Baba
This email contains three distinct sections:
1. Posting: Ideal Shraddha Ceremony For Mangal Bihariji
2. End Quote: Queen Was Beaten Mercilessly
3. Links
Unfortunately, nowadays several dogmatic trends have made their way into our Ananda Marga shraddha (death) ceremonies - a.k.a. shra'ddhanustha'nas. Here following is a critical point that we see again and again - plus other issues are brought to the fore as well.
So that the deceased does not suffer in the cold or become hungry in heaven, family members engage in the mass distribution of blankets and clothing (see photos below) - as well as food distribution (narayan seva). They think their offerings will actually reach to their dear one in heaven.
Hindus think that by offering food and blankets then their deceased relative in heaven will get the virtue (punya) of that offering. Such persons actually believe they can enhance the stature and comfort of the deceased through this ritual. They think that blankets given to the poor will be automatically transferred to their loved one in heaven - thus the deceased will be warm. This is their motivating rationale.
Now in our Ananda Marga that same approach has been taken - tragically. Some have adopted these Hindu rituals.
Another common phenomenon is that margiis do two ceremonies: One according to Caryacarya and one according to Hindu dogma, in order to appease their neighbors & village folk etc. But this is not the answer. Baba warns us to never compromise with dogma.
Here is how this type of dogmatic shraddha happened in one Ananda Marga unit a few months ago in a different place:
(Note: This letter continues after the below photos. Eds)
So again we should remember that during the death ceremony, no one should succumb to the dogma of offering flowers. Although it may seem innocent, that will plant the seeds for one full on dogma. Best is to follow Baba's guidelines and use only water.
#2: Dogmatic Offering So Deceased Will Receive
In Other World and Live Comfortably in Heaven
Baba has strictly forbidden such things in our Ananda Marga system. Our shraddha ceremony is to be performed in a simple, dignified, and respectful manner, without any ostentatious, pompous display or costly arrangements, as happens in Hindu dogma. In our Ananda Marga, one must follow the system described in Caryacarya. True Ananda Margiis always adhere to this slogan: Dogma no more- dogma no more. Thus there is no scope in such a ceremony to offer material goods to the deceased. Yet that has suddenly been undermined by the presence of Hindu dogma in some Shraddha ceremonies organised in AM.
So it is quite heartening to see that the shraddha ceremony of Mangal Bihariji was done in a strictly dharmic fashion. This should stand as an example for all Ananda Margiis.
This following teaching from Ananda Marga philosophy opposes the Hindu dogma that the deceased will utilise the food and receive the blankets in heaven. Moreover, usually in Hindu dogma the priest extacts a lot of goods and money from family of the deceased family. Here below it is described how such dogmatic and unscrupulous priests cheat the grieving family.
"A priest may say that your father will die only once, and so after his death you should arrange for a sufficient quantity of food-stuffs, a sufficient quantity of edibles, a sufficient quantity of clothes, etc., for him. And that has been done in India for about five thousand years, since the time of the Atharva Veda. And people have generally offered rice and sesame, also honey and ghee, to be consumed by that person who has left the world."
"Regarding these things, Maharshi Charvaka (*) said “If you are in a room, and another man is in the courtyard a few yards away, and you offer rice and sesame for that man, he won’t get that rice and sesame, and his hunger won’t be satisfied. And if a man is in another world, Aparaloka, and you are offering rice and sesame for him, will he get them? Is it reasonable? No, no. All these things are exploitation by the privileged class.”"
"After offering rice, sesame, clothes, etc., what do you find? The rice is consumed by the purohita in his house. Go to his kitchen, and all that rice is being consumed by his family. That dhuti which is being offered by you for your late father is being used by the purohita, and the sháŕii by the purohita patnii; and the gamci, the towel, if it is surplus, is sold in the market. And the utensils are also sold in the market. So your deceased father, your parents, who are now inhabitants of Aparaloka, won’t get anything." (2)
"And the second thing you will see, or you will feel, is that they do not require these things. The microcosm, or unit spirit, does not require any food or clothes or sesame or utensils. All these ideas are scoundrels’ philosophy. And they have been doing this type of exploitation for the last five thousand years, since the time of the Atharva Veda." (3)
The Ananda Marga shraddha ceremony is done for the welfare and psychological support of the grieving family and loved ones. The deceased does not gain anything from the ceremony.
