'I do not Belong to any Group'

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:51:34 -0000
Subject: 'I do not Belong to any Group'
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: Satiish K Deva"

Baba

           == 'I DO NOT BELONG TO ANY GROUP' ==

                                       Part 1 of 4

Namaskar,
Many Dadas openly declare, 'I do not belong to any group'. This is not
an uncommon proclamation these days. And indeed, in most cases, such a
declaration is to be appreciated; since, as we all know, groupism is
negative to the very bone. Groupism has no redeeming quality or value--
none at all.

Thus when any Dada says, 'I do not belong to any group', then that is
essentially commendable. Their stand is a positive stand.

At the same time we should be aware of two common pitfalls that occur
with some of these Dadas. A few fall into the chasm of Rajput's Folly
while some others get stuck in creating fake unity. So we should all be
able to easily recognise these two detrimental syndromes.


              DADAS WHO FALL PREY TO RAJPUT'S FOLLY

Some, though certainly not all, of those Dadas who declare, 'I do not
belong to any group', often find themselves in the unfortunate position
of Rajput's Folly.

This happens because those simple Dadas valiantly state their position
without realising or understanding the power of those groupist forces.
Hence, in their nativity, those Dadas boldly state, 'I am not part of
any group, I am against all factional parties, etc etc', but such Dadas
are not aware about their own inherent vulnerability, and in the end
they succumb to those very groupist forces and factional pressures.

Hence, what Baba describes here as Rajput's folly is the same type of
syndrome that affects some of our Dadas.

Baba says, "Weak people must assess their strength before indulging in
violent conflict with a powerful aggressor; otherwise, if a fight is
started without acquiring proper strength injustice may temporarily
triumph. In history such an error has been called “Rajput folly”. The
Rajputs always went forward with courage to resist Mughal invasion. No
doubt, they fought valiantly, but they faced the enemy without assessing
their own strength. They suffered from intrigues and internal
dissensions and hence they always lost battles and died a heroic death.
It is, therefore necessary to acquire adequate strength before declaring
a war against an aggressor." (GHC)

Regarding AM and groupism, those Dadas who are not mentally strong or
who do not have sufficient allies should not openly wage a war against
groupism by publicly declaring, 'I do not belong to any group'. Better
they should temporarily keep quiet and maintain a basic truce with those
groupist elements until they themselves have garnered adequate strength
to maintain their dharmic position.

Failing that, some Dadas-- no need to mention names here-- have bravely,
yet naively' declared their position against groupism, only later to
find themselves cornered, and unwittingly or not, they end up becoming
the agents of one or another faction.

Tragically we have all seen such things occur to some Dadas who
previously stated, 'I do not belong to any group'.


              DADAS WHO SINK INTO FAKE UNITY

Then there is another ailment that affects a few of our Dadas who state,
'I do not belong to any group'. They fall into the dogma of fake unity.

As we all know unity can only be created through following AM ideology.
That is the only way.

Baba says, "Human unity is purely an ideological unity." (PNS-15)

But what some Dadas do is try to create unity by bringing together
various groupist elements. They think by tying H, B, EC, NIA etc into
one flower garland, then a wonderful unity will result. But that is
total nonsense. Because ideological unity can never result by blending
various dogmas together.

And here, in this below question and answer sequence, Baba describes
this point very clearly.

Baba says, "How far is the unification of all religions possible?"
"Ans.: – To seek infinite bliss is the only dharma of humanity. Humanity
has but one dharma. Thus, the question of the unification of religions
does not arise. The apparent dissimilarity between various religions
arising due to differences in their ritualistic practices is not a
spiritual difference. Whenever rituals dominate and efforts to attain
bliss are feeble, whatever that may be, it is not spirituality." (TK-1,
'Q & A #49')

Thus, no matter how hard one tries to create unity by gluing together
various groupist factions, they can never be successful. Because just as
it is impossible to create dharma by merging the various dogmatic
religions, similarly it is impossible to create unity by sticking all
the groupist forces in one hall. That is one doomed proposition.

