Baba
Before leaving this world
Namaskar,
Every era is marked by certain trends, values, mindsets, and outlooks. Life has a particular colour. And while this can be detected in many ways, one very telling approach is to examine the elderly. By seeing how they behave one can get a sense of the values of that era. Because those aged people will make their choices based on what they cherish and value most.
In every era, the elderly have a different perception of what constitutes their "unfinished business", i.e. what they most want to accomplish before they leave this world. And this priority changes from one epoch to the next. Though in any given era there are always exceptions. Here, in this letter, however, we are going to examine the norm, i.e. what the typical person does.
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Vipran era: the aged travel to holy sites
For instance, during the vipran era, due to indoctrination, the aged people travel to their religious so-called holy sites in the later days of their life. By this way, they hope to gain virtue, cleanse themselves of sin, and participate in various rituals and customs etc. They place tremendous value on the holy books and religious texts etc. This is where they find meaning in life, and, hence, in their later years they go on a holy pilgrimage to fulfil their desire and destiny. Those elderly persons think that will make their life complete.
To this end, some go to Varanasi, others to Jerusalem, while still more go to Mecca etc. By such actions, we can understand that the population is mostly guided by religious edicts. This is indicative of the vipran era wherein religious priests set the trend and goals for the general society.
Materialism: elderly satisfy the senses
Those living in a materialistic atmosphere have a vastly different take on things. Because their outlook is different, so their actions are different as well. They spend their senior years involved in sense-experience. They want to see what they have not seen, taste what they have not tasted, and experience what they have not experienced in the physical stratum. In sum, they want to satiate their mundane desires and soak up as much of this world as possible.
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Tourism is a huge business that caters to the elderly in materialistic societies. Tour companies cash in on the belief that the elderly feel that this is how they can best utlise their last few years, months, and days on this earth. So they will go, and see, and do whatever their personal wealth will allow. They may visit the Eiffel Tour and dine in exquisite French restaurants, or they may take a cruise to Antarctica, or they may go to Las Vegas (also known as sin city) to fulfill all their baser propensities. Each person may have their own petty desire but they are all rooted in the same ideal: Namely that sense-experience is tops and that should be satisfied. That is their unfinished business.
Materialists could not understand anything
So, for us, it is quite shocking to see elderly materialists scurrying around this earth in hopes of fulfilling their earthly desires. It gives the impression that they have lived their whole life without ever learning anything. They were diverted from the main truth that this world is finite and cannot satisfy infinite human longing. For that one must turn towards the spiritual realm. But this fact they never got.
Elderly folks swamped in materialism have a "bucket list" - an itemised agenda of what places and things they want to see and do: Skydive in Belize, surf in Hawaii, smoke a Cuban cigar, dance with a showgirl etc.
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Sadly, over the course of their life they could not learn that spirituality is the top-most aim. It is similar to someone spending an entire week watching a long production of the Ramayana and then at the very end asking, "Now what is the name of Ram's wife?" By their very question it is clear that they missed the entire story - they could not learn anything. So they will have to come back again and start from the very beginning. There is no other option.
Such is the story of the materialist. Despite passing decades on this earth. They could not get the main cream of life. Only they got caught in the whirlpool that materialism and sense-experience is everything. That is their sad plight.
Conclusion
Whenever a person has a small, limited amount of time, then they quickly prioritize and execute those tasks that are most important.
For instance, if one is at the market and there is only a few minutes left before it closes, then that person will quickly purchase the most essential foods on their shopping list. Similarly, if someone is at home and they have only a few minutes before they must leave for the day, then they will quickly gather the most needed items for their journey and close up their house before going.
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When faced with a limited span of time, people are keen to complete their "unfinished business." This is the formula that applies to the elderly; this becomes their modus operandi. They feel they haven't got much time left on this earth. In their aged state, their glands undergo change and their entire psychology shifts. Their sole desire is to complete all their undone projects and attend to any leftover works. That is where they give their top priority - to complete their unfinished business.
