Mahaprayan of very senior margii
Namaskar,
It
is with much sadness to share the news of the mahaprayan of Shrii R.D.
Singh. Unfortunately, Singhji breathed his last and his mahaprayan
occurred on 24 November at Rohini, a residential city in North West
Delhi.
Shrii R.D. Singh was a very senior Ananda Margii who led a life of
service and
dedication to Sadguru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji and was very active in
and around the Delhi area, involving in various projects and service
work.
Singh ji was always ready to help all and truly embraced the spirit of
neo-humanism in all that he did. With his mahaprayan, the entire Ananda
Marga society in and around Delhi and beyond, and especially his laokik
family members will deeply
miss his kindness and giving nature.
May we all take solace in the fact that
our dear, respected R.D. Singh ji was a bhakta of Sadguru Baba. Certainly he
will attain mukti or moksa, accordingly. Baba will lovingly bestow His
infinite grace.
in Him,
Diindayal
Note: Alert for
those cremating a dead body in India or Indian managed cremation homes
around the world. Their custom is to put the burning fire /hot coals in
the mouth of the deceased to initiate the burning of the body. This is
prohibited in AMPS as it is uncivilised. So watch out do not allow this.
If you are not careful they will end of doing it. Make them aware ahead
of time.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya states, "The practice of
putting fire into the mouth of the dead body is repulsive, it should not
be encouraged." (Caryacarya - 1, Disposal of the Dead Body)
~ In-depth study ~We
have seen that when somebody dies then in offering their condolences
people say now Mr So-and-so is sitting on Baba's lap. On other occasions
when telling a Baba story people also say, "Such and such person sat on
Baba's lap." But these days the trend is that "sitting on Baba's lap"
is used more in connection with death. And that causes some confusion in
reader's mind. To unknot the situation please read below.
Dogma: if "on Baba's lap" only used for deathHere
are quoted lines from recently posted emails on various forums, wherein
the writer uses the phrase - "in Baba's lap" - with the occasion of
death:
- "May Parama Purusa Baba accept her in HIS divine lap"
- "We pray to Baba -please give him shelter in his lap... "
- "May his soul rest in the lap of our beloved BABA"
- "Now she is taking rest in Baba's Lap."
- "May Baba accept him in HIS divine lap....."
- "May he rest in HIS loving lap of eternity."
- "We are sure that Baba has taken him in His loving lap."
- "May his soul rest in Baba's lap forever."
- "Let her rest peacefully in Baba's Lap - which she always desired."
- "now he is in beloved Baba's lap"
- "May his soul get peaceful place in His lap"
- "He is now in Bábá's loving lap"
- "May Baba bless him with a seat in His lap."
- "May BABA accept him in HIS divine lap!"
- "May Baba take him in his eternal loving lap."
- "May his soul rest in peace taking shelter in Baba's lap."
- "Please keep him on Your lap forever."
- "We all collectively pray to Baba to take him on Baba's divine lap forever.”
All
of the above lines are commonly written in eulogizing the deceased.
These days mostly it is used in a eulogy and rarely used to recount
one's intimate spiritual experiences - unfortunately. By this way, the
phrase "in Baba's lap" is being misused and step by step the real
meaning is being forgotten as now people more commonly use the phrase to
eulogize those who have died, and much less so to express their inner
feelings of bhakti. Unfortunately, the meaning and inner spirit of the
phrase is getting lost.
Baba story: "sitting on Baba's lap"
Some
time ago after dharmacakra, a senior margii was recounting his
experiences of having dharma samiiksa with Baba. He said, "After being
lovingly scolded by Baba for my wrongdoings, then He called me close and
placed me on His lap - I remained there for some time soaking up His
love - and He blessed me."
We all enjoyed hearing about his
personal account with Baba during dharma samiiksa. When he finished
telling his factual and historical event, there was a call for
questions. Various people posed their queries. Towards the end, one new
margii raised his hand and asked, "How did Baba bring you back to life?"
Everyone
stared at the new margii in amazement. There was a look of astonishment
all around - people were really shocked to hear him say this. The new
sadhaka sensed that something was wrong He said very matter-of-factly,
"I thought that sitting on Baba's Lap means that he (the margii) died -
that is why I asked that question."
