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Page 41 of White Noise Keywords: "dream," "language," "outward" "christusrex_inc@hotmail.com" <lxTZTcIuL@.com> wrote in message > Preface
From: "thebeadedbeauty" <thebeadedbeauty@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: GLIMPSES OF A MYSTERY
Date: 30 Aug 2004
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
And your point?
news:41313b2f@news.comindico.com.au...
>
> How is it possible for a small lily flower to contain an ocean? Does it
> not sound absurd? Like sheer madness? Yet it is true that the desire of
> our individual ego is to be the master of everything. This is its dharma.
> The limitless thirst of our doer "I" wants all. Similarly, how can a drop
> of water fathom an ocean? The drop need not fear that it will lose itself
> upon merger with the ocean; the drop becomes the ocean.
>
> Once Paramahamsa Ramakrishna[1] asked his disciple Narendra, "If you are a
> bee and Saccidananda (the ocean of infinite bliss) is a pot full of honey
> placed in front of you, what would you do?"
>
> Narendra, who was always considered brilliant, replied, "I would carefully
> sit at the edge and slowly sip it."
>
> The Master laughed merrily and said, "You fool - you won't drown by
> jumping into it; rather it will make you immortal!"
>
> A brother of mine, Ac. Rameshvarananda Avt., thought that I would be fit
> to write a chapter of the book he was preparing on Shrii P. R. Sarkar. He
> asked me to write about the mystical aspect of Baba. This book is an
> expansion and development of that original article.
>
> It is impossible to write about Him unless one becomes Him. Yet I ventured
> to try only because of my human anxiety to share my feelings with others.
> Once Baba said, "Every human has this wont: to share his or her
> knowledge." I did not make this attempt to gather kudos from readers.
> Rather I want to share a few experiences and a little knowledge which my
> Master generously bestowed upon me.
>
> I feel that all of us close to Him suffer a sharp pain because of our
> inability to communicate the compassionate love we received from Him to
> our near and dear ones. This pain is felt by those whom He chose to be
> close to Him. He is beyond the factors of time, place and person. His love
> is so pure and blemish less, that it is completely above all earthly cares
> and comforts. That love of pure consciousness, though somewhat akin to
> worldly love, is much more subtle, wonderful and infinite.
>
> All thinking persons who were in His divine embrace feel that writing
> truthfully what they felt must invite sharp criticisms. Some may claim
> that what we write is all lies. Others will not believe what we write.
> Some people may even think that the writer is exaggerating in the hope of
> becoming famous. Most fear that they will be called mad by the
> intelligentsia if they write in a forthright way all that they encountered
> and felt. Because of these fears, most devotees desist from writing.
>
> Whatever the result, I want to truthfully narrate a fraction of what I
> understood and realized. When the rush of ideas takes place, I become
> irrelevant. My only hope is that some spiritually thirsty seeker might
> find these writings to be like a glass of cool water in the desert of the
> material world. If so, I will deem my attempt successful.
>
> Personally, I feel that my life only began when, by His grace, I met Baba
> in May 1965. From then until His great departure on October 21, 1990, I
> ran a marathon race trying to be physically close to Him. I felt as the
> Upanishads say,
>
> Durat sudure tadantike ca.
> He is farther than far,
> And He is so near as to be in your "I" feeling.
>
> Sometimes I felt that this Entity, illumination personified, was several
> light years away from me and that I was wasting my life pursuing this
> impossible task. I felt tired and like a lost traveller waiting for divine
> dispensation.
>
> But there were many more occasions when I felt that no one could be closer
> to Baba than I; it was impossible even to think otherwise. A few times I
> even found Him within me.
>
> In this book I have capitalized all references to Baba to show my deep
> respect for my Master. The translations of Baba's Prabhat Sam'giita songs
> are not official.
>
> I must tender my sincere thanks to sister, Avtk. Ananda Gaorii Ac., for
> editing the draft, and to Ac. Saoreshvarananda Avt. who typed it. I also
> thank Ramakrsna of Australia for the photograph that adorns the front
> cover of the printed book. I greatly value the assistance of Jayanta Kumar
> and Ac. Giridevananda Avt. who helped with the proofreading. I also tender
> my sincere thanks to Ac. Maheshvarananda Avt. who encouraged me by taking
> the first and last dictations from me. Without his labour and assistance I
> could not have finished this book.
>
> I want to repeat what a great devotee once said about His inadequacy in
> spreading the message of his Guru: "Whatever good I have said is His;
> whatever wrong I have said is mine." In the same way I apologize to the
> readers for any mistakes caused due to my excessive anxiety to share these
> experiences.
>
> Acarya Bhaskarananda Avadhuta
>
>
>
>
>
> My Early Astonishments
> We affectionately call the founder of Ananda Marga as Baba, which means
> "most affectionate". He is Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, spiritual Master for
> millions. The physical form through which He expressed Himself was known
> as Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, who was born in Jamalpur, India in 1921.
>
> Sannyasiis (renunciates) greatly attracted me when I was young. I used to
> feel then that something was incomplete inside me. I desired a spiritual
> master from the age of ten, and each year after that my longing increased.
> I spent my leisure time studying philosophy and the lives of saints and
> mystics of different cultures and disciplines, yet no books satisfied me.
> I deeply yearned for direct perception and experience of the Supreme
> Consciousness.
>
> I received initiation through Acarya Pranavananda Avadhuta of Ananda
> Marga at a time when I was most tormented by the search for a master. I
> expressly wanted the greatest guru, and I was not willing to accept anyone
> else.
>
> When I met Baba, I felt as though I had known Him before. I felt like a
> lost child finding his father.
>
> He was of short height of five feet and two inches, with broad chest,
> muscular hands and legs, and superb athletic strength. I have never seen
> more beautifully shaped fingers and hands. His skin was alabastrine. The
> peach flower is initially a heavenly pink before turning white, yet even
> this colour cannot accurately describe the soft celestial glow of His
> palms and face.
>
> He always remained meticulously clean. He dressed soberly in His
> traditional dhoti and kurta everyday, even on tours abroad.
>
> His bewitching smile was at once affectionate and mischievous. Just a
> glance from Him was sufficient to arouse one's sleeping divinity. He had
> complete mastery over all His expressions.
>
> A few days after first meeting Him my initial confidence evaporated, and I
> started wondering whether He was hypnotizing me. For nearly six months, I
> remained skeptical. Yet each day that I was with Him, He astonished me
> with His apparently unending knowledge. His profound ideas filled my mind.
> To every question I asked, Baba gave beautiful answers that baffled me for
> hours. When I reminisce about Him, again He baffles me!
>
> Once I asked about the meaning of mudras.[2] He replied, "They are the
> physical expression of mental feelings." I pondered this beautiful reply
> for hours. Another time I commented that a certain person was "carefully
> careless". Baba immediately quipped back, "Is he carelessly careful, too?"
>
> His personality was so charming and sweet that we used to feel that our
> burdens and responsibilities dissolved in an ocean of peace and
> tranquillity. He made us feel safe and secure, and when He smiled, we felt
> like children who love to laugh and play without any reason. In those days
> it was a common sight to see devotees heavily intoxicated with the "wine"
> of spiritual love.
>
> I had the opportunity to watch Baba closely for nearly 28 years. I never
> observed any distasteful expression. He was the epitome of humility. He
> gave more than 40 social norms to be followed, but He Himself always did
> more than He asked of others.
>
> He had a very modest way of conversing, yet He also made us laugh by
> acting out charming dramas. In this way He illustrated political and
> social problems, then gave their solutions.
>
> He brought out in us the most profound feelings and emotions with His
> different moods. In His reporting sessions[3], He would make everyone roar
> with hearty laughter, cry tears of happiness or parting sorrow. He
> sometimes delivered brilliant discourses, then displayed a mystic aura
> when He cured someone of a terminal illness. Occasionally He burst into
> moods of feigned anger. Then I felt especially blessed and remembered the
> words of a mystic song:
>
> Kitni sheeri hei tere lab ke rakiib! galian kha ke be maza na hua.
> How sweet is thy tongue, O my beloved, That even after abuse I don't feel
> unhappy.
>
> Hey rudro, hey priyatamo tumar shashan piiyush shamo (Prabhat Samgiita)
> Oh Rudra (the entity who moves you to tears), Your disciplining is like
> nectar.
>
> His half-closed eyes, always hidden under thick framed glasses, seemed to
> betray His stance in the plane of relative consciousness, with one foot
> standing in the created Universe, and the other standing simultaneously in
> the formless state of pure Consciousness. I was very curious to watch His
> eyes. I had read that the eyes of some realized saints were also usually
> half-closed.
>
> During my early twenties I used to do many silly things when I was alone
> with Him. Once I removed His glasses and forced His eyes open with my
> fingers. Two blue sapphires, as deep and unfathomable as two oceans, gazed
> back at me. I wanted to contain them but was helpless. I still feel
> helpless like a baby in its mother's arms when I recollect that sight.
>
> A few times I observed a ray of golden light, like a small torch light,
> emanating from His eyes when He surveyed the body of a disciple who had
> some ailment. He would heal them by a touch or a look or with some caning,
> but only after taking an assurance that they would henceforth work for the
> good of humanity.
