Subject: Re: Lack of Understanding About Guru
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:36:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ananda Mayii
To: AM-GLOBAL
Baba
Namaskar,
I am glad that you have made a clear reference to the "Bhagavan Anandamurti" book. That is the book Narada wrote while in jail, firstly with his former wife's help and then rewrote years later with another sister's help from NY, whom he also married. By the way, Narada told me in Ranchi that he has two children with each wife, sadly one of the wives passed prematurely.
You have clarified many things. Now, years after the publication of this book, margiis are able to perceive, understand, and recognise Narada's blunder, as well as the distinct danger of jumping into writing a book before a person has matured in their knowledge and spiritual realisation.
While many people may have gotten the wrong understanding about Baba from this book, but all the more intelligent margiis I spoke with in my unit understood all the errors in the first place. They did not get led astray by Narada's erroneous publication.
This book has always given me an uncomfortable feeling for several reasons which I will mention now that you have raised the issue on your forum. I am glad about this and hope others will also express their feelings on this important topic.
Firstly, I felt that in the guise of writing about Guru, this book was written primarily so Narada could talk about himself. That is very discernible and apparent to any reader. Many have mentioned this when speaking about this book.
Next, Narada wrote this book to share how Guru is a great yogi. But due to Narada's own limited understanding, he defines our Sadguru as being merely a bhagavan, as he felt that this was the highest way to describe a spiritually realised being. Narada clearly did not take the advice or guidance from any senior acarya with more understanding of Baba as Sadguru and the spiritual realm. Nor had he grasped from his svadyaya of Baba's books the distinctions regarding the Absolute/ Infinite nature of Parama Purusa.
To use "Bhagavan Anandamurti" as the title of a book - published for both the public as well as margiis - was his own ignorance and his arrogance. He defied the saying of going where 'angels' fear to tread, or where those wiser than he would not want to venture. To attempt to define Baba, in this limited way, is clearly giving the wrong idea to readers, and influencing their minds in the wrong direction.
If a dog started talking about its master it cannot say that its master is a great dog. That is not the right way to describe the master. But the dog cannot say more than that due of his own limitation. This we all understand.
But in case of Narada, his intention was not even like that of the dog. The dog's pure intention was to glorify its master; but Narada's intention was to glorify himself. It is the same as when people give money to a temple with the sole motive of getting their name engraved into one of the stones in the main hall of the temple for being "a great benefactor."
Baba can never be compared with other gurus who also used the title, bhagavan. That is the gist of why I felt intuitively that his book was faulty.
At that time there were several other gurus who were also being called 'Bhagavan': Like Bhagavan Sri Rajaneesh, Bhagavan Sai Baba, Bhagavan Meher Baba, Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, Bhagavan Shankaracarya, Bhagavan Swami, Bhagavan Mahaviira, Bhagavan Muktatnanda, Bhagavan Bhala, and you name it everywhere Bhagavan.
IS THE BOOK GARBAGE??
Should we think that this book is totally garbage? No, the book was certainly a vehicle for Narada to describe his spiritual experiences while in jail on false charges, when he was suffering extreme frustration and desperation - which was natural.
It is true Baba did grace him with some special experiences to help sustain him and his sadhana. The changes in his mind and the renewal of his energy for enduring the injustices felt by Narada were not his own strength of mind. Rather they were the result of Baba's extraordinary compassion for His beloved disciple.
It is Baba's Greatness, not ours.
I do not think Narada gets this important distinction across in the book. Rather on this critical matter he lost the sincerity of a humble devotee. Instead he brags as if because of his greatness all this happened - not because of the greatness of Parama Purusa.
That mind-set is a degenerated state according to AM philosophy.
Any feelings and experiences we get in sadhana are exclusively the grace of Baba - not our greatness. That is why one does not have right to brag about their sadhana and devotional dreams. The moment you brag degeneration occurs. This all happens because one does not have feelings of surrender to Guru; instead their mind is busy thinking about their own greatness and not that of Parama Purusa.
By his writing, one person comment to me that readers could get the impression that Narada had these spiritual experiences because he is a very high spiritual being. Many people would think he was a saint and that they, being ordinary, could never get such experiences.
Verily this assessment is true. Many people who have read this book have said that Narada must be very high and special. And I personally know that on the strength of having this book published in his name, Narada's reputation has been greatly enhanced in the eyes of many people in Ananda Marga, which gives him a lot of prestige. If this was the motive then it proves that the name and title is just bogus camouflage.
My objection here is that the emphasis and importance of writing a book about one's spiritual experiences must be on the Grace of Baba, Parama Purusa. Being His child, such a book is for my own encouragement and upliftment, and for facilitating my spiritual progress.
If one is to write at all about these things, that are very personal, one has to take care that the emphasis is on Baba's mercy, His Love for me, His sweet caring for my plight. That should be the core idea, not praising oneself.
If one does not do then they are a cheat. They are being duplicitous. When the goal is to write and spread one's own greatness, then planning to write a Baba's book on His magnificence is total hypocrisy because one is just doing this to earn money and garner praise. All done by exploiting sentiment of simple margiis.
