Baba
When people are sad they go shopping to "feel better". In this way, they accumulate so much stuff that they will never ever use. Side by side, they remain mentally depressed. Because shopping is no cure for melancholia or sadness. The teachings of Prout guide us that happiness and contentment come through spiritual practice, not materialistic pursuits. Shoppers are buying items with the false hope of gaining psychic satisfaction - happiness. This is the unfortunate mindset in extremely materialistic societies like the USA.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Artificial demands
On so many fronts, the common people in capitalist nations are victims of those vaeshyan exploiters; and wherever materialism spreads the population will suffer in a similar way. It is our duty to educate them and heighten their awareness.
Prout philosophy states, "Psycho-economy has two branches. The first branch endeavours to eradicate exploitative and unjust economic practices, behaviours and structures. It will counter all economic and psycho-economic exploitation and make people aware of how capitalists, in their singular or collective roles, exploit society and create unhealthy, artificial demands which not only poison the mind but encourage dangerous habits detrimental to psychic sanctity and expansion. The first and foremost duty of psycho-economics is to wage a tireless fight against all degenerating and dehumanizing economic trends in society." (2)
People get brainwashed
Psycho-economy is primarily needed in those countries that have a greater purchasing capacity like the US etc. In financially poorer nations, the populace is forced to spend most of its money on matters of survival such as housing, food, clothing etc. Though it is true that those populations do get indoctrinated into and addicted to certain trends like tobacco and alcohol use. Really though, it is the economically wealthier nations that desperately need psycho-economy, i.e. the knowledge of what to buy and how to use their money etc.
Because up till now, the capitalists have successfully brainwashed common citizens in so-called first-world nations about what they need: to look "good", feel "good", and have "good" social status - by purchasing more toys etc. By this way the general populace gets trapped and pours huge amounts of money into the hands of those capitalists in order to buy harmful, degrading things. All because they are allured and swooped up by capitalist media propaganda.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Whereas if people are taught what they really need to live on this earth and what will truly make them happy, they will easily be able to extricate themselves from the trap of capitalist exploitation. Because those capitalists exploit a person's wallet by first getting inside that person's mind. So if one is clear and can understand what the capitalists are doing, then they can easily win the battle.
How psycho-economy saves money
Thus in a step-by-step manner, the common people need to be taught what to purchase and what not to purchase. Those things which are harmful should not be purchased: junk food, tobacco, liquor, lottery tickets, useless toys, items related with bad habits etc. Plus they should be educated on points of aparigraha so they do not purchase superfluous fashion clothing, extra gadgets etc. They should learn the basics that commodities like clothes and one’s mode of transportation are solely for their existential needs etc, and not a means towards gaining prestige. The entire arena of psycho-economy is based on this simple equation: Buy what is needed and helpful for one’s own development and ability to serve others, and do not buy that which is not needed and harmful.
Here are some very simple, clear-cut guidelines which need to be conveyed to the public if they are to escape from the exploitation of capitalism.
Not buy useless, unneeded items
Firstly, in day-to-day life people should not buy useless things and unneeded products. In essence, people should break the habit of shopping for shopping's sake. To this end, people should be taught to carefully analyse their shopping habits and not get lured into purchasing more things that they do not need.
In the US, it is quite common for people to purchase many things only to watch those items collect dust and never get used. Those purchases are placed in some closet and forgotten. Some people even collect so much stuff that their big house gets overfilled and they die when those items fall on them and suffocate them. They become absolutely inundated with piles of objects and items in all directions. This is the sad yet stark reality.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Typically speaking, one US family has enough possessions for an entire small poor village in Nepal. They buy something, keep it for a few months, and then put it in some closet or even the garbage - yet that item is unused. The whole world produces and the US consumers collect. Then one fine day they put their purchases in the garbage and that garbage is burned or buried in the US, placed in landfills or left to rot in poorer states of the US, and in some cases shipped to so-called 3rd world countries.
Capitalist cheating tactics
Next, people should be able to easily recognise and rationally analyse the way capitalists dupe the public into buying those things they do not need. If they understand the cheating psychology and marketing schemes by capitalists then they are much less likely to be exploited.
