Father in absentia
Namaskar,
In
our Ananda Marga, one of the chief aims is to build up one human
society for raising children in a healthy way. To achieve this and help
humanity grow in all the realms of life, Beloved Baba has given the
Society Building Dept. The Society Building Dept has two main types of
work: (a) creation of Wts, and (b) formation of revolutionary marriages.
And
the ideal of marriage is not just some lustful relation. Rather it is a
revolutionary approach for developing society and raising children,
wherein both father and mother collectively share the joint
responsibility of rearing offspring and providing for the family. In our
Ananda Marga, marriage is done for making a unified human society and
raising children in a healthy way.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/On
the one level there is the unit family consisting of the wife, husband,
children, grandparents, etc. The collection of laokika family members
is the unit family. And the collection of many families moving in one
direction towards the cosmic goal is the society, 'Samanam ejatiiti
samajah'.
Materialism: marriage is for sensual pleasure—no higher valueIn
those days of old, Lord Shiva, the Father of tantra, started this grand
system of marriage to ease the burden on the mother for raising the
child, and to provide the child with a safe and secure environment in
which to grow. So the main motive of marriage is for the welfare of the
child and growth of all family members.
However,
these days in the so-called advanced societies—and wherever materialism
has taken hold—the institution of marriage has been severely
compromised and hampered. All sorts of negative habits and customs have
degraded marriage. The main reason is the degeneration of human values,
extreme materialism, and lack of ideological understanding. Or we can
look at it this way: When animal propensities dominate the human
intellect then that negative ripple effect is felt on all levels—nothing
remains untouched. Matrimonial relations also get adversely affected.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/That
is why wherever materialism has taken root in society, people commonly
get married one day and divorced the next, i.e. the next day or the next
year etc. The point is that divorce becomes rampant because marriage is
only for sensual pleasure—not any higher value. And those who are very
debased do not like to marry at all. Such persons are termed as
libertines. They just continue their lustful relations in full swing
without ever taking on the dignified responsibility of marriage. This is
a most serious problem these days in society. Such libertines are just
like animals because you might not have heard of any wild animal getting
married.
Ananda
Marga philosophy states, "At the beginning of evolution, humans used to
lead libertine lives without any consideration for family
obligations...the male libertines would not take the responsibility for
their offspring. They used to wander freely...The life of the libertines
was just like that of the animals". (1)
So
libertines always lead a life of irresponsibility and degradation.
Unfortunately, present day society has actually degenerated and fallen
back to the prehistoric ages, or even worse than that.
One woman, five males / husbands, 5 childrenThe
negative effect of materialism has sadly turned humans into animals.
Males and females are living together and never getting married and
having children out of wedlock. And often they switch partners and have
more children and in this way move from one relation to the next. So one
unmarried woman might have 5 children along with 5 different males /
fathers—and vice-versa. This is the common malady these days, in
materialistic countries.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/Seeing
this, any rational and ideological person will surely conclude that the
spirit of marriage has not been followed at all. Because on the one
hand many marriages are just based on loose, superficial compromises and
do not even come close to touching the strong ties of dedication and
sacrifice needed for the purpose of building up a strong society for
raising the child in a healthy way. And even worse than that are those
who remain unmarried but go on living with various members of the
opposite or same sex for their animal pleasure. They just engage in
sensual relations only for beastial enjoyment—all the while remaining
unmarried.
One
result of all this is that there is no end to the exploitation of women
and children. For namesake in so-called advanced countries it looks
like women have a lot of freedom. But in the practical sphere it is not
so.
For
example, we can examine unmatched marriages. In European / western
countries, under the force and allurement of wealth, unmatched marriages
are quite common. For instance, many rich, older, professional men get
divorced and rid themselves of any family responsibility and instead
become infatuated with young girls. In this way there is a lot of sexual
corruption going on and that gets multiplied by those libertine males
who bounce from one female to the next and do not get married for even
one day. And they continue indulging in all sorts of negative affairs.
That is why such characterless libertines are termed as confirmed
sinners. They are enemies of society for raising children in a healthy
way.
Libertines from past & presentThere
are two types of libertines. One is from the far distant past during
that pre-historic era when in their lustful enjoyment the by-product was
the baby, a child. And the fathers were escaping from any
responsibility by remaining unidentified. And the second batch of
libertines is from today when certain degraded male libertines have come
on the scene.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/Their
superficial shape may be slightly different from those libertines of
the past, but their mind and actions are 100% the same as those
libertines from those bygone days. Because today their relations are
only for negative sexual enjoyment. And they prevent the birth of any
child by using the latest medical devices and techniques.
