Date: Thu 12 Jan 2012 21:56:03 -0400
From: Divyajyoti Deva
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: How Falsehood Become Truth
Baba
"Egiye calo, egiye calo..." (PS 156)
Purport:
My brothers and sisters, we should move on towards our goal, Parama Purusa. Today the glorious dawn has come. We should take everyone along with us; no one should be left behind. Everyone is ours. Nobody is other. We all belong to one family. Our father is Parama Purusa; we have to move together on the path of His teachings. Human society is one and indivisible, let no fissiparous tendencies be allowed to destroy this. Baba's grace is with us....
Namaskar,
There are two schools of thought with regards to Baba stories.
(1) Some in our Marga think that whatever someone writes as a Baba story is OK and that margii readers should not say anything even if it is wrong. They feel one should just read the story, accept it as is, and keep quiet.
(2) Others think there should be careful scrutiny of each Baba story to see how far it is correct or not. They feel that, when needed, there should be constructive criticism of the story to improve its accuracy, clarity, and devotional expression.
These are the two diametrically opposing views and both sides have their own logic. Let's take a deeper examination of this issue. These days more and more are writing Baba stories and as a community we should decide how to proceed.
Nowadays, many think that Lord Shiva smoked hashish, and that one of his sons, Ganesh, had the face and head of an elephant, and that Lord Shiva would lie down in the cemetery totally drunk. These are but some of the prevailing myths surrounding Lord Shiva.
Plus it is popularly thought that Lord Krsna was a simple cowherd who chased after females and that the gopis were all females. These are but some of the many myths surrounding Lord Krsna.
Thus there are a plethora of misconceptions surrounding these two great personalities, i.e. Taraka Brahmas.
As disciples of Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, we must not let history repeat itself. We must ensure the world learns the truth about Baba and His divine teachings. We must not give any scope for the creation of such myths about Baba. And the best way to achieve this is to ensure that our presentation of His divine Personality is accurate and true.
A small few may be thinking that, "Come on, what Devashish has written in his book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years, is fine. We all know that Baba is most loving and the Divine One, so if there are some errors or misconceptions in the book it is not a big deal. Just let it be."
Some individuals mistakenly justify the matter this way: "All margiis know that Baba was and is most loving and this book is for margiis; so if there are mistakes in the book, that is not a problem. We can mentally correct the book as we read it and enjoy. After all, we know about Baba so we will not get confused and misguided by this book." This is their defective mentality.
This type of thinking has a serious flaw. Here is that flaw.
That problem is that it will not be long before all of us who were blessed to be with Baba physically are gone from this earth. Naturally then people will base cent-per-cent of their knowledge about Baba on what is written about Him, i.e. what is printed in the books.
So when a book makes totally outrageous claims like the following, readers and the general public will be bound to get a wrong idea about Baba and Ananda Marga. Because Devashish has written all of the below and more in his book:
(1) Baba is Bengali (p.34);
(2) Baba's favourite language was Bhojpuri in His childhood (p.114);
(3) Baba has a loose tongue like a drunken policeman who is rude and harshly abuses innocent people and criminals just to irritate and torture them (p.211);
(4) Baba is merely a saint like Saint Paul, Mother Teresa, Mohamed & Swami Ramdev (p.166);
(5) Kapalik sadhana is a ritual (p.151);
(6) Baba ordered His own book, A Discussion, to be burned (p.185);
(7) Buddha is also Taraka Brahma (p.179);
(8) As a Guru, Baba celebrated Durga Puja (p.263)
(9) And so many other misleading statements and falsehoods.
But making all these types of misleading and erroneous statements is not good. Enemies will certainly take advantage of the situation and turn these misstatements into major, mountainous issues, i.e. turning a piece of dust into the Himalayas. Because that is what enemies do. They look for points of weakness and areas to attack and then use that to make a huge cases against their foes.
So these false statements from Devashish's book are extremely problematic and cannot be overlooked. It is by these types of ludicrous statements that the world came to think that Lord Shiva just smoked hashish or that Lord Krsna just chased after young females. Such dogmas flooded this earth for centuries, nay thousands of years, until finally Baba Himself came as the Taraka Brahma and dispelled these myths about Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna.
