Baba
Solution: empty jagrtis
Namaskar,
It has become a norm nowadays to use “busyness” in social work as an excuse to reduce sa’dhana’ into a brief ritual or altogether skipping other lessons. Some wholetime workers have been living in this manner for a while. Likewise, whether or not a Wt is strictly following yama and niyama is often ignored because after all that worker is “busy” and working for a good cause.
Some think that there is no need for paying attention to whether Wts are following Ananda Marga ideology and practices as long as they are physically contributing towards social work projects such as getting a jagrti or school building constructed and flood relief work executed. But such an approach needs our careful review.
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Without sadhana: fake service
Humans are mind-dominated beings. Any action performed by a human being is first conceptualized as a thought by his / her mind. If a person’s thoughts are improper then that person’s actions will also be improper. Thoughts will be proper only in the presence of a proper ideology.
In the realm of social service, any action performed is effective only if it brings welfare for the whole society. However, without following a spiritual ideology and related practices, the mind becomes selfish and cannot perform selfless social service. One may superficially show oneself as a selfless social worker, but internally cannot overcome weaknesses like lust for fame or greed, and as a result may funnel money to a black pocket.
Ananda Marga ideology says, “And without practising meditation, one cannot render selfless service to the society.” (1)
How people degrade & fall
Seven thousand years ago Lord Shiva came and taught people sa’dhana’ and other dos and don’ts on dharmic life like diet, exercise, family relations, music, and numerous aspects of spirituality. In due course, however, people forgot His teachings altogether. After three thousand five hundred years, Lord Shrii Krsna gave His teachings. He also taught many unique points on intuitional science and society building. Not so long after that, Shrii Krsna’s teachings were almost completely destroyed. Only a few shlokas remained in books, and those that remained were littered with many distortions. Ironically, people became involved in dogmatic practices like idol worship and ja’tiva’da or casteism. This led to a darkness in the society. Thus, the moral of the story is that even if Ta’raka Brahma Himself comes, people lose His teachings and distort His sha’stra / scripture. Without proper sha’stra, people cannot make progress as they do not have the proper path. And as a result, they commit wrongs in the society.
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Main cause of all the problems
A vast majority of people do not read philosophy. Rather, they prefer to follow what the leaders are doing. If the leaders do not follow the ideology, then a vast majority will follow their footsteps and will get degenerated. Due to the lack of adhering to the ideology, the whole world is moving into a darkness. All the problems of the world today can be related to the lack of following the proper ideology or following the wrong philosophy. A few such problems caused by a lack of proper philosophy are listed below.
(A) People do not feel that others are their brothers and sisters and instead feel alienated. Some such mentally alienated people get so frustrated and mentally ill that they go in the middle of a marketplace with a gun and shoot anyone and everyone they come across. Such news is not so uncommon nowadays.
(B) The problem of religious extremism and ensuing terrorism is also caused by religious dogma.
(C) The materialistic philosophy of capitalism has done enormous damage to the society. People run after money and feel that they will get happiness by earning more and more money but end up making others poor and also not getting satisfaction in their own lives. People do not know what is proper food and they eat meat and other junk food and become unhealthy. Likewise, following the materialistic philosophy of communism makes people like animals.
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AM mission: Man-making not brick-making
With the advent of the 3rd Mahasambhuti Shrii Shrii Anandamurti jii, humanity was blessed with a new vibration of dharmic teachings and spiritual ideology. Baba has laid out the path, Ananda Marga, for humanity to follow and progress. Ideology is, therefore, very important in AMPS. We should, thus, protect and propagate Ananda Marga ideology. This is what is His supreme command.
Baba has set up a man-making mission for His disciples. Any social work or infrastructure development project can be undertaken only if it is aligned with the main man-making mission. Otherwise, what was the use of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti jii’s coming to this dusty earth—for even ordinary people were also engaged in infrastructure development and social work projects before His advent.
Empty jagrtis, temples, churches, & synagogues
There are so many empty jagrtis, thousands of large but empty temples, churches, and synagogues already on this planet. Do we need more such empty places of worship? We need to urgently create sadhakas. AMPS today is a dying organization. In various functions, we can see that a vast majority of attendees are old Margiis. All the training centers are almost empty. A family surely gets destroyed if new babies are not born. The need of the hour is to create new Ananda Margiis so that the Ananda Marga family thrives. Otherwise, empty training centers and jagrtis will turn into abandoned “ghost houses”.
