Baba
Death & spiritual life
Namaskar,
In many communities and religions, death is looked upon as one dark, looming cloud that is hovering over them. For many, death is horrifying. They feel it is "the end", "judgment day", "doomsday", and so many more frightening things. But in our Ananda Marga, death is different. Baba has graciously removed all the fear from the prospect of dying. Below are His rational and clear explanations about the role of death.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Death: exchange old body for new one
In simple language, Baba explains what death is.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "Do you know what death is? Death means a change of form. A boy of five years became a young man – now, the body of that boy underwent death. That young man became old – the body of that young man underwent death. That old man died and he again came here in the form of a little boy – the body of that old man underwent death. Death means a change of form."
Va'sa'm'si jiirn'ani yatha' viha'ya nava'ni grhn'a'ti naro’para'n'i;
Tatha' shariira'ni viha'ya jiirn'a'nya'ni sam'ya'ti nava'ni dehii.
“Just as you change the old cloth for a new cloth, similarly you change the old body and you reappear in this world in a new body.” This is what death is." (1)
So death is simply a change in shape or form where one exchanges their old body for a new one. Death is not the end, but rather a bridge to a new beginning. It is a needed avenue for continued growth. We can also think of it this way.
Suppose you have a shirt that you have had for many years until it just became threads, and nothing was left of the original shirt. Then the reasonable thing to do is to get a new shirt to wear. Similarly, we are His tools; we are His hands and feet. And when our bodies become too old and broken down to execute their tasks, then He simply exchanges our physical body for a new one. In His divine liila, Parama Purusa is doing the same thing. There is no difference.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
In the past yogiis used to die with a great desire to come back as a newborn to complete their unfinished sadhana. And when they were reborn and came back as a child then sidda microvita would remind that child of his old ista mantra to restart sadhana.
Every life change is a form of death
Here Baba explains further about the nature of death.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "We should explain what maran'a [mortality, death] is. Maran'a means change. Death is nothing but a change. A five-year-old child is transformed in due course into a fifteen-year-old boy. In ten years the child becomes the boy. Thereafter you will never be able to find the body of the five-year-old child. So the child’s body has certainly died. So maran'a means change."
"Because of the physical transformation, the earlier body has become difficult to trace. Likewise, after another ten years, the boy will be transformed into a youth; after some time more, the same youth will become a middle-aged man. And still later he will become an old, infirm man. The same one entity has moved through a series of transformations, and in the process every earlier form has undergone change, metamorphosis, some kind of death. When finally the physical body of the old man undergoes a still more radical transformation, he will be reborn as a new baby. This stage of radical transformation we call death."
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "The previous changes we did not consider death, because we could link the earlier stages to the later stages. We could say that the fifteen-year-old adolescent had grown up into a twenty-five-year-old youth. We could find the link. But when an old, infirm gentleman becomes reborn as a child, we cannot find the link. That is why we give the last change of the body of the old man the name “death”. The rest of the changes we do not call death; but in fact all the changes qualify as death." (2)
In His above teachings, Baba explains how death happens all the time. But we do not consider those changes death because we can trace the continuum of one's human growth. We only consider it death when one gives up their physical body entirely. But in the true sense, what we call death happens all the time. It is only because we lose the link from one body to the next that people feel so frightened by physical death and feel it is something permanent.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
But in Ananda Marga, we know it is all His loving liila, so we understand that death is merely one process of transformation. It allows human beings to take new birth and continue their journey towards Him. At the same time, as Ananda Marga sadhakas, for us this single life is enough to attain Him.
Realise the Supreme in 15 - 20 years
So, death is merely a change from one body to the next. And in various discourses it is said that it does not take long for the body to be reborn. In some cases, it can happen relatively quickly within just a few years, months, weeks, days or even less. And in the interim period there is no pain; in Ananda Sutram (3-3) death is likened to a long sleep. And then soon enough, one will be reborn and continue their spiritual journey.
In the past, the yogis of old would string together two or three lifetimes to complete their mission. They would receive the same mantra in their next birth by one siddha microvita. And their journey would continue from one life to the next. That era is now gone.
