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Your Gut Feeling

Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:15:09 To: am-global@earthlink.net Subject: Your Gut Feeling From: Jiivendra Baba "Andha tamasa' sariya' giya'che, arun' prabha't ha'se..." - P.S. 2340 Purport: The cimmerian darkness has disappeared; the crimson dawn is smiling today. In my mental plate He is emanating His divine effulgence with the expression of His divine love. I am floating in His grace. Now there is none which I feel is alien; everyone is mine, my own. This entire universe-- flora and fauna, mobile and immobile-- everything is my own. Among this entire expressed world I only see Him, Parama Purusa Baba. This creation is nothing but His divine play. I do not go to any holy land or to any external places in search of Him. And I also do not observe any external rituals or penance in order to get Him & have His grace. What way He has taught me to cultivate devotion for Him, in that way I love Him in the deep corner of my mind and heart. There He always resides in my mental lotus in Guru cakra. There is the attraction of love and His grace. I only yearn to become one with Him...
== YOUR GUT FEELING ==
Namaskar, A person's "gut feeling" has a huge impact on how they interact with the world. It is a person's basic manner of defining themselves and their relations with others. This gut feeling, more than anything else, affects our social milieu or social climate. These days the world over is irked by so many ills and difficulties. Various leaders and activists are trying to create change. But the tools they employ - political policies, rules & regulations, police force, military offensives, laws etc - are mostly impotent compared with one's gut feeling. This letter explores how our gut feeling on life, a.k.a. social outlook, has the ability to bring both devastation and destruction as well as peace and harmony. We should understand how our social outlook impacts society, and examine the prevailing social perspective(s) of the day, how it can be changed, and the social outlook of Ananda Marga. This is perhaps our greatest tool for bringing our human society onto the right path.
ANANDA MARGA: WHAT IS OUR GUT FEELING?
In various discourses Baba outlines the six factors that most affect the development of our human society. Sometimes these are referred to as the six spokes of the social cycle. Social outlook is the fourth factor. Baba says, 'The fourth one is social outlook. All living creatures in this manifest universe are the children of the same Cosmic Entity. They are the progeny of the same Supreme Progenitor. Naturally they are bound in a thread of fraternal relations. This is the central spirit. A socio-economic theory is of no use but for this fraternal feeling. The implementation of this theory is an impossibility without sa'dhana'." (AFPS-6) In our Ananda Marga, our social outlook is based on the principles of neo-humanism. We see everyone on this earth as brother and sister and feel all are part of our universal cosmic family. That is the our gut feeling. We have developed this outlook by being Ananda Margiis: Studying Baba's teachings, singing kiirtana, doing sadhana, serving others, and keeping satsaunga etc. At the same time it has to be noted that the above is our ideal - what we strive for but do not always achieve. Why? Because the prevailing sentiments and philosophy of the land severely influences one's perspective. For this reason there is a variance even within Ananda Margiis. Our views on homosexuality differ from one another and even our style of dancing kiirtan differs from one sector to the next. And there are so many other variances. Why? Because even though neo-humanism is our ideal, still people are affected by local ways of doing - including pseudo-culture and social dogmas. This is examined in greater detail further down in this letter.
EVERYBODY HAS THEIR OWN OUTLOOK
Actually, there are so many ways people view the world; all have their own outlook. Suppose there is a cow. Those from the Semitic religions will choose to eat it; Hindus will refer to it as mother cow and worship it; others will just think it is an ordinary animal and keep it for its milk. This variance occurs because of one's outlook, or gut feeling. It changes due to local customs and philosophies. Here is another example. If an elderly man is walking down the street, then those watching him will view him differently. Some may think he is a burden to society; some may think he is a grandfather; others may think he is decrepit; a sadhaka will think he is the manifestation of Parama Purusa; some may think he is a wealthy retired banker; and still others will think he is totally useless. Just as there are so many ways of looking at the elderly man and the aforementioned cow, there are also various perspectives of viewing the world.
FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD: WHERE DOES GUT FEELING COME FROM
As noted above, as Ananda Margiis, we basically view the world according to the eyes of neo-humanism. But not everyone else operates from this perspective. Around the globe, people develop their own outlook from their various interactions and institutions: materialism, capitalism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc. Those in the Semitic religions view the world as their playground, wherein everything has been placed on this earth by their god for their own enjoyment. To that end, they have license to do anything and everything. Baba says, "At one time people were told that this world is for human enjoyment only, so the existence of all the plants, of all the birds and animals, in the world is intended merely to provide objects of enjoyment for human beings. Their hopes and aspirations, their intense desire to live, their pains and pleasures, their affectionate family or community lives are simply without value. However much a baby goat may wish to live, the main consideration is how much meat that [goat] carries on its frame. This defective philosophy has made people ruthlessly violent." (NSS, Disc: 14) Hence, a Muslim will kill a goat without hesitation - they will be eager to do so. As easily as we Ananda Margiis will say namaskar to one another, such Muslims will cut the throat of a goat. Because that is their way of doing. And indeed most of the dogmatic religions have their animal of choice to kill and eat. And of course some within those religions feel that only they have the right to live on this earth. Baba says, "Some philosophies have taught their own [religious or caste] communities, “The members of this community are the favourite children of Parama Purus'a – others are cursed and unwanted.” Due to this defective teaching the people of one community have even considered the destruction of the members of another community as an act of virtue, and stained the stony altar of human society with the blood of innocent people." (NSS, Disc: 14) Thus due to their outlook, human groups can enslave, attack and kill one another. The whole concept of jihad is based on one's social outlook. That is their motivating factor. They are internally convinced of the need to lash out in the name of their religion, regardless of any laws or legalities that state otherwise. Hence the rash of car bombings, vicious attacks, militant training camps, and suicide bombers etc that we see today. Religion alone however is not the sole culprit in this equation. In the materialistic and capitalistic west, selfishness and the exploiter-exploited relation run rampant. The US & Co think the world's entire resources are meant to sustain their way of life and that those who go to the US, as well as those living overseas, should became the labor force for the US economic machinery. This outlook is most common in the west. By this way, millions and millions become living skeletons as the wealthy westerners fatten themselves to no end. So each and every land, belief system and community has their designated outlook. And that outlook or gut feeling, more than anything else, affects how they behave in the world. This has caused untold suffering, depravity, and violence on this earth.
MORE POWERFUL THAN LAWS & LEGAL STATUTES
The import of one's inherent gut feeling is not to be minimized. Laws, social policies, court injunctions, and political decrees all pale in comparison to one's gut feeling. Drugs may be illegal, yet certain sections of society chase after those illegal substances as those are part of their sub-culture. The same can be said of prostitution, gang violence, white collar crime like insider trading on Wall Street, and so many other actions. Those things may be illegal etc, but people chase after it anyway. Because that is what they see around them and that is what they have learned how to do. Hence, social outlook - more than any other pillar in society - influences one's mode of conduct.
WHY REGIONAL VARIANCE
We have to remember that social outlook varies from place to place even within the same social or religious group. Because people's thoughts are affected by the prevailing philosophy and atmosphere of that region. Baba says, "Just as individual human beings have their distinctive characteristics, similarly, groups of people brought up in various geographical environments, historical eras, or cultural atmospheres, acquire their own group characteristics, too. Later those characteristics inherent in a particular group get mixed with the internal thoughts and ideas of other groups within a society. This leads to the development of national characteristics. In this way an entire national psychology – its external behaviour, its social outlook, and its philosophy of life – is developed. This process produces different national outlooks which distinguish one nation from another. It is also in this way that different human groups have developed different viewpoints towards life and the world." (AFPS-6) Thus people are dramatically affected by the vibration and customs of their local area. This accounts for why a secular person in India is quite different from a secular person in the US as the person in India has grown up in a land where God is everything. That is why even communists cadres in Bengal go to the temple and pray, whereas in Cuba they will never do like that. Because the prevailing philosophy is the subterranean flow of that land and that colors one's mind. That also accounts for the dramatic differences amongst Ananda Margiis. We have our stated philosophy yet margiis are also coloured by their locale. For instance, AM does not support the practice of homosexuality. Yet, gay and lesbian way of life has been wholly embraced by certain margiis in some sectors like Suva, because the general society has rallied around that dogma. The margiis became dyed in that colour. Whereas in Delhi sector the margiis hold firm to our AM ideal, partly because homosexuality itself is not openly supported by the general populace of India. Hence there is a variance between margiis in different sectors. Because the social climate is vastly different in those lands and that causes people to stray from AM teachings as their own social outlook is different. Here is another example. In India, males and females dance kiirtan separately whereas in Berlin, GT and NY sectors, males and females will mix themselves up and even brush up against each other during those akhanda kiirtan programs. Even though AM preaches the strict separation of the sexes, this facet gets lost in our own kiirtan programs as people in those lands are used to open mingling between the opposite sex. Hence the intermingling of the sexes has been incorporated in the style of kiirtan. And there are so many examples of this variance in our Marga. Everything from how people observe shradda of the deceased person to marriage making to groupism. Sometimes overseas margiis are more inclined to AM ideals and sometimes Indian margiis. It depends on the issue. Baba has delineated everything in His teachings, but people drift away because their mind has been coloured by the gospel of their own land. In AM we do not believe in pre-marital sex. And in India this is not a difficult custom to uphold whereas in the west, dating is the way of the world and to some degree this has consumed Ananda Margiis as well. Baba has also given that there should be coordinated cooperation between wholetimers and family people, yet due to the dogma of sannyasi supremacy in India, our Wts have curtailed the rights of margiis and squashed the margii side of the organisation. Why? Because the social outlook or gut feeling of those Wts was tainted by the prevailing ways of their land. With strictness in Sixteen Points, this variance can be overcome. To the degree one is lax in Sixteen Points is the degree to which they will drift away from AM ideals and be influenced by the prevailing dogmas of their local arena. We should all be most careful in this regard.
