Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:38:27
From: Tarakanath
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: How To Deal With Day to Day Issues
Baba
This entire email is composed of 3 parts:
(1) Prabhat Samgiita #2288;
(2) Posting: How To Deal With Day to Day Issues
(3) Trailer Quote: Impossible For People to Accept It
Each section is demarcated by asterisks (***).
**** Here begins the Prabhat Samgiita ****
Baba
"Toma'ke ka'che peyeo cena' da'y..." (PS 2288)
Purport:
O' Parama Purusa, O' my Dearmost, You are mine - You are very close to me. Baba, often I think that I have understood You completely; but when I contemplate more deeply I realise that I know not. To understand You fully, the unit mind must lose its individual identity. As long as one is cognizant of their own unit existence, then You cannot be realised. So, in spite of having You very close, it is still not possible for me to fully realise You. O' Divine Entity, You are my very intimate and closest One: You smile softly and say You love me. Yet when I long for You and yearn to have You in a more intimate way, You are not coming that close. Then I think that I do not properly understand Your mind - Your desire. Otherwise surely You would come deep into the depths of my heart. Alas I do not know how to satisfy You completely.
O' my Lord, just when I think I have completely understood You, and just when I think I have truly come to know You, i.e. Your ways and Your inner plans, then with Your divine liila You shower even more of Your divine love and I become restless to get You more and more close. Baba, I feel so much love for You in my heart that my eyes constantly rain and shower tears when I think of You. It is Your grace.
O' Parama Purusa, due to Your infinite compassion I have understood that only You are the Essence. You alone are the Cosmic Nucleus of this vast universe. By Your grace I have forgotten all those transitory expressions. I no longer run after the ephemeral things of this mundane world. Baba, I have accepted the greatness of Your divine liila. I understand that Your liila cannot be understood. [1] Now I only think and sing: "O' Lord, please forgive me for my lapses, wrongdoing and negative deeds. Please shower Your causeless grace on me."
Baba, You can only be attained through surrender and love. O' Lord please grace me; please fill me with Your divine compassion...
NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA #2288:
[1] "Toma'r liila'y ha'r ma'niya'chi": This phrase from the third stanza of the above Prabhat Samgiita is neatly represented by these below teachings.
"Surrender yourself to His will. Shake off your load of self-conceit. Lighten the burden of your life and float yourself on the waves of His will. It is He who is teaching you the sa'dhana' in the guise of a Guru (preceptor); it is He who is strengthening your knowledge and faith in the guise of a philosopher. You are plundering His mercy in everything day and night. Go on working as a machine, leaving the doership to Him. How little can your poor intellect comprehend or analyse His unfathomable sport (liila')! So, instead of trying to comprehend or analyse keep the bearing of that inscrutable juggler aglow before your eyes." (Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life - 4)
"Parama Puruśa is beyond the scope of relativity. Why is He making the world dance? Why has He made Paramarasa-Samudra? The answer to this cannot be known in the world of causality. Why Paramátmá has done something has no answer because He is beyond the scope of causality. Hence that which is non-causal, that which is beyond the scope of causality is Liilá. Whatever Paramátmá does is Liilá, but what Jiiva does is Kriidá. The wise will do Kriidá in such a way as to adjust their waves with the waves of Liilá. They will not try to know why Liilámaya has done an action. They will simply try to know Liilámaya Himself. If you cannot know the cause of a trifling thing like dancing, how can you know the cause of the action of Liilámaya? Jiiva has a very small brain and a very small cranium. It is not possible for it to know the action of Liilámaya. Suppose someone is an MA in 20 subjects. If he or she is asked suddenly to appear in the MA examination, he will not pass – he will have to read again, then he will have to appear. This proves that the Jiiva fails even to succeed in its own Kriidá. So how can it understand the cause of the Liilá of Liilámaya? It cannot. The best approach is to love Him, is to join His party. If there is true love the Master Magician will certainly make you understand everything because the more the members of His party know, the more convenient it is for Him." (Subhasita Samgraha - 19, Parama Puruśa)
Namaskar,
Emotion plays a huge part in our human life. Without emotion, human beings do not take action, no matter how much knowledge they have.