Ananda Marga ideology states, "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." (3)
By His grace, every initiated and practicing Ananda Margii can reach the Supreme Goal in just a short span of time. There is no question of death and rebirth to complete the journey. By His grace the sadhaka can bask in eternal bliss in a short period of time, eternally remaining along with Him, on His lap.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Ananda Marga Supreme Command states, "Those who perform sadhana twice a day regularly, the thought of Parama Purusa will certainly arise in their minds at the time of death; their liberation is a sure guarantee." (4)
Conclusion
Some find death to be a scary phenomenon because they lose the link from one life to the next. Or they think that death is the end. Materialists fall in this category. With our Ananda Marga spiritual outlook, death is something most ordinary, no different from breathing or getting older. It is just a point of transition, where one achieves the Supreme Rank or continues their spiritual journey. It is one needed element because the body has become too old, and a new one is needed for the sadhaka to fulfill their essential duties. Death then is an opportunity to gain new form and complete the journey.
Namaskar,
in Him,
Dhruva
~ In-depth study ~
Purpose of human creation
By Baba's grace, those who practice Ananda Marga sadhana will remain eternally one with Him. With the highly specialized practices of Ananda Marga, one is sure to reach the Divine Goal in a short span of time, by His grace. Baba has removed all the mystery and fear surrounding death and at the same time given us the key to reaching Him in this very life.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Baba says, "So the very purpose of our human creation is to follow the true dharma; is to maintain spiritual practices in this very life, and to become one in Him. So dharma sa'dhana' [means that] by following dharma we follow our sa'dhana', we follow our spiritual practices. By following the spiritual practices we become one with Him. That is the final victory... Realize that Supreme Being within you. This is your dharma, this is your path; and let this path be yours, and victory will surely be yours." (5)
Journey from death to rebirth
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "A physical deficiency or defect in any portion of the body results in the weakening of práńa and apána, and samána may become unable to maintain adjustment between práńa and apána, as a result of which there takes place a vehement fight in the navel area and in the vocal cord. In physiology, this is called “navel breathing” or nábhishvása. When samána loses its vitality, all the three váyus – práńa, apána and samána – are transformed into one and strike udána. The moment udána loses its separate identity, vyána also comes in contact with their collective force and all the internal váyus, getting associated into one, move throughout the physical body with great force and strike at every delicate point for an outlet. The combined váyus pass out, and with their passing away from the physical structure all the external váyus, except dhanaiṋjaya, also leave the physical structure. Dhanaiṋjaya causes sleep, and so to cause the deep sleep of death dhanaiṋjaya remains in the body even after all the váyus have left. When the dead body is burnt or gets totally decayed, dhanaiṋjaya as well leaves the body and remains in the Cosmos to act again according to the will of Prakrti."
"The loss in the parallelism of physical and mental waves causes death. The physical cause of death is the passing away of the nine (ten minus dhanaiṋjaya) váyus into eternal space. The psychic waves, finding no proper adjustment with the physical waves, also dissociate and pass into eternal space. This detached mental body possesses the unexpressed momentum of its previous lives (which it had to express according to the universal law of Prakrti that every force must have its expression). Now it is the duty of the Cosmic mutative force to provide it a proper physical parallelism for due expression. This it does by making the dissociated mind penetrate into a subtle physical structure." (6)
Death of death
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Everybody, each and every living creature, is afraid of death – everybody is afraid of death – but death is afraid of Him. So He is the death of death. And the second meaning is this: Whenever a man dies, he comes back again in another form. Again he undergoes death, again he comes back. This cyclic order goes on, and on, and on. Birth after death, death after birth – the cyclic order goes on. But what happens when one ensconces oneself in Him, when one becomes one with Him? One will die, no doubt, but after death one won't come back."
"So when one is in deep love with Him, and death comes, that death is the final death. After death there will be no rebirth. Along with that death, death dies. So it is mrtyurmrtyuh – the death of death." (7)
Ananda Marga ideology states, "This observable world although all other objects die, only death does not, for the unit entities do not die once but die repeatedly – they take birth after death and then die and take birth again, and then again die. Thus countless deaths come to them, countless number of times. But those who have attained the Puruśottama, attain a supreme death; their worldly death is the last one for them. In other words, with their worldly death, death also dies and further death becomes impossible. It is only through His grace that a unit attains the Supreme, and so He is the Death of death. I bow to this Puruśottama." (8)
After full cycle of inhalation & exhalation
Here again, Baba explains how death is a most ordinary and common phenomenon.
