Baba
Namaskar,
As everyone understands, the shráddha ceremony in Ananda Marga is for the psychic satisfaction of the surviving family members and close friends etc.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The departed soul does not get any advantage from the shráddha ceremony [memorial ceremony]. It is only meant for the psychic satisfaction of the person performing it." (1)
Why pouring water
Specifically, towards the end of the ceremony (after the omn madhu shloka is recited for the second time), Baba gives this directive:
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The ácárya/ás, and following them each person present, will sip a few drops of water from their palms taken from the same pot brought by the performer of the shráddha ceremony. The performer of the shráddha will be the last to take a sip." (2)
Some were wondering about the reasoning and meaning behind this practice.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
Engenders feelings of unity
Question: What is the overall significance of sipping water from the hand?
Answer: This process is done to cultivate feelings of unity and inclusion whereby all who attend the ceremony participate. Whereas in the various religions those attending a death ceremony (funeral etc) are just spectators; the priest does everything and the people watch. But in our Ananda Marga, all are participants - everyone recites the mantras and everyone sips water from the hand. This type of collective approach engenders feelings of closeness and unity.
Furthermore, engaging in this way helps divert the mind of those in mourning - thereby easing their pain and suffering. Since the deceased person does not get any gain or loss with this ritual, it is done exclusively for the psychic satisfaction of those surviving members. And this will help them divert their mind away from their suffering and loss and bring everyone together - as a supportive community. It also brings closure to the ceremony.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
The ceremony should be accessible to all
Question: Why is water poured into the hand and not into tiny cups?
Answer: Ananda Marga is dharma and it is for all - literate and illiterate, poor and rich, educated and uneducated, those living in North Pole and dessert, everyone and everywhere. That is why the rules are very basic, simple and easy. That is why Baba did not make the rule that everyone should have a spoon, or cup, or glass. Those types of utensils are not accessible for very poor persons and refugees etc. So water is poured into the hand to make the ceremony very common and easily practiced by all.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
Namaskar,
in Him,
Virat
References
1. Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony
2. Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony
The section below demarcated by asterisks is an entirely different topic,
You discipline me for my welfare
Intro: In this song, Sadguru loves and punishes also to exhaust the bhakta’s samskaras and make them better.
“Tumi ámár kata ápana, bhuleo kabhu bhávini…” (Prabhat Samgiita #4528)
Purport:
Baba, even by mistake I never ever thought before that You are so close, You are mine. I did not know that like my shadow You were always remaining attached with me, Wherever I go, You remain with me. In the past, I did not realise this eternal truth.
Mu Supreme Entity, You discipline those who You feel are very close to You for their welfare. In my day to day life and in my happiness and sorrow, You are always with me as my very close and intimate own one. In the pitch dark night, You are the jewel that provides the pathway and effulgence that makes my path and destination clear. But even then I do not look towards You. Your degree of discipline does not exceed the quantum of love. You love so much and discipline just a little. Parama Purusa, You are very kind and merciful...
"Whether one be a philanthropist or a star athlete, one desires to see what is written about them in the newspaper. This means that in trying to do some good work, what are they really doing? They are falling under the sway of one propensity, the propensity of greed. Now if this act is encouraged by the society, that is, if the newspapers dedicate a lot of attention to such news, or if people in general say, “Sir, whatever you are doing is unparalleled in history. Sir, we are not eulogizing you. We are simply telling the truth” – if they praise such a person in this way and then try to extract some money from them (there are such intelligent people around) – then what does it amount to indirectly? The propensity of greed increases. Which animal is the greediest among the animals with which we are all very familiar? It does not like to give up greed in spite of ill treatment and humiliations. It is the cat. Yes, after moving a few steps ahead, the cat forgets that it was beaten. So, that particular person is reborn as a cat after death, because that body affords an opportunity for the satiation of their greed. When the housewife looks around inattentively, the cat sneaks into the kitchen through the small opening in order to reach the milk or fish in the kitchen. So in order to exhaust the samskáras one needs an appropriate body. Some people obtain a new body immediately after death and others obtain it later. But one has to obtain it somehow."
