Baba
Occult powers
Namaskar,
It was the beginning of 1960, and Baba told me to go out and do pracara. So I went to one village in Monghyr district and organised a tattva sabha (small spiritual meeting). Taking Baba's name, I gave a talk on Ananda Marga philosophy. Thereafter, by His grace, many persons became inspired and 20 people took initiation.
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Confronted by angry person
After that, one person approached me, and he was extremely angry. I came to know that he was a disciple of another guru, and he was furious because some of that guru's followers from the village had just taken Ananda Marga initiation after my talk.
The person exclaimed, "Do not teach meditation to disciples of my guru."
I quietly told him, "I do not know who is a disciple of whom. I did not ask anybody anything about that. I simply taught those who expressed interest and requested me to teach them Ananda Marga meditation."
He then challenged me, "If you show your power then you can teach meditation here, otherwise leave this village immediately!"
I explained, "Spiritual power is not to be displayed or exhibited." But then I thought I should try to convince this person, otherwise his mandate will completely hinder and negate my pracara efforts in this area.
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My misuse of powers
I told him, "Okay, come and sit by me."
I took Baba's name and put my right hand on his head and told him to concentrate. I closed my eyes. He sat there and tried to meditate. He was quiet for some time and then after about 20 minutes he opened his eyes and grabbed my feet.
He exclaimed, "I realised what I wanted! I have been following my guru for the last 12 years, and he did not give me anything. But today I got everything I wanted."
I could see that he was very inspired and thankful. He was now supporting me.
After that experience, when I sat for sadhana, I felt extremely distracted. Sadhana was suddenly very difficult for me. My mind was wandering here and there - it was impossible to concentrate. And the absolute worst part was that I felt no attraction for Parama Purusa. Earlier, whenever I would sit for sadhana, I would immediately feel a strong spiritual pull towards Him, by His grace. But now that was gone. I was feeling quite lost and alone, completely frustrated and despondent.
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Baba is unhappy with me
In that utterly desperate state, I reached Jamalpur.
As soon as I was called to see Him, Baba scolded me, "Whatever sadhana you had you destroyed, and now you have become a beggar. Why did you do this?"
I understood immediately that this was all because of displaying my sadhana power.
Seeing Baba's disappointment, I was full of remorse. I accepted my mistake and requested Baba, "Forgive me. I will never do such things again."
Then Baba graciously blessed me and my sadhana came back to its normal flow. I never did such a type of display again.
From all this, I got the lesson that every Ananda Margii has sadhana begotten powers, whether they know it or not. But that shakti (energy) is for our spiritual growth and development. It is part of our inner journey towards Him, and not to be used for any showy, external display.
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Reflection I: clutch of avidya maya
By the above story, as told by Ac B, it is clear that Sadguru, Baba watches over us always and keeps us safe. He does not want our sadhana begotten powers to be used as that will plunge us onto the path of degradation.
It is just like if a small child is playing in the kitchen, then the parents will keep a strict watch to ensure their child remains safe and out of harm's way. Similarly, Baba watches over all His children to ensure they do not fall from the path by using their sadhana powers.
To use such powers is nothing but to fall into the fateful clutch of maya. Indeed, maya wants you to misuse your powers and remain in her clutch. The allurement to use such powers comes exclusively from her, i.e. avidya maya. This Baba has described in His book, Elementary Philosophy.
You may have heard that avidya tantrikas practice for only a few days to get certain siddhis. But for Ananda Margiis, even after years of practice, we often do not perceive that we have power because Baba keeps those powers under lock and key. He does not want His disciples to misuse them and thereby destroy their spiritual future. Baba wants us to advance ahead and reach the goal, whereas displaying such powers puts one in reverse gear.
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Reflection II: your sadhana powers are hidden
In those Jamalpur years of the 1950's and early 1960's, many sadhakas got powers by doing sadhana. This was needed in order to show them that meditation is not just some useless or impotent endeavour. Baba wanted them to take sadhana seriously. And they developed powers that were tangibly and visibly perceptible to all.
But when they used their powers as a form of self-display etc, they brought harm unto themselves. So Baba graciously made the system that His disciples will not perceive their power - it will be hidden. Still this is the case today. This is Baba's special way of protecting us and keeping us moving toward our ultimate goal, Parama Purusa.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "People use the power that comes from sádhaná in order to win the admiration of others. The exhibition of one’s supernatural powers would make others extol, respect or even worship one. Others would look upon one as a great devotee (sádhaka). This is the only reason behind the display of one’s powers. A desire to command respect and devotion from others is only being entrapped by vanity (mána) and pride (mada) of avidyámáyá. The use of power for such objects is the pursuit of avidyámáyá, and the pursuit of avidyámáyá leads to degradation. Hence any use of supernatural power brings one under the control of avidyámáyá, which inevitably leads to a fall and to degradation." (1)
Namaskar,
in Him,
Divyamshu
Note: Family Acarya B of Bihar had many personal experiences with Baba. Here above is Ac B's first-hand account of what happened when he went to one village and did Ananda Marga pracara.