When the general society is getting wholly submerged in the degenerating ways, then as Ananda Margiis we should take up the task of awakening and teaching the people about the ills and trappings of capitalism.
Essentially, everyone needs to understand the degenerating spiral of running after money, spending it senselessly, only to then again lust after more money. This negative cycle needs to be checked. This is the very harmful mindset capitalists have infused in the people.
Conclusion
We should educate the masses about vaeshyan exploitation. That is the need of the hour. The main conclusion is that in day to day life one should not purchase useless items or get duped by false propaganda telling them to buy, buy, buy via all kinds of psychological and tricky selling techniques. To do so is to merely become a pawn of capitalism.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
As Ananda Margiis we are to awaken the masses and guide them on this key issue to bring about the struggle and fight against vaeshyan (capitalist) exploitation.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Prakash Deve
(Phillip Morrison)
~ In depth study ~
How capitalists exploit the masses
Prout philosophy guides us, "Psycho-economic exploitation is the latest form of dangerous and all-devouring capitalist exploitation. It is a special type of exploitation which first weakens and paralyses people psychologically in various ways, and then exploits them economically."
"Some of the methods of psycho-economic exploitation include...the extensive propagation of pseudo-culture, exemplified by pornographic literature which debases people’s mind and particularly undermines the vitality of the youth; the negation of dharma in the name of secularism...the damaging of society by the use of unnatural and harmful methods of birth control...Both intellectual exploitation and psycho-economic exploitation are great dangers to the human race today."
"To counteract this threat, powerful popular sentiments will have to be generated immediately for the liberation of intellect. For this, the first requisite factor is that intellectuals must keep their intellects pure and unblemished. Casting aside all their inertia and prejudices, intellectuals will have to mix with the common people and engage themselves in their welfare. They will have to assist the common people in their development and extend their support to all anti-exploitation movements. This approach will help to root out exploitation, stabilize the structure of society and expand the intellectual standard of the common people. Human society will move forward to a brilliant future with rapid steps." (1)
We have to remember here that shoppers in the US are not starving, hungry people rushing for food as happens in so-called 3rd world countries where people run to grab the minimum necessities of life. That is just not the case in this scenario. People are harming others and risking death just to purchase video games, toys, extra gadgets, and other silly things that they do not need, in the true sense of the term.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Black Friday is coming
By this way everyone will save money and time, refrain from incurring debt, and have greater opportunity for higher pursuits. If people can understand that their self-worth is not a correlation of how much money they have or what kind of car they have, or what brand of clothing they wear, then they will readily become educated consumers. And such persons will not be helpless pawns of capitalism. This type of education is known as psycho-economy. All should learn and those who practice this will be happy and peaceful. Otherwise they may die in a stampede in a big box store on Black Friday. Then people will not rush headlong into Black Friday and risk their mind and body running after the mirage of materialistic happiness as presented by those leading capitalists. For one's existence psycho-economy is needed.
Be smart not pawn of capitalism
The central issue is that if the common people are educated about Prout and have a better idea of what it means to be a smart consumer, then they will not get caught in the web spun by capitalists. Then they will not get caught up in the madness of Black Friday.
As noted above, Baba has given psycho-economy as one part of a healthy economy. A key aspect of psycho-economy is to fight exploitation and educate the public about the devious and greedy ways of capitalists. So that is what we should do.
Indeed, if people are aware about how they are getting cheated by capitalists and that they do not need all this useless merchandise, they will not run in that direction, i.e. into a shopping frenzy. If people clearly understand the sham, senselessness, and destruction related with Black Friday, then it would be obliterated. Indeed Black Friday itself would be no more.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 1: Consumerism does not bring happiness
Each and every year there is so much violence and destruction on Black Friday. Many are hurt, injured, bruised, and abused - even killed, where people were pushed and even shot during pandemonium type of shopping on Black Friday. Such are the tragic events that present each year. Our chief duty here is to examine the root cause and offer the Proutistic solution.
Note 2: Proutistic education needed
People risking life for petty items
We can say with cent-per-cent certainty that the only reason such antics are occurring - and the only reason that Black Friday even exists - is because people are not aware about our Proutistic teachings.