For instance, some mothers may have all the facts and figures about the dangers of war, but will not actively protest against it until their own son is drafted into the army. Propelled by that emotional feeling, they will engage in all kinds of activities in order to stop the war.
Likewise, some people may be fully aware of the harmful effects of a meat-based diet, but will not give up meat until his doctor warns them about their high cholesterol levels and risk of a heart attack. Motivated by that emotional link that is their own life is at stake, then they quickly gives up eating meat.
If you take a moment to think, I am sure you can come up with many examples where you have seen how people had adequate knowledge but did not act until they developed an emotional link with a particular issue or practice.
So emotion has a huge impact in our human activity. And that emotion can drive us in diametrically opposite directions.
Blind emotion will hasten one into all kinds of degrading vices and harmful dogmas; whereas emotion supported by rationality will thrust one forward onto the path of dharma.
There are so many present-day examples of how emotion shapes human activity: Everything from environmental disasters to taking tantric initiation, and in numerous other instances. In all such circumstances, emotion plays a critical role.
As Ananda Margiis, we should be pointedly aware of this, both in analysing our own actions and in understanding those of others.
In real life events, people are swayed or apathetic due to their emotional attachment to the topic. That covers up their sense of rationality.
For example, some people have knowledge about so many atrocities on this earth. Years ago in the Vietnam war, American forces used "agent orange" or dioxin as a means of chemical warfare. Some reports estimate 19 million gallons was airdropped. Decades later still innocent Vietnamese families are suffering the effects of those past misdeeds, and the land became barren and devastated - some of it restricted. See the images for yourself on-line: Babies are born with two heads and no legs, the landscape has been permanently damaged- indeed thousands and thousands of gruesome tales can be told about the ill-effects of agent orange.
Yet the American public is mostly unmoved. Some or more have the knowledge that this was going on, but they are not emotionally attached with those events. Hence those tragedies remain mostly ignored. Those sufferers needed medical attention but the US government did not even consider that any injustice was done. So there was no question of compensation - neither in the form of medical care nor money.
A similar scene is unfolding today with regards to the drone attacks. US forces have killed thousands of innocent citizens and youths throughout Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, & Afghanistan - and other places - yet the general American populace is mostly unaffected by such events. But when a few innocent teenagers in the US are killed due to gang violence it becomes national news and there are protests in cities across the country. Both cases are tragedies - the killings innocent youths by drone attacks and the murdering of teenagers - but the first is mostly overlooked while the second is mourned by many.
Below are more examples of how emotion gets misused in society - it becomes a blind force that allows people to both unleash terror and overlook horror.
It should be noted that, there are positive ways that emotion is used and that will be outlined further down in this letter.
1. At present, terrorists groups rely on blind emotion to recruit youths and sympathetic supporters to commit all sorts of crimes like car bombings, machine gun attacks, and other heinous crimes. Those youths lose their rationality and are just stirred up into an emotional fervor wherein they will do anything, fully blinded by their emotions.
2. In the west, bound by their blind emotion, some people spend huge money on their pets and will even kiss their cat or dog; they talk and share their feelings with their dog. They are extremely emotionally attached. Yet they will overlook the cries of starving humanity. Devoid of any rational approach, some can overlook the pain of a suffering child or fallen man, but they will give their wholehearted love and attention to their cat.
3. Similarly, some people will watch after their pets with extreme care yet when it comes time to sit down for dinner, they will cut into a steak (slaughtered cow) without any hesitation. Their lack of rationality and emotional attachment allows them to indulge in such duplicitous behaviour.
4. In our Ananda Marga, there are various ways in which emotion blinds people - especially in the case of our present group clashes. A few get attached with a particular group or leader and then justify all the misdeeds of that group.
Thus, emotion by itself is a blind force and is bound to lead humanity down the wrong road. When emotion is moving in haphazard way - i.e. devoid of rationality - then so many degrading and dogmatic things will occur.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, '"When it [the mind] moves haphazardly, swept away by whim, it is called “emotion”." (1)
Whereas when emotion is supported by rationality then great works can be done.
EMOTION AS A POSITIVE FORCE
Emotion can also be used in a positive manner when in coordination with rationality.
