Baba
How Commentary book missed the point
Namaskar,
As Ananda Margiis, we are so blessed to have come under the shelter of Baba - the Sadguru. One of our main duties as disciples is to spread His divine teachings and maintain their authenticity and integrity. To that end, we are to do pracara and explain His scriptures.
Sadguru Baba has given a wide variety of books of Ananda Marga philosophy. Some are easier to understand than others. For instance, comparatively speaking, the Ananda Vacanamrtam series is simple and easy, whereas Idea & Ideology, Yoga Psychology, and Ananda Sutram are quite difficult. Without a clear understanding of such texts, one should not try to interpret them as they will only confuse and mislead others.
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Appearance of Sadguru in a margii’s life
As an example, let’s take a look at one of Baba's original teachings from Ananda Sutram. In His spiritual treatise, Baba reveals the special secret behind the appearance of Sadguru in the life of a sadhaka in sutra 3-8.
3-8 Muktya'ka'unks'aya' sadgurupra'ptih.
"Purport: When a vehement desire for emancipation wakes up in a person, he attains his sadguru [true spiritual preceptor] on the strength of that desire." (1)
In the world, there are various grades of spiritual seekers. The lowest grade, C-grade, are fake seekers. From the outside, it looks like they want spirituality, but in reality they don’t. Just they are praying to the Lord for money, wealth, and the blessings for more mundane gains like prestige, property, daughter’s marriage etc. So these C-grade seekers also get a guru, but that guru is fake.
The next stage is B-grade seekers. They want help from God to serve, feed, clothe, and shelter the suffering masses and help them in their bad days. But these B-grade seekers do not think they have the requisite strength to accomplish this - so they ask God for help. So on their spiritual journey they get guidance from a guru that guides them about ritualistic practices in order to gain something. Because these seekers are B-grade, so their guru is also B-grade.
Top grade seekers, A-grade seekers, want to realise Parama Purusa. Here the crux of the matter is that even A-grade seekers are not so elevated that by their own qualification they will recognise and find the proper Guru by their own talent. They long for Him but do not know how to reach Him. In their mind, there is a strong yearning for salvation and realising the ultimate truth. Because their longing is purely spiritual in nature that is why Sadguru comes before these A-grade seekers.
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In the above sutra from Ananda Sutram, it is said that when an A-grade seeker has strong spiritual longing then Guru appears before them. But it is not that the Guru appears out of thin air and descends down from the heavens etc. Rather, when an A-grade seeker has a strong desire then the Sadguru will infuse that sadhaka’s mind with inspiration. And, the Sadguru will inspire the mind of an acarya and create the requisite circumstances whereby the sadhaka will naturally meet that acarya of Ananda Marga and get tantrika diiksa. That is how the Sadguru comes.
All in all, the approach may vary from one sadhaka to the next on the basis of time, space, and person, but the story of how any Ananda Margii came onto the path of AM is the story of this above sutra.
Sadguru vs. fake gurus
So in sutra 3-8, Baba is not talking about a pseudo-guru, a dogmatic guru, or a fake guru etc; He is talking about the Sadguru. This sutra is for the Sadguru, and everyone is aware that only Taraka Brahma is the Sadguru.
For instance, if Mr A got Ramakrsna, or Sai Baba, or Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, or Swami Ramananda or Totapuri, or xyz as his guru, then the above sutra is not applicable. Because none of the aforementioned people are Sadguru. Rather they are ordinary or quasi gurus. Millions of followers get dogmatic gurus, but that does not apply to this sutra. So this is a very unique teaching.
Sadguru comes to them only when the aspirant has a deep desire to realise Parama Purusa. Also embedded within this special sutra is the supreme idea that Brahma Himself is the Sadguru - not any human who is bound by maya.
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Ananda Marga ideology says, "What is the Sadguru? The word “sat” means “that which undergoes no change”...“Sat”. Now, the entity by whose grace one comes into contact with sat (sat, the non-changeable entity, the non-changeable stance, the non-changeable nuclear entity around which so many electrons move) – that entity, or rather, that framework through which Parama Purus'a is working or Ta'raka Brahma is functioning, is the Sadguru." (2)
From the above guideline, it is quite clear that Sadguru is that singular Divine Entity, i.e. Parama Purusa Himself - no one else. Taraka Brahma is the Sadguru - not XYZ.
Hence there are two highly significant features to this sutra 3-8: (a) Sadguru comes when the aspirant has the strong longing to attain Him, and (b) Sadguru is Brahma Himself.
In His spiritual treatise, Ananda Sutram, the whole of Ananda Marga ideology is explained, including the appearance of Sadguru. And as we all know, Taraka Brahma is that Sadguru.
This sutra (3-8) is not difficult to understand for any sincere margii. Because their life as well as their coming onto the path of Ananda Marga and taking initiation & accepting Taraka Brahma as the Guru is verily the living representation of this sutra. Their account is this sutra in story form.
Conclusion
Baba’s teachings of Ananda Sutram are a story in sutra form. In particular, sutra (3-8) is the story of how all margiis came into Ananda Marga. By His grace, one develops the internal longing ultimately gets the Sadguru and the path of pure spirituality. The Sadguru guides and helps each sadhaka reach unto the spiritual Goal. If one does not have the requisite internal longing, they will not get the Sadguru.
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Surrendering to Baba - the Sadguru,
Bhavatiita
~ In-depth study ~
One Wt has written a "Commentary Book" (CB), yet instead of properly explaining Baba's divine teachings, the Wt moves in another direction.
