Baba
Namaskar,
Here below Baba has given a very significant story.
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Outlook of sadhaka
Namaskar,
Here below Baba has given a very significant story.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
"Incidentally a story flashes across my mind. Pańd́ita Rámanátha of Navadvipa was a self-oblivious man [i.e. a highly elevated man, always engaged in Cosmic ideation.]The King of Nadia, with a view to giving him some financial help, had once asked him, “Are you in want of anything?”The Pańd́ita [Rámanátha] had then been absorbed in the world of ideas. He took the word “want” for his want of knowledge and replied, “Yes, I did feel the want of an explanation of a shloka but now it is clear to me.”The Mahárájá [King of Nadia] then said, “No, I am talking about want of money.”Rámanátha replied, “Look, you had better ask my wife about domestic affairs.”Then the Mahárájá enquired of the wife.As is husband, so is his wife. She informed the King point blank, “Look, there is rice in the house and there are plenty of leaves on the tamarind tree. My husband relishes the stew of those leaves immensely. I don’t know of any other necessity.” (1)
Conclusion
By this above story we can easily understand that when the mind is engaged in the thought of Parama Purusa, then worldly attractions are gradually eliminated. By goading the mind towards the Supreme Entity, the mind remains free from degenerating thoughts and one does not get trapped in the vicious net of materialism. This is an important training: To channelize the mind upwards and thereby get rid from worldly desires. This is one key teaching, especially for this current era of extreme materialism.
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This story also teaches us that by seeing a person’s longing, you can determine that person's’ quality. For instance, those who long for crude, material things are third-grade type of persons, whereas those whose longing is spiritual are first-grade (i.e. top grade) type of people, i.e. true bhaktas.
In Him,
Ashiish
~ In-depth study ~
The entire spirit of aparigraha is to live in a simple manner, within one's means. This is only possible if one can cultivate the requisite santosa (mental ease), such that a person will not senselessly run after material goods. As Baba points out in many discourses, the practices of aparigraha and santosa are closely linked.
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Human desire knows no end. Millionaires want to become multi-millionaires, because they are not satisfied with their million. Ask the millionaires if they are happy with their money. They will say, “Where is the money? I am somehow pulling on.” This answer indicates their ignorance of aparigraha. But such feelings have another adverse effect on body and mind." (2)
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "Out of excessive fondness for physical or mental pleasures people become mad to earn money and amass wealth. As money becomes the be-all and end-all of life, the mind gets crudified. Constant hankering after money results in negligence of one’s health, and this makes the body unfit. Therefore, santos'a sa'dhana' lies in being contented with the earnings of normal labour, without any undue pressure on the body and mind. To remain contented, one has to make a special type of mental effort to keep aloof from external allurements." (3)
Those who get swept in the rush for materialism and fail to adhere to the tenets of aparigraha and santosa will never experience a sense of mental peace and satiation in their lives.
References
1. Subhasita Samgraha Part - 2, The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 3
2. A Guide to Human Conduct, Niyama Sadhana (Santosa)
3. A Guide to Human Conduct, Niyama Sadhana (Santosa)
* * *
The below section is an entirely different topic, unrelated to the above material.
It stands on its own merit as a point of interest and ideological awareness.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Ananda Marga ideology says, “We deduce conclusions just from whatever we observe in this external phenomenal world. We should try to see the subtle cause behind the crude phenomenal world, but we do not see it. For instance, a particular person stole something, and when we say, “Thief! Thief!” people will start beating him. If we try to inquire about the reasons for the theft, we may come to know that he had been hungry for the last three days. And how are we treating him? We are beating him rather than giving him food. So we should think and try to find the noumenal cause behind the phenomenal world. If he was hungry and so stole, then we are more responsible for that theft than he, because we failed to build up society, so that he had to remain hungry. So we must see, and try to find the noumenal cause behind the prima facie observable world. If we are intelligent beings, possessing intellect, we must discover the noumenal cause. It is not proper to arrive at conclusions from mere observation of outward expressions.”
“In some places today, a person’s hand is cut off if he engages in stealing. With a little thought it can be seen that this is not at all a humanistic recourse to eliminate stealing. We must seek the noumenal cause behind all actions.”