In our Ananda Marga, our view is entirely different. All along we have cultivated the ideal that this world is ephemeral and while here we are to focus on Parama Purusa. We do not view this world as our final abode - just it is a point of transition where we can channelise all our psychic tendencies for the spiritual realm. Thus in our final months, years, and days, maximum time is spent serving humanity in the highest manner possible and keeping the mind focused on the Divine Entity. This is our approach.
In Him,
Ananda Deva
Guru's direction: During breakfast, Baba would regularly read Ananda Marga newspapers / bulletins. If an AM newspaper was not available He would not take food till He received one. At DMC gatherings, Baba used to tell everyone that they should first read AM newspapers and support its cause.
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~ In-depth study ~
Here we should all reflect on Sadguru Baba's divine teachings:
Smarana nitya anityatam
Ananda Marga ideology states, "You should remember always that you have come here for a short span. You won’t remain in this world for a long period. You may remain here say for ninety or hundred years or say for one hundred and fifty years. Some saints like Traelaunga Sva'mii lived here for three hundred and fifty years. He lived in Varanasi in India and died in this twentieth century. But you are to live under certain limitations – limitations of time, space and person."
"So you should always remember that you have come here for a very short span. It is just like a waiting room of a railway station. You remain there for a short period and when the train comes, you leave the waiting room. This world is just like that waiting room. You are to remain here for a very short span."
"You should always remember this fact – “I have come here for a short span and I won’t remain here for a very long period. My home is elsewhere. I am just like a tourist.” You should always remember this fact. And as a universal tourist, you, while leaving for your permanent home, won’t require a passport." (1)
...Or else you will bemoan the futility of your life
Ananda Marga ideology states, "The worship of Brahma should be done scrupulously, or else you will later regret and bemoan the futility of your life with the last drop of your tears at your last hour. You should make your life worthwhile through your Sádhaná. How much can your worldly friends and relations do for you? After your death your relatives may perhaps ask, “How much money has he left behind?” Your friends may go to the crematorium and indulge in flattering reminiscences about you. Your husband or wife may cry for you for about ten or twelve days and then regain their normal composure. Your lot will be only a profound sigh – a record of the futility and frustration of your life. So do not waste your time lest you later have to repent." (2)
Your family members will only cry for a few days
Ananda Marga ideology states, "When a person dies, what feelings will his mother and father, his brothers and sisters show? They will cry aloud, but after two or three days, normalcy will return. They will resume their normal mundane duties. And after a few days more or a few months they will forget the person. In societies where a widow's marriage is accepted by people, the widow will remarry. In India, in upper-class Hindu society, a widow's marriage is not accepted, but in a major portion of the world, even in India in some cases, a widow's marriage is accepted by others. So you cannot say that any of your relatives is your bandhu. Nobody is your bandhu, or friend, in this respect. According to Indian custom, parents having only one son may adopt another child, who is then called bandhu. But Jagat Bandhu is the only real Bandhu. Parama Puruśa is the only real bandhu. He loved you in the past; He will love you in the future. He alone is Bandhu. His name is Jagat Bandhu...He is the only suhrda that remains with you even after your death." (3)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "After your death your friends will carry you to the cremation ground. After being burnt, the body is rendered into ashes. Your friends will spray some water on the ashes of the funeral pyre, and then go back home. As long as they are in the cremation ground, they remember you. After that they forget you. But dharma remains with you even after your death, and what you did for dharma in this world is never forgotten. Therefore, in your worldly life, you are to strengthen the hands of dharma, and in the world, dharma will strengthen you. So it is the duty of intellectuals and intelligent people to strengthen the hands of dharma." (4)
Be one with Him gain eternal peace
