Baba
Devious Avts scare
Namaskar,
One important fact is that Baba gave the first initiation in the cemetery. And after learning sadhana that new initiate practiced sadhana in the cemetery. So it is clear that cemetery sadhana is not exclusively for senior practitioners - it is for beginners also.
So this demonstrates and foreshadows how in each and every Ananda Margii's life the cemetery has an immense practical value. Those suffering from the dogma that the cemetery is only for avadhutas or kapalikas should gain the proper understanding. Our Ananda Marga meditation is tantra sadhana and that has relevance and importance for each and every Ananda Margii. That is the special significance of why the first disciple Kalicharanji was initiated in the cemetery.
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Fairy tales by some Wts
It is sad that some Wts create fictitious stories about the dangers and horrors of going to the cemetery for sadhana in order to enhance their own prestige and create the false facade that they only are blessed to go. Side by side, they want to intimidate and scare margiis by saying they are not qualified. They talk of black magic and how avidya tantrikas, ghosts, goblins, and evil spirits live in the cemetery and that you may come under attack. They say all these things to increase their own status and impose an inferiority complex upon the margiis. This is their attempt to inject fear upon good sadhakas and keep them away from the cemetery.
It is the same kind of concocted logic that priests used in the past about brahmacarya to suppress and exploit the people. They invented the false notion that brahmacarya means celibacy so family people can never be great etc. This was the bad manner of such priests to rule over the common people in the past.
Some Wts have adopted this same platform with regards to cemetery sadhana. Margiis should be wary of such types of monks.
All should know that cemetery sadhana is a very important and dharmic practice which every initiated Ananda Margii may do. So family margiis should only put their trust in those Wts who encourage them in cemetery sadhana. If any Wt tries to scare or dissuade them from doing cemetery sadhana, then understand their colour. All should be encouraged in cemetery sadhana.
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Now please read the below transcript where Baba guides us that doing sadhana in the cemetery is beneficial for all - everyone initiated in the tantric cult of Ananda Marga sadhana - i.e. every Ananda Margii.
Baba's audio: "cemetery is very encouraging for spiritual aspirants"
This recording is from when Baba came to the Philippines. Following is the transcription of a conversation which took place on 24 April 1969 at 9:00pm when Baba was on His field walk along with some local margiis and acaryas. To listen to the audio file see the link appended below.
Baba: "What' s the distance of that American cemetery from this place where we are at present now? How many miles?Here ends the scene.
Sadhaka: "The way I look at it Baba, is a little bit..."
Baba: "How many miles or kilometers?"
Sadhaka: "Almost the same. With the only exception that the road there is dusty now because under repair. But I think tomorrow brother P will take You to that cemetery."
Baba: "I like the entire world."
Sadhaka: "No particular place? But all."
Baba: "But all."
Baba: "The cemetery is very encouraging for spiritual aspirants, for sadhakas."
Sadhaka: "That is..."
Baba: "Yes."
Sadhaka: "That is what we found. Whenever we go there we are inspired only to meditate, and do nothing more."
Baba: "And many of the sadhakas were initiated there."
Sadhaka: "Yes, Baba..."
Baba: "He went there [to the cemetery]? He was there [at the cemetery]?"
Sadhaka: Yes, Baba.
All Ananda Margiis are tantrikas
All encouraged to do sadhana in cemetery
The main theme is that all Ananda Margiis - whether family people, students, or sannyasis etc - are tantrikas. All can go to the cemetery for initiation, and every Ananda Margii can practice sadhana in the cemetery - day or night. After all, Kalicharanji was not a kapalika when he was initiated by Baba and first began doing sadhana in the cemetery. By that example, and by His above fieldwalk, Baba is clearly guiding us that every Ananda Margii is a tantrika and all should be eager and vigilant about doing sadhana in the cemetery on a regular basis.
Baba says, "The cemetery is very encouraging for spiritual aspirants, for sadhakas."
So every new or old sadhaka should take time to do meditation in the cemetery. Those who are concerned about going to the cemetery at night should practice regularly in the cemetery in the daytime. Any cemetery that is isolated is an excellent place for sadhana, even in the daytime. And gradually after some practice in the daytime, the fear about going there at nighttime will be eliminated such that one will do sadhana there on even the darkest of nights.