>
> A spiritual brother of mine, Kishan Kumar (who is now an advocate in
> Jammu), told me a story that illustrates Baba's perfect control over
> facial expressions. Kishan was massaging Baba when He inquired if Kishan
> had eaten. Kishan replied that he had, which was a lie because he did not
> want to leave. With a unique combination of smile and anger, Baba
> instructed him to go and take food. Kishan said to me that even after
> thirty years he can never forget how Baba perfectly combined an angry face
> with such an affectionate and loving smile. I read in a scientific article
> that it takes 17 muscles of the face to look angry but just a few to
> express happiness. Baba did both simultaneously!
>
> He walked majestically, like the king of kings. His presence inspired
> various feelings among the .assembled people, but most of all we felt a
> reverential awe. When He paused during His walks, with walking stick in
> hand, to explain a particular point, His voice was musical yet distinctly
> manly.
>
> Even while feigning anger, He remained perfectly composed and always
> expressed karuna bha va (compassionate tenderness) for suffering humanity.
> His inner attitude was that of a loving father towards His universal
> progeny. The outward nonchalant expressions were a facade, like a coconut
> shell full of sweet water. Only those who knew Him well appreciated this.
> So when rebuked, they would feel internally happy and tried hard to
> suppress their laughter in keeping with the drama He was staging, for He
> never liked that the seriousness of the situation should evaporate.
>
> Many of the public "exposes" of Baba and Ananda Marga, made by those who
> did not understand Him or were inimical to His ideology, centred around
> the assumption that His devotees believed Him to be God. It is certainly
> true that the relationship between Gum and disciple is of paramount
> importance in Tantra, which is not the case in other disciplines.
>
> Bulleshaw, a well known Sufi saint from Punjab, clearly expresses this
> Tantric ideal[4]:
>
> Rab miliya tu na miliya.
> Rab terei varga nai. [Punjabi]
> Oh Preceptor, I found God, but I did not find You.
> God is not as perfect as You.
>
> The mystical Tantric poet Kabir wrote:
>
> Guru Gobind dou khade
> Kake lage pamv
> Balihari Guru apno jin Gobind diyo batai. [Bhojpuri]
> If Guru and Govinda [the Supreme Consciousness] appear simultaneously, you
> have to pay your obeisance to Guru only, because the Guru made you realize
> Govinda.
>
> A very famous mystic, Charandas, said, in a long poem: Let me forget Hari
> [the Supreme Consciousness], but not the Guru. Hari put me in bondage, but
> Guru alone liberated me from it.
>
> From my first days in Ananda Marga I heard many stories from Margiis which
> attributed Baba with super-human qualities. I became very curious about
> this. Finally I told Him, "Baba, some people say that you are God, but I
> don't believe it." Baba replied, "I have never said that I am God. My
> philosophy does not accept the avatar theory of God incarnation[5]."
>
> Now, while writing this many years later, I appreciate the difficulty Baba
> must have felt in answering my child-like question. If He was in fact
> Parama Purus 'a (the Supreme Consciousness) and said so, I would certainly
> have asked for some stupid proof This universe was created systematically,
> with certain laws for every expression to follow. He usually never broke
> them, even though He was capable of it. From experience I found later that
> even God-realized souls, though they possess these faculties, never
> interfere with the cosmological order. For example, if I had asked Him to
> change day into night and He agreed, such an action might have caused the
> total destruction of our solar system.
>
> Each small incident in an individual's life is intermeshed with the
> functioning of the entire universe. To change one small aspect requires
> adjusting everything else to maintain cosmological equipoise.
>
> Though He had no sam'skaras (reactions to past actions stored in potential
> form), except His Mahasamkalpa (great determination) for the betterment of
> society, He would take on the bad sam 'skaras of His disciples and undergo
> their requitals. When performing some demonstration or responding to a
> plea for intervention, Baba would Himself take on the sam'skaras of the
> individuals concerned and suffer in their place. This is the reason why
> Baba's most sentient body was afflicted with certain ailments throughout
> His life. He suffered the sam 'skaras of His devotees.
>
> For example, an old Acarya suffering from piles once mentally offered his
> ailment to Baba after his meditation in Guru Puja ("Offering to the
> Guru") - from that time on Baba suffered from piles. Whenever He altered
> the cosmological order to please His devotees, He Himself suffered the
> consequences of the imbalance He brought about.
>
> On another occasion in Ranchi, in January 1968, a boy came with a stomach
> ulcer. Baba touched Acarya Dasarath on the head who was then able to "see"
> that the boy's stomach had been turned blue and black by a severe ulcer.
> Baba touched the end of His stick to the boy's stomach and cured him,
> explaining, "I have changed this disease into magnetic and electrical
> waves. There will be great changes in the whole universe as a
> consequence."
>
> In a similar vein Baba commented, "Every incident in an individual's life
> is significant. Suppose an ant is moving on a rock from east to west. If
> the direction is changed contradictory to Parama Purus'a, then that small
> change can affect the entire balance of the universe. An 80 year old widow
> should not say that her life is useless, because everything is the will of
> Parama Purus'a. No one is insignificant, not even a blade of grass."
>
> If, to my child-like questions of long ago, He had answered "No, I am not
> Parama Purus 'a", then it would have been a lie.
>
> On frequent occasions Baba commented that all religions will have to meet
> on a common ground. "All religions have a common aim, but the preachers
> agree to disagree. This happens only when they forget the common aim of
> God realization. They fight each other because they are not bothered about
> the goal and don't strive hard to attain it. Ananda Marga is ever ready to
> help all when they find difficulty on the path."
>
> Once I said, "Baba, it is said that the paths are different but the goal
> is one."
>
> Baba replied, "No, the goal is one and the path is one - that is a
> physico-psycho-spiritual approach. Convert physical energy into psychic
> energy and psychic energy into spiritual energy by sadhana, service and
> sacrifice."
>
> He inspired us all to practice meditation. The milk of human kindness will
> flow only through this process of expansion or sadhana (meditation,
> literally "sustained effort"), and in this way, one day all religions will
> meet on a common ground. The sword of religious wars cannot change human
> hearts.
>
> As long as the universe exists, variety will also exist. Variety lends
> beauty to the creation, as each coloured flower adds to the beauty of a
> garden. To try to convert all the people of the world to one religion is a
> mad idea. But to encourage everyone to be a universal human being, and
> then a spiritual human being, is a noble idea. The wise understand that
> the apparent diversity will gradually change into a fundamental unity.
>
> He propounded one significant and revolutionary spiritual concept which
> has corrected the main defect in the philosophy of the Sanataniis. Even
> today, they argue that jagat (the created universe) is false. The most
> irrational part of this belief is that the arguments they use arise out of
> the same false world or maya which they reject. They can bring no example
> from truth. Baba obliterated this blunder by giving the status of relative
> truth to our experience of the objective world. While Baba accepted the
> superiority of non-dualistic theory or advaetavada, He also accepted the
> relative existence of jagat.
>
> Brahma satyam jagadapisatyam apekshikam.(Ananda Sutram )
>
> One day I mentioned to Baba a story I had learned about Him as a child. He
> asked me, "And where did you hear this story, my son?"
>
> "Baba, I came across it in an issue of Bodhi Kalpa (an Ananda Marga
> magazine)."
>
> "Oh!", Baba quipped. "I never read any literature."
>
> This created a big question mark in my mind, because I had always thought
> that Baba was a very well read person. So I watched Him as much as
> possible; I also asked others who had the opportunity to observe Him,
> until finally I was convinced that He really never did read any book,
> magazine or newspaper. He never studied beyond intermediate college. The
> fact is, He was truly omniscient!
>
> In those days, due to my knowledge of philosophy, especially the Indian
> system of six theistic philosophies, I was burdened by a very swollen ego.
> There were always many bright students around Him. So once, when I was
> alone with Baba, I asked Him, "Why do these brilliant students run after
> You? If there is something in You, lease tell me about it. Who are You?"
>
> He told me: "I have come as a mystery, I will remain as a mystery, and I
> will leave as a mystery. To know my nature you have to do sadhana."
>
> Then I begged Him to bless me so that I could do sadhana. My hands were
> resting on His lap. Suddenly I felt a soothing vibration transmitted from
> Him to me that thrilled me with bliss.
>
> From that day, Baba gave me the ability to sit in meditation continuously
> for hours. I easily crossed the orbit of time. I was amazed that when I
> sat and closed my eyes, sometimes three or even six hours would elapse
> before I opened them again. On other occasions I would feel that I had
> done many hours of meditation effortlessly, only to find that just a few
> minutes had elapsed. A frail being like me could be lost in deep
> meditation only due to His endless grace.
>
> This word mystery baffled me for so many years. When people cannot
> understand some occurrence, they are inclined to say that it does not
> exist or does not happen. This is particularly true of psychic and
> intuitional phenomena which are readily dismissed by those who lack the
> courage to investigate them. Baba is a mystery in the sense that the human
> mind cannot expand enough to encompass the entirety of Him. But His
> existence and His remarkable life is factual experience which no one can
> deny.
>
> Three months after that blissful experience, I decided to dedicate my life
> as a sannyasii and to grow spiritually under Him.
>
> I started experiencing profound visions during my sadhana. Once I saw
> myself being struck by lightning which turned into two inverted triangles.