When a person thinks, "I should do something - I should follow dharma", and when this is done with their emotional force, then good things happen.
For instance, many have entered Ananda Marga and taken diiksa based on this emotional propulsion guided by rationality. In the same way, others have served as LFT's, WT's, etc. Without that emotional-cum-rational feeling they would not have been moved into action. They may have had knowledge of Ananda Marga and dharma, but without that close emotional and rational link they would not have done anything.
So in these positive cases, one's emotional flow is not haphazard, rather it is guided by rationality.
Similarly, with their emotional and rational attachment to Baba, i.e. devotion to Baba, many have given their lives for the great cause and others have stood up to fight dogma and oppose injustice. Even they have given up all their friends and faced all kinds of opposition due to their emotional-cum-rational attachment to Baba's teachings.
So emotion need not always be a liability. When linked with rationality it can lift one onto the field of dharma.
So long as one's emotions are not guided by rationality, regardless of how well educated a person may be, there are bound to be problems - problems of epic proportions. This is one aspect.
Second, even if people have knowledge, they will not do anything until they have an emotional link to the situation at hand. If that emotional link is blind they will fall prey to dogma and misdeeds and if combined with rationality that person can do great things for humanity.
Third, emotion should always be guided by a mind open in 360 degrees, and not be linked with any selfishness or group agenda.
Fourth, because of emotion, people often do not do what they should do, or do what they should not do. So it is a tricky force. Even educated people commonly fall into this trap. Here is an example to make this clear.
Suppose someone goes to the shopping mall or market to buy some food. Yet while they are there they see a pair of shoes. They had no plan or real need to buy shoes. Yet they are enticed by the shine of the shoes and without considering their financial position or whether they really need another pair of shoes, that person purchases the shoes. There is no calculation or rational thought process behind the purchase per se - just it was done on a whim. This type of impulsive shopping is a classic case of emotion or blind emotion - devoid of rationality.
In contrast, if one goes to the shopping mall and buys or does not buy shoes based strictly on if there is a need or not, then that is rationality.
Fifth, the only answer is neo-humanistic education and Ananda Marga spiritual practices. Buoyed by these rational and devotional forces, one's emotional feeling will be used in solely for positive endeavours.
Finally, when standing alone the emotional mind moves towards dogma and when guided by rationality that mind becomes a strong and dharmic force.
ALSO HAPPENS WITH FICTIONAL AND IMAGINARY CHARACTERS
The Juliet story posted earlier this week- wherein people share their heartfelt feelings due to their emotional link with a fictitious character - is but an example of how blind the human personae can become when goaded haphazardly by emotion.
Why does this happen? Currently in the west, although, much of the population is literate and educated in the worldly sense, many, many fall into various dogmas due to their emotional attachment.
For instance, romance is a huge aspect of life in the materialistic nations. With crude romance comes heartbreak - for any number of reasons. Today, many of the people who have been heartbroken or hurt in a romantic relationship are now sharing their woes with Juliet - as if Juliet can empathize and solve their problems.
Juliet is one of the main fictitious characters in Shakespeare's tragedy: "Romeo and Juliet". In that drama, written 450+ years ago, the young couple in love are embattled by family disputes and ultimately die a most tragic death, without ever being able to express their love for one another. It is the quintessential tragedy of western literature. And it is completely fictional - these characters are 100% imaginary - Mr Shakespeare merely invented them in his own mind.
Yet today, a Juliet website has been devised, and people from far and wide write in seeking solace about their romantic woes. Because of their deep emotional link with the female character Juliet - who never even existed in real life - people are writing to Juliet and pouring their heart. If they deem their romance to be similar in any way to that of Romeo and Juliet - i.e. if they are getting tormented by friends and family - then they write to Juliet and ask for her grace and promise that, "Just as you died for your lover, I shall do the same." Juliet does not even exist, yet out of emotion they are taking this fictional character to be their guide.
"Since the 1930s, letters addressed to Juliet keep arriving in Verona - and a statue was erected there as well. As of 2010, more than 5,000 letters are received annually, three quarters of which are from women. The largest single group of senders are American teenagers." (Wikipedia)
So this form of idol worship in the west is becoming more popular yet we should remember that it is based on 100% fictitious characters like Juliet.