This was quite eye-opening
for those of us in the room: Through our language and expression we had
unknowingly taught someone to think that being on Baba's lap is the
equivalent of death. Because it seems that nowadays people only use the
phrase "Baba's lap" when a person has died, such as "Let him rest
peacefully in Baba's lap", as if in order to sit on Baba’s lap one has
to die. But that is false. Sincere sadhakas regularly sit on Baba’s lap
in their meditation. It is His grace. It is just like a child need not
die in order to sit on his father’s lap.
The idea is that this
phrase - Baba's lap - has been linked with death due to extreme overuse.
So for some time if sadhakas use this phrase exclusively for spiritual
purposes, that will be best. The phrase, "sitting on Baba's lap", should
not meet a similar fate. It should not lose its pure spiritual quality
and just refer to one's death. That will be very negative.
Baba would bless bhaktas and place them on His lapThere
are tens of thousands of recorded stories by sadhakas where they use
the phrase, "on Baba's lap", when describing their experiences of being
with Baba: He used to bless them and bring them on His lap. People
should understand the deeply mystical value of this expression, and not
just think that Baba's lap means death, i.e. that you can only sit on
His lap at the time of death. Still today there are thousands of margiis
walking this earth who sat in Baba's lap. And not only that, there are
countless more sadhakas who were blessed by Baba in dreams and sadhana
wherein they sat in His lap. And still today this deeply intimate
experience is attainable by sadhakas, by His grace.
There are so
many ways an aspirant can reach unto Baba's lap including in sadhana.
That is the main idea that should be preserved. Sadhana is a spiritual
practice and one can sit on Baba's lap in sadhana. We should make it
cent-per-cent clear to one and all that the phrase, "sitting on Baba's
lap", does not mean death.
"Mahaprayan" means death of mortals - confirm for yourself
from the Samsad Bengali-English DictionaryMahaprayan
(Death): Many are aware that mahaprayan (death) is the common term used
in India and especially in our Bengal to describe the death of any
human being, even ordinary people. In that way, the obituary columns of
the newspapers of Bengal regularly cite the mahaprayan (death) of
various persons of society who died or passed away.
Some may get
confused and wrongly think that the word 'mahaprayan' (death) is one
extraordinarily term of bhakti to be used in association with Parama
Purusa. But that is not at all the case. Rather to do so is only to
undermine the eternal presence of Parama Purusa. That is why no bhaktas
ever use the word 'mahaprayan' in reference to Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna.
Because Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna exist eternally. Then there is no
question of Their mahaprayan (death).
Baba is Parama Purusa so He is eternal and there is no question of His mahaprayan.
Here
it should be known that the convention of an annual death day ceremony
(i.e. shraddhainjali or mahaprayan) is a foundation of the Islamic
tradition. Muslims are well known for this, and their approach of an
annual death day ceremony was adopted by the leader of a particular
group in AMPS. So no one should think that mahaprayan is some type of
sacred event. It is done on the death day anniversary of Muslims.
And
for those who need still more technical proof then all this can be
clarified quite readily by referencing the dictionary. Specifically in
the Samsad Bengali-English dictionary 3rd edition on page
848. Checking there it will be confirmed that the word 'mahaprayan'
means death. Which is why it is used to refer to the passing away of
even common citizens. And that is the case in this letter also. The term
mahaprayan means death and this is the ideal term for this purpose.
Mahaprayan is only for humans not for SadguruHere
it should be qualified that there is both real mahaprayan and fake
mahaprayan. Real mahaprayan marks the death of any ordinary human being,
just like the aforesaid news. This is the proper use of the term: To
note a person's departure from this earth. That is the meaning of the
mahaprayan term and that is the standard way the term is used in Indian
languages.
Then there is the fake, or so-called, or dogmatic
mahaprayan. That is when certain vested interests try to apply the
mahaprayan term to Parama Purusa. This is grossly inappropriate because
when Parama Purusa Sadguru Baba is that Divine Entity who is
beginningless and endless and resides always in our heart, then it is
entirely wrong to proclaim that He is gone.
That is why rational
margiis are protesting; because the Oct 21st program is so-called
mahaprayan. So-called means that something is fake. Parama Purusa is
eternal, thus for some vested interests to declare "mahaprayan of Parama
Purusa" is nothing but so-called mahaprayan.
Mahaprayan only
really happens in the case of human beings, not Parama Purusa. Those
doing mahaprayan for Sadguru are hypocrites. On the one side in
meditation they ask His grace thinking that He is ever-present, and on
the other side they think that Baba has passed way. That is their
hypocrisy.
== Section 2: Links ==
Other topics of interest