> I felt I understood the message in this vision: that Brahma tej (sentient
> force) and Ks'atra tej (mutative power) should co-exist for the sake of
> dharma (spiritual morality). That is, bhakti (devotion) and shakti (force)
> are both needed to protect the virtuous from evil. This is the
> quintessence of the Bhagavad Giita - an exhortation to fight incessantly
> against all evils.[6] As a result of this vision, I joined Ananda Marga,
> that is, for the protection of dharma.
>
> In February 1966 I remarked to Baba, "I love Rabindrath Tagore Gitanjali.
> It touches some unknown strings in my heart. Tears well up in my eyes, yet
> I can't say exactly why."
>
> Baba replied, "Tagore was a mystic. His book Bolaka was, in My opinion,
> better than Gitanjali. It should have won him the Nobel prize instead of
> Gitanjali. Mysticism is a never ending endeavour to find a link between
> the finite and the infinite."
>
> Subsequently I began to understand what Tagore wanted to convey in his
> poetry. Even today Baba's definition captivates me and I enjoy
> contemplating the depth of its meaning.
>
> In 1967 Baba chided me saying, "Don't run after intellect." From then on
> He stopped responding to my prying questions. I was sad because He started
> to give me the cold shoulder, and I stopped asking questions directly. It
> was only in 1985, when my quest to understand devotion reached some
> maturity, that I realized how futile running after intellect had been.
>
> Maharishi Patanjali said, "Rtam bhara tatra prajina," which means that
> intuition in its unassailed stance is filled with veracity and can only be
> attained through dhyana (deep meditation). It means that running after
> knowledge is like throwing away the cream and drinking buttermilk which
> has gone stale. Through dhyana one can have access to all mundane things,
> but one should not run after these. If one does an'udhyana, which means to
> continuously chase one's Is 't 'a (Guru), for a few months, one can also
> know this secret. Baba actually meant that if one dives deep in to one s
> inner conceptual depths , reply to all questions will be found.
>
> For seven months I stayed in the jagrti (the Ananda Marga centre) in
> Jamalpur and watched Baba every day. I observed that whenever a person
> tried to test Him, Baba would behave in such a way that He put that person
> to the test. For example, when a person full of doubts questioned Baba, He
> would sometimes feign ignorance, so that the person judged Baba unworthy
> and left. Mostly such persons tested in order to try to better Him.
>
> One should never test the Guru. Only one who is puffed with ego tests the
> Gum. That is why Christ said, "Blessed are those who believe without
> seeing." Here Christ meant that the real seeker should be humble like an
> innocent, guileless child. When there were seekers, however, who wanted to
> dedicate their lives to serve the suffering humanity, and sincerely wanted
> to know if they were choosing the right Guru, Baba used to undergo their
> tests happily.
>
> Similarly, the right to test the worthiness of the disciple lies with the
> Guru. But when He tests, the disciple always fails. Then one can realize
> how mean he or she was to test the Guru. Kabir said:
>
> Kabir, yeh tan vishki belari Guru Amrit ki khan
> shiish diye sadguru paye toe bhi sasta jan.(Bhojpuri)
> Kabir! this body of yours is a poisonous creeper.
> The Guru is the storehouse of nectar. By the exchange of your head,
> If you receive Guru in turn,
> Understand that you got Him cheap!
>
> That is why, when Shrii Shankaracarya was tested by Shakti, he lamented:
>
> Ku putro jayet kwacidapi kumata na bhavati.
> A bad son is born, but a mother is never bad to her child.
>
> Guru Govind, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs, said:
>
> Jo tohe prem khalan ki chav, Sir Dhari tali gali meri avo.
> If you want to play the game of love divine,
> Walk my path with your head on your palm.
>
> Due to my swollen ego, I also made the mistake of testing Him, but He
> accepted my tests happily.
>
> Because of my thirst to learn, I used to write down all that I could. Like
> the proverbial ant, I would struggle to carry away, grain by grain, every
> bit of His inexhaustible knowledge from the sugar mound that He was.
> Before each effort I would think, "Next time I will carry away the whole
> hill." But when I returned, I found that the mound had again grown larger.
> Finally, realizing that His knowledge was much more than the greatest
> mountain, I had to throw away the grains and surrender.
>
> When did I stop my pet weakness - intellectual pursuit? It was only in May
> 1968 during
>
> Baba's Renaissance Universal (RU) discourse[7], "Expression and
> Symbolization". Tens of thousands of Margiis attended this speech. As
> usual, I was struggling to take notes and finding the topic difficult. By
> the time I finished writing a few lines, Baba had advanced sentences
> ahead!
>
> Dropping my pen and paper I thought, "Let me listen, understand and
> remember as much as possible, and leave the rest." At that moment, a
> miracle occurred. A blissful feeling spread from my ajina cakra (the
> psycho-spiritual centre located in the centre of the head). I started to
> understand and remember nearly everything He was saying.
>
> Baba usually asked for comments after His RU talks, so this time I rushed
> eagerly to Him. But before I could say anything He asked me, "And why did
> some intellectual boys throw away their pen and paper?" I said to Baba,
> Baba your speech was so deep . Baba quipped back How many fathom deep
> my son . I was silent , because that reply meant so many things.
>
> Thereafter, bit by bit, Baba enlarged my receptivity. I realized that ego
> is the arch enemy. When ego does not dominate, then only can He augment
> one's powers of receptivity. This I experienced, and increasingly I could
> retain all the important points from His talks. At the same time, a
> beautiful feeling like a current of light, would penetrate my ajina cakra
> and anahata cakra (psycho-spiritual centre located in the centre of the
> chest), bringing tears of happiness. I would become lost in ineffable
> bliss. After such experiences I never felt like talking; rather I
> preferred solitude in order to cry and thus soothe the pain of my own
> pettiness.
>
> I had made myself small and mean by doubting Him. Yet despite everything,
> this Great Personality bestowed such grace upon me. Years later I
> understood that these experiences were His application of positive
> microvita[8] to make my plexi and associated glands more complex so that
> they could absorb increasingly more subtle and spiritual vibrations.
>
> The wonder was that for many years He was elevating His disciples without
> them even knowing it. Baba never wanted kudos. He did not want anyone to
> know that He was giving them something extraordinary. Only on later
> reflection could the recipient sense something of what had happened. When
> He enlarged one's receptivity, one would feel that everything in this
> universe was happening properly and correctly according to the Cosmic
> Will. After such experiences I would contemplate deeply, and after finally
> understanding, realization would come.
>
> Occasionally Baba would ask persons more learned than myself to expound on
> a topic about which He had just spoken. If they failed, He would turn to
> me. I was always amazed at the beauty and coherence of the explanations
> coming from my mouth. I knew it was someone else talking through me and I
> experienced a sense of bliss at my anahata cakra. The intellectuals were
> amazed that a less educated person could speak so well. After this, I lost
> the desire to show off my knowledge.
>
> One day out of the blue Baba said to me, "You are a critic. Today I want
> you to criticize me."
>
> I hesitated because by now I was well aware of my ignorance. I offered a
> cautious reply. "Baba, Veda Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata through a parrot,
> so I can never venture to speak about You."
>
> But Baba persisted, "It is My order for you to criticize Me."
>
> So I said, "First, I have read that true mystics used to remain absorbed
> in samadhi. They found it very difficult to maintain physical parallelism.
> You are the first person who gives samadhi and yet is never affected by
> it.
>
> "Second, I found that other philosophers and mystics repeat the same ideas
> many times. Yet, You never repeat the same idea twice. Even when we
> request you to repeat something, the repetition always has added
> fragrance, so it is very difficult to take the latter and leave the
> former.
>
> "Third, on numerous occasions You have stopped delivering a speech before
> it was completed because the audience could make neither head nor tail of
> it. In short, your knowledge has no end.
>
> "For example, when You go to the south of India You select very abstract
> topics."
>
> He said, "Not the whole south, only Madras."
>
> I continued, "Baba, when you deliver lectures in front of intellectuals,
> You first start in a tough language with a tough subject. Later, when the
> listening intellectuals surrender, You tell it in an easy, understandable
> way. At the end You stress the importance of devotional sadhana." Except a
> few, all His lectures followed this pattern.
>
> In the first week of January 1968, in Jaipur, Baba started explaining the
> origin of the swastika and its meaning.
>
> At least a dozen PhD's and heads of departments of different universities
> were present. The subject was very abstract. After a short time, Baba
> stopped abruptly. Later, when I asked why, He said, "Nobody was
> following."
>
> I still remember the main points of this lecture. Baba explained that the
> first tantrics (spiritual scientists) observed the horizon and drew a
> horizontal line to represent the Supreme Cognitive Principle (Shiva). Then
> he gave a vertical line crossing it to represent the causal matrix or
> Supreme Operative Principle (Shakti). The cross later entered the Bramhi
> Khraosti scripts as the symbol for the sound "ka". The English letter "k",
> and "ka" in Hindi and Sanskrit also have similar structures like a cross.
> When clockwise handles are added to the cross, the swastika of India is
> formed. It symbolizes the preservation of Creation. The arms represent the
> anti-clockwise movement of kundalinii. In temples of Shiva, the parikrama
> or movement around the sanctum is done anti-clockwise to symbolize this,
> while in other Hindu temples, it is done clockwise.
