Story: knowing the future
Namaskar,
In the 1950s at the Jamalpur railway office, I decided to approach Baba about reading my palm, as it looked like He had a free moment. So I sought His permission and gently extended my hand. Baba looked at me.
In a soft and reverential tone, I said, "Baba, I humbly seek Your guidance. If You desire, I respectfully request You to read my palm."
What happened after that is of great interest to each and every Ananda Margii. Indeed, the below story of Ac.Tarachand Ganguli's interaction with Baba on this topic of palmistry is of great significance. We should all know Baba's response.
Here following is that story...
Person's past, present & future: all in His mind
Those days, in the 1950's, I, Tarachand Ganguli, was working in the Jamalpur Railway office alongside Baba. In due course I was initiated, became a practicing margii, and went on to become a family acarya, by His grace. But in the 1950s I was a relatively new margii.
While working in the railway office, I personally witnessed how Baba would help everyone with their personal problems and family matters. He would regularly solve all kinds of issues. Naturally word about this spread, and gradually more people from the area would seek out Baba for His counsel. Baba was very gracious and would lovingly guide them in various ways. Not a day passed where He did not relieve someone of their troubles and worries.
Baba would employ distinct avenues for imparting guidance. Sometimes He would simply speak kind words and calm their concerns that way, and sometimes He would guide them in various other ways. Certainly, Baba would not need to see the palm to know that person's past, present, and future. Already that was in His mind.
Baba maintained a set window of when He would see them. Often it had to be early in the morning, on a particular day and those coming had to follow certain rules and restrictions such as arriving on an empty stomach. In that way, Baba would accommodate and give advice and guidelines. The people were very grateful to Baba after meeting with Him.
I approach Baba
I sought His permission and gently extended my hand towards Him. Baba looked at me.
In a soft and reverential tone, I said, "Baba, I humbly seek Your guidance. If You desire, I respectfully request You to read my palm."
Immediately, in His grand liila, Baba's mood changed.
Baba looked at me, "What! You are an Ananda Margii! You have come under My shelter. Things like fortune telling and palmistry have no meaning for you. You are a sadhaka so these things are not relevant for you. Being an Ananda Margii, you should not resort to things like palmistry and fortune-telling."
I immediately withdrew my hand in shame and mentally begged His forgiveness. Baba then smiled at me. Internally I thought, "Yes, this is quite clear. I should not do this. When I am under Baba's eternal shelter then He is managing everything. He is watching out for me in all kinds of ways. My future is safe and secure in Him. There is no need for me to resort to palmistry, i.e. bowing down to my own samskara from past life."
Again I closed my eyes, and mentally offered my everything to Baba. I thought, "How blessed I am to have come under You divine shelter. With You by my side, there is no need for anything else. Baba, You are so gracious."
Such was the story of our dear, respected brother, Tarachand Ganguli.
Every sadhaka requiting samskaras at incredibly fast rate
As you may be aware, here is a very simple and rational explanation why palmistry and fortune-telling have no value in the life of an Ananda Margii. Everyone who receives tantric diiksa and practices Ananda Marga sadhana is burning samskaras at an incredibly fast rate. They are going to get mukti in this life, per Baba's guarantee in the Supreme Command. Just one needs to be sincere in their sadhana.
Margiis samskaras are getting exhausted very rapidly. Plus, Baba being Hari, steals the samskaras of His devotees. That is why for sincere Ananda Margiis, palmistry and fortune telling are wholly meaningless.
- Worry: If one is worried about their future and resorts to palmistry for an answer or consolation, then it means that sadhaka is not depending on Parama Purusa. It means that person is surrendering to fate, not surrendering to the sweet will of the Divine Entity.
- Lethargy: Those who believe in palmistry often become lethargic. If the prediction is unfavourable, they think that there is nothing they can do and they resign themselves to their poor plight. It becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy. And if they get a positive reading then they think that since everything is good there is nothing more they need to do. So in both cases people become extremely lethargic and inactive. But in Ananda Marga, our manner is to stay ever-active and always engage in positive endeavours. We always move forward in life; we never resign ourselves to fate.
- Fate: In essence, those who resort to palmistry become fatalists. They surrender to fate, i.e. their past samskaras. We do not surrender to fate or past samskaras, we surrender to Parama Purusa Baba. One should never chase after fate.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "A fatalist means a worshipper of fate – a worshipper of fortune or fate. They are worse than nature-worshippers. What is fate? There is nothing such as fate in this universe.. No, a person must not be a fatalist, a fate-worshipper, a person must be bold and bravely face all troubles, all consequences. No one should be a fatalist. So fate cannot be the object of meditation. Fight against fate." (1)
Conclusion
Ananda Marga ideology says, “So, the best way is the path of devotion, complete surrender. Say “O Lord, I am your creation, I’m a small being, I am a unit being, completely depending on your mercy. I want psycho-spiritual progress, I want to move along the path of psycho-spirituality. Please help me.” And when one wants this aim sincerely, from the core of the heart, certainly it will happen. And that’s why I say nobody is insignificant, nobody is weak, nobody is helpless. The Supreme Lord, Parama Puruśa, is with you, He will always be with you. So, this progress, this psycho-spiritual progress, which is called “Mokśa” in Saḿskrta, is not a very difficult path, is not at all a thorny road. What is it? It is a very easy and very pleasant journey. Depend solely on Him, as a little child depends solely on the mother.” (2)
Namaskar,
at His lotus feet,
Krsnasundaram
~ In-depth study ~
Here is more from Baba's discourse on fate and worshiping fate. As sadhakas, we should never give in to such a mentality. We are to take active and pointed steps in life. That is how we are to proceed.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "Fate. There are many people who are fatalists. They are worshippers of fate. A fatalist means a worshipper of fate – a worshipper of fortune or fate. They are worse than nature-worshippers. What is fate? There is nothing such as fate in this universe. So far as the philosophy is concerned there cannot be anything called fate. What is fate? Everyone has to undergo the reaction of his or her past actions, the reaction of the original action. Suppose your finger comes in contact with fire; you will feel pain, you will have to suffer but, at that moment one will say that because your finger came in contact with fire, that’s why you are suffering. But when the reaction takes place after a long gap, and when the original action is not known or has been forgotten, or when the original action took place in another past life, and you do not know what was the original action – in that case you say, it is fate, it is fate. But actually there is no fate. What you call fate is actually the reaction of our past actions. In saḿskrta, it is called saḿskára, in Latin “reactive momenta”. So the third thing is, fate cannot be the object of ideation – fate is simply the reaction of the original action. So when there is no original action, there cannot be any reaction. The reaction is a creation of your own action. When the reaction is a creation of your own action, you are the creator of the action. So, how can the reaction be your object of ideation? No, a person must not be a fatalist, a fate-worshipper, a person must be bold and bravely face all troubles, all consequences. No one should be a fatalist. So fate cannot be the object of meditation. Fight against fate." (3)
References
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 12, Microcosm and Its Object of Ideation
2. Subhasita Samgraha - 13, Subjective Approach and Objective Adjustment
3. Subhasita Samgraha - 12, Microcosm and Its Object of Ideation
Plagiary?
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.
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Special guideline
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Do not tolerate injustice. This will...will cause a serious carbuncle to grow on the vast body of society. That carbuncle will be so poisonous and infectious that it will infect the entire society. Do not allow such a thing to happen under any circumstances. Now that your eyes are opened, keep following the practical path." (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell - 5, Yatamána – 2
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Selfishness will ruin western civilisation
Prout philosophy states, “The curse of capitalism engulfs the whole of society. Thus capitalism is anti-human.” (1)
Here below are quotes from various on-line sources that delineate the ways of selfishness.
- “Adam Smith: Capitalism’s Founding Father: Adam Smith held that individuals acting in their own self-interest would naturally seek out economic activities that provided the greatest financial rewards. Smith was convinced that this self-interest would in turn maximize the economic well-being of society as a whole.” (Courtesy of Vision(dot)org)
- “Self-interest is related to the Golden Rule: simply acting toward all others the way one wants them to act toward oneself. The reasoning, for example, is "I will not steal because if I steal then others may steal from me and the creation of a thieving society will likely hurt me”.” (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
- “Self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest.” (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Week in and week out there are mass shootings across the US, yet the mass of the population does not want to do anything about gun laws and regulation. This is one tiny example of selfishness. As long as they did not get hurt they do not care.
References
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 12, The Transformation of Psychic Pabula into Psycho-spiritual Pabulum
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Most useful and scientific script at present
Prout philosophy states, "In the present world there are four types of scripts – Indo Aryan, Semitic, Occido-Aryan and Mongolo-Chinese scripts."
"The Mongolo-Chinese scripts are pictorial scripts – all the letters of the scripts are pictures. They contain about 1055 letters. In the Occido-Aryan scripts there are 20 to 35 letters. In the Indo-Aryan scripts there are about 50 letters, and in the Semitic scripts there are 20 to 30 letters."
"The Chinese and Japanese practice of using Romanized Mongolo-Chinese script is unscientific."
"Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi, Kashmiri, etc. come under the Semitic scripts and are written from right to left. This is difficult to write and takes a long time to print. Malaya has abandoned Arabic script and adopted Roman script to overcome this difficulty."
"The scripts of Tibet and South-East Asia come under the Indo-Aryan scripts. They are quite good but difficulties arise in joining letters. Through practice it has been experienced that Roman script is the best script. It is the most scientific. Those who oppose it do so out of local sentiments. Proutists won't go against any local script, but they will encourage the most scientific script as the world script. At present Roman script is the most scientific script. Future generations may evolve a new script." (1)
Reference
1. Talks on Prout
== Section ==
পদবী হিসাৰে মেয়েরা দেবী লিখুন
“এক কালে, এমন ছিল যখন কোনও মানুষ সাধনা বিজ্ঞানে কিছুটা এগিয়ে গিয়ে ছিল, {ঐশ্বরীয়} [ঈশ্বরীয়] তরঙ্গগুলো সংস্পর্শে আসৰার মত আরও কিছু ৰেশী যোগ্যতা অর্জন করেছিল | মানুষ শ্রদ্ধা করে তাদেরও দেব ৰলত | এবং আমরা আনন্দমার্গেও তো ৰলেছি যে সৰাই পদবী হিসাৰে পুরুষরা দেব লিখুন মেয়েরা দেবী লিখুন | কারণ দেব হওয়াটাই তো তার লক্ষ্য | তাই দেব পদবীকে মানুষের আদর্শ সম্যক্ রূপে প্রতিভাত হয় |” সম্যক্ রূপে উন্মোচিত হয় | (1)
Reference
1. MGD 15 February 1981 Krishnanagar
बाबा! तुम बृहत् से भी बृहत् अनन्त हो, फिर भी तुम अपने दिव्य लीला से,
गोपनीय ढंग से मेरे मन के एक कोने में छिपे हुये हो।
प्रभात संगीत 617, मनेर कोने रोेयेछो गोपने, बृहतेर चेये तुमि बृहत्....
(जो साधना का 6th पाठ नहीं करता, वह यह गाना नहीं समझ सकता )
भावार्थ
बाबा! हे परमपुरुष!, तुम बृहत् से भी बृहत् अनन्त हो, फिर भी तुम अपने दिव्य लीला से, गोपनीय ढंग से मेरे मन के एक कोने में छिपे हुये हो। बाबा! तुम न केवल प्रेम से संतृप्त हो वरन् तुम तो प्रेमावतार हो और अपने दिव्य प्रेम में तुमने पूरे विश्व को संतृप्त कर रखा है। तुम्हारी लीला अतुलनीय है।
हे, बाबा तुमने जड़ता और तन्द्रा को हटा दिया है। हे अखंड सत्ता! हे परमपुरुष! तुम खंड की सीमा में आ गये हो। तुमने कृपा कर मेरे ध्यान में पदार्पण किया। तुम मेरे मानसिक कमल के आसन पर विराजमान हुये, हे, बाबा करुणासागर, तुम संवेदनातीत और महत हो। ।
बाबा! तुम कुहासा से ढके, सफेद अति उच्च पहाड़ की तरह, मनके भीतर में, अमृत सार के रूप मे हो । तुम पराज्ञान के मूल में, आनन्द स्वरूप हो । तुम केवल मेरे हो, मेरे मन में विलकुल व्यक्तिगत ढंग से प्रकट होकर, तुमने मेरे ऊपर कृपा की है, और......।
“Reactions in requital to past actions normally occur more in a spiritual aspirant’s life than in an ordinary person’s life. The reason is that when all original actions are surrendered to Brahma, there remain only the reactive actions. The reactions may be good or bad [according to whether they are resultants of good or bad original actions]. But think about how many of the deeds you performed before coming to the path of sádhaná were good and how many were bad. To tell the unpleasant truth, ninety-nine percent of your deeds were bad. Hence it is often the case that sádhakas have to suffer much more from bad reactive momenta than get to enjoy good ones. It can even be said that the more one suffers from reactions, the more one is progressing along the path of sádhaná.”