Ananda Marga ideology says, “Remember, Ananda Marga is a man-making mission. Both quantity and quality are important.” (2)
Conclusion
The only long-lasting solution to the social problems is the propagation (praca’ra) of Ananda Marga ideology. The first step in praca’ra is to follow the ideology in one’s own life and become a living example of Ananda Marga teachings. If a person does not follow ideology in his life then how can that person get the necessary inspiration, courage, and shakti do AM praca’ra?
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Human happiness can only be achieved by means of spiritual progress. Thus, the perpetual work of an Ananda Margii is to do dharma praca’ra. Society’s ills will be healed only by the medicine of following and propagating spiritual ideology and practices.
In Him,
Bhakti
Driving away flies
If a person is afflicted with a wound and the person merely hires someone to drive away the flies that sit on the wound then that approach is defective. Firstly, such an approach is a quick-fix solution and will not cure the wound that is the root cause behind flies bothering the person. If the afflicted person really wants to get rid of the flies then the person needs to take the appropriate medicine and heal the wound. Driving away flies from a wound is a temporary solution and does not heal the wound itself.
Social service and infrastructural development projects are also time-specific and needed but will not solve the main problems. An immediate need of social service must be met, but the long-term solution is praca’ra of Ananda Marga ideology. And for praca’ra, the workers must internalize the ideology in their own lives. Without internalizing Ananda Marga ideology in one’s own life the whole purpose of having gotten a human life will be defeated, and one’s life will become worthless, regardless of how much work one does on the physical plane.
In the event of a disaster, relief work is required but that is just a temporary solution. Any kind of social service project or relief work should, no doubt, be done when needed, but should be seen as a temporary measure just like driving away flies from a wound.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
References
(1) Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21, Unit Spirit and Cosmic Spirit
(2) Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 31, The Conduct of an Ácárya
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
Is my feeling unknown to Him
PS Intro: In this following song the bhakta is talking directly to Parama Purusa yet addressing Him in the third person: "He (Parama Purusa) is calling me but what can I give Him." So the bhakta is confiding in Parama Purusa in an intimate way, but doing so in a unique fashion by referring to Parama Purusa as "He" and "Him".
"Aja'na' Pathik a'j keno d'a'ke a'ma'ke..." (Prabhat Samgiita #3554)
Purport:
Why is the Ajáná Pathik calling me today. He is the vast Entity - Parama Purusa. And I am meagre - just a small unit being, a tiny molecule. What can I offer to Him in His service. Why is He calling me.
In my life there is very tiny flame in the lamp of bhakti that is flickering, ever on the verge of extinguishing. But even then, by pouring my heart, I have kept that lamp lit. It is His grace. Is He unaware about this. Is my feeling unknown to Him. Yet in His cosmic liila, I am dancing directly in front of Him.
I am just like a firefly prancing and circling around the shining moon. My existence is plunged in worldly gains and mundane allurements, but when I think about His greatness then I lose myself, again and again, in His divine refulgence. I float in the irresistible attraction of His love with spiritual horripilation. It is His krpa...
== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
Similarity: humans & frogs
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "In that era people used to live in trees. They used to secure themselves to the tree or the tree branch with their tail so that they would not fall out of the tree while they were asleep. Later on, when human beings began to build temporary dwellings in the trees, the possibility of falling out diminished. Naturally, since the need for a tail diminished, the tail became smaller. Later still, when human beings learned to build permanent dwellings on the ground the need for a tail completely disappeared. Since there is no need for a tail now, there is no tail. The need for a tail disappeared some hundreds of thousands of years ago. There is, however, a truncated bone at the base of the backbone which is a carryover from that past time. It is present in the fetus while it is in its mother's womb. Thereafter the tail does not grow in proportion to the rest of the body. By the time the human child is born the tail is no longer outside the body. A somewhat similar thing happens with frogs. The tadpole has a tail but when it gets bigger it falls off. This all happens in the path of emanation." (1)
Reference
1. Shabda Cayaniká Part 1, Disc 1
== Section 4: Links ==
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