Baba
Relationship: morality & spirituality
Namaskar,
In today’s society, educated people think that dharma and spiritual life are not needed. Their premise is just to live in the society, do good work, do not disturb anybody, do not do himsa, do not take bribes, but we do not need to do sa’dhana’ or attain Parama Purus’a.
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Goody-goody way of life is not enough
There would be a lot of people we can find in today’s society such as professors, engineers, or others who are in big positions. Such people say that religion and spiritual organizations are useless. So instead of being involved in such needless organizations, they should get involved in good work, eat good food, and not disturb anybody. They feel that is the recipe for a good way of life.
How simple morality fails
On this point Ananda Marga philosophy says that when such people call themselves moral, to establish in their simple morality they have to struggle hard. For struggle, one needs shakti (power). In simple morality that power is not there. For one who has not established one’s life on spirituality, it is not possible to live up to the standards of simple morality. How it is not possible, let us take some examples.
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Example #1: When there are injustices happening around a simple moralist, then a moral person thinks that he/she will object or fight against such injustices. In the first scenario, let us say that in an office environment someone is taking a bribe, then the simple moralist thinks that he/she should notify the higher administration (or anti-corruption department) about the person who is taking the bribe as such inappropriate things should not happen. He tries one meagre step but due to fear of retaliation he backs down and keeps quiet.
Without spiritual backing simple morality is weak
Example #2: Now let us take a second example, where the struggle is a little bit tougher, where one is in a situation to arrange marriage of one’s daughter and one does not want to be transferred to another location at the same time (as transfer to different locations is common in public services). But the person in charge of transfer decisions takes the bribe to manipulate personnel being transferred. Since this is a tough situation a simple moralist may fall in the trap of bribing the person (or not speaking against the person who is taking bribe) for not being transferred to another location so that the daughter’s marriage can be arranged smoothly. So in this tough situation a simple moralist is not able to hold the ground in ideal moralism as the power needed to be ideal moral is not based on spirituality.
Simple moralists know that so many injustices happen in the world, but do not have the courage to say anything. The simple moralists are good people in one sense since they do not do any harm to other people, but they do not speak out against any injustice as they lack courage to raise their voice. If they do not raise their voice they may do some sort of compromise to settle the matter.
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Example #3: Let us take another example, one simple moralist (let us say CEO) is a chief of a department. Now the department has a vacancy and a new position is being opened for hiring. A senator in the area gives a call to the CEO mentioning to favor one candidate. The CEO knows that if he/she does not keep the orders of the senator he/she may be in trouble not only in profession but also in social life as senators are well connected. In this tough situation a simple moralist may fail to establish oneself in “morality”.
Courage comes from spirituality
Example #4: Baba says that a ‘moral’ person may not take any bribe for $1, or $2, but when there is a matter of $1 million or $1 billion then it is very easy for the simple moralist to be trapped and fall from being a simple moral to an immoral person. Such types of things typically happen in society as simple moralists lack courage in tough situations. Courage comes from spirituality. One needs support from God to have courage. As a simple moralist one cannot be an ideal moral person, will not remain ideal moral in tough situations. Either one will fall or will compromise, no matter how much of a simple moralist one is.
Example #5: If a simple moral person is a professor in a university. The head of the department says that on a special occasion we all drink alcohol. Now a new professor who is in the probationary period and does not drink is a simple moral person. But this is a tough situation as the chair is saying to drink alcohol and if his orders are not obeyed then the new professor’s job is in danger. So the new professor who is a simple moralist ends up drinking alcohol to make a good impression on the chair. But in this situation, the spiritualist is never going to bend and will not even touch alcohol, as one is established in spirituality and the code of conduct is of paramount importance.
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How to establish in spiritual morality
One individual does not possess power by oneself. For example, is a heavyweight boxing champion is mentally depressed, his punching power will be severely diminished. The body derives its power from the mind; without a well-guided mind, the body cannot do anything. There are so many people in the world who are healthy physically, but mentally are so depressed that they do not get the energy to get up from the bed.
The mind gets its power from the a’tma’, and the a’tma’ gets its power from the Parama’tma’. Sa’dhana’ is needed to have a strong mind. Mind needs inspiration and power from a source that is more powerful. So one needs to do sa’dhana’. Baba has given “A Guide to Human Conduct” to say that simple moralists should go beyond their moral principles to become spiritualists and establish themselves strongly on principles of life based on spirituality where spiritual morality is already included.
When one is fully grounded in spirituality then the desire of taking bribe no matter how big it is dies by itself (where as a simple moralist may fall in trap when the amount of bribe is bigger), as the person’s life is based on yama and niyama. Similar sentient principles also can be applied for food. When one takes sa’ttvik food then any type of smoking products will not have any allurement for the person as one does not have any fascination towards smoking. Same notions can be extended to meat as well. One will have no attraction towards meat when one is taking sa’ttvik food and established in yama and niyama.