The irony is that now misguided disciples are creating the same types of problems all over again about Baba Himself. If we let Devashish's book stand as is without offering any clarifications or corrections, readers will most definitely get the wrong idea about Baba. Not only that, those who are enemies of the Marga, will use Devashish's book as ammunition to attack Baba. In that case, once again a Taraka Brahma will have to take advent and clear up such misconceptions about Baba.
Because enemies will take one relatively small point, like Baba is Bengali or that Baba favours Bhojpuri, and use that to defame Him and charge Him as being a hypocrite. They will accuse Baba of preaching about neo-humanism yet at the same time harbouring communal sentiments. Because that is what is written in Devashish's book.
That is what enemies do. They take whatever ammunition they can find and blow that up into monstrous proportions in order to take someone down. Unfortunately, Devashish's book is an entire ocean of ammunition for such enemies. They will have a field day with his book.
There are countless mistakes in the book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years. To correct them all we will have to write every day for weeks on end.
If we fail to raise this critical matter then so many falsehood will emerge. Just as it was propagated that Lord Shiva smoked hashish or that His son was born with an elephant face, similarly so many wrong claims will be made about Baba. And people will accept those as true. This is the problem.
Now I put forth my request to all margiis that they should also participate in cleaning-up and addressing this serious issue.
For reasons mentioned above, if any publication about Baba and Ananda Marga has any mistakes we should point out those errors and go on the public record. Because if any published mistake remains unopposed, that becomes unassailable proof in the future. But if we oppose such falsehoods now - before it is too late - then wrongs will be brought to light and corrected. Such is what needs to happen with Devashish's book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years.
Namaskar,
Divyajyoti
An honest publisher or writer is always looking for healthy criticism; but those who are cowardly, selfish, and egoistic do not like their writings to be critiqued. It is the same as if you are telling the truth, then you are not afraid if people discuss that topic, since your point is true. But if you are telling a lie then you are always afraid that the matter should not be discussed.
Overall, Devashish's intention is fine and well; that is not the problem. The main hurdle is that he is sloppy and not up to the mark in various ways, including a lack of professionalism, as he did not verify the points in his book with various experts. Plus his devotional expression is also suspect.
From: Divyajyoti Deva
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: How Falsehood Become Truth
Baba
"Egiye calo, egiye calo..." (PS 156)
Purport:
My brothers and sisters, we should move on towards our goal, Parama Purusa. Today the glorious dawn has come. We should take everyone along with us; no one should be left behind. Everyone is ours. Nobody is other. We all belong to one family. Our father is Parama Purusa; we have to move together on the path of His teachings. Human society is one and indivisible, let no fissiparous tendencies be allowed to destroy this. Baba's grace is with us....
== HOW FALSEHOOD BECAME TRUTH ==
Namaskar,
There are two schools of thought with regards to Baba stories.
(1) Some in our Marga think that whatever someone writes as a Baba story is OK and that margii readers should not say anything even if it is wrong. They feel one should just read the story, accept it as is, and keep quiet.
(2) Others think there should be careful scrutiny of each Baba story to see how far it is correct or not. They feel that, when needed, there should be constructive criticism of the story to improve its accuracy, clarity, and devotional expression.
These are the two diametrically opposing views and both sides have their own logic. Let's take a deeper examination of this issue. These days more and more are writing Baba stories and as a community we should decide how to proceed.
MYTHS ABOUT LORD SHIVA AND LORD KRSNA
Nowadays, many think that Lord Shiva smoked hashish, and that one of his sons, Ganesh, had the face and head of an elephant, and that Lord Shiva would lie down in the cemetery totally drunk. These are but some of the prevailing myths surrounding Lord Shiva.
Plus it is popularly thought that Lord Krsna was a simple cowherd who chased after females and that the gopis were all females. These are but some of the many myths surrounding Lord Krsna.
Thus there are a plethora of misconceptions surrounding these two great personalities, i.e. Taraka Brahmas.
As disciples of Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, we must not let history repeat itself. We must ensure the world learns the truth about Baba and His divine teachings. We must not give any scope for the creation of such myths about Baba. And the best way to achieve this is to ensure that our presentation of His divine Personality is accurate and true.
BOOKS ARE VIEWED AS TRUTH
Recently someone published a book, Anandamurti:
The Jamalpur Years. Although the book was written with the
best of intentions, we must ensure its expression properly
reflects Guru and His teachings.
