Date: 23 Aug 2012 21:46:33 -0000
    From: "Subhash Deva" 
    To: 
am-global@earthlink.net
    Subject: Donkey Food
    
    Baba
    
    "Tava bha'loba'sa' keno ashru ma'kha', he devata'..." (PS 1781
    
    Purport:
    
    O' my Lord, those who love You desperately want to get You more and
    more close; they long for You and cry for You but You do not come.
    Baba, You are the Divine One then why is Your love drenched in
    tears.  Baba, sometimes You come close and smile sweetly in my mind
    and other times You remain far and my mind is just involved in
    worldly thoughts and crude desires. Baba, why is Your coming and
    going shrouded in mystery; please tell Your tales - Your ways. O' my
    dearmost, please tell me why You do like this.  
    
    Baba, various jinana sadhakas try to know You through their
    intellectual pursuits. But by this way their heart cannot get
    drenched in Your divine love. Baba, You do not allow Yourself to be
    held by the philosophy or material science. Rather You remain far,
    far away; You do not come close to such jinanis. One cannot get You
    with the vanity of darshan (mundane theory) or with the pride of
    vijinana (worldly knowledge). Baba, I want to have You close, but in
    spite of my repeated asking and requests You do not tell me what You
    want. You do not reveal to me how I can hold You in my heart. You do
    not tell me the answer; You just keep quiet - smiling. Baba, even
    then how sweet You are: You love me so much and You come close to
    shower me in Your love. Such sweetness! Baba, You are Love
    Personified. You have bound me in the bond of Your love; this is
    nothing but Your causeless grace, O' my Dearmost.  
    
    Baba, You do not give shelter to vain persons. Those who are
    arrogant and egotistical do not surrender themselves at Your alter;
    they are unable to realise You. Baba, You graciously remove all the
    ailments from the mind, including vanity and ego. Jinanis drown
    themselves in the psychic disease of ahamkara
 [1] (ego), but
    You dispel the fog of arrogance from their mind after pulverizing
    their ego. Baba, You are so gracious. You understand the upsurge of
    devotional love, and You are radiant with that soft and tender love.
    O my dearmost, with Your ever-flowing grace You saturate everything
    with Your love and sweetness.  
    
    Baba, You Yourself are divine and Your beauty is unfathomable. Baba,
    please come in my heart...
    
    
    
END NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA #1781:
    
    [1] "A'hamka're prashreya na'hi da'o, rucivika're sudu're
      sara'o...": This is the first line of the third stanza of the
    above Prabhat Samgiita (PS #1781) where Baba is warning us about the
    hazards of ego and vanity etc. By this way we can understand so many
    of Baba's teachings, nay the whole of AM philosophy, is represented
    in a concentrated manner in Prabhat Samgiita. So Baba's divine
    discourses elaborate on those seed form ideas which He has given in
    Prabhat Samgiita.
    
    Here below, in one of His discourses, Baba warns sadhakas in detail
    about the dangers of aham'ka'ra and explains how it comes in three
    various forms. And side by side He also gives the solution.
    
    Baba says, "The aham'ka'ra [pride] that creeps into a person due to
    the acquisition of jina'na has very serious repercussions in human
    life. It can lead to the complete downfall of the individual.
    Aham'ka'ra falls into three basic types, and each of the types
    brings disastrous results:
    
    "The first type of aham'ka'ra is called abhima'nam, which means that
    a person thinks that he deserves more than what he is getting; and
    consequently develops an overbearing attitude towards everyone."
    
    "Gaorava is the second type of aham'ka'ra. It means
    'self-aggrandizement'. Puffed up with vanity, a person will want to
    project his image in an exaggerated manner.Often we hear somebody
    say, for example, that they have a rose the size of a balloon in
    their garden - whereas actually the rose may be the size of a
    ping-pong ball. Constant indulgence in this type of activity
    converts the mind into matter."
    
    "The third type of aham'ka'ra is [the desire for] pratis't'ha' - the
    desire to make oneself known. A person influenced by [the desire
    for] pratis't'ha' expects respect from everyone, and hankers after
    name and fame." "After having analysed the various types of
    aham'ka'ra and their evil effects, we need to examine the ways and
    means of getting rid of these defects."
    
    "In order to get rid of abhima'na, one will have to cultivate the
    habit of being polite and humble. Just as a [blade of grass] may lie
    on the ground [underfoot], but does not, through its remaining
    humble, lose its importance, so a person will never become
    insignificant by being humble. Humility such as that of the [blade
    of grass] can alone save a person from abhima'na."
    
    "A person who is always engaged in the thought of his pratis't'ha'
    must learn how to care about the respect and prestige of others.
    Such a person must never forget that respect begets respect, and
    that he should always honour those who are not honoured by anyone. A
    constant practice of this type will remove the evil effects of the
    desire for pratis't'ha'."
    
    "And finally, a person who moves about puffed up with vanity and
    arrogance, and is always engaged in gaorava, self-aggrandizement,
    will be able to improve only by utilizing his time in kiirtana. If a
    person keeps himself engaged in kiirtana, that person will not have
    time to criticize and slander anyone in order to project his own
    image by comparison and contrast."
    
    "Therefore spiritual aspirants who have set their eyes on Parama
    Purus'a as their goal must always strive to get rid of aham'ka'ra,
    and gain the full benefits of jina'na and karma, so as to arouse and
    enliven bhakti, which is the only road to the journey's end."
    (Ananda Vacanamrtam - 23, p.104-110)
    
    So we should always remember how Baba has given His entire
    philosophy in Prabhat Samgiita and that it is His usual way to give
    long discourse about a single Prabhat Samgiita. You may remember
    that in one DMC the purport of one Prabhat Samgiita became an entire
    RU discourse: 'Humanity on the Threshold of a New Era'. 
    
    By all this it is quite evident that Baba's Prabhat Samgiita
    compositions hold great meaning and contain innumerable eternal
    truths. So we should cultivate the practice of learning Prabhat
    Samgiita more and more. Baba has given the tradition that during our
    DMS gatherings, dharmacakra, social functions, and spiritual
    retreats etc, the organisers should not give their own silly
    lectures but rather utilise the time in giving the purports of
    Baba's divine Prabhat Samgiita. By this way each and every A'nanda
    Ma'rgii will learn the entire social and spiritual philosophy of the
    vast AM ideology. 
    
    
    
    
== DONKEY FOOD ==
    
    Namaskar, 
    The following is a summary of Baba's teaching from the Shabda
    Cayanika series.       
    
    (a) Donkey food (Gardabha'nna) is that food purchased with
    ill-begotten money or sinfully earned money. 
    
    (b) If someone feeds you with deep love, respect, and affection and
    that feeling is conveyed through their expression, talk and conduct,
    and by feeding you they feel blissful ("Toma'ke kha'iae a'nandit
    hobe") and very content, and if you do not eat then they will feel
    pain, in this situation whatever food you eat in their house - even
    if it is just boiled grass - will be treated as priityanna (proper
    & sentient food). Any meal or food not prepared under such ideal
    conditions is donkey food. 
    
    (c) So if food is not given with that heart-felt feeling and if
    one's own life is not in danger due to starvation, in that condition
    then any food offered is donkey food, Gardabha'nna. So one must not
    eat that food. 
    
    Note: In western society that food which is not fit for human
    consumption is typically labeled as 'dog food'. And a similar idea
    Baba has conveyed above by the term donkey food-- "Gardabha'nna".
    (Summary of Shabda Cayanika - 20, p.163-64 [Bangla]) 
    
    Namaskar, 
    Subhash