Baba
Story: life principles saved him
Namaskar,
Officers requested margii H to drink liquor, eat meat, and dance with them. This was their normal style of celebration and they wanted margii H to partake in their "party".
Margii H sticks to his ideal
Margii H replied, "With all due respect, thank you kindly, but I never touch wine so please excuse me - I must decline your offer. I lead a disciplined life and do not drink alcohol. However I will gladly take fruit or juice."
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Hearing this, those representatives became incredulous that there is a person on this earth who does not drink. They were shocked that margii H refused their offer of wine and dance. They were desperate to drink so they thought that margii H was ruining the occasion. That is why they threatened to tear up the contract if he did not drink with them. Margii H remained steadfast in his approach; he did not compromise one inch. He again respectfully declined their offer.
In their fury, they ripped up the contract and voided the agreement with margii H’s company. So the company for which the margii worked had suddenly and unexpectedly lost a big contract. Margii H was just mentally surrendering to Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. He was thinking, "Baba, I am merely following the principles You graciously taught. You are managing everything; by Your grace, I know you are taking care."
Margii H now had to be the bearer of bad news and report back to his boss. Naturally, margii H’s boss was extremely disappointed and frustrated by losing the contract.
Trade commissioner intervenes
News of the contract dissolution rose to even higher echelons. The government trade commissioner to India came to hear about the case. He was curious to know more about what transpired. So the commissioner inquired and margii H replied how he had certain life principles and could not accept their request of drinking wine and dance.
Normally, under such circumstances, a trade commissioner will give 100% support to their subordinates in order to keep their loyalty. But in this case it was not like that. The trade commissioner did not take sides with his colleagues at the embassy. Instead, the trade commissioner was quite moved and impressed with margii H’s non-compromising attitude and strictness in his ideals. So when the commissioner saw margii H’s firm moral resolve, he held him in deep regard and concluded that this is a trusted person. He was inspired by how margii H stood by his principles.
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With great concern, the commissioner then inquired, "Because the contract was voided, have you lost your job with the company?"
Margii replied that his private company boss had understood and that he still had his job.
Still worried about what had happened, the trade commissioner offered his heartfelt apology to margii H for the whole ordeal. Then the trade commissioner not only approved the contract, but doubled the size of it. The trade commissioner had great respect for margii H’s honourable way of living. So the commissioner began referring more and more lucrative jobs to margii H’s firm - jobs that were far bigger than the original deal with the embassy. Because he trusted margii H’s manner and ethic.
Ever since, the trade commissioner and margii H fostered a long and fruitful friendship. In personal life, they were close friends and visited each other's residence; and, in professional life, the commissioner continued to refer big jobs to margii H private company.
Conclusion
Here the point is that since margii H held firm to dharma, he ultimately became victorious, by Baba's grace. Margii H maintained his principled life - even though it created clash - and in the end gained victory.
So although superficially it looked like that by following dharma, margii H would lose his professional stature; actually, by sticking to dharma, margii H gained a far heightened position. If he had compromised with his ethics and drunk wine, margii H would have lost dharma as well as the opportunity of greater company contracts.
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Ananda Marga ideology says, "Ácárańát dharmah, that is, “Dharma is the assemblage of all your conduct” – the way you eat, the way you speak, the way you perform sádhaná. If your conduct is good, dharma is with you; if your conduct is not good, dharma is not with you." (1)
By the above story we can easily understand that by the grace of Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, those who follow dharma gain victory in each and every sphere of life and move ever onwards toward their cherished Goal.
Takeaway
In the general society, whether good and bad, everybody wants to work with honest people. Morality and honesty have great value in 100% of the cases. Thieves also want to deal with honest persons in their personal life. They do not want their own materials to be stolen. Even the worst type of person values honesty and morality in their personal interactions. Unfortunately, it is very rare to come across such persons who maintain a strict moral standard in all their dealings. In this story, the trade commissioner was very impressed with margii H for this very reason. Living in a foreign land the commissioner did not have a loyal, local person he could trust with his family. So he even entrusted his wife and children with margii H. The commissioner also felt secure that the work contracted with margiis H will be A-grade. And this is not an unusual case; everyone wants to deal with a principled, honest, person. If a margii follows Sixteen Points and others will have more trust and give greater responsibility. That is why Baba would ask in reporting, “How many sympathizers have you created by following Sixteen Points.” The central idea is that every Ananda Margii should be very strict in their conduct rules and moral principles. That will create an all-round good result for everybody.
