Baba
How to hasten progress
Namaskar,
Setting up objectives is very important in human life. Consider two people going on a stroll without any intention to reach a specific place. Without a well-defined goal, they will not reach anywhere. One can do something meaningful only if there is a set goal. When the goal is not well-defined, no work gets done as there is no inspiration. Without a set goal, the situation is just like a man sitting in a boat not knowing which direction to go. Such a man will just be drifted away by the currents. Without a set goal, very soon boredom and tiredness overpower a person. If the goal is set then the speed of movement will be better.
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Goal of sadhana & universal welfare key to happiness
A goalless life is an unhappy life. And one who thinks only about themselves ends up being miserable. In contrast, one who constantly thinks about others’ welfare by delivering physical, psychic, and spiritual service is never unhappy.
Materialists always think only about their own pains and pleasures. Spiritualists, on the other hand, think about others’ welfare. Thus, spiritualists do not suffer the pains and tribulations of life, which are very common phenomena wherever materialism is in vogue. Even if pain and troubles are there, the spiritualists do not feel or suffer from them. Therefore, in order to lead a happy and satisfactory life, the simple trick to follow is to do sadhana and take it as one’s duty to work for the welfare of the masses.
Universal welfare by one’s own sadhana & service
One can bring about universal welfare by rendering physical, psychic, and spiritual service to people. There are four kinds of service that one can render for the welfare of other people, namely, shúdrocita, kśatriyocita, vaeshyocita, and viprocita.
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Baba says, “You know sevá, that is, service. Service is of four kinds: Shúdrocita sevá is serving with your physical body, rendering physical service, rendering medical service. Service rendered by a shúdra is shúdrocita service. Then kśatriyocita [martial service] is security service, helping the weak. Then vaeshyocita sevá [economic service] is relief work, feeding the poor, helping the needy. Then viprocita sevá is preaching morality, teaching, preaching the ideology, doing dharma pracára [spiritual propagation]. They are all viprocita sevá.” (1)
Viprocita service: writing on spiritual subjects
Writing on spiritual subject matter is viprocita seva. All four types of services are necessary but viprocita service provides permanent relief to people. For a writer of dha’rmic postings, the goal should be well-defined. For example, write at least one article every week. If one thinks that “Whenever I feel like it I’ll write” then no writing ends up being done. If a person is a writer and thinks that he will write twelve letters in a year then it is not enough. After all, life is short, and one’s energy dissipates with age. With only twelve letters in a year, one’s overall contribution will be minuscule and their life will be wasted. Thus, one should increase one’s speed. The goal has to be defined properly, and also a proper goal has to be set. One should also audit one’s progress from time to time to ascertain if the movement is in the defined goal direction and apply course corrections as needed.
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Conclusion
Setting goals in human life is very important. A life devoid of the proper goal is filled with misery. The proper goal of a human life is sadhana and universal welfare; the latter can be rendered in four different ways namely shúdrocita sevá, kśatriyocita sevá, vaeshyocita sevá, and viprocita sevá. All types of services are important, but viprocita sevá provides permanent relief. Guiding others on points of AM ideology falls under the category of viprocita sevá, and one should set a well-defined goal to do ideological pracara and audit one’s progress from time to time.
In Him,
Bhakti
Note: Without sadhana, service is impossible.
References
(1) Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 30, The Four Kinds of Service
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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 ==
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 ==
When sentiment is dangerous
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "For the very existence of speed, a sentimental support, a sentimental propulsion is an indispensable necessity. Now, this sentimental support must be based on rationality. Sentimentality based on rationality is the strongest force in the universe. And sentimentality without rationality takes the form of, or rather the distortion of, dogma." (1)
In the above teaching Baba says that sentiment is very delicate: If sentiment is guided by rationality then that is very useful and meaningful. And if sentiment is guided by dogma or any narrow interest like groupism etc then it is extremely harmful and dangerous. That is why human sentiment is very precarious. By sadhana and following Sixteen Points, one’s sentimental feeling will become aligned with rationality, i.e. ideology.
Reference
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 12, The Noumenal Cause and the Personal God
== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
Incense pollutes your sadhana room
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "If peoples blind attachment to sacrificial rituals and love for outmoded customs are intense, they will not disappear when confronted with logical arguments or shaken by the first jolt caused by psychic clash. But if one can create a suitable environment of constant psychic clash their blind attachments are bound to disappear. Some people believe that the fragrance of the sacrificial smoke purifies the air and kills germs. This is not true. On the contrary, the increase in the amount of carbon particles makes the air more impure. A highly pungent smell is much more effective in destroying germs. Thus, due to the impact of constant psychic clash, people eventually understand the defects of old systems and ideas." (1)
Some have taken to the practice of lighting incense when doing meditation or in other gatherings etc. They do so under the dogmatic belief that it will make the air cleaner and the room more sentient. But nothing could be further from the truth. In His above teaching, Baba clearly guides us that the burning of incense increases the level of carbon dioxide and pollutes the air. So there is not an iota of truth to the notion that incense cleans the air. That is just a dogma of religious ritualism. Everyone should be aware about this.
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 8, Struggle and Progress
== Section 4: Links ==