If people knew about our Proutistic outlook and psycho-economy, they would not rush out in the middle of the night - risking their lives - to purchase silly, useless products - which in most cases they do not even need. These shoppers are addicted to pseudo-culture and video games etc; in that way, they are spending their hard earned money on Black Friday.
The common citizens need to be taught that shopping does not bring mental satiation. Limited objects and mundane products cannot satisfy the mind; sadhana is needed. Under the prodding of capitalists, the common people are indoctrinated into the belief that physical objects and products will enable them to feel and be happy.
Such is how the top capitalists have impaired the common people. They have tainted their entire psyche and put them in eternal debt. People get into debt by buying things they do not need with the false hope of attaining happiness, and then borrow money or apply for credit at a 20% to 40% to even 100% interest rate. It is all one vicious cycle that gets repeated again and again.
So the people need to be awakened to and introduced to the ideals of Prout. Then and only then will they be able to stand up, and remove the noose of this Black Friday mentality of capitalism.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 3: Baba's guidelines on human thirst & satiation
Prout philosophy states, "Can human thirst be fully quenched? Can human hunger be fully satisfied? Why is it that human thirst knows no limitations? From PROUT we are moving to psycho-philosophy. In the relative world human thirst cannot be satisfied. Human beings are the progeny of the Supreme Progenitor, therefore human thirst is unlimited. All the properties of the Supreme are ensconced in human existence, and not only in human existence, but in each and every entity of the expressed universe. Can physical thirst, psychic thirst and spiritual thirst be quenched? Only spiritual thirst can be quenched. Unification of the unit with the Cosmic can quench the spiritual thirst. The physical body has certain limitations. It functions within very strict limitations. The mind has a far bigger jurisdiction, but it is also limited." (3)
Prout philosophy states, "According to PROUT the mental pabulum of human beings is never ending. In this universe everything moves, thus our pabula are also moving and are never static. Human demands in the physical stratum can never reach the saturation point. Similarly, our psychic thirst will never be satisfied. It is ever changing." (4)
Note 4: Companies make big profits on Black Friday
By seeing how kids and families are affected, we can understand the severity of the situation. Ignorant people think that spending money is one of the main joys and thrills of life. That is all they know. In that case, when Black Friday rolls around - with so many "special deals" - such people literally lose their common sense and turn into shopping fiends. The irony is that often cases Black Friday "deals" are not good deals at all. Consumer experts have found that often those items were cheaper other times of the year. Plus, capitalists mark up prices 100 times the actual cost. They purchase things from China for pennies and then put a big price tag on it in the US. Even on Black Friday, capitalists are taking a 20-fold or 50-fold profit. Even then, the masses are whipped up into a frenzy to shop, shop, and shop.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 5: What is Black Friday
Basically Black Friday (USA) is a shopping frenzy where stores open in the wee hours of the morning or even the night before to attract shoppers. In turn, hoards of consumers line-up outside the store and wait for it to open. There is huge tension and angst to be the first one into the store. As soon as the doors open, customers engage in a "rat-race" type of stampede to get their items of choice. It is absolute chaos - riddled with fights, gunfire, and death- where hundreds are arrested, injured, maimed, and killed.
So this letter addresses the annual Black Friday shopping frenzy in the USA, not any other type of Black Friday remembrance from any other nation etc.
Note 6: Nine Reasons To Stay Home On Black Friday
~ Courtesy of local newspapers ~
References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 9, Capitalism in Three Spheres
2. A Few Problems Solved - 7, Quadri-Dimensional Economy
3. Prout Nutshell - 17, Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities
4. Prout in a Nutshell - 14, Questions and Answers [on Society] – 3
Prout way to save $$
Namaskar,When people are sad they go shopping to "feel better". In this way, they accumulate so much stuff that they will never ever use. Side by side, they remain mentally depressed. Because shopping is no cure for melancholia or sadness. The teachings of Prout guide us that happiness and contentment come through spiritual practice, not materialistic pursuits. Shoppers are buying items with the false hope of gaining psychic satisfaction - happiness. This is the unfortunate mindset in extremely materialistic societies like the USA.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Artificial demands
On so many fronts, the common people in capitalist nations are victims of those vaeshyan exploiters; and wherever materialism spreads the population will suffer in a similar way. It is our duty to educate them and heighten their awareness.