"The departed soul does not get any advantage from the shráddha ceremony [memorial ceremony]. It is only meant for the psychic satisfaction of the person performing it." (4)
"So what should one do? Haven’t we any social responsibility for dead persons? When the necessity arises, we should offer shraddhá [good will] for them, not barley or wheat or woollen clothes or wrappers or ghee or sesame. What can we do? As long as a man is here in our society we have a social responsibility for him. Human beings are social beings, we have a social responsibility for them. And when the leave this world and go to the other world, they go beyond the scope of our responsibility. We cannot render any service to them. Our social responsibility is over as soon as the cremation is done."
"So what can we do? We can say “O Parama Puruśa, while that man was with us we tried our best to do whatever we could do. But now they are beyond our scope, they are beyond our jurisdiction, so please do take care of them.” This much of a request can be made by us, and nothing more than that. And the Ananda Marga shráddha is just like that. Here we require no edibles, no clothes or anything else. We offer our shraddhá [good will], and we do nothing else, and we can do nothing else." (5)
Namaskar,
As most are aware, Years back Mangal Bihariji's shraddha ceremony was performed by the family within the allotted 12-day period. In fact, all aspects of the shraddha ceremony were done in accordance with Baba's teachings. Food was not served to the attendees. All Wts who attended took food off premises at the jagrti etc. In sum, 2500 people attended the shraddha ceremony. The family made all arrangements according to Caryacarya - II. They upheld the code of dharma.
Baba's instructions in Caryacarya for performing the shraddha ceremony are very simple and straightforward. There is the recitation of the mantra followed by a sharing of water, and that is the entire ceremony. Anything more than that is contrary to His teachings.
"An ácárya/á, a minimum of five healthy persons, and the performer of the shráddha will be present on the occasion. The nearest relation of the dead person will be considered the main performer of the shráddha ceremony. Of course, it is the right of all Margis to perform shráddha."
"Everyone in the ceremony will follow the ácárya/á in reciting the following mantra:"
"A Few Directives:
The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days. If you wish, you can perform the shráddha ceremony any day within this period according to convenience. During the period of mourning you should not subject yourself to unnecessary mortification or ostentatious penance." (1)
Namaskar,
In Him,
Brahmeshvar
End Note:
(*) Maharshi Charvaka: He lived in India about 2500 years ago, during the time of Lord Buddha. He was a bit senior to Lord Buddha. Charvaka’s disciple, Ajit Kusum, was a contemporary of Lord Buddha)
REFERENCES
1. CC-1, Shráddha Ceremony
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
3. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
4. Caryacarya-3, Shráddha Ceremony
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
"England’s Henry the Eighth was an unruly king. Once he came to Paris with the queen. In Paris many kinds of covetable drinks were available, thus when they were in Paris his desire for drink naturally increased. One day, while under the influence of liquor, he beat the queen so mercilessly that one of her legs became practically crippled. For several days she was obliged to drag it behind her as she walked. When the time came they returned to London (In those days they did not call it London but rather Londre in the aristocratic French language). The residents of the city fell head over heels in the nooks and crannies of the royal residence trying to see whether or not the king and queen had brought back any new fashions from Paris. They saw [princess] Elizabeth dragging her leg and thought perhaps that this kind of walk was some kind of ultra-modern French style. Women have one great quality; they can easily imitate others. Thus it happened that within three to four days most of the women in the aristocratic households were dragging their leg behind them when they walked and taking a lot of pride in it. It is not written in the histories whether they ever discovered what the real story was behind the queen dragging her leg when she walked. Elizabeth’s style of walking while dragging her leg was called the “Elizabethan gait”." (Varna Vijiana, Language and Dialect – 2)
This email contains three distinct sections:
1. Posting: Ideal Shraddha Ceremony For Mangal Bihariji
2. End Quote: Queen Was Beaten Mercilessly
3. Links
Dogma: Worshipping The Deceased
EXAMPLE OF DOGMATIC SHRADDHA
Unfortunately, nowadays several dogmatic trends have made their way into our Ananda Marga shraddha (death) ceremonies - a.k.a. shra'ddhanustha'nas. Here following is a critical point that we see again and again - plus other issues are brought to the fore as well.
So that the deceased does not suffer in the cold or become hungry in heaven, family members engage in the mass distribution of blankets and clothing (see photos below) - as well as food distribution (narayan seva). They think their offerings will actually reach to their dear one in heaven.
Hindus think that by offering food and blankets then their deceased relative in heaven will get the virtue (punya) of that offering. Such persons actually believe they can enhance the stature and comfort of the deceased through this ritual. They think that blankets given to the poor will be automatically transferred to their loved one in heaven - thus the deceased will be warm. This is their motivating rationale.
Now in our Ananda Marga that same approach has been taken - tragically. Some have adopted these Hindu rituals.
