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Monday, February 5, 2024

Children in AM + 5 more

Baba
Children in AM

Namaskar,

Baba wants margiis to have many children and if you do not have more than 4 - 5 children (both genders) you will not be considered for Family Ac training. Those margiis of good standard and strict in 16 Points should have many children as that way society will grow. And on the other side, thieves, swindlers, and degraded and sick people should not have children. Those with only 1 - 2 children of the same gender will not get family acaryaships. And in His 1990 discourse, Baba told that Parama Purusa is against family planning because many souls are waiting to get a human body to get moksa. With this in mind, kindly read the following.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/


Should our children attend spiritual gatherings

One time when we were returning from DMS on a crowded train, the railcar was filled with people - both margiis and non-margiis. Amongst the margiis, some had traveled to DMS as a single attendee, whereas others traveled to DMS with their entire family, including their kids. And, on the train, those kids were quarreling and playing with the other children.

Then one new margii became quite agitated by their behaviour and passed some offensive remark that these small kids are very negative - they pollute the sanctity and turn the whole peaceful environment into chaos. Then he went so far as to accuse that: "Why do you bring your children to these spiritual gatherings."

Then other persons jumped in and replied that, “In our Ananda Marga the system is that the whole family is welcome to attend all functions.” The new margii replied that, "No, the kids are just one disturbance or nuisance. Let them grow more before they attend our functions because now they are so small and do not understand anything. Just they are involved in their own quarreling. They have no sense about what should be done and what should not be done. Those who are a bit older and well-behaved should come. But these other younger kids just create problems for everyone."

A few margiis then together tried to convince him that our approach is different. Kids are innocent and just it is their nature to sometimes quarrel with one another. So back and forth the discussion went and ultimately they could not reach a common understanding. And in due course the situation subsided. But since that occasion it was in my mind that this is an important issue.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/


Baba's DMC gatherings: children are welcomed & encouraged


Here is one reminder that we have seen even with Baba's presence during DMC. At such an important event and gathering as DMC, mothers with infants and / or newborns were always invited and encouraged to participate. Often the babies were crying and Baba was just moving ahead with His program and continuing with His discourse. And if the crying became very loud, then politely it was suggested to take them temporarily outside. That is all. In our Ananda Marga society the cry of the baby is something very beautiful. This brings one colour and gives the feeling that in our Ananda Marga society everyone is the member: From infants to senior citizens. Everyone has the right to participate in a spiritual gatherings. And young kids start learning our Ananda Marga way of life while still in their infancy.


AM gatherings are for infants to elderly


Sincere margiis know well that in our Ananda Marga everyone is considered as a family member whether they be a new-born babe or a 150-year-old person. All belong to our family and have equal rights; we give importance to one and all.

Taken altogether, our Ananda Marga family is not only youths, or only elderly persons, but a grand mix of people from young to old. And that makes it dynamic and engaging. It is similar to how a garden is not very colourful if there is just one type of flower. Whereas when there are various types - like in a bouquet - that brings more charm. Same is the case with our human family - part of the beauty is the diverse mixture of people, including young and old.

So on this very point here are some of Guru's guidelines how we should be mindful of children:

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Society must ensure that proper care is taken of human babies who are totally dependent on the care and protection of their parents for their existence. These helpless children can only convey their pain and discomfort through tears. To raise children from infancy to maturity is an immensely important task." (1)

Sadguru guides that in viewing the society, the requisite factor is a magnanimous mind which is full of kind feelings and sweet expressions for those innocent children. The children are under our care and protection. Those who do not have that vast mind full of love cannot view one and all as members of our neo-humanistic family. Because if a person himself is narrow-minded or frustrated, then in their outlook that frustration will appear.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/

The sense is that the kind heart of a balanced person will never cast any negative, sarcastic remarks toward such tender age innocent babies / kids.


Conclusion

In our Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha, everyone is needed but especially children. Their tender minds receive everything. Those not aware of children’s psychology think kids are a nuisance, but those who understand realise that kids know what is going on around them. Children soak up everything and by that way their mind changes and matures. No one absorbs new information like a child does. Everything gets imprinted in their mind. So if any child is attending an AMPS function they will become an ideal margii simply by seeing others. That is the age when the mind is ready to receive anything. Old people will not understand even if they are taught, whereas kids will take it all in very easily.

So the duty of every Ananda Margii who wants to make any child an ideal margii is to ensure they never miss an opportunity to bring that child to any Ananda Marga activity or function. And all that child needs to do is to be on site and they will learn everything. One need not worry. Merely by being there they will learn. The worst is if a parent or guardian adopts the attitude, “Let the child first grow and then I will teach them.” By that way the opportunity will be missed. Even if you wait till the child is ten it is way too late.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/

That is why at every general darshan and DMC there were always infants present, and if not then those in-charges were charge-sheeted and told to bring infants. Children should be present and sit in their mother’s lap - not in some separate child care program. That is the main thing: By being present and watching what is going on they will learn. An organisation that does not encourage the participation of toddlers etc will diminish, nay perish. So the role of children is to be present at our Ananda Marga functions.

