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# 2018-04-19 - Anandamurti, The Jamalpur Years by Devashish
(IMG) Anandamurti
I recognized many connections between this hagiographic work and
other books such as Autobiography of a Yogi and biographies about
Milarepa, Neem Karoli Baba, Sri Ramakrishna, etc. That context helps
to see beneath the surface, touching on the nobility of Anandamurti's
vision. This includes an unapologetic optimism and an eagerness to
bridge the gaps dividing us from each other. Here is looking forward
to an evolutionary and pragmatic new dawn. Below are some highlights
that caught my interest, with my own words in square brackets.
# Chapter 4
[P.R. Sarkar served as a highly intelligent accountant for Indian
Railways 1941-1947. Charan Gosh (Yogananda's father) was also a
highly intelligent accountant for Indian Railways 1885-1907.]
"Prabhat, it must be wonderful to be able to know what is going to
happen in the future," Ajit exclaimed, shaking his head and marveling
at his cousin's unique abilities.
"Not at all," Prabhat told him. "It is not a blessing: If anything,
it is a curse. You see, my sister is destined for a short life. She
will not live to see her marriage day. That is why I wish that she be
left in peace, so that she does not face any unnecessary troubles in
her final days. Think about it. Whenever I see her, I am reminded
that her death is fast approaching. You see a healthy young woman; I
see her death. Just imagine how difficult it would be for someone to
act naturally or be at ease with their friends or family if they knew
that someone close to them was about to die. There is good reason why
Providence has arranged that human beings should not know what is to
happen in the future."
[This seems to point out beneficial aspects of human ignorance.]
As they were standing there, they heard a madman laugh and exclaim,
"They call me mad. The Lord of the Universe has come to Jalmapur and
is working in the railway workshop, and still they sit around and
waste their lives playing cards. Fools! And they call _me_ mad?"
[This seems to point out detrimental aspects of human ignorance.]
# Chapter 5
"Do as much spiritual practice as you can and serve all creatures of
this world. Search for opportunities to serve the people..."
Prabhat smiled. "It is better to be vegetarian. In fact, it is also
better to give up onions and garlic. They have even more static
properties than meat."
"The path and process that I've shown you are very rational and
logical," Prabhat continued. "Understand them properly and practice
accordingly. Sadhana, spiritual practice, is a must for human
existence. But put it to the test; question why you do it. If you
understand the rationale behind it, you'll be more motivated and
you'll enjoy it more."
# Chapter 8
"This is one of the reasons why I support cremation. Should a
person's life force be suspended and this not be discovered by the
doctors, then there is no chance of their awakening inside the coffin
and dying a second, horrible death."
-----
"Now take your mind to a planet of the star Ashvin. Does life exist
there?"
"Yes."
"What kind of life?"
"Human life."
"Does this human life bear any resemblance to human life on earth?"
"No, Baba. They have a different physical structure."
[Ashvin = Ashvini = Gamma Arietis, a binary star AKA Mesarthim. In
Chinese it is known as Lousu Er, or The Second Star of Bond.]
# Chapter 9
The only "ism" he supported was universalism, emphasizing time and
again that all human beings belonged to one cosmic brotherhood
[/sisterhood] with equal rights to the gifts of Providence.
"There is nothing supernatural in this universe. It is only that some
things are comparatively rare so we take them to have some
supernatural origin."
Unlike other spiritual movements, his disciples would have to accept
the demanding work of social change as their direct responsibility,
something very different than they were used to seeing in Indian
gurus. He made it clear to them that he would be content with nothing
less than the transformation of an entire planet for the welfare of
every living being that inhabited it. This was his mission. By
accepting him as their guru, it would also become theirs.
# Chapter 10
A couple of the newer initiates had brought fruit and flowers to
offer the guru, as was the tradition in the Hindu community, but the
other disciples explained to them that Baba did not approve of
physical offerings. They instructed them to offer mental flowers
instead, symbolic of their attachments and desires. While offering a
mental lotus in whatever color most attracted the mind, they were to
ask God or the guru to free them from those desires or attachments
that hindered their spiritual progress.
[How would one know that one's progress is hindered? And the cause?]
"Nagina, it is true that in the olden days the guru wanted the
disciple to offer him fruit. But which fruit? The fruit of his [/her]
actions. In time, the spirit of this was lost and the gurus started
accepting sweet fruits instead of the karma of their disciples. Now
this has become a custom. You are free to offer the fruits of your
actions whenever you like but not actual fruits. Furthermore, if I
accepted fruits from you then your poorer brothers [/sisters] would
also do the same. This would put them into financial difficulties. If
I accepted those fruits, knowing full well the economic difficulties
involved, it would not be ethical on my part."
# Chapter 14
One day in July, Ram Khilavan, a well-to-do Jalmapur businessman was
lying on a cot in front of his house in the Olipur neighborhood
reading the Bhagavad Gita. How nice it would be, he thought, if I
could spend my whole life like this, repeating the name of the Lord
and reading books about God. The chapter he was reading, however,
bothered him. He didn't like it when Krishna equated himself with the
greatest of everything, such as the Ganges rivers. If God is in
everything, then why does he have to praise himself by comparing
himself to the greatest and most important things on this earth, and
thus try to set himself apart?
At that moment, a passerby wearing a white dhoti and kurta stopped
and asked him what he was reading. When Ram Khilavan told him, the
stranger sat down without introducing himself and asked if he could
have a look.