Prout philosophy states, "Psycho-economy has two branches. The first branch endeavours to eradicate exploitative and unjust economic practices, behaviours and structures. It will counter all economic and psycho-economic exploitation and make people aware of how capitalists, in their singular or collective roles, exploit society and create unhealthy, artificial demands which not only poison the mind but encourage dangerous habits detrimental to psychic sanctity and expansion. The first and foremost duty of psycho-economics is to wage a tireless fight against all degenerating and dehumanizing economic trends in society." (2)
People get brainwashed
Psycho-economy is primarily needed in those countries that have a greater purchasing capacity like the US etc. In financially poorer nations, the populace is forced to spend most of its money on matters of survival such as housing, food, clothing etc. Though it is true that those populations do get indoctrinated into and addicted to certain trends like tobacco and alcohol use. Really though, it is the economically wealthier nations that desperately need psycho-economy, i.e. the knowledge of what to buy and how to use their money etc.
Because up till now, the capitalists have successfully brainwashed common citizens in so-called first-world nations about what they need: to look "good", feel "good", and have "good" social status - by purchasing more toys etc. By this way the general populace gets trapped and pours huge amounts of money into the hands of those capitalists in order to buy harmful, degrading things. All because they are allured and swooped up by capitalist media propaganda.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Whereas if people are taught what they really need to live on this earth and what will truly make them happy, they will easily be able to extricate themselves from the trap of capitalist exploitation. Because those capitalists exploit a person's wallet by first getting inside that person's mind. So if one is clear and can understand what the capitalists are doing, then they can easily win the battle.
How psycho-economy saves money
Thus in a step-by-step manner, the common people need to be taught what to purchase and what not to purchase. Those things which are harmful should not be purchased: junk food, tobacco, liquor, lottery tickets, useless toys, items related with bad habits etc. Plus they should be educated on points of aparigraha so they do not purchase superfluous fashion clothing, extra gadgets etc. They should learn the basics that commodities like clothes and one’s mode of transportation are solely for their existential needs etc, and not a means towards gaining prestige. The entire arena of psycho-economy is based on this simple equation: Buy what is needed and helpful for one’s own development and ability to serve others, and do not buy that which is not needed and harmful.
Here are some very simple, clear-cut guidelines which need to be conveyed to the public if they are to escape from the exploitation of capitalism.
Not buy useless, unneeded items
Firstly, in day-to-day life people should not buy useless things and unneeded products. In essence, people should break the habit of shopping for shopping's sake. To this end, people should be taught to carefully analyse their shopping habits and not get lured into purchasing more things that they do not need.
In the US, it is quite common for people to purchase many things only to watch those items collect dust and never get used. Those purchases are placed in some closet and forgotten. Some people even collect so much stuff that their big house gets overfilled and they die when those items fall on them and suffocate them. They become absolutely inundated with piles of objects and items in all directions. This is the sad yet stark reality.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Typically speaking, one US family has enough possessions for an entire small poor village in Nepal. They buy something, keep it for a few months, and then put it in some closet or even the garbage - yet that item is unused. The whole world produces and the US consumers collect. Then one fine day they put their purchases in the garbage and that garbage is burned or buried in the US, placed in landfills or left to rot in poorer states of the US, and in some cases shipped to so-called 3rd world countries.
Capitalist cheating tactics
Next, people should be able to easily recognise and rationally analyse the way capitalists dupe the public into buying those things they do not need. If they understand the cheating psychology and marketing schemes by capitalists then they are much less likely to be exploited.
When the general society is getting wholly submerged in the degenerating ways, then as Ananda Margiis we should take up the task of awakening and teaching the people about the ills and trappings of capitalism.
Essentially, everyone needs to understand the degenerating spiral of running after money, spending it senselessly, only to then again lust after more money. This negative cycle needs to be checked. This is the very harmful mindset capitalists have infused in the people.
