Ananda Marga Universal Forum: Being civilised + 4 more

Saturday, April 6, 2024

Being civilised + 4 more

Baba

Being civilised

Namaskar,

In society and from place to place people conduct themselves in different ways. Some of these actions are deemed as "civilised", whereas other actions are looked upon as "uncivilised”. In addition, there are many who consider themselves to be quite civilised, when in fact they routinely engage in uncivilised behaviours.

So we should examine what it means to be civilised, as well as understand that each particular case should be looked upon independently. We should refrain from making sweeping generalisations.
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Ananda Marga definition of civilised

According to Ananda Marga philosophy, a person is civilised if their action and overall conduct is supported by logic, reasoning, and rationality.

Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "We may call those human acts and behaviour civilized that give evidence of this discriminative judgement, in a great measure." (1)

Here below Baba furthermore describes what it means to be civilised.

Ananda Marga philosophy states, "I would say, the greater the support of judgement in action and behaviour, the better shall be the expression and development of civilization." (2)

So those actions supported by intellect and a keen sense of discrimination (viveka) are civilised.
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Tossing trash in the street

Let’s take a common example. If instead of attending to their trash in a responsible manner, someone is taking garbage away from their house and dumping it on the road, then that action is uncivilised. In other realms of life that person might be civilised, but he is uncivilised on this point of trash disposal if he us dropping it on the public road where it will become a hazard. So that action is uncivilized because it is devoid of logic and reasoning. If an entire community adopts this method of throwing trash in the street then we can say that the entire community is uncivilised on this specific point.

Here again we should remind ourselves of Baba's teaching about what it means to act in a civilised manner.

Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "I would say, the greater the support of judgement in action and behaviour, the better shall be the expression and development of civilization." (3)

So when any person tosses their trash on the street in a thoughtless manner that action is deemed as uncivilised.
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Economics is not operative factor

Similarly, if a person is passing stool on the road because they are too lazy or apathetic to adhere to a more conscientious approach, then that person is uncivilised. The civilised approach is to dig a small hole in an isolated, forested place and then cover it up accordingly. So civilisation - or being civilised - is not a function of economics, but a matter of conscious and considerate action.

For instance, if a moneyed person has a modern bathroom with a flush toilet and marble tiles, but if after defecation or urination they only use toilet paper (blotting paper) and do not use water to clean themselves, then the person is uncivilised - with regards to that particular action. Because their approach to health and hygiene is of a very low standard. Only using paper will not clean the affected area. So it is an uncivilised approach. Whereas, a person who urinates or defecates in the forest and covers it properly and washes his front and backside with water thoroughly is quite civilised. Thus economics is not the operative factor in determining who is civilized.

Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "I would say, the greater the support of judgement in action and behaviour, the better shall be the expression and development of civilization." (4)

The overall principle is that those actions supported by logic, reasoning, and rationality are civilised. To go against these tenets is to indulge in uncivilised dealings.
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Why meat-eaters are uncivilised

Then there are some people who do not want anyone to harm them. If they are punched, cut, or knifed by anyone they will be very upset and furious. And they certainly do not want anyone to kill them. Yet these very same people are quite comfortable killing animals in order to eat them. Such persons have access to plenty of sentient food and they are not about to die of starvation, even then they insist on butchering and ingesting animals. On this point, that person is uncivilised. Because they fail to use their intellect and sense of compassion to understand that just as they themselves do not want to be harmed or killed, similarly those poor defenseless animals do not wish to be harmed or killed. That is why this person is uncivilised - at least on this particular point of the senseless killing and eating of animals.

Then there are some who resort to illegal drugs and banned substances or use alcohol in order to feel "happy" etc, but this approach is not at all supported by rationality and logic. To find happiness the mind must be in a balanced state, yet drugs and alcohol put the mind in a depraved state where one can never find happiness or contentment - rather that person will act like an addicted fiend. That is why we say that on the point of drugs and alcohol, this person is uncivilised. If they use their innate sense of logic and reasoning, they can easily understand that alcohol and drugs are harmful. Since they fail to act in the proper manner we can say that their action is uncivilised.
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Ananda Marga philosophy states, "We may call those human acts and behaviour civilized that give evidence of this discriminative judgement, in a great measure." (5)

Conclusion

Here I wish to close with these thoughts:

(a) There is an existing stereotype that the western, materialistic nations are deemed as civilised, whereas certain so-called developing nations in the east as well as in the southern hemisphere are not civilised. This is an entirely wrong analysis, and in Ananda Marga we do not subscribe to such generalisations. As we know being civilised cannot be bought, sold, or traded; being civilised means acting in a way that is supported by logic, reasoning, and rationality. For that one need not live in a particular place or own any particular object. Only one must act with a developed sense of viveka (rational discrimination).