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, "In every post-exhalation pause, there occurs the death of the unit being. But after gathering vitality for the second time from this death or state of pause, the unit being comes alive again during the next inhalation. If, after the full cycle of inhalation and exhalation, the physical mechanism is unable to gather vital force from the state of pause, further inhalation becomes impossible and what we commonly call death occurs. Actually, the unit structure dies thousands of times every day, after every exhalation." (9)
So death is as commonplace as breathing. It is only when one cannot trace the link from the final exhale in one body to the first inhale in the next body that makes death so scary for some people.
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Final Thought: Baba states that in just 15 or 20 years, every sadhaka in Ananda Marga can realise Parama Purusa.
References
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 24, The Causal Matrix
2. Subhasita Samgraha - 21, Dhruva and Adhruva
3. A Few Problems Solved - 3, The Evolution of Human Civilization
4. The Supreme Command
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 31, Dharma Sádhaná
6. Idea & Ideology, Life, Death and Saḿskára
7. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 3, The Fear of Him
8. The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 5, The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 5
9. Human Society - 2, The Kśatriya Age
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
Gandhi’s approach impotent
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “Those who don’t accept this spiritual ideology will have to be kept under some social or external pressure to check the greed of usurping others’ property. Proper education will also have to be imparted. However, it should be borne in mind that merely exerting circumstantial pressure is not enough. This pressure tactic will no longer be necessary once the ideology is accepted. Those who believe in spiritual ideals, but don’t believe in the policy of exerting external pressure, in other words, the application of physical force, will find it utterly impossible to achieve their goals. In this world there are many people who pay a deaf ear to pious appeals. On such people social or other types of pressure will have to be imposed. No problem will ever be solved if one waits indefinitely for their consciousness to be awakened. Like materialism, spirituality based on non-violence will be of no benefit to humanity. The words of non-violence may sound noble, and quite appealing but, on the solid ground of reality, have no value whatsoever.” (1)
Reference
1. Tattva Kaomudii - 1, Questions and Answers on Ananda Marga Philosophy, #45
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Origins of land cultivation
This is an English summary of the original Bangla discourse - Ananda Vacanamrtam - 18 (B) ‘80, chapter 11,:
In the primitive age people were not aware how to cultivate the land. Still in present day India there are many tribes who follow those primitive ways. In that pre-historic era they used to burn the forest as a means of preparing the ground for planting. And when those ashes were mixed with the soil then the soil would become more fertile. Afterwards, using pointed stones or some sharp wooden pieces, those primitive people would then scrape the top layer of topsoil and spread the seeds.
After the rains came the seeds would grow and the crops would come. Usually after 3 - 4 years of continuous cultivation, the fertility of the land would decrease. Then those tribes of the prehistoric era would leave that place and go to another part of that forest. And in a similar way they would burn that section of the forest and re-start their process of preparing the land. This type of cultivation is called "jum-cha's'a". When the age of jum-cha's'a finished then the age of the plough came and then people used to cultivate using the plough.
(English summary of Ananda Vacanamrtam - 18 (Bangla) ‘80, chapter 11, MGD, 30 March 80 Kolkata, History of Yajina - 7, p.126)
Note: Here above Baba is revealing the historical facts about how primitive tribes in the jungles used to live thousands of years ago. It was only after the mountain age that tribes started agricultural cultivation. Actually they were under pressure to do something because they had already killed most of the animal livestock of the jungle. So up to that time they were living in the mountains and hunting for their basic needs. But when there was a shortage of animals to eat, they came down to the plains area and started cultivating the land in the aforesaid manner. In that early era, they could not even invent a single simple tool. That is why they were scratching the land with sticks and pointed stones. Those days people also were moving naked and living in the trees making nest-type of houses. Animal skins were only used as the clothes in the winter season.
Reference
1. Summary of Ananda Vacanamrtam - 18 (B) ‘80, chapter 11, MGD, 30 March 80 Kolkata, History of Yajina - 7, p.126
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Which are the root languages of the world
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "When a swift horse runs its hooves make a turtur sound. That which makes a turtur sound as it moves is called turaga or turaunga or turaungama (that is, "horse"). That animal which makes a kurkur sound as it runs is called kuraga or kuraunga or kuraungama (that is, "deer"). In this way human beings have created many word forms and verb forms to express their mental ideas. This process of word formation is called "acoustic derivation" and the original verbal roots in all the world's languages were created in this way."
