From: "Acintya Deva"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Victory Over "Information Age"
Baba
"Toma'r khunjiya' gechi Prabhu sudure bahirloke..." #4526
Purport:
Baba, I wasted my time searching You in the external world-- At far
away external places. That was all my misunderstanding. Due to my
ignorance I remained engaged in searching You in caves, temples, jagrtis,
different buildings, tiirthas...Jamalpur...Tiljala...and in the rivers. All
these external places I was searching for You. I wasted a lot of time in
this negative pursuit. In a confused state of my mind I was thinking that
with the capital of knowledge and understanding of scriptures I will get
hold of You. By external ostentations, using colorful dress like monks, I
will get samadhi. And people will praise me about my high devotion. This
way I wasted my time. And my heart remained ever-dry like a desert. No
peace inside. Because of my crude state of mind, I did not try to search
inside with the feeling of love and devotion. Now I feel repentance that I
wasted my time in all these useless pursuits.
I also thought that I will perform penance by different rituals. And
I will tie You with the strength of my degree diploma or worldly knowledge,
power and prestige. On that very basis I will qualify to have Your grace.
In ignorance I was thinking that with the strength of money I will
purchase virtue. When I will give donations, then people will appreciate
and people will think that I am a great dharmika. And with this way, I will
get Your closeness and realize You. So the cream of my life is wasted in
this way. I did not search You inside my heart. So because of that I did
not get You. Now I feel repentance for that...
== ATTAINING VICTORY OVER "INFORMATION-AGE" ==
Namaskar,
These days in this ultra modern age of communication & technology-- in this
"information age"-- there is a huge volume of material floating around
related with knowledge and learning.
Beyond any doubt, there is an overwhelming amount of things to read, learn,
and understand. The biggest question that one is confronted with then is
which materials to read and understand first, and which should be last.
In a nutshell: As Ananda Margiis what should be the priority of reading and
learning in our day-to-day life? Which materials should we emphasize most.
By Baba's grace He has given the exact answer in His Senior Acarya Guideline.
ALL SORTS OF COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, FACTS, & FIGURES
Every day we come across television and radio news, websites, as well as
magazines, newspapers and so many more things. This is mostly regarding
news from the general society. Much of this is pop-culture related or
so-called broadcasts from the powers-that-be. Then of course there is
a fast growing community of bloggers who project their own thoughts on
nearly everything under the sun.
Plus there are innumerable books and manuals related with our student and
professional lives. These things are piling up more and more as our lives
become increasingly technical-- with one certification or diploma needed
after another.
Then of course with Ananda Marga there are also many things to read and see.
But the hours and days are limited and the amount of things to read are
much more.
SO MANY AM BOOKS
Who does not know that there are hundreds of Baba's books. And still more
many more are in queue for printing. And when counting all the books
written by Dadas and Didis, then that number itself is also quite large.
So the same problem comes again and again: What to read first? Because the
days are short and life itself is even shorter because nobody knows when
death is going to come.
In this situation what should proper human beings do?
BABA'S ANSWER FROM SENIOR ACARYA DIARY
After discussing all this, some valuable information was passed along that
in the Acarya Diary Baba has given the unique instruction that first we should
learn and study the various aspects of AM philosophy-- social and
spiritual-- and certain related aspects also. Indeed all these Marga
teachings should be learned and understood properly. That is the first
priority.
This is how to combat the onslaught of material in this "information age".
Then with a pointed mind and a clear-cut vision one should go through the
writings of other people. Not vice versa.
Because by first studying Baba's books, in that case only will one not
fall into the chasm of dogma. Otherwise if one starts reading any other
writings first they will get swayed in that direction. This is the common
malady. And that is problematic.
Because without knowing the perfect teachings of dharma from the beginning,
then the mind will naively accept the wrong things as being right. Actually
that is what is happening these days in the common mass. People are always
confused and misguided.
WHAT ABOUT READING BOOKS BY OUR ACARYAS
The next question was raised about the possibility of reading Dada's books.
Because for a while, our various Dadas and Didis were writing about Baba's
AM teachings and their own spiritual thoughts. Nowadays they have mostly
stopped doing this for reasons best known to them. Even then their books
are still floating around, and some innocent people think that if we do not
have time to read Baba's books then why not at least we should read Dadas'
books instead. Because they are more easy to manage.
This is the naive mentality of some readers. In response various margiis
told significant things.
The conclusion was that surely in some Dada's books there are a few good
aspects-- especially on the point of history etc-- but when it comes to
analysis or interpretation of Baba's teachings, then those books are mostly
amalgamated with dogmatic and incorrect things.
And that misinformation will be enough to pollute one's understanding and
send any sadhaka far off the mark. About this, so many references can be
given; but here is one striking example.
AN IRREFUTABLE CASE IN POINT
One dada in his book has written that to make the Pratik Baba took 30
minutes and that was the longest time for any of His projects.
But after confirming with Baba's direct teaching it was found that this
cannot be true. To do such things Baba does not take any time. Because for
Parama Purusa these worldly tasks are effortless. That means it does not
take Him any time to execute those works. Everything is in His mind. This
entire creation is His thought projection. Whatever way He thinks then it
comes to be reality. It is as simple as that.
For greater clarity and proof, here following is Baba's exact teaching on
this very point.