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So there should not be any complex or thoughts that only certain avadhutas can do sadhana in the cemetery. Rather, every single initiated Ananda Margii is a tantrika and the disciple of the Tantra Guru Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. Thus all have the requisite standing and right to do cemetery sadana, by His grace. When one does sadhana then the quality and quantity of sadhana increases and one realises that what has been described about sadhana in Ananda Marga discourses is not beyond reach. Gradually one realises that bliss in their life.
Life is short: Do cemetery sadhana on Shravanii Purnima
So once again the day of Shra'van'ii Pu'rn'ima' is nearing: Each and every margii should try to visit the cemetery at least once in a year, or on a more regular basis such as on amavasya. And doing sadhana there on Shra'van'ii Pu'rn'ima' itself is highly recommended and beneficial. Human life is very short; we should utilise it for higher pursuits. That will be the real remembrance of Shra'van'ii Pu'rn'ima'.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "By dint of sadhana, one is to arouse and exalt that sleeping divinity...But for this, one requires divine help and I know further that one is getting divine help, and I know still further, that it is for infinite time and infinite space, one is getting this divine help, and you are all sadhakas, you will certainly attain the Supreme Stance and enjoy that divine blessedness. You are sure to enjoy it my sons and daughters." (1)
Conclusion
Best is for margiis to first go in the daytime for cemetery sadhana - and gradually the habit will develop and sadhana will grow qualitatively. Every sadhaka will realise for themselves that the cemetery is an ideal place for sadhana. By this way they will understand the truth.
Namaskar,
Ananda Prakash
On the one hand some Wts tell margiis that they will be harmed if they go to the cemetery at night. But when those same workers are in a new area and do not know where the cemetery is, then they request margiis to kindly take them to the local cemetery. First they tell margiis to stay away, but when they need help or support those same Wts request those margiis to come. This way of dealing is completely peculiar.
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Listen to the sound file about cemetery sadhana:
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 23, Stages of Samádhi
== Section: Important Teaching ==
In various discourses Baba differentiates between bhaktas and devotees. In brief, bhaktas are only those who have love for God, who love Parama Purus'a. There is no other use or meaning of the term 'bhakta'. Whereas people can be devoted to all sorts of things etc. A wife may be devoted to her husband. A person may be devoted to playing the piano. Various pets may be very devoted to their master. So being devoted has various insinuations and meanings, whereas the use of the term bhakta is very specific and pointed.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "'Well, we've grown quite old. Having reached such a ripe old age, if we eat without doing some kind of ritualistic worship, people will speak ill of us and criticize us. So we'd better follow the ritualistic formalities by chanting a few mantras'. This category of bhakta is called `sattvika bhakta.' They don't ask for any material thing no doubt, but they ask for liberation as they have reached the last stage of life. Parama Purusa may or may not grant liberation to these bhaktas. One thing which is sure is that they won't attain Him because they want liberation, but not Parama Purusa [moksa] Himself." (1)
Note: A great bhakta wants only Parama Purusa, not anything else.
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 4, “Ye Yathá Máḿ Prapadyante”
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Unique vantage point on samskaras
Ananda Marga ideology states, “When a dishonest government employee accepts a bribe it is an original action, and when his son gets sick and has to be rushed to the doctor it is the reactive action (the reaction to the original action). When his son dies he laments, “I haven’t knowingly done anything wrong…[when in fact]... the deep sorrow he felt at the death of his child was the result of his past original actions.” (1)
As Baba explains in the above teaching, when a person dies then it is the surviving, grieving family members who suffer the most. The person who died suffers for a short while, whereas their loved ones suffer that loss every day for the rest of their lives. For instance, a young executive who died in the Twin Towers tragedy suffered for a few minutes or more before his death, whereas his spouse and his parents have suffered from that tragedy daily for years and will do so for decades. It is those surviving family members who are undergoing the burning of a huge, negative samskara, not the person who died. The person who died suffered comparatively little; theirs was a small samskara. Generally, people think that the one who died is the one who suffered the most. But, as explained above, that is not the case.
Similarly, when an adult patient is unaware or unconscious, then the one suffering is the caregiver. It is the caregiver who is undergoing their negative samskaras. The adult patient is not undergoing any samskaras because they are completely oblivious of their surroundings and thus not suffering at all. The irony then is that when mean-minded persons try to serve someone who is unconscious or unaware, then that so-called caregiver thinks in the back of their mind that the unconscious person did something terrible and now they are undergoing the reaction. But that is not the case. Rather it is the caregiver who is undergoing their own negative samskara as they are pained by serving the patient. But before the patient became unconscious they were suffering.
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 8, Sadhana
== Section 3: Links ==
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