Ananda Marga ideology states, "For Him you may use the word bandhu, suhrda, or sakhá: He is your everything. You cannot do without Him. Your relationship with Parama Puruśa is like the relationship of a fish with water. So it is futile to forget Him; try to remember Him always. This remembering Him always, in all spheres and all strata of life, is called “dhruvásmrti”. Don't forget this for a single moment. By dint of your sádhaná, try to develop dhruvásmrti and be one with Him, and in peace, for infinity." (5)
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 12, Puńya All Twenty-Four Hours
2. Subhasita Samgraha - 3, Vibration, Form and Colour
3. Ananda Vacanamrtam-4, Your Real Friend
4. Ananda Vacanamrtam-4, Your Real Friend
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam-4, Your Real Friend
* * *
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 ==
Appearance of ghosts explained
Ananda Marga philosophy, “You may have heard that some people after married for second time, “see” the spirit of their deceased wives or husbands. These are but the plays of the mind. After remarriage some weak-minded people who believe in ghosts, keep thinking about their first wives. They keep imagining that their first wives have resented their remarriage and that their spirits will now come to punish them or their new spouses, and their second wives also often think thus. As a result both of them “see” imaginary spirits, believing that they really appeared, and give a start in fright. Sometimes they faint or inarticulately repeat those very things which they had expected those so-called spirits to say and people take for granted that they are possessed by ghosts. In such a condition, as the conscious mind (kámamaya kośa), is wholly or partially absorbed in the sub-conscious mind (Manomaya Kośa), the consciousness of reality becomes impaired. Such people then, heedless of propriety and the respect due to their elders, openly express the imagination of their sub-conscious minds. When the exorcists come to exorcise the “spirit” they try to set right the mind of the patients by making them inhale the smoke of different objects; they try to bring the conscious mind to normalcy and awaken the Kámamaya Kośa by arousing in the nervous system the sense of reality with blows or abuse. To confound and distract the assembled spectators they mumble and mutter a few mantras or incantations. You may have encountered yet another type of demoniacal possession, which does not weaken the conscious mind very much in the wakeful state; but during sleep such strength of mind does not exists, and as a result during sleep, while lying on his back, the person sees nightmare of imaginary ghost sitting on his chest. Dreaming is an act of the sub-conscious mind. In the dream state the imaginary ghost of the sub-conscious mind takes form beautifully and repeats verbatim to him the language of his imagination. In the dreamful state he feels stupefied with fear, due to this excessive stupefaction he starts groaning, and people take it to be demoniacal possession. Thus what is generally called a “nightmare”, is usually the vision of a person whom the dreamer had oppressed in the past and whom the weak-minded oppressor now “sees” after that person’s death. So you see how blatantly harmful it is to give indulgence to fear. All this is in reference to bhaya-vrtti or fear instinct only, but actually this observation is true of every ectoplasmic occupation or vrtti. To attain Brahma you must rise above all ectoplasmic occupations. Without the suspension of the vrttis it is impossible to attain Brahma.” (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 5, The Chariot and the Charioteer
== Section: Topic ==
Example: exploitation of women
Note: This section is related with the attached video.
Namaskar,
#1: Baba has told in His discourse, "Liberation of Intellect", that although the negative forces want to continue their religious dogma and exploitation, but Parama Purusa wants to eradicate all religious dogma and the exploitation of females. And whatever Parama Purusa thinks, that is going to happen.
#2: Baba told in 1979 that those days in India women had hardly any rights, but since that time there has been tremendous change across planet for women's freedom and equal rights. Although there has been some achievement in this regard, still there is a long way to go.
#3: This is a clear-cut example how the plan of Parama Purusa always gets manifested. Yet, those days it was beyond belief that there would ever be any progress in that regard.
#4: Everything Baba has told - whether it be the victory of dharma or the development of a Prout society - it will all come to fruition in due course.
Plight of women in Islam
#5: In general, all religions exploit females and to some or more degree it is still going on, but Islam stands alone in its ultra-notorious approach.
#6: It was unheard of that women would step up against their own Islamic religious dogma. Not very long even 5 - 10 years back if anybody came out they would get killed quickly by terrorists.