The reason great care is needed is that books
are seen as veritable authoritative sources of truth. That is
the basic belief about books. When a person reads something that
has been printed, published and bound as a book, they take that
information to be substantiated and true. That is the common
approach adopted by both the public and experts. Books then have
a huge effect on the common psyche.
Yet tragically, books often contain serious misconceptions and stray far from the truth.
For instance, there are numerous books which describe how Lord Shiva smoked hashish, or how Lord Krsna chased after females. And the general public accepts those falsehoods as true. Why? Because they were published in a book.
Not only that, people generally believe in the existence of the mythological characters, Ram and Hanuman. Why do people believe they are real? Because Ram and Hanuman have been written about and printed in a book, the Ramayana. Yet both Ram and Hanuman are totally mythological figures. But because their story has been printed in book form, people think they are real.
The problem does not end there. On Indian soil, thousands have been killed over this issue, even within the last 20 years. Specifically, there have been court cases, rallies, protests, threats, and attacks over Ram's supposed birth place. Ram's existence is 100% mythological but hundreds of millions of people are ready to die in order to secure Ram's birthplace.
So see the situation: Ram is an imaginary figure, yet hoards of people are arguing over where Ram was born - and fighting about it. Yet, Ram never took birth on this earth. How did this confusion happen? By reading about Ram in a book, people came to believe he is real. Such is the power that books have over people.
Wikipedia, the popular on-line Encyclopedia, also places huge confidence and credence into books.
For instance, if any information is printed in a book then it can be added to a Wikipedia topic and nobody can change or delete it. If it is stated in a book that Baba supported racism or communalism or so many other mistakes, then those false claims can be added to the Wikipedia site. All because those falsehoods have been printed in a book.
Thus when someone has recently written a book about Baba which contains innumerable falsehoods, should we just sit back and think that it is ok? Or what should be our approach.
Yet tragically, books often contain serious misconceptions and stray far from the truth.
For instance, there are numerous books which describe how Lord Shiva smoked hashish, or how Lord Krsna chased after females. And the general public accepts those falsehoods as true. Why? Because they were published in a book.
Not only that, people generally believe in the existence of the mythological characters, Ram and Hanuman. Why do people believe they are real? Because Ram and Hanuman have been written about and printed in a book, the Ramayana. Yet both Ram and Hanuman are totally mythological figures. But because their story has been printed in book form, people think they are real.
The problem does not end there. On Indian soil, thousands have been killed over this issue, even within the last 20 years. Specifically, there have been court cases, rallies, protests, threats, and attacks over Ram's supposed birth place. Ram's existence is 100% mythological but hundreds of millions of people are ready to die in order to secure Ram's birthplace.
So see the situation: Ram is an imaginary figure, yet hoards of people are arguing over where Ram was born - and fighting about it. Yet, Ram never took birth on this earth. How did this confusion happen? By reading about Ram in a book, people came to believe he is real. Such is the power that books have over people.
WIKIPEDIA EXAMPLE
Wikipedia, the popular on-line Encyclopedia, also places huge confidence and credence into books.
For instance, if any information is printed in a book then it can be added to a Wikipedia topic and nobody can change or delete it. If it is stated in a book that Baba supported racism or communalism or so many other mistakes, then those false claims can be added to the Wikipedia site. All because those falsehoods have been printed in a book.
Thus when someone has recently written a book about Baba which contains innumerable falsehoods, should we just sit back and think that it is ok? Or what should be our approach.
THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM
A small few may be thinking that, "Come on, what Devashish has written in his book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years, is fine. We all know that Baba is most loving and the Divine One, so if there are some errors or misconceptions in the book it is not a big deal. Just let it be."
Some individuals mistakenly justify the matter this way: "All margiis know that Baba was and is most loving and this book is for margiis; so if there are mistakes in the book, that is not a problem. We can mentally correct the book as we read it and enjoy. After all, we know about Baba so we will not get confused and misguided by this book." This is their defective mentality.
This type of thinking has a serious flaw. Here is that flaw.
That problem is that it will not be long before all of us who were blessed to be with Baba physically are gone from this earth. Naturally then people will base cent-per-cent of their knowledge about Baba on what is written about Him, i.e. what is printed in the books.
