BABA
One may see Baba’s image beside lurid trash
Namaskar,
Here I will list some reasons why everyone must take Baba’s pratikriti and pratik off the internet.
1.
Baba would not want to be “shown off” in this way. He was strict about
how He allowed His pictures to be displayed. Baba would not want to be
“shown off” as something cheap. He is a mystery, not a cheap.
2. By posting pictures and video, we are encouraging others to do so. So the problem becomes worse.
3. We are also making it easier for margiis and newcomers to NOT go to retreats (Baba called them seminars).
Baba would only allow margiis to see Him
4.
We are degrading the pictures by massively regenerating them. This is a
physical process. As an artist, I know very well how important original
art is. The more you copy it, the less valuable it becomes and the less
powerful it is because it is a copy. Genetically, if you copy something
over and over, you degrade its integrity. What should be happening is that we should closely guard and protect the originals and make copies from them.
5. Above all, we want to follow Baba’s wishes. He
would only allow margiis to see Him. If you wanted to see Baba, you had
to become an Ananda Margii. By posting all sorts of pictures and video
on the internet where anyone can go look at Baba for free, we have diminished the value of His pictures.
When one posts a video or picture or video of Baba on the internet,
anyone has access to it. No longer must you become a margii to see Baba.
6.
Baba’s pictures are sacred. Those posting the pictures and video
understand this, but they don't seem to be acting as if they understand.
His pictures are SACRED and personal. Some things you just don’t share
with the general population.
.
Common sensationalism
7. Baba never gave permission for His picture to be printed on the cover of a book, as has been done in The Jamalpur Years, a
book which has turned Baba’s image, sadly, into common sensationalism.
Uploading pictures and video of Baba only increases the likelihood that
this trend of sensationalizing the Guru will continue.
8. I have seen Baba videos where He gives varabaya mudra. This is wrong!
These
videos should NOT be public. I have noticed that these videos and the
Varabaya mudra pictures are not so easily available on the internet. If
we can keep these private, why can’t we keep the other pictures private?
The varabaya mudra videos should be reserved for retreats (seminars).
Think of it: Anytime someone feels bad, oh, go watch Baba giving
varabaya mudra. His powerful mudra is reduced to a mere panacea for
pain. Like popping a pill or fixing a nice cup of tea, one can receive
His mudra at any time. Thus, His gifts to us get devalued.
9.
Needless to say, the opportunity for Baba’s image to appear beside some
materialist, capitalist information happens. One may see Baba’s image
beside lurid trash. Removing Baba’s picture from the internet should be
considered a service and an act of shaoca (cleanliness, the first rule
of niyama, of yama and niyama, our guidelines for proper action).
By posting His pictures and video on the internet, these pictures become less rare.
10.
By inference, we can conclude that He has also energized His picture.
This is one of the ways we have of communing with Baba, to sit before
His picture and to dance before it. This is not deification. We already
know Baba is Divine. This is simply a devotee wanting to be close to his
Guru. By posting His pictures and video on the internet, these pictures
become less rare. This spoils a sacred intimacy one can have with Baba
through pictures and video.
11.
Baba allowed a selected picture to be printed in a few of His selected
books only. This is very different from posting His picture on the
internet. One can call an uploaded picture or print material a
“publication” on the internet, but the difference between the internet
and a printed book should be clear to anyone who has any sense at all. A
printed book is made of paper and bound together. A printed book is not
an electronic device. How anyone can assume that Baba would allow His
picture to be put on the internet is lunacy and arrogance.
We are potentially putting non-margiis in danger
12.
We are potentially putting non-margiis in danger. Those who are not in
the Marga do not understand Baba’s power. This power also emanates from
His pictures. This means anyone could stumble onto Baba’s picture or
video and have no clue what they are seeing. Such a situation is
dangerous. It is like giving a baby a stick of dynamite.
13.
In every situation where Ananda Marga meditation is to be taught it is
known we are not to put the picture of the Guru up or even the pratik
for newcomers
14. Baba taught us to be modest and humble. We are doing a disservice to His honor by posting pictures and video.
So
let us carry Baba across this filthy, common place that is the
internet. Putting His picture on the internet will not clean the
internet. Taking His picture off the internet might. Certainly taking His image and video off the internet will have a positive effect.
Just
as we do pracar, this sort of pracar should be done as well. Newcomers
should be instructed NOT to post His image and video. The same thing
with vows. One shouldn’t go posting one’s lessons on the internet.
Ananda Marga is a mystical organization. I hope it stays that way. But
that is not the way it is being treated.
How can we treat Baba this way?
15.
I think I have seen a Baba video on Youtube with before it a commercial
of this incredibly materialistic guy trying to sell his teaching
program. He’s showing off his mansion and all his material wealth. Any
true margii will feel sorrow at this. How can we treat Baba this way?
So
there are reasons to honor Baba’s pictures and videos; they should be
in Ananda Marga libraries and margii homes and jagrtis. They are
special. By posting them we are taking away the specialness of these
precious images. We are reducing the specialness of Baba’s videos at
retreats. We are allowing Baba’s image to be among common filth on the
internet that can many times be seen beside His picture or possibly
before or after His video.
Please
help clean the internet by taking Baba’s pictures and video off the
internet and sharing them some other way. It is impossible to rid the
internet of filth. But it is possible to reduce Baba’s presence in this
filthy common place. The internet has many possibilities and can do many
things. But it is also a filthy place. Our precious Guru should not be
subjected to such a filthy common place.
At His Lotus Feet,
Bhaskar
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* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Dogma of India: apathy towards history
Ananda
Marga philosophy says, "India has a rich literature especially in
Sanskrit, but there is very little historical literature. Due to
philosophical confusion, there was a certain apathy towards history
among the people of India. Because of this apathy the inhabitants of
India were averse to composing history. It has to be considered by the
scholars to what extent, apart from the Rájataraunginii, can the
Rájamálá of Tripura and the Assamese Burainji be classified as history.
The greater portion of what we consider to be the history of the Indian
middle ages had to be collected from the diaries of foreign travellers.
In order to write even a single page of history we had to look up
Fá-Hiyen, Meghásthinis, Iuḿ, Chuyáḿ, or Ivanavatutá. During the Pathan
and Mughal eras there was some history written in the collections of the
sovereigns but it is difficult to say just how far they are
authoritative. However, we can say that even if not all was lost,
something certainly was.” (1)
Reference
1. Varn’a Vijia’na, p. 84
== Section 3: Links ==
Recent postings
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