Baba
Example of lowly Wts
Note: This letter is only for those who have reverence for Sadguru Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji and try to follow His Ananda Marga ideology.
Namaskar,
Just a short while ago, interracial and inter-caste marriages were not common. So when Sadguru Baba introduced the Ananda Marga revolutionary marriage system then it went fully against the prevailing traditional, dogmatic approach.
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Fundamentals of our marriage system
#1: Greatness of revolutionary marriages: Baba legitimized the idea that all communities of the world should live together and actively inter-marry. The Ananda Marga marriage system fully embraces and encourages interracial and inter-caste marriages.
#2: Family people can convene marriage ceremonies: Baba declared that family people can perform and oversee marriage ceremonies. There was no need for a priest. This was also a new and revolutionary approach.
#3: Bride and groom on equal footing - no exploitation: Males and females have equal rights and status with regards to marriages. That means there is no penalty or barrier to either gender, especially women. The bride should not be viewed as the defeated party and the groom should not act as the arrogant victors. Yet this is the way the ceremony is often carried out - in so many parts of the globe. Baba has rooted out any semblance of this, as well as the dogmatic dowry system, and demanded that all be treated equally as children of the Divine. That means no payment of any kind is needed in our Ananda Marga marriage system. Rather, it is forbidden.
#4: Marriage is for society building, not lust: Our Ananda Marga marriage system is not a materialistic, love scene but rather an avenue for society building where the entire purpose of marriage is to provide a safe, loving, and stable environment for raising children. That is the whole aim of our Ananda Marga marriage system. Thus it is radically different from materialistic, pseudo-culture and new-age relationships which romanticize courtships and marriages as sexual escapades for couples wherein children are a mere byproduct and thereafter left by the wayside to fend for themselves etc.
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All these points about our Ananda Marga marriage system are new and revolutionary for society and are radically different from past religious dogma and the existing norms of materialism. That is why many margii families faced huge opposition from their own so-called caste when they engaged in inter-caste marriages. They were attacked, their property was destroyed, and their houses were burned etc. Yet those courageous margiis persevered and implemented Baba's revolutionary marriage system.
Bogus marriage tax: how Rudrananda is cheat
Tragically, on a case by case basis Rudrananda is secretly imposing marriage fees and payments from margiis. They are exploiting margiis behind the scenes in a private manner. Such Wts communicate with venerable parties and give assurances and then every step they charge. Here is an example of how they try to cajole margiis.
Those Wts say:
“Look, I am not charging you anything - everything I am doing is 100% free - but as a margii you have to support Baba’s mission. It is not everyday that your father dies and it is not everyday that your daughter gets married. So when Baba has graciously bestowed you with money then on these occasions you should give back. Otherwise when are you going to give. And just think, I am doing this ceremony for you completely free. I am a servant of Baba. So there is no question of me charging you anything - not one penny. But from your side you should come forward and give. After all, if I had not performed the ceremony or you had this done outside of Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha then surely you would have had to pay. Why are you not giving to Baba and His mission on this occasion. Think of Baba and support His social service projects. With this thought in mind you should offer a donation. I am doing this ceremony for you completely free.”
This is the deceptive rhetoric that Rudrananda employs in order to coerce donations from margiis during such social ceremonies like the death ceremony or marriage etc. If the sadhaka does not pay that that Wt creates a problem in their marriage. In the face of this, margiis feel helpless and can only say, “Please take pity on me.”
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If any margii asks that Wt why you (Wt) are charging poor margiis in this way then that Wt will reply, “What is wrong, these margiis are already wasting their money on so many types of activities. So then what is wrong if I take from them at the time of marriage etc. After all their duty is to give and my duty is to accept their offering. So this is a dharmic approach.” This is the type of wolf psychology that dominates Rudrananda.
Rudrananda: imposing fee for marriage blessing
Certain Wts have created and imposed the dogma wherein newly married margiis must pay a surcharge or fee if they wish to receive a so-called blessing from PP during DMS etc. They are implementing the bogus rule that money is needed in order to get a "blessing." Yet Baba never did like this. No payment was ever needed for newly married couples to receive His divine ashirvad (blessing) during DMC. There was never any tax or fee, just His causeless grace. Rich or poor, all had equal opportunity.
But now Rudrananda has implemented this new rule. They just dragged it in from the dogmatic religions of old wherein priests levy huge fees on the common people for their so-called services whether it be marriages, births, deaths or any other ritualistic gathering. Always the priests wanted a big payment - this dogma has always plagued the various religions. And now some stooges of Rudrananda are doing the same thing. They collect huge money and give the lion’s share to Rudrananda.
Rudrananda is exploiting margiis. That is the real crime that is taking place. We must not sit idle on this point. Already some dharmic margiis have raised this issue on the public platform and it is our bounden duty to rally around and save the Ananda Marga revolutionary marriage system from the hands of these opportunists. Already years have passed since they put this dogma in place. It must be rooted out now lest it become more set and hence more difficult to remove.
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When a huge tax is imposed on Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha marriages, then naturally more people will choose to remain unmarried, carry out their relations, and produce children out of wedlock, in which case those children will suffer. That is another horrible outcome.
