Baba
Why AM spirituality is unique
Namaskar,
The concept of Ananda Marga is revolutionary. We follow the path of pure spirituality, not that of dogma, or pseudo-spirituality. But because of one’s past samskaras along with the entitative waves of the crude society, even good people may fall into the clutch of dogma. So we should be wary about the ill effects of the dogmatic religions, both to save ourselves and to help others.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Beliefs of dogmatic religions
The dogmatic religions believe that God lives in some far distant place. Dogmatic Christians believe that God lives in heaven. Dogmatic Hindus believe God resides in vaekuntha. And Muslims believe God is living in the seventh sky, and that He passes judgment sitting on the holy stone - "arash". These are their common dogmatic beliefs. That’s why religion is nothing but dogma or pseudo-spirituality.
Ananda Marga: path of pure spirituality
#1: The teachings of Ananda Marga reject the notion that the Supreme Entity resides in some far distant place like heaven or vaekuntha etc.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "O Narada' I do not reside in vaekuntha…Where do I reside? Where my devotees sing, where they perform Kiirtana, there I reside" (1)
#2: Baba has revealed the truth that God is with us. That's why in one Prabhat Samgiita #4072, He composed the song in Urdu:
"Málika ho mere dilke áras pe baso jii..."
The meaning is very simple - O’ Parama Purusa, please sit in the lotus of my heart, that is arash -- "dilke arash", which is the holy place of my heart. Here, heart means Guru or sahasrara cakra.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Conclusion
The teaching of bhagavad dharma is that Parama Purusa is with each and every entity through His ota and prota yoga. In Ananda Marga, our approach is that Parama Purusa is our nearest and dearest One who resides in our heart.
Ananda Marga ideology guides us that, "Parama Purus'a always remains with you, within the very core of your heart. So search within, O spiritual aspirant, not without, but within, within your very existence." (2)
Moreover, when anyone starts to do sadhana—it may be any lesson, 1st lesson to 6th lesson— then they feel the presence of Parama Purusa Baba.
Ananda Marga ideology further says, "You are to be practical in your life of occult science. Your only object of ideation is Parama Purus'a, and not any dogma, not any scriptures." (3)
In Him,
Shanti Svarupa
Religion is pseudo-spirituality
Pseudo-spirituality means dogmatic beliefs. In that case, the mind is not moving in the flow of bhagavad dharma and is instead plunged in the dogma that God is in the distant sky. This dogma has been preached for centuries by various dogmatic religions. And the effect has been very harmful. Following the path of religious dogma means adopting pseudo-spirituality, wherein the outcome is very negative.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Due to extremely narrow and selfish thoughts, human thought processes degenerate and people lose rhythm in the psychic world. Thus they deviate from the mainstream of the Cosmic rhythm of the universe. So in the realm of the physico-psychic world, pseudo-spirituality bears no significance. We do not want pseudo-spirituality, we want perfect spirituality." (4)
Dogma is like serpentine noose
Baba's teaching is very clear. Believing this dogma -- that God is living in the sky, or in distant nebulae, or in the stars -- is just religious pseudo-spirituality, not something dharmic. And that dogma is very detrimental as it will stifle and destroy the mind’s ability to progress. Dogma works like a snake. It is just like a serpentine noose which captures and throttles one’s whole existence.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Whenever there is dogma, human thinking cannot be free; and for want of, for paucity of, free thinking, there cannot be any proper psycho-spiritual progress either. So here what we want is perfect spirituality and not pseudo-spirituality. Pseudo-spirituality cannot promote the cause of human welfare; the seed of welfare does not lie there. The seed of welfare cannot exist where the seed of dogma exists." (5)
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "So pseudo-spirituality, full of dogma, does not lead to collective welfare either in the physical, physico-psychic, psychic or spiritual worlds." (6)
References
1. Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 19, The Supreme Aesthetic Science and the Cult of Devotion
2. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 12, Parama Puruśa, Not Scriptures
3. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 12, Parama Puruśa, Not Scriptures
4 Neohumanism in a Nutshell Part 1, Pseudo-Spirituality and Neohumanism
5. Neohumanism in a Nutshell Part 1, Pseudo-Spirituality and Neohumanism
6. Neohumanism in a Nutshell Part 1, Pseudo-Spirituality and Neohumanism
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The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
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== Section 2: Prabhat Samgiita ==
My spiritual life
PS Into: In spiritual life there is no one else besides Parama Purusa-- Baba. So bhaktas are always talking with Him, in one manner or another. In this song, the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa indirectly, thereby demonstrating that there are multiple ways to communicate with Baba.
