Baba
Dance
Namaskar,
The following points shed light on what constitutes an ideal cultural program.
#1: The "R" in RAWA stands for "Renaissance." In the present-day, general society, so-called cultural activities like song, dance, drama and film have become crude. Life is fast going in the wrong direction; everything is backward. The pseudo-culture dance, drama, movies and novels that dominate the world today push the mind far, far down. "Cultural" life has verily reached its degenerated state. That is the height of all irony. We should not let this same downward momentum strike at our RAWA programs.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Baba has given RAWA because a renaissance is needed in the visual and performing arts. Without this, people cannot easily move on the path of spirituality. So Baba has brought forth a renaissance movement in the spheres of song, dance, drama, literature, and more. This is our RAWA: Renaissance Artist and Writers Association.
Divert mind from lower propensities
According to Baba, our cultural / RAWA programs are to direct the mind from the lower cakras to the higher ones; ultimately, that helps deepen one's spiritual practices. So if any dance, music, or song does not lead the mind toward divinity and instead submerges the mind towards the lower cakras, i.e. carnal and worldly attractions or animal propensities, then that is not a cultural program. That may be called an "uncultural" program, or you can say a "rude" program.
By this definition, who can consider the degrading dance displays to be true RAWA programs. We cannot. Rather that is forcibly dragging pseudo-culture into RAWA. And this has to stop. We should focus on Sadguru Baba's guidelines.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
#2: Instead of portraying females as mere objects of desire and enjoyment as has occurred in our RAWA programs at some DMS, let us remember Baba’s teaching about how we are to look upon all females.
Ananda Marga Caryacarya says, “It is proper to address a woman not related to one’s family as “Mother”.” (1)
Our RAWA programs should reflect this ideal. According to Baba, if any dance, music or song does not goad the mind toward divinity and instead goads the mind towards the lower cakras, i.e. carnal and worldly attractions or animal propensities, then that is not a cultural program, but something else.
Girls performing below puberty
#3: We should recall that before 1990 the girls dancing in cultural programs at DMS were below puberty. That was one very key point to keep in mind. Everything was extremely sentient; there was not the slightest bit of a provocative display. The style of music was always sentient as well. That is why those days the mind was not directed towards the lower cakras at our AM cultural programs. Rather, the mind was goaded upwards towards the subtle and divine.
#4: We should be honest with ourselves. We all go to DMS not for carnal satiation or to satisfy our lower propensities, nor for all kinds of TV channel delights or Holly / Bollywood movie scenes. We go to DMS because we think it to be a dharmic program. Going to a dharmic ceremony should entail strict adherence to a code of discipline and not any negative encouragement of the mind.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga ideology says, “You are not merely an animal: simply eating, drinking and sleeping is not everything for a human. A human has a subtler life, a more charming life...Your physico-psychic activities are architecture, literature, dance, music – they are all your physico-psychic movement. And this movement is from crude to subtle, starting from the cruder arena and moving towards the subtler arena. That’s why in Ananda Marga I encourage this physico-psychic movement: because it will help you in moving towards the subtler world, in moving towards the supreme spiritual goal... For physico-psychic movement, I encourage boys and girls to start work in the RAWA [Renaissance Artists' and Writers' Association] movement.” (2)
So Baba's directive is quite clear and pointed: Use RAWA programs bring the mind to a more subtle state.
Key points to keep programmes sentient
#5: Here are some practical steps we can take to ensure that our cultural programs are in line with Baba’s stated guidelines.
(a) Girls below puberty, 8 or 9 years of age, should dance for a co-ed audience; whereas those girls above puberty (aged 10 - 16 etc) can dance to an all female audience.
(b) When any drama or dance, performed in front of a mixed male-female audience, requires boys and girls to dance together, then similar aged girls should play the role of boys. And they too should be below puberty.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
(c) Even then our small girls should not wear revealing or Hollywood type of dress in front of a co-ed audience. And the music must be sentient. The music itself also carries a vibration, positive or negative microvita.
Adhering to the above tenets, the program will be devoid of "risque behaviours" and the entire performance will be fully sentient.
#6: Here below Baba warns how crude dance and song fully ruins a program.