>
> I remember the subject was very abstract. Until 1979 He delivered most of
> His discourses in Hindi and English. Some of these were not preserved
> because of the shortcomings of His disciples. Only a portion of His long
> life, the twelve years from His release from prison in 1978 to 1990, was
> meticulously recorded. This is only a portion of the total years He spent
> touring and teaching in different parts of India and overseas.
>
> Coming to Terms with Supernatural Phenomena
> I used to wonder why Baba did not personally give microvita sadhana to
> everyone. In my opinion He often selected people for this sadhana who
> worked very hard and had less time for their spiritual practices. For
> some, too, who had more fear than love for the Cosmic Consciousness,
> microvita sadhana was one of the special means by which Baba aroused this
> love in them.
>
> This caused me to think deeply over the connection between internal
> spiritual dynamism, i.e. always thinking of Parama Purus'a, and external
> dynamism, i.e. remaining extremely active in service work.
>
> Finally I met a sannyasii who had both internal longing and a desire to
> work hard for Baba. He was torn between the two. Once, when he was alone
> with Baba, He demonstrated many spiritual experiences.
>
> First He asked the Dada to sit in siddhasana and do dhyana. A sweet smell
> began to pervade the room that filled Dada's mind with bliss. Soon Baba
> interrupted, saying, "Don't get lost in this, there are still higher
> realizations." Next Dada began to see a divine light. His mind again
> experienced waves of bliss, but Baba repeated His warning. Then he heard
> the beautiful sound of crickets. This was the subtle anahata nada
> vibration, which starts with this sound and progresses through various
> stages. The second sound is like the rippling of a mountain stream; the
> third like the call of a celestial flute; the fourth like the roiling of
> tropical thunder; and the fifth like the roar of ocean surf. Of course,
> these descriptions are very inadequate approximations of the actual sounds
> which can only be experienced in deep meditation.
>
> Dada later told me that when he heard the last sound he felt like entering
> into an unbreakable embrace with the Cosmic Consciousness. In this way
> Baba united sound with love.
>
> Sound is the first, most subtle tanmatra (sensory inference); and love is
> beyond all tanmatras. If a special dish is prepared with wonderful spices
> but without salt, it will not taste delicious. Love, like salt, is the
> essential ingredient which transforms the bondage of Cosmic devotion into
> liberation. If a drop of water falls into the ocean, it does not worry
> about losing its identity; rather it becomes the ocean by expanding its
> limited awareness to infinite awareness.
>
> Baba was omniscient. He could transport a person's mind to both the future
> and the past. He performed these kinds of demonstrations until 1971. I had
> the unique opportunity of joining Ananda Marga in 1964, and until 1971 I
> personally witnessed dozens of demonstrations. I was most interested in
> the psycho-spiritual and spiritual aspects of the anubhuti (direct
> spiritual experience).
>
> Baba used to read the past of different people through Acarya Dasarath.
> Once He took this devotee's mind back more than 15,000 years. Baba
> explained that all the tanmatric vibrations of the past are eternally
> present. An A-grade sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) can reassemble and
> experience these vibrations, but it is extremely difficult. Only Lord
> Shiva and Lord Krs'n'a were able to give this capacity to others, which is
> beyond even the occult powers. On one occasion in Ranchi in July 1968,
> Baba explained that many centuries ago Tulsi Das sang the Ramayana while
> composing it. He then touched His stick to the ajina cakra (centre of the
> forehead) of a nearby sadhaka and asked him to concentrate. The sadhaka
> could hear the voice of Tulsi Das singing.
>
> The five stages of onm'kara (the uncaused or "seed" sound of the
> cosmological system) were all made audible to various sadhakas in 1968.
> Baba permanently gave this siddhi (occult power)[9] to Jaidhari, an
> illiterate man who used to look after Baba's garden (he is still alive as
> I write this).
>
> Recently Jaidhari told me that when he listens to instrumental music, a
> sympathetic vibration starts in him and it is very difficult for him to
> maintain psycho-physical parallelism. He becomes lost in a trance.
>
> Not once in His life did Baba make a public exhibition of His siddhis.
> Great gurus never exhibit these powers because they can be misleading to
> spiritual aspirants. However in Ranchi during the Sadhana Year of 1969, He
> demonstrated siddhis to a small group of His disciples. He did this to
> illustrate the nature of knowledge and how the boundaries of knowledge can
> be expanded through the use of siddhis. Great gurus help their disciples
> through spiritual experiences in order to elevate them and to goad them
> along the path of spirituality. The wise do not consider this to be a mere
> exhibition of powers, but rather as a fillip to help others move ahead.
>
> What are these occult powers?[10]
>
> 1) Anima means reducing one's psychic existence into a small point
> and then transforming it into a minimum entity. One may understand
> anything and everything by entering into each and every physical particle
> and becoming one with the different waves of expressions and emanations,
> by dancing with the waves of objects and ideas. This occult power acquired
> through positive microvita is called anima. The only way to understand
> these subtle entities is to increase one's powers of perception through
> spiritual practices.
>
> 2) Mahima means vastness. With the help of positive microvita, the
> mind can expand to become vast. Its radius may encompass the entire
> universe and so we acquire ideas about many different subjects without
> reading books. In this way, too, we may feel our oneness with the varied
> entities of this universe - unity in variety, unity in diversity. By
> associating our benevolent thoughts with each and every entity, we will
> contribute to universal progress and prosperity.
>
> 3) Laghima makes the mind light, free from the bondage of so many
> liabilities. This carefree mind, freed from so many fetters and bondages,
> can understand and think clearly. So by dint of this occult power, one may
> understand any idea, subtle or crude, abstract or concrete. Unless you
> understand how much pain and sorrow is accumulated in other's minds, how
> many tears well up in their eyes, you cannot completely alleviate their
> sorrows and sufferings. Through laghima, your own mind becomes unburdened
> so you can clearly appreciate the minds of others.
>
> 4) Prapti means helping oneself and helping the souls of so many
> people to acquire and be benefited by the grace of the Supreme.
>
> 5) Iishitva Iish means to guide and administer. Iishitva enables
> the spiritual aspirant to guide other people who suffer from different
> causes. So many people in this world are crying in pain and agony. So many
> miseries and afflictions paralyse both physically and mentally. lishitva
> enables one to correctly lead afflicted humanity to their physical
> progress and psychic well-being.
>
> 6) Vashitva means to keep everything under control and properly
> regulated for welfare. In order to bring people goaded by defective ideas
> to the path of Supreme greatness, vashitva is necessary. If people work
> haphazardly and do not follow the right path, they cannot be expected to
> establish a state of welfare for all. So if you really want to help
> people, you will have to inspire and influence them in a positive way, and
> then direct them along the right path to their goal.
>
> 7) Prakamya means the ability to accomplish whatever one desires, to
> translate wish into reality with a view to promote universal welfare, to
> bring light to the entire universe. Through this occult power, spiritual
> aspirants acquire the capacity to serve the entire world.
>
> 8) Antaryamitva is to enter the ectoplasmic or endoplasmic structure
> of others and thereby to know their pain and pleasures, their hopes,
> aspirations and longings and to guide them properly. It is somewhat like
> transmigration of the soul. Regarding this occult power, spiritual cult
> alone will not suffice - it requires the special grace of Parama Punts 'a.
> He usually does not give this power to sadhakas because if they do not
> possess universal love, it can be abused for personal gains. Baba
> explained that this power makes the mind so subtle that it can enter the
> intra- and inter-ectoplasmic mind stuff of every individual as well as the
> collective human society.
>
> Until that time, I had a big question in my mind about this. If these
> occult powers are an impediment to spiritual progress, and no great saints
> ever used them, then what is the purpose of their existence?
>
> Baba advocated the maximum utilization of all mundane, supramundane and
> spiritual potentialities. For the first time in the history of
> spirituality, He explained that all eight of these occult powers can and
> should be used as a special knowledge to do greater service and help
> society progress. Then I realized that great saints and preceptors also
> occasionally used these powers to elevate spiritual seekers.
>
> It is interesting that the ancient Indian spiritual traditions had mental
> yardsticks to measure these psychic capacities. The critical mistake made
> by today's psychologists is to apply physical yardsticks to measure mental
> health and capacity. This is absurd. Antaryamitva is not granted to one
> who has not attained universal love, because it would harm both that
> individual and the society. A true spiritualist must love all equally and
> hate no one.
>
> This is easy to say but extremely difficult to achieve. Baba once gave a
> good example of the human predilection for favouritism: if you happen to
> come across a game of football and watch it for some time, though both
> teams are unknown to you, still you will discover your mind slowly
> starting to favour one team. This is a limitation of the human mind.
>
> He also said that every human mind obeys some special dynamics. Only the
> Universal Entity can catch the chains of action and reaction and, without
> disturbing the universal flow, do something to accelerate the collective
> or individual human progress. Within this universe, millions of things
> exist, yet we perceive only a minute fraction of them; and of what we
> perceive, only a little can be explained.
>
> Future biopsychologists might use these occult powers as yardsticks to
> measure psychic progress and to some extent psycho-spiritual progress. The
> powers of omniscience and Supreme Knowledge are above these eight occult
> powers, and according to the scriptures, only Taraka Brahma, the Supreme
> Entity in Its liberating aspect - Baba - possesses them.
