How People Remember Their Loved One - part 1

Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2012 21:39:55 +0530
To: am-global@earthlink.net
From: "Ravindra Deva" @ecosphere.....
Subject: How People Remember Their Loved One - part 1

Baba

== HOW PEOPLE REMEMBER THEIR LOVED ONE ==

 ~ PART 1 ~

Namaskar,
Our Ananda Marga is that most positive stance in life. The whole entire concept of Ananda Marga rests on the supreme idea that 'Baba is mine and He is with me'. This is the great idea which pulsates in the mind of each and every Ananda Margii.

This email is a short investigation into how our human memory works and how that is related with the so-called mahaprayan program.

HOW MEMORY WORKS

We all know that those things which we think about again and again remain alive in the mind. That is why if one thinks about one's childhood friends again and again, then even if those friendships occurred 50 years ago, it will seem as though those events happened only yesterday. It will be fresh in the mind.

In contrast, if one tries to remember their high school mathematics theorems or chemistry equations etc, and even if one got an A+ in those classes, but if they have not thought about mathematics or chemistry for years and years, then those facts and figures will be impossible to recall.

The point being that any idea which gets remembered again and again will be vibrant and crystal clear in the mind, while those forgotten ideas just fade away into the oblivion.

WHAT WE REMEMBER IN ANANDA MARGA:

'BABA IS WITH ME'

For Ananda Margiis the most desirable idea in this universe is that 'Baba is with me'. So this idea should be inculcated again and again. A bhakta's thinking should be: 'Baba is watching me, He cares for me, and He loves me...' For Ananda Margiis this is our routine remembrance. From morning till night, all our practices and thoughts revolve around this pinnacled idea - that He is with me.

Whereas the fake or so-called mahaprayan program enforces the false or negative notion that Baba has left this earth and is no longer with me. That is why at so-called mahaprayan it is regularly seen that people are distraught and crying. Their mind gets confused as they recall that day in Oct 1990. Such misguided ideas race through the mind. So many sadhakas have experienced this.

POSITIVE REMEMBRANCE NEEDED

Here is another way of looking at the matter.

Suppose one mother has one sweet, little child and suppose one day that charming baby gets hit by a car and the lifeless body of that dear baby is lying mangled on the road. Then certainly that caring mother will not keep a picture of that horrible and gruesome scene on her bedroom wall. She will not think again of the bloodied face of her little child. Rather she will hang a sweet picture of her young one which shows them happy and smiling. That will be the type of sweet remembrance the mother will carry.

Likewise, as devotees, we will always keep the most supremely positive memory of Dearmost Baba in the core of the heart and in the deep recesses of the mind. The sweet thought is, 'Baba You are along with me wherever I go in this vast universe. You are ever with me - protecting me and caring for me. Your blessing of fearlessness is always reflecting in my mind.' This is our Ananda Marga way of thinking and this is our reality.

So just like the mother keeps a delightful memory of her little boy, similarly bhaktas keep a divine and intimate remembrance of Baba. In both cases, that keeps the mind sparkling with that positive idea.

MAHAPRAYAN IS A NEGATIVE REMEMBRANCE

Whereas, the dark and negative occasion of Mahaprayan just imposes the false notion in the mind that Baba has gone - that He has left. Indeed the very name of the so-called mahaprayan program itself means 'great departure', i.e. that Parama Purusa is away from us.

BABA DIVINE EXAMPLE: POSITIVE MEMORY OF SHIVA AND KRSNA

That is why no true devotee appreciates this type of anti-devotional program and that is why Baba Himself never discusses the so-called mahaprayan of Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna in His books.

Rather if any devotee of Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna reads those books that they will automatically think that their Lord is along with them - and there will not even be a moment to think that their Lord is gone.

REMEMBERING BABA

AND KEEPING HIM FOREVER IN OUR HEART

In A'nanda Ma'rga Baba again and again guides us that we are always to remember the most positive and optimistic things. He tells us to always remember our Ista mantra, always practice madhuvidya (2nd lesson), always chant His name etc.  We are always to do those divinely positive practices, then, by His grace, the eternal truth will be permanently established in the mind that Parama Purusa is with me.

Thus there is no scope to adopt the dogmatic program of mahaprayan which dictates that Baba is gone.

Rather every true sadhaka cultivates the idea in the heart and mind that: "Baba is always with me, caring for me, helping me." This is the proper spiritual outlook and this is way to remember Dearmost Baba.

“Whatever you speak or do,
Forget Him never;
Keeping His name in your heart,
Work, remembering it is for Him,
And, endlessly active, drift in bliss.” (Caryacarya - 2, Sadhana, pt #10)

Namaskar,
Ravindra

Note 1: WHY SO-CALLED MAHAPRAYAN

Mahaprayan means death. The term then can only be applied to jiivas, unit beings, and never to Parama Purusa Baba. He is eternal and timeless. He never comes and goes. He is the permanent shelter of all. That is why it is completely wrong, illogical, and inappropriate to use the term mahapryan in association with Him. Yet that is the "name" of the program that is held each year in Tiljala. Since Baba is the Parama Purusa who exists across time and space and always resides in the heart of each and every bhakta, rational sadhakas refer to this program as so-called mahaprayan. The term so-called indicates that that thing is fake or wrong. And indeed this program is fake or dogmatic - as Parama Purusa never dies- hence so-called mahaprayan.

Baba says, "The one formless, beginningless and infinite Parama Brahma (Supreme Consciousness) is the only entity to be attained by living beings – That alone is Jagat Guru (the Supreme preceptor), That alone has revealed Brahmavidyá (intuitional science) to us through the medium of the name and form of Anandamúrtijii. Unit beings must be made to appreciate Its majesty." (Caryacarya-2, Sadhana, pt #1a)

PRABHAT SAMGIITA

"Toma'y khunje khunje priyo, din je ket'e ja'y..." (P.S. 3982)

Purport:

Baba, my most adorable One, with deep longing in search of You my days are passing in vain. In the absence of getting You, my whole life is gradually getting wasted. O' my Dearmost, where have I not looked for You. I have wandered around and searched in the seven oceans, on the mountain peaks, as well as on the earth, and also in the caves - in every nook and corner of this world, but alas I could not get You.  

Baba, day and night, secretly I also searched You in the flower garden and in various holy lands and tiirthas - all done in hopes of getting a glance at You. Baba, I searched everywhere with the hope that one day I will find You. But, in the end, all my efforts were for naught.  

Baba, with deep longing in my heart, I have also searched You in the galaxies, meteors, nebulae, and in the stars - all around & everywhere. Also, I searched for You in the dark, black-coloured clouds on the rainy days, in the scorching heat of the summer season, as well as in the shade of the tree in springtime. Baba, I have searched for You with a deep yearning and longing in my heart; I have looked for You everywhere.
 
Baba, O' my Dearmost, on one colourful golden dawn saturated in the effulgence & aroma of a newly blossoming flower, You took advent in my heart. Your grand arrival came after a long, deep, dark, & painful night of searching for You. Alas, in the end, You graced me by coming in my mind. Baba, You are so gracious...