Watch your donation
Baba has directed us in the chapter on Tapah in "A Guide to Human Conduct" that if donated money is not utilized for a just and worthy cause, then the donor is also responsible for that misdeed(s). The donor will incur negative samskara - that is Baba's strict warning. Thus, always be alert that your donation does not go in the wrong hand.
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "Tapah devoid of knowledge is bound to be misused. The opportunists will misuse your energy by extracting work from you to serve their selfish ends, and at the same time this will deprive the real sufferers of their due services from you. A rich miser approaches you with a tale of woe and entreats you to give him relief. Being moved with pity, if you do what is needed to relieve him of his suffering, the very purpose of tapah will be defeated, as it is without any knowledge or reasoning. The end result of your service will be that the rich man whom you have served will become more miserly and more selfish and will, in the future, try to deceive in a greater way people who dedicate themselves to the service of humanity. Secondly, as you will, to some extent, know his inner motive, you will become mentally depressed and you will also develop a hostile attitude towards him. Therefore, while following the principle of tapah you should ascertain fully well whether the person you are going to serve, really needs your service. Only then should you engage yourself in service...Therefore, you will have to ascertain with discrimination where your responsibility lies and to what extent; otherwise all your time, energy and labour employed in tapah will be in vain...because in such cases you do not make the proper use of objects." (1)
We should all pay heed to Baba's above guideline about tapah and serving others. If our donations do not reach the right person or party, and instead some Dada or Didi is using those funds for superficial beauty appointments etc, then we ourselves are to be held accountable. If we fail to ensure that our donation is used to serve those in need, then that service or donation is meaningless. With a good heart many in Ananda Marga wish to serve those in need, but unfortunately their efforts will be in vain if their donations do not reach suffering humanity. Verily those kind-hearted donors are responsible - in part - for this impropriety. That is Baba's warning.
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Marriage tax dogma spreading to other ceremonies
In so many discourses Baba warns us that it is the nature of dogma to spread and entangle itself in society. That is why the imposition of any dogma in our Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha should be mercilessly rooted out. No one should get caught in the daydream that Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha is impervious to dogma. As we speak Rudrananda is dragging a new "marriage blessing" dogma into AMPS. This is the unfortunate situation and everyone should be alert about this.
All along, such top Wts have their justification. They may think that as there are so many court cases going on then they have to make money however they can - including charging a fee for fake marriage blessings. Actually, typical religious priests make this same type of justification when inventing any new dogma.
Remember Baba also needed money when building Ananda Nagar, as well as during the jail period and when fighting the communists etc, but He never charged for marriage blessings. This jizya (religious tax) was not imposed. Why not - because ours is a revolutionary marriage system.
Exploitation will mount
But if we just sit still and keep quiet, then in a few years this dogma imposed by group tyrants will be established and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be singing the praises of getting PP's marriage blessing, regardless of the exorbitant cost. Those who can afford it will be cheated and exploited and those who are unable to pay will feel humiliated and inferior. They will suffer from an inferiority complex that they were not good enough or rich enough to get PP’s blessing. And with each and every passing generation the problems will mount more and more. If a dogma is not rooted out in the beginning then it only grows.
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The key point here is that our Ananda Marga marriage system is free - per Guru's directive. So anyone trying to make money in Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha must not use our marriage system as their cheating tool.
Indeed that is how the dowry system started of old. In order to get your daughter married then people had to save money their whole life and present fancy gifts and big payments to the bridegroom's family. That is why in India people would kill their unborn girls. Because giving birth to a daughter was like tying a ball and chain to one's leg.
Conclusion
Our Ananda Marga marriage system is dharmic and revolutionary, and has been given for the welfare of humanity. It is a tragedy that nowadays Rudrananda has hijacked it while his stooges dance according to his direction and create havoc with their bogus marriage tax. However, the days of such religious cheats in our AMPS are fading fast. All family margiis should be firm in following Sadguru’s system and not become of victim of this marriage tax. Then those religious cheats will hide in the shadows and disappear completely.
Namaskar,
At His feet,
Madhusudan
Although certain aspects of this letter are directed toward Indian priests etc, but in reality this situation is prevalent in all religious communities etc.
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Reference
1. A Guide to Human Conduct, Tapah
This is a photo of Purodha Pramukha of Ranchi faction which has been artistically edited by one margii to express how money has a dominant role in decisions made by Rudrananda and PP.
Photo Credit *
Photo Credit *: We request the margii who created this image and posted it to their Facebook account to come forward so we may give due credit for this work.
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The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
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The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
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== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
Common ancestry
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Ananda Margiis have no caste or gotra. I have said before also that the division of humanity into Káshyapagotra, Bharadvájagotra, etc., is nonsensical. This is just to mislead people. If we look back in [anthropology] we will see that the forefathers of the present-day humans were apes or ape-men. So if people are very particular about their gotras, I will say to their faces, “Boys and girls! You belong to the ape gotra.”"
"We have all descended from our common ancestors, the apes. The same is true in relation to the castes. [One might try to argue that] the forefathers of the Bráhmańas were the ape-Bráhmańas and the forefathers of the Kśatriyas were the ape-Kśatriyas; but that just isn’t so. As apes do not have any particular caste, the present-day caste differences are all hypocrisy and maliciousness. You should remove even the least vestige of these nonsensical notions. You must not give credence to such things." (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 7, Bhaerava and Bhaeravii
== Section 2: Links ==
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