With any attempt to describe Parama Purusa Baba, one has to be conscious of the inherent problem.
Vyasa Deva felt after writing the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Giita, that he had committed a huge blunder for even attempting to describe Krsna and His powers and attibute. Vyasa Deva was remorseful for attempting to describe, portray, the indescribable - the Infinite ONE.
Maybe by the end of his life Narada will realise his mistake of undermining Baba's greatness by calling Him just bhagavan, and maybe Narada will repent his big mistake.
Every margii I am sure has had the realisation from their own Baba dreams or spiritual experiences, that such experiences are certainly 100% His causeless grace.
"I feel so uplifted and inspired and full of light and blissful energy, after such an occurrence and it was really nothing I did."
This is the feeling of any devotee.
Bhaktas feel everything is entirely Baba's divine krpa' and due to His grace their love for Him increases and one is blessed with the devotional longing to come closer to Him. On His loving lap He makes one feel that He is with them in all their difficulties and all their joys.
With this feeling, we feel we can handle anything so long as we feel His closeness, His presence in everything. By this way, with His infinite grace, our longing for Him is growing stronger.
Namaskar,
Ananda Mayii
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:36:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ananda Mayii
To: AM-GLOBAL
Baba
== RE: LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ABOUT GURU ==
~ Part 3 ~
~ Part 3 ~
Namaskar,
I am glad that you have made a clear reference to the "Bhagavan Anandamurti" book. That is the book Narada wrote while in jail, firstly with his former wife's help and then rewrote years later with another sister's help from NY, whom he also married. By the way, Narada told me in Ranchi that he has two children with each wife, sadly one of the wives passed prematurely.
MISTAKES APPARENT IN THE BOOK
You have clarified many things. Now, years after the publication of this book, margiis are able to perceive, understand, and recognise Narada's blunder, as well as the distinct danger of jumping into writing a book before a person has matured in their knowledge and spiritual realisation.
While many people may have gotten the wrong understanding about Baba from this book, but all the more intelligent margiis I spoke with in my unit understood all the errors in the first place. They did not get led astray by Narada's erroneous publication.
This book has always given me an uncomfortable feeling for several reasons which I will mention now that you have raised the issue on your forum. I am glad about this and hope others will also express their feelings on this important topic.
Firstly, I felt that in the guise of writing about Guru, this book was written primarily so Narada could talk about himself. That is very discernible and apparent to any reader. Many have mentioned this when speaking about this book.
Next, Narada wrote this book to share how Guru is a great yogi. But due to Narada's own limited understanding, he defines our Sadguru as being merely a bhagavan, as he felt that this was the highest way to describe a spiritually realised being. Narada clearly did not take the advice or guidance from any senior acarya with more understanding of Baba as Sadguru and the spiritual realm. Nor had he grasped from his svadyaya of Baba's books the distinctions regarding the Absolute/ Infinite nature of Parama Purusa.
To use "Bhagavan Anandamurti" as the title of a book - published for both the public as well as margiis - was his own ignorance and his arrogance. He defied the saying of going where 'angels' fear to tread, or where those wiser than he would not want to venture. To attempt to define Baba, in this limited way, is clearly giving the wrong idea to readers, and influencing their minds in the wrong direction.
DOG ANALOGY
If a dog started talking about its master it cannot say that its master is a great dog. That is not the right way to describe the master. But the dog cannot say more than that due of his own limitation. This we all understand.
But in case of Narada, his intention was not even like that of the dog. The dog's pure intention was to glorify its master; but Narada's intention was to glorify himself. It is the same as when people give money to a temple with the sole motive of getting their name engraved into one of the stones in the main hall of the temple for being "a great benefactor."
BABA IS INCOMPARABLE
Baba can never be compared with other gurus who also used the title, bhagavan. That is the gist of why I felt intuitively that his book was faulty.
At that time there were several other gurus who were also being called 'Bhagavan': Like Bhagavan Sri Rajaneesh, Bhagavan Sai Baba, Bhagavan Meher Baba, Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, Bhagavan Shankaracarya, Bhagavan Swami, Bhagavan Mahaviira, Bhagavan Muktatnanda, Bhagavan Bhala, and you name it everywhere Bhagavan.
IS THE BOOK GARBAGE??
Should we think that this book is totally garbage? No, the book was certainly a vehicle for Narada to describe his spiritual experiences while in jail on false charges, when he was suffering extreme frustration and desperation - which was natural.
It is true Baba did grace him with some special experiences to help sustain him and his sadhana. The changes in his mind and the renewal of his energy for enduring the injustices felt by Narada were not his own strength of mind. Rather they were the result of Baba's extraordinary compassion for His beloved disciple.
It is Baba's Greatness, not ours.
A CASE OF DEGENERATION
I do not think Narada gets this important distinction across in the book. Rather on this critical matter he lost the sincerity of a humble devotee. Instead he brags as if because of his greatness all this happened - not because of the greatness of Parama Purusa.