(b) So this point of civilisation is related with conduct and to be evaluated on a case by case basis. A person may be civilised in one sphere but uncivilised in another. Similarly, we cannot say that any particular country is 100% civilised and that another country is 100% uncivilised. Not every person in every country is cent-per-cent the same. There are variations between individuals as well as a range of dynamics within a particular individual. That is why we evaluate who is civilised on a case by case, action by action basis. At best we can say, if there is a prevailing trend, that many or most are inclined in a particular way. But never can we wholly declare any specific place or land as perfectly civilised or uncivilised, always. Rather we must look at each case, each incident, independently.
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Essence

On the basis of the above Baba's teaching, we should analyse the standard of the current AMPS leaders-- as to whether they are civilised or uncivilised. Everybody knows that these days Rudrananda and B group leaders select eccentric, loose character, half-witted, "wild sub-humans" for high posts. The case is the same for many key wt leaders, especially those in Centre. According to Baba's teaching, the leaders should be high in moral character, and ideal human beings. But they select just the opposite. So by the above parameters, their entire team is a group of uncivilised cowards, occupying the key posts of AMPS. We cannot spare PP dada as, although he is a stooge, but he approves everything. So in the list of uncivilized leaders, his name should come first. This analysis is based on Baba's below teachings:

Ananda Marga philosophy states, "We may call those human acts and behaviour civilized that give evidence of this discriminative judgement, in a great measure." (6)

In Him,
Hari

~ In-depth study ~

Uncivilised doctor & weeping patient

Here below Baba furthermore describes what it means to be civilised.

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "I would say, the greater the support of judgement in action and behaviour, the better shall be the expression and development of civilization." (7)

Ananda Marga philosophy teaches us, "Once I heard about a doctor, standing by the bed of a poor, distressed patient, who said in an authoritarian way, “You must pay my fees at once. I won’t listen to any excuses.” A poor relative of the patient left the house in despair, borrowed money by giving an IOU, and paid the doctor’s bill. I doubt whether a country can be considered civilized if the strictest reform measures are not taken against such human demons."
"I once saw with my own eyes a well-educated doctor snatch a bottle of medicine from the hand of a female patient who had offered twelve instead of fourteen annas for the medicine, saying, “Must I wait till you bring me the two annas from your house? When I was studying in medical college, would the college authorities have allowed me to continue studying had I paid my monthly fees in arrears?” As she was an uneducated rural woman, she could not fully understand what he was saying. But with that humiliating rejection, she had to return home weeping without the bottle of medicine. Although this incident took place a long time ago, it remains indelibly etched on my mind." (8)

References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
2. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
3. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
4. A Few Problems Solved - 6 Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
5. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
6. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
7. A Few Problems Solved - 6, Civilization, Science and Spiritual Progress
8. Human Society - 1, Various Occupations

* * *

The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.

* * *

== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==

Life is just like an inn

"Mor ghum ghore tumi ese anáhúta, jágiye dile…" (Prabhat Samgiita #1976)

Purport:

Parama Purusa, You came to me without any invitation and awakened me from my deep slumber. Baba, You told me many things and reminded me that today there are many works to do. My Supreme Guide, You warned me to first finish the work and then sleep, that my time is passing in vain, and that I have come here for a very short while. Baba, You also explained to me that the length of the day is very limited; everything is fixed - each and every minute is measured. Human life is fleeting. The hours that pass do not turn back; they vanish behind the scene. You conveyed to me so many exceptional teachings.

Parama Purusa, Baba, You stirred me from countless dogmas and guided me that, “Your journey is within the boundary of time, space and person; your movement is bound by the relative factors. Under the workings of a certain system you have been blessed with human life and it has to move on. Within a short period many allotted duties need to be done.” Now I understand that life is threaded like a garland and proceeds in a certain fixed direction according to the flow of saincara and pratisaincara. Parama Purusa, You taught me that this life is just like an inn which is just for taking a little rest on the path.

O’ human being, do not forget this eternal truth that you have not come on this earth to remain here permanently. Rather this world is like a transit station. Ultimately one has to move on towards the Goal. So do not waste a moment in lethargy and drowsiness by following the wrong beliefs and irrational dictates, thereby remaining oblivious of the Goal. There are a small number of moments that you have in your hand.

