Baba
Famous story misunderstood
Namaskar,
People commonly think, "I have money, friends, intellect, and strength etc, and above all Baba’s grace. I have surrendered to Baba also." But according to Ananda Marga philosophy they have zero degree of surrender.
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This following, well-known story is commonly misunderstood.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "In the Mahábhárata, when Duhshásana was pulling the sari of Draopadii, she was tightly holding the cloth to her body with one hand beseeching Lord Krśńa with the other. “Oh! My lord, save me!” But the Lord did not then come forward to save her from shame. When Draopadii found no means of escape... appealed to the Lord most piteously with both hands out-stretched, crying, “O Lord, I surrender my all to You. Do what You think is best”. And the Lord immediately rescued her." (1)
Real vs. fake surrender
The proper interpretation is to use every ounce of your God-given strength and, at the same time, in the core of your heart believe that, "O’ Lord, You are everything, whatever strength You have given me I am using - only You are my Savior." And while using all your God-given strength, then in your heart you feel inside that only Parama Purusa can save you, then that is real surrender.
In contrast, if one thinks that, "I can do something and the rest God will do", that is also not surrender. Yet, that is what Draopadii was thinking initially. She really thought that she could hold onto her sari and the rest Parama Purusa is going to do. She thought that with her little "I" she was doing something. The letting go of her clothing is purely symbolic. At that moment she had inner realisation that in reality only Parama Purusa can solve this crisis - she herself can do nothing.
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Who will get nothing
So surrender is purely a psychic phenomenon, not physical. The degree of trust and faith you have on Him where you feel that He is the only Saviour - that is the degree of surrender you can do. 100% faith means 100% surrender. In the worldly sphere, if you give $1, you will get $1 worth of groceries. If you give $50, you will get $50 worth of groceries. If you give $100, you will get $100 worth of groceries. But surrender is unlike worldly things. Until you give 100% of your I-feeling you will get nothing.
That means if you offer 1% of your mind you will get nothing; and if you offer 50% of your mind then you will also get nothing. And if you offer 99% of your mind and keep 1% of your mind, you will also get nothing. Finally, in offering 100% of your mind to Parama Purusa then you will get everything, i.e. Parama Purusa. That is the main important point. So those who think that, “I have money, friends, and Baba is also my Guru, then everything will be fine”, they will not get anything. That is why surrender is very different from any worldly interaction.
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So what is the way? In the final stage, one has to feel inside their heart that only Parama Purusa Baba is the Saviour.
Ananda Marga ideology states, “This psychic power can be attained easily only by those who have learned how to surrender themselves to Parama Puruśa...They think, “I cannot claim any merit for this. I will simply keep on working, and the energy required to do the work will be supplied by Parama Puruśa. I can say only this that with whatever energy you have given me I am working, and in future with whatever amount of energy you will give me, I will work accordingly. From my side there will be no lethargy. Whatever energy you feel necessary to give me, you will bestow on me – I have nothing to say in the matter.” (2)
Conclusion
One should use their own Baba-given strength and think in the deep core of the heart that, "Only Baba can save the situation - save me. I cannot save myself. Baba save me. I lay prostrate at Your altar." Surrender does not mean not using the strength given by God, i.e. taking no action.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Nowadays, people commonly think, "I have money, friends, intellect, and strength etc." First and foremost, they feel they have enough to save themselves. Then in one small portion of their brain they think, "I should ask God also so He can help out." But that is not surrender. When you feel inside that only Parama Purusa can save you, then that is real surrender.
In Him,
Janak
~ In-depth study ~
True vs mock surrender
Here is an English summary of the above Hindi teaching of धर्म और प्रगति, Dharma aor Pragati, NP, DMC 1 January 1963 Patna:
When human beings feel that, ‘Parama Purusa is my everything’, then that is called as sharan (shelter). No entity can come under the sharan (shelter) of two different things. Then what is the meaning of sharanagati (surrender)? When living beings give up their ‘I-feeling’ by withdrawing the mind from any other object and feel that Parama Purusa alone is my everything. Up to the time when living beings are thinking that they are working with their own strength, then you should understand that the feeling of sharanagati has not yet come in them. And when human beings think that, ‘I am doing the work only with His strength’, it means the feeling of sharanagati has come in their mind. So when living beings start thinking that, ‘Whatever work I am doing, I am doing with His strength’, then they have the feeling of sharanagati.
