To: AM-GLOBAL
Subject: Which One Is Better
From: "Ishvara"
Baba
PS Intro: In this song, an above-average devotee is expressing his feeling
towards Parama Purus'a.
"Badhir theko na'ko priyo, shun'ate habe a'ma'r katha'..." (Prabhata Samgiita 2310)
Purport:
Baba, please look towards me. Keeping the yearning for You in my heart,
I am crying. Please do not be deaf. You have to listen to my tale of the
heart. Please understand the pain of the core of my heart. And please
understand the longing and yearning that I have to get You. I want to hold
You. Off and on I go on listening to the sound of silence-- the divine flute
which You play. I feel that by that way You attract me. And it is there
that I see Your effulgence.
Baba, I feel that Your sweetness and Your love is present in that
effulgence and the sound of the flute. Baba, You are the a'lor & prana and
of my life. You are my hope; You are my Goal; You are my everything.
If I forget you I will lose everything-- my life will be ruined. Baba,
You are the nucleus of my existence. That is why again and again I
surrender myself at Your lotus feet. Please understand the longing of my
heart. Please do not avoid me. Baba please come close...
== WHICH ONE IS BETTER ==
Namaskar,
A young innocent boys grows up to be a grown man feeling hatred, fear, or
animosity towards someone just because they have different color skin. Why
like this?
A tiny infant reaches up to adulthood harboring feelings of superiority,
inferiority, or disdain towards someone just because they are of another
so-called caste. Why like this?
There are so many institutions, customs, and codes across the globe which
only serve to undermine the very fabric of our human society. From religion
to education, from racism to casteism, from rich to poor-- there are so
many ways that differences are made. And that causes huge tension and
problems all around.
By Baba's grace, He has given the perfect remedy to dispel those myths and
correct those inequalities, permanently. All we need to do is apply the
grand ideas of Prout to the specific social ills of the day.
And sure enough, with regards to racial tension and communal hatred, a
practical solution is right at hand.
WHY TENSIONS OCCUR
One of the chief reasons behind the existence of racial and ethnic tensions
is having the various races and ethnic groupings grow up and live in
separate communities.
A young white girl who has never seen a person with black skin before has
been known to cry out of fear the first time she lays eyes on a black man.
It happens-- and vice versa as well. But that fear is not at all based on
rationality, just unfamiliarity and the dogmatic belief that the person
next to me is something different. And that social dogma, that
unfamiliarity, creates a gap that leads to racial and ethnic tensions. This
we all know.
Of course in our Marga, such differences are basically nil-- non-existent.
Because in AM everything is totally mixed. Due to (a) revolutionary
marriages, (b) our wt system where acaryas work in a country different from
their birth, (c) our children's homes and schools where kids of all
backgrounds play and live together, and (d) due to so many other life
practices, racial differences have been obliterated in our Marga and
replaced with the universal feeling, 'manav, manav ek hai', meaning all
humans are one.
However, in the stark absence of such an integrated way of living, various
peoples in communities around the globe develop social stigmas about other
social groups.
Here the point is that when people grow up in racially separate and
ethnically isolated communities, then, irregardless of the community, the
tendency is for there to be ill feelings towards those outside of their
group.
Some classic examples of this are white-black relations in the US or the
brahmin-harijan communities in India. In both circumstances, there is
moderate to extreme distrust or disdain for the other party. And this is
primarily due to having grown up in completely separate environments, in
'different pockets', even though they may have been living in the very same
city, town, or village.
WHICH WAY IS BETTER
So in our Marga, we advocate mixing everything up until differences between
any perceived social groups become lost in the great sea of humanity. And
then with the help of sadhana, we cultivate common ideal that all are
brothers and sisters-- all are children of Parama Purusa. And this creates
a wonderful bond of love. That is our basic approach in Ananda Marga.
Baba says, "The multi-coloured garland of humanity will be enriched to the
extent diverse human groups blend together from a position of strength and
independence out of a genuine love for each other, and are not forced
together through fear or compulsion." (AFPS-9)
So that is one way of living on this earth. The other way is what various
capitalist nations like the US have done. And that we are going to briefly
revisit now.
SITUATION IN USA: PRESENT DAY CRISIS
As many may know, in the last 75 years, the US constitution has preached
the likes of (1) 'separate but equal', (2) then dismantled 'separate but
equal', and (3) then finally accepted-- albeit indirectly-- 'separate but
so-called equal'.
So initially 'separate but equal' was in vogue: White schools, black
schools, white buses, black buses, white bathrooms, black bathrooms, etc.
But this created huge chaos and hatred, and indeed there were huge
disparities between the quality of what the whites got versus what the
blacks got. So the phrase 'separate but equal' got rejected and was
declared "unconstitutional".
And in that vacuum, in the aftermath, everything was hurriedly integrated.
Black children were bused far distances to go to school with whites. And
there was forced mixing on all levels. That went on for several decades
where the 'blacks' were forced to mold themselves to the rules that whites
imposed on them. Because the integration occurred due to the mandates of
the white leaders.