Baba, You came in my life; I was in a deep stupor under the spell of ignorance and avidya maya. You have made me rise and shown me the proper path - what to do and how to move. It is Your grace; it is Your grace…

== Section: Important Teaching ==

Way to overcome decay & mortality

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Numerous rich and beautiful cities of the historic past are now buried under the earth. Many splendid palaces and mansions, many churches, temples, mosques and synagogues, and many pyramids have been reduced to rubble. With the constant change in the flow of time, how many major changes have occurred in the universe? Similarly, with the change in time and space, people also change. A small two year old child becomes a smart and active twenty-five year old youth. And the same energetic youth becomes an infirm, inactive old person in due course. Thus, nothing in this universe is permanent. Many gigantic animals of the past have become totally extinct from the surface of the earth. Royal pomp and opulence, the pride of power, the vast knowledge of mighty scholars have become things of the past, thrown into the dustbin of history. Many objects emerged in the past, remained on earth for a short time, and then disappeared according to the inexorable law of nature."

"The only eternal truth is Parama Purus'a. He is Ana'di, beginningless, endless, all-pervasive; an entity beyond the scope of time, place and person. He is the only eternal, undecaying, imperishable, immutable entity. He is the Supreme Source from which the inanimate, plant and animal worlds have emerged. He is the starting point and the culminating point of everything. Hence, wise people should utilise their physical, psychic and spiritual power to realise that supreme omnitelepathic entity, to become one with Him." (1)

Note: Please read Baba's above teaching again carefully. It explains everything.

Reference
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 18, Prápta Vákya and Ápta Vákya

== Section: Important Teaching ==

Islamic veil: inhumane and bestial

Ananda Marga philosophy states, “Women covering their faces with burkas – is this rational? You know burkas have but tiny holes to see through, and women have to walk along the path peeping through these holes. This is inhuman and bestial. No civilized society, civilized country or civilized person should accept this kind of decree. These are naked dogmas.” (1)

IN INDIA: Shariat Law and the Degradation of Muslim Women

Courtesy Ankur Betageri

It is extremely unfortunate that personal laws have been passed in India on the pretext of retaining the diversity and uniqueness of religious practices. This has allowed Muslims to follow, in certain cases, the primitive shariat law, the most important fallout of which is the social degradation of Muslim women. Shariat law follows the percepts laid out in the Qur’an and the Sunnah and also codifies certain practices – like women covering their body with the burqa – which are said to be part of the Islamic tradition. Since the Qur’an and Sunnah do not consider woman the equal of man, shariat law’s treatment of women is often extremely harsh and unfair. That women are stoned to death and accused of adultery when they are actually victims of rape, unable to produce four witnesses required by the law, is widely known but these deadly laws are only practiced in Islamic countries like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia where shariat is the state law. In India, shariat is practiced and is legally binding only in matters relating to marriage, divorce and sexual relationships, but this limited use of shariat is enough to put the Muslim woman in a position of extreme disadvantage and helplessness, forcing her to suffer silently, and without protest, the injustices committed against her by men. There are innumerable cases of domestic rape, for example, routinely committed by the relatives of the woman’s husband, which are not reported, as reporting them successfully under shariat law would require the victim to produce four witnesses. There are many issues such as these which make the life of an Indian Muslim woman in a Muslim household one vulnerable to brutal violations of human rights and one fated to silent suffering. This treatment of the Muslim woman in the 21st century, which can only be described as barbaric, is having a lot of negative repercussions on the rest of the Indian society. It is undeniable that it is having a retrograde influence on the status of women in the still very much backward and patriarchal Indian society.

It is therefore important to stand by the Muslim man and the Muslim woman oppressed by, and oppressed because of, Islam. There is indeed something sick about the politically correct stand of not speaking against the oppressive influence of Islam and its horrendous treatment of women. This conspiracy of silence must end. Shariat law in the form of Muslim Personal Law which encourages and validates polygamy, triple-talakh, sexual oppression and the deliberate cretinazation of the Muslim woman must be challenged and opposed.

See below women in Islamic veil

See above women in Islamic veil

All the atrocities committed in the name of Islam are, in fact, a direct result of adhering strictly to the teachings of the Qur’an

So it is extremely important to reduce the influence of Islam on modern life: it is in the interest of Muslims, and in the interest of the rest of the humanity. I was made to believe by the ‘secular’ media that the source of Islamic terror was a certain extreme interpretation of Islam (as exemplified in extremist-militant manifestoes like The Absent Obligation) but after reading the Qur’an and excerpts from the life of Prophet Muhammad, I am convinced that all the atrocities committed in the name of Islam are, in fact, a direct result of adhering strictly to the teachings of Qur’an and following the life of Prophet Muhammad. Instead of expressing outrage at this statement, which has unfortunately become the preferred, and accepted, mode of response to any criticism of Islam, one would do well to verify the veracity of this claim by reading the Qur’an and the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Is it okay to give a man the right to discard his wife by uttering the word talakh (divorce) three times?

