Baba
Our Dada
Namaskar,
There is a dogma in the general society that if someone dies then people do not analyse the wrongs of the deceased. Because they think that person has already left this world. But our Guru Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji says that history must be taught and studied. If history is forgotten then people will commit the same blunders over and over again. In that spirit, we are obliged to present this historical account of Samanvayananda who died some years back.
Dada Shivananda [a.k.a. Ac Samanvayananda Avt] left Baba and the AMPS organisation, and in a challenging powerplay created his own separate organization, “Prema Samaja / Prema Marga". That time, Dada established his own office in the foothills of the Himalayas at Dehradun. (Note: When Dada S was interacting with new people he called his organization Prema Samaj, and when communicating with longer-time sadhakas he referred to it as Prema Marga.)
Let us not forget that in those days, Baba was in jail. It was during those difficult times in Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha when maximum support was needed that Samanvayananda left and created his own organization to compete against our AMPS. The need of the hour was to stand firmly by Guru and raise the flag of Ananda Marga. Those days, so many margiis and acaryas withstood the onslaught and backlash of the negative forces, i.e. Mrs Indira Gandhi's exploitative machine. Margiis and Wts were forced into hiding, imprisoned, tortured, and humiliated. All the while Guru was in jail. No true Ananda Margii could ever think to leave in such a moment - never.
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Yet, in that very important moment, when Baba was in jail and workers / margiis were also suffering, Samanvayananda left to enjoy his own self-created fake guru-ship, and establish his own separate organization: Prema Samaja / Prema Marga. So while dedicated Ananda Margiis stood by Guru, Samanvayananda fled to establish his own so-called glory. This is not the quality of a disciple, but rather a case of betrayal. Or what should we call it.
When Guru was in jail then true Ananda Margiis bravely took a strong stand and faced a lot of trouble and suffering in various ways. We all have deep respect for them. But what respect should one have for Samanvayananda when he betrayed Baba and left Him during that very crucial time when Baba was in jail. Then years and years after Baba was released, Samanvayananda painted his own black face with white oil paint and appeared before margiis around the mid of 1984 as a great saint, as if nobody knew about his hypocrisy and betrayal to Baba.
Samanvayananda away for 11 years
In this calculated manner, Dada S did not return to Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha in 1977 when Baba graciously pardoned and welcomed everyone. Nor, did Samanavayananda return when Baba was released from jail in August 1978. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years.
Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha was growing by leaps and bounds. Baba performed the grandest dharma samiiksa in the history of humanity. AMPS was fast spreading all around the globe. The organization was expanding in size exponentially. Still Samanvayananda was nowhere to be seen. Dada was still leading the life as "guru" in his ashram. Time and again, Dadaji's friends like Aksarananda had pleaded with him to return, but to no avail. It was not until around 1984 or so, that Samanvayananda showed up.
All in all, Dadaji was away from Ananda Marga for 11 years. When he was needed most to help in difficult times, he was entirely absent - just enjoying the high life as a self-appointed fake guru. Even worse, after that time, Samanvayananda never expressed repentance or remorse for what happened in those days.
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When the good days of Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha came, Dadaji returned back because his fake guruship of Prema Samaja / Prema Marga was not as beneficial / enticing as posing as a great avadhuta in Ananda Marga and befooling margiis to enhance his prestige. Such was the extent of his hypocrisy. Then after '90, Dada jumped into a very high post. Who will appreciate his hypocritical behavior. I don't think that any true margii or worker will appreciate Dadaji's manner. As a brother we certainly love him, but he is not an example to follow.
In his later years, one ruling group made Samanvayananda their priest; and, Samanvayananda moved all around the globe giving his sermons like the Pope of Rome. And he praised himself and highlighted his so-called illustrious past. So he was shameless up to the very end. Never did he express an ounce of repentance for his betrayal and wrongdoing.
