Baba
Feasting on death
News: A renowned margii from Tatanagar, Mahendra Pal Singh passed away at age of 82 in Noida. His son arranged the abominable work of hosting a feast on the occasion of the death ceremony, which is against our AM system given by Baba. It is quite obvious that the son went against his own father’s wishes.
Namaskar,
Since the dawn of human civilisation, the cunning priests and religious heads have exploited the grieving family when their loved one died. Those priests employed all kinds of tactics to extract as much money as possible from the deceased’s family.
They would say things like, “Don’t you want your husband or father to reach heaven and be comfortable - you would not like them to suffer would you.” By playing on the sentiments of the bereaved family members during this highly emotional and delicate time, those exploitative priests would usurp maximum money from those in mourning. The surviving family members would give the priest their life savings to ensure their departed loved one was well-fed, clothed, and warm in svarga / heaven. This type of exploitation occurs through various schemes across all the religions.
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Shraddha benefits the mourners, not the deceased
The carrying of the dead body to a so-called holy tiirtha etc is very common in the Hindu dogma and now some are emulating it and bringing it into AMPS. It is not accepted, but due to their ignorance and group allegiance certain avadhutas did it anyway.
Hindus do shráddha because of their fear of ghosts, but in Ananda Marga we know that such ghosts do not exist. That is just dogma. But Hindus believe that if the shráddha ceremony is not done then the deceased will become a ghost and harass the family, friends, villagers—everyone. This will bring disease, struggle, strife, loss, accidents and all kinds of troubles. With this fear, the common people are terrified of what will happen if they do not arrange the shráddha ceremony for the deceased. This is the dogma they suffer from. We know that there is no such thing as ghosts—just it is dogma. Yet those Hindu followers pay / donate Hindu priests huge amounts of money to preside over the shráddha ceremony. Thus in Hinduism, their shráddha ceremony is done for the "benefit" of the deceased and for the surviving members—that way they will not be tortured and harassed by any ghost or face serious problems. Christians and Jews suffer from a similar type of ignorance.
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Dogmatic Hindus believe that if money and rituals are offered to the priest then the deceased who was roaming as a ghost in their native village will get a grand mansion in heaven with a lot of servants. The deceased will reside there and enjoy. In this way Hindus get cheated by priests. A similar custom is present in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. But Ananda Marga has come on this earth to wipe away all these dogmas and rescue the exploited masses.
Some reluctant to give up their dogma
The question then arises why are these dogmas creeping into our AMPS shraddha ceremonies. The problem is that people are reluctant to wholly let go of their old religious rituals. It is akin to how some new vegetarians cook all their veggie food to taste and look like meat. They do this because psychically they are not fully ready to give up meat. It is a struggle for them. Likewise, those born in certain religions have trouble giving up all those dogmas that they grew up with. Sadguru Baba has given a very simple protocol for the shraddha ceremony; only a cup of water is required. But some margiis are not fully adjusted with Baba’s dharmic guideline so they drag various customs and rituals from their dogmatic religious ceremonies, including food, feasting etc. Because that is what they grew up with and they want to have something to show their relatives etc. By this way, certain elements from the dogmatic religious shraddha rituals have cropped up in our AM ceremonies.
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Recent dogmatic gargantuan death ceremony
Recently, a renowned margii from Tatanagar, Mahendra Pal Singh underwent his mahaprayan (death) at age of 82 in NOIDA. His son has arranged कीर्तन and ब्रह्म भोज in shraddha ceremony. Please see the below invitation card. Such an invitation violates the codes and spirit of our AM shraddha ceremony. Please continue reading to understand why.
No dogma in AM shra'ddha [death] ceremony
Sadguru Baba dharmic declaration is that the death ceremony has no impact on the status or well-being of the deceased; the ceremony is solely for the welfare of the grieving family members. And verily in AMPS, the death ceremony is the simplest of occasions. All that is needed is water; all of the expenses for cremating the body are paid for by the collective. By these aforementioned steps and policies, Baba effectively eliminated the priests’ ability to exploit and take advantage of those grieving family members.
Unfortunately, now in our AMPS, there are some who still seek to capitalise on the situation by turning it into a competition of sorts by adding various extras like large gatherings, arrangements, big tent, professional sound system, loudspeaker, accommodations, meals, sweets, food and clothing distribution, feasting etc. They are turning it into a display of pomp and show where the richest family wins. By this way, they have completely lost the spirit of our Ananda Marga shra'ddha [death] ceremony.