>
> Before meeting Baba, I had studied most of the important literature
> published by the Ramakrishna Mission. I had read that Paramahamsa
> Ramakrishna had the power to rouse the kun'd'alinii (sleeping divinity) of
> his disciples. It resides in the lowest plexus of the vertebra called the
> kula. I often wondered what this kun'd'alinii is like. Despite my
> skepticism. I believed the experiences of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, since
> he was a realized soul and had the innocence of a child. He could not lie.
>
> Six months after first meeting Baba, I had begun to recognize that He was
> an extraordinary personality. I thought that if Baba could lift the
> kundalinii of someone in my presence, I would accept Him as Sadguru. I
> never said it to Him personally for fear of being disrespectful, 'but He
> very clearly knew what was in my mind.
>
> In those early days in Jamalpur, Baba came to the jagrti every morning at
> 7:00 a.m. After a little organizational work, He gave darshan (spiritual
> discourse) to the workers and Margiis; then he returned home and walked to
> the Railway Workshop to start work. On Saturday, which was just half day
> at the office, he came to the jagrti at 3:00 p.m. and gave darshan.
> Sundays he came at 9:30 a.m. and gave darshan in both the morning and the
> evening.
>
> On one Sunday morning in February 1966, Baba was in a very pleasant mood
> and talked in English about kulakun'd'alinii, the fundamental negativity.
> Baba explained that for each group of important physical glands there is a
> corresponding psychic plexus nearby. Photography of the psychic plexi is
> of course impossible.
>
> Suddenly He became grave. He asked me to move a bit to the back and called
> an young man called Bishambhar who was then a Science student in
> mathematics and is now an officer in the of Police department, some where
> in India, to sit in my place near the front.
>
> Let me say a few words about this man. I had only a nodding acquaintance
> with him in those days. He was was from a middle class background and
> faced very sharp opposition from his family and village when he joined
> Ananda Marga. They would not allow him to sit for meditation and would
> always criticize the organization. He was by nature a reticent person with
> strong likes and dislikes, and remained always in a sentient mood. He
> possessed an overwhelming love of people and often cried to Baba about his
> inability to adjust with the calculating ways of worldly people.
>
> That day, Baba asked him to sit in siddhasana, close his eyes and
> concentrate at the ajina cakra. Suddenly He ordered, "Utho!" which means
> "Rise!". Next without touching, He ordered the kun'd'alinii to pass
> through all the six plexi, commanding, "Muladhara! Svadhis't'hana! Man
> 'ipura! Anahata! Ajina! Sahasrara!". Finally He commanded in Hindi, Dhiire
> niche ao. ("Come down slowly").
>
> Bishambhar gave a sharp shout, "Hum!", that conveyed an air of courage. He
> arched his back, and, unable to withstand the vibrations, fell backwards
> with both legs out-stretched. I knew from the writings of Paramahamsa
> Ramakrishna, that the body in nirvikalpa samadhi becomes very stiff and
> one cannot speak. So I stealthily tried to feel his limbs but was a bit
> afraid of Baba. Suddenly Baba told me not to be afraid and to examine the
> body as I wished.
>
> To my amazement, I found his body very, very stiff. Baba turned to Acarya
> Dasarath and explained, "When one goes into nirvikalpa samadhi, the body
> becomes stiff" Dasarathji also examined the body and confirmed the
> stiffness. Baba left the jagrti saying that we should massage Bishambhar s
> body until he regained consciousness.
>
> Some time later Baba told a householder Margii that He had performed the
> demonstration for the benefit of someone else in the room. Little did
> anyone know that I was that person!
>
> More surprises were to come. When Bishambhar came out of samadhi, I
> pestered him for nearly an hour, and also on several subsequent occasions,
> to get a satisfactory account of his anubhuti. He would say only that it
> was "unique", which was confirmed by his tears of joy.
>
> "First comes the divine ecstasy and then the divine inebriation," said
> Paramahamsa Ramakrishna. Recalling his further words, I asked Bishambhar
> if he felt as though he had left the solar system and passed through many
> celestial bodies and galaxies until merging into an ocean of divine light.
> He replied it was not just that but something more. Pushed further, he
> described feeling clearly that "I am not this 'I' who is in the body."
> After a lot of pestering, Bishambhar, who tends to be a man of few words,
> terminated the discussion with, "Yah goonge ki gur hai?" ("If you feed a
> dumb person molasses, how can they describe the taste?").
>
> Language is a very poor medium to express such an experience. I can say
> that a rasagulla and a jelebi are sweet, but I can never adequately
> express the difference between them.
>
> Over time, I witnessed many demonstrations of different samadhis: Salokya,
> Samipya, Sayujya, Sarupya, Sarshti, Kaevalya, all collectively known as
> Savikalpa Samadhi; Brahmananda, Kankalamalini, Tanmatrik, Apluta,
> Samprajinata and Asamprajinata. He demonstrated all these just to explain
> the difference in the experiences.
>
> For me, all these demonstrations only intensified the mystery that was
> Baba. I wish to describe another demonstration conducted in 1965. A high
> school headmaster, Mr. Tej Karan (from Kotah, Rajastan), came to Jamalpur
> and stayed ten days. During his stay he wrote a letter every day to a
> Margii who was an officer in the Indian Administrative Service. His first
> nine letters carried the same message: "Today I saw nothing to prove the
> extraordinary qualities of Baba. I will stay another few days." In the
> ninth letter, he wrote, "Tomorrow will be my last day. Until today I have
> seen nothing to make me believe in Baba."
>
> On the tenth day, Baba announced in the jagrti, "Tomorrow, one of us is
> leaving Jamalpur." Then looking in the direction of Tej Karan, "You see,
> in order to see a miracle you have to be a miracle yourself. If I purchase
> a first-class ticket for a movie and hand it over to a blind person, will
> it be beneficial? There is nothing miraculous in this world. When people
> with limited understanding perceive a phenomenon quite unknown to them and
> beyond their capacity to understand, they call it a miracle."
>
> Then speaking directly to Tej Karan, Baba said, "You have no strength in
> your body or nerves. Even if I wanted to give you something, you lack the
> power to withstand it. But still I will do something."
>
> Then He called, "Tej Karan!", simultaneously snapping His thumb and index
> finger. Instantly, Tej Karan collapsed on the floor and started twisting
> and twirling like a serpent, as though he had no bone in his body. Even
> eight strong men could not bring him under control. A very strong
> sannyasii was thrown away like a feather in the attempt.
>
> Finally he became quiet. Before leaving the room, Baba asked us to massage
> him and give him hot milk after he recovered consciousness.
>
> After one hour Tej Karan could sit up. Then I asked him to describe the
> experience. He said that a strong light emanating from Baba had passed
> into him, electrifying his body from head to toe. A wriggling snake as
> tough as a steel rod (the kun'dalinii) started rising from his muladhara
> cakra at the base of his spine and pushed upwards like a "piston moving in
> a steam engine." The flow of energy was so strong that he felt it could
> light many powerful bulbs. At one point he felt that he might explode like
> a bomb. Unable to assimilate the vibrations, he collapsed and was lost in
> an ineffable ocean of bliss.
>
> Needless to say the tenth letter he wrote was positive! He was a double
> MA. and a very rational man, but after that experience, he would declare
> in superlatives to all sorts of people, that Baba was Parama Purus'a.
> Cynical persons declared that he was out of his senses. In fact he
> remained divinely intoxicated for several months, and it took more than
> two years for Tej Karan to regain normalcy.
>
> Baba gave these and many other dramatic demonstrations to facilitate the
> progress of disciples on the spiritual path. It cannot be claimed that
> they were public displays of miracles.[11]
>
> In early February of 1969[12], in the Ranchi jagrti, I watched Baba
> conduct three death demonstrations. The modus operandi was that Baba would
> call someone attending the general darshan and ask that person to sit in
> front of Him He then would announce, "I am going to conduct the death
> demonstration." Then without touching the person's body, He would order
> nine of the vayus (vital airs) - pran'a, apana, samana, udana, vyana,
> krkara, naga, kurma, devadatta - to leave the body. (The tenth vayu,
> dhanainjaya, leaves only after the disintegration of the corpse on the
> funeral pyre or in the grave.) As the vayus left one by one, the subject
> would start gasping for breath, frothing at the mouth and ultimately fall
> down, dead!
>
> There was always more than one doctor present. In one case I remember, Dr.
> Ramesh (recently retired as vice-principal of Ranchi Medical College)
> examined the subject thoroughly and declared him clinically dead. Baba
> said that if left in that condition, ants would start congregating around
> the body within half an hour. But then He ordered, one by one, all the
> vayus to return, bringing life back to the body. He advised us to massage
> the body for a long period and administer hot milk since the joints had
> become very weak as a result of the experience. According to Baba, normal
> death is not painful, though death caused by accident or certain diseases
> may be.
>
> I knew a Margii called Diipak who had a very deep desire to take part in
> Baba's demonstrations. He enjoyed the samadhi demonstrations, but after
> experiencing one death demonstration, he backed out whenever Baba called
> his name again. When I teased Diipak as to why he refused, he replied, "A
> strong body is required for such demonstrations, especially the death
> experience. The effect on me was devastating. I felt very weak afterwards
> and it took me months to become normal again."
>
> The Mystery of the Mind and Mystical Perception
> During a class in the Jamalpur jagrti in February 1966, Baba described the
> mind as having three parts: the conscious part (between the eyebrows), the
> subconscious part (extending up from there the width of ten fingers to the
> pineal plexus) and the unconscious part (starting from pineal to the back
> part of the skull).
>
> We work with the help of the conscious mind, but its freedom is limited
> since it is always influenced by the immediate subconscious. The
> subconscious is the repository of all past memories, from the day we first
> emerged as protozoa through millions of lifetimes until our present birth.
> So we all work according to our past samskaras
>
> I had difficulty in comprehending the nature of the mind. It was even more
> difficult to explain it to others. No analogies that came to mind were
> satisfactory. Then I read a beautiful article by Baba in Bengali that is
> loosely translated as "Different Stages of Psycho-spiritual Sadhana". I
> was astonished by the example He used of the development of a cloud. In my
> teens I once witnessed this very phenomenon and I never forgot it.
>
> You might have noticed that on some days the whole sky is clear blue
> except for a small patch of cloud on the distant horizon. If you go inside
> for an hour or so, on coming out again, a huge fluffy cloud nearly fills
> the sky with the same shape as the first small one. It takes a few seconds
> for you to appreciate that the original patch of cloud has grown into a
> gigantic shape. Baba used this analogy to 'describe how the mind expands
> through psychic .clashes and sadhana.
>
> Mind is the combination of citta (done "I'), 'aham (doer "I") and mahat
> (the witnessing "I" or the knower "I"). For example you imagine that you
> are eating a mango. In your mental picture, a portion of your mind becomes
> the mango, and another portion of the mind engages in the act of eating,
> and the third portion witnesses the action. The mango is the citta, the
> act of eating is the doer "I", and the witnessing entity is the knower
> "I".
>
> The third portion is common for both the unit mind of a person and the
> Cosmic Mind of Parama Purus'a. The only difference is that the mahat of
> unit beings is like the air within a pitcher, and the enveloping air of
> nature is the Cosmic Mahat. The two are divided by the doer "I" feeling
> which is the wall of the pitcher.
>
> In 1986 or 1987 I was struggling to understand two words that Baba used in
> his talk "Universal Man and Spiritual Man": manasphot'a and cetanasphot'a.
> Manas means mind, cetana means consciousness and sphot'a means explosion.
>
> The formation of mind stuff or ectoplasm is described in Baba's Idea and
> Ideology - the inquisitive reader should go through this book. Still much
> research is required to understand this process. Here I am only trying to
> draw on my own experience to explain how ectoplasm explodes into endoplasm
> and then endoplasm explodes or melts and merges into the Cosmic Mahat.
>
> Sadhana transforms physical cells into ectoplasm, and ectoplasm in turn
> explodes into endoplasm. Citta is responsible for the done "I" feeling,
> but the faculty of awareness is less in it. Sometimes when you are half
> asleep, you know what is going on around you, but on waking you cannot
> remember things clearly. This hazy consciousness is like citta awareness.
> Endoplasm is the distinctive "I" feeling.
>
> With manasphot'a or ectoplasmic explosion, one's awareness and "I" feeling
> increase, and this causes the intellect and its capacity to memorize,
> perceive and discriminate to also increase.
>
> The inside of the outer layer of the expanding mind is called endoplasm.
> When the volume of the mind enlarges, the density also enlarges due to a
> fresh supply of ectoplasmic cells. The transformation of lymph cells into
> ectoplasmic cells only takes place through the process of intuitional
> practices or sadhana.
>
> Both the mass and volume of the mind increase directly in meditation,
> contrary to the Inverse Law of Gaseous Expansion. This expansion is the
> result of friction between old ectoplasm and new ectoplasm, with intense
> bombardment on the body's psychic centres through the process of
> concentration. A crude example is if you inflate a balloon, both the size
> and the circumference increase. With the increase of the circumference of
> the mind, the doer "I" feeling increases, as well as the magnitude of the
> mind.
>
> In Baba's last RU discourse in June 1990 He explained that mind's
> magnitude grows in four ways:
>
> 1) thinking power develops, which results in discovery and
> invention;
>
> 2) memory power develops;
>
> 3) transmutation and diversification of psychic pabula - in simple
> language, the faculty of teaching;
>
> 4) rationality increases.
>
> The faculty of teaching is very important. All students will benefit if
> they are given an opportunity to teach with their studies. This will
> increase self-confidence, conceptual power and thinking capacity.
>
> Baba explained that rationality is a spiritual quality. The capacity to
> love also increases when rational thinking increases. I have realized that
> the ability to memorize is directly proportional to one's capacity to love
> others without expectation.
>
> Rationality is judicious love. One loves all equally and hates none. For
> example, a rational and spiritual judge will harm none and benefit all.
>
> With the increase of "I" feeling, knowledge increases. When a small child
> cries to understand something, and, after psychic clashes, does
> understand, his or her knowledge increases and the mind expands in a
> limited sense. At that time the ego also increases proportionately. Good
> teachers are well aware of these subtle ectoplasmic explosions.
>
> The contentment that a researcher experiences after solving a difficult
> problem, is the peace he or she feels after a psychic explosion. The
> purpose of university education with its many faculties and mammoth
> libraries is to catalyse this ectoplasmic explosion.
>
> Science today accepts only those things which can be physically
> demonstrated; that is, it only recognizes the veracity of a phenomenon if
> it comes directly or indirectly within the scope of the tanmatras of
> sound, touch, form, smell, and taste. Now if something exists due to a
> sixth (non-physical) attribute, science cannot discern it, since methods
> of scientific proof use only the five sensory gateways. Scientists say
> that what cannot be proved by such methods is not to be believed. This
> argument is no less dogmatic than the assertion of religious zealots that
> "My way is the only way, my prophet the only prophet and my scripture the
> only scripture."
>
> If science is to advance in rapid strides, it will have to utilize a sixth
> antenna which Baba called "special perception". This special perception is
> "the reflection of conception within the periphery of perception." (I
> shall discuss this topic in more detail later.)
>
> Suppose an entity called "God" exists and He comes in the form of an
> ordinary person who says, "I am God." No one would believe the person. I
> personally think the word "God" is a defective expression for the Supreme
> Cognitive Principle. This is an example of the limitation of language,
> because only a minute portion of what we experience can be expressed. The
> first intuitional scientists, after having had profound inner experiences,
> tried to symbolize their experiences and gave the name Brahma to the
> Supreme Entity.
>
> Who can also make others limitless.
>
> How can one know that limitless Entity? One of Baba's greatest gifts to
> humanity was His unparalleled elucidation of different aspects of
> spiritual or intuitional science in language which linked the "mysterious"
> to the rational and scientific realms.
>
> A sadhaka must be more than the average person in order to understand
> spiritual mysteries. When one gets an understanding of this, then one may
> also catch a glimpse of His omniscience, and appreciate that Baba's
> effortless establishment in this realm was a unique occurrence.
>
> Here I would like to offer an explanation of Baba's concepts of
> manasphot'a (bursting of mind) and cetanasphot'a (bursting of
> consciousness). It is a lay person's attempt to scientifically explain the
> phenomena of intuitional or spiritual realization.
>
> While explaining microvita in 1988, Baba said that the third type of
> microvita can be perceived only through "special perception". He said that
> "special perception" is nothing but "the reflection of conception within
> the periphery of perception." I contemplated this for several days and
> finally realized its meaning in an intuitive flash. I also understood what
> was meant by a "conceptually developed mind". The following examples
> illustrate my understanding.
>
> The Russian chemist Mendelev described how he developed the periodic
> table. He thought that there must be some relationship between the
> chemical elements and he spent sleepless nights puzzling over it.
> Ultimately he saw, in a dream, the whole periodic table and wrote it down
> immediately upon awakening.
>
> The scientist Kekule discovered the structure of carbon compounds like
> benzene. His solutions also came in a dream. Once, while sitting by the
> fire in the evening after toiling for several hours with models of long
> chain carbon compounds, he became drowsy. In his half sleep, he saw the
> chains turn into twisting and turning snakes. When one of the snakes
> suddenly seized its own tail and formed a ring, the idea of a cyclic
> structure came to the great mind.
>
> These scientists had conceptually developed minds since they were
> assimilating tremendous amounts of diverse data in their mental arena.
> Their dreams were a reflection of their concepts. Dreams come within the
> realm of perception. So the answer to their problems came as a reflection
> of conception within the periphery of perception.
>
> It is significant that enlightenment comes at a point of relaxed
> drowsiness, when the ego or "I" involvement is conspicuously absent. The
> symbolization of that knowledge is witnessed by the knower "I" and that
> profound revelation is communicated to the doer "I", which retains it.
>
> Barbara McClintock received the 1983 Nobel prize in medicine and
> physiology for her research on `jumping genes". She expressed amazement in
> her memoirs that the rush of enlightenment happened only when her "I" was
> forgotten in oblivion at the peak of her deep investigations - that is,
> she completely lost herself in the act of investigation.[13]
>
> The "I" who retains intuitive knowledge is not the same I" who brings the
> knowledge at the time of the pulverization of the ectoplasm into
> endoplasm. In a state of oblivion, the all-knowing unconscious mind takes
> charge, allowing the Cosmic Mind to transmit this knowledge. Later the
> superficial "I" tries to take the credit for the discovery.
>
> Our unconscious mind is His all-knowing mind or the hiranyagarbha of the
> Guru. If by constant endeavour one crosses the subconscious and comes in
> contact with the unconscious, one can get symbolic expressions of profound
> truths.
>
> In every country there are stories of people who experience extra sensory
> perception (ESP). For example, the daughter of a naive but very devotional
> man suffered from an incurable disease. He constantly and fervently
> surrendered to his goddess for a long period. Then, in a dream, his
> unconscious mind appeared to him as his goddess. She said, "My child, go
> to such and such place and such and such herb will be shown to you. Use
> this herb and your daughter will be cured." The devotee came out of the
> dream, found the herb in the exact location and cured his daughter. Many
> of us have come across such incidents in our day to day life. It is the
> unconscious mind which creates the symbolic revelation.
>
> A dream from the subconscious mind is not usually inspirational but dreams
> of the unconscious mind are very exhilarating. After having them, one
> feels thrilled and enjoys a beautiful cool balm from the anahata to ajina
> cakras.
>
> So-called scientific people usually dismiss such experiences as
> coincidental or chance, or label them as parapsychic phenomena. To explain
> them as intuition is only the beginning. By a constant endeavour, if one
> establishes a link between the conscious and unconscious (this is possible
> only after one becomes dagdhabiija[14]), then one can start to enter the
> mysterious spiritual world. Anyone can attain the unconscious and begin
> this wonderful journey by developing constant devotion and receiving the
> compassion of the Sadguru.
>
> In an interesting conversation with Ac. Rameshvarananda, Baba described
> what happens when unit consciousness of the jiiva (unit mind) makes a link
> with Cosmic Consciousness. "When the unit comes in contact with the Cosmic
> and the Cosmic comes in contact with the unit, as a result of the
> proximity of the two, the natural becomes less natural and the
> supernatural becomes more natural."
>
> Baba said in the future this "special perception" will be the sixth sense
> of knowledge. It may also be called enlightenment. To achieve collective
> progress, our society needs to nurture conceptually developed people. When
> scientists eventually combine their analytic approach with the synthetic
> spiritual approach, humanity will advance in great strides. Only then will
> the dusty earth be able to heave a sigh of relief and get release from the
> constant turmoil among nations and communities.
>
> In a DMC[15] in northern India, a few workers and I were sitting with Baba
> when He was reclining after lunch. He was speaking freely with us, so some
> workers discussed their problems. Baba generously began offering very
> specific solutions that included specific details about different people
> He had never met. This amazed some of the workers, so they asked, "Baba,
> how do You know about people You never met before?"
>
> He replied, "I require only one second to know about anything."
>
> Then I said, "Baba, You are confusing us, because You don't even take one
> second! I always watch You speak, and details are constantly flowing from
> Your mouth without pause!"
>
> Baba smiled lovingly and nodded His head. He explained, "So how can you
> know this? You need a torch. With that torch you can see everything." Then
> I understood that His torch is the torch of omniscience. Only persons who
> cultivate their power of concentration to an extraordinary degree get even
> momentary access to the realm of intuition or knowledge in its pure form.
>
> On another occasion, a college student in 1969 asked in Ranchi jagrti,
> "Baba, You know so many things. What is your qualification?"
>
> Baba did not answer, but the boy repeated the question many times. Finally
> Baba said, "I have only one qualification: I know the One. You also try to
> know the One. Know One, know all." From this it was clear that He was
> effortlessly established in omniscience.
>
> Slipping into the unconscious mind is not governed by any rule or
> condition. It happens only after one's doer "I" feeling is defeated and
> surrenders. If a sadhaka wants to do psycho-spiritual research, she or he
> will have to do an'udhyana or chase their Is't'a, the omniscient Guru.
> Suppose your Is't'a says to you in dhyana, "You're a nasty vicious
> scoundrel and I don't want anything more to do with you!" Then you will
> have to reply, "No, You are my everything and I will not leave You." If
> this is not sufficient, then you will have to chase Him. During the chase,
> it is baffling to find multiple forms of ego stealthily appearing in front
> of you and yet you are unaware these are the result of your doer "I". The
> moment you catch it, it again disappears. So I am tempted to say that maya
> and the doer "I" feeling are one and the same.
>
> Remaining physically alone is very crucial to this process. The witnessing
> "I" of the doer "I" becomes dominant when you are alone. This makes it
> easy to watch when the doer "I" slips into the subconscious and
> unconscious mind. When you are alone you can identify your sam'skaras and
> discover which ones are stronger. You can analyse your thoughts, noticing
> their patterns and frequency of recurrence. Thus you can cleanse the
> subconscious mind of these thoughts with your mantra ideation.
>
> This "I" feeling, however, becomes a block or an impediment in further
> expansion or progress. Now in what way does this "I" feeling explode? This
> aspect I still had- to understand. Baba appeared in another dream and
> explained, "When you are crying for Parama Purus'a, out of longing for the
> Great, the endoplasm gets melted. If one is insulted, on the other hand,
> then the endoplasm explodes and cetanasphot'a occurs."
>
> The clash, tension and helplessness one feels when being insulted, and the
> subsequent resignation to the Cosmic will, develops wisdom, which is the
> impression of the Cosmic Mahar.
>
> When I was a new worker, in June 1966, I felt very attached to Baba and
> did not want to leave Jamalpur to go to my posting. Baba then told me,
> "Find Me in My Mission." I was still reluctant to go. Then He said,
> "Between you and Me there is only one enemy."
>
> "What is that, Baba?"
>
> "Ego," He replied.
>
> "Baba, remove it immediately!"
>
> He smiled and said, "It is not easy. It takes time."
>
> "Baba, how can I remove it?"
>
> "Get yourself insulted."
>
> "Baba, please save me from the insults of the world. You can insult me as
> much as You like."
>
> Then He mysteriously replied, "As and when I find time, I will do it."
>
> I could not realize in those days how hard this process was. I forgot
> about this conversation.
>
> Ten years later, when Baba came out of jail in 1978, He started insulting
> me without any apparent reason. He constantly rebuked me for the next
> eight years, saying, "Idiot nonsense scoundrel! Tall talking,
> high-sounding do-little boy! You have so much potentiality, yet do
> nothing, whiling away the time! Inefficient grade number three!"
>
> Though these words did not bother me, He also used words in public that
> hurt me very much. Two things happened inside me. I intensely hated His
> treatment. Simultaneously, my longing for His love became stronger.
> Through my pain and tears, I experienced an irresistible attraction
> towards Him. It felt as though He was constantly twisting and squeezing
> me, just as if He was wringing out a wet towel.
>
> Gradually His insults felt less painful, until by 1986 I actually started
> to enjoy them. Then I suddenly remembered Baba's advice to me twenty years
> before. I realized that this long, painful process was the fulfillment of
> the promise He made for my personal development.
>
> What we call conscience is the expanded form of consciousness. The quality
> of developed conscience is loving all equally. As this capacity increases,
> the spiritual aspirant becomes more dynamic internally. He or she starts
> slowly getting lost in the process of psycho-spiritual parallelism. Bhava
> or Cosmic ideation is the start.
>
> In 1981 Baba began to personally review each spiritual aspirant. He called
> this review Dharma Samikss'a. The purpose, in my opinion, was to pulverize
> the ego and thus explode the endoplasm in cetanasphota. He said that this
> process was not done by Shiva or Krs'n'a. Baba promised that anyone who
> underwent this experience will never fall below human life. This was His
> special grace to the devotees.
>
> Though painful, from this we can understand the benevolent intention Baba
> had when He sometimes insulted His devotees. In these situations, He tried
> never to allow people to see through His acting. He did not want the
> seriousness of His dramas to be broken, and He wanted the full effect of
> His acting to be felt. Only when a devotee realized that He was acting
> would He admit the truth.
>
> Ronei s'e ishk mein bebak ho gaye, dhoye gaye aise hum bus pak ho gae.
> By crying in ecstatic love for the beloved,
>
> I became liberated
>
> And was thus cleansed and felt purged.
>
> After a lot of weeping in secrecy for the beloved (Cosmic Consciousness or
> Parama Purus 'a), one gets the feeling of purity, humility and lightness -
> that is, the feeling of surrender.
>
> When one longs for Parama Purus'a, one's sense of awareness again
> increases and one feels the proximity of turiiya (the fourth stage of
> spiritual realization) making all sensory phenomena seem as a dream.
>
> Mei barasti hei fazaon mein nashatari hai 'Mere saki ne ka hein jam uchale
> honge. [Urdu]
>
> Wine showers from the heavens, The inebriating love lingers on,
>
> As my beloved bartender pours barrels and barrels.
>
> The divine inebriation referred to here is, of course, experienced only in
> the state of intense longing for Parama Purus'a.
>
> Shamma lei ayei hei, jalwa gahe jana se ab to alum mei ujale hi ujale
> honge.
> From the magic abode of my beloved, I have brought a lambent flame and now
> the sky is filled with effulgent light.