In
the prehistoric era such techniques were not available so they did not
have any opportunity to do such things. So in truth there is no
difference between those pre-historic sub-humans, libertine people and
the present day so-called civilised, debauched persons. It is immaterial
what social position they are occupying—whether one is a grand
corporate CEO, or whatever. Both libertines, i.e. from the past and
present, are the same because they live only to satisfy their lustful
passion. That is their driving force. All together, there are many
examples of such libertines.
Father forced to help raise his childrenIn
the prehistoric past, libertine ways were dominant and the males were
escaping from their responsibilities. So to destroy this negative
situation, the patrilineal order was invoked. And it worked, for some
time. But now so many are sexually active but not maintaining
husband-wife relations. Or they do so for some time and then split
apart. In this way, the number of libertines is on the rise.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/Ananda
Marga philosophy states, "The patrilineal system is much better, for it
awakens in the father a proper sense of responsibility for his children
and precludes the possibility of the children's identity remaining
unknown or concealed. And the father is compelled by circumstantial
pressure to take the responsibility for bringing up his children; and
therefore [he] makes an effort to properly preserve the structure of the
family." (2)
Baba
has clearly given this above Proutistic guideline as the standard for
curing society's ills and leading the way for society for raising the
child in a healthy way to move ahead. These degenerated libertines have
their own philosophy and it is like this: 'Whatever adults wish to do in
their private sexually dealings, that is their own business and no one
else should interfere in this regard. Because no one has the right to
interfere in anyone else's private life. All have complete freedom in
this regard.’
This
is how those degenerated persons are thinking. Their only intention
here is to hide their own misdeeds and negative behaviors with the set
strategy that they go on engaging in those sinful activities.
Father's dharmic duty in raising the childIn
Ananda Marga, we espouse the patrilineal order whereby fathers must
take responsibility and play a prominent role in the safety and welfare
of the child. Lord Shiva first introduced this system. Before that the
matrilineal order was in vogue where mothers alone struggled to provide
all the needs for the child. Indeed, this was nothing but a carryover
from animal life where mothers attend to all aspects of rearing the
offspring. Support is needed from the father. Thus in Ananda Marga, the
patrilineal system is looked upon as ideal. Tragically, in materialistic
areas, the patrilineal order is fast falling apart.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/Ananda Marga ideology says,
"Vi
– vah + ghaiṋ = viváha. The root verb vah means “to flow, to lead”.
Viváha means “leading one’s life in a new way with a special type of
responsibility” [in both Sanskrit and Bengali]. In the most correct
Sanskrit, however, the word for “marriage” would be formed vi – úh. An
alternative spelling is with u (not ú). Vyuh + kta = vyud́há (meaning “a
married person”)."
"An
unmarried person remains somewhat free from responsibilities. As a
result they get the chance to discharge some greater duties outside
their small family. Even though they go outside the house for other
work, it is not against anyone’s interests. Vyud́há means a ‘married
person who shoulders a greater family responsibility and begins a new
style of life.’"
"Hence,
when an unmarried girl or boy gets married, his or her life begins to
flow down a different channel. Various responsibilities devolve on them.
They can no longer afford to take their responsibilities lightly." (3)
Marriage
is a key element of society for raising the child in a healthy way.
Today more and more the patrilineal order is falling by the wayside and
libertine life is on the rise. This is the atrocious scene which must be
overcome—both on the individual and collective level.
SolutionIn
this present-world scenario, where for example in the United States
approximately 50% of the children are born out of wedlock, those
children are not getting ongoing help in their physical, psychic, and
spiritual needs from their father. And to a large degree this results in
lack of support from their mother also. Because the father is absent
from the scene, and the mother is busy twenty-four hours a day in work
to procure the basic requirements of the child. So she does not have
time and energy to fulfill the child’s emotional needs. The outcome is
that the child feels alienated and rejected, and ends a violent person.