Samanvayananda ji's deeds: nobody should do
About hypocritical people Baba's guideline is very strong. Please read below.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya says, "There is no place for hypocrites in our organization...You should not tolerate hypocrites, not at all." (1)
Ananda Marga Caryacarya says, "Hypocrites are those who betray. Don't forgive till his nature is reformed. Immediate forgiveness is a special weakness of mind. It results in worse harm to society." (2)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Sincerity is reflected in actions, not in words only. One who displays sincerity in words but not in actions is a hypocrite. You should not tolerate hypocrites." (3)
Everybody in this universe can forget Dada's back-stabbing to Marga Guru. But true margiis and Wts cannot. Not forgetting means not following Samanvayananda's negative example. No matter the circumstances one must stand with Guru and not drift away seeking glory elsewhere. Yet Dada S left Baba and left Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha in those difficult days. As a brother we love him, yet as an acarya and disciple, his example is nothing but a black stain. It is important to avert a similar demise. That is the learning we should take from his life on this earth: What not to do.
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Samanvayananda: Upside-down pitcher
Here below Baba uses the analogy of a pitcher of water to delineate who is a proper disciple.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "The worst category [of disciples] are likened to pitchers placed inversely in a tub of water. Such pitchers contain water as long as they are kept in the tub, but as soon as they are taken out, all the water pours out. These disciples acquire spiritual knowledge when they are in close contact with the preceptor, but as soon as they are apart from the preceptor they forget all his teachings."
"The best category of disciples are like pitchers positioned right side up. When such pitchers are put in a tub of water, there is water both inside them and all around them; and even when they are removed from the tub, they remain full to the brim with water. These disciples carefully preserve in the jewel caskets of their hearts whatever they learn from their preceptor." (4)
So Baba is very specific. The lowest grade of disciples immediately forget all they have learned from the Preceptor the moment they are separated from the Preceptor. They are like the pitch that is upside-down in the tub. Once out of the tub - once away from the preceptor - they forget everything.
In contrast, the best disciples always remember Sadguru's teachings. They are like an upright pitcher - filled to the brim with Guru's guidelines. Nothing gets lost - ever. Always they keep His teachings near and dear to them. Such a disciple can never think to run off in the hour of need and create their own ashram. All should consider which category Dada Samanvayananda falls in.
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Examples of few dogmas of India - see with proper eyes
In the general society, people's quality, qualifications and attributions are measured on the grounds of superficial measures, but we do not follow such an approach in our perspective of Ananda Marga.
(a) In general religious Indian psychology, the saffron robe has a lot of meaning. It gives deep respect. There is a religious teaching: "Don't see the merit and demerit of the person who is wearing the saffron dress. One must think that person is great and blindly follow them as he is a divine being that can bless you. Don't see their character and behaviour." But all Ananda Margiis know that this is one dogma.
(b) In the general Indian society, age is also one of the factors. White hair, white beard, wrinkled skin is one qualification - even if that person is a hypocrite. This is also dogma.
(c) And in the general capitalist society, money is the criteria to measure someone. In town, if you ask "who is most important", the answer will be that person who is the richest. Money is the main qualification. And this is also dogma.
In our Ananda Marga way of life, all these above characteristics have no value, as they are all superficial parameters that have nothing to do with the person's behaviour and conduct. It is on this standard - i.e. conduct - that every sadhaka should evaluate Shivananda / Samanvayananda. Indeed, history itself will evaluate Dadaji in this way.
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Ananda Marga Caryacarya guides us, "Actions and not logic establish one’s superiority." (5)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Conduct is the principal factor in dharma.” Be a sadácárii, a person of good conduct, and you will surely attain Paramátman." (6)
Ananda Vanii states, "Your ideal is represented by your conduct. Your learning, your social or economic status have nothing to do with your ideal." (7)
Outlandish: S assured liberation to those who read his book
Here is one highly objectionable point that is completely related with this topic. Sadguru Baba has given Ananda Sutram as the seed teaching of Ananda Marga philosophy. Those sutras are eternal truths that perfectly outline His divine teachings and ideology. They are extraordinary, wholly unique, and come directly from Cosmic Mind. So they cannot be imitated by anyone else. For any true disciple, it is unthinkable to write a book of sutras that would in any way parallel, challenge, or undermine Ananda Sutram.