"One who is doing philanthropic work today, tries to find out tomorrow whether or not their name appeared in the newspaper. They have no desire to read the other news. They read the news that relates to themselves twenty times but do not go through the other news with much enthusiasm. If someone asks they might say that today there was only one important piece of news, nothing else. That is how a person comes under the sway of a propensity and remains subject to the cycle of birth and rebirth." (Ananda Vacanamrtam – 10, 22 April ’79)
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Why water in shráddha / death
ceremony
Namaskar,
As everyone understands, the shráddha ceremony in Ananda Marga is for the psychic satisfaction of the surviving family members and close friends etc.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The departed soul does not get any advantage from the shráddha ceremony [memorial ceremony]. It is only meant for the psychic satisfaction of the person performing it." (1)
Why pouring water
Specifically, towards the end of the ceremony (after the omn madhu shloka is recited for the second time), Baba gives this directive:
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The ácárya/ás, and following them each person present, will sip a few drops of water from their palms taken from the same pot brought by the performer of the shráddha ceremony. The performer of the shráddha will be the last to take a sip." (2)
Some were wondering about the reasoning and meaning behind this practice.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
Engenders feelings of unity
Question: What is the overall significance of sipping water from the hand?
Answer: This process is done to cultivate feelings of unity and inclusion whereby all who attend the ceremony participate. Whereas in the various religions those attending a death ceremony (funeral etc) are just spectators; the priest does everything and the people watch. But in our Ananda Marga, all are participants - everyone recites the mantras and everyone sips water from the hand. This type of collective approach engenders feelings of closeness and unity.
Furthermore, engaging in this way helps divert the mind of those in mourning - thereby easing their pain and suffering. Since the deceased person does not get any gain or loss with this ritual, it is done exclusively for the psychic satisfaction of those surviving members. And this will help them divert their mind away from their suffering and loss and bring everyone together - as a supportive community. It also brings closure to the ceremony.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
The ceremony should be accessible to all
Question: Why is water poured into the hand and not into tiny cups?
Answer: Ananda Marga is dharma and it is for all - literate and illiterate, poor and rich, educated and uneducated, those living in North Pole and dessert, everyone and everywhere. That is why the rules are very basic, simple and easy. That is why Baba did not make the rule that everyone should have a spoon, or cup, or glass. Those types of utensils are not accessible for very poor persons and refugees etc. So water is poured into the hand to make the ceremony very common and easily practiced by all.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com
Namaskar,
in Him,
Virat
References
1. Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony
2. Caryacarya-1, Shraddha Ceremony
The section below demarcated by asterisks is an entirely different topic,
completely unrelated to the above material. It stands on its own as a point of interest.
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
You discipline me for my welfare
Intro: In this song, Sadguru loves and punishes also to exhaust the bhakta’s samskaras and make them better.
“Tumi ámár kata ápana, bhuleo kabhu bhávini…” (Prabhat Samgiita #4528)
Purport:
Baba, even by mistake I never ever thought before that You are so close, You are mine. I did not know that like my shadow You were always remaining attached with me, Wherever I go, You remain with me. In the past, I did not realise this eternal truth.
Mu Supreme Entity, You discipline those who You feel are very close to You for their welfare. In my day to day life and in my happiness and sorrow, You are always with me as my very close and intimate own one. In the pitch dark night, You are the jewel that provides the pathway and effulgence that makes my path and destination clear. But even then I do not look towards You. Your degree of discipline does not exceed the quantum of love. You love so much and discipline just a little. Parama Purusa, You are very kind and merciful...
== Section: Important Teaching ==
*************************************************************
How Human Beings Are Reborn As Cats
"Whether one be a philanthropist or a star athlete, one desires to see what is written about them in the newspaper. This means that in trying to do some good work, what are they really doing? They are falling under the sway of one propensity, the propensity of greed. Now if this act is encouraged by the society, that is, if the newspapers dedicate a lot of attention to such news, or if people in general say, “Sir, whatever you are doing is unparalleled in history. Sir, we are not eulogizing you. We are simply telling the truth” – if they praise such a person in this way and then try to extract some money from them (there are such intelligent people around) – then what does it amount to indirectly? The propensity of greed increases. Which animal is the greediest among the animals with which we are all very familiar? It does not like to give up greed in spite of ill treatment and humiliations. It is the cat. Yes, after moving a few steps ahead, the cat forgets that it was beaten. So, that particular person is reborn as a cat after death, because that body affords an opportunity for the satiation of their greed. When the housewife looks around inattentively, the cat sneaks into the kitchen through the small opening in order to reach the milk or fish in the kitchen. So in order to exhaust the samskáras one needs an appropriate body. Some people obtain a new body immediately after death and others obtain it later. But one has to obtain it somehow."
"One who is doing philanthropic work today, tries to find out tomorrow whether or not their name appeared in the newspaper. They have no desire to read the other news. They read the news that relates to themselves twenty times but do not go through the other news with much enthusiasm. If someone asks they might say that today there was only one important piece of news, nothing else. That is how a person comes under the sway of a propensity and remains subject to the cycle of birth and rebirth." (Ananda Vacanamrtam – 10, 22 April ’79)
*************************************************************
== Section
4: Links ==
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