Sadhana Point

From: "Satiish G.D. Deva"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Sadhana Point
Date: Tue, 01 May 2012 22:27:12 +0530

Baba

"Pita' ma'ta' bandhu sakha' a'ndha're a'lokavarttika'..." (P.S. 218)

Purport:

Baba, O' Parama Purusa, You are my most intimate and loving One; You are so close. Baba, You are my father and You are my mother; You are my friend as well as my eternal companion. O' my Dearmost Baba, You are my everything-- my One and only. You are that divine lamp of effulgence, always guiding me along the proper path in life. Baba You are everywhere. By Your grace no one is ever alone or helpless. You are ever-present carefully watching over everyone. Baba, You are always residing in my heart.

Baba, with Your infinite compassion, no matter how difficult the circumstances are, You are always present to provide a gentle touch. Amongst the thorns & tears You are the soothing balm of the lotus flower which relieves all pains and sorrows; and in scorching heat of the burning fire, You are that refreshing, calm, cool sandalwood. Baba, You are the ultimate Savior. When one has lost everything then in that bleak hour You are the only shelter. You are that divine jewel which transforms everything else into a shining jewel. By Your touch, unit beings become divine. That is Your causeless grace. Baba, You are the best of everything. In the beautiful rose garden where all the flowers are aromatic and fragrant, You are the most gorgeous-- You are the most beautiful. Baba, You are the most effulgent Entity in this vast universe.

Baba, O' Divine Entity, You are the Cause of everything. You are the Source and You are the Origin. Baba, because You are, I am. You are the breath of my very life. Without You, my whole existence is meaningless. Baba, You are my Dearmost, You are my everything. You alone are the eternal lamp of my heart. Baba, please grace me by keeping me in Your divine shelter...

== SADHANA POINT ==                     

Baba says, "Where there is no love, the mind will not run after Him. So dhya'na also becomes meaningless."

"Dhya'na is withdrawing the mental propensities from all extroversive entities, and then collecting those withdrawn mental forces, mental propensities, and urging them towards the Supreme Entity. If there is no love for the Supreme Entity, this movement cannot be done." (Patna, 31st August, 1978)

Namaskar,
Satiish

Pratapaditya ji Died - Mahaprayan

Date: Tue 01 May 2012 17:55:46 -0000 (GMT)
From: Tanmay_Deva
Subject: Pratapaditya ji Died - Mahaprayan
To: AM-GLOBAL

Baba

== AC PRATAPADITYA JI DIED - MAHAPRAYAN ==

Namaskar,
It is much with sadness that we share with you the mahaprayan (death) of our respected Family Acarya Pratapaditya ji of Gorakhpur (UP). Acaryaji underwent his mahaprayan (death) today, May 1, at 9am IST. The cause of death was throat cancer; he was 79 years of age.

Pratapaditya Dada's mahaprayan (death) is truly a loss to our Marga family. He was a senior respected member who spent many years in Ananda Marga. Acaryaji shall be remembered for both his plus points and minuses. There will certainly be much to say.

It is our loss that Ac Pratapaditya ji has encountered his mahaprayan (death). Acaryaji's place on this earth will not be forgotten soon. May we all take solace in the fact that Acaryaji was practicing sadhana regularly so certainly he will attain mukti or moksa, accordingly. Baba will certainly bestow His grace.

With deepest respects,
Yours brotherly,
Tanmaya Deva

Note 1: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL MAHAPRAYAN AND FAKE MPD

Here it should be qualified that there is both real mahaprayan and fake mahaprayan. Real mahaprayan marks the death of any ordinary human being. This is the proper use of the term: To note a person's departure from this earth. That is the way mahaprayan is to be used.

Then there is the fake, or so-called, or dogmatic mahaprayan.That is when certain vested interests try to apply the mahaprayan term to Parama Purusa Himself. This is totally inappropriate because when Baba is that Divine Entity who is beginningless and endless and resides always in our heart, then it is totally wrong to proclaim that He is gone.

That is why rational margiis are protesting; because the Oct 21st program is so-called mahaprayan. So-called means that something is fake. Parama Purusa is eternal, thus for some vested interests to declare "mahaprayan of Parama Purusa" is nothing but so-called mahaprayan.

Mahaprayan only really happens in the case of human beings, not Parama Purusa.

Note 2: ASTERISK NOTE ABOUT MAHAPRAYAN

* Mahaprayan (Death):  Many are aware that mahaprayan (death) is the common term used in India and especially in Bengal to describe the death of an honoured or even ordinary person. In that way, the obituary columns of the newspapers of Bengal regularly cite the mahaprayan (death) of various persons of society who died or passed away.

Some may get confused and wrongly think that the word 'mahaprayan' (death) is one extraordinarily devotional term to be used in association with Parama Purusa. But that is not at all the case. Rather to do so is only to undermine the eternal presence of Parama Purusa. That is why no devotees ever use the word 'mahaprayan' in reference to Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna. Because Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna exist eternally. Then there is no question of Their mahaprayan (death).

Those who think that Baba is a mortal human being celebrate Mahaprayan on a particular day of the year related with Baba; but, in the true sense, Baba is Parama Purusa so He is eternal and there is no question of His mahaprayan.

