Baba
Baba, please allow me to remain at Your lotus feet
"Somya sha'nta cetana'nanda, caran'aa'rabinu da'o go a'ma'y... " (Prabhat Samgiita #0327)
Purport:
My Parama Purusa You are Shánta, the ever-tranquil One - the personification of pure consciousness, ever blissful. Please bless me by allowing me to remain at Your lotus feet. Divine Entity, You are the very hope of those who are sad and hopeless, the soothing balm of love to an afflicted heart, and the final shelter for the shelterless. Supreme Being, my singular desire is to surrender unto You. Baba, please allow me to remain at Your lotus feet - always.
My Illumined One, You exist in all realms from beginningless to endlessness. And You go on saturating my whole existence with a perennial inspiration like the Phalgu dhara (river). Your boundless grace flows endlessly simultaneously in all ten directions - north, south, east, west, up, down etc. Your karuńá is filled everywhere. You are the most cherished and most loving One - the most adorable One - who is beyond the reach of all human intellect and erudition.
Baba, my being is bound by the three relative factors: time, space, and person; my origin is within the boundary of this material world, in this creation. I cannot think of any entity which is beyond these three relative factors. If my mind goes beyond them, it loses its existence. So I cannot know You, as You are outside and across the boundary of this created world, which is within the realm of relativity. Baba, with Your blessing when I meditate, my mind goes beyond the boundaries and merges in You. The inner jewel of my unit self is like the aroma full pollen of the ketakii flower. My “I-feeling”, my whole existence, is pinpointed and rushing towards You.
Baba, I only wish to lay prostrate unto You, always….
Notes for Prabhat Samgiita #0327:
[1] Shanta: Ananda Marga ideology says, “In every place one has both friends and foes. When one fights against external enemies and brings them under one’s control, it is called an act of “shamanam”. One who has the quality of shamanam is called “shánta”. Sham + anat́ = shamana. Sham + kta = shánta, which means “a person who has achieved control over the external world.” Similarly, dam + anat́ = damana. Damana is the state of achieving control over the internal enemies or the depraving or debasing propensities or activities. Dam + kta = dánta, which means “one who has control over the internal enemies.” According to Indian mythology, the duty of the God of Death or Yama (Pluto) is to keep the world’s population to a limited number. Thus, he is also called “Shamana”. “Namah Shiváya Shántáya”. One who establishes control over each and every entity is called “Shánta”. So the virtuous people, the spiritual aspirants, will have to attain control over their debasing propensities.” (1)
[2] Phalgu Dhara: The water in the Phalgu river runs continuously, but in the summer or dry season one must dig down through the sand to see that the water is running - otherwise it looks like it is dry. Similarly, the life of the sadhaka is full of ups and downs. It is not blissful all the 24hrs. Sometimes one’s mind goes down and the heart feels dry. But if one digs deeper they will see that Parama Purusa is supplying an eternal flow of inspiration. That is why in the song the sadhaka uses the metaphor of the Phalgu river. To show that Parama Purusa is supplying perennial cosmic inspiration to humans always, whether they realise it or not, just like with the Phalgu Dha’ra’.
[3] Karun'a': In the second stanza, the term karuna has been used. This is when one harbours a deep sense of empathy, is pained by another's suffering, and feels, "I should help them.” For example, suppose a beggar is wallowing in misery. By seeing his wretched condition, you felt, "I should help him and remove his agony.” This heartfelt feeling is the expression of karuna'.
Similarly, suppose a bhakta is suffering and unable to progress in the physical, psychic, or spiritual realms for any reason. In such circumstances, Parama Purusa cannot bear to watch that sadhaka suffer. He feels He must rescue them immediately. With His deep empathy and mercy, Parama Purusa removes their agony, so that once again that bhakta can progress in all realms of life. This entire liila is called His karun'a'.
Difference Between krpa' & karun'a'
In the case of karun'a', Parama Purusa is moved by a bhakta's suffering and comes forward to save that bhakta. Whereas with krpa' (grace), the bhakta is not suffering but even then Parama Purusa is bestowing His blessing.
It is just like if a beggar is sick and suffering half-naked in the freezing cold. If with great empathy a passerby selflessly helps that beggar without expecting anything in return, that is karuna’. Because the passerby is moved and motivated into action by seeing the beggar's suffering. In contrast, if a student is not sick, and that person just wishes to give the student a gift, then that krpa’.
When out of empathy Parama Purusa lovingly comes to the aid of the suffering bhakta to relieve them of their spiritual strife, that is the karuna of Parama Purusa; and, if that same bhakta is not suffering in the spiritual realm, yet Baba still bestows His blessing to enhance their bhakti, that is His krpa’ on the bhakta.
Reference
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 8, The Ten Characteristics of Dharma
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Memory issues?
