Baba
Mechanical kiirtana
Note: Without patience this point will be unclear.
Namaskar,
At a recent satsaunga gathering, when kiirtan finished I came across my old friend Devi. I asked her, “Did you enjoy kiirtana?” She said, “No, it was very difficult and tiring for me today.” I asked what happened.
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New trick ruined Devi’s kiirtana
Devi replied, “All my energy was spent holding the hands fixed at one place. I followed those new suggestions that were announced before kiirtan to keep the hands in namaskar mudra at the anahata cakra. And I did not want to bring down as it would have been terrible. So the entire time in kiirtan I suffered in pain and still I feel sore.”
I said that, “You have been doing kiirtana for years and years. Does this problem happen every time?” She replied, “No, never. This is the first time. It was announced to do like this. And I purchased one book today and there I read the same thing.”
I asked, “Whose book?” And she told, “It was some Dada’s book. And what was written in that book ruined my kiirtan.” She was so sad about it.
Then I told her, “Now you got the lesson. Do not read Dada’s books read only Baba’s books.”
One jinani wrote in his book, “Start with the namaskara gesture... If the arms become tired, again do the namaskara gesture, and keep the hands in the namaskara position at the anahata cakra. (If out of feeling one is prompted to clap the hands, one may do so) Finish kiirtana also by doing namaskara.” (Taraka, 2003 Edn, p. 206-07)
Everyone has their own limitations
In lalita marmika, i.e. when dancing kiirtan, Baba's guideline is that the hands should be above the shoulders. That is the ideal way. However, Baba did not say what to do when one is tired and cannot keep the hands at that height. It is obvious that when one can no longer do the standard, ideal process of dancing kiirtan, then the aspirant should do what they can. Everyone has their own limitations. So there is no need to forcibly guide others about what they should do when they can no longer maintain the ideal method. It depends on the individual. They should try their best to be as close to the perfect posture as possible - but that will vary from person to person. There is no need for someone to issue an edict or back-up protocol. People will do what they can do.
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Jinani is poking his nose
It is just like how the standard procedure for sadhana is to sit in padmasana. If one starts sadhana in padmasana and after sometime it becomes painful, then one may do whatever is necessary to ease the pain. Caryacarya does not prescribe what should be done when a person can no longer maintain the ideal posture. It is not written as it varies from individual to individual.
Tragically, now a similar thing has happened with regards to kiirtan. Baba has told that the ideal position of the hands is above 90 degrees. But one jinani is poking his nose. This jinani has ordered that if the hands get tired then one should hold them at the ajina cakra or anahata cakra and keep them there, and not allow them to come down. But making such an edict creates another karmakand - i.e. the same type of dogmatic ritual that Baba mocks Hindus for doing.
Sadguru Baba notes how certain religions do various postures in their rituals and then those ritualistic postures become the dominant aspect and those religious seekers forget about the main thing - i.e. worshiping the Supreme Entity. And in this instance, when the sadhaka is doing kiirtan and some jinani is ordering them to keep their hands fixed at the anahata or ajina cakras, then they spend their whole energy keeping the hands fixed in place - worried that if they don’t then some terrible thing is going to happen.
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T. added ‘Karmakanda’ to kiirtana process
So Baba has given one simple rule that the hands should be above 90 degrees. And that everyone tries to do. But then Mr. Jinani added seven more rules:
(a) arms should be held high with the palms open
(b) elbows should not go below the shoulders
(c) start with the namaskara gesture
(d) if the arms become tired, again do the namaskara gesture
(e) keep the hands in the namaskara position at the anahata cakra
(f) if out of feeling one is prompted to clap the hands, one may do so
(g) finish kiirtana also by doing namaskara
Baba has given one guideline which is very simple but this jinani made kiirtan parallel to Hindu Karmakand - i.e. dogmatic ritual like Semitic religious dogma which Baba mocked in His teachings. So in any situation when so-called jinanis poke their nose then it becomes sour and ruins the things. It is akin to a rat jumping into a huge pot of curry that was prepared for a grand feast; then the whole thing is ruined. Here a similar thing happened with Mr. Jinani’s set of rituals for kiirtana.
