Baba
Islamic ritual in AM
Namaskar,
You will find many striking similarities between the (a) ten centuries old Islamic pilgrimage / gathering for the tomb worship of their chosen Pir or Faqir and (b) the recently invented so-called mahaprayan programme in Tiljala.
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For instance, take a look at the likenesses between the Islamic tomb worship and the Tiljala mahaprayan programme:
- Both are exactly six days long
- Both employ many of the same rituals & tactics like tomb worship - mahaprayan
- Both use prasad
- Both engage in money collection
- Both do mass feeding
- Both ask for boons etc.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (1)
So there are numerous similarities between the age-old Islamic tomb worship and newly-devised Tiljala mahaprayan programme. Indeed, Tiljala essentially xeroxed their so-called mahaprayan from that dogmatic Islamic tomb worship gathering. The only real difference is language: Arabic versus Bangla and Sanskrit. Beyond that they are a near mirror image of one another.
Verily there is no question about who copied from whom? Seeing that the Muslim ceremony has been going on for many centuries, it is quite evident. Please read below for more details.
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Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (2)
Trick to collect people
The fundamental equation is if anyone is doing anything anywhere and you go to their location and do what they are doing, it means you are supporting their cause. That is the basic formula that can be applied to countless situations.
Let’s look at this from another angle. Who can forget when Baba was in jail and our Ananda Margii brothers and sisters from all over converged on-site to protest the injustices. Margiis sang kiirtan. And participation in those kiirtan rallies demonstrated support for the greater cause. Those days Jai Prakash Narayan called the police on margiis and had them arrested on the basis that their participation in that kiirtana meant they were the supporters of the political protests against Baba’s incarceration.
Later on, after the rally, that same kiirtan would be sung for purely spiritual purposes during dharmacakra etc. Here the point is that doing kiirtan or raising the slogan at a rally means supporting that issue or cause. Similarly, attending Tiljala dogma means supporting the cause; annual death day.
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Photo of Islamic mahaprayan / tomb worship
See below how legions of Islamic followers / worshipers have gathered at this maqbara - i.e. a memorial building with a tomb inside. By the design of the building it is clear it is an Islamic memorial building as marked by the round shaped dome. Often such maqbaras have a plaque in the floor where the actual tomb is and they may build some indoor structure on that spot. And that is all housed by the greater memorial building or maqbara.
Islamic worshipers reach there to perform their annual tomb worship - mahaprayan. The Muslim masses surround their lighted mosque day and night and wait on line to do their ritualistic offering etc. Because so many have arrived there is an overflow of people - not all can fit inside. So they remain outdoors, waiting for the opportunity to enter.
All this they do in the name of Islamic tomb worship - Islamic mahaprayan. See below how the Islamic memorial building itself sits upon the tomb of their deceased Faqir so the entire structure / Islamic memorial is the focal point of their Islamic worship. That is why - even if Islamic followers cannot fit inside - those Muslim followers surround the entire Islamic memorial building: To do their religious rituals - Islamic mahaprayan.
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Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (3)
Photo Tiljala mahaprayan tomb worship
Next, below, we see how the Tiljala shraddhainjali / mahaprayan / annual death day / tomb worship function is essentially an exact replica of the above Islamic tomb worship--mahaprayan ceremony. Just as the Muslim attendees adorn and surround their memorial / tomb on an annual observation, the attendees of the Tiljala mahaprayan / shraddhainjali / mahaprayan / annual death day / tomb worship function do the same. Followers and supporters of the Tiljala mahaprayan programs gather round the mahasamadhi spot in the memorial building - just as those Muslims do.
Under the guise of kiirtan they are drawing people into their death day ceremony.
The Tiljala mahaprayan tomb mahasamadhi is actually a type of idol worship where they pay homage to some physical object just as idol worshipers bow down and pray to their clay or wood idol. The same thing happens at the Tiljala mahaprayan / tomb worship ceremony.
See below how the scene in Tiljala unfolds:
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Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (4)
Margiis' inner spiritual feeling wounded
This is very sad that by declaring Baba as dead and offering the yearly last rites to Baba, those Tiljala mahaprayan organisers do not care about the personal spiritual sentiment of other margii bhaktas. There are hundreds and thousands upon thousands of margiis who think and feel that Baba is with them and that He has not gone away. In their heart they feel He is gracing and helping all the time. They feel that by their dhyana, Guru puja, 2nd lesson, Guru Sakash - always they feel Guru near. So it hurts their sentiment when MPD organisers declare Baba’s departure by doing shraddhainjali and final rituals etc. That mahaprayan ceremony itself means great departure, i.e. gone forever. And that is very hurtful to any true bhakta.
O’ believers of MPD, by your behaviour the spiritual feeling of many margiis is wounded. You are declaring their Ista as dead. Please pay heed and don’t hurt the personal inner sentiment of other margii bhaktas.