It is just like how someone's ista mantra may be based on auto suggestion or outer suggestion. In either case, that mantra japa is related only with the sadhaka and Parama Purusa. No third person is included. This shows how the loving expression may vary, but in all cases the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa.
Here is another example which demonstrates this same idea. In various reporting sessions, many sadhakas used to say directly to Baba, “I want the grace of Baba”-- as opposed to saying, “I want Your grace”. Or some would say to Baba that, “I want His grace”'. Or here is another thing that would happen. Sometimes when talking about Himself, Baba used to say, "Baba knows everything”, instead of saying, “I know everything”. This all goes to show that there are various ways of expression.
The central idea is that whatever is expressed in this Prabhat Samgiita is communicated indirectly between the bhakta and Parama Purusa. The bhakta is referring to Parama Purusa as “He” and “Him”, not “You”. And not only in this song, but there are many songs of this nature in our Prabhat Samgiita collection. And in each case when coming across such songs, we should think that the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa-- there is not any third party involved. Whereas in the dogmatic Hindu religion, this type of song is depicted as one bhakta talking to one other bhakta about Parama Purusa. But in AM our spiritual approach is singular and pointed: Besides Parama Purusa there is no one.
"A'ma'r e manobiin'a' chandahiina'..." (Prabhat Samgiita #0198)
Purport:
The viina of my mind has no rhythm; it only plays if He plays it. Only by following His tune can my viina be played. I do not have an iota of bhakti in my heart. I cannot do sadhana. There is no rhythm. Only if He comes and graces me and fills my heart with bhakti, only then is it possible for me to do sadhana. Because, without His divine grace, my mind is dry and does not have any bhakti. My spiritual life will only come in the proper flow by following His dos and don'ts, His guidelines, His teachings, His ideals etc. In that case, only by His mercy will sadhana be possible.
He is surrounding me in all directions; He is everywhere. Every expression is His smile; whatever has been created in this universe is His beauty. With the blossom of the flower He smiles, with the chirping of the birds He smiles, and with the natural wonder of the mountains He smiles. All the flora and fauna is nothing but His divine magnificence. He is everywhere-- all around me. But when I sit and try to close my eyes to do sadhana and request that He should sit close to me in dhyana, then He does not come close, rather He drifts away to some far, unknown, distant land. Where He goes, who knows. But in that situation the happiness and blissful feeling of my heart wanes.
From a distance He looks towards me because He is all around me. But He does not allow Himself to be held; He does not come close in my heart or in my mind. With the tune of His divine liila, He goes on dancing somewhere-- who knows where,
O' Lord, I do not have any quality, or sweetness, or bhakti in my heart. If You grace me and if by Your own attribution You come and sit in my heart and smile softly, then only is my sadhana possible...
PS Into: In spiritual life there is no one else besides Parama Purusa-- Baba. So bhaktas are always talking with Him, in one manner or another. In this song, the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa indirectly, thereby demonstrating that there are multiple ways to communicate with Baba.
It is just like how someone's ista mantra may be based on auto suggestion or outer suggestion. In either case, that mantra japa is related only with the sadhaka and Parama Purusa. No third person is included. This shows how the loving expression may vary, but in all cases the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa.
Here is another example which demonstrates this same idea. In various reporting sessions, many sadhakas used to say directly to Baba, “I want the grace of Baba”-- as opposed to saying, “I want Your grace”. Or some would say to Baba that, “I want His grace”'. Or here is another thing that would happen. Sometimes when talking about Himself, Baba used to say, "Baba knows everything”, instead of saying, “I know everything”. This all goes to show that there are various ways of expression.
The central idea is that whatever is expressed in this Prabhat Samgiita is communicated indirectly between the bhakta and Parama Purusa. The bhakta is referring to Parama Purusa as “He” and “Him”, not “You”. And not only in this song, but there are many songs of this nature in our Prabhat Samgiita collection. And in each case when coming across such songs, we should think that the bhakta is communicating with Parama Purusa-- there is not any third party involved. Whereas in the dogmatic Hindu religion, this type of song is depicted as one bhakta talking to one other bhakta about Parama Purusa. But in AM our spiritual approach is singular and pointed: Besides Parama Purusa there is no one.