That mind-set is a degenerated state according to AM philosophy.
Any feelings and experiences we get in sadhana are exclusively the grace of Baba - not our greatness. That is why one does not have right to brag about their sadhana and devotional dreams. The moment you brag degeneration occurs. This all happens because one does not have feelings of surrender to Guru; instead their mind is busy thinking about their own greatness and not that of Parama Purusa.
MAKE A FAVOURABLE IMPRESSION ON READERS
By his writing, one person comment to me that readers could get the impression that Narada had these spiritual experiences because he is a very high spiritual being. Many people would think he was a saint and that they, being ordinary, could never get such experiences.
Verily this assessment is true. Many people who have read this book have said that Narada must be very high and special. And I personally know that on the strength of having this book published in his name, Narada's reputation has been greatly enhanced in the eyes of many people in Ananda Marga, which gives him a lot of prestige. If this was the motive then it proves that the name and title is just bogus camouflage.
HIS GRACE, HIS LOVE, HIS MERCY
My objection here is that the emphasis and importance of writing a book about one's spiritual experiences must be on the Grace of Baba, Parama Purusa. Being His child, such a book is for my own encouragement and upliftment, and for facilitating my spiritual progress.
If one is to write at all about these things, that are very personal, one has to take care that the emphasis is on Baba's mercy, His Love for me, His sweet caring for my plight. That should be the core idea, not praising oneself.
JUST A CHEAT
If one does not do then they are a cheat. They are being duplicitous. When the goal is to write and spread one's own greatness, then planning to write a Baba's book on His magnificence is total hypocrisy because one is just doing this to earn money and garner praise. All done by exploiting sentiment of simple margiis.
WILL NARADA REALISE HIS MISTAKE
With any attempt to describe Parama Purusa Baba, one has to be conscious of the inherent problem.
Vyasa Deva felt after writing the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Giita, that he had committed a huge blunder for even attempting to describe Krsna and His powers and attibute. Vyasa Deva was remorseful for attempting to describe, portray, the indescribable - the Infinite ONE.
Maybe by the end of his life Narada will realise his mistake of undermining Baba's greatness by calling Him just bhagavan, and maybe Narada will repent his big mistake.
CONCLUDING WORDS
Every margii I am sure has had the realisation from their own Baba dreams or spiritual experiences, that such experiences are certainly 100% His causeless grace.
"I feel so uplifted and inspired and full of light and blissful energy, after such an occurrence and it was really nothing I did."
This is the feeling of any devotee.
Bhaktas feel everything is entirely Baba's divine krpa' and due to His grace their love for Him increases and one is blessed with the devotional longing to come closer to Him. On His loving lap He makes one feel that He is with them in all their difficulties and all their joys.
With this feeling, we feel we can handle anything so long as we feel His closeness, His presence in everything. By this way, with His infinite grace, our longing for Him is growing stronger.
Namaskar,
Ananda Mayii
PRABHAT SAMGIITA
"A'loker ya'tra' pathe, tumi prabhu theko sa'the..." (P.S. 2779)
Purport:
O' Baba, please remain along with me on the path of this effulgent journey. By Your grace, do not allow me to lag behind and get caught in the crest & troughs of my forward movement. Let my pathway be smooth by Your grace.
Baba, I do not care about any bondages or samskaras. My only request is that You please give me strength to do Your work and serve Your mission. This single request I humbly make at Your lotus feet.
O' my Dearmost Baba, this whole entire creation is revolving round and round-- propelled by the laws of karma. The great Cosmic Entity and the unit being exist in this system of brahmacakra. The divine Entity is that nucleus that the jiivas rotate around. So now Baba, in this very cycle of brahmacakra, please also include me. Make it so that I shall always remain as Your designated machine (yantra). In that way I will go on executing Your task. Let my life be completely devoted unto You.
Baba, by Your grace, please remain with me on this journey of effulgence-- all the while keeping me moving ahead in an unhindered way...
********************************************
Steps of Civilisation
Baba says, "The first step forward in human civilization was the discovery of fire. The second step forward was the discovery of iron. The third step forward was the invention of the wheel. That human clan of the prehistoric era which first discovered fire was considered the most civilized and advanced clan of its time. Gradually the use of fire became prevalent in all human communities. Thereafter, that community which first learned the use of iron leapt over the boundary of the stone age, bone age and bronze age, and was considered to have the most advanced civilization." (SC-1, p. 86-7)
********************************************
Steps of Civilisation
Baba says, "The first step forward in human civilization was the discovery of fire. The second step forward was the discovery of iron. The third step forward was the invention of the wheel. That human clan of the prehistoric era which first discovered fire was considered the most civilized and advanced clan of its time. Gradually the use of fire became prevalent in all human communities. Thereafter, that community which first learned the use of iron leapt over the boundary of the stone age, bone age and bronze age, and was considered to have the most advanced civilization." (SC-1, p. 86-7)
********************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment here