Baba
Import & export of kiirtana
Note: This letter is only for those who have reverence for Sadguru Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji and try to follow His Ananda Marga ideology.
Namaskar,
One of the most prevalent elements of Christian life is to pray for those who are suffering.
If Lucy hears the news that Kate’s aunt was diagnosed with cancer, then Lucy will think that God is unjustly harming Kate’s aunt. So Lucy will say, “Tell your aunt that I am praying for her!” Or if Micheal heard that John got in a car accident, he will think that God is necessarily maliciously harming John. So Michael will say, “Let us all pray for John.”
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
God is enraged so we must pray to Him
The common thread is that they think that God is enraged and unjustly punishing that person. So the only hope is to request and beseech God to have mercy and not unjustly punish that person. After hearing their prayers, God may listen and refrain from abusing and harassing that person. In that way, those religious followers view God as an ordinary mortal who behaves erratically and irrationally, like an imbalanced person. In contrast, if their conception of God was as an all-merciful Entity who does not commit injustices or hanker for praise, then they will not pray to God. Just as a little boy does not pray to his mother for food because that child knows that, “Of course my mother is going to feed me.”
The norm amongst dogmatic Christians is: Whenever they hear any bad news or are told about any calamity, they say, “I will pray for them.” This is the standard for being a “good” Christian. Those devout Christians firmly believe that from afar they can help someone by praying. So if they are sitting in Argentina and their cousin is suffering from an illness in Spain, they think they can help their cousin and alleviate the symptoms by their act of prayer, from several thousand miles away. And not just dogmatic Christians, all of the various religions hold onto this sort of dogma, in one form or another.
But in our Ananda Marga, we know that we cannot export kiirtana or sadana to persons all over the globe. One cannot transfer virtue in this way. Everyone has to do their own spiritual practices. If you yourself are suffering then you may sing kiirtana and be benefitted; and, even those in your immediate surroundings who hear you singing kiirtana will be benefited. But you cannot export that punya (virtue) all over the earth etc.
But the various religions do believe in all sorts of prayer like dealings. For instance, if an infant is suffering from tuberculosis in the villages of India, concerned relatives across the country will pay their Hindu priest a profitable sum of money to recite the so-called monkey god mantra in order to cure the sick baby. Those same dogmatic Hindu priests, for their own economic gain, also claim, “Look, your father just died yet his future is unsure. If you pay me handsomely, I will secure his entry to svarga (heaven) and ensure he has all that he needs to be comfortable - blankets, food etc.” And verily, for financial gain, Catholic priests and Islamic mullahs lay similar claims.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
So the effects of their ritualistic prayer is not limited to this planet, so they believe. The various religions hold that by their prayer and blessings etc they can positively affect those who have left this world.
Swap prayer for kiirtana
Even though Sadguru Baba has logically pointed out the defects of prayer, some entering AMPS from the dogmatic religions carry that prayer dogma with them. Indeed, such religious dogmas are not easy to eradicate from the mind; it needs deep and sustained sadhana. So those born into the various religions drag those defective dogmas into AMPS. And how do they do this? In a very subtle way.
No one in AMPS will openly claim, “Let’s pray for my grandfather who is dead etc.” They know no one will appreciate this. Yet, still they harbour that dogmatic notion of prayer. So here is what they do. They switch out the prayer term “prayer” and substitute it with something else, i.e. something that is well appreciated in AMPS, like kiirtana. So they will say, “Let’s sing kiirtana to alleviate the suffering of my grandfather who has died.” Every so often, this type of thing occurs. And here below is a prime example.
First however, remember that If you yourself are suffering then you may sing kiirtana and be benefitted; and, even those in your immediate surroundings who hear you will be benefited. But you cannot export your kiirtana or sadana to all corners of the globe. One cannot transfer virtue in this way. Everyone has to do their own spiritual practices.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Using kiirtana as a form of prayer
Unfortunately, some have organised various kiirtana programs for different types of causes such as for the victims of the wildfires in XYZ etc. Yet this entire kiirtana program is born out of the dogma of Christian prayer where they pray for someone in some far away place etc. The organisers of the XYZ wildfire kiirtana wrote:
“Margiis and Acaryas in the XYZ unit are organizing a global kiirtan...for those plants, animals and humans affected by the XYZ fires.”
