Power of sadhana
Namaskar,
If
one does sadhana sincerely, they will exhaust their samskaras (i.e.
reactive momenta) extremely quickly, by Baba's grace. Verily, it is His
blessing how one's accumulated samskaras from countless lifetimes -
which are the cause of numerous difficulties, diseases and untold
suffering - can be burned by sincere sadhana.
Ananda Marga
philosophy states, “As long as the unit consciousness is under bondages,
it moves around in the cosmic cycle of creation due to the play of life
and death of the microcosms. When the objective mind, through constant
sádhaná, exhausts all its acquired reactive momenta, it becomes one with
the Supreme Consciousness.” (1)
Rahaman was bedridden, sadhana cured him
In
the below story, Rahaman ji learned sadhana at a late age when he was
terribly sick and bedridden, yet he practiced his sadhana very sincerely
and diligently. So many of his samskaras were burned, and he regained
his strength and vital energy whereby he could tour all around India to
do pracara and talk about the glory of sadhana and how he was cured of
his diseases and ailments. Verily, his entire life became transformed.
This is the speciality of sadhaka life.
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In
contrast, non-sadhakas, in a single human life, create so many
samskaras, i.e. enough for countless lifetimes. Side by side, they are
very slow to exhaust their samskaras. By the end of their life, they are
in a huge deficit. So many new samskaras were created and very few old
ones were burned. For normal citizens, their path is extremely slow and
laborious.
Sadhaka vs non-sadhaka
And
if during their life they harmed and hurt others, they will be in
complete bondage and reborn as animals. And then after numerous animal
lives, they may again get human life. And if they furthermore indulge in
harmful dealings and degrading activities, they will accumulate a new
load of samskaras. In that case, after their death they may revert back
to animal life - once again. And this cycle might repeat itself
countless times until they are blessed to come onto the path of sadhana.
But
for a sadhaka it is completely different. Due to sadhana and second
lesson, all their old samskaras get burned and no new ones are created.
It is a very positive equation. So one's whole life becomes transformed.
And verily that is what happened in this story recounted below. With
sincere efforts in sadhana, so many of Rahaman's samskaras were
exhausted. And he progressed far ahead on the path of spirituality.
As
we know, Sadguru Baba's guarantee is that by sincerely practicing
sadhana twice daily, one will cross the ocean of samskara and suffering.
Ananda
Marga ideology guides us, “When people rob others, or indulge in
hypocrisy, or cheat people, or indulge in tall talk day after day, they
are committing original actions. When a dishonest government employee
accepts a bribe it is an original action, and when his son gets sick and
has to be rushed to the doctor it is the reactive action (the reaction
to the original action). When his son dies he laments, “I haven’t
knowingly done anything wrong. Oh, Lord, why have you given me such
severe punishment.” But God did not give him any punishment – the deep
sorrow he felt at the death of his child was the result of his past
original actions.” (2)
Story: Rahaman margii of Coimbatore
Throughout
his life, Rahaman was a follower of Islam as he was born and raised in a
Muslim family. So from early on, he was indoctrinated into all those
Islamic dogmas. And in his simplicity he followed those outdated Islamic
dogmas very obediently. Later on, he developed an interest in Sufism
and was also part of the theosophical society. And it was there that he
met Shrii Hariram ji grhii acarya.
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It
was Hariramji who introduced brother Rahaman to Ananda Marga in
Coimbatore (South India) in the late 1960’s. By that time Rahaman was
quite aged with a white beard, and in failing health. Actually the
situation was quite dire: Rahaman's health was so poor he was confined
to his house and mostly bedridden. Nonetheless, in that weakened
condition, Rahaman took initiation into Ananda Marga sadhana.
Did sadhana lying in bed
From
the outset Rahaman practiced sadhana very diligently, despite his
failing health. Actually in those beginning days, he mostly did sadhana
lying in bed due to his severe weakness and illness. Slowly,
step-by-step, he gained his strength back after a few weeks of
practicing of sadhana. Rahaman's feelings of bhakti were also growing
and he attributed his improving health exclusively to the divine grace
of Baba.
Soon, Rahaman was able to do sadhana in a seated
posture. Miraculously, due to the practise of sadhana and Guru’s grace,
Abdul’s health continued to improve as he did more and more meditation.
Soon he was up and walking around and began regularly attending the
local dharmacakra. Many in the Marga began to talk about Rahaman's
remarkable return to health due to the practice of sadhana and Guru’s
krpa. And it was at this time that I met him and heard his story.
Whole existence became transformed
By
Baba's grace, Rahaman's vigour and well-being continued to improve as
he became more and more strict in his spiritual routine. Amazingly,
Rahaman had regained sufficient strength where he felt inspired to tour
and visit numerous Ananda Marga ashrams in various states. He used to
stay in each jagrti for a few days and give a talk on the dharma of
Ananda Marga versus the dogma of Islam. Rahaman did two separate tours
of this type. And he was always well-received by the margiis wherever he
went.
