Why Part of Sixteen Points

Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2011 22:18:09 -0000
To: am-global@earthlink.net
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Subject: Why Part of Sixteen Points

Baba

PS Intro: This following song is about the establishment of a neohumanistic society. It describes how sadvipra samaj gets formed and what it will look like. Overall this song paints a picture of the upcoming dharma ra'j.

"Jay jay jay toma'ri huk jaya..." (P.S. 4764)

Purport:

O' Divine Entity, O' Cinmay, O' Consciousness Personified who has graced me by coming in this brilliant, golden, effulgent dawn: Victory, victory, victory; victory unto You. Baba, You are everything.

On this earth, we all are witnessing the magic that has happened; by Your divine grace our dream has come true today. Behold, this earth has been filled with sweetness, charm, and beauty. By Your grace there is no longer any dukha (sorrow) or santa'p (misery and suffering) on this earth. There is only the incessant flow of a'nanda (bliss); it is flowing on and on continuously. Baba, with an upsurge of devotion, the new blood & vigour has awakened; the paranoia, threat, and terror of exploitation is now completely gone. By Your grace, a new era of sentient peace has arrived.

Baba, in the past we planned that we will create a new heaven. And now that day has come. It is Your grace. According to Your direction we will go on doing Your work - all the while singing Your song to please You. Our hands will do Your work and our heart will sing Your glory. In that way we will move. Baba, by Your grace we will pour abundant love on each and every unit being - on all our brothers and sisters, on all the flaura and fauna. Baba, You have showered Your grace. That splendid day which we were dreaming about has arrived; all the cimmerian darkness has been dispelled. Now, by Your grace, the eastern horizon is filled with Your brilliant, divine effulgence. Baba, we will move on in the chorus of samgacchadhvam spirit - keeping You in our heart and singing about Your glory...

== WHY IS MOTHER TONGUE PART OF 16 POINTS ==

Namaskar,
In our AM ideology and in our 16 Points, Baba has given importance to and placed emphasis on all that is needed for the well-being and development of humanity. As we all know, one of the four tenets of C.S.D.K. (Pt #16 of 16 Pts) is 'seminar'; and one of the sub-points of 'seminar' is knowledge of one's mother tongue. Obviously then, knowing & using one's mother tongue is an integral element for building a proper society. The only question then is what is the logic and reasoning behind this.

LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD

Before getting started, we should recognise that in today's world there are more than 7000 living languages in use on this earth. And they all carry certain unique qualities, traditions, and specialties; yet, at present-- with the rapid-fire process of globalisation and all its mono-culture leanings-- many of these languages are threatened for their very survival.

Thus we should take a proper look at what the grand, variety of languages bring to the humanity as well as why Baba places such a great significance on knowing and using one's mother tongue.

METHOD OF EXPLOITATION

One of the main reasons that certain mother tongue's are taken 'out of circulation' is because one so-called higher culture wants to dominate another so-called lower culture. And one of the best ways to break down another culture is to render their mother tongue as valueless or rogue etc. Because then those innocent persons are forced to give up or
abandon their mother tongue and instead learn the language of that exploitive group. This invariably creates a huge inferiority complex in the minds of those who have lost their mother tongue. Because-- out of nowhere-- they now have to learn a new language and function with that new linguistic tool-- ie. the language of the exploiters, which is not at all comfortable for them.

Those in this present era who grew-up speaking English have not an iota idea of what it means to have to live in a society where one's mother tongue is not respected or accepted. It creates a huge shock to one's psyche and places one at an extreme disadvantage in every social setting imaginable from one's work opportunities to one's schooling ventures. And by that way one can be easily put down, manipulated, and ultimately exploited.

That is what happened to the black slaves that were brought to the US; that is what happened to many of the North Africans that relocated to southern Europe; that is what happened to the Eskimos in Alaska as well as the native people in so many lands from Australia to Indonesia. Plus this was also the case with the aborigines of Central America. In all these instances a certain group lost their local language due to the pressures placed on them by a more dominant group. And by that way, the weaker group just got exploited, pushed to the fringe, and used as a menial labor force in that society. This is what commonly happens to those who lose their mother tongue.

So here the point is that to give every human being the proper right of passage and due respect, it is highly important that all languages be honored. That means in their family life people should not be looked down upon for what language they speak. And every person should have the opportunity to do their primary schooling in their mother tongue as well as get the opportunity to learn the vishva bha'sa (world language) of the day.