"Sama plus'in'a' s'ama mashakena
Same na'gena sama ebhistribhih lakaeh"
Baba says, "Does He need to look with greater care or attention at the
mammoth than to the white ant. No, He pays the same care and attention and
time to the white ant as with the mammoth. And to think about the entire
universe does He need to take more time or more strength? No, as He cares
about the mosquito and white ant, in that same time He cares about the
entire universe. It does not need any special effort for Him to manage
tribhuvan, the entire universe-- the three worlds." (Dharmamahacakra,
Pravacan, Sunday 29 May 1988)
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN
The conclusion is that for Parama Purusa it does not take any special
efforts to design the Pratik-- or do any other work in this mundane world.
Because it is all His thought projection. No task is "more difficlt" or
more "time consuming" than any other task.
Hence the Dada who has written in his book about how long it took for Baba
to make the Pratik, he may be affected by someone else's dogmatic beliefs.
Because it may be possible that some Ram, Shyam, Tom, Dick, or Harry
conveyed to Dada this dogmatic idea, that it took Baba 30 minutes time to
design the Pratik. Otherwise how did this faulty idea come in his mind. And
the worst part is that he printed it in his book-- thereby further spreading
this false notion.
BABA'S GOLDEN RULE
Here the central idea is that Baba's golden teaching of Acarya Diary is
that first one should understand His direct teachings of aptka vakya / AM
ideology. And this education should go on for some time-- combined with
sincere sadhana. Because without proper sadhana one cannot understand His
books.
This dual process will give one and solid base of understanding and a mind
that can understand what is dharmic and what is not.
And then, only after that, should one spend time reading other materials.
Not vice versa.
Baba says, "A'pta vakya or absolute knowledge is true and beneficial for
all people is all ages and in all countries...The books in Ananda Marga
philosophy are all absolute knowledge." (PNS-18, chap 3)
Namaskar,
Acintya
Note 1: ABOUT DADA'S BOOK
In his book 'Travels with the Mystic Master' (aka 'Who's Afraid of the
Tantric Guru'), Dada attributed the following quotation to Baba.
'You may be interested to know that the work which occupied my effort for
the longest time was the invention of our Pratik. It took me thirty minutes.'
When in fact, being omniscient and omnipotent, everything Baba thinks and
does occurs in a flash. This much every sadhaka understands.
So the above so-called quotation of Baba got printed in Dada's book, and by
comparing that with Baba's teachings it shows how different wrong &
contradictory things can get included in Dadas' books.
That is the case with so many of the books written by our acaryas like
Didi Ananda Mitra, Dada Bhaskarananda, and the list goes on and on.
Write the network for more details or refer to:
http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2008/04/which-dadas-book-to-read.html
Hence best is to read Baba's books directly.
Note 2: THE BOOK SHOULD BE FIXED-- OR....
Already the above mentioned Dada's book is in it's 2nd printing, or maybe
even more than that. The point being that in any subsequent edition such
misnomers should be handled appropriately by either correcting them or
removing them from the book entirely. That is up to the discretion of the
author.
Note 3: MANY AFFECTED BY THIS DISEASE
Unfortunately, in this "information age" and era of fake yoga, so many
indulge in reading and studying things other than AM ideology. And
tragically what they study sits in their brain and comes out either in
their sadhana or in their talk. For example, in our unit, there is one Dada
who is constantly on the internet reading millions of articles and or
visiting other ashrams-- he has both of these habits. His brain is filled
with these things. And the worst part is that after dharmacakra when he
stands up to give a talk, then in one stream all these false views get
expressed. Either he is propagating false yoga asanas as given by various
gurus and yoga groups or he is talking about pseudo-culture music etc. Or
who knows what will come out of his mouth. All because his mind is immersed
in those things-- not AM.
Please understand, in personal life the margiis in our unit do not
dislike this Dada, to the contrary he is well liked. That is why we pity
him so much because he is an AM acarya but he has nothing about AM or Baba
in his mind. That is the tragedy. We are trying to help him but it is not
easy because once one gets habituated to reading all that junk, it is not
easy to quit.
That is why when he gets up to speak, we all feel like he is just wasting
our time. Even then we are taking further efforts to help him. So hopefully
soon it will be alright.
Note 4: NOT A QUESTION OF YEARS
A few margiis think that since they were initiated 30 years ago then they
need not read or study Baba's books. This is another faulty notion. Because
they think they "know it all" already. But most of the time it is found
that such senior margiis know almost nothing. They do not grasp even the
most basic fundamentals of AM ideology. So this is another problem. Here
the only remedy is that with a humble heart one should forget their
so-called seniority and instead sincerely read Baba's words with the
feeling, "I know not". Then, and only then, will one be able to properly
learn Baba's teachings.
Note 5: ABOUT THE QUOTED PRAVACAN
Dharmamahacakra Pravacan of Sunday 29 May 1988: This was transcribed
directly from the tape from the Hindi and Bengali sections as during this
discourse Baba spoke in multiple languages.
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Importance of Padma'sana
Parama Purus'a BABA says, "Padma'sana [lotus posture] is just like a lotus
in full bloom. Just as the roots and stem of the lotus remain under the
water and only the leaves and flowers float about it-- and although it is
born in the mind it sustains its love for the stars-- in the same way
people sitting in this lotus posture and remaining in the world, can keep
their minds above their mundane environment. That is why on the path of
sa'dhana' this posture has tremendous importance." (NSS, '85, p. 241)
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