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So one will have to do sadhana. One cannot become an ideal moralist without becoming spiritualist. A simple moralist can do small moral things, but not anything big; as we saw in many examples, a simple moralist can easily fall from moral principles as one is lacking courage and power. So if one would like to do bigger moral activities in one’s life then one will have to be established in spirituality so that one does not fall from one’s path and does not fall from human conduct, yama and niyama.
Conclusion
In summary, moral principles are very limited in nature. Whereas spirituality can provide stronger power to simple morality so that one can do noble causes and higher moral pursuits and move ahead in life. Sa’dhana’ is a must so that one can become a strong ideal moralist; otherwise the path of simple morality is dangerous as one’s progress is short-lived—and one may do harm to oneself and to the society as well. Human conduct is only a medium. One’s goal should not be to become a simple moralist (goal should not be to speak rta), rather to attain parama’tma’.
In Him,
Nirakar Dev
So-called moralists can all too easily degrade themselves
Ananda Marga ideology says, “The ensconcement in the Macrocosmic stance is not possible through [simple] morality alone. “I will speak the truth, I will not harm anyone” – This simple morality alone cannot take human beings very far along the path of progress. So-called moralists can all too easily degrade themselves under the nefarious influence of evil company. The only way to advance is to follow the path of vigorous spiritual practice. To repeat high-sounding words of [simple] morality like a parrot, while cherishing narrow sentiments within one’s mind, will not take one far.”
“To effect psycho-spiritual expansion constant spiritual practice is a must. I have called this spiritual practice “attraction of the Great”. Through physical or psychic clash absolute self expansion is not possible; even the awakening of hiranmaya kośa is not possible. Of course physical clash can take a person a certain distance, but not to the final destination. I have already said that only when attraction of the Great is supreme can the centrifugal force within the microcosm become strong enough to lead an entity to liberation or salvation. Where there is no attraction for the Great, no matter how intellectual or moral a person might be, his or her entire existence will be dominated by the kamamaya kośa. Out of narrow self interest, such a person will betray low morals at every step in live. Those who have no love for the Supreme may be considered as humans today, but tomorrow will surely degenerate into animals like dogs, and the day after into inert bricks or stones.” (1)
References
1. Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 8, Struggle and Progress
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The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
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== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Namaskar,
In the following teachings noted below, Baba is talking about patakiis [ordinary sinners].
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "Someone might have committed a pátaka [ordinary sin], but after that wrong action feels repentance, and compensates for the harm his or her action caused. After such repentance and compensation, the action is no longer a sin. Suppose someone has stolen a thousand rupees from someone else. If after this theft the thief feels compunction and returns the money – better, however, with the inclusion of interest thereon – and begs forgiveness, that will mean that the person’s sin has been washed away. The person should no longer be called a sinner." (1)
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "If, knowingly or unknowingly, you have committed any mistake or any sin [mental sin], then your repentance and your singing kiirtana, wholeheartedly, will free you from all sins. So, your future is always bright, never dark, never dark." (2)
In Him,
Devaprakash
Devotion & bhakti are not same
Sin and pa’pa are not the same thing. Sin means going against the fundamentals of the Bible, and pa’pa means those actions which harm others. So sin and pa’pa are not the same. However, as the term pa’pa is not so well known, in certain cases, Baba uses the term sin. But He has given the direction that step by step over time the term sin should be changed to pa’pa in Ananda Marga philosophy.
This is similar to the case of bhakti and devotion. For example, you may have devotion towards your spouse or pet, but it would be a gross mistake to say that one has bhakti for their spouse or pet. Unfortunately in India, due to lack of knowledge, people misuse the term bhakti, and they created the word desh-bhakti, meaning patriotism. But that is preposterous. Because the term bhakti means service to God. The root itself is spiritual. That is why it is wrong to use bhakti in the context of one’s motherland. Whereas the term devotion has a different origin. It means commitment and has no spiritual foundation. That is why Baba rejects the term devotion in favour of the word bhakti, and He wants His discourses updated accordingly. That is what He has described in a general darshan at Bhagalpur DMC in 1987.
With the fire of sadhana, i.e. practicing regular meditation, one’s sin is burned, bit by bit. The rate depends upon how committed one is in their sadhana. Those who are very sincere in sadhana can exhaust all their samskaras in approximately 20 years. That is what Baba has described in one discourse.
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 9, "Take Refuge in Parama Puruśa with Unswerving Attention"
2. Ananda Vacanartam - 12, The Real Value of the Human Entity
== Section: Important Teaching ==
A few holistic remedies
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Aloe juice is a medicine. Dried aloe sap is called musabbar in Arabic. A type of rasa'injana also used to be prepared out of aloe sap, or musabbar, which was used as medicine -- it was used to treat blood pressure and insanity due to gallbladder disorder." (1)
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "The retention-of-urine ailment that results when the movement of the urine is obstructed is also called kabandha. The water from soaked fenugreek, fresh date juice, palm juice, and sha'nkha'lu [a conch-shaped esculent] are medicines for this disease." (2)
References
1. Shabda Cayanika - 3, p.109
2. Shabda Cayanika - 3, p.109
== Section 3: Links ==
