Baba Story: Reporting Sessions

From: "Girish Chandra Mitra"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Baba Story: Reporting Sessions
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:00:01 +0530

Baba

                == BABA STORY: REPORTING SESSIONS ==

Namaskar,
Many may recall that in 1978, after the Jail Period, then by His fathomless
grace Baba used to check the Sixteen Points of various workers and Lft's
while taking report. Actually, this became His regular approach during all
reporting sessions. Because while this 'corrective style' transformed into
His grand program of Dharma Samiiksa ('79-80), even then this way of
reporting continued right up through 1990-- where He was regularly checking
how workers etc were following 16 Points, & especially the point of sadhana.


                              BABA'S DIVINE DECREE:

               "ALL LESSONS OF SADHANA MUST BE DONE"

Once on one particular day while taking report from a supervisory worker
Baba suddenly became quite serious and demanded that a specific worker be
brought before Him. Right away that worker came forward and did sastaunga
pranam to Baba. Then GS Dada told the worker to give report. And as this
Dada began giving his report then Baba started pointing out and punishing
this worker for not properly following various aspects of 16 Points.
Specifically, Baba was telling that this worker is not practicing all the
lessons of sadhana.

That time many in attendance were feeling surprised that Baba was only
pointing out this Dada. Because those days a number of workers were not
properly doing all their lessons of sadhana. Due to their extreme busyness,
many were falling in this category. Yet here on this occasion in front of
all Baba was only pointing out and scolding just this one Dada. No one else
was getting punishment for this-- that day. Naturally, everyone was
wondering why this was going on in this fashion.


               BABA'S PUNISHMENT IS HIS SPECIAL BLESSING

Thereafter it was found out that the worker being punished was previously
suffering from a serious disease and that since receiving punishment from
Baba, all signs and symptoms of that disease had completely disappeared.
This was the amazing development. By that way everyone understood that
Baba's punishment was in reality nothing but His special blessing on that
particular sadhaka. Because by that way the worker was permanently cured of
his ailment.

And, of course, side by side, everyone got the clear-cut message that it
was mandatory and very much needed to practice all the lessons of sadhana--
in each and every sitting. This was Baba's universal teaching that day. And
veritably speaking this was a regular theme in countless sessions of
reporting with Baba: That all sadhana lessons are to be done properly.


                           BABA'S LIILA

In this magical and unique way those reporting sessions were going on.
Where, by punishing workers, Baba was showering His divine grace yet
simultaneously He was giving an eternal teaching for all to follow. And
ultimately all we can really say is that Baba's way of giving punishment to
sadhakas is His divine liila since Baba is Parama Purusa and as human
beings we cannot perfectly explain how or why He was doing everything.


                 BABA'S PROVEN AND STANDARD APPROACH

But one thing is sure, that this was Baba's standard approach to take
report from workers and if their social service activities or sadhana was
not up to the proper standard, then Baba would reveal how that particular
wt was not following 16 points properly. And very commonly it was the case
that Baba would tell that the wt was not doing all the lessons of sadhana.
And that was the reason why the person could not get the necessary
inspiration or sufficient energy to fulfill his social service
responsibilities.

Because Baba was telling again and again that by doing all the lessons of
sadhana-- especially dhyana-- then one will always receive the requisite
strength and inspiration to fulfill all their duties in life and serve the
society.

This much we all understood from Baba's reporting style those days.


                     PRESENT DAY CIRCUMSTANCES

So today when we see our organisation in a crisis situation it can be
easily concluded that a major factor behind this downfall is that people,
and especially workers, are not properly following 16 points. Most notably
certain top Dadas are not correctly doing their sadhana-- either skipping
lessons entirely or doing them in a faulty or haphazard manner. Otherwise
what can be the cause of all this disarray and chaos in the upper echelons
of our organisation.

Consequently, when the standard of sadhana is down then everything goes in
he wrong direction-- both in individual and collective life. This is the
clear cut outcome and today we can see the poor results.


                         BABA'S BLESSING:

           SIXTEEN POINTS BRINGS WELFARE IN ALL THE SPHERES

At the same time if Sixteen Points and sadhana again becomes a dominant
factor in anyone's life then automatically everything will become better
and better in each and every sphere of one's existence. In all regards, in
all circumstances, that sadhaka will be met with success-- on all the
levels from their personal careers to their dharma pracara activities etc.
Then their whole existence will grow and shine in a positive and sparkling
way. This is Baba's grand blessing and ultimate guarantee.

Baba says, "...In order to march ahead on the road of human welfare, we
will have to strengthen ourselves in all the arena of life. The complete
seeds of welfare in all the spheres-- physical, mental, moral, social and
spiritual-- are embedded in the sixteen points. Hence be firm on the
sixteen points." (A'nanda Va'nii, #45)

Namaskar,
Girish


Note 1:             SIXTEEN POINTS IS RIGHT EXERCISE

Here again Baba demonstrates that by doing sadhana properly and adhering to
His tenants of 16 Points, then by His grace one will gather the necessary
strength to do His work and become a perfect medium for carrying out His
divine mission.