Ananda Marga philosophy says, “If someone makes a sound like ‘ra, ra, ra — cha, cha, cha’ or if someone sings, ‘Follow my song. Let us sing and dance our way to hell’, these are sound inferences, but they carry a very crude idea.” (3)
We should not let such scenes unfold in our own AMPS cultural programs.
Conclusion
#7: As a reminder, here is what our Sadguru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji guides us about RAWA and our cultural programmes:
Ananda Marga Caryacarya says, “Men and women should not jointly participate in theatrical performances.” (4)
Ananda Marga Caryacara says, “It should be remembered that a woman’s friend is a woman and a man’s friend is a man. The more distant the relationship between men and women, the greater should be the courtesy maintained in mutual conversation and behaviour between them.” (5)
According to Baba, our cultural programs must be consistent with Ananda Marga ideals and must be of a requisite standard. Baba has told what constitutes a real RAWA program: That which goads the mind toward a higher ideal. Baba critically warns us not to allow our Rawa programmes to fall prey to debased approaches. Our standard is far above.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "If art or literature is created around the base propensities of the human mind, people will naturally gravitate towards it in large numbers, and the creators of such literature will earn a great deal of money from it; indeed, this is the only aim of their artistic creation. Engaged in the quest of evil, obscenity and vulgarity, they also [like the rightists] lose sight of the primary goal of art." (6)
Namaskar,
In Him,
Ra’dha’
References
1. Caryacarya - 1, Social Relationship between Men and Women
2. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 30 ˜- Human Expressions and Human Movements 31 May 1979 evening, Valencia
3. Microvita in a Nutshell, Smell and Microvita – Excerpt C
4. Caryacarya - 1, Social Relationship between Men and Women
5. Caryacarya - 1, Social Relationship between Men and Women
6. A Few Problems Solved - 1, The Practice of Art and Literature
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
"Bándhan chinŕe beriye elum, kabe keno ke ján..." (Prabhat Samgiita #3526)
Purport:
Parama Purusa, with Your grace I came into Ananda Marga, the path of bliss, after shattering all worldly bondages, and ignoring the net of maya. How it happened I do not know. But now, by Your infinite compassion, I am under Your eternal shelter. You have graciously done everything for me.
Supreme Entity, from the very instant You brought me under Your care, negative attachments were trying to pull my leg, but with Your energy I turned my gaze away from crude, earthly attractions. It is Your mercy. Now, some say that I am imbalanced, stupid, and impractical etc. But, I never pay any heed to their call; nor do I get affected by their comments. Followers of avidya’ try to pull me back into their black path. But You are always there to save me from leaving the tantric path of sadhana.
Baba, with Your fathomless blessing, You made me surrender my unit mind, and, in exchange, I got Cosmic mind. You formed me into a citizen of supreme truth and the divine world, and brought me under Your grand umbrella. Whatever was mine, I float away in the high tide of the ever-new Supreme One. Baba, each second of my life is like a special oblation - giving the blossoms of my heart and mind. Your blessing is everything...
== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
AM thrives across the cosmos
This is a brief English summary of Baba’s Hindi teaching from MGD 3 January 1979 Patna:
You should depend on the force of spirituality. That is what an intelligent person should do. And since the beginning that is what we have done. The “nucleus” [of Ananda Marga] is a small town and that nucleus remains the same, but the circumference is no longer limited to Jamalpur; it has spread not only across the entire globe but throughout various planets. And it is spreading more and more. Now remember that this Ananda Marga was made not by one or two but by thousands of righteous persons. From this DMC I [Baba] am bestowing Ananda Marga to the common people.
The above is a brief English summary of Baba’s Hindi teaching from Spiritual Truth Surpasses Everything, V7-14 (E), MGD 3 January 1979 Patna.
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Fate of those seeking knowledge for their prestige
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Those who have vanity of knowledge, although they do not expressly beseech this from the Supreme, but rather think inwardly that the Supreme should bestow an enormous wealth of knowledge upon them -- this type of person is reborn as vidya'dhara." (1)
Note: Vidya'dhara is one type of microvita that is under punishment. Such type of unfortunate beings got degenerated and became microvita. So they are suffering and they yearn to once again get human life. But this will come only after they escape from the noose of the long-term bondage and state of punishment etc.
Reference
1. Yoga Psychology, Are Ghosts Hallucinations?
== Section 4: Links ==
Other topics of interest