PREACH THE GOSPEL OF NEO-HUMANISM
There is so much struggle and strife in this world and most of it is caused by one's limited or defective social outlook. If one's gut feeling is changed, then everything is changed. We should be vigilant to spread the ideals of neo-humanism and implement that in our own lives as well. Baba says, "Human beings should base their lives on an ideology. Those without an ideology do not view the world rationally or benevolently, but view it with the greedy eye of an exploiter. However, those who follow the guiding principles of a radiant ideology, can better view and judge the world. In order to prevent human degradation, ideology is indispensable. The earlier one embraces an ideology, the better it is because first, sufficient time is needed to assimilate the ideology and second, one can never say with certainty how long one will live – many people die in the prime of life." (AV-7) Thus the only way to inculcated a truly neo-humanistic perspective is to implement all the teachings of Ananda Marga - and do so as soon as possible. Here again is Baba's stated guideline. Baba says, "One should follow an ideology which encourages the development of a universal outlook. It should not be based on narrow ideas. In the past, ideologies were based on very limited ideas and thus people had to undergo endless troubles. Due to constant fighting between various communities, the human society has suffered tremendously." (AV-7) We all know how the philosophies of old have led to much bloodshed and continue to mar society today. Only the vast psychic enterprise of neo-humanism can bridge this divide. Only neo-humanism can unite all Ananda Margiis and the whole human society. We should all be critically aware of our own gut feeling and ensure it is aligned with AM teachings, and not any local dogma. This takes a most careful and honest review, otherwise we will think we are perfectly following AM when in fact our outlook is different in certain ways. For help on this, we should all consult senior margiis and acaryas whom we trust, otherwise it is not easy to free oneself from the local trends & wholly adopt AM ideals.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace, when one's gut feeling is aligned with Baba's teachings on neo-humanism, then the devastation and destruction of the world will be gone and all will wake up in a world governed by peace and prosperity and the desire to serve the Supreme. Baba says, "We have taught people to think about how such-and-such bomb can annihilate so many millions of people at a time – but we have never propagated a philosophy to teach them to think how millions of people could be benefited by psycho-spiritual practices. Thus human beings of today are following a defective path, and there is a desperate need for a change in direction. The only remedy is Neohumanism." (NH-LOI, Disc: 11) Namaskar, Jiivendra
Note: ANOTHER POSTING ON GUT FEELING
Here is another posting on one's gut feeling for your review.
********************************************** Bath Mantra and Danger
Baba says, "After finishing your bath, before drying your body, recite the following mantra while performing the prescribed mudra' and looking at any luminous object." (CC-3, "Bathing Procedure and Pitr Yajina") Note: All of Baba's guidelines are 100% dharmic and for the well-being of humanity. That is why many say the the above teaching was written down poorly by certain Dadas. Because if you focus your eyes on the sun then that is not good for your eyes. Of course you may face towards the sun with your body, as that is highly beneficial as noted below, but do not look directly the sun. If you have any doubt consult with any eye doctor or read about the dangers of looking at the sun. Those who noted this down may not have done the job properly and recordings are not available about this very point, according to my knowledge. Here the main point is that do not look directly at the sun after bathing but do face towards the sun. By this way the eyes are not harmed and the body gets the benefit of the sun's rays. When water droplets are on the body, then the ulra-violet (UV) rays from the sun the body collects vitamin D & calcium, becomes disease free through internal healing, and the body becomes more radiant. So there are many benefits of facing one's body towards the sun. But again, do not focus the eyes on the sun, by this way the eyes are harmed; indeed people develop cataracts in tropical areas due to exposure to the sun.
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