And everyone should beware of this fact: the Tiljala MPD organisers are using kiirtan to lure people to this annual death day observance. That is their chief strategy.
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Conclusion
So the root of mahaprayan is very old. It began centuries ago with the Islamic tomb worship programme and in the very recent history that dogmatic tomb worship has been embraced by Tiljala with their copycat invention of their mahaprayan programme.
In Him,
Rabi Ganguli
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (5)
Attending means supporting cause
Here are some key points everyone should know about the mahaprayan / shraddhainjali dogma:
Attending Tiljala dogma means supporting the cause of the annual death day.
Some wrongly justify that, “What is wrong, I am just going to Tiljala for the kiirtana, not for the sake of the mahaprayan program.” Here it should be clear: Going to the annual mahaprayan gathering for the sake of doing kiirtan is a bogus justification. Merely attending that mahaprayan gathering signifies your wholehearted support of that event. The fundamental equation is if anyone is doing anything anywhere and you go to their location and do what they are doing, it means you are supporting their cause. That is the basic formula that can be applied to countless situations.
Let’s look at this from another angle. Who can forget when Baba was in jail and our Ananda Margii brothers and sisters from all over converged on-site to protest the injustices. Margiis sang kiirtan. And participation in those kiirtan rallies demonstrated support for the greater cause.
http://anandamarganewsbulletin.blogspot.com
Later on, after the rally, that same kiirtan would be sung for purely spiritual purposes during dharmacakra etc. Here the point is that doing kiirtan or raising the slogan at a rally means supporting that issue or cause.
Of late, both H and B groups have used kiirtana programs as a strategy to reclaim and recapture various AMPS buildings for their group cause. And those who participate in that kiirtana are their pawns for their groupist agenda. That is what happened in Goddha, Ananda Nagar, Bhopal, and numerous other places where H and B were battling for control of that jagriti etc. Kiitana programs are their main arsenal for capturing those properties from the opposite group. This happened so many times in the past and will happen in the future also as this is their cherished strategy.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days." (6)
References
1. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
2. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
3. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
4. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
5. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
6. Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1, Shráddha Ceremony
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Examples: inhuman religious tortures in recent past
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “You are possibly aware of the fact that there was a time when people used to bother too much about castes. And in this regard, they displayed terrible intolerance. Caste-discrimination was about to strangle humanism. In many cases this happened. People belonging to the so-called lower strata of society were not really considered human beings. In certain spheres they were treated worse than animals. It was not thought that a food item must be discarded – it is not considered so even now – when a mouse, a mole, a fly or mosquito touched it. But what to speak of it being touched by certain so called lower-caste people or their entering the kitchen or their sitting in the kitchen veranda – in certain cases, they were even barred from entering the courtyard of the house. Although it was loudly claimed that everything is the manifestation of Brahma, Sarvaḿ khalvidaḿ Brahma, in reality all kinds of casteism were concealed within the boundaries of religion.” (1)
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “In those days the boomerang of this religious bigotry did not spare even the heads of society. On the contrary, it was Brahmans who did the greatest injury to other Brahmans. The descendents of Krttivas Thakur (his nephew’s line) had to carry a social stigma because Krttivas Thakur had committed the offence of translating the Rámáyańa into Bengali. A high-caste Brahman was downgraded due to leaving his village to settle in another. Thus surnames like Banerjees became Kusháriis, Batabyals, Máscaŕaks; similarly, Chatterjees were downgraded to Káiṋjiilals, Pákŕáshiis; Bhattacharyas became Chakravartis. For a petty offence a person was expelled from his or her caste or expelled from his or her religion. People were forced to renounce their religion or undergo various kinds of persecution under pressure of circumstances. Looking more closely, it would seem that in those days the only job of one class of people was to find fault with others, to ruin people in the name of religion.” (2)
In AMPS also
Note: In the past, innocent people were harassed, expelled, tortured, outcasted, terrorised, and killed by their own religion - for various reasons and under various pretenses. These days unfortunately a similar thing is going on in AMPS. The various factions harass, threaten, beaten, and expelled those who are not their yes-men, i.e. those who do not participate in their dirty dealings.
At the time of DMS, many in our AMPS may be facing this very situation. They may not be allowed to stay in certain places because they are not in a particular group, and they may not be allowed to attend a particular dharmacakra etc. And they may even be subject to threats, attack, expulsion, and worse.
In contrast, obedient supporters of those group leaders are rewarded with higher posts regardless of their low character and sexual misconduct. Such yes-men become purodhas and high post holders etc, while qualified wts, margiis, and lfts are pushed aside, humiliated, threatened, and attacked etc. They face all sorts of problems and difficulties and are even barred from having their daughters married in Ananda Marga.
References
1. Shabda Cayaniká Part 4, Disc: 23
2. Shabda Cayaniká Part 4, Disc: 23
== Section 2: Links ==
Mahaprayan Dogma
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