I think the time has come when we non-Muslims asked ourselves what or who we stand with: Islam or Muslims? Islam has no regard for life, it asks Muslims to kill or be killed, for the sake of spreading Islam. Muslims are human beings like us who have been born to Muslim parents, some of whom, indoctrinated with Islamist ideology, have become fanatical Islamists. I don’t think we can continue to close our eyes to the systematic and deliberate degradation of the life of the Indian Muslim woman. Let us ask ourselves: Is it ethical to support a legal system which allows a man to humiliate and spiritually destroy his wife by marrying another woman? Is it okay to give a man the right to discard his wife like a piece of garment by uttering the word talakh (divorce) three times? Is it alright to put the onus of proving rape on the victim and ask her to produce four witnesses or be persecuted for the crime of adultery? Is it okay for a Muslim woman in the 21st century to be told that paradise lies at the foot of her husband? Is it alright to brainwash Muslim women to think that they are mentally unfit to take care of themselves and their children? Is it alright to impose religious injunctions to prevent Muslim women from dressing, moving about and living in a way they choose? Is it okay for Muslim clerics to impose fatwas preventing school girls from studying, singing and making music because they pose a ‘threat to moral order’?

Note: The supreme court of India outlawed the three talakh divorce system. But most of the Muslims of India are illiterate, live in remote areas, and follow the mullahs / clerics so this law is not enforced. That is why this problem still exists. It is similar to underage marriage which is very common in village areas even though underage marriage was outlawed almost 100 years ago.

Injustices committed against the Muslim woman in the name of religion

In short, is it alright to allow injustice in the name of religion? If not, we must act. The primitive shariat law imposed as Muslim Personal Law in India must be scrapped and a uniform civil code must be passed. Muslims in India are Indian citizens living in the modern world, we cannot have them follow a 1400-year-old law code, and pretend that everything would be okay after that. As a secular country India must protect the interests of Muslim women and treat all its citizens equally regardless of their religious affiliation and it is only by passing the uniform civil code that such an equal treatment can be ensured.

People in India have always been divided on the uniform civil code but I hope the Indian citizen of today recognizes the right of the Muslim woman to live a life of dignity over the right of a religion to preserve an oppressive and outmoded way of life. I hope everybody speaks out and works towards putting to an end the injustices committed against the Muslim woman in the name of religion. The passing of a uniform civil code would be the first and most decisive step in that direction. Courtesy of Ankur Betageri.

Reference.

1. AV-15, Buddha o Aśt́áunga Márga

== Section: Hindi Teaching ==

मिठाई खा लो

“तत्वभावात्‌ |” उनके सम्बन्ध में सोचो कि—परमपुरुष हमारे हैं | हम परमपुरुष के हैं | परमपुरुष हमारे साथ हैं | हम किसी भी हालत में अकेले नहीं हैं | परमपुरुष हमारे सुख में भी हैं, दुःख में भी हैं | हम दुःख में उनका नाम लिए और सुख में नहीं लिए, सो नहीं कर सकते हैं | दुःख में भी नाम लेंगे, अवश्य लेंगे; सुख में भी लेंगे | दुःख में भी उनसे मदद माँगेंगे, सुख में भी माँगेंगे | हाँ | दुःख में भी बोलेंगे—”परमात्मा ! मैं दुःख में हूँ, तुम आ जाओ, दुःख को दूर कर दो |” सुख में भी बोलेंगे—”परमात्मा ! मैं सुख में हूँ, तुम आ जाओ, मेरे साथ बैठकर मिठाई खा लो |”
[मार्गी लोग—”बाबा, बाबा, बाबा !”]
क्या जी ? ऐसा करते हो, नहीं करते हो ? दुःख में बुलाते हो और सुख में बुलाते नहीं हो | न्योता नहीं देते हो |
[हँसी]
सुख में दावत देते हो परमात्मा को ? नहीं देते हो | दुःख में दावत देते हो | हाँ | सुख में, दुःख में, दोनों अवस्था में बुलाओ |
तो, यही है “तत्वभावात्‌ |” तत् माने है—”that, वह |” अर्थात्‌ उनकी भावना | हमेशा उनकी भावना लो | हाथ-पैर से काम करो और मन में उनकी भावना लो | जो हम लोगों का गुरुमन्त्र, जिसे हम लोग कहते हैं |”

[यह प्रवचन-अंश, बाबा के कैसेट से सीधे लिखा गया है । बाबा का यह असली प्रवचन, अमृतोपदेश है। आनन्दमार्ग हिन्दी पुस्तकों में छपे प्रवचन तो नक़ली प्रवचन हैं, असली नहीं हैं -- बंगालीकरण (बँगलाइजेसन) के तहत उनकी बर्बादी की गई] Reference
1. विश्व का मूल कारण क्या है ? S16-08 (H)DMC 29 Jan 1984 Gorakhpur

== Section 3: Links ==

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