It is just like if Indian people started writing to Laela'.
Such are the ways of emotional attachment. The people have the knowledge that such characters are purely fictional, but out of emotion they are drawn to them in such a poignant manner.
Baba has graciously blessed us with all the proper teachings to succeed in life and not be blinded by the haphazard flow of emotion. We should all take proper care to ensure we are always moving along the methodical path of emotion known as devotion. Then great works can and will be done on this earth and the sadhaka will attain the Supreme stance.
"Now, even those who are advocates of devotional or emotional faculties say that people get propensive propulsion from devotion or emotion. When the mind moves along a particular track or follows a particular discipline in a methodical way, this is called “devotion” or bhakti; but when it does not follow a particular method, when it moves haphazardly, swept away by whim, it is called “emotion”. This is the fundamental difference between devotion and emotion. You must know this clear-cut silver line of demarcation between devotion and emotion." (2)
"Those who adhere to this cult of pinnacled order know that there must be a happy blending amongst intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty, actional faculty and devotional-cum-emotional faculty. None of these is unimportant, all are of equal importance, but the finality comes in devotion. That is, the final outcome or resultant of intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty and actional faculty is devotion, not emotion." (3)
"If one wants to realize an entity, does one realize it only through knowledge? No, certainly not. To realize an entity, one must possess a loving heart, a sweet intellect, and a free flow of emotion (attached with spirituality)...I said a little earlier that by merging one’s individual sweetness into the sweetest entity, the realization, “You exist, only You exist,” becomes firmly established. One becomes finally ensconced in that Supreme Entity. There is no other way. And this self-knowledge is the sweetest essence of the devotional feeling of one’s heart." (4)
Namaskar,
Surrender to lord,
Tarakanath
REFERENCES:
1. Yoga Psychology
2. Yoga Psychology
3. Yoga Psychology
4. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 12
.
"If anybody tries to re-establish an old political, economic or religious theory of two thousand years ago – a theory or ism based on past time, space or person – using whatever type of psychology, sentiment or adroit propaganda, it will not be possible to correlate it with the existing physical waves. Once lost the parallelism between the ism and the physical wave cannot be restored, even if the old mental environment is re-created. We perceive the change not only in the physical wave but also in the mental wave. No amount of scientific effort will make it possible to restore the mental wave of the past. There was a time when kings were worshipped as the incarnations of God, but today if anybody tries to reintroduce this antiquated practice using psychological propaganda, it will be impossible for people to accept it." (Prout in a Nutshell - 4)
Note: Here are a few examples of Baba's above guideline.
(A) Certain Islamic fundamentalists want to implement 1500 year-old tenets in areas where they presently rule. This is evidenced by their application of the Islamic justice system where they employ antiquated punishments like chopping off a person's hand for stealing and beheading "guilty" persons in public. Such punishments are based on Islamic law. But, no matter how hard they try to implement such laws, it is impossible for them to gain success in this 21st century. The public will never appreciate this.
(B) In the same way, Hindu fundamentalists and those believers of caste still want to follow caste distinctions and the use of the sacred hair etc. But now the general populace is fast giving up caste such divisions and they are not going to follow them again.
(C) Fundamentalist Christians want to implement social rules of Bible, when already the common people have advanced beyond such codes.
(D) White supremacists want to forcibly impose racial supremacy. But here again the common people are not inclined in this manner.
In all such cases, implementing these outdated doctrines is no longer possible; the general mass will never appreciate such rules and restrictions. They will never be implemented.
Why is this impossible? Because time, space, and person have changed; that era is gone. That old philosophy is unsuitable for this present era.
For this reason, there is the understanding and guideline that some aspects of Caryacarya will be changed in the future - according to the need of that era.
For example, if the number of boys are 1/4 the number of girls, then one male may have many wives, or vice-versa.
From: Tarakanath
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: How To Deal With Day to Day Issues
Baba
This entire email is composed of 3 parts:
(1) Prabhat Samgiita #2288;
(2) Posting: How To Deal With Day to Day Issues
(3) Trailer Quote: Impossible For People to Accept It
Each section is demarcated by asterisks (***).