“Of course, the requital of the reactive momenta may possibly be pleasurable instead of painful; it all depends upon the nature of one’s actions. In either case, the more one surrenders one’s actions to Brahma, the shorter will be the period of requital caused by the reactions. In this case the intensity of the requital will be greater than normal; but this is a good sign, because intense requital means the exhaustion of the requital within a short period.” (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology in a Nutshell - 8, Sádhaná
“এক কালে, এমন ছিল যখন কোনও মানুষ সাধনা বিজ্ঞানে কিছুটা এগিয়ে গিয়ে ছিল, {ঐশ্বরীয়} [ঈশ্বরীয়] তরঙ্গগুলো সংস্পর্শে আসৰার মত আরও কিছু ৰেশী যোগ্যতা অর্জন করেছিল | মানুষ শ্রদ্ধা করে তাদেরও দেব ৰলত | এবং আমরা আনন্দমার্গেও তো ৰলেছি যে সৰাই পদবী হিসাৰে পুরুষরা দেব লিখুন মেয়েরা দেবী লিখুন | কারণ দেব হওয়াটাই তো তার লক্ষ্য | তাই দেব পদবীকে মানুষের আদর্শ সম্যক্ রূপে প্রতিভাত হয় |” সম্যক্ রূপে উন্মোচিত হয় | (1)
Reference
1. MGD 15 February 1981 Krishnanagar
== Section ==
बाबा! तुम बृहत् से भी बृहत् अनन्त हो, फिर भी तुम अपने दिव्य लीला से,
गोपनीय ढंग से मेरे मन के एक कोने में छिपे हुये हो।
प्रभात संगीत 617, मनेर कोने रोेयेछो गोपने, बृहतेर चेये तुमि बृहत्....
(जो साधना का 6th पाठ नहीं करता, वह यह गाना नहीं समझ सकता )
भावार्थ
बाबा! हे परमपुरुष!, तुम बृहत् से भी बृहत् अनन्त हो, फिर भी तुम अपने दिव्य लीला से, गोपनीय ढंग से मेरे मन के एक कोने में छिपे हुये हो। बाबा! तुम न केवल प्रेम से संतृप्त हो वरन् तुम तो प्रेमावतार हो और अपने दिव्य प्रेम में तुमने पूरे विश्व को संतृप्त कर रखा है। तुम्हारी लीला अतुलनीय है।
हे, बाबा तुमने जड़ता और तन्द्रा को हटा दिया है। हे अखंड सत्ता! हे परमपुरुष! तुम खंड की सीमा में आ गये हो। तुमने कृपा कर मेरे ध्यान में पदार्पण किया। तुम मेरे मानसिक कमल के आसन पर विराजमान हुये, हे, बाबा करुणासागर, तुम संवेदनातीत और महत हो। ।
बाबा! तुम कुहासा से ढके, सफेद अति उच्च पहाड़ की तरह, मनके भीतर में, अमृत सार के रूप मे हो । तुम पराज्ञान के मूल में, आनन्द स्वरूप हो । तुम केवल मेरे हो, मेरे मन में विलकुल व्यक्तिगत ढंग से प्रकट होकर, तुमने मेरे ऊपर कृपा की है, और......।
== Section ==
************************************
Why sadhakas suffer more
Why sadhakas suffer more
“Reactions in requital to past actions normally occur more in a spiritual aspirant’s life than in an ordinary person’s life. The reason is that when all original actions are surrendered to Brahma, there remain only the reactive actions. The reactions may be good or bad [according to whether they are resultants of good or bad original actions]. But think about how many of the deeds you performed before coming to the path of sádhaná were good and how many were bad. To tell the unpleasant truth, ninety-nine percent of your deeds were bad. Hence it is often the case that sádhakas have to suffer much more from bad reactive momenta than get to enjoy good ones. It can even be said that the more one suffers from reactions, the more one is progressing along the path of sádhaná.”
“Of course, the requital of the reactive momenta may possibly be pleasurable instead of painful; it all depends upon the nature of one’s actions. In either case, the more one surrenders one’s actions to Brahma, the shorter will be the period of requital caused by the reactions. In this case the intensity of the requital will be greater than normal; but this is a good sign, because intense requital means the exhaustion of the requital within a short period.” (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology in a Nutshell - 8, Sádhaná
************************************
== Section 2: Links ==
Other topics of interest