"Ah yes, chapter ten," the man said, fingering the pages. "How do you
like this chapter?"
"I love the book, but I have a problem with this chapter. I don't see
why Krishna should have to praise himself like this. 'I am the Ganges
of the rivers; I am the Meru of the mountains; I am the sacred banyan
of all the trees.' He seemed to be beating his own drum."
"No, no, you shouldn't think like this," the man replied calmly.
"Though God is present in everything, the Gita expresses it in this
way so as to arouse devotion, to show that in everything the Lord is
the highest expression. That's all it is doing. Well, I must be on my
way. Enjoy your reading."
# Chapter 17
Baba ended his discourse with an ancient Sanskrit verse from the
Rig-Veda, humanity's oldest surviving literature. He called it the
chorus of the sadvipras:
> Samgacchadvam samvadadhvam salvo manasijanatam
> Devabhagam yatha purve samjanana upasate
> Saman van acute samanah hrdayani van
> Samanamaastuvo mynah yatha van susahasati
>
> Let us move together, let us sing together, let us come to know our
> minds together. Let us share like sages of the past so that all
> people together may enjoy the universe. Unite our intentions. Let
> our hearts be inseparable. Let our minds be as one mind, as we, to
> truly know one another, become one.
# Chapter 18
It is impossible to conquer a crude idea and to replace it by a
subtle idea without a fight... Hence, Tantra is not only a fight, it
is an all-round fight. It is not only an external or internal fight,
it is both... The practice for raising the kulakundalini is the
internal sadhana of Tantra, while shattering the bondages of hatred,
suspicion, fear, shyness, etc., by direct action is the external
sadhana. When those who have little knowledge of sadhana see this
style of external fight, they think that the Tantrics moving in the
cremation ground are a sort of unnatural creature. Actually the
general public has no understanding of these Tantrics.
"That old man is a very advanced sadhaka. He has been practicing
sadhana very diligently for many years. He is a resident of
Viratnagar in Nepal. His spiritual practice is almost complete and
now he wishes to leave his physical body. He came here to ask me for
permission."
"But why does he need permission?"
"That is the rule. If any sadhaka wishes to leave their physical
body they must seek permission from sadguru."
"Did you give him permission?"
"No, I did not. He has a duty to perform. Only after he completes
the assigned duty will I allow him to leave his body."
"What duty is that?"
"I have made a new rule. Before any sadhaka can give up their body,
they must render social service, no matter how great a spiritualist
they may be. They must return the debt they owe to society. He had
not fulfilled that condition, so I told him he would have to do
rigorous social service for three months."
"And he agreed?"
"You see, Nagina, when someone exhausts their samskaras, they find it
painful to remain in their body..."
# Chapter 24
"Now think about this: if an unprepared person suddenly got the
realization of the presence of Paramatman, what would be his mental
condition? He would become disturbed; he would go mad. I don't want
anyone to go mad. Unless and until a person's reactive momenta are
exhausted, he cannot achieve liberation. For this reason, I don't
give that realization to sadhakas who are in the preliminary stages
of their sadhana. Do more and more sadhana. Then you will have your
realization."
# Chapter 25
"Pratapaditya, if you make your conscious mind as subtle as your
causal mind, then you can penetrate into the deepest recesses of
anyone's psyche and uncover all the experiences undergone by that
mind since its origin. Everything is stored in the causal mind. If
you make your mind subtle enough, you can know everything."
# Chapter 26
"However, the human mind is not a composite mind but an independent
entity."
# Chapter 27
"Not a single person in this world is foreign. For an avadhuta, the
entire creation is your own. There is no country that is not your
country."
# Chapter 28
Abruptly he [Baba] sat back down and asked Dasareth to see his
[Baba's] own past life. Baba said he was taking Dasarath's mind back
seven thousand years. Dasarath's body started to shiver. Even the
color of his face started to change. He started to perspire a lot.
He started repeating, "Baba, Baba, Baba," and then he said he saw a
flood of effulgence. In the midst of that effulgence he saw Lord
Shiva sitting in meditation. Baba said, "Is it so?" Then he asked
Dasarath to move forward 3500 years and describe what he saw.
Dasarath saw a charming personality with fair complexion wearing a
crown. Baba then asked him to move forward in time and say what he
saw. Dasarath replied that he was seeing Baba in a radiant form.
Baba smiled and said, "See Dasarath, I was a king in my past life.
Now I'm a poor man."
-----
Suicide is not the answer. You cannot run away from your samskaras.
They will follow you into the next life, and the samskara you create
by such an act is a terrible one.
# Chapter 29
Etiquette and refined behavior are not enough. Real education leads
to a pervasive sense of love and compassion for all creation.
# Chapter 32
The spiritual aspirants who do not render social service do not have
real devotion.
-----
He tried to argue with Baba that one of the main factors that had led
to the decline of Buddhism in India had been Buddha's controversial
decision to create female sannyasis, but Baba would not hear of it.
"Like a bird, an organization needs two wings to be able to fly," he
said, a comment he would often repeat in the future. Nor would he
listen to any of the other traditional arguments against the
inclusion of women voiced by the other men in the room.
author: Devashish
(TXT) detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Prabhat_Ranjan_Sarkar
LOC: BL624 .A28
tags: biography,book,hagiography,non-fiction,spirit
title: Anandamurti: The Jamalpur Years
# Tags
(DIR) biography
(DIR) book
(DIR) hagiography
(DIR) non-fiction
(DIR) spirit