Here is a practical example. True Ananda Margiis will take their sick baby to the hospital. And, according to their Baba-given capacity and strength, they will provide all kinds of nursing, medicine, medical care, and whatever is needed. And side by side, they will go on thinking: "O' Lord, with the strength given by You, I am trying, but without Your grace nothing will happen. You are the real Doer. I am fully surrendering unto Your sweet will. Let Your desire be fulfilled. "
Bhaktas think one should use all their inherent abilities to solve any crisis and cultivate the idea that, “It is His strength and that He is supplying the energy - and without His energy, I cannot do anything. If He wishes then only will I be rescued - it is fully depending on Him.” Whatever strength Baba has given must be utilised remembering that He is the final doer. This is the ideal way of surrender.
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Key requirements of spiritual surrender
The surrendering of one’s own I-feeling is the main thing in spirituality. And that means surrendering one’s own mind to Parama Purusa. Without that one cannot realise Him. So the question is how could it be possible. The scriptures say that surrendering the I-feeling can only be done by the mind.
As noted in the aforesaid paragraph, surrender can only be achieved with the mind. For that two things are needed:
(#1) Collect or concentrate the mind: As we know the mind is always fluctuating and in order to offer the mind, it must be fully focused. It is just like if you want to offer mangoes from your garden then you must gather and collect those mangoes and keep them in one place. Similarly, the mind must be focused; if the mind is fickle or scattered it will not work. So one must collect the mind in order to offer the mind. That is the first step.
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(#2) Clean the mind: If you want to offer someone something, then that thing should be cleaned and not offered in dirty state. Similarly when bhaktas want to offer their mind to Parama Purusa, then that mind should be purified. So the second requisite for surrender is to clean the mind. If the mind is dirty, then it needs to be cleaned before trying to offer the mind. That means the mind must be purified and that can only be done by sadhana - otherwise it is impossible.
Then finally that concentrated and cleaned mind can easily be offered, i.e. surrendered, to Parama Purusa. Those who say, "I do not care about sadhana just I surrender to Baba," they are confused. Sadhana is the process of surrender. There is no other way. That is the essence of the story.
References
1. Subháśita Samgraha Part - 3, Vibration, Form and Colour
2. Subhasita Samgraha - 18, The Path unto the Abode of Beatitude
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Revolutionaries vs parasites
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “At first, the demon was quite unwilling to hold any discussion with them. At last, seeing them many in number, he said with reluctance, “Well, I have no objection to talk with some of your representatives.” In the course of discussion, the demon pretended that he did not deny that the demands of the humans were legitimate but where is the money? “In order to rebuild the state,” he said, “expenditure has to be curtailed; exports have to be increased and imports decreased, and it is necessary to accelerate the production of agricultural and industrial goods. If people today are busy with trifling demands, how then is it possible to rebuild the Very Odd Kingdom? So people should raise only one slogan today ‘Labour – more labour – and still more labour!’ Demands of housing, education, medical treatment – we have heard enough of your demands! Now I advise you, forget your demands for the right to higher wages, education, medical treatment, and better accommodation, for the time being – and go and labour hard!””
“The representatives of the human beings said “How wonderful! But then the question is, if you don’t accept our right to live how can we labour hard?””
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “The discussion was interrupted. The demon and his associates now became active to create divisions among the youth. They said to the religious leaders, pundits, priests and mullas (religious leaders), “Do you see what is happening? Religion is becoming polluted, society is becoming polluted, everything is spoiled. After some time perhaps these loutish youth will say, ‘These pundits, priests and mullas, they are the parasites of the society; They suck the lifeblood of humanity by taking advantage of the weakness of their minds!’ So a big group of priests, pundits and mullas joined the demons. They declared, ‘What people are saying now is sheer injustice. People starve as a consequence of their own sins committed in their previous lives. So to fight for the establishment of their rights is to try to overmaster God!’”