#7: Yet now in this video Muslim women are unmasking the perpetual female exploitation that is documented in those so-called religious scriptures. See the huge change that has taken place. And still today those ladies are alive after engaging in this protest.
Conclusion
#8: The wall of Islamic dogma is crumbling down before our very eyes.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "There are some people who have the opinion that men are especially favoured by Parama Puruśa and that women are not; or that one man is equal to three women. This is dogma. These absurd ideas all originated in dogma. Any intelligent person can easily understand that these propositions are totally hollow and irrational." (1)
In Him,
Name
Amar Deva
(Akhtar Ali)
Reference
1. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 15, “Buddha o Aśt́áḿga Márga”
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Helping, honouring, and how to look upon sectors of society
Ananda Marga philosophy says:
“(7) Help the weak and the helpless in all possible ways."
"(8) You should always strive to maintain the honour of women, without considering whether a woman belongs to a particular caste or religion."
"(9) Never attack the religious beliefs of anyone. Make the person understand gradually with logic. If you attack a person's religious beliefs, it means you have attacked Ananda Marga."
"(10) Distinctions based on profession, wealth and birth are man-made. You must not give indulgence to these things in any way. Only vested interests are behind class distinctions." (1)
Reference
1. Caryacarya-2, Society, Points #7-10
About the fight of vidyá and avidyá
Prout philosophy states, "The fight between vidyá and avidyá will go on forever; so the necessity of more or less police and military will also go on forever. But then, when the world government is established, this necessity will decrease. As there is always fight between vidyá and avidyá, more or less class struggle, too, will continue forever. Hence those who day-dream that, after establishing a classless society, they will be able to enjoy a sound slumber with their arms and legs outstretched, will be totally disappointed." (1)
Reference
1. Problems of the Day #30
Ananda Marga philosophy says:
“(7) Help the weak and the helpless in all possible ways."
"(8) You should always strive to maintain the honour of women, without considering whether a woman belongs to a particular caste or religion."
"(9) Never attack the religious beliefs of anyone. Make the person understand gradually with logic. If you attack a person's religious beliefs, it means you have attacked Ananda Marga."
"(10) Distinctions based on profession, wealth and birth are man-made. You must not give indulgence to these things in any way. Only vested interests are behind class distinctions." (1)
Reference
1. Caryacarya-2, Society, Points #7-10
== Section: Important Teaching ==
About the fight of vidyá and avidyá
Prout philosophy states, "The fight between vidyá and avidyá will go on forever; so the necessity of more or less police and military will also go on forever. But then, when the world government is established, this necessity will decrease. As there is always fight between vidyá and avidyá, more or less class struggle, too, will continue forever. Hence those who day-dream that, after establishing a classless society, they will be able to enjoy a sound slumber with their arms and legs outstretched, will be totally disappointed." (1)
Reference
1. Problems of the Day #30
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Way to get rid of capitalism
Prout philosophy states, “Considering the collective interests of all living beings, it is essential that capitalism be eradicated. But, what should be the proper method to achieve this end?"
"It cannot be denied that violence gives rise to violence. Then again, nothing can ensure that the application of force without violence, with the intention of rectification, will necessarily bring good results. So what should be done under such circumstances?"
Prout philosophy states, "Nothing would be better, if it were possible, than the eradication of capitalism by friendly persuasion and humanistic appeals. In that case the peace of the greater human family would not be much disturbed. But can it be guaranteed that everyone will respond to this approach? Some people may say that a day will come when, as a result of repeatedly listening to such appeals and gradually imbibing them over a long time, as well as through proper mental and spiritual education, good sense will prevail among the exploiters. This argument is very pleasant to hear. Such attempts are not reprehensible. But is it practicable to wait indefinitely for good sense to prevail among the exploiters? By then the exploited mass will have given up the ghost!"
Reference
1. Problems of the Day, Point #2
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