**** Here begins the Prabhat Samgiita ****
Baba
"Toma'ke ka'che peyeo cena' da'y..." (PS 2288)
Purport:
O' Parama Purusa, O' my Dearmost, You are mine - You are very close to me. Baba, often I think that I have understood You completely; but when I contemplate more deeply I realise that I know not. To understand You fully, the unit mind must lose its individual identity. As long as one is cognizant of their own unit existence, then You cannot be realised. So, in spite of having You very close, it is still not possible for me to fully realise You. O' Divine Entity, You are my very intimate and closest One: You smile softly and say You love me. Yet when I long for You and yearn to have You in a more intimate way, You are not coming that close. Then I think that I do not properly understand Your mind - Your desire. Otherwise surely You would come deep into the depths of my heart. Alas I do not know how to satisfy You completely.
O' my Lord, just when I think I have completely understood You, and just when I think I have truly come to know You, i.e. Your ways and Your inner plans, then with Your divine liila You shower even more of Your divine love and I become restless to get You more and more close. Baba, I feel so much love for You in my heart that my eyes constantly rain and shower tears when I think of You. It is Your grace.
O' Parama Purusa, due to Your infinite compassion I have understood that only You are the Essence. You alone are the Cosmic Nucleus of this vast universe. By Your grace I have forgotten all those transitory expressions. I no longer run after the ephemeral things of this mundane world. Baba, I have accepted the greatness of Your divine liila. I understand that Your liila cannot be understood. [1] Now I only think and sing: "O' Lord, please forgive me for my lapses, wrongdoing and negative deeds. Please shower Your causeless grace on me."
Baba, You can only be attained through surrender and love. O' Lord please grace me; please fill me with Your divine compassion...
NOTES FOR PRABHAT SAMGIITA #2288:
[1] "Toma'r liila'y ha'r ma'niya'chi": This phrase from the third stanza of the above Prabhat Samgiita is neatly represented by these below teachings.
"Surrender yourself to His will. Shake off your load of self-conceit. Lighten the burden of your life and float yourself on the waves of His will. It is He who is teaching you the sa'dhana' in the guise of a Guru (preceptor); it is He who is strengthening your knowledge and faith in the guise of a philosopher. You are plundering His mercy in everything day and night. Go on working as a machine, leaving the doership to Him. How little can your poor intellect comprehend or analyse His unfathomable sport (liila')! So, instead of trying to comprehend or analyse keep the bearing of that inscrutable juggler aglow before your eyes." (Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life - 4)
"Parama Puruśa is beyond the scope of relativity. Why is He making the world dance? Why has He made Paramarasa-Samudra? The answer to this cannot be known in the world of causality. Why Paramátmá has done something has no answer because He is beyond the scope of causality. Hence that which is non-causal, that which is beyond the scope of causality is Liilá. Whatever Paramátmá does is Liilá, but what Jiiva does is Kriidá. The wise will do Kriidá in such a way as to adjust their waves with the waves of Liilá. They will not try to know why Liilámaya has done an action. They will simply try to know Liilámaya Himself. If you cannot know the cause of a trifling thing like dancing, how can you know the cause of the action of Liilámaya? Jiiva has a very small brain and a very small cranium. It is not possible for it to know the action of Liilámaya. Suppose someone is an MA in 20 subjects. If he or she is asked suddenly to appear in the MA examination, he will not pass – he will have to read again, then he will have to appear. This proves that the Jiiva fails even to succeed in its own Kriidá. So how can it understand the cause of the Liilá of Liilámaya? It cannot. The best approach is to love Him, is to join His party. If there is true love the Master Magician will certainly make you understand everything because the more the members of His party know, the more convenient it is for Him." (Subhasita Samgraha - 19, Parama Puruśa)
== HOW TO DEAL WITH DAY TO DAY ISSUES ==
Namaskar,
Emotion plays a huge part in our human life. Without emotion, human beings do not take action, no matter how much knowledge they have.
For instance, some mothers may have all the facts and figures about the dangers of war, but will not actively protest against it until their own son is drafted into the army. Propelled by that emotional feeling, they will engage in all kinds of activities in order to stop the war.