Yet, margiis singing around the globe have no such way to help out those harmed by the XYZ wildfires. They can send money and supplies from the various sectors to bring relief. But they cannot do kiirtana or sadhana for them. That does not work. If you yourself are suffering then you may sing kiirtana and be benefitted, and even those in the immediate surroundings who can hear you will be benefited. But you cannot export your kiirtana or sadhana to all corners of the globe. One cannot transfer virtue in this way. Everyone has to do their own spiritual practices.
Yet here the organisers are stating that, “a global kiirtan...for those plants, animals and humans affected by the XYZ fires.” This is entirely wrong as people singing kiirtana in GT sector, Hong Kong sector, or any other neighboring or faraway place have no scope to help. This is just a rebranding of Christian prayer dogma. So we should fully condemn it.
In Him,
Jagadiish
(Jared Nielson)
Selling puja entering AMPS
This entire dogma started long back as the priests wanted to gain economic might by taking advantage of the general public. So there is a long history of selling virtue etc. And nowadays, the wealthy in India do not have time to do puja so they pay priests to come to their house to do puja for them. Sadly, our Baba Nam Kevalam kiirtana is growing fast in this direction. Some rich margiis may have already employed someone to do their spiritual practices (kiirtana, sadhana etc) for them. Openly those margiis may not admit it, but they have surely started. Certain Wt Dadas must be profiting in this manner.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note: Some are organising various types of kiirtana programs such as “for those plants, animals and humans affected by the XYZ fires.” However, such a kiirtana program should not be convened as it is not in line with Sadguru Baba’s teachings.
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
In my dry heart
"Ámár e kat́hin hiyáy, ásabe tumi ki ná jáni ná..." (Prabhat Samgiita #3378)
Purport:
O’ my Parama Purusa, will You ever come in my dry heart, I do not know. You are mine. By Your blessing, I am calling Your divine Self again and again - day and night. I want Your close proximity. Whether or not You will come to my parched, aspiritual mind, I do not know. But if, by mistake, or by any means You come in my soul, then You will not lose anything; Your prestige will not be ruined. Now due to my low bhakti, I can't do sadhana properly.
O’ Cosmic Entity, Baba by Your mercy I have decorated Your supreme seat with countless lamps and a display of light. By Your krpa’, with all my feeling, I go on singing Your song non-stop, continuously. I have composed those melodies in Your ideation, in Your tune, in Your language. Whether You come and take Your seat in the core of my being I have no idea.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, in my mind, I have so many hopes and aspirations - several desires and so much love. Among these many wants, I have no idea if You will satisfy some of them; I do not know. Only I request You to please come and sit on my Guru cakra forever...
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"Ámár e kat́hin hiyáy, ásabe tumi ki ná jáni ná..." (Prabhat Samgiita #3378)
Purport:
O’ my Parama Purusa, will You ever come in my dry heart, I do not know. You are mine. By Your blessing, I am calling Your divine Self again and again - day and night. I want Your close proximity. Whether or not You will come to my parched, aspiritual mind, I do not know. But if, by mistake, or by any means You come in my soul, then You will not lose anything; Your prestige will not be ruined. Now due to my low bhakti, I can't do sadhana properly.
O’ Cosmic Entity, Baba by Your mercy I have decorated Your supreme seat with countless lamps and a display of light. By Your krpa’, with all my feeling, I go on singing Your song non-stop, continuously. I have composed those melodies in Your ideation, in Your tune, in Your language. Whether You come and take Your seat in the core of my being I have no idea.
O’ Parama Purusa Baba, in my mind, I have so many hopes and aspirations - several desires and so much love. Among these many wants, I have no idea if You will satisfy some of them; I do not know. Only I request You to please come and sit on my Guru cakra forever...
== Section 3: Links ==
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