The Meaning of Point #10: The All-Important Point of Ista

From: "Seshagiri Das" Subject: Re: The Meaning of Point #10 Date: 25 Oct 2008 23:46:32 To: am-global@earthlink.net Baba "Madhur mohan tumi cita-rainjan a'cho sada' sa'the sa'the..." (3580) Purport: Baba, You are very sweet, most attractive. You have coloured my mind in Your colour. That is why You are Cita-Rainjan [1]. Always You are remaining with me side by side. You have removed the despair and filled my heart with Your love. All the darkness & hopelessness was removed by that light. Baba, You are beyond the scriptures, intellect, logic, and reasoning, You are above all these; You are Alakha-Nirainjain [2], beyond description. Infinite and unblemished. Only You can shatter the bondage of avidya maya-- the mirage of negative attraction-- and grant salvation. Baba, You are the most charming, the most sweet, my own... ASTERISK NOTES (*) FOR PS #3580: [1] Cita-Rainjan: Baba guides us & we all know that devotion is that unique ingredient which allows one to advance in the spiritual field. Without innate love for Parama Purusa one can never succeed. By Baba's divine grace, in His role as Cit-Rainjan, He is that Divine Entity who colours and saturates the mind of sadhakas in the fountain of devotion. Baba says, "'rainjana', which means 'the One who colours' - that which colours the mind." (AV-1) So He is that Cosmic Being who graciously showers devotional love into the heart and mind of the bhakta. And by such overwhelming Cosmic grace, the devotee becomes immersed in Supreme bliss and comes in the closest proximity with that Love Personified Entity: Parama Purusa. [2] Alakhanirainjan: ('Alakh' means 'invisible'; 'nir' means 'no'; 'ainjan' means 'black spot'.) Of the infinite attributions of Parama Purusa, one of which is that He is invisible and blemishless-- totally pure and perfect. That is why He is known as Alakhanirainjan. Because in this world unit beings are bound by their past actions, by their samskaras; and this creates a black mark in their mind. But being Alakhanirainjan, being both invisible and blemishless, Parama Purusa is totally beyond the realm of sense perception and beyond the realm of samskara. His mind never gets stained. He remains eternally pure and spotless.

== THE MEANING OF POINT #10 == ~ THE ALL-IMPORTANT POINT OF IS'T'A: PART II ~

Note: This letter is related with an earlier posting on this topic

http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2008/01/meaning-of-point-10.html

Namaskar, Everyone in AM knows that following 16 Points is the greatest endeavour in life and that by moving along this sacred pathway one is sure achieve the crowning glory of human existence. And while all of the 16 Points are important and mandatory, it goes without saying that that point which is most related with Guru is to be the considered the most important. Using this measuring rod, we can say that point #10 of Sixteen Points-- "Non-compromising strictness and faith regarding the sanctity of Is't'a"-- is of the highest significance. And here below Baba Himself speaks to the great importance of the point of Is't'a. Baba says, "If somebody says that he has no "Is't'a", then he is a liar. He has no courage. Without establishing oneself in his "Is't'a", man cannot become an ideologist." (23 November 1971 DMC, Purnea) So according to Baba, if one is not established in Is't'a, then they can never do anything for the great ideological mission of Ananda Marga. Not one single thing. This is the stated fact as per Sadguru Baba. Obviously then it is of utmost importance to become established in the point of Is't'a. And for that, one must first clearly understand what it means to be established in Is't'a.

IS'T'A POINT: BABA EXPLAINS THE SIGNIFICANCE

By Baba's grace He has beautifully laid down all the Sixteen Points for our welfare and development. Never before has such a set of guidelines been given. And each point is very clear and precise, in its own way. Even then, to understand the exactness of some of the points we must treat them as a sutra and get further explanation from the broad base of Baba's divine discourses. Such is the case with the point of Is't'a. Following that method, here below we can understand what it means to be established in Is't'a. Baba says, "When people are established in devotion, they attain a state called is't'a nis't'a--- devotion for one's goal. In that stage there is but one dominant thought: 'Whatever I do, be it social, political or socio-economic service, the motivating thought in my mind will be to please Parama Purus'a'." (AV-8, p.101) Hence, the sadhaka who does everything in the service of Gurudev-- to please Him-- is considered to be established in Ista, otherwise not. That is Baba's above stated guideline. So those who perform their actions with the sole intention of pleasing Baba are said to be esablished in Ista. And this indeed is a very high thing-- a blessed state.

WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS: SATISFY ONESELF

In this present era, people are generally involved day-long in working for their own little self. This is the way things happen in the regular society. Glued to their unit ego, common citizens jut pass their time running after name, fame, post, money, and prestige etc. Nothing more is done than that. Such people are just immersed in their own unit desires. And wherever you look on this earth, there is no shortage of such persons; they are everywhere: Just involved in working for their own stomach-- for their own unit being. Obviously such persons have no Ista in their life.

ESTABLISHED IN IS'T'A: SERVE THAT BIG "I"

Of course in Ananda Marga, our approach is different. Our expressed aim is to please and satisfy our Big "I"-- Parama Purusa. And by that way we can say one is established in Is't'a. Here below Baba neatly explains this point. Baba says, "For each and every human being there are two "I's" - two "I's". The name of a man, say, is Solomon. Then that means the name of his little "I" is Solomon and the name of his big "I" is Parama Purus´a, the Supreme Entity. Suppose the name of a little "I" is Joseph, Mr. Joseph. But the name of his big "I" is Parama Purus´a. That is, the big "I" for all created being is the same, but the little I varies. So many bodies have so many names. These names are names of little "I's", but the big "I" is one and indivisible for the entire universe - there is one big "I". One is for one Parama Purus´a, one Parama Pita´." "What is Yoga in the spiritual level? It is to become one with Parama Purus´a. When you become one with Parama Purus´a, you are getting everything, but you are losing nothing. You are losing the name of your little "I" and nothing else and in return you are getting the Supreme "I", the big "I". This is Yoga in the spiritual sphere." (AV-14, 'What is Yoga') In a nutshell, we can say that the whole entire concept of yoga is based on the devotional concept of becoming established in Is't'a. And being established in Is't'a means doing for the Big "I"-- doing everything to please and satisfy Him.

INTROSPECTION NEEDED

To ensure that all in AM are safely moving on this path and established in Ista-- a certain degree of honest introspection is needed. If one just casually says that 'Yeah, yeah, yeah of course I am doing to please Baba' but then they just attend to their own unit desires, we cannot consider that person to be established in Is't'a-- not at all. Rather with fully sincerity one has to ask oneself if really they are doing to please Him or not. The easiest thing is to befool oneself about this. But as sadhakas we must not succumb to such lowly tendencies and self-deception. Rather we are to take a candid look at our each and every action and evaluate if we are doing this to please Him. This very process will invariably help one to become more and more established in Ista. Whereas if one just falls prey to self-deception about this, they will float a million miles away from their Is't'a. So we should carefully evaluate the motive behind our each and every action and do to please Him. This will surely bring success.

BY FOLLOWING SIXTEEN POINTS VICTORY IS SURE

By Baba's grace when one is working for their big "I" and established in Is't'a, then they will easily be able to adhere to all of the Sixteen Points-- in which case their success is sure. This is Baba's sacred assurance to every A'nanda Ma'rgii. Baba says, "What is the best way to strengthen the mind? The best and proper way is to strictly observe the 16 Points. The more rigidly you follow the 16 Points, the more your mental strength will increase. It will increase so much that it will be more powerful than the collective mental strength of 100,000 people. In a psychic clash they will have to concede victory to you. A person who is physically strong can fight against eight, ten or twenty people at most, but no more than that. A psychically developed person, however, is able to fight against many more people. So you must endeavour to develop your psychic strength - this is your bounden duty. The more rigidly you follow the 16 Points, the more psychic strength you will acquire. It will not take you long. The only way to develop spiritual strength is to surrender everything to Him - the more you surrender yourself to Him, the more you will develop your soul. Such development will lead to not only 10,000 people surrendering before you, but the entire universe." (AV-7) Namaskar, Seshagiri

Note 1: ALL ANANDA MARGIIS HAVE LOVE FOR ISTA

Here Baba clearly explains how each and every A'nanda Ma'rgii has devout love for their Is't'a-- dearest One. Baba says, "It is said that you have got two "I's". Not these [physical] eyes, "I". One "I" is your small "I" - "I am going," "I am doing," "I am the owner." This "I" is your small "I". And another "I" is your big "I". Parama´tman is your big "I". Smaller "I", bigger "I". You know, so many entities have so many "I"s and so many "my"s. But that bigger "I" is a singular entity. All these persons, that is, all the expressed entities of this entire universe, have got only one "I", one big "I" and that big "I" is Parama´tman. He is the "I" of all "I"s. You love your small "I" very much, and unknowingly you love that Parama´tma´ more than you do yourself. Clear? You have nourished an unknown love for Parama´tman and a known love for the small "I"s. That love for Parama´tman is unknown. And when one gets diiks´a´ [initiation] and does sa´dhana´, that unknown love becomes known." (SS-24, 'Supreme Cognition')