Another common phenomenon is that margiis do two ceremonies: One according to Caryacarya and one according to Hindu dogma, in order to appease their neighbors & village folk etc. But this is not the answer. Baba warns us to never compromise with dogma.
Here is how this type of dogmatic shraddha happened in one Ananda Marga unit a few months ago in a different place:
(Note: This letter continues after the below photos. Eds)
#1: Dogma: Garlanding The Deceased
Here the deceased is being garlanded [dogma] by one avadhuta
at recent AM Shraddha ceremony and notice also Baba's photo.
So again we should remember that during the death ceremony, no one should succumb to the dogma of offering flowers. Although it may seem innocent, that will plant the seeds for one full on dogma. Best is to follow Baba's guidelines and use only water.
#2: Dogmatic Offering So Deceased Will Receive
In Other World and Live Comfortably in Heaven
#3: Dogmatic Offering So Deceased Will
Receive
In Other World and Live Comfortably in Heaven
In Other World and Live Comfortably in Heaven
Baba has specified that only water should be used during the death ceremony to make it easy and convenient for everyone on all parts of the globe. Then money will not be an issue - there will be no question of financial hardship. If flowers or the offering of a mala is introduced in the shraddha (death) ceremony then those people in cold regions like Alaska or in the desert regions may have to order malas and have them delivered by airplane etc. And people will be forced to incur debt just to get flowers for the deceased. It will become a terrible burden. Religious dogma is like that. Plus there will be competitions for who offered the biggest garland and when great people die they will receive thousands of garlands. Already some of the religions suffer in this way.
The key point is that when a dogma is small it looks harmless and innocent but when it takes full form it is horrendous for the people. That is why today the offering of a garland looks innocent but even then this ritual should not be introduced. Because if done then in due course it will be disastrous.
The best way to proceed is to follow Baba's guidelines. His teachings are rational.
NO CEREMONY TO OFFER MATERIAL GOODS TO THE DECEASED
Baba has strictly forbidden such things in our Ananda Marga system. Our shraddha ceremony is to be performed in a simple, dignified, and respectful manner, without any ostentatious, pompous display or costly arrangements, as happens in Hindu dogma. In our Ananda Marga, one must follow the system described in Caryacarya. True Ananda Margiis always adhere to this slogan: Dogma no more- dogma no more. Thus there is no scope in such a ceremony to offer material goods to the deceased. Yet that has suddenly been undermined by the presence of Hindu dogma in some Shraddha ceremonies organised in AM.
So it is quite heartening to see that the shraddha ceremony of Mangal Bihariji was done in a strictly dharmic fashion. This should stand as an example for all Ananda Margiis.
HOW PRIEST CHEATS PUBLIC
This following teaching from Ananda Marga philosophy opposes the Hindu dogma that the deceased will utilise the food and receive the blankets in heaven. Moreover, usually in Hindu dogma the priest extacts a lot of goods and money from family of the deceased family. Here below it is described how such dogmatic and unscrupulous priests cheat the grieving family.
"A priest may say that your father will die only once, and so after his death you should arrange for a sufficient quantity of food-stuffs, a sufficient quantity of edibles, a sufficient quantity of clothes, etc., for him. And that has been done in India for about five thousand years, since the time of the Atharva Veda. And people have generally offered rice and sesame, also honey and ghee, to be consumed by that person who has left the world."
"Regarding these things, Maharshi Charvaka (*) said “If you are in a room, and another man is in the courtyard a few yards away, and you offer rice and sesame for that man, he won’t get that rice and sesame, and his hunger won’t be satisfied. And if a man is in another world, Aparaloka, and you are offering rice and sesame for him, will he get them? Is it reasonable? No, no. All these things are exploitation by the privileged class.”"
"After offering rice, sesame, clothes, etc., what do you find? The rice is consumed by the purohita in his house. Go to his kitchen, and all that rice is being consumed by his family. That dhuti which is being offered by you for your late father is being used by the purohita, and the sháŕii by the purohita patnii; and the gamci, the towel, if it is surplus, is sold in the market. And the utensils are also sold in the market. So your deceased father, your parents, who are now inhabitants of Aparaloka, won’t get anything." (2)
SCOUNDRELS' PHILOSOPHY
"And the second thing you will see, or you will feel, is that they do not require these things. The microcosm, or unit spirit, does not require any food or clothes or sesame or utensils. All these ideas are scoundrels’ philosophy. And they have been doing this type of exploitation for the last five thousand years, since the time of the Atharva Veda." (3)
DEPARTED SOUL GETS NOTHING
The Ananda Marga shraddha ceremony is done for the welfare and psychological support of the grieving family and loved ones. The deceased does not gain anything from the ceremony.