Baba says, "What is the best way to strengthen the mind? The best and
proper way is to strictly observe the 16 Points. The more rigidly you
follow the 16 Points, the more your mental strength will increase. It will
increase so much that it will be more powerful than the collective mental
strength of 100,000 people. In a psychic clash they will have to concede
victory to you... So you must endeavour to develop your psychic strength -
this is your bounden duty. The more rigidly you follow the 16 Points, the
more psychic strength you will acquire. It will not take you long." (AV-7,
p.80)


                                 PRABHAT SAMGIITA

PS Intro: This is a neo-humanistic song as it expresses love and affection
for those shelterless, homeless, and downtrodden people. We know that Baba
has made songs which reflect all aspects of AM ideology. This song
expresses empathy and compassion towards the suffering humanity and
propagates neo-humanistic ideals. This is the unique quality of this song.

"A'siya'che sedin ogo a'shrayahiin..." (PS 1222)

Purport:

 The golden era has come; sadavrata [1] has started. Now everywhere the
divine flow is spreading all around. In this human family, no one will be
downtrodden; no one will suffer. Those who are without shelter, I am
calling you. The day has come when His door has opened for you. By Baba's
causeless grace, He has come to save the suffering humanity-- to turn your
tears into smiles. It is His infinite compassion.  For those who have
neither food, nor clothing, nor shelter, everyone will be served. Now no
one need suffer from any want in this world.

 In this golden, new era, no one in our human family needs to go under
the tree in search of shelter. Everyone will have their own hearth and
home-- their own abode. Nobody will be homeless. We are all kith and kin;
we are all one family; Parama Purusa is our Divine Father. Not a single
human being shall remain as an orphan or distressed any longer. Those dark
days are gone by His grace. All will equally receive His love and
affection. Everyone will get His sweet touch; everyone will feel His divine
blessing and infinite love.

 By Baba's grace there will be plenty for one and all; no one need
undergo the pangs of hunger and thirst. The loud lamentations of the
suffering humanity will be gone forever. Everyone will have the opportunity
to live life in a new way; all will feel content in their heart and mind
and move towards Parama Purusa, the Goal. The cimmerian darkness of avidya'
maya will vanish forever. Now, by His grace, divinity has awakened in the
minds of human beings.
  The golden dawn has descended on this earth. It is His grace; it is His
grace...


NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA #1222:

[1] Sada'vrata: 'Sada' literally means 'always' as in to do every day;
'vrat' literally  means 'vow' as in to always remain committed to helping
others. So sada'vrata means always ready to serve whenever the opportunity
comes. It is not that if one did sadavrata on Monday then one need not to
do it on Tuesday. Always one is to be ready and willing to serve others.
Whatever those people need, then one must help them fulfill that need.
Hence helping poor and seeing them as expressions of Parama Purusa is
called sada'vrata. As we all know, our AM social service endeavours include
sada'vrata-- the mass distribution of food, clothing, medicine, and all
sorts of requirements and amenities.

Here in His below guideline Baba describes how sada'vrata is related with
our sadhana practice.

Baba says, "In the third stage of sa'dhana' sa'dhakas accepts the cognitive
faculty as their goal. They wish to advance along the spiritual path while
simultaneously serving the subtler expressions of Parama Purus'a. This is
the true dharma of human beings. The sada'vrata (mass feeding & clothing
distribution etc) which you organize comes within the scope of this
practice. While performing sa'dhana' in this stage the human mind attains a
greater proximity to Parama Purus'a and sees the entire universe as a
divine expression of Parama Purus'a. Through this realization one enjoys
pure unblemished bliss. When people served good food during sadavrata smile
happily, you feel inner joy." (APH-6)


[2] TRANSLATIONS OF PRABHA'T SAMGIITA #1222:

Here are the first two Bengali Bengali lines of this Prabhat Samgiita:

 A'siyeche sedin ogo a'shrayahiin
 Tave tare ta'r dva'r khule geche, khuleche

And here below is a basic translation & fundamental idea of those lines:

 O' my brothers and sisters, those who are without shelter, 
 the day has come when His door has opened for you.

So in the above stanza the bhakta is telling the humanity that no one will
be shelterless any longer. Parama Purusa is bringing all unto Him and
everyone will be served.

Now look how these very same lines were translated on one of our sanctioned
Prabha't Samgiita websites:

 O' Lord, the one needing no shelter, the day has come when   for you their doors have opened.

Please excuse me, but by reading the above anyone can see how this latter
translation has gone a bit astray.

Here the entire point is that Prabhat Samgiita is Baba's divine gift to the
humanity, so we should be careful and diligent in its presentation.
Otherwise, we can see how it may get translated.


          ***************************************
           Treatment For Hunch-Back and Stiffness

Baba says:
"When calcium builds up and gets deposited in the back it becomes hard.
That is why when people are very young then their backbone is quite
flexible but due to an accumulation of calcium over just a few years then
by the time they are teen-agers already their spinal column has become
stiff and rigid." (SC-8)

"Doing noakasana, utkata paschimottanasana, and shalabasana etc eliminates
the possibility of developing a hunched back. So those doing hard manual
labor that demands bending the back for extended periods of time should do
these aforementioned asanas on a regular basis. That will prevent them from
suffering from hunch-back in the future." (SC-8)
          ***************************************