Baba
Way of so-called central wts
Namaskar,
Ananda Marga ideology states, “Bear in mind that you have a duty towards – indeed, you owe a debt to – every creature of this universe, but towards you, no one has any duty; from others, nothing is due.” (1)
This above teaching guides sadhakas not to be selfish - rather we should always try and help others. At the same time, one should not wish for others to help you. One should not cultivate such a desire. That is the fundamental approach. One should think that, “I am here to serve others, yet they have no duty towards serving me.” By this guideline, we can bring heaven onto this earth - by His grace.
https://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com/
Citing this conduct rule and saying, “It is your duty to help me”
Unfortunately, there are some so-called central Wts who are oblivious to this rule. Certain greedy central Dadas always try to exploit others by citing this conduct rule and saying, “It is your duty to help me.”
For example: If a particular so-called central Wt is traveling from point A to point C and has a short stopover at point B, that central worker will phone margiis or the local acarya at point B and request them to cook, and deliver food to the railway platform at point B and wait for his train to arrive. I came to know about this from my bhukti pradhan (BP) who spent his whole day preparing food and waiting for Dadaji’s train to arrive because it was late. My BP said it took him 3 hours to bicycle to the train station and then he had to wait because the train arrived two hours late. Every half-hour, announcements were made how the train was further delayed. So from food prep and getting back home it took 10 hours.
I asked my BP if this was the first time he has done this, and he replied that this was one of his main duties as bhukti pradhan and that the local Wt also has to do this regularly: Deliver fresh, home-cooked food to central Dadas traveling through point B as they head off to other far destinations. The BP told me that he does this 10 - 15 days each month. He explained that sometimes it is pouring rain and everything got completely soaked and there was too much water to ride so he had to walk his bicycle, with that heavy load. In winter he has faced cold, dense fog, and even a hail storm as he bicycled in his chapels (sandals). And sometimes he traveled to the station in scorching heat of 46 degree Celsius with a hot, dry, desert heat. It was so hot that the tube of the tire burst and the metal of the bicycle was too hot to touch. And in that condition he had to drag the bicycle along with all the food to the station. Here let me clarify that this was done with a typical Indian bicycle that has no gears and no engine. It is propelled by human muscle only, so it is not easy. Given these harsh conditions, some central Dadas had the gall to request him to do this everyday but that was too much for him. Already, my BP lost his full-time company job because of this and can now only work part-time. Yet he has his own unit family to care for as well. Such is the situation.
https://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com/
Done to exert control & humiliate
Please bear in mind that our central Dadas travel by first class or business class when going by train or airplane etc. So they travel in style and comfort and have huge money to procure food and arrange their needs. It is not that they are going to starve if nobody brings them food. They can easily arrange tasty, sumptuous meals. So those so-called central Wts do this just to control and humiliate others - to exert their influence and force margiis and junior Wts to bow down before them. That is why central Dadas order them to cook and deliver fresh, hot food and receive them at the station.
Really then, those so-called central Wts traveling through should arrange their own food rather than give so much trouble to family margiis and the local acarya.
Here it should also be added that so-called central Wts exploit numerous local Wts in this way as well. Those so-called senior, top post-holders do like this with junior workers - treating them as their servants etc. It seems that the higher one’s post the more their sense of rationality and justice wanes. They will exploit anyone for their own personal gain.
Any so-called central Wt who does like this is greedy with a mind the size of a mustard seed. With common sense, anyone can understand that family margiis and local acaryas already have a number of other duties and if they are going to spend an entire day whenever any so-called central Wt is passing through their train station, then all their time would pass in that way and there would be no scope for any other work etc. But this much common sense certain so-called central Wts do not have.
https://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com/
Namaskar,
in Him,
Priya Ranjan
Engage in such useful pursuits so even worst enemies
Ananda Vanii states, “After millions of animal lives, a created being attains the human form. That is why all the sacred books speak of the rarity of human life. The wise properly utilize all objects and this utilization alone makes the existence of the object worthy. You have achieved the human frame. You must make it meaningful by your sádhaná, service and sacrifice. Engage yourself in such useful pursuits that even your worst enemies have hardly any chance to despise you. Utilize yourself in such a manner so as to satisfy yourself mentally, that you never wasted your time uselessly on this earth.” (2)
References
1. Caryacarya, part 2, Sadhana, point #3
2. Ananda Vanii #33
* * *
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 guides us, “In order to survive, human beings need food, clothes, shelter, medicine, education etc. If these basic necessities are not provided, life becomes unbearable. This first varga, this fulfilment of physical necessities, is káma. How does one learn about it. By studying itihása. And how can those minimum necessities be provided to all? Through the implementation of a social ideology: through itihása. In order that these basic necessities might be provided to all, I was forced to formulate the theory of PROUT under pressure of circumstances. Before everything else, one must first provide physical food to a hungry person. Once the physical needs have been satisfied one may impart spiritual knowledge and instruct him or her to sit in meditation….But before that we’ll have to make provisions for their food, winter clothes, shelter, medical treatment etc. Without fulfilling these basic necessities it will be impossible to promote the collective welfare of the human race.” (1)
Note: In our Ananda Marga, we adhere to a stepwise approach to social service. Before serving in the psychic and spiritual spheres, we first have to ensure that all their physical needs are met. That means the person should have the basic requirements of life: food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education. Once those needs are satisfied, we may proceed with dharma pracara, i.e. guiding the person about the dos and don’ts of spiritual life and teaching them about kiirtana and sadhana etc. So when performing social service, we must quickly yet carefully assess what that individual needs.
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 6, The Four Vargas and Devotion
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