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Common dogmatic elements of death ceremony
Here are some key points on this issue. If we are aware of these problems we can best maintain the sanctity of Baba’s given shra'ddha [death] ceremony.
People are habituated to their dogmatic religious shra'ddha [death] ceremonies so they emulate those rituals. By adding extras to a shra'ddha [death] ceremony it opens the floodgates of competition where people will try to outspend others on all kinds of points like feeding maximum people, offering fancy prasad, hosting those from a distant region etc - with all expenses borne by the family of the deceased. Baba wants to free humanity from this type of dogma.
- That shra'ddha [death] ceremony is not an occasion of happiness and joy.
- Dogmatic people engage in this competition for worldly, social pressure.
- Baba wants to get rid of this age-old dogma and unburden the grieving family. So it is prohibited in AM.
- Remember, in such gatherings extras are not just extras. Rather it comes with a long tail of other elements like food for margiis coming from far, guest arrangements, big tent, accommodations, food for relatives from far away and so much more for the pomp and show of the suffering family.
- In this way huge money is spent, crippling the deceased's family.
- This age-old dogma is creeping into AMPS.
Marriage ceremony vs death ceremony
This is the reply to those uninformed people who wrongly justify that since food is served at a marriage ceremony then it should also be done at a death ceremony.
(a) Marriage is a joyous occasion whereas death ceremonies are sad gatherings;
(b) Feasting is ok at marriages, but not allowed at death ceremonies;
(c) In marriages, the family is allowed to spend within their means for a wedding celebration, but in the death ceremony, the mourning family is forbidden to spend any money or incur any expenses.
(d) So one cannot equate or compare the celebration of a marriage with the death ceremony.
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The greedy priests (greedy Wts) want the death ceremony to be a grand melee whereby they can feast and collect donations etc, and by this way the whole death ceremony for the grieving family becomes a juggernaut - i.e. something that is completely overwhelming and overpowering for them.
Conclusion
The death ceremony in AMPS is a simple affair for the support and well-being of those in mourning. The deceased is neither affected nor benefited by the ceremony and the grieving family should not bear any expense. So there is no feasting, prasad, or extras etc. Just we are to follow what Baba has laid out in Caryacarya:
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, “The departed soul does not get any advantage from the shráddha ceremony [memorial ceremony]. It is only meant for the psychic satisfaction of the person performing it.” (1)
in Him,
Su’treshvara
English title is wrong in Caryacarya
Unfortunately someone mistranslated chapter 31 of the English edition of Caryacarya part 1. They titled it as “Disposal of the Dead Body.” But this is wrong and inappropriate. In the Hindi and Bengali editions, that chapter is titled as Shava Satka’r, meaning ‘reverence to lifeless body.’ This projects an air of respect and sanctity. But those publishers failed to give it a comparatively respectful title in English. Instead they called it “Disposal of the Dead Body”, as if one is just getting rid of some trash, rubbish, or garbage etc. Steps should be taken to properly title chapter 31 of the English edition of Caryacarya part 1.
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References
1. Caryacarya, Part 1, Shraddha Ceremony
Recent dogmatic gargantuan death ceremony (12 Mar 2019)
Here below some so-called margiis like Dr KK Nirmal are participating in a bulky death ceremony. To understand how and why it is bulky and against Baba’s teachings, kindly continue reading below.
Dr KK Nirmal and Vashishthji are attending this bulky shra'ddha [death] ceremony
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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 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
Demons will no longer
"Mánavatár mukta dhárá, baháye dile dharáte..." (Prabhat Samgiita #3984)
Purport:
Parama Purusa, You have come and unleashed the free-flowing fountain of humanity on this earth. Demons will no longer be able to continue their ugly dance of disaster, looting, plunder, exploitation, and murder.
Since ages, people have been crying in agony and pain. There was so much injustice, suffering, bloodshed, war, and communal rights that were being perpetrated by anti-social elements. Immoralists were using their weapons to torture innocent people in so many ways. With refulgence You came, my Great Entity, and wiped away all suffering and injustices from everywhere.
That time human beings were thinking that they were just animals. They forgot their real identity. Their actions, lifestyle, thinking, and everything was vulgar. They viewed themselves as brutes - nothing more. They were imagining that by indulging in materialism and sensual pleasure they will be victorious and reach their destination. They thought their purpose for coming here and getting this human body was for satisfying their baser propensities. In this transitional period, You have come and made them understand their blunder. They realised their mistake and gave up their debased way of living.
Today, You have come and created a sentient vibration, ignited the light, and removed the pain and suffering for one and all. Baba, this is all Your grace...
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