And it does not feel any love or connection with the society. Rather,
that child feels that nobody cares about them. In result, due to extreme
frustration and depression, such children want to kill and attack
random people whoever they come across. That is why we see in the
present generation, the rates of violent crime have drastically
increased. This is directly related with the absence of parental love.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Genealogical tests for the childWhat
is the solution? First of all, we should demand genealogical tests for
the child to identify the father. And the father should be forced by law
to supply physical, psychic, and emotional support to the child every
day for certain hours until the child is fully grown. And if the child
wishes, then that father must continue the relation with the child and
help the child as long as the father is alive. In this way, the social
disconnect or vacuum will be significantly reduced. And the next step
will be that those procreating out of wedlock will be punished in a
court of law. When society progresses further in the right direction,
then only will the second step become possible. And we should demand
that this be done for the all round development of the entire society.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Kalyanii
Katherine Spears
Out of wedlock: whites 29%, Hispanics 53%, & blacks 71%While
the national average for the United States in 2014 is 40 percent, the
proportions of births out of wedlock for whites are 29 percent;
Hispanics, 53 percent; and blacks, 71 percent. The proportions of such
births for those groups were lower 50 years ago. Many of the children
born out of wedlock live in....
https:///
yaleglobal-a.dot.yale-a.edu/content/out-wedlock-birth1-rise-worldwide…
~ In-depth study ~
Why his mother was going off with that other fellowAnanda
Marga philosophy says, "Long ago there used to be a popular and
interesting folktale. In very ancient times, as with other animals,
there was no custom of marriage among human beings. As far as it can be
ascertained, this situation certainly continued until the middle of the
Rgvedic age and likely until towards the end of that age. It was said
during that time that there was once a five-year-old boy, the son of a
certain sage, who became perplexed when he saw his mother going off with
another man and asked his father why his mother was going off with that
other fellow like that."
"The
sage answered his son: “That’s the rule. Any woman can stay with any
man whenever she likes. She can also leave him whenever she likes. In
the same way, any man can go off with any woman at any time.”"
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "The sage’s son asked: “Then what will I do?”"
"The
sage replied: “Children who are breastfeeding will stay with their
mother. Once they become too old for that they can stay wherever they
like. Wherever they stay they have to make arrangements for their food
in exchange for labour.”"
“But that’s no good!” the sage’s young son exclaimed. “No good at all.” (4)
How libertine men became frightened of ShivaAnanda
Marga philosophy states, "In most cases, it was generally seen that the
father did not bear the responsibility for the maintenance of their
offspring or any other kind of responsibility towards them. All
responsibility fell on the mother’s shoulders. For this reason wicked
men used to put straightforward-natured women into extreme difficulty.
The womenfolk used to spend their time under great duress. If not all,
at least most of the men did not shoulder any responsibility for their
offspring. Most of them were libertine. This is not to say that there
were not any libertine women, but the number of such women was less.
Moreover, the affection they felt towards their children was a very
strong bond of attachment which they could not easily break. This
situation among humans, which was similar to that of animals, had been
going on for approximately one million years, that is, human beings
appeared about one million years ago."
"The
women of that day stood at Shiva’s door and said: “O Sada'shiva, save
us from this beastly, distressful condition. There is no man or woman
strong enough today to lay down rules in this matter and to put them
into practice with a firm hand.” Shiva’s heart melted; he understood
their pain. He introduced the custom of marriage and firmly fixed the
rights and responsibilities of the father. For the first time human
beings felt the contact of a peaceful environment in social life."
"Still
some wicked-natured men remained and some libertine women as well.
Then, with the help of his followers, Shiva obliged those wicked men to
marry by punishing them with the rod and rope. Just as there were
libertine men, there were also some libertine women. This libertine
group became greatly frightened of Shiva." (5)
References1. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Shiva's Teachings – 1 (Discourse 9)
2. Human Society - 1, Social Justice
3. The Awakening of Women, Dowry and Marriage – Excerpt F
4. Shabda Cayanika - 2, Disc: 10
5. Shabda Cayanika - 2, Disc: 10
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Buddha’s failure: root cause of divisionAnanda
Marga philosophy says, “It is true that Buddha did not explicitly
mention Iishvara, but it is also true that he never denied Iishvara. He
was once asked, Kim Bhagavata atthi [“Does God exist”]? Buddha did not
answer. He was again asked, Kim Bhagavata natthi [“Then does God not
exist”]? Again Buddha remained silent. At this, three types of people
formed three different ideas about Buddha. One group thought that since
Buddha did not answer the question about the existence of God, he must
be an atheist. Another group thought, since Buddha did not answer the
question, “Does God then not exist?” then he must be a theist, a
believer in God. And yet another group, the third group, thought, “God's
existence is beyond the saḿkalpa and vikalpa of the human mind, and so
beyond the scope of atthi and natthi [existence and non-existence], and
for that reason Buddha preferred to remain silent.”" (1)
Reference
1. Namah Shivaya Shantaya, Disc: 18
== Section: Prabhat Samgiita ==
हे प्रभु ! तुम कौन हो जिसने आकर मेरे मन को मतवाला कर दिया है ?प्रभात संगीत 412 के गो तुमि एले मन माताते मनोरथे…
भावार्थ
अरे ! तुम कौन हो जो, इस सुप्रभात में आए हो ? तुम मानसिक रथ पर सवार होकर आए हो। तुमने मेरे मन को आध्यात्मिकता से मतवाला कर दिया है । तुम्हारे शुभ आगमन से मेरी चेतना थरथरा उठी है। तुम तो बहुत दयालु हो, कृपा कर बताओ तो सही कि तुम कौन हो ? हे आनन्दमय ! तुम मेरे मन के गुरुचक्र पर दिखाई दिए और मेरे पूरे अस्तित्व को ही ब्रह्मानन्द में डुबो दिया ! बताओ , तुम कौन हो?