"The departed soul does not get any advantage from the shráddha ceremony [memorial ceremony]. It is only meant for the psychic satisfaction of the person performing it." (4)
OFFERING OF GOOD WILL TO DECEASED
"So what should one do? Haven’t we any social responsibility for dead persons? When the necessity arises, we should offer shraddhá [good will] for them, not barley or wheat or woollen clothes or wrappers or ghee or sesame. What can we do? As long as a man is here in our society we have a social responsibility for him. Human beings are social beings, we have a social responsibility for them. And when the leave this world and go to the other world, they go beyond the scope of our responsibility. We cannot render any service to them. Our social responsibility is over as soon as the cremation is done."
"So what can we do? We can say “O Parama Puruśa, while that man was with us we tried our best to do whatever we could do. But now they are beyond our scope, they are beyond our jurisdiction, so please do take care of them.” This much of a request can be made by us, and nothing more than that. And the Ananda Marga shráddha is just like that. Here we require no edibles, no clothes or anything else. We offer our shraddhá [good will], and we do nothing else, and we can do nothing else." (5)
Ideal Shraddha Ceremony For Mangal Bihariji:
IDEAL VS DOGMATIC SHRADDHA CEREMONY
IDEAL VS DOGMATIC SHRADDHA CEREMONY
Namaskar,
As most are aware, Years back Mangal Bihariji's shraddha ceremony was performed by the family within the allotted 12-day period. In fact, all aspects of the shraddha ceremony were done in accordance with Baba's teachings. Food was not served to the attendees. All Wts who attended took food off premises at the jagrti etc. In sum, 2500 people attended the shraddha ceremony. The family made all arrangements according to Caryacarya - II. They upheld the code of dharma.
A VERY SIMPLE CEREMONY
Baba's instructions in Caryacarya for performing the shraddha ceremony are very simple and straightforward. There is the recitation of the mantra followed by a sharing of water, and that is the entire ceremony. Anything more than that is contrary to His teachings.
"An ácárya/á, a minimum of five healthy persons, and the performer of the shráddha will be present on the occasion. The nearest relation of the dead person will be considered the main performer of the shráddha ceremony. Of course, it is the right of all Margis to perform shráddha."
"Everyone in the ceremony will follow the ácárya/á in reciting the following mantra:"
Omn madhu vátá rtáyate madhu kśarantu sindhavah...
"A Few Directives:
The period of mourning should not extend beyond twelve days. If you wish, you can perform the shráddha ceremony any day within this period according to convenience. During the period of mourning you should not subject yourself to unnecessary mortification or ostentatious penance." (1)
In Him,
Brahmeshvar
End Note:
(*) Maharshi Charvaka: He lived in India about 2500 years ago, during the time of Lord Buddha. He was a bit senior to Lord Buddha. Charvaka’s disciple, Ajit Kusum, was a contemporary of Lord Buddha)
REFERENCES
1. CC-1, Shráddha Ceremony
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
3. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
4. Caryacarya-3, Shráddha Ceremony
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, Shraddha
== Section 2
==
The section below demarcated by asterisks is an entirely different topic,
completely unrelated to the above material. It stands on its own as a point of interest.
The section below demarcated by asterisks is an entirely different topic,
completely unrelated to the above material. It stands on its own as a point of interest.
*****************************************
Queen Was Beaten Mercilessly
"England’s Henry the Eighth was an unruly king. Once he came to Paris with the queen. In Paris many kinds of covetable drinks were available, thus when they were in Paris his desire for drink naturally increased. One day, while under the influence of liquor, he beat the queen so mercilessly that one of her legs became practically crippled. For several days she was obliged to drag it behind her as she walked. When the time came they returned to London (In those days they did not call it London but rather Londre in the aristocratic French language). The residents of the city fell head over heels in the nooks and crannies of the royal residence trying to see whether or not the king and queen had brought back any new fashions from Paris. They saw [princess] Elizabeth dragging her leg and thought perhaps that this kind of walk was some kind of ultra-modern French style. Women have one great quality; they can easily imitate others. Thus it happened that within three to four days most of the women in the aristocratic households were dragging their leg behind them when they walked and taking a lot of pride in it. It is not written in the histories whether they ever discovered what the real story was behind the queen dragging her leg when she walked. Elizabeth’s style of walking while dragging her leg was called the “Elizabethan gait”." (Varna Vijiana, Language and Dialect – 2)
*****************************************
== Section 3
==
LINKS
Here is a letter / announcement of the
mahaprayan (death) of Mangal Bihari.