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Conclusion
The purpose of kiirtan is to concentrate the mind on Parama Purusa. If anything comes on the way and disturbs your mental flow then that defeats the purpose. So bhaktas are always very alert not to get bogged down by extraneous do’s and don’ts and external rituals. They keep their mind fully focused on their object of ideation, Parama Purusa Baba. The aim of kiirtan is to concentrate the mind on Ista. If anything distracts you from this endeavour, that defeats the whole purpose of doing kiirtana. So, as far as possible one should keep the hands above 90 degrees when doing kiirtana; thereafter one may keep their hands wherever they like, but the mind should always be fixed on Ista.
In Him,
Paara’gati
Heavy wooden log and sadhana
One day I saw Ratan came to attend akhanda kiirtan at the district headquarters. He made quite a long multi-hour journey. When he reached the jagrti I was surprised to see he was holding a heavy wooden log. Out of curiosity I asked him what he was doing with this. He told me that this log helps him in sadhana. I was wonderstruck how a log could help him in sadhana. I asked him from where he was bringing this. He told he carried it from his village - and that he traveled 5 miles on foot and then took a 2hr bus ride. And he carried this heavy wooden piece all along. With more discussion, I found out that one acarya told Ratan to do this and he took it very, very seriously. Since then wherever Ratan goes he carries a wooden log with him even to Ananda Nagar. After seeing the situation I understood that this is the way dogma starts.
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Baba has given the procedure how to properly sit in padmasana and one acarya made a rule for Ratan to take help from firewood by putting it underneath his knee to relieve pain. Now a lot of Ratan’s energy is invested in carrying this firewood with him wherever he goes. What penance. Similarly, Taraka’s fictitious rule about kiirtan enlisted above harms innocent sadhakas. Their mind is more worried about keeping their hands on anahata cakra than thinking about Parama Purusa Baba. I wish I were wrong.
~ In-depth study ~
Baba’s teachings
The truth is proven again and again: Never read Dada’s books otherwise you will fall in one ditch. If you are fortunate then you will come out only to fall in another ditch - from which you may never escape. That is exactly what has happened here.
Baba has given a simple guideline for doing ideal kiirtan and now one jinani has infused his own set of guidelines to keep the hands at the anahata cakra or ajina cakra. Yet, Sadguru Baba never told to do that. Just He has graciously instructed us that in kiirtan the hands should be at the height of the shoulder or higher. And if a person gets tired or cannot do this then it is up to them to decide what is suitable. One should forget about this edict given by this jinani that one must touch the anahata or ajina cakra. That is a trap given by a misguided intellectual - avoid it at all cost.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “Religions always prescribe various ritualistic observances like lighting lamps in a particular way, holding candles in a specified manner, sitting one way or standing another way, counting beads a certain number of times, etc. Only approved people are supposed to worship particular deities, fixed sacerdotal fees are to be charged...altars are to be built in a particular way, and so on. While following such rituals, the mind is engrossed in religious rites and material objects, so how can it move in an ideational flow to a devotional goal? Those who follow a particular religion are supposed to kneel down and stand up a specific number of times, so naturally they are always counting their movements, consequently their minds cannot be withdrawn from physical movements and external activities.” (1)
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “In psycho-spiritual approach, this angle must be more than 90 degrees. This shows that your hands are now at the mercy of Parama Puruśa. Your hands are in this position [up], not by your psychic power, but because of the mercy of Parama Puruśa your hands are in this position. So, in Lalita Mármika, hand must be more than 90 degrees.” (2)
References
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 21, How to Unite Human Society
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 14, Kiirtana and Dance / The Psychic Order
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stands on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Utility of world government
Prout philosophy states, "With advances in technology, the mastery of human beings over space and time will continue slowly to increase, so the necessity of a world government, also, will be profoundly felt. Gradually the people in one region of the world will have to interact more with the people in various other regions, and in the course of this interaction they will have to try to understand one another better." (1)
Here Baba is teaching how in a gradual and natural course the world government will be established on this earth. And in a mundane way things are already moving in this direction. For example, there are millions of international and global organisations. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of corporations have a global administration. And in many families, their relations are working and living in multiple continents. And that is growing every moment. On a daily basis, tens of millions of people are crossing borders and traveling across the planet for various reasons. By this way individuals, corporations, and NGO’s are already global. And the political level will take place very soon. Not only that there is hardly any country that is not connected with another country. So there is a need. The European Union is an example of uniting various countries together. This is a step in its own way on this issue. And we have already a dysfunctional United Nations organisation and the formation of the world government will be the next step.
Reference
1. Problems of the Day, point #20
== Section 3: Links ==
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