Conclusion
We should educate the masses about vaeshyan exploitation. That is the need of the hour. The main conclusion is that in day to day life one should not purchase useless items or get duped by false propaganda telling them to buy, buy, buy via all kinds of psychological and tricky selling techniques. To do so is to merely become a pawn of capitalism.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
As Ananda Margiis we are to awaken the masses and guide them on this key issue to bring about the struggle and fight against vaeshyan (capitalist) exploitation.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Prakash Deve
(Phillip Morrison)
~ In depth study ~
Prout philosophy guides us, "Psycho-economic exploitation is the latest form of dangerous and all-devouring capitalist exploitation. It is a special type of exploitation which first weakens and paralyses people psychologically in various ways, and then exploits them economically."
"Some of the methods of psycho-economic exploitation include...the extensive propagation of pseudo-culture, exemplified by pornographic literature which debases people’s mind and particularly undermines the vitality of the youth; the negation of dharma in the name of secularism...the damaging of society by the use of unnatural and harmful methods of birth control...Both intellectual exploitation and psycho-economic exploitation are great dangers to the human race today."
"To counteract this threat, powerful popular sentiments will have to be generated immediately for the liberation of intellect. For this, the first requisite factor is that intellectuals must keep their intellects pure and unblemished. Casting aside all their inertia and prejudices, intellectuals will have to mix with the common people and engage themselves in their welfare. They will have to assist the common people in their development and extend their support to all anti-exploitation movements. This approach will help to root out exploitation, stabilize the structure of society and expand the intellectual standard of the common people. Human society will move forward to a brilliant future with rapid steps." (1)
We have to remember here that shoppers in the US are not starving, hungry people rushing for food as happens in so-called 3rd world countries where people run to grab the minimum necessities of life. That is just not the case in this scenario. People are harming others and risking death just to purchase video games, toys, extra gadgets, and other silly things that they do not need, in the true sense of the term.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Black Friday is coming
By this way everyone will save money and time, refrain from incurring debt, and have greater opportunity for higher pursuits. If people can understand that their self-worth is not a correlation of how much money they have or what kind of car they have, or what brand of clothing they wear, then they will readily become educated consumers. And such persons will not be helpless pawns of capitalism. This type of education is known as psycho-economy. All should learn and those who practice this will be happy and peaceful. Otherwise they may die in a stampede in a big box store on Black Friday. Then people will not rush headlong into Black Friday and risk their mind and body running after the mirage of materialistic happiness as presented by those leading capitalists. For one's existence psycho-economy is needed.
Be smart not pawn of capitalism
The central issue is that if the common people are educated about Prout and have a better idea of what it means to be a smart consumer, then they will not get caught in the web spun by capitalists. Then they will not get caught up in the madness of Black Friday.
As noted above, Baba has given psycho-economy as one part of a healthy economy. A key aspect of psycho-economy is to fight exploitation and educate the public about the devious and greedy ways of capitalists. So that is what we should do.
Indeed, if people are aware about how they are getting cheated by capitalists and that they do not need all this useless merchandise, they will not run in that direction, i.e. into a shopping frenzy. If people clearly understand the sham, senselessness, and destruction related with Black Friday, then it would be obliterated. Indeed Black Friday itself would be no more.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 1: Consumerism does not bring happiness
Each and every year there is so much violence and destruction on Black Friday. Many are hurt, injured, bruised, and abused - even killed, where people were pushed and even shot during pandemonium type of shopping on Black Friday. Such are the tragic events that present each year. Our chief duty here is to examine the root cause and offer the Proutistic solution.
Note 2: Proutistic education needed
People risking life for petty items
We can say with cent-per-cent certainty that the only reason such antics are occurring - and the only reason that Black Friday even exists - is because people are not aware about our Proutistic teachings.
If people knew about our Proutistic outlook and psycho-economy, they would not rush out in the middle of the night - risking their lives - to purchase silly, useless products - which in most cases they do not even need. These shoppers are addicted to pseudo-culture and video games etc; in that way, they are spending their hard earned money on Black Friday.
The common citizens need to be taught that shopping does not bring mental satiation. Limited objects and mundane products cannot satisfy the mind; sadhana is needed. Under the prodding of capitalists, the common people are indoctrinated into the belief that physical objects and products will enable them to feel and be happy.
Such is how the top capitalists have impaired the common people. They have tainted their entire psyche and put them in eternal debt. People get into debt by buying things they do not need with the false hope of attaining happiness, and then borrow money or apply for credit at a 20% to 40% to even 100% interest rate. It is all one vicious cycle that gets repeated again and again.
