Baba
Birthday of lowly wt
Namaskar,
The spirit of being an avadhúta is to dedicate everything to Marga Gurudev. By getting avadhútiká / avadhúta diiksa and their new avadhútiká / avadhúta name, our Wts no longer have anything of their own. In that blessed state, everything belongs to Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji is their mother, father, and everything. Our Wts should only sing the glory of Parama Purusa. That is the oath our avadhútikás and avadhútas have taken. So there is no question of celebrating their worldly birthday. Because celebrating one’s own birthday is self-glorification and that degenerates the mind.
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Self-glorification degenerates the mind
Our Wts surrender their all – their entire “I-feeling” – at His lotus feet. Their name has changed; their address has changed; their identity has changed. They have no past connection with their worldly life, nor their worldly birth. Avadhútas give everything to Parama Purusa and have nothing left to call their own. So there is no question of celebrating their worldly birthday. Because celebrating one’s own birthday is self-glorification and that degenerates the mind.
That is why in Wt conduct rules there is no mention of the observance of one’s own birthday or any form of celebration or glorification of one’s own unit existence. Rather the avadhuta’s goal of life and the be-all end-all of their existence is to glorify Parama Purusa. Our avadhútikás are to be established solely in Marga Guru’s glory.
In which case, where is the scope for an avadhútiká to celebrate their own worldly birthday. Unfortunately, some disoriented Wts still exist who sing their own glory and celebrate their birthday. Such Wts are so influenced by avidya maya that they forgot about their oaths, their name, their dress. They started equating themselves as a …., unfortunately. Now, it is the duty of all margiis to help them understand their greatness: our avadhutas are disciples of Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji. So there is no question of glorifying their worldly existence. Because celebrating one’s own birthday is self-glorification and that degenerates the mind.
Yet sadly, on and off we hear how some avadhuta has fallen from the true path. In result, they engage in bizarre behaviour, such as celebrating their own birthday. We should ensure other workers do not indulge in a similar manner. If you know of more cases, please let us know.
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Birthday & self-praise
Baba warns us to steer away from things like self-publicity and self-praise. As the chief result of indulging in one's own birthday party is drawing attention to oneself, then no avadhuta should indulge in such acts.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "Why on earth should he indulge in self-publicity? To whom will he publicize himself? Such acts are the antics of common, avaricious people with beggar-like mentality." (1)
And to go one step further, in the case of one's own birthday party, that is not only praising oneself but even worse - celebrating and overtly highlighting one's unit cause.
Here Baba is clearly warning that human beings, let alone our avadhutas and acaryas, must not be involved in self-glorification by holding birthday parties and singing songs of their own greatness. One must not do such things.
Ananda Marga ideology says, "Kiirtana should be done on Hari and on no other entity. One should not praise oneself or any other person. There are many people who are very fond of praising themselves by telling everyone what wonderful things they have done, but, as mentioned in this sloka, kiirtana is not for one’s own self but for Hari. Even though people are taught to do kiirtana for Hari, they still make the mistake of praising themselves too much. Sometimes their self-praise is so intense that others are obliged to say, “Please stop praising yourself so much.” They forget that their self-applause is rather boring for others. Human beings should realize that no one likes to hear the self-praise of others." (2)
Even though a few degraded workers may enjoy the display of their own petty glory, such ostentatious displays are not received well in the society. This will tarnish the image of all workers who have come on this earth to selflessly serve others, not glorify themselves. Here Baba gives the formula for how to become great.
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Ananda Vanii states, "It is action that makes a person great. Be great by your sa'dhana', by your service, by your sacrifice." (3)
Conclusion
You may have also noticed that the birthdays of acaryas and avadhutas were never published in different magazines prior to 1990. And now also, we do not recogise the birthdays of acaryas and avadhutas via different media like e-mail or organisational news publications etc. The birthdays of our wholetime workers are not to be celebrated nor even mentioned publicly. Even in their individual life, a Wt should not think, "Today is my worldly birthday." There is no scope for that in our Ananda Marga Wt cadre.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Nityadeva Deva
Note: If any avadhuta is announcing or recognising their birthday on Facebook or other such social media sites, that is obviously a contravention of their oaths and code of conduct.
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References
1. Subhasita Samgraha - 2, The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 3
2. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 8, The Lord Should Always Be Praised
3. Ananda Vanii #20
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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.
* * *
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: Important Teaching ==
Key points of industrialization
Prout philosophy says, "In the field of industry, the necessity of both small-scale and large-scale industries will have to be accepted. For example, the requisite amount of yarn needed to meet the demand for cloth in a self-sufficient unit may be produced by many big yarn mills. Here the production of yarn can be treated as a large-scale industry, and with the help of this industry, numerous small-scale industries will prosper. Viable weavers' cooperatives can be established, centred on each yarn mill. Weavers will then get the opportunity to weave cloth while remaining in their own homes. They will no longer be required to leave their homes at the call of a distant large-scale industry. At the same time the weaving industry will not suffer even during times of war, because everything will be within easy reach."
"The acceptance of both small-scale and large-scale industries does not mean that old machinery is to be encouraged. With the development of science, advanced machinery will have to be utilized. The attempt to stop the use of sugar by advertising the benefits of molasses, or to campaign against mill-made cloth by extolling the virtues of khadi, is senseless. As long as advanced mechanization and scientific decentralization have not been adopted, molasses, hand-spun cloth and similar enterprises should be encouraged, and their importance to the rural economy must be accepted.
"Where industrialization is intended to plunder profits, obviously the policy of decentralization is not likely to be supported. But where industrialization is intended to meet the requirements of society, there can be no objection to the policy of decentralization." (1)
Reference
1. Problems of the Day, Point #8
== Section 3: Links ==
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