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Reference
1. Ananda Marga Elementary Philosophy, Intuitional Practice and Its Necessity
Plagiary?
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
Special point about dharmacakra
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “The indomitable mental force aroused as a result of collective Iishvara-Pranidhana will help you in solving any problem small or big on this earth. It is for this reason that you should always have a zeal to attend the weekly Dharmacakra regularly.” (1)
Dharmacakra means ‘family of dharma’
Note 1: In His Encyclopedia – “Laghu Nirukta” – on page 191 Baba explains that one of the meanings of ‘cakra’ is family, society, collection, or body. Thus the real meaning of dharmacakra is ‘family of dharma’. Similarly, brahmacakra means ‘family of Brahma’. We all know that the family of creation is the entire family of Brahma.
Note 2: Baba is the Propounder of Ananda Marga philosophy, and in that philosophy He has used various Sanskrit terms. To clarify the meaning of those terms Baba has given His own grammar books and encyclopedias etc. So those who want to learn AM philosophy indepthly should study Baba’s teachings on grammar also, otherwise many concepts will remain beyond one’s grasp.
Reference
1. A Guide To Human Conduct, last page
It is the accepted international standard and Baba's system not to copy another's work and publish it in your own way. Baba has given a very strict rule on plagiarism. Why is Baba against plagiarism or stealing someone's work? There are many reasons:
1) It is against the code of asteya (non-stealing).
2) Countless stories of bhaktas need to be published. But some do not want to do the hard work of compiling and writing these stories, so they just steal them from others. But new stories need to be told, otherwise so many unpublished stories of sadhakas will be lost and forgotten forever. So watch out for story thieves, and kindly help them not to steal by posting on social media in their own way. If you want to forward this story then attach the following yellow section with the story:
“Courtesy of unknown bhakta via Ananda Marga Universal (https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/)”
This will be treated as the standard protocol.
* * *
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 ==
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “The indomitable mental force aroused as a result of collective Iishvara-Pranidhana will help you in solving any problem small or big on this earth. It is for this reason that you should always have a zeal to attend the weekly Dharmacakra regularly.” (1)
Dharmacakra means ‘family of dharma’
Note 1: In His Encyclopedia – “Laghu Nirukta” – on page 191 Baba explains that one of the meanings of ‘cakra’ is family, society, collection, or body. Thus the real meaning of dharmacakra is ‘family of dharma’. Similarly, brahmacakra means ‘family of Brahma’. We all know that the family of creation is the entire family of Brahma.
Note 2: Baba is the Propounder of Ananda Marga philosophy, and in that philosophy He has used various Sanskrit terms. To clarify the meaning of those terms Baba has given His own grammar books and encyclopedias etc. So those who want to learn AM philosophy indepthly should study Baba’s teachings on grammar also, otherwise many concepts will remain beyond one’s grasp.
Reference
1. A Guide To Human Conduct, last page
== Section: Important Teaching ==
So easy to exploit when...
Prout philosophy states, “The exploited people are not even aware that they are being exploited. This is why it is easy to exploit them in the social sphere, then create inferiority complexes in their minds to keep them under prolonged administrative domination and perpetuate the exploitation. This is easily done by the cunning exploiters. And the tragedy is that the exploited mass do not try to understand – they cannot understand, and they even refuse to understand – that they are victims of exploitation. So this is more dangerous.”
“When the exploitation takes place in economic sphere directly, the people easily understand it, but when the exploitation is perpetrated in the socio-economic sphere or the psycho-economic sphere, the situation becomes complicated. In the case of exploitation is the socio-economic sphere, the people raise a little murmur against the social exploitation, but they fail to take note of the economic exploitation which is the final result of such socio-economic exploitation. And in the case of psychoeconomic exploitation, the people feel a little aggrieved because they are being suppressed from the psychic point of view, but they are not aware that the ultimate result is also economic exploitation.”
“As regards the psychic sphere, I can say this – there can be numerous modes of exploitation in the psychic sphere, and to comprehend all these, the people must be more educated and more intelligent.” (1)
Reference
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 18, Various Forms of Exploitation
== Section 3: Links ==
Upcoming Festival: Ananda Purnima - 05 May 2023
- #2: Include all
- #1: How to celebrate
Other topics of interest