So the people need to be awakened to and introduced to the ideals of Prout. Then and only then will they be able to stand up, and remove the noose of this Black Friday mentality of capitalism.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 3: Baba's guidelines on human thirst & satiation
Prout philosophy states, "Can human thirst be fully quenched? Can human hunger be fully satisfied? Why is it that human thirst knows no limitations? From PROUT we are moving to psycho-philosophy. In the relative world human thirst cannot be satisfied. Human beings are the progeny of the Supreme Progenitor, therefore human thirst is unlimited. All the properties of the Supreme are ensconced in human existence, and not only in human existence, but in each and every entity of the expressed universe. Can physical thirst, psychic thirst and spiritual thirst be quenched? Only spiritual thirst can be quenched. Unification of the unit with the Cosmic can quench the spiritual thirst. The physical body has certain limitations. It functions within very strict limitations. The mind has a far bigger jurisdiction, but it is also limited." (3)
Prout philosophy states, "According to PROUT the mental pabulum of human beings is never ending. In this universe everything moves, thus our pabula are also moving and are never static. Human demands in the physical stratum can never reach the saturation point. Similarly, our psychic thirst will never be satisfied. It is ever changing." (4)
Note 4: Companies make big profits on Black Friday
By seeing how kids and families are affected, we can understand the severity of the situation. Ignorant people think that spending money is one of the main joys and thrills of life. That is all they know. In that case, when Black Friday rolls around - with so many "special deals" - such people literally lose their common sense and turn into shopping fiends. The irony is that often cases Black Friday "deals" are not good deals at all. Consumer experts have found that often those items were cheaper other times of the year. Plus, capitalists mark up prices 100 times the actual cost. They purchase things from China for pennies and then put a big price tag on it in the US. Even on Black Friday, capitalists are taking a 20-fold or 50-fold profit. Even then, the masses are whipped up into a frenzy to shop, shop, and shop.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Note 5: What is Black Friday
Basically Black Friday (USA) is a shopping frenzy where stores open in the wee hours of the morning or even the night before to attract shoppers. In turn, hoards of consumers line-up outside the store and wait for it to open. There is huge tension and angst to be the first one into the store. As soon as the doors open, customers engage in a "rat-race" type of stampede to get their items of choice. It is absolute chaos - riddled with fights, gunfire, and death- where hundreds are arrested, injured, maimed, and killed.
So this letter addresses the annual Black Friday shopping frenzy in the USA, not any other type of Black Friday remembrance from any other nation etc.
Note 6: Nine Reasons To Stay Home On Black Friday
~ Courtesy of local newspapers ~
"With Black Friday fast approaching, millions of Americans are readying to brave freezing temperatures, unconscionable lines and frenzied stampedes for a shot at some discounted tablets, toys and the like.
But are all the fights and tears really worth it? We here at The Huffington Post seriously doubt it. For those still deciding, we decided to round up some reasons to forget about the door-busting deals and stay home with your leftovers:
1. The "discounts" aren't real. Over 90 percent of Black Friday deals are the exact same items and prices as last year, according to a recent study. And many other seemingly discounted deals are faked by retailers to give shoppers the illusion of savings.
2. People will become irate over the smallest things. Two people were shot on Black Friday in the parking lot of a Florida Walmart after an argument over a parking space in 2012.
3. Fanatical Black Friday shoppers take things way too seriously. A man in a San Antonio Sears pulled out a concealed gun on a line-cutter. Again, over cutting a line.
4. No one claws you over a waffle-maker at home.
5. You could be pepper-sprayed.
6. Employees at your favorite stores are often forced to work the holiday.
7. Black Friday workers are overworked.
8. Black Friday often turns tragic. When a 61-year-old man collapsed in 2011, fellow Target shoppers stepped over his body and continued searching for deals. The man later died at the hospital.
9. Truly tragic. On Black Friday in 2008, a temporary Walmart employee was trampled to death after a large crowd poured through the store's doors. And Walmart, a company with sales of $466 billion last year, is still fighting the $7,000 fine that resulted from the 2008 trampling."
