Baba
Alert! This dada is misleading about death
Namaskar,
Sadguru Baba has given all the teachings for a dharmic life and also dispelled countless dogmas and myths. As His disciples, it is incumbent upon us to highlight Baba’s dharmic teachings and never fall prey to preaching dogma. Then we will best be able to guide others.
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Long standing dogma in India
In those old bygone eras of ages ago, when good people had something beneficial to teach the masses then they would inject some type of fear complex or other sentiment in an attempt to coax people into adopting that good idea. Otherwise, those sages felt that the masses would just sit idle. Thus, in India, when yogic practices like pranayama were first taught to the general society, the sages felt that the common people would give way to lethargy and not do their practice of pranayama etc.
So to incentivize things, those rishis injected a fear complex that, “Look everyone, you only get a certain number of breaths, and when those breaths are all used up, then you die - there is no escape. So if you want to live a long life you have to practice pranayama as that will slow down your rate of breathing.” By injecting this negative teaching, those good sages thought they could goad the masses into adopting the highly beneficial practice of pranayama.
So, although their overall intentions were good, along the way they introduced this dogma that everyone is born with a certain number of breaths. And that negative teaching has lived on and on for centuries. Unfortunately, while living and traveling in India, one Dada came across this negative teaching / dogma and took it to be some type of eternal truth.
Baba’s guideline: cardio-vascular exercise is beneficial for long life
To begin, let’s take a look at Baba’s teachings on this very matter. First and foremost, Sadguru Baba’s guideline is that one should vigorously dance tandava as that enhances one’s vitality and brings so many other benefits.
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Ananda Marga ideology states, “Why is it called táńd́ava? In Sanskrit tańd́ means “to jump”. Tańd́u means “of jumping habit”. Táńd́ava means “having the use of tańd́u, the use of jumping”. But jumping in the proper style, not in a disorderly manner. You should learn it properly in a disciplined way. And táńd́ava represents life; you know Tantra is a cult of life, it is not a cult of death. For Tantra you should be strong physically, mentally and spiritually. First in the present tense; Lord Shiva says all your expressions, all your manifestations, must be based on the present tense. So this táńd́ava is the starting phase of Tantra.” (1)
In His above guideline, Baba is describing the many benefits of the tandava dance, including how it increases one’s vitality and keeps death at bay. By this we can easily conclude that the cardio-vascular exercise of dancing tandava, and increasing one’s rate of respirations, is highly beneficial for a healthy and long life.
Moreover, in the Appendix of Caryacarya Part 3, Sadguru Baba presents His nine secrets for a long life. Here is that first secret:
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, “Proper physical labour.” (Secrets for a Long Life, Point #1)
So in His very first secret for a long life, Sadguru Baba guides us that we are to engage in proper physical labor, i.e. arduous manual work, or physical exercise. And in doing that physical work, naturally one’s respiratory rate will increase. That’s to say, one will breathe more quickly and take more breaths in a shorter amount of time. And, according to Baba, that will help lengthen one’s life. Again, Baba’s first guideline for a long life is “proper physical labor” as cardio-vascular exercise (i.e. increasing one’s rate of breathing) is healthy for the body and enhances one’s longevity.
Dada’s confusion: breathe less, live longer
Take a look at what Dada D has written.
Dada D wrote: “Each person has a fixed number of breaths to their life. When you slow down the breathing during yogic practices, you extend the duration of your life.”
In his above statement, Dada is giving in to the dogmas of fate and predetermination that we have come into this world with a certain allotment of respirations - and when we use up that allotment we die. Based on this false notion, Dada ji is arguing that we should breathe more slowly because by that way we will extend the duration of our life. But this is plain wrong and goes 100% against Baba’s teachings. And also common sense tells us we don’t see runners die in their 30s because they used up all their breaths.
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Dada misguides
Tragically, Dada D is stating the exact opposite of what Baba is telling. Dada says that if you do any physical engagement that increases your respiratory rate - where you breathe more frequently - then you are hastening your demise and inviting your death, i.e. shortening your life. Hence what Dada D is saying is completely wrong and against AM teachings. And also common sense tells us we don’t see highly trained Olympic athletes like sprinters and swimmers etc die in their 30s because they used up all their breaths.
Writer looks uninformed - reader is confused
Sadly, Dada Dharmavedananda failed to properly convey dharmic teachings to people in a clear manner.
When writing any article about AM teaching or our yogic way of life, one should be cent-per-cent clear on the topic, otherwise their attempt will only create confusion and they (the writer) will be viewed as uninformed. That is what happened with Dada Dharmavedananda in this particular instance.
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In Him,
Ragini
(Raquel Whitfield)
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “If one tries to interpret a profound scripture with superficial knowledge, the interpreter appears ridiculous and the audience is confused.” (2)
Here is the section from that article where Dada Dharmavedananda made that false statement that we only are given a particular allotment of breaths before we die.
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 12, Dance, Mudrá and Tantra
2. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Shiva's Teachings – 2 (continued) (Discourse 14)
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
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 ==
Ananda Marga ideology says, “Bábá demonstrated these basic points by touching and sending into samádhi four persons. He also showed that through the grace of the Almighty as represented by guru krpá (the guru's grace), the evolutionary rise through sádhaná can be accelerated, and the slow walk can be maximized into a gallop. In this way samádhi can be induced from any cakra. But a success easily gained may not be fully appreciated and valued. Therefore, normally the sádhaka should be allowed to work out his success through the hard way of diligent sádhaná.” (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 33, Sálokya, Sámiipya, Sáyujya, Sárúpya, Sárśt́hi
== Section 3: Links ==
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