Namaskar,
in Him,
Dipika’ Singh

~ In-depth study ~

Inculcate universalism from infancy

Here below Baba sheds more insight into the nature of children.

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Children are by nature most inclined towards play, so a thirst for knowledge will have to be awakened in children through the medium of play -- children should be educated through play methods. Children are also by nature inclined to listen to fantasies and stories. Through stories children can easily be taught the history and geography of various countries, and they may also be taught the initial lessons of how to practise universalism in their lives. Children love play and stories almost equally, so in their case the two should be equally utilized." (2)


Children need robust idealism


Here Baba gives us one golden guideline about parenting and raising children.

Ananda Marga philosophy says, "In order to develop a healthy outlook, the most important thing children need is robust idealism. To impart this, parents require only two virtues: self-restraint and good judgement." (3)

Baba guides in this below quote that children raise children in the proper manner because they are the future of society.

Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "[It] is essential to sow the seeds of true development in the minds of children and to ensure that these seeds grow into small seedlings, flourish, and bring forth foliage, flowers and fruits" (4)


Frustrated even by the sweet chirping of birds


Because everyone, whether young or old, was a baby in the past, and a baby’s cry is very natural. Wherever babies are, surely they cry. And when one's heart is pure and loving, then the cry of the babies is not suffocative, or negative, or thought of as a demonic act. But if inside someone is frustrated then everything in this world looks dry, harsh, parched, ugly, crude, negative, etc.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/

When such frustrated persons see birds chirping in the tree, they feel agitated and brand birds as 'a nuisance creator'. So they throw stones on those bushes to shoe away those birds. Sometime ago my neighbor was doing this. When I saw him I felt sad about his state of mind. Actually he was in a depressed and frustrated mood. He was throwing stones in all the bushes around his house to get rid of the sweet chirping songs of the bird because he was irritated by those sounds.


Who gets frustrated with kids

 
If the baby does anything wrong then the stain of that action is on the society, parents, or educators etc. The discredit never goes to the baby because they are innocent. A sweet, kind, benevolent, motherly heart has this feeling. Those who have that type of heart understand. I have experience that those who have devotion can understand because of their feeling of divine love. But those who are frustrated within, their expression and talk reflects that. In contrast Baba guides us in the gospel of Bhagavad dharma.

    “Kaomára ácaret prájiṋah dharmán bhágavatániha,
    Durlabhaḿ mánuśaḿ janma tadapyadhruvamarthadam.”

In this description Baba says that small babies are as pure as divine, because they do not have any negativity towards anyone. And it is working in 100% cases up to the age of 5. So in the common society if anything wrong is done by small kids, then balanced people understand. And they will not pollute the environment by raucously blaming the children.

Sad: Two nasty so-called poems about kids

Here are two stories / poems posted by one overseas Didi - by her expression it is clear she thinks children are a nuisance - no true mother or neo-humanist could ever write in this manner.

Didi's poem #1: “horrible little girl”


Once there was a little girl
And when she was bad she was horrible!

Is it just Margii kids or all kids?  Did you ever get
the feeling that the younger generation is getting the
better of you?  I know a little girl who is four going
on 400 who leads a rather shocking life,

had a suspicion about what the little devil
was up to


---

Didi's poem #2: “Terrible Twos”


Waaaa!  ‘The boys.’  When they got
one to shut up, the other one started.   Waaaa!  And
that put paid to DC at their house for about a year. Little demons!  
Mommy tried to discipline her baby tyrants


The whole thing kept Mommy in a state
of mortal fear.
The only thing that used to get them to shut up as babies...
When the screaming reached its apex, the little bodies
began to thrash about, tantrum in full swing.
One of the buggers got
so worked up that he purposefully bashed his head into
the windscreen

References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 6, The Spirit of Society
2. Human Society - 1, Education
3. Human Society - 1, Education
4. Human Society - 1, Education


*        *        *

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 ==

Appeared in my heart

"Tumi esecho bha'lo besecho..." (Prabhat Samgiita #2435)

Purport: 

Baba, You have come to me, poured affection, and made me Yours. You have spread Your sweet smile, captivated and dyed my mind in Your sublime colour, and embraced me as Your own. 

My Parama Purusa, I continue waiting for Your footsteps, counting the time for Your arrival, and passing the moments in decorating for Your reception. My every second is spent in repeating my mantra in Your memory, in waiting for Your auspicious arrival. In all my various chores, now after coming to me, You have poured and drenched me with spiritual nectar. You have soaked the sweetness into the flower buds as well.