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Namaskar,
In Him,
Pradiip Deva
~ In-depth study ~
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Dharma rakśati rakśitah – “One who protects dharma is protected by dharma.” Dharma saves the dhármika [the upholder of dharma] in the material sphere, in the subtle sphere and in the causal sphere. When dharma saves people in the material sphere, they experience it before their very eyes, they hear it with their ears, they feel it with the tenderness of touch. When dharma helps them in the causal sphere, they experience it by loving Parama Puruśa with all the sweetness of their hearts. This feeling has no external expression. When dharma saves people in the subtle sphere, they experience it through deep reflection." (2)
Ananda Marga ideology says, "Human beings must live like human beings and human beings must die like human beings – not like undeveloped entities such as plants and animals. In no way should people surrender at the altar of animal dharma or plant dharma, but should stick to mánava dharma, to Bhágavata dharma, even if that results in death." (3)
Not deviate an inch
Here are more of Baba's related teachings on this topic.
Ananda Vanii says, "Your ideal is represented by your conduct. Your learning, your social or economic status have nothing to do with your ideal." (4)
Ananda Marga ideology says, "Ananda Marga is a man-making mission." (5)
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Where the question of benevolence and malevolence is concerned we will not deviate an inch from our ideology." (6)
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "The dynamicity of dharma functions mainly in the subtle sphere. With the increasing development of the power of reflection, dharmic people realize that dharma is always with them in a very subtle way. They further realize that their dharma and their beloved Parama Puruśa are one and inseparable." (7)
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "Dharmasya súkśmá gatih kálasya kut́ilá gatih – What happens and how things happen is beyond people’s comprehension. One may be at the height of one’s glory today. But how and when they will be a fallen angel, sunk in the depths of total oblivion, nobody can guess. That is why it is said that kálasya kut́ilá gatih. But regarding dharma it is said: Dharmasya súkśmá gatih – “Dharma walks a straight and simple path, but a very subtle one.”" (8)
About margii H
This above is the account of one devoted margii and what happened to him when he refused to drink wine in celebration of a contractual agreement with the embassy. As we saw, margii H’s office lost that lucrative contract, but then got much more, as he experienced first-hand how dharma itself saves him. Dharma always protects those who uphold dharma.
In the early days of Ananda Marga, margii H was a sales manager for a private company in India. Margii H’s whole family was deeply involved in Ananda Marga: His wife was a university professor in the Hindi Dept and she worked on translating Namami Krsnasundaram from Bengali into Hindi, and Baba assigned her other translation duties as well. So the whole family was very active and they would come every Sunday for Baba's darshan. Margii H hailed from Rajasthan and then relocated to Kolkata. And it was there that he worked as a sales manager.
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Through his hard work and good dealings, margii H arranged a large contract for his company with the USSR embassy in India. This was a very lucrative and profitable job for his firm. After much trial and negotiation, all the paperwork was completed between the two parties - i.e. margii H’s company and the embassy.
Upon completion, various representatives from the embassy wanted to celebrate the contractual agreement. In their "festive" and somewhat debauched mood, those embassy agents requested margii H to drink liquor, eat meat, and dance with them. This was their normal style of celebration and they wanted margii H to partake in their "party".
References
1. Subhasita Samgraha, part 21, Niiti and Dharma
2. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 11
3. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 16, 28 November 1979 morning, Pune
4. Ananda Vanii #13
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 31, The Conduct of an Ácárya
6. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 14
7. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Shiva's Teachings – 1
8. Discourses on the Giita, Spiritual Lessons of the Giitá – 2
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section: Important Teaching ==
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Dry intellectuals are C-grade fools
Ananda Marga ideology guides us, "For those who enter the realm of intellectuality, the path is comprised of three aspects: váda, jalpa and vitańd́á. For nyáyikas or pańd́itas there are always váda, jalpa and vitańd́a. The Indian logician’s philosophy is divided into these three aspects. So for those who travel the path of intellectuality, the first portion is váda, the middle portion vitańd́á, and the last portion jalpa. They will proceed through these three aspects to attain the logician’s victory as their goal. Parama Puruśa is not their goal. Their main goal is to attain victory in the realm of logic. What type of victory is this?”
“There are two inner feelings behind this victory. The first is becoming mentally inflated with vanity. The mind gets inflated with vanity like puffed rice. The person swells with pride like puffed rice, but inside there is nothing. And secondly, this intellectual develops a lust for some external words of praise - words to the effect that he or she has attained victory. So the first is that the mind gets puffed up with vanity, and thus grows weaker and weaker, and the second is that the person develops a lustful attachment for some external words of praise, and thus becomes a slave to those words and can never be a truly great person.”
“Those people are great who harbour no biases and who behave rationally both with those who abuse them give them pain and with those who give them happiness. Such people don’t harbour any feelings of enmity towards anybody and take no-one as their enemy. They remain the same in pleasure or pain whether they have a positive reputation or negative reputation. They are unaffected and unassailed in all circumstances of praise or criticism, pain or pleasure. They attach no importance whatsoever to any of these things. They are meaningless for such people.”