"The first word forms in all the world's languages were the original verbal roots. By adding prefixes and suffixes many different words were derived. Among the established languages of the world, mainly four can be considered as the root languages. They are Vedic, Latin, Hebrew and old Chinese. If one examines the derivation of the vocabulary of these languages one will find that their method or process is identical." (1)
Here Baba is explaining that these 4 languages (Vedic, Latin, Hebrew, and old Chinese) are root languages. The words and vocabulary of these languages are based on the natural sounds those inhabitants heard, such as when a horse runs. In that way those early people created root verbs. Time passed; daughter and granddaughter languages were formed. And those languages were built upon the root verbs of those four original root languages.
For example, Sanskrit / Saḿskrta came from the Vedic language and from Sanskrit / Saḿskrta so many Indian languages were created: Hindi, Bengali, Gujurati, Malayalam and all the Indo-Aryan languages. They are all based on Sanskrit / Saḿskrta and follow the same root verb from the original Vedic. This is also happened with Latin, Hebrew, and Old Chinese. So many languages were formed upon the root verbs of these 3 other root languages, just as happened with Vedic.
Reference
1. Varn'a Vijina'na, Disc: 19, p.270
== Section: Important Teaching ==
“I have a duty towards others but no one has any duty towards me”
Ananda Marga ideology states, “Bear in mind that you have a duty towards others, but that no one has any duty towards you. Everyone’s individual duty is fixed. Only one who move forward with this as his or her only thought can do proper service. Otherwise the thought may remain in the mind of the one doing service that I have done such and such work for that person, so that person ought to do such and such for me. The thought must remain in the mind of the one doing service that I have a duty towards others but no one has any duty towards me.” (1)
Note: In the various religions it is taught, “If you do A then you will get bonus B.” That return (i.e. bonus B) may be in the form of virtue, praise, or respect or help in your hour of need etc. So they do in order to get something in return. In our Ananda Marga outlook, the standard is very high. One is to serve others and see them as narayan, not anticipating anything in return from narayan. When one feeds a hungry person, then that act of service is itself the prize. There is nothing else, no other return.
Motivated by religious dogmatic teachings, the mind of selfish people works in a different way. Such lowly persons think that, "Others have the duty to take care of my situation and their own situation as well. But they should not bother me about their own problems." This is the way such selfish persons think.
And if due to some reason that selfish person "helps" others then they want full return plus interest of their so-called service. There is no question of a sense of duty and true service; these ideals have no place in their mind. Because of all this, the present day general society's condition is unfavourable and bleak. All around where materialism and religious dogma has taken root, this is prevalent.
Sadguru Baba's teaching leads in a different direction. In His above teaching, Baba is very beautifully guiding that our duty is to serve everybody without any expectation for anything in return.
Reference:
1. Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 9, The Source of Internal Stamina, 3 April 1979, Patna
== Section: Important Teaching ==
State should uphold fundamental public interest
Prout philosophy states, “Each and every individual wants security from the state and the demand for security is always increasing. Increased responsibility means increased authority. In ancient times the only duty of the state was to protect people from internal and external chaos. Now, as a result of ever-increasing demands, the responsibility of the state has increased and its authority has also increased. In ancient times nobody demanded food or employment from the government. There were no strikes and no public meetings. Now people want the state to realize its responsibility, but they do not want it to interfere in any matter.”
“PROUT’s view is that we must not go against fundamental public interests or against the fundamental theory. The fundamental theory is that with increased responsibility the authority of the state should also increase, but while operating its authority the state should not go against public sentiments. The fundamental public interest is that the minimum requirements of life should be guaranteed.” (1)
Reference
1. Talks on Prout
== Section: More Materials ==
পোনেরো হাজ়ার ৰছর আগে
“আর্য়দের আদি নিবাস ছিল রুস দেশের দক্ষিণাংশ, এবং মধ্যাংশ, যুরাল পর্বত মালার কাছাকাছি এলাকা | অন্য নাম caucasian | তাঁরা তখন মানে আজ থেকে অনুমানিক পোনেরো হাজ়ার ৰছর আগে যে ভাষায় কথা ৰলতেন, আজ আমরা সেই ভাষাকে ৰলি বৈদিক ভাষা | কেন বৈদিক ভাষা ৰলি ? সে ভাষার তো কোনও নাম ছিল, বৈদিক ভাষা এই কারণে ৰলি যে সে ভাষাতে কেবল মাত্র একটি ৰইয়েরই আমরা সন্ধান পেয়েছি, যে ৰইটার নাম বেদ | তাই ভাষাটার নাম বৈদিক |” (1)
Reference
1. MGD, 16 March 1980-03-16 Calcutta
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