My Eternal Companion, there is now nothing that I desire from You, as You have given me everything. I am in Your anudhyana’ all the time, 24 hrs. By Your infinite compassion, I feel Your presence in kiirtana and sadhana; I am forever Yours. You have appeared in my heart in a very intimate, new, and newer bha’va, i.e. madhur bha’va. It is Your karun’a’.

Baba, the Ever-Present Entity, I feel deep inside my being that You love me and that You care for me in all the ways - always watching for my welfare. What more do I need than that...


== Section 3: Important Teaching ==

Doing the work of Parama Purusa


 Namaskar, 

The work of Saguna Brahma is related with srsti - creation: To present more and more created beings into this manifested cosmos. Now, however, with the advancement of science, laboratory specialists are taking over that work, day by day. 

Already laboratory babes are being produced. Scientists take one ovum and spermatozoa and combine them in the lab. In that process of fusion, the two initial cells die and an entirely new third entity is created. That is the initial stage of a human life; at that very juncture mind is attached with that entity. And then that newly created being is inserted into the womb of a surrogate mother.

When Baba delivered this discourse in 1958 the aforesaid process was unthinkable. Yet what Baba told has now become a living reality here on earth. Scientists have made such advancements. Now, people are ordering babies according to their liking. Some parents want a mixed baby with certain Asian physical features, along with the height of a Scandinavian etc. In this way, people are designing and ordering their babies. And then scientists get the relevant ovum and spermatozoa from those human communities and join those cells in the lab. 

They even know how to remove particular genes that produce dangerous diseases. And verily this science will continue to develop and become more widely used around the globe. In this way, humans are taking over the work that is normally done by Saguna Brahma.

Verily we have witnessed the dramatic impact humans have made with dog breeding. Each year they are combining favourable breeds of dogs to make an entirely new breed. In this way, humans are introducing new and newer beings into creation. In the past this was all done by allowing prakrti to exert her influence over Saguna Brahma. In that way so many shapes and forms were created in this world: rivers, mountains, oceans, animals, and human beings. 

And in another discourse, Baba guides us that as human intuition develops, those human beings will know more and more. And when they meet others they will be able to see each other's past lives - stretching back several incarnations - and know what they were and from where they came. 


Humans will even restore life to dead bodies

  Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Science is moving fast – it is moving ahead and it will continue to move ahead. Nobody can check the advancement of science by criticizing it. Those who try to make such attempts will themselves lag behind – they will be rejected by the modern world."
   "Human beings will definitely be able to increase human longevity by scientific techniques. In certain special cases they will even be able to restore life to dead bodies. The endeavour to expedite the advent of that auspicious day of science is certainly an important part of social service."
   "One day human beings will also learn how to produce human babes in science laboratories. Perhaps then it will be possible for human beings to place an order for their children and to get children according to their choice. Why should these laboratory babes lag behind modern humans with respect to intellectual and spiritual wealth! Those opposed to science today challenge, “Let human beings demonstrate that they can produce living entities!” By producing laboratory babes, the human beings of the future will give a befitting reply to this challenge."
   "The development of intuition will make human beings more spiritually inclined. What Saguńa Brahma [the Qualified Supreme Entity] is directly doing today will be done increasingly by the human beings of tomorrow. In that age the reproductive capacity of the human body will gradually cease to exist." (1) 

In Him,
Giita’

Reference
1. Problems of the Day, Point #25

== Section: Important Teaching ==

Ability of wicked people to withstand pain

   Ananda Marga ideology guides us, “Those creatures that pulsate in the darkness of the deep sea are blind due to the darkness; and hence by natural law, just as their bodies possess the power to radiate light, so as weapons some of them possess sensitive spines, some have glandular poison jets and some have attractive voices. With the help of these, they compensate for their lack of visual perception of form-vibrations and preserve their own existence by their subtler reception of other tanmátras or vibrations."
   "The capacity of an instinctively wicked person to absorb vibration differs somewhat from that of an average person. The amount of beating that might endanger the life of average people, may be easily borne by those who are instinctively wicked. Very often they remain quite unconcerned about the bleeding that pours out of their cuts and wounds – rather they feel relieved from such bleeding. Such people can also perceive the premonitory hints of nature. In other words, in such matters their ways, to some extent, correspond to those of the sub-human creatures. Yet to attain such power even a virtuous person has to perform sádhaná or spiritual practice most diligently." (1)

Reference
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 3, Vibration, Form and Colour


== Section: News Report ==

What degeneration

Namaskar,

See the example how this person is ruining his own life whenever he comes in contact with others he drags them towards hell as well. At one time he dedicated himself for the great cause but now look what happened.