Namaskar,
Baba's below teaching discloses the reason why our scripture has been composed in the genre of poetry: Because poetry is easy to memorise. For this reason, Baba has composed our scripture - i.e. Ananda Sutram and Prabhat Samgiita - in poetic verse.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "In the absence of rhythm it is difficult to memorize. That is why since ancient times, for 15,000 years, the common practice has been to bring every valuable branch of knowledge within the scope of rhythm. Human beings do not easily forget rhythm. One may forget the contents of knowledge, but not the rhythm. That is why all Vedic Rks were composed in 7 meters. All literary compositions were brought within the gamut of the seven Vedic metres...as they are valuable for the memory." (1)
Set it to rhythm
If you want to learn or memorize anything, the easiest way is to set it to rhythm. One paragraph of prose is very difficult to memorise, but 1 stanza of a poem, shloka, or song is comparatively easy to memorise. Rhythm helps in memorising anything. That is why in their infancy, children are introduced to language via rhythm in nursery rhymes and songs etc. By this way they can quickly learn and advance.
In the distant past, before the invention of any script and before paper came into vogue, people used to keep everything in their mind. There were no books or other media as we see nowadays: Audio, video, writings, etc. There was nothing.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
What yogis did in the past
So when there was no way to store ideas or teachings on paper or cassette, the only option was to store it all in their memory. The best technique for doing that was to create rhythmic poetry. So all those past yogis, rishis, sages, thinkers, and munis put their realizations into shloka, poem, or any kind of rhythmic expression like the vedas, purana etc. Even when script was first invented, most people did not know how to read or write, so those thinkers continued to put their teachings into poetic verse. This happened all across the globe.
This is not only for those of the past. Today also if you want to memorise anything then put it in rhythmic form. Cunning advertisers create jingles or rhymes to influence consumers, and film-makers do the same.
Conclusion
So to keep something readily in the mind then take help from a rhythmic flow, otherwise it will be very difficult to store that in your memory. For this reason Baba has given the key of Ananda Marga teachings - i.e. Ananda Sutram - in poetic form, and Prabhat Samgiita as well. And in virtually every discourse He has included a shloka. By that way - by memorizing one rhythmic shloka - one can get the seed idea of the entire discourse. That is how to memorize that entire discourse in key form.
In His series of discourses on the Faculty of Knowledge, Baba has given so many points about memory and rhythm.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
In Him,
Viniit
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell - 5, The Faculty of Knowledge – 4
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 3: Important Teaching ==
Preservation of all religious idols
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, “Sometimes it so happens that people instead of convincing superstitious people, injure their sentiments by their behaviour. A perusal of history shows that the antagonists of idolatry have, on many occasions, destroyed beautiful temples which were unique examples of architecture. They destroyed the beautiful images which represented the expressions of sculptural art. All these acts are extremely violent, because they cause severe pain to the idolaters, and consequently the idol-worshippers adopt an obstinate attitude towards idols even though they are fully convinced that idol-worship is futile. As a result, not only is the spiritual progress of the idol-worshippers hampered, but the progress of the whole human society is retarded. It is worth noting that even if in any country all the people without exception give up idolatry, the spiritual aspirants, who follow the principles of Brahmacarya, will preserve images carefully in museums out of appreciation for sculpture and aesthetic taste. They will not destroy these beautiful works in any circumstances. Destroying a work of art also results in the destruction of the sense of subtle appreciation, and this is in no way proper.” (1)
Note: In the recent past, and in the Moghul period, Muslims rampantly and senselessly destroyed idols, and still around the world they are pulverizing idols and artistic religious artifacts etc. In our human history, Hindus also disfigured and destroyed Buddhist idols when Buddhism was banished from India. Now those very same idols are showcased and preserved around India in museums and other historical places.
In our Ananda Marga the approach is very different. Margiis will never do such adharmic things. Rather it is our duty to safeguard and preserve the fine arts - from all cultural and religious expressions. In the future when people are educated and follow neo-humanism and rational ideas, they will give up their idol worship and all those idols will be preserved in a museum - for the sake of history and aesthetic value.
A separate but related matter is that those who do not appreciate the fine arts become violent and vile. That is why our Ananda Marga philosophy encourages the fine arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, music, theatre, cartooning, drama, poetry, literature, and dance etc. At the same time, Ananda Marga teachings do not condone art for art’s sake. Instead the aim is art for “service and blessedness.” Lastly, remember, degraded, vulgar, sensual, and crude expressions are not appreciated as fine art, rather they are pseudo-culture.
Reference
1. Guide to Human Conduct, Ahimsa
== Section 4: Links ==
Upcoming Festival: Shravanii Purnima: 15 Aug '19 Recent postings Other topics of interest
More important letters
<Baba-krpa> Memory issues? + 3 more
~ Legal Notice ~
Reply to: anandamargauniversal1@yogasamsthanam.net
<Baba-krpa> Memory issues? + 3 more
~ Legal Notice ~
©2019 Ananda Marga Universal Forum. All rights reserved. Ananda Marga Universal Forum content is the intellectual property of Ananda Marga Universal Forum or its third party content providers. Ananda Marga Universal Forum shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Any copying, republication or redistribution, part or full, of Ananda Marga Universal Forum content, including by framing or similar means, is against the court of law and expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Ananda Marga Universal Forum.
This email contains four sections:
1. PS #0327: Baba, please allow me to remain at Your lotus feet
2. IT: Memory issues?
3. IT: Preservation of all religious idols
4. Links
2. IT: Memory issues?
3. IT: Preservation of all religious idols
4. Links
