskar, Baba has graciously blessed with all the needed guidelines for living a spiritual life-- plus He has pointedly alerted us about all the pitfalls as well. In this dual regard, company plays a big role. As we know, the friends we keep and the people around us play a highly significant role in our human growth. By remaining in the midst of noble-minded people then the mind moves on the path of vidya whereas when surrounded by undesirable company then the opposite occurs. This fact we have all seen and realised but even then sometimes a reminder can be helpful. Here then are some of Baba's key guidelines in this regard. Baba says, "A good person or a sa'dhaka needs proper maintenance, for in a world of constant change, care must be taken that the change be always towards the better or the higher. Keeping good company is essential for this positive development. While bad company strengthens the bondage of the soul, good company is conducive to liberation and salvation. The keeping of good company is conducive to liberation and is known as satsaunga in Sanskrit. When satsaunga is followed, either physically or mentally or both, the subconscious mind, and thus the conscious mind, are charged with better and higher influences. This change will move the follower forward towards higher and better goals. The alternative is asatsaunga, the keeping of bad company, which leads one into greater and greater bondage." (AV-33) Thus according to Baba good company or satsaunga leads to liberation whereas bad company pushes one under more and more bondage. And here Baba explains in very colourful language and clear-cut examples about this entire phenomenon. Baba says, "Humans will have to move ahead by carefully watching those with whom they will associate. What is the result of keeping good company? By spending time with good persons, a deep impression is imprinted on the mind, causing the desire to be good, to rise in the mind. On the other hand, if one chooses to associate with drunkards, a desire will eventually come in the mind, what is the harm if I drink a little wine? The same sort of thing will happen if one lives with thieves." "To give an example, a person is standing beside a tea-stall. There the flavour of the tea floats to the nose, and then the person says, 'Bring a cup of tea here, too'. In this incident, the flavour of the tea affects the mind. If that person had not remained near the tea stall, the smell would not have reached the nose and perhaps that person would not have taken tea for two or three days. This is the influence that association has on the mind." "Hence humans should choose their company very carefully, for, a mistake in this will cause them to repent their whole life. Even parents who are not good should either send their children to live in a student hostel or keep them with some of their relatives who are good. One must be very strict in this. In Tantra it is said:
"Satsaungena bhavenmuktir asatsaungesu bandhanam". Tasmat Asatsaungamudran'am' Sa'mudra Parikiirtita."
"The Tantrik practice of Mudra' Sadhana means to associate with good human beings in order to attain liberation...Hence good association results in salvation and bad association results in bondage. Hence evil company must be avoided." (Karma Yoga) That is why we should always try and keep in the contact good company--with Ananda Margiis. As this will bring us along the path of the divine. Here below Baba neatly explains how that good company lessens one's radius with the Lord and bad company pulls one farther from the Lord. That is the primary difference between satsaunga and asatsaunga. Baba says, "So while selecting company, you should be careful whether its discourses, its activities, its plans or programmes are to decrease the distance between you and your Lord. This is Satsaunga, good company. Otherwise it is Asatsaunga. Even intellectual discussions of a high order may not be Satsaunga if it has got nothing to do with lessening the distance between you and your Lord, you and your Goal. That type of intellectual discourse, in my language is called intellectual extravaganza. Baoddhika Amitavyayita´. Satsaunga and Asatsaunga. When it goads you on the path of the Lord, it is Satsaunga. From this moment, you should always try to have Satsaunga." (AV-14) Namaskar, Vinay
Note: CONSTANT VIGILANCE IS NECESSARY
Please excuse me, but sometimes people fall into the trap of thinking that being around Ananda Margiis is enough. And generally this is true since usually as Ananda Margiis we sing kiirtan together, do sadhana, and collectively engage in service projects. Even then sometimes it can happen that there can be a few margiis together but, their company is not satsaunga. Because for one reason or another their talk might be about pseudo-culture movies, or they may be just involved in rajasik activities like shopping or skiing. Or sometimes it can been seen that we travelling together in the car then they will listen to pop music or the like. And sometime margiis just talk about too many mundane topics. All these things can happened. So 100% of the time we should be vigilant to ensure that the company we are keeping is satsaunga and we should ensure that as individuals we are adding positively to the collective flow and keeping all our social interactions sentient and Baba-centered. As this is the retreat season and many are in transit to these blissful functions, here then are some good topics to discuss will travelling: how to better follow 16 Points, Baba dreams, the top three things about spiritual life, favourite aspect of Ananda Marga, how to remember Baba during one's daily routine, or any number of topics which create a sweet and harmonious vibration in the mind.
******************************************** Love For All
Baba says, "The sense of differentiation and distinction are of no value to devotees. For them, all become one, all discriminations disappear. Only human beings can have this type of mentality and that is why they are superior to all other beings." (AV-7, p.12)
********************************************

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