Yet that is exactly what Samanvayananda has done. He did not like to propagate Ananda Sutram but instead wrote his own separate book of sutras - titled Ananda Shatakam - which is away from Sadguru's teaching. And in his book - Ananda Shatakam - Samanvayananda is proclaiming that if his sutras are followed then one will achieve liberation.
Samanvayananda wrote in his book Ananda Shatakam on p.131 last para "Bhagavat....Paraman Padinca..." Then Dada explained: "Those who not only read but follow the instruction noted herein (of Ananda Shatakam) with interest and care, they will surely overcome the delusion of this world and cross the stormy ocean of living in this world." (p.131, Ananda Shatakam)
Thus Samanvayananda guaranteed liberation to those following his personal teaching. Such is his audacity: To guarantee liberation and write a text that challenges the authority of Ananda Sutram. So Dada S has betrayed Sadguru Baba on both the organisational level and the philosophical realm.
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Injected fear complex to worship monkey god
Actually, Samanvayananda's approach of imposing his silly book of sutras on Ananda Margiis is an offshoot of Hindu dogma - the Hanuman Chalisa. The Hanuman Chalisa was written to impose and inject a fear complex into the general public. The aim was to force people to worship the god monkey, Hanuman.
To this end, the poet Tulsidaas wrote "Hanuman Chalisa'". The edict was made that by reciting the Hanuman Chalisa daily, one will attain liberation. And if anyone does not recite the Hanuman Chalisa they will suffer. If the dogmatic poet of the Hindu religion would not have injected the fear complex then surely nobody would have appreciated the worship of a monkey.
Human psychology is that people like to believe or pray that some divine being in human form is their god - not some monkey. So it is the power of the fear complex of that poetry that misguided / forced Hindu people to chant every day the Hanuman chalisa hymn, i.e. the monkey god eulogy. Following is the stanza of that dogmatic monkey god hymn: 'Jo satbar...mahasukha hoi'. The meaning is that those who repeat those Hanuman Chalisas (eulogy of Hanuman monkey god) will get liberation and be free from all worldly problems, like money, matter, ghost etc. So with fear Hindu dogmatic people are repeating this.
In the same way our Samanvayananda tried to impose his book Ananda Shatakam on margiis by creating a fear complex. It is obvious to all that Dada Samanvayananda did the same dogmatic technique as the dogmatic Hindu poet did.
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Repeating the monkey god name, ghosts will not come
Certainly, those living in India know very well about the monkey god Hanuman but for overseas readers let me please tell something more. The god Hanuman belongs to the ape family. He has a long tail and his face is like a monkey. It is not even a human being; Hanuman is one monkey. That is why one name of the monkey is Hanuman. And Chalisa' means eulogy. Every Hindu dogmatic person is well aware of these things but for the benefit of overseas margiis it is meaningful to explain the matter in full.
However, the main point is that this dogma of the monkey god is deeply rooted in the mind of every fundamentalist Hindu. And every day they must repeat it, at minimum, one time - especially when they are fearful of ghosts. The dogma is that by repeating the monkey god name, ghosts will not come and monkey god worshippers will ultimately reach the goal of liberation and all desires will be fulfilled. And those who disrespect this will burn in hell-fire. Because of this dogmatic belief, Hindus are afraid and repeat the Hanuman Chalisa with deep reverence.
So Samanvayananda unfortunately also suffered from the attachment to Hindu dogma. Clearly Dada carried this dogma on his head - otherwise what was the need for him to write his own separate book of sutras, that goes 100% contrary. Dada imposed one falsehood that if any margii will believe, respect, and chant his shlokas then surely they will get liberation, as if there is no need of astaunga yoga sadhana. Only his book of sutras, Ananda Shatakam, will work as the divine ship to across the ocean of maya. Such is the audacity of Samanvayananda.
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Conclusion
Here I close this letter with Baba's guideline: Ananda Marga acaryas must lead by their conduct. That alone is what qualifies them as an acarya. So those whose conduct is not good are not...