References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 9, Capitalism in Three Spheres
2. A Few Problems Solved - 7, Quadri-Dimensional Economy
3. Prout Nutshell - 17, Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities
4. Prout in a Nutshell - 14, Questions and Answers [on Society] – 3
== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
"Toma'r pathe jete kuya'sha' keno a'se a'nkhite..." (Prabhat Samgiita #2214)
Purport:
Parama Purusa, You have blessed me with all that I would ever need or want. Then why is it that while marching Your path, sometimes frustration and confusions come, thus making everything foggy. It is not easy to see across. Dilemmas arise in the mind as if the future is dark. Divine Entity, please create more and more effulgence so that all the accumulated blackness vanishes.
My Illumined One, the Polestar of my life, those who lost their course in life, kindly show them the way. Remove their anxiety and ignorance and bring them in the right direction. I humbly ask that You shower Your grace on me so that in Your ideation and in Your dhyana I merge myself in You. Please allow my entire I-feeling to dissolve into You. Without Your krpa all this is not possible.
Baba, with the force of Your mantra, awaken all, the entire world, from their slumber. I appeal to You to make me Your tool to execute Your task. Bless me so I pass my time in shravana, manana, and nididyasana, and always think about You. Baba, do Your work with my hand - getting Your plans done through me and fulfill Your desire...
== Section: Important Teaching ==
How to use His innumerable brainsHere following is an English summary or gist of the Bangla teaching from The Thousand-Headed Puruśa, V06-15-(E) MGD 17 December 1978 Calcutta:
With one brain how can you compete with Parama Purusa. Better is to tell Him that, “Parama Purusa, You have innumerable brains. Think for me too and solve my problems. With one brain how much can I do.” By this way, one should surrender unto Him. (English summary)
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Ananda Marga ideology states, "The avidyá force declares war on those whose desire or inclination is towards vidyá; this gives rise to a hostile tendency in the recesses of their minds, against which they have to struggle. At home the husband, wife or the other members of the family become dissatisfied with them, and create various obstacles. In the field of their activities the opportunities arise for depravity, meanness, bribes etc., and they have to maintain their self-control. The locusts of desires come swarming in to destroy the very bud of their sádhaná. So they must carefully avoid such temptations for their own safety. But those whose movement is truly towards vidyá, who are determined to follow the path of vidyá by sacrificing their all, will eventually become immune to all obstacles. No amount of scornful taunts or diatribes will be able to check their lightning speed. They will emerge victorious, weathering and defying all storms, and eventually stand firm and erect like the Himalayas; and the storms and squalls will rebound back in disappointment."
"When the Sádhaka or the spiritual aspirant will stand untrammelled and resolute, with the courage of his conviction, and self-confidence, all snags and dangers will gradually wither away – will timidly disappear from his path...Obstacles are the concomitants of sádhaná, struggling is a good sign. By these obstacles sádhakas can understand that their spiritual practice is on the right track. Spiritual philosophy comes into being only when sádhakas struggling with avidyá’s hindrances, vindicates their move towards Brahma after defeating the base propensities of avidyá by their own intellect and judgment." (1)
References
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 3, Supreme Benevolence and Mundane Pleasure
== Section: Important Teaching ==
No scope for dowryProut philosophy states, “Another glaring instance of social injustice is the custom of dowry. This is a real disgrace in a civilized society. If we go deeply into the reasons for such an injustice it will be clear that there are two main reasons behind it."
"First, dowry occurs where males and females earn disproportionate incomes. The Náyyár and Izave communities of Kerala follow the matrilineal order and hence no dowry is claimed by the males. The Khasia community of Assam follow a similar system. In Burma, though the patrilineal order is in vogue, women are economically independent so they get a dowry."
"Secondly, dowry occurs where there is a disproportionate number of males and females. If the number of males is more, females get dowry and vice-versa. In Punjab, the number of males is more than the number of females so the females get a dowry. The situation is similar for Muslims. The false vanity of the aristocracy also causes dowry. Aristocratic people think, “Our family is a high class family, hence we should get a dowry.” In a Proutistic structure there will be no scope for dowry." (1)
Reference
1. Prout in a Nutshell - 15, Talks on Prout
== Section 4: Links ==
Other topics of interest
