Baba
Greed of celebrations
Namaskar,
Around the globe there are various kinds of Ananda Purnima celebrations. And this year it will be celebrated on Friday, 5 May 2023.
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Great style celebration
In many places, Margiis are extremely enthusiastic. They give maximum donations, according to their capacity, and every year they build upon and enhance their celebrations and philanthropic activities for Ananda Purnima. They organize all kinds of social service projects and arrange programs for the full spectrum of all age groups.
Who does what
Inferior Ananda Purnia programs are celebrated for a few hours only. A mediocre program starts from paincajanya and goes to 3pm. And after taking final food, margiis depart.
In the great majority of units however, a grand Ananda Purnima program is held. The ideal Ananda Purnima program happens in many units in India where the festivities are held over a 36 hour period with a 24 hour kiirtana programme.
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Unsavory style #1: Beg everything from non-Margiis
In some other places, Margiis, due to lack of bhakti, don't like to spend even one penny for the occasion of Ananda Purnima. Whereas for their own family functions - marriages, baby naming ceremonies etc - they spend lots of money and celebrate with big fanfare.
But on the occasion of Ananda Purnima, they do not give any financial support. Just they anticipate that dadas and didis will beg for food by telling the public that a grand function will be held and there will be mass feeding, with thousands of people participating. So wts collect kind, cash, material, and everything from non-Margiis. And then they arrange and cook food etc, and feed everyone, including all the Margiis in the unit. You may be surprised, but there are some units that function in this way. Margiis donate nothing or hardly anything, and then they come for the celebration and eat the food which is donated by the common public in the name of feeding the poor, the homeless etc. So these types of units also exist.
Instead of taking food that was donated to the local AM children’s home and using that for the Ananda Purnima function, the opposite should be done. There should be an abundance of sumptuous food for the Ananda Purnima celebrations, and that well prepared food should be shared with the local AM children’s home.
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So in the above example, the local Margiis are apathetic and the Wts organise everything. The next example portrays units where the exact opposite is going on: Margiis are actively involved while some local Wts undermine the program planning etc.
Unsavoury style #2: Wts steal money
Here is the case where Margiis of the local unit are very enthusiastic and contribute a lot of donations towards Ananda Purnima festivities etc. But unfortunately those Margiis don’t have control over the money. Rather, concerning Wts capture those accounts and sit in key positions in management. The goal of such Wts is to funnel those funds for their own personal use. In those areas, Margiis give large donations from their own side and often solicit financial donations from the public. They collect food, vegetables, cash, kind, tents, cooks etc. So much gets arranged by non-Margii donations. The in-charge Wts receive all those cash donations and put that in their pocket.
After keeping the lion’s share for themselves, some portion is used by these Wts to make high quality food for themselves, and they prepare medium quality food for the Margiis. And then all the leftover or discarded outdated vegetables etc get used for the homeless and poor people. Or even, such types of Wts often think it best to avoid feeding the poor entirely. It is also seen that on the occasion special sweets are arranged. And these same Wts stockpile half of the sweets as their own personal stash to eat over the coming days, and only half is served at the function. Because of overeating of sweets on an ongoing basis, many Wts suffer from serious illnesses like diabetes resulting in blindness and limb amputations. For instance, Satyashrayananda and so many anandas. Due to the aforesaid reasons, in many units Margiis and Wts quarrel among themselves and have heated exchanges. They quarrel because of the stolen sweets and the disappearance of the funds / money. That is unfortunate.
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Solution
To avoid this, the best is to form an Ananda Purnima organizing committee, where trusted family people and Wts oversee the money in a very transparent way. And without the approval of the collective body, no expenditure should be made. All monies collected for this occasion should be spent on social service works for that very day. Ananda Purnima is not the day to steal public donations, or save money for a rainy day in the future. This is a day of service and merriment, and the propagation of Ananda Marga ideology.
Conclusion
Whether the Ananda Purnima program is celebrated in an ideal way, or a mediocre or inferior way, depends upon the depth of the flow of bhakti with the hearts of Margiis and Wts. It has nothing to do with money.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Vikash
Way to convince penny-pinchers
For the great cause, Margiis should be inspired by bhakti and emotion to do great things. Now, in the natural course of life, human beings do all kinds of sins knowingly and unknowingly, and one has to face those sins. Baba has given various ways for requital. The easiest way is to please Guru. That means following all those guidelines which Baba has given in Caryacarya. And one of those points is the observance and celebration of Ananda Purnima. So, if you participate, donate, feed the hungry poor, and maintain at least sufficient hours worth of scheduling the serving of the needy, then Guru will be pleased. Otherwise, as everyone lives their life and dies leaving their money behind, the common miser will also die and leave it behind. The ultra-rich who do not like to donate leave all their riches behind at the time of death and their material wealth goes into oblivion.
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Regarding those units where due to a lack of bhakti, some Margiis don't like to spend one penny on Ananda Purnima, one should try to convince them on the aforesaid point. That, to please God, they should donate to Ananda Purnima. And there should not be any burden on local service projects like children's home etc.
The children forming the AM children’s home should be fed Ananda Purnima food, and they should be given additional things such as toys and new clothes etc on this day., By that way, the children also will remember and be waiting for the next time when the grand occasion of Ananda Purnima is going to come. That is how it should be. Furthermore if the services of the children’s home cook are being utilized in preparing food for all the Margiis at the A.P. function, then the cook should be awarded extra. And one should let the Margii Ananda Purnima participants know that they are donating for this to please their Guru.
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Vote or not vote
Here are a few key points related with politics, voting, and governance.
First Baba guides us that we should not vote at all if the only available candidate(s) is dangerous to the overall well-being of society.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "Rather than support an [[unworthy]] person, it is better not to exercise one's franchise because to invest an [[unworthy]] person with power means to push society towards destruction knowingly and deliberately." (1)
In His above guideline, Baba is referring to a scenario where at least 50% of the vote is needed to win the election. More about this is explained directly below.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “In a democratic system securing the highest number of votes is proof of a person’s eligibility. However this eligibility is not adequately examined in all cases. In my opinion the popularity of a candidate securing the highest number of votes needs to be tested again if he or she polls less than half the total number of votes cast. In this, test arrangements will have to be made so that people can vote either for or against the candidate. If the candidate polls more favourable votes, only then will he or she be declared elected.” (2)
Next Baba guides us that elected officials must live up to their pre-election promises and stated proposals and strategies. Failing that, their election will be negated and they will be removed from office.
Prout philosophy states, "A candidate must declare his or her policies in black and white. After an election, if it is found that a candidate is acting against his or her declared policies and this is proved to be the case in court, his or her election will be cancelled." (3)
References
1. Caryacarya II, Society, Point #27
2. Problems of the Day, Point #33
3. Problems of the Day, Point #33
== Section 3: Links ==
Upcoming Festival: Ananda Purnima - 05 May 2023
- #2: Include all
- #1: How to celebrate
Other topics of interest