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtamt - 12, Towards the Noumenal Entity
== Section: Important Teaching ==
How to control demons
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Still, a controller is necessary in the physical sphere, highly necessary, because in this physical sphere, those of animal nature seize the morsels of food from others’ mouths like mad dogs. In this material sphere, living beings in human form, driven by dogmas, dash the only children of widows to the ground. In this material sphere, demons greedy for wealth starve the simple, innocent and disunited people to death, bit by bit. In this material sphere, the mighty rip out the tongues of the weak and silence their voices forever; they deprive them of the opportunity to express their inner urges. Thus there is a great necessity of a strict disciplinary code for this physical world. It is not necessary for this code of discipline to be always in the form of a book. Rather, a benevolent person of spirited intellect can work more effectively than a book in this regard." (1)
Reference
1. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Shiva's Teachings – 2 (continued) (Discourse 14)
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Still, a controller is necessary in the physical sphere, highly necessary, because in this physical sphere, those of animal nature seize the morsels of food from others’ mouths like mad dogs. In this material sphere, living beings in human form, driven by dogmas, dash the only children of widows to the ground. In this material sphere, demons greedy for wealth starve the simple, innocent and disunited people to death, bit by bit. In this material sphere, the mighty rip out the tongues of the weak and silence their voices forever; they deprive them of the opportunity to express their inner urges. Thus there is a great necessity of a strict disciplinary code for this physical world. It is not necessary for this code of discipline to be always in the form of a book. Rather, a benevolent person of spirited intellect can work more effectively than a book in this regard." (1)
Reference
1. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Shiva's Teachings – 2 (continued) (Discourse 14)
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "So why do people bother to cultivate knowledge or action? They do so to make their devotion more intense, not for any other reason. People do not eat pickles to fill the stomach, but only to whet their appetite so that they can enjoy their food more. Similarly, devotees cultivate knowledge and action not for their physical growth, but to acquire more strength to move along the path of devotion with greater acceleration." (1)
Note: Some people have gone astray from this above teaching. They acquire knowledge and do action for reasons of self-satisfaction and self-aggrandizement - so that they can brag to others. They want to misguide people, put simple folks in trouble, and create more dogmas. Yet all this inflates the ego and causes one's degeneration. It is rare that people cultivate knowledge and perform actions solely to serve humanity and increase their level of bhakti.
Reference
1. Namami Krsnasundaram, Vraja Krśńa and Dvaetaváda (Discourse 17)
== Section: Important Teaching ==
How vrttis affect shape of human body
Ananda Marga Ideology guides us, "I have also said that in the future the number of vrttis may further increase. The more complicated social life, family life, the realm of thought and the realm of intellect become, the more vrttis will develop. For example, the vrtti, cunningness, may be expressed in many more ways. To fulfil their desires, people will develop different types of cunningness which may become different vrttis in future. For example, the cunningness required to procure an object by devious means, the cunningness needed to give a promise knowing full well that one will never keep it, and the cunningness required to trick someone into believing that one did not tell a lie when in fact one did tell a lie, may all become separate vrttis in future.” (1)
Ananda Marga Ideology guides us, "Thus, in the future, as people’s thought processes become more complicated, many new vrttis will develop. The number of vrttis may not stay at fifty. Just imagine the situation that will arise in the future as a result of humanity’s ever increasing thirst for knowledge. To meet these developments the nerve cells and nerve fibres will have to become more complex. Consequently, the human cranium will become larger and the size of the head will increase. The hands and feet will become weaker and weaker and human beings may even lose the ability to walk. Today, the human toes have almost stopped functioning – in spiritual actions we have almost no use for them – whereas at one time, when we used to walk on four legs, we used our toes as much as our fingers. The front legs were used less and less, and were transformed into arms, and thus these days it has become almost impossible for us to crawl on all fours.” (1)
“There was a time when humans would run on four legs, but today they cannot do that. After a time, children feel uncomfortable crawling around on all fours and try to walk on their hind legs. In the initial stages, when they try to stand up, they soon fall down. Again they stand up, again they fall down. When they finally develop the habit of standing on two legs, there are corresponding changes in the physical structure so that the use of their arms becomes less. In the future, the legs will be used less and less and the capacity to move on them will decrease. The arms will become thin, and the head will become abnormally large.” (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam-8, Sádhaná, Abhidhyána and Kiirtana
== Section 4: Links ==