हे पुरुषोत्तम ! तुम आध्यात्मिक प्रकाश वाले रास्ते से आए हो। तुमने सब लोगों के मनों से सांसारिक वस्तुओं का आकर्षण दूर कर दिया है। उन सबके मनों से तुच्छ विचारों के दागों को हटा दिया है। तुमने उन सबके हृदय और मन में आनन्दित करने वाली अनन्त ब्राह्मिक तरङ्गों को उड़ेल कर उन्हें सन्तुष्ठ कर दिया है। सभी ब्रह्मानन्द में डूब गए हैं। हे प्रभु ! तुम हो कौन ?
तुम कौन हो जो राग, धुन, गीत और नृत्य आदि के रास्ते पर चल कर आए हो ? तुमने हर एक के व्यक्तिगत छन्द को छुड़ा कर उन सभी में अपनी ब्राह्मिक धुन को भर दिया है। तुम सभी के लिए भक्ति गीत गाने और उनके हृदय को सन्तुष्ट करने आए हो। हे प्रभु ! तुम कौन हो ?
तुम कौन हो? जिसने आनन्द देनेवाले गीतों से पूरे विश्व को लबालब भर दिया है। तुम सदैव ही कृपालु हो।
References
1. Sadguru Baba says (in GD, Delhi, 26 Feb 1984) that when writing a Prabhat Samgiita purport then very simple words should be used so that the common mass may understand. The above Hindu purport has been written according to that guideline.
== Section: Ananda Vanii ==
Every creature is living manifestation of the Supreme
Original Ananda Vanii states: “You have no right to hate even a single living creature. The best you can do is only to serve. Remember, you are to serve bearing in mind that every creature is verily the living manifestation of the Supreme Consciousness. Remember also that the credit of service is not yours; it is due to the Supreme and the Supreme alone, whose ideation has inspired you to acquire the capability of rendering service.” (Ananda Vanii #23)
Note: Sadguru Baba has assigned a number to all His original and true Ananda Vaniis. In contrast, Fake Ananda Vaniis do not have any number. By this simple formula, one can easily recognise which is a true Ananda Vanii and which is fake. For the upcoming occasion of January 1st 2017, all Ananda Marga units should use one of Baba’s original and true Ananda Vaniis, not a fake one. By this way, one will surely get His blessing.
== Section: Important Teaching==
Ostentatious showing of sadhana will achieve nothingHere Baba condemns the use of such dogmatic malas and rosary beads etc.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "I have said it before and I say it again, that Sádhaná means fight against Avidyá. This fight is internal, not external. External or ostentatious fight will achieve nothing. In such a fight one's entire capability culminates in the acrobatics of dressing and decorating of one's exterior with málá (a rosary or string of beads for saying prayers), tilaka (a conspicuous mark between the eyebrows with sandalwood-paste or vermilion, jholá (a little sack for the rosary) and candan-chápa (or the mark of sandalwood paste on the forehead, arms and chest). Instead, spiritual aspirants have to fight against their inner, base propensities, and when they will wear the crown of victory, they will then realize that there is absolutely no difference between them and Brahma – they have become Brahma Himself." (1)
Reference
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 3, The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 6: Avidyá
== Section 3: Links ==
Mother's Day Dogma - 12th May
Ananda Purniima - 23rd MayRecent postings