Likewise, some people may be fully aware of the harmful effects of a meat-based diet, but will not give up meat until his doctor warns them about their high cholesterol levels and risk of a heart attack. Motivated by that emotional link that is their own life is at stake, then they quickly gives up eating meat.
If you take a moment to think, I am sure you can come up with many examples where you have seen how people had adequate knowledge but did not act until they developed an emotional link with a particular issue or practice.
So emotion has a huge impact in our human activity. And that emotion can drive us in diametrically opposite directions.
Blind emotion will hasten one into all kinds of degrading vices and harmful dogmas; whereas emotion supported by rationality will thrust one forward onto the path of dharma.
There are so many present-day examples of how emotion shapes human activity: Everything from environmental disasters to taking tantric initiation, and in numerous other instances. In all such circumstances, emotion plays a critical role.
As Ananda Margiis, we should be pointedly aware of this, both in analysing our own actions and in understanding those of others.
EMOTION AND ITS ROLE IN ATROCITIES AGAINST HUMANITY
AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 1)
AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 1)
In real life events, people are swayed or apathetic due to their emotional attachment to the topic. That covers up their sense of rationality.
For example, some people have knowledge about so many atrocities on this earth. Years ago in the Vietnam war, American forces used "agent orange" or dioxin as a means of chemical warfare. Some reports estimate 19 million gallons was airdropped. Decades later still innocent Vietnamese families are suffering the effects of those past misdeeds, and the land became barren and devastated - some of it restricted. See the images for yourself on-line: Babies are born with two heads and no legs, the landscape has been permanently damaged- indeed thousands and thousands of gruesome tales can be told about the ill-effects of agent orange.
Yet the American public is mostly unmoved. Some or more have the knowledge that this was going on, but they are not emotionally attached with those events. Hence those tragedies remain mostly ignored. Those sufferers needed medical attention but the US government did not even consider that any injustice was done. So there was no question of compensation - neither in the form of medical care nor money.
A similar scene is unfolding today with regards to the drone attacks. US forces have killed thousands of innocent citizens and youths throughout Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, & Afghanistan - and other places - yet the general American populace is mostly unaffected by such events. But when a few innocent teenagers in the US are killed due to gang violence it becomes national news and there are protests in cities across the country. Both cases are tragedies - the killings innocent youths by drone attacks and the murdering of teenagers - but the first is mostly overlooked while the second is mourned by many.
EMOTION AND ITS ROLE IN ATROCITIES AGAINST HUMANITY
AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 2)
AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 2)
Below are more examples of how emotion gets misused in society - it becomes a blind force that allows people to both unleash terror and overlook horror.
It should be noted that, there are positive ways that emotion is used and that will be outlined further down in this letter.
1. At present, terrorists groups rely on blind emotion to recruit youths and sympathetic supporters to commit all sorts of crimes like car bombings, machine gun attacks, and other heinous crimes. Those youths lose their rationality and are just stirred up into an emotional fervor wherein they will do anything, fully blinded by their emotions.
2. In the west, bound by their blind emotion, some people spend huge money on their pets and will even kiss their cat or dog; they talk and share their feelings with their dog. They are extremely emotionally attached. Yet they will overlook the cries of starving humanity. Devoid of any rational approach, some can overlook the pain of a suffering child or fallen man, but they will give their wholehearted love and attention to their cat.
3. Similarly, some people will watch after their pets with extreme care yet when it comes time to sit down for dinner, they will cut into a steak (slaughtered cow) without any hesitation. Their lack of rationality and emotional attachment allows them to indulge in such duplicitous behaviour.
4. In our Ananda Marga, there are various ways in which emotion blinds people - especially in the case of our present group clashes. A few get attached with a particular group or leader and then justify all the misdeeds of that group.
Thus, emotion by itself is a blind force and is bound to lead humanity down the wrong road. When emotion is moving in haphazard way - i.e. devoid of rationality - then so many degrading and dogmatic things will occur.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, '"When it [the mind] moves haphazardly, swept away by whim, it is called “emotion”." (1)
Whereas when emotion is supported by rationality then great works can be done.
EMOTION AS A POSITIVE FORCE
Emotion can also be used in a positive manner when in coordination with rationality.