FALSE CLAIMS BY DEVASHISH ABOUT BABA
So when a book makes totally outrageous claims like the following, readers and the general public will be bound to get a wrong idea about Baba and Ananda Marga. Because Devashish has written all of the below and more in his book:
(1) Baba is Bengali (p.34);
(2) Baba's favourite language was Bhojpuri in His childhood (p.114);
(3) Baba has a loose tongue like a drunken policeman who is rude and harshly abuses innocent people and criminals just to irritate and torture them (p.211);
(4) Baba is merely a saint like Saint Paul, Mother Teresa, Mohamed & Swami Ramdev (p.166);
(5) Kapalik sadhana is a ritual (p.151);
(6) Baba ordered His own book, A Discussion, to be burned (p.185);
(7) Buddha is also Taraka Brahma (p.179);
(8) As a Guru, Baba celebrated Durga Puja (p.263)
(9) And so many other misleading statements and falsehoods.
But making all these types of misleading and erroneous statements is not good. Enemies will certainly take advantage of the situation and turn these misstatements into major, mountainous issues, i.e. turning a piece of dust into the Himalayas. Because that is what enemies do. They look for points of weakness and areas to attack and then use that to make a huge cases against their foes.
So these false statements from Devashish's book are extremely problematic and cannot be overlooked. It is by these types of ludicrous statements that the world came to think that Lord Shiva just smoked hashish or that Lord Krsna just chased after young females. Such dogmas flooded this earth for centuries, nay thousands of years, until finally Baba Himself came as the Taraka Brahma and dispelled these myths about Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna.
HOW IRONIC
The irony is that now misguided disciples are creating the same types of problems all over again about Baba Himself. If we let Devashish's book stand as is without offering any clarifications or corrections, readers will most definitely get the wrong idea about Baba. Not only that, those who are enemies of the Marga, will use Devashish's book as ammunition to attack Baba. In that case, once again a Taraka Brahma will have to take advent and clear up such misconceptions about Baba.
Because enemies will take one relatively small point, like Baba is Bengali or that Baba favours Bhojpuri, and use that to defame Him and charge Him as being a hypocrite. They will accuse Baba of preaching about neo-humanism yet at the same time harbouring communal sentiments. Because that is what is written in Devashish's book.
That is what enemies do. They take whatever ammunition they can find and blow that up into monstrous proportions in order to take someone down. Unfortunately, Devashish's book is an entire ocean of ammunition for such enemies. They will have a field day with his book.
THE BOOK HAS SO MANY MISTAKES
There are countless mistakes in the book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years. To correct them all we will have to write every day for weeks on end.
If we fail to raise this critical matter then so many falsehood will emerge. Just as it was propagated that Lord Shiva smoked hashish or that His son was born with an elephant face, similarly so many wrong claims will be made about Baba. And people will accept those as true. This is the problem.
Now I put forth my request to all margiis that they should also participate in cleaning-up and addressing this serious issue.
CONCLUSION
For reasons mentioned above, if any publication about Baba and Ananda Marga has any mistakes we should point out those errors and go on the public record. Because if any published mistake remains unopposed, that becomes unassailable proof in the future. But if we oppose such falsehoods now - before it is too late - then wrongs will be brought to light and corrected. Such is what needs to happen with Devashish's book, Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years.
Namaskar,
Divyajyoti
Note 1: WHO DOES NOT LIKE THIS
An honest publisher or writer is always looking for healthy criticism; but those who are cowardly, selfish, and egoistic do not like their writings to be critiqued. It is the same as if you are telling the truth, then you are not afraid if people discuss that topic, since your point is true. But if you are telling a lie then you are always afraid that the matter should not be discussed.
Note 2: FINE INTENTION, POOR SHOWING
Overall, Devashish's intention is fine and well; that is not the problem. The main hurdle is that he is sloppy and not up to the mark in various ways, including a lack of professionalism, as he did not verify the points in his book with various experts. Plus his devotional expression is also suspect.
Note 3: EARLIER LETTERS ON THIS TOPIC
Dear Brother,
ReplyDeleteYour explanation is very much meaningfull and deserves to be carefully looked into. In fact a very sincere, truthful, devoted and devotional approach is needed to reset our publications" manual. It needs a sea change--and it is to be done by our experts.
V. Maiti