Unfortunately, on the email, a few Dadas write, 'I do not belong to any
group', and then side by side they begin describing how they are
creating unity in their area by bringing all the groupist parties
together under one roof. But this is not at all unity. In that case,
only those groups are vying for supremacy and scouting out the
opposition. Whereas unity can only result when all those party members
renounce groupism entirely. And that they are not going.

So the plan of bringing B, EC, H, and other factions together and
stating that unity has been achieved is just one fake show of unity--
nothing more. That is exactly what Baba has stated in the above teaching
when He says that the unity of the dogmatic religions is not at all
possible.


                     ONE OTHER POINT

Mahatma Gandhi once declared, 'I do not belong to any religion, I honor
all religions', and in that way he created temples where all the
dogmatic religions could pray. But the result was not at all unity.
Rather more and more animosity was created as Muslim and Hindu tensions
escalated, as they were both encouraged to follow their dogmatic ways.
And in the end, Gandhi himself was gunned down by a radical Hindu. Thus
his faulty dream of unity just shattered and drowned in the spilling of
his own blood.

Similarly, those who declare, 'I do not belong to any group, I honor all
the groups', then their way is going to create trouble as they are
validating the existence of those very groups. If one invites various
groupist leaders to a conference or table talk-- without first ensuring
that those elements have truly renounced groupism-- they that conference
or that table talk will just validate the existence of those very
groups. In a phrase one is saying, 'It is ok for you to be groupist'.
When in fact groupism is a disease and should never be tolerated or
honored, neither implicitly nor explicitly.

One other way of thinking about it is if one says, 'I am a vegetarian,
but I honor and respect all meat-eaters and they are allowed to come and
cook in my kitchen'. In that case, who can think that that person is
keeping a vegetarian kitchen.

Likewise, those Dadas who say, 'I am not groupist', yet invite
recognised groupist elements into their meetings or living rooms, then
who can think that that person is really a proponent of unity. When
unity itself does not allow the existence of any group.


                            RECAP

So these above are some of the recognised flaws and pitfalls of those
who declare, 'I do not belong to any group'. Of course this is not the
case with all Dadas, but some. And we should all be aware so that we
also do not fall prey to any faulty plan that actually gives more power
to groupist elements.


                         BABA'S GRACE

We all want true unity in our Marga, and by His grace it is going to
happen soon. The more we strictly adhere to His ideological tenets, the
more we do not feed the fire of groupism, then the faster our march to
unity will reach its sacred home. Victory, victory to Ananda Marga.

Baba says, "To live in peace and harmony, there must be a supreme
ideology accepted by all, because whenever there are ideological
differences, physical conflicts between individuals and groups are bound
to occur, and peaceful social life becomes impossible." (NSS, Disc: 2)

Namaskar,
Satiish



Note 1:         ONE OTHER FAKE WAY OF UNITY

So we must be careful. Because in the name of unity, various factional
leaders may try so many ploys, or stunts, and in one way or another this
or that margii might get roped in-- some might fall prey to those
groupist schemes of fake unity. That is why Baba says we must be wary of
such an unwanted scenario.

Baba says, "They will try to unite the people forcibly through the
pressure of governmental [or groupist] machinery....by the steamroller
of governmental [groupist] machinery, but such unity is not at all
desirable." (TTP)

Thus one must never succumb or give way to groupist pressure thinking
that by this way unity will be found.


                        PRABHAT SAMGIITA

"A'jake sa'njhe madhur sa'jhe ke else go, ke ele..." (P.S. 5006)

Purport:

In this sweet and intoxicated evening, Who has come, Who has come? Who
is that Entity Who has created this new wave in everyone's life and in
everyone's heart. Those who are sitting with their doors and windows
closed, please come out and forget about the differences of own and
other. That divine Entity Who is always sitting in the mind, He has come
in front of us. We should enjoy His august arrival all together...


           *********************************
            Food Problems and Their Solution

Baba says, "In the event of shortages in the food and accommodation of
the population of the world, people will convert uncultivated land into
new arable land, increase the productivity of the soil by scientific
methods, produce food by chemical processes with earth, water and air,
and if this earth decreases in its productivity, then land seeking human
beings will migrate to different planets and satellites and settle
there." (PNS-13, p.45)
          *********************************