Ananda Marga News Bulletin: 10/07/26

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Annual death ceremony derived from Islam

Baba

Annual death ceremony derived from Islam

Namaskar,

The below photo shows how mahaprayan is done by Muslims to observe the death of those mainly of the Islamic faith. Those followers bury their deceased and then perform yearly tomb worship on the anniversary of their death. Specifically, the below article and photo depict the annual death day occasion of Marhum Hamid (1930 - 2005).

Marhum Abdul Hamid's mahaprayan observed

Actually, such mahaprayan ceremonies have been popular in the Islamic tradition for hundreds and hundreds of years. They bury their dead and erect a tomb and regularly worship the tomb on the anniversary of the death. Some of the observances are large and some small - the common theme being that they are regularly done.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com

Muslims invented mahaprayan

For this particular observance highlighted below, Athar Hussain has written an obituary / eulogy in a Bengali newspaper for the annual anniversary of the death of, Marhum Hamid, a follower of Islam. By this photo and accompanying article, it is clear they are keen to honour the yearly death day. It is also evident that Muslims are the forebearers of this tradition and other copied the annual death ceremony from Islam.

In the below piece (last line), the term highlighted in orange is the Bengali spelling of mahaprayan.

Mahaprayan #29.png

Courtesy of above link

In Bengal all Tiljala MPD propagators involved

Naturally then, when the mahaprayan function is embraced by all as a death ceremony for human beings, then when so-called mahaprayan is done in Tiljala every year in October, all those who attend are participating in an annual death ceremony - for a human being. That’s to say, mahaprayan is observed as a commemoration in the honour of the death of the Marga Guru - and that Marga Guru is also a human being, not Sadguru. That is the defective message of so-called mahaprayan.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com

How ironic - Guru opposes dogma, but…

The irony is not lost on us that Sadguru Baba opposes dogma yet certain disciples apply that dogma to guru. It is just like how Lord Buddha was against idol worship; he himself did meditation. But the moment Lord Buddha left his physical body then his own disciples started making and worshipping his idol. The dogma which Lord Buddha opposed, his own followers implemented for him. How ironic.

And now inside a similar thing is unfolding in AMPS. Sadguru Baba is against the annual shraddha dogma:

"The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (1)

Yet certain Wts have imposed an annual death day anniversary program - i.e. mahaprayan - in AMPS. And what to speak of 12 days, it is 35 years - and counting. How ironic - what Guru does not appreciate, they are doing that very thing for Him.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com

In Him,
Manjari Chatterjee

Every Ananda Margii should pause and think

So I ask you: Pause and think. This letter is not about groupism; this is a devotional issue. Guru is being abused. Don't you think Guru is with you always? In the tantra of Ananda Marga, sadhana starts with this feeling that, "Guru is with me." One must have this basic feeling. So naturally every Ananda Margii thinks their Sadguru is with them. Then why are we allowing this dogmatic annual death ceremony, i.e. mahaprayan.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com

“My mother is dead.” As a mother, how will you feel

Sadguru Baba is guiding you and in the next breath they say He is dead - mahaprayan

“True bhaktas know that there is no such thing as mahaprayan for Sadguru Baba. As the Sadguru He never passes away, He is omnipresent. So those Wts who believe in & propagate that Sadguru is dead are confused. Actually they are displaying hypocritical behaviour. Why?

When our avadhutas / acaryas give initiation, or revise anyone’s lesson, or give further lessons of sadhana, they say, “I am just a medium - Sadguru Taraka Brahma Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji is teaching you and He is ever-present."

So in one breath our Wts / acaryas say that Sadguru Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji is guiding you and in the next breath they say He is dead - mahaprayan. That is both hypocritical and sinful. Hypocritical because they are saying one thing and doing something else. They are saying that Guru is no more in their mahaprayan program, yet when teaching sadhana they are relying on Him. And it is sinful because it is abusive against Guru.

It is similar to your own children playing before you and talking among themselves that, “My mother is dead.” As a mother, how will you feel? And not only that, they go one step ahead, before your eyes they started commemorating your annual death day ceremony.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com

How do you feel about their ignorance?

True bhaktas never participate in an annual death ceremony of the ever-present God. That is against pre-1990 Caryacarya.”

References
1. Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony

== Section: Important Teaching ==

Vegetarian by design

Ananda Marga philosophy states, "In those days there was little security in people's lives. On one side there were fierce animals and on the other a scarcity of food. Both of these were constants. Nowadays if there is a scarcity of food in one place people can bring food materials from someplace else but that was not possible then. If food appeared one day there was no certainty [nishcitatá] that it would appear the next. Due to these kinds of circumstances human beings used to have an appendix to their intestines for accumulated or excess food. As it was needed this food would stimulate salivation in the mouth and be fully eaten and digested. The proper eating and digesting of the surplus food in the appendix is called romanthana in Sanskrit and jábar kát́á in Bengali. In good English we call it “rumination” and in spoken English “chewing the cud”. Many herbivorous (vegetarian) animals still ruminate and a need still exists for it in their wild state. As the certainty of food supplies gradually increased, the need for a corporal appendix to the intestines lessened. Eventually there was even not the slightest need for it. Today a small vestige of it remains in the human body although it is no longer used in times of distress. Human beings have lost the capacity to ruminate." (1)

Note: Animals that are herbivores have a large pocket adjacent to their stomach where they stock and store extra food. And in the nighttime, or whenever they do not get sufficient food to eat, they regurgitate that stored food from the pocket and then chew it again. After chewing it it goes back down the digestive tract and into the stomach for complete digestion. Humans also used to do this in the past because they faced an uncertainty in their food supply. They never knew when they were going to eat next. So extra food was eaten and that extra amount would be deposited in the pocket - or appendix. And later, when they got hungry that food would be regurgitated and then eaten again and digested. This process of “chewing the cud” was only done by plant-eating animals - and humans. Nowadays, in general, humans do not face uncertainty with regards to their food. They eat regularly. So humans no longer have any need for an appendix. And when it is not in use then it loses its quality and strength also. But the fact that only herbivores were the ones ruminating shows that those initial humans were also vegetarians. They needed an extra pocket to store food, and now today for humans that pocket - or appendix - has become useless.

In conclusion:

(a) Only herbivores have an extra pocket (appendix) to stock food.
(b) Certain animals ruminate - as well as early humans.
(c) Those who ruminate are 100% vegetarian, i.e only vegetarians ruminate.
(d) This proves that humans are vegetarian.

This logic can be used in pracar work also to convince others to become vegetarian and give up eating meat.

In Him,
Bhaeravii

Reference
1. Varna Vijiana, Emanation (Discourse 20)

== Section 2: Links ==

Postings to read