“Those who work with the motivation that they will attain intellectual victory are slaves to words of praise. They can never become great people. It is bad to be a slave to worldly words of praise. The sounds raised by jackals and those raised in praise of some intellectuals are similar. Hence remaining engrossed in váda, vitańd́á and jalpa will lead to nothing.”
“Besides, valuable time will be wasted. You have not come on this earth for thousands of years. Few are the people who even live for a hundred years. Of course, if you follow Sixteen Points, your longevity will be greater, but you will not live for a thousand or two thousand years. The most a person can live is a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five years.”
“So those who waste their time in váda, jalpa and vitańd́á are fools. They are C-grade fools. To which grade of person have you decided to belong?" (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 5, Devotion and the Realm of Intellectuality
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Duty of Renaissance movement: propagate rights of all beings
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "In the social sphere there are several sub-strata, and the real spirit of social progress is to dispel all social disparities. Each and every member of the human society should enjoy equal rights as members of the same family, but there is disparity and it is the duty of the Renaissance movement to dispel the disparity and bring about equality, equilibrium and equipoise amongst human beings."
"There are disparities, disparities of different types and different kinds. For instance, there are biological disparities existing in the society, which are being encouraged by certain selfish persons. The biological disparity between human and animal, between human and plant, between animal and plant – that disparity must not be there. Just as a human being wants to survive, a pigeon also wants to survive – similarly a cow also wants to survive, or a tree. Just as my life is dear to me, so the lives of created beings are also equally dear to them. It is the birthright of human beings to live in this world, and it is the birthright of the animal world and plant world also to remain on this earth. To recognize this right, and to get it recognized by the entire human society, the Renaissance movement will have to do something concrete." (1)
Reference
1. A Few Problems Solved - 7, Renaissance in All the Strata of Life
== Section: Prabhat Samgiita ==
हे परमपुरुष! मैंने विभिन्न तथाकथित तीर्थों में तुम्हें खोजा, परन्तु नहीं पाया ।
प्रभात संगीत 4874 तीर्थे तोमारे खुंजिया पाइनी, गाने धरिबार प्रयास कोरि ...
भावार्थ
हे परमपुरुष! मैंने विभिन्न तथाकथित तीर्थों में तुम्हें खोजा, परन्तु नहीं पाया । मेरे सभी प्रयास निरर्थक और समय नष्ट करने वाले ही सिद्ध हुए. क्योंकि मेरी खोज भावजड़ता और अज्ञानता पर आधारित थी, इसलिए मैं बार बार असफल हुआ, और तुमको नहीं पा सका। बाबा! अब मैं तुम्हें प्रभात संगीत के माध्यम से पाने का प्रयास कर रहा हॅूं। पहले मैं असत्य और आडम्बर के द्वारा तुम्हें खोजा करता था पर अब मैं परम सत्य का पथ अपना चुका हॅूं।
बाबा! मैंने सुना था कि तुम तो स्वर्ग में रहते हो और मैं अंधेरी गहराई में हर प्रकार के पापों के बीच डूबा हुआ हॅूं । ओह! मैं सोचता था कि मैं अपनी पूजा अर्चना और दक्षिणा के आधार पर तुम्हें पा लूंगा पर सब कुछ समय को ब्यर्थ नष्ट करना ही सिद्ध हुआ।
हे प्रभु ! मुझे बड़ा आश्चर्य हुआ कि इतना सब करने के बाद भी क्यों मैंने तुम्हें नहीं पाया ? मैं दूर ही बना हुआ हॅूं। मैं सोचने लगा कि तुम तो मुझ से बहुत दूर हो, इसलिये तुम्हारी निकटता मैं पा ही नहीं सकता । अब मैं अपने मन को तुम्हारे रंग में कैसे रंग सकता हॅूं? बाबा! अब मेरी भक्ति भाव से भरी पुकार को, अपनी इच्छा और कृपा के आकर्षण से अपने निकट खींच लो।
टिप्पणी -
1- कर्मकाॅंडी पूजा- इसमें मूर्ति के सामने विभिन्न पदार्थों की भेंट देकर, भजन गाकर और तीर्थों में जाकर पूजा की जाती है।
2-अर्चना- कोई भी वही पूजा जिसमें फूल चंदन रंग आदि के साथ की जाती है, कुछ लोग दीप जलाकर, फूल आदि चढ़ाते हैं, इसे अर्चना कहते हैं। आनन्दमार्ग में इनमें से किसी प्रकार भौतिक, वाह्य या कर्मकांडीय विधियों को मान्यता प्राप्त नहीं है। बाबा के अनुसार ‘ कोई भी पूजा जो स्वार्थ के वशीभूत होकर वाह्य पदार्थो की भेंट के साथ की जाती है अर्चा या अर्चना कहलाती है।‘
3- दक्षिणा- पुजारी को धन या मिष्ठान्न भेंट करना ।
== Section 3: Links ==
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