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It
should also be noted here that Rahaman began to face increasing
backlash from the local Muslim community. They were pressuring him on
many points: diet, prayer, etc. They wanted him to revert back to eating
meat and refrain from doing sadhana. Rahaman remained firm on the path
of dharma and was undeterred by their tactics. What to speak of not
being swayed by them, he was bringing some of those Muslims onto the
path of Ananda Marga. Due to sadhana and bhakti, Rahaman had become a
veritable force of dharma, by Baba’s grace.
Rahaman inspired many Muslims
All
along, only one thought was dominant in his mind - Rahaman felt that he
must see Baba. This became his singular aim in life. Because after just
a few weeks and months of doing Ananda Marga sadhana, he had become
cured. So finally he went to Jamalpur and was blessed to have PC with
Baba. And his whole existence became transformed. After leaving
Jamalpur, Rahaman went to numerous mosques where he inspired many
Muslims and arranged for their initiation into Ananda Marga sadhana.
Conclusion
If
anyone is suffering from any kind of disease it is most likely a result
of their negative samskara, i.e. bad deeds done by them in the past.
Sadhana destroys that reactive momenta (i.e. those old samskaras) and
that is why one can eliminate their disease and become fully cured, by
His grace. And that is what happened in this story with our margii
brother Rahaman.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Ramkrishnan
~ In-depth study ~
Ananda
Marga philosophy guides us, “The people of today do not have to labour
quite as hard as Vaishishta and Vishvamitra had to do in order to
discover the way to move ahead, because modern science and philosophy
today are valuable aids to human progress. The people of today are able
to realize the Supreme Entity in one life, or maybe in 15 to 20 years,
for which they had to practice penance for lives together in the past.
Apart from the direct help of philosophy and science, the spiritual
quest also greatly helped human beings in their elevation. The humans of
today have started to realize that they are the progeny of Parama
Puruśa, an integral part of Parama Puruśa. If people can properly ideate
on Parama Puruśa, they will realize Brahma. On imbibing cosmic ideation
all kinds of ailments will be cured.” (3)
The Supreme Command
states, "Those who perform sadhana twice a day regularly, the thought of
Parama Purusa will certainly arise in their minds at the time of death;
their liberation is a sure guarantee...." (4)
The story continues....
Rahaman
went to Nagpur to do pracara and while there he stayed with my sister
Sushiila’ and brother in law - Shrii Raja Mani, chief engineer at
Empress Mills. While with them, Rahaman continually expressed his ardent
desire to go and meet Sadguru Baba - he was strongly feeling Baba's
pull and wanted to have His darshan.
Baba calls Rahaman
Some
time later, the opportunity presented itself, and Rahamnji embarked on
his journey to Jamalpur, in hopes of seeing Baba. Upon his arrival at
the Jamalpur railway station he went directly to the jagrti. But Rahaman
was told that Baba had just gone off on fieldwalk and would be back
some hours later. No message was conveyed to Baba about Rahaman's
arrival as there was no means of contacting His assistant etc. Rahaman
was disappointed that he had missed Baba's field walk and was anxious
for His return.
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Those
along with Baba on field walk that day told that they had only gone for
a small portion of the walk when Baba stopped and thought for a moment.
Then, Baba turned to them and said, "One good margii from Coimbatore
has come to see Me - he's had this yearning in his heart since long -
and he is now anxiously waiting for Me at the jagrti." Baba abruptly cut
short His field walk and started His return back to the jagrti. In this
way, Rahaman was blessed to have the PC of Baba.
Rahaman told
how this was the most blissful and memorable occasion of his life. He
cherished this moment dearly and would regularly tell other bhaktas
about this - wherever he was, but especially in and around Coimbatore.
Ultimately,
some years later, Rahaman had to leave Coimbatore for Vallur - and
there he lived many years doing sadhana and Ananda Marga pracara, by
Baba’s grace.
Thanks to Rajgopalji for narrating this story.
Samskara theory is complex and cannot be explained fully in one single letter. If you visit this site you will find more information if you search the term: Samskara.
Note: The full name of the margii in the above story is Abdul Rahaman.
References
1. Ananda Marga Philosophy - 5, Abhedajiṋána and Nirvikalpa Samádhi
2. Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life - 8, Sadhana
3. A Few Problems Solved - 3, The Evolution of Human Civilization
4. Supreme Command
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.
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Tomorrow I will do
Ananda Marga ideology states, "It has been said earlier that the grace of Parama Puruśa is only showered on devotees. His grace is all that matters. It is true that the people of knowledge (jiṋániis) and the people of action (karmiis) may labour harder, but it is the devotees (bhaktas) alone who attain Parama Puruśa. There are two major obstacles on the path of knowledge: lethargy and vanity. A vain person remains far away from Parama Puruśa. Of all the different types of lethargy, spiritual lethargy is the worst. Spiritual lethargy means not to sit for meditation regularly. Those with spiritual lethargy have time for all other actions, but for spiritual practice there seems to be no time. They say, “It's already late today – I'll do a short meditation right now, and devote more time to sádhaná tomorrow.” They sit attentively inside the cinema hall, but in dharma sádhaná they feel sleepy." (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 10, The Devotee and the Lord