When a person thinks, "I should do something - I should follow dharma", and when this is done with their emotional force, then good things happen.
For instance, many have entered Ananda Marga and taken diiksa based on this emotional propulsion guided by rationality. In the same way, others have served as LFT's, WT's, etc. Without that emotional-cum-rational feeling they would not have been moved into action. They may have had knowledge of Ananda Marga and dharma, but without that close emotional and rational link they would not have done anything.
So in these positive cases, one's emotional flow is not haphazard, rather it is guided by rationality.
Similarly, with their emotional and rational attachment to Baba, i.e. devotion to Baba, many have given their lives for the great cause and others have stood up to fight dogma and oppose injustice. Even they have given up all their friends and faced all kinds of opposition due to their emotional-cum-rational attachment to Baba's teachings.
So emotion need not always be a liability. When linked with rationality it can lift one onto the field of dharma.
SUMMARY
So long as one's emotions are not guided by rationality, regardless of how well educated a person may be, there are bound to be problems - problems of epic proportions. This is one aspect.
Second, even if people have knowledge, they will not do anything until they have an emotional link to the situation at hand. If that emotional link is blind they will fall prey to dogma and misdeeds and if combined with rationality that person can do great things for humanity.
Third, emotion should always be guided by a mind open in 360 degrees, and not be linked with any selfishness or group agenda.
Fourth, because of emotion, people often do not do what they should do, or do what they should not do. So it is a tricky force. Even educated people commonly fall into this trap. Here is an example to make this clear.
Suppose someone goes to the shopping mall or market to buy some food. Yet while they are there they see a pair of shoes. They had no plan or real need to buy shoes. Yet they are enticed by the shine of the shoes and without considering their financial position or whether they really need another pair of shoes, that person purchases the shoes. There is no calculation or rational thought process behind the purchase per se - just it was done on a whim. This type of impulsive shopping is a classic case of emotion or blind emotion - devoid of rationality.
In contrast, if one goes to the shopping mall and buys or does not buy shoes based strictly on if there is a need or not, then that is rationality.
Fifth, the only answer is neo-humanistic education and Ananda Marga spiritual practices. Buoyed by these rational and devotional forces, one's emotional feeling will be used in solely for positive endeavours.
Finally, when standing alone the emotional mind moves towards dogma and when guided by rationality that mind becomes a strong and dharmic force.
ALSO HAPPENS WITH FICTIONAL AND IMAGINARY CHARACTERS
The Juliet story posted earlier this week- wherein people share their heartfelt feelings due to their emotional link with a fictitious character - is but an example of how blind the human personae can become when goaded haphazardly by emotion.
Why does this happen? Currently in the west, although, much of the population is literate and educated in the worldly sense, many, many fall into various dogmas due to their emotional attachment.
For instance, romance is a huge aspect of life in the materialistic nations. With crude romance comes heartbreak - for any number of reasons. Today, many of the people who have been heartbroken or hurt in a romantic relationship are now sharing their woes with Juliet - as if Juliet can empathize and solve their problems.
Juliet is one of the main fictitious characters in Shakespeare's tragedy: "Romeo and Juliet". In that drama, written 450+ years ago, the young couple in love are embattled by family disputes and ultimately die a most tragic death, without ever being able to express their love for one another. It is the quintessential tragedy of western literature. And it is completely fictional - these characters are 100% imaginary - Mr Shakespeare merely invented them in his own mind.
Yet today, a Juliet website has been devised, and people from far and wide write in seeking solace about their romantic woes. Because of their deep emotional link with the female character Juliet - who never even existed in real life - people are writing to Juliet and pouring their heart. If they deem their romance to be similar in any way to that of Romeo and Juliet - i.e. if they are getting tormented by friends and family - then they write to Juliet and ask for her grace and promise that, "Just as you died for your lover, I shall do the same." Juliet does not even exist, yet out of emotion they are taking this fictional character to be their guide.
"Since the 1930s, letters addressed to Juliet keep arriving in Verona - and a statue was erected there as well. As of 2010, more than 5,000 letters are received annually, three quarters of which are from women. The largest single group of senders are American teenagers." (Wikipedia)
So this form of idol worship in the west is becoming more popular yet we should remember that it is based on 100% fictitious characters like Juliet.