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Those who have the responsibility to show the path to others should be of superlative character with the most refined conduct. They and their followers must move constantly towards all-round development and shreya [ultimate spiritual attainment]. Persons who teach such well-regulated behaviour to others by their own conduct are called ácáryas." (8)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "An ácárya or ácáryá should always instruct by his or her exemplary actions and words." (9)
Namaskar,
in Him,
Shantatma
~ In-depth study ~
Samanvayananda's ongoing sin
We are not talking about Samanvayananda’s old sins. It is just like one Wt who committed a sexual crime and Baba punished him but then the next month did another sexual crime and Baba punished him again. Then one day he was thinking about those previous sins and got punished for thinking about that. Facing all this punishment he got so overwhelmed that he left.
Same is the case with Samanvayananda. He was always bragging about Dehradun ashram and how he was a "great" (i.e. fake) guru those days and wrote about it also. Up to the end of his life he did not bring his old disciples onto the path of Ananda Marga, rather they would come and stay with him. Samanvayananda kept them separate. All this happened after Baba's pardon.
Baba pardoned him. But unfortunately after getting pardoned then Samanvayananda committed sin because in his book he mentioned his old dealings and was constantly gloating about his days as a fake guru in his various talks.
The same thing happened with those who got dharma samiiksa; Baba purged them of their old sins, but then afterwards they created more sins. Humans have a tremendous ability to create negative samskaras in a very short time - in a matter of minutes. Dada S is one of them.
Note: After going for retraining in 1984, Dada’s name was changed to Shambhunath Brc, which he had for many years. And then on one occasion in 1990, Baba granted general amnesty and restored the avadhutaship to all sinner Wts. From that point forward his name became Samanvayananda.
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Acarya AR Sarangi & M Biharii also betrayed but...
Everybody knows that during the period of Indian martial law many margiis and Wts with lower devotion left. And when the Emergency was over, they returned and Baba pardoned them. One such example is Amulya Ratan Sarangiji - he was a coward who disappeared when Baba was in jail and then later on Sarangiji came back. And the same is the case with Mangal Biharii. On this matter more will be written in the future. But that time Dada Samanvayananda did not return back. On this point Dada was unusual as he stayed away for several more years basking in his own adulation.
References
1. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 23, Silent Action
2. Caryacarya - 2, Society, Point #6
3. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 23, Silent Action
4. Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life - 9, Tantra and Sádhaná
5. Caryacarya - 2, Sadhana, Point #15
6. Subhasita Samgraha - 21, Niiti and Dharma
7. Ananda Vanii #13
8. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 31, Conduct of An Acarya
9. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 31, Conduct of An Acarya
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Remedy for eating disorders
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "So, the psychological approach to the ripus is to keep them under control and not allow them under any circumstances to go against a recognized code of social conduct. Some persons may be very greedy for food. It is just possible that they may die prematurely due to over-eating or indulging in prohibited foods. Intelligent people will keep the instinct of greed under control in such a way that they avoid getting any disease. Take the case of an alcoholic. Under the spell of liquor people become helpless victims to their habit. If they channelize their addiction into the ardent love of music, painting or any of the fine arts, the instinct of addiction will be gratified to some extent, and they will prevent any further harm to themselves." (1)
Reference
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 12, Sin, Crime and Law
== Section: Important Teaching ==
How nerves and organs function
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “In most animals, and particularly in human beings, there are various kinds of nerve cells and nerve fibres. In common parlance the word nád́ii [channels] is used to mean these nerves, but they are not the same. The nerves are of two kinds: sensory nerves and motor nerves. The sensory nerves transmit the inferences through the gateway of organs to the nerve cells. The organs through which the inferences are received are called sensory organs. The motor nerves transmit the messages of the nerve cells to the [motor] organs which then express them. In that case the gateways of organs are called motor organs. In the bodies of many animals, and particularly in the bodies of human beings, there are five sensory organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Their function is extro-internal, to bring something within. So, another name for these is antahkarańa. The motor organs are five fold: mouth, hands, legs, genitals and anus. Their function is intro-external. So they are called bahihkarańa. Five means of internalization, five means of externalization and the mind constitute eleven organs.” (1)
Reference:
1. Shabda Cayanika-4, Kámbal to Kárańa (Discourse 22)
== Section 3: Links ==
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