So it went from segregation to integration and now the US has 'blossomed'
into a new stage. Now the policies of integration have been more or less
abolished. No longer is it policy to bus black children to white schools;
and instead, the phony ideal has been put forth that 'we are all one'. But
secretly capitalists harbor the idea that 'let there be differences in the
economic sphere'.
Thus the US capitalist ideal that everyone is free and all are part of the
same whole is just a euphemism for distinctly separate communities. Because
on the basis of economics the US remains quite divided. The poorer blacks
live primarily amongst themselves and manage with lesser institutions etc,
whereas the richer whites primarily live amongst themselves in
comparatively better environments. This is the practical expression of the
crude capitalist theory that-- we are all one, all are Americans etc.
WHICH WAY IS BETTER (PART II)
By the above review and, more clearly, from our own living experiences we
can easily see which one is better. Baba's Proutistic vision of forming one
human society by making a "multi-coloured garland of humanity" or the
capitalist model of eliminating integration and creating a so-called
oneness where economic disparities run rampant.
COMING TO A SOLUTION
While it takes a certain spiritual vision to really see all as brothers and
sisters, side by side Baba has given a rock-solid, practical way to wash
away the mess of capitalism, that preaches oneness yet privately promotes
that the dollar is king.
And that Proutistic response is to give strong economic support to all the
underprivileged groupings of society so they get the opportunity to live
and educate themselves where they like.
Capitalists proclaim that, 'Let the blacks live in their shanty-towns; they
like it like that'. Yet Proutists understand that those blacks are humans
like everybody else, given the economic power, they will surely like to
live in more comfortable surroundings.
That is why Prout preaches economic justice and backs up that slogan with
practical programs that give economic might to all the downtrodden
communities. In that case, invariably the separatism that exists in society
will wither away-- and racism will also be gone.
Because where people are not forced into segregation due to economic
disparity then they will move in thousands of directions and live in a
place according to their own choice. And in that process, the soup will be
invariably be stirred and the communities will become totally integrated
and ultimately one, in the real sense of the term.
GROWING UP TOGETHER FOSTER UNITY AND GOOD WILL
Because when children of all backgrounds and races grow up together then
that brings a feeling of closeness with each other. And for the rest of
their life they will not see 'white' or 'black' or any other shade thereof.
Rather they will naturally think that we are all part of the same human
family. This feeling will come spontaneously. That is why our Proutistic
approach is to knock down the walls between people and bring everyone
together in all sorts of ways, shapes, & forms. And in our Marga, verily
this has happened as Baba has put all the tools in place like RM's and
neo-humanism etc. The outcome is the systematic elimination of racism and
the creation of a singular human society.
OUR APPROACH IN AM
Here below Baba mocks and points out the duplicity of such capitalists and
exploiters who declare that 'we are all one', yet secretly create class or
caste distinctions.
Baba says, "You may have observed many people in the world who delivered
long lectures against caste discrimination and untouchability, saying, "No,
all are equal. I will take food touched by any caste. If you give me
filtered water in a clean glass I will not hesitate to swallow it - just
watch me drink!" And the audience applauded, "Very good! Very good!" These
people are called reformists; but their inner intention was to maintain the
caste system. Had they really wanted to remove caste discrimination, they
would have declared, "The cause of this untouchability is the caste system.
Because of the caste system, discriminations have emerged between high and
low, touchable and untouchable, one caste and another. So let us first of
all break the bondage of caste!"(2) If they had had the courage to proclaim
this directly, they would have become revolutionaries. But they lacked such
boldness." (NH-LOI, Disc:7)
So in our Marga, we courageously declare that all are indeed one and we
back that up with our RM's, schools, children's homes, and in various
avenues. And on the top Prout calls for economic justice for all. By that
way everyone will get the opportunity to advance-- together.
That is why there is a heaven and hell differnce between universal humanism
in AM versus the 'integrated-cum-separatist' approach secretly advocated by
various capitalists.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace, the days is not far when our Marga will make its mark in
this world and shatter the man-made boundaries that block human progress.
Baba says, "Thus only neohumanism can save the universe, only neohumanism
can save human existence. So now, we are to sing the songs of
neohumanism....Let all the hearts of the entire created universe, dance in
ecstasy. This is the goal of the day. We are for all." (PNS-9)
Namaskar,
Ishvara
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Chemical Fertilisers Dangerous
Chemical Fertilisers Dangerous
Baba says, "The best manure for green vegetables is rotten vegetables. Cow
dung manure may also serve the same purpose. In the case of gourd, oil
cakes and mustard cakes mixed equally with soil will increase
production...it is noticeable that whenever chemical fertilisers are used
intensively, the land becomes infertile and useless after some time. This
is because chemical fertilisers destroy the vital energy of the land so
that it becomes lifeless, just like cement." (PNS-16, p.39)
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