Side by side, another fellow is also involved - he collects all such photos and puts them on Facebook the following words: GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CREATION. By this way Mr. A.K. Lal gets his lower propensities somewhat satiated. Although he is very elderly but I think up to his grave he will carry his dominant sexual urge along with him. It is escalating day by day - it is apparent by his expression.



Degraded Wt: shocking degeneration ~

Ananda Marga ideology states, “Abhoga Samsargat Praptiresana”. You must remember it. When near an object of enjoyment (abhoga) another object reaches, a desire is begotten to get that object. For instance a man when in town has dress, living as per the dress and living of the urban people and when in a village he has as per the villagers. This is effected because of his desire begotten out of his association with people in town and villages respectively. When some persons take tea, there you also get the desire to take the same.” (1)

Ananda Marga ideology says, "A'bhoga means occupation or pabulum. Not only the physical body but the mind also requires a pabulum; whatever object the mind confines itself to, that is its pabulum...mental pabulum is called a'bhoga. The object with which the mind is preoccupied or obsessed is its psychic pabulum or a'bhoga." (2)

Most often, people think about those things which they see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. Those sensory organs feed the mind. Such sense perceptions generally determine one's a'bhoga or mental occupation.  So depending upon one's a'bhoga, i.e. object of ideation, one's mind will go up or down. If one thinks bad thoughts, the mind will be degraded. Whereas if one is involved in spiritual thought - kiirtan and dhya'na - the mind will be elevated. And certainly non-margiis just think about normal mundane affairs related with their survival etc, while degraded monks like the one above are consumed with degenerative dealings and the opposite sex etc.

in Him,
Jiivendra

References
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 20, Astitva and Shivatva
2. Subhasita Samgraha - 11, The Hub of Universal Activities


== Section: Important Teaching ==

Dogmatic statues should be safeguarded in museums

Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, “Sometimes it so happens that people instead of convincing superstitious people, injure their sentiments by their behaviour. A perusal of history shows that the antagonists of idolatry have, on many occasions, destroyed beautiful temples which were unique examples of architecture. They destroyed the beautiful images which represented the expressions of sculptural art. All these acts are extremely violent, because they cause severe pain to the idolaters, and consequently the idol-worshippers adopt an obstinate attitude towards idols even though they are fully convinced that idol-worship is futile. As a result, not only is the spiritual progress of the idol-worshippers hampered, but the progress of the whole human society is retarded. It is worth noting that even if in any country all the people without exception give up idolatry, the spiritual aspirants, who follow the principles of Brahmacarya, will preserve images carefully in museums out of appreciation for sculpture and aesthetic taste. They will not destroy these beautiful works in any circumstances. Destroying a work of art also results in the destruction of the sense of subtle appreciation, and this is in no way proper.” (1)

Note: In the recent past, and in the Moghul period, Muslims rampantly and senselessly destroyed idols, and still around the world they are pulverizing idols and artistic religious artifacts etc. In our human history, Hindus also disfigured and destroyed Buddhist idols when Buddhism was banished from India. Now those very same idols are showcased and preserved around India in museums and other historical places.

In our Ananda Marga the approach is very different. Margiis will never do such adharmic things. Rather it is our duty to safeguard and preserve the fine arts - from all cultural and religions expressions. In the future when people are educated and follow neo-humanism and rational ideas, they will give up their idol worship and all those idols will be preserved in a museum - for the sake of history and aesthetic value.

In addition, those who do not appreciate the fine arts become violent and vile. That is why our Ananda Marga philosophy encourages the fine arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, music, theatre, cartooning, drama, poetry, literature, and dance etc. At the same time, Ananda Marga teachings do not condone art for art’s sake. Instead the aim is art for “service and blessedness.” Lastly, remember, degraded, vulgar, sensual, and crude expressions are not appreciated as fine art, rather they are pseudo-culture.

Reference
1. Guide to Human Conduct, Ahimsa


== Section: Ananda Vanii ==

Offered at the altar

“Life is a spiritual sádhaná and the result of this sádhaná is to be offered at the altar of the Supreme.” (Ananda Vanii #12)

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: Important Teaching  ==

Religious Dogma: confused smoke with clouds

Ananda Marga ideology states, "When the ancient people were faced with immense obstacles, they would perform sacrificial ceremonies for the propitiation of the gods, for they were not acquainted with the scientific methods to surmount those obstacles. They thought that there was no difference between the smoke produced by burning ghee in fire and the clouds in the sky. They were unaware that the former is composed of unburnt carbon-particles of ghee and the latter are basically a combination of hydrogen and oxygen which appears to be blackish under certain circumstances. Even today if people misuse ghee by burning it in a sacrificial fire, they certainly do it out of total ignorance." (1)

Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 8, Struggle and Progress


== Section 4: Links ==

SUBJECTS TOPICS