Now see what this Didi’s "Commentary Book" (CB) does to this special sutra. In an attempt to explain Baba's sutra 3-8 about the arrival of Sadguru, the "Commentary Book" gives all kinds of examples and stories about so-called gurus like Swami Ramananda, Totapuri, and Ram Mohan Roy's guru. In each of these instances, the "CB" puts forth a "dramatic story" how these humans came to their disciples. This is the way the "CB" attempts to explain sutra 3-8 about the arrival of Sadguru.
In the Commentary Book, Didi writes:
"At the time Swami Rama[nanda] was the greatest teacher in Benares, but since Ramananda was a Hindu and Kabir was a Moslem, Ramananda would not take him as his disciple...[Kabir] fell at Ramananda's feet...and Ramananda had to take him as his disciple."
With regards to the above example from Didiji's book, Swami Ramananda is just a basic type of guru so no one can say that Kabir got the Sadguru.
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Telling how one gets cow dung
In His spiritual treatise, Ananda Sutram, the whole of Ananda Marga ideology is explained, including the appearance of Sadguru. And as we all know, Taraka Brahma is that Sadguru.
Yet that "CB" explains sutra 3-8 by using tales about dogmatic Hindu gurus like Swami Ramananda as proof of how Sadguru comes before the sadhaka - as if such so-called gurus are Taraka Brahma, Mahasambhuti, and Mahakaola, i.e. the real Sadguru.
It is just like preaching about how one gets gold, but then in confusion you end up telling how one gets cow dung. Similarly, so many are getting common, ordinary teachers, but by her explanation of this sutra, Didiji is wrongly justifying that they got the Sadguru.
This sutra (3-8) is not difficult to understand for any sincere margii. Because their life as well as their coming onto the path of Ananda Marga and taking initiation and accepting Taraka Brahma as the Guru is verily the living representation of this sutra. Their account is this sutra in story form.
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The "CB" is making it look like getting the Sadguru is just like getting any ordinary teacher or joining any dogmatic path. But that is like comparing pure gold with mud or dung. The two cannot even be compared. In an attempt to explain sutra 3-8, the "CB" is equating Sadguru with various so-called gurus. This will only misinform and misguide readers.
Who wrote the book
As many may be aware, this so-called Commentary Book (CB) was written by Didi Ananda Mitra. The actual name of her "CB" book is, "The Spiritual Philosophy of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti: A Commentary on Ananda Sutram". The book has been printed twice: 1981 & 1998. Unfortunately, in that 17 year gap between the first and second printings, not a single mistake was repaired.
And now another 28 years have passed and still these same faulty teachings have not been repaired. Needless to say there has been ample opportunity to fix these errors.
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Pramatta - bad from beginning to end
Even though this "Commentary Book" has been used in our WT Training Centres, and in so many other places for years and years, now more and more are now realising that this "Commentary Book" is not what it purports itself to be. Here Baba perfectly describes what happens when someone of lesser calibre attempts to explain His divine teachings.
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "The scriptures should always be interpreted by qualified scholars, competent philosophers, and penetrating thinkers. If one tries to interpret a profound scripture with superficial knowledge, the interpreter appears ridiculous and the audience is confused."
"There are some people who are neither scholars, nor philosophers, nor penetrating thinkers, but merely wander about interpreting scriptures as a means of livelihood. They utterly fail to present the proper matter in the correct perspective before the audience...[and] do more harm than good to the society."
"[They] interpret the scriptures just to exhibit their intellect - to procure for themselves a certificate of erudition. They remain far from the living spirit of the scriptures." (3)
For their welfare
This letter has been written with everyone's welfare in mind. Those sincere seekers looking for a proper guideline about Ananda Sutram will gain the proper understanding of sutra 3-8, and related topics.
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If you are interested in receiving more postings which clearly delineate the defects of Didi Ananda Mitra's Commentary Book, simply email the editors of this network and they will gladly send you some of the many letters on this topic.
References
1. Ananda Sutram, Sutra #3-8
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Sadguruḿ Taḿ Namámi
3. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 14
4. Caryacarya - 1, The Process of Initiation
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Price of poor leadership
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "The behaviour of the respected and elder persons in society is an example and ideal for others; it is followed and imitated by the succeeding generations as well. Today there is catastrophe and misery in human society and there is one reason: the defective leadership of society. People blindly follow even unintelligent leaders. The leaders hypnotize and attract thousands with their tall talks, gestures and other dramatics. Understand that the poverty and misery of any people in any country are the sins of the leaders. True leaders should always be vigilant and think how to work best for human society: they must be ever cautious that under their guidance the people are not led to darkness, death and immorality." (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 31, The Conduct of an Ácárya
== Section: Ananda Vanii ==
A chance to serve the Supreme in the form of living beings
“All human beings are to be served with the same steadiness in all the three strata – physical, mental and spiritual – and you have to render the service by ascribing Náráyańahood to the served. Remember that your service does not oblige the Supreme, rather you are obliged because you have such a chance to serve the Supreme in the form of living beings.” (Ananda Vanii #28)
Note 1: True Ananda Vaniis have a number whereas Fake Ananda Vaniis do not - just as a fake car license plate has no number. By this way, you can easily recognise a Fake Ananda Vanii.
== Section 2: Links ==
Dogma of Mahaprayan - Oct 26
#18: Q & A on mahaprayan
#17: Why alluring non-margiis to campus
#16: Annual Islamic mahaprayan
#15: Bait kiirtana: drawing attendees
#14: Annual program: adopted from Islam
#13: Adding "mahaprayan" to AM books
#12: Personal experience: Baba's omnipresence
#11 Teaching from Acarya Diary
From fearful to fearless
Famous family acarya
Demise of AM Mexico: all properties lost