Without that there will always be one or more segments of the population that are exploited.

THE SOURCE OF SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE

One other crucial aspect of keeping all the languages of the world 'alive' is that a language serves as the abode of knowledge of a particular people or community. What people learn about the world and human understanding gets incorporated into their language. That is why each and every language-- everyone's mother tongue-- carries with it unique knowledge of the world.

Just as the Inuit (Eskimo) language has all the perfect phrases for describing snow, so many languages carry unique insights about the world. Because the thing is, much of what people know is not written down-- especially in those cultures versed in the oral tradition-- in which case their language is literally an encyclopedia of knowledge. It
may contain important facts about what leaves are medicinal in value or what the role of certain bugs is or how the moon moves across the sky in the summer season. So much information and knowledge is contained in the various languages of the world.

For example, imagine how much knowledge would be lost about yoga, devotion, and spirituality if the Sanskrit language were to die. And indeed every language has its own special arena of knowledge.

So keeping languages alive is one very important manner of protecting humanity's wealth of knowledge.

HOW BABA PRACTICALLY KEEPS ALL LANGUAGES LIVING

In His ideological teachings of Prout and cardinal human values, Baba always stresses the importance of one's mother tongue. Yet as we know, AM is not just a theoretical endeavour. Side by side Baba implements the practical programs to keep languages alive.

One way He did this was by having the Ananda Vaniis read in all the languages. This was one of His special ways of respecting and honouring all languages.

And another special measure He adopted was to always ensure all Wts remembered and gave value to their mother tongue. This is a unique point. Because, Wts were basically supposed to forget everything about their former worldly life from their parents to their habits etc, but on the point of their mother tongue Baba was very keen that even Wts must remember their mother tongue.

MOTHER TONGUE: LANGUAGE OF THE HEART

One of the reasons for this is that each and every person's mother tongue is the language of their heart. It is by this way that people express their finer sentiments and feelings in the form of oral history, poetry, songs, drama, etc.

Thus one's mother tongue is a key point of human expression.

SUMMARY

So for financial gain or economic power, one community must not be allowed to exploit another by rendering their mother tongue as irrelevant. This is commonly done in this present era: Sideline their language, infuse inferiority complex, and force them to live as second class citizens etc. But this should not be allowed to continue as it robs people of their human rights and dignity and it stands as the death-bed for so much human knowledge and erudition.

All in all this is a vast topic and what is written here is a mere sprinkling. So others should also come forward and relay their practical experiences and understanding about this most important issue of one's mother tongue.

BABA'S BLESSING

By Baba's grace, our AM will bring justice in all realms of life including the preservation of everyone's mother tongue.
 That is why Baba has included 'mother tongue' as one of the aspects of Sixteen Points.

Baba says, "The best means of communicating human expressions is through one’s mother tongue, as this is most natural. If people’s natural expression through their mother tongue is suppressed, inferiority complexes will grow in their minds, encouraging a defeatist mentality and ultimately leading to psycho-economic exploitation. Thus, no mother tongue should be suppressed." (PNS-15)

Namaskar,
Mukunda

Note 1: FALSE DISCOVERIES OF RESEARCHERS

Nowadays, many researchers in so-called first-world nations claim to have discovered new knowledge or invented new ideas etc, when in reality these things have been known for centuries by various native peoples. This is the case with so many herbs and remedies in India, China, and Philippines etc. And indeed all over the world the native populations have deep insights into the natural world and often times scientists are merely re-discovering or outrightly stealing knowledge that has been known for a long time by certain native peoples. And that knowledge was keep in tact by their language.

Note 2: NOT GIVE WAY TO CULTURAL IMPERIALISM

By preserving and protecting all the languages of the world and keeping everyone's mother tongue alive, it prevents hegemony of one group over another. This is perhaps the most important element of this issue.

Baba says, "All languages must be encouraged, but this does not mean opposing the languages spoken by others. In this context, language in itself is of secondary importance. Of primary importance is the negative cultural and socio-economic consequences of linguistic imperialism." (PE)

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Misutilisation of Science

Baba says, "The crises faced by society today indicates that humanity is not encouraging the maximum utilization and rational distribution of the mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities of the world. Science is being used to develop more deadly weapons for war rather than being channelised for benevolent and constructive purposes." (PNS-13, p.47)
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