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “But there were some good people even among the priests and mullas and pundits, of course. They declared, “What the prince’s group, the human beings, are saying, is right. To support them is right”. Ministers and vice-ministers were giving them high posts in government service. Some were trapped in this way, too, but most of the people said, “We are going to be deceived by such temptation no longer – we have long been cheated for our foolishness, but no more!!””
“The Strange Demon noticed that each of his arrows was missing its target. Then he captured some good orators by spending much money. The work of these orators was to make the rank and file of human beings understand that the proper way to achieve their demand was to bear injustice silently and not resort to struggle. “By tolerating injustice,” they said, “When a person becomes non-violent, a kind of spiritual power awakens in him. And as a result of this spiritual power peace and equality prevail throughout the country. So you should rather engage yourself in the practice of self-purification than have recourse to struggle.” But the humans paid no heed to this either.”
“Now the demon became restless. He began to run to and fro like an insane person, tearing his hair and shouting violently. In no time his mask of gentleness was rent asunder. Then he started crying out loudly in his demonic tongue.”
“O devils, O demons,
Man-eaters, ghost-children,
Where are you my friends and comrades
Come and save me from the humans.
O black-marketeers and bribers,
O pot-bellied
Come, O come! Where are you??
I am going to be killed by Humanity.” (1)
Reference
1. The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea
== Section: Important Teaching ==
About women: how veil is exploitation
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “Purdah” means not only a curtain on the window or over the door, it means a piece of cloth covering the head and face of a woman (i.e., a veil); it means that a woman must not move freely outside the house; it also means keeping the women covered in burkas. The purdah was not in use among the ancient Aryans. It was originally a Semitic concept. Indian women did not use the purdah before the Pathan rule. The Sanskrit word avaguńt́hana [“veil”] is not an ancient word. (The Hindustani word ghunghat́ [“veil”] was used in the olden days in the sense of covering.) In those parts of India where the Pathans were not firmly established, for instance in south India and Maharastra, the veil was not introduced at all; to this day there is no such custom. Married women in ancient Maharastra never used to veil themselves – it was optional. Widows did not need to use a veil if they chose not to. Even where the Pathans were firmly established, the aborigines living in the hills and forests did not use the purdah. Today as well there is no custom of veiling oneself among the tribal women of Bengal and north India. Although the Santhals of Bengal are now totally identified with the Bengali mainstream, Santhal women do not use veils to this day.” (1)
Reference
1. Shabda Cayanika - 3, Kakubh to Kavaśńa (Discourse 17)
FOR FURTHER READING:
Life resembles an ever-flowing spring
“Don’t compare life to a pool of muddy, stagnant water. Life resembles an ever-flowing spring. Pushing aside the stones of obstructions and difficulties, marching on with vigorous speed is its Dharma. Hence it is clear that those who want to keep away from obstacles have lost the Dharma of life – verily they are dead. The graveyard, not the society should be their abode.” (Ananda Vanii #6)
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 ==
Pure air: excellent medicine for the physical body
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Sunlight and air: There are many healing elements in sunlight. The rays or pencils of rays of different colours in sunlight are medicines for different kinds of diseases – preventive and antidotal. Sunlight has different benefits during different hours of the day. Sun-warmed water also has different kinds of benefits. Thus sunlight has been regarded since ancient times as medicines for different bodily ailments. It is also said in the Vedas: súryah yathá sarvalokasya cakśuh [as the sun is the eye of the entire universe]. The medicine, that is, sunlight should be taken in through the dorsal spine, not through the chest or the abdomen."
"The pure air of a secluded place is also an excellent medicine for the physical body. This medicine in the form of air should be taken through the back of the head and the upper part of the forehead. The earth from a riverside area near a forest in which there is a small amount of sand and a large amount of soil is also an excellent medicine for the physical body. This medicine should be taken bare-bodied on a bed of earth." (1)
Reference
1. Shabda Cayanika, Kulya to Kuvela (Discourse 34)
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