"A'ma'r e manobiin'a' chandahiina'..." (Prabhat Samgiita #0198)
Purport:
The viina of my mind has no rhythm; it only plays if He plays it. Only by following His tune can my viina be played. I do not have an iota of bhakti in my heart. I cannot do sadhana. There is no rhythm. Only if He comes and graces me and fills my heart with bhakti, only then is it possible for me to do sadhana. Because, without His divine grace, my mind is dry and does not have any bhakti. My spiritual life will only come in the proper flow by following His dos and don'ts, His guidelines, His teachings, His ideals etc. In that case, only by His mercy will sadhana be possible.
He is surrounding me in all directions; He is everywhere. Every expression is His smile; whatever has been created in this universe is His beauty. With the blossom of the flower He smiles, with the chirping of the birds He smiles, and with the natural wonder of the mountains He smiles. All the flora and fauna is nothing but His divine magnificence. He is everywhere-- all around me. But when I sit and try to close my eyes to do sadhana and request that He should sit close to me in dhyana, then He does not come close, rather He drifts away to some far, unknown, distant land. Where He goes, who knows. But in that situation the happiness and blissful feeling of my heart wanes.
From a distance He looks towards me because He is all around me. But He does not allow Himself to be held; He does not come close in my heart or in my mind. With the tune of His divine liila, He goes on dancing somewhere-- who knows where,
O' Lord, I do not have any quality, or sweetness, or bhakti in my heart. If You grace me and if by Your own attribution You come and sit in my heart and smile softly, then only is my sadhana possible...
== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
Early stages of medicine
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Water: Odorless, tepid water, especially if it is sun-warmed, is an excellent medicine for the physical body. It has great healing qualities. Since ancient times, knowingly or unknowingly, human beings and different animals have also accepted water as one of their medicines. It is also said in the Vedas: ápashca vishvabheśajii [and water is a universal medicine]."
"However the quest for medicines on the part of human beings and animals has not been limited to fasting, sunlight, water, air and earth. Initially the medicines that human beings discovered were different trees and plants and the external use of their bark and roots. The human beings of those times used to chew them and smear or rub the diseased part with them. These ointments were the first medicines discovered by human beings. When these ointments did not work externally, it became necessary to ingest them. Humans used to take them as medicine by chewing or swallowing them. This was the second step in the use of medicines in human history."
"There were many such medicines that were only available in particular seasons, not all year round. People used to gather them in the specific season and dry them so as to preserve them. In certain places they would preserve them in the form of tablets with the help of water; in other places they would just dry them normally. This preservation of medicine in the form of tablets or pills belonged to a later stage in the use of medicines in human life." (1)
Reference
1. Shabda Cayanika, Kulya to Kuvela (Discourse 34)
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Historical precedent: materialists lost
Ananda Marga ideology states, “On deeper analysis we find that the Charvaka and other schools of materialistic philosophy propagated certain doctrines which were more a revolt against the prevailing religions than an expression of a rational and benevolent outlook. They protested loudly against the clergy or religious traders who composed the so-called scriptures in the name of dharma (in fact it was not dharma, but religion); who took advantage of the fear psychosis, in the name of god, to ruthlessly exploit society. The Charvaka and other materialistic philosophies were motivated to strike against religious exploiters. They were fully aware of the way the vested interests exploited society, and they knew that nobody had the right to deprive others of their properties, since every thing of this earth is the common patrimony of all, yet they did not endeavour to lead humans along the path of rationality or formulate a healthy social and spiritual ideology.” (1)
Ananda Marga ideology states, “The reason for this was that they lacked convincing arguments to stand against the sharp intellect of the vested interests [religious exploiters]. Thus, they merely attempted to negate the fundamental tenets of the vested interests [religious exploiters], often with rather abusive language. Due to the weakness of their argumentation it was easy for the vested interests [religious exploiters] to emerge and gain strength in the subsequent period.” (2)
References
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 7, In Adoration of the Supreme
2. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 7, In Adoration of the Supreme
== Section 4: Links ==
Postings to Read
Punishment or blessing
How dogma starts
Story: bhakti not money is criteria
Sadhaka life when very busy
Who gets bored & fatigued
How to achieve social progress