And for those who need still more technical proof then all this can be clarified quite readily by referencing the dictionary. Specifically in the Samsad Bengali-English dictionary on page 742. Checking there it will be confirmed that the word 'mahaprayan' means death. Which is why it used to refer to the passing away of even common citizens.

Note 3: STORY- SITTING ON BABA'S LAP MEANS DIED?

(contributed by one margii)

Recently after dharmacakra, a senior margii was recounting his experiences of having dharma samiiksa with Baba.

He said, "After being punished by Baba, then He called me close and placed me on His lap - I remained there for some time soaking up His love - and He blessed me."

We all enjoyed hearing about his personal account with Baba during dharma samiiksa. When he finished telling his story, there was a call for questions. Various people posed their queries.

QUESTION BY A NEW MARGII

Towards the end, one new margii raised his hand and asked, "How did Baba bring you back to life?"

Everyone stared at the new margii in amazement. There was a look of astonishment all around - people were really shocked to hear him say this.

The new sadhaka sensed that something was awry.

He said very matter-of-factly, "I thought that sitting on Baba's Lap means that he (the margii) died - that is why I asked that question."

This was totally eye-opening for those of us in the room: Through our language and expression we had unknowingly taught someone to think that being on Baba's lap is the equivalent of death. Because it seems that nowadays people only use the phrase "Baba's lap" when a person has died, such as "Let him rest peacefully in Baba's lap", as if all who have died have accumulated there. Many emails have been written this way.

MUST NOT ONLY REFER TO DEATH

At that moment I thought that everyone, new and old, should be clear about the real and devotional meaning of this phrase, "being on Baba's lap." It should not become stigmatized such that it only means death. Because in its true sense, the phrase "being on Baba's lap" really does carry a highly devotional and sweet feeling.

It is just like how a small child sits on its parent's lap. In a similar way, a spiritual child (human being) sits on the lap of Parama Purusa. By Baba's grace this can happen anytime in one's sadhana, especially in dhyana. Such a phrase then should not become  stigmatized because too many people only use it at the time of death.

We should be careful that we do not relegate "Baba's lap" only to the point of death. All these following terms and phrases also only refer to death:

ve bhagavan ko pya're ho gaye
(he has been loved by God)

ve svarga sidhar gaye
(he has gone to heaven )

ve guzar gaye
(he passed away)

mahaprayan hoyeche
 (he died)

We should ensure that the same death connotation does not get attached to, "being on Baba's lap." Because the phrase - "being on Baba's lap" - is a devotional experience that can happen today itself in sadhana, and especially in dhyana. The phrase "being on Baba's lap" should not lose this quality and only mean death. It should not meet the same dark fate as happened with the term harijan.

MUST NOT MEET SAME FATE AS HARIJAN

As we all know, these days in India nobody uses the term harijan to mean "a devotee". Whereas 70 years ago it was used in that way. The term harijan did mean bhakta. But ever since the time of Gandhi when he glued the harijan term to the lowest so-called caste, i.e so-called untouchables, nobody uses the the harijan to mean devotee. Never. Because the term harijan has been stigmatized to mean "untouchable". Nobody uses it to mean "devotee", but that is the original and true meaning of the word.

The phrase, "sitting on Baba's lap", should not meet a similar fate. It should not lose its devotional quality and just refer to one's death. That will be very negative.

A VERY DEVOTIONAL EXPRESSION

There are thousands of recorded stories by sadhakas where they use the phrase, "on Baba's lap", when describing their experiences of being with Baba: He used to bless them and bring them on His lap. People should understand the deeply devotional value of this expression, and not just think that Baba's lap means death, i.e. that you can only sit on His lap at the time of death. Still today there are thousands of margiis walking this earth who sat in Baba's lap. And not only that, there are countless more sadhakas who were blessed by Baba in dreams and dhyana wherein they sat in His lap. And still today this deeply devotional experience is attainable by sadhakas, by His grace.

There are so many ways an aspirant can reach unto Baba's lap including in sadhana and especially during dhyana. That is the main idea that should be preserved. Sadhana is a devotional practice and one can sit on Baba's lap in dhyana. We should make it cent-per-cent clear to one and all that the phrase, "sitting on Baba's lap", does not mean death.

RECENT EXAMPLES

Here are quoted lines from recently posted emails on various forums, wherein the writer uses the phrase - "in Baba's lap" - with the occasion of death:

- "We are sure that Baba has taken him in His loving lap."
(written by Dada Kalyaneshvarananda on 01 May 2012 in reference to the death of Ac Pratapaditya ji)

So the above line was just posted today by Dadaji. Here following are more examples related with the recent passing of a respected margii sister. Here too the phrase, "in Baba's lap", is used in conjunction with death.

- "May her soul rest in Baba's lap for ever."

- "Let her rest peacefully in Baba's Lap - which she always desired."

- "now she is in beloved Baba's lap"

- "She is now in BÁBÁ'S loving lap"

All of the above lines were written at the time of death. And it is fine to write like this - only the point is that this same phrase "in Baba's lap" should be used when describing one's devotional practices and experiences as well.