History of human spirituality
Namaskar,
In the prehistoric age, rśis were involved in their own practices of introspection, ideation, bhajan etc. Through such practices rśis moved closer to Paramátmá, and after many births they were getting moksa.
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Moksa in 20 years
Baba says Ananda Marga sadhana carries such force that if a general person does pointed sadhana, they can get moksa in about 20 years in this very life. This is both because of the special quality of AM sadhana, and also because the glands of humans in the current age are quite advanced compared with the humans of ancient times. As Baba says, in the past if a rśi did spiritual ideation in one life, yet did not get liberation in that very life, then if he took sankalpa (determination) he could try to get liberated in the next life. In that next life, siddha microvita would tell him his old mantra so as to enable him to do further sadhana. Like this rśis were getting liberated in many lives.
After many human lives they may come
If anyone practices any field of endeavor, they will advance in that arena. As an example, if a layman is asked how electricity is generated from atomic energy, the layman will not have the answer for it. But one who has studied and done experiments in physics, or engineering will know this answer. Taking this analogy, we can say that the mind gets refined as one involves more deeply into a certain practice. If one is great in a specific field, then one may get rebirth with that specific expertise; that is why some children are more developed in a certain domain (singing, academics, sports, etc.) than others. Verily, many people are born without having interest in spirituality and do not have any interest in learning about Ananda Marga in their first human life. After many lives as a human, they may come onto the tantrika path of Ananda Marga.
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Slow speed equals longer time
If we take an example, now we have varieties of modes of transportation to go from one place to another. But thousands of years ago, such modes of transportation were not available. People took significant time to go from one place to another. Shankaracarya literally walked from one end of India to another to spread spirituality, and it took several years. This analogy suggests that to go from one place to another, the pace depends on what mode of transport one uses: walking, cycling, driving, flying etc—low speed means more time travel. Similarly, in the path of sadhana people travel at various speeds. Someone who does a little bhajan and kiirtan also gets some benefit, and if they progress in this life a little then in the next life if they again get human birth, and if there is no retardation in efforts, they move forward to mukti / moksa.
Ignorance of karma káńďii rśis
The Vedas are nothing but an explanation of what needs to be done in life—15,000 years ago. Munis and rśis explained their experiences. For example, how to serve animals, how to control the mind, how to treat people. So everything was explained in the Vedas; in those days the Vedas were the Wikipedia of how to lead a life. This was the knowledge base about 15,000 years ago. The Vedas do contain practices in both the spiritual and physical spheres. Since science was not that advanced, so as per the human mind of those days, the Vedas contained information on how to lead a life.
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In ancient times, those elevated rśis composed the upanishads. But they were few in the world. Lord Shiva taught sadhana to all about 7,000 years ago. In the Vedas, sadhana will not be found; rather, various types of prayers will be found. In the Vedas there are various gods and goddesses as various karma kandii rśis have composed based on their ignorance. They composed prayers to worship the gods agni (fire), varun (water), etc.
Why downfall
In the past, rśis in their personal life adopted certain practices— in India for example, they did a lot of bhajan, ideation. But it took multiple births, and even then there was no certainty of getting moksa. There were many such good people advanced greatly in spiritual practices in a prior birth, and in their next birth they started reaping the benefit of their previous good deeds so they got name / fame etc as a result of which they got diverted and committed sin, papa, with resultant downfall. And then in the following birth, they might get born as a brick, mortar, or stone. But the ones who did not get diverted in this long process birth after birth, slowly and steadily advanced to moksa. Ultimately it was Lord Shiva who taught sadhana to all, and thus showed people how they can increase the speed of their progress towards moksa. And now today with the jewel of Ananda Marga sadhana, that speed has been greatly increased where one can achieve mukti / moksa in a mere 20 years or less, by His grace.
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In Him
Nirakar
Realise God: 15 to 20 years of sadhana
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Later on, with the further development of philosophy and science the number of impediments and obstacles faced by humans became fewer than those which the ancient humans faced while moving along the path of spirituality during the days of backward science and philosophy. The people of today do not have to labour quite as hard as Vaishishta and Vishvamitra had to do in order to discover the way to move ahead, because modern science and philosophy today are valuable aids to human progress. The people of today are able to realize the Supreme Entity in one life, or maybe in 15 to 20 years, for which they had to practice penance for lives together in the past." (1)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Spiritual progress is the only real progress. Those who deem mundane or psychic movement to be true progress are misguided and are wasting their time. Whatever [mundane thing] Ka'l Purus'a giveth with one hand He taketh with the other." (2)
References
1. A Few Problems Solved - 3, The Evolution of Human Civilization
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 12, Towards the Noumenal Entity
== Section 2: Links ==