It is just like if Indian people started writing to Laela'.
Such are the ways of emotional attachment. The people have the knowledge that such characters are purely fictional, but out of emotion they are drawn to them in such a poignant manner.
BABA'S GUIDELINE
Baba has graciously blessed us with all the proper teachings to succeed in life and not be blinded by the haphazard flow of emotion. We should all take proper care to ensure we are always moving along the methodical path of emotion known as devotion. Then great works can and will be done on this earth and the sadhaka will attain the Supreme stance.
"Now, even those who are advocates of devotional or emotional faculties say that people get propensive propulsion from devotion or emotion. When the mind moves along a particular track or follows a particular discipline in a methodical way, this is called “devotion” or bhakti; but when it does not follow a particular method, when it moves haphazardly, swept away by whim, it is called “emotion”. This is the fundamental difference between devotion and emotion. You must know this clear-cut silver line of demarcation between devotion and emotion." (2)
"Those who adhere to this cult of pinnacled order know that there must be a happy blending amongst intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty, actional faculty and devotional-cum-emotional faculty. None of these is unimportant, all are of equal importance, but the finality comes in devotion. That is, the final outcome or resultant of intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty and actional faculty is devotion, not emotion." (3)
"If one wants to realize an entity, does one realize it only through knowledge? No, certainly not. To realize an entity, one must possess a loving heart, a sweet intellect, and a free flow of emotion (attached with spirituality)...I said a little earlier that by merging one’s individual sweetness into the sweetest entity, the realization, “You exist, only You exist,” becomes firmly established. One becomes finally ensconced in that Supreme Entity. There is no other way. And this self-knowledge is the sweetest essence of the devotional feeling of one’s heart." (4)
Namaskar,
Surrender to lord,
Tarakanath
REFERENCES:
1. Yoga Psychology
2. Yoga Psychology
3. Yoga Psychology
4. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 12
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The sections below demarcated by asterisks
are entirely different topics,
completely unrelated to the above letter. It stands on its own as a point of interest.
completely unrelated to the above letter. It stands on its own as a point of interest.
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Impossible for People to Accept It
Impossible for People to Accept It
"If anybody tries to re-establish an old political, economic or religious theory of two thousand years ago – a theory or ism based on past time, space or person – using whatever type of psychology, sentiment or adroit propaganda, it will not be possible to correlate it with the existing physical waves. Once lost the parallelism between the ism and the physical wave cannot be restored, even if the old mental environment is re-created. We perceive the change not only in the physical wave but also in the mental wave. No amount of scientific effort will make it possible to restore the mental wave of the past. There was a time when kings were worshipped as the incarnations of God, but today if anybody tries to reintroduce this antiquated practice using psychological propaganda, it will be impossible for people to accept it." (Prout in a Nutshell - 4)
Note: Here are a few examples of Baba's above guideline.
(A) Certain Islamic fundamentalists want to implement 1500 year-old tenets in areas where they presently rule. This is evidenced by their application of the Islamic justice system where they employ antiquated punishments like chopping off a person's hand for stealing and beheading "guilty" persons in public. Such punishments are based on Islamic law. But, no matter how hard they try to implement such laws, it is impossible for them to gain success in this 21st century. The public will never appreciate this.
(B) In the same way, Hindu fundamentalists and those believers of caste still want to follow caste distinctions and the use of the sacred hair etc. But now the general populace is fast giving up caste such divisions and they are not going to follow them again.
(C) Fundamentalist Christians want to implement social rules of Bible, when already the common people have advanced beyond such codes.
(D) White supremacists want to forcibly impose racial supremacy. But here again the common people are not inclined in this manner.
In all such cases, implementing these outdated doctrines is no longer possible; the general mass will never appreciate such rules and restrictions. They will never be implemented.
Why is this impossible? Because time, space, and person have changed; that era is gone. That old philosophy is unsuitable for this present era.
For this reason, there is the understanding and guideline that some aspects of Caryacarya will be changed in the future - according to the need of that era.
For example, if the number of boys are 1/4 the number of girls, then one male may have many wives, or vice-versa.
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