>
> This longing is physically very exhausting. Paramahamsa Ramakrishna used
> to suffer physically. Miira wrote:
>
> Piili pad gayi keser kaya, rup ne apna rup gavaya [Hindi]
> The pink hue of my body turned pale yellow, and beauty squandered her
> beauty.
>
> The chemical transformation in the body during these spiritual states is a
> study for future biopsychologists. Cetanasphot'a is the explosion of unit
> "I" feeling into the mahat which has a close touch with the Cosmic Mahat.
> The feeling is one vast witness-ship of the doer "I". We can call it the
> knower "I" feeling, and as a result of this experience rationality
> increases.
>
> Baba's Mystical Aspect
> Tula upama va Krs'n'asya nasti.
> Krs'n'a can be compared only with Krs'n'a.
>
> Similarly Baba can only be compared with Baba. Millions of His disciples
> scattered around the world have had different experiences according to
> their individual sam'skaras.
>
> Upon hearing these stories, it is natural for everyone to desire similar
> experiences. Baba taught us to treasure our spiritual experiences and
> discouraged us from sharing them with worldly minded people. They usually
> belittle or make fun of such things, and often wound our devotional
> sentiments. However He did not mind when we discussed them with other
> spiritual aspirants for our mutual inspiration and education.
>
> It is also true that the range of words which we have to express our
> sensory experiences is very limited. For example, feelings of love vary in
> many ways, but we only have a few words to describe the nature of love.
> The best understanding is always to be had from anubhuti rather than from
> words. But in spiritual matters, even the glimmer of a glowworm can strike
> the mind like a flash of lightning.
>
> A person whose psycho-physical body is not refined or pure enough to
> receive the subtle but very powerful currents of spiritual energy, may
> become disturbed or collapse.[16] So Baba gave these experiences according
> to a person's individual sam'skaras. He always maintained samadarshita
> (judicious impartiality) by any standard of measurement, but He did not
> indiscriminately distribute anubhuti.
>
> So how can scientists argue that what they cannot demonstrate cannot be
> accepted? The depth of anubhuti varies from person to person in proportion
> to the development of the glandular system. The psychic expansion of Self
> by making the glandular system more subtle is called Jinana Yoga.
>
> The mystical aspect of Baba's life was the most difficult to understand.
> He remained constantly in one of two moods, liila or nitya. It was very
> difficult for anyone to know when He was in nitya or in liila. I gradually
> came to believe that He was in both moods simultaneously.
>
> Nitya means eternal. Whether giving personal contact or a DMC discourse
> before thousands, this eternal mood in which He expressed the omniscient
> Baba was predominant.
>
> Liila means sportive. When the reason for a particular sportive or playful
> mood is not known, it is called liila, and when the cause is known, it is
> known as kriida.
>
> When He moved with the members of His vast spiritual family, sometimes He
> would feign to forget, go into moods of anger, or exhibit other human
> emotions or foibles in keeping with the drama He was enacting on the stage
> of the world. Most people could not comprehend this seemingly "human" or
> "fallible" aspect of Baba, as they were rarely exposed to it. Only those
> closest to Him could see through this enigmatic aspect of His personality
> and realize that these dramas were pretensions. They were only external,
> not internal.
>
> Anyone who sincerely desires to realize the Supreme, no matter from which
> background they hail - geographical, linguistic, historical or cultural -
> can find a place in His universal spiritual family.
>
> One amazing realization that I had of Baba as the Supreme took place in
> the second week of January 1968 in Jaipur, Rajastan. Baba stayed ten days
> as my guest while I was working there as Regional Secretary of Ananda
> Marga. The entire period was wonderfully blissful. One day, when Baba
> returned after His morning field walk, I attended Him. He was relaxed, so
> I closed the door and was alone with Him for nearly three hours. I
> addressed Baba as Shiva. I repeated the long Dhyana Mantra of Shiva in
> front of Him which ends with Paincavaktram trinetram, which means "You
> have five faces and three eyes." Baba then explained and demonstrated the
> three eyes of Shiva. First He placed His hand over His left eye which He
> said represents the past; then He placed it over the right, which
> represents the present; and finally He placed His hand between the
> eyebrows which represents the future.
>
> Then He explained that the five faces represent the five different
> expressions that the Lord uses to convey different messages to people. On
> the extreme right is Daks'in'eshvara, which guides people in sweet
> language. On the extreme left is Kalagni, which punishes wrongdoers
> severely. The middle right face is lishana, which clearly states the
> consequences of misdeeds and offers some advice. The middle left face is
> Vamdeva which threatens and scolds severely but does not actually punish.
> The middle face is Kalyan'asundaram, which displays pure bliss. He
> explained that good or bad, all are His beloved children and have an equal
> place in His lap.
>
> Then Baba asked, "Do you want to see these five faces?"
>
> I immediately said, "Yes, Baba."
>
> Then He gave a wonderful display of what He had just described. I found
> that my mood changed dramatically according to the face of Baba that I
> saw.
>
> He began by showing me Iishana. In that mood He began reprimanding me for
> my mistakes. He scolded me lightly for ten minutes and it made me very
> serious.
>
> The second face He showed me was Daks'in'eshvara, which was affectionate
> guiding. It was heart touching to see Baba advising me so sweetly.
>
> Then He showed me Kalyan'asundaram for almost half an hour. He was
> deliciously sweet and inexplicably affectionate. I sat on His lap and
> embraced Him. The attraction built up and I was seized with a fervour to
> shed the limitations of my body. The experience was so blissful that I
> wanted it to go on forever.
>
> Then Baba said, "I will not show you the terrible Kalagni, because no
> human can stand it. Even the Vamdeva is very terrifying." He cautioned me
> against seeing it, but again asked, "Do you still want to see?"
>
> "Yes, Baba," I replied.
>
> Then His eyes and face started becoming sarcastic and angry. As I watched
> I became more and more afraid. He was becoming so ferocious looking that
> I, who had an exaggerated idea of my courage, quickly put up my hands to
> cover His face and said, "Enough, Baba, please stop!"
>
> It took Him a few seconds to become normal again. Then He broke into peals
> of laughter.
>
> Masters of the past often acted abnormally when they experienced deep
> spiritual bliss. This is because parallelism with the physical body is not
> possible, even for very great persons, when one is in high spiritual
> states. For example, when
>
> Paramahamsa Ramakrishna was spiritually intoxicated he sometimes went
> outside naked, oblivious to society's reactions, and it was Hridaya's job
> to clothe him.
>
> The Upanishads say that the salt doll could not come back to tell how many
> fathoms was the ocean. The secret esoteric texts support this, saying that
> after attainment of the highest state of nirvikalpa samadhi, the body has
> to be shed in three to seven, or at the most 20 days. It is like an
> elephant trying to enter a small hut. The hut (one's body) cannot
> accommodate such intense spiritual energy and it disintegrates.
>
> In Baba's case, however, His ensconcement in the Supreme state did not
> produce a ripple. The salt doll never dissolved. He moved with ease
> through the ocean and told us not only its depth but everything else about
> it. Baba was always calm.
>
> When asked how He could display such vast knowledge so effortlessly, He
> would quip "I have an uncommonly developed common sense," and so lightly
> sidestep the question.
>
> Our modem age badly needed a worthy legacy of Shiva and Krs'n'a. Their
> unfinished work needed a conclusion. Baba revived their forgotten
> contributions in Namah Shivaya Shantaya and Namami Krs'n'a Sundaram. He
> also added Neohumanism (The Liberation of Intellect) as well as an
> appendix in the form of the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout).
>
> In order to create this legacy Baba worked hard and suffered greatly. He
> created the model of a new society with the active participation of both
> householders and sannyasiis who mutually help each other. The sannyasiis
> take spiritual care of the householders, and they in turn provide the
> basic necessities of the sannyasiis. For the protection of dharma, this
> mutual help is essential.
>
> The beauty of this legacy has as its focal point a happy blending of
> oriental sublimity and occidental dynamicity. What qualities are needed by
> those who will carry this legacy into the future? He trained His sons and
> daughters to be:
>
> Nafz par kabu rahe
> Aur dost banjaye zamir
> Shan phir hogi ata
> Sab se juda sab se alag.
> With well-controlled nerve And conscience as friend, You glow in esteem
> With intimacy to all and detachment from all.
>
> During my posting in Himachal Pradesh, I met saints who lived alone and
> remained aloof from our society. From them I came to know about a language
> known as Sandya Bhasha in which the Prayoga Shas'tra, a practical Tantric
> cult text, is written. During one of Baba's Sunday darshans He talked
> about it and said that this language is prevalent among the Tibetan yogis
> who call it charya pad
>
> In the Mahabharata, there is a story of Yudhistira and a _yaks 'a (a
> luminous being). More than a hundred and twenty questions are asked by the
> yaks 'a (who was dharma in disguise) and Yudhistira answers all of them
> correctly. One of the questions is: what is the number that exceeds the
> combined number of all the floras and grasses of this planet? Answer: the
> number of thoughts that pass through the human mind!
>
> One Ekadashii (fasting day) I was distracted by the thought of a
> particular food item while travelling in a bus. I brushed the thought
> aside and chastised myself (with a little pain) for stooping so low as to
> think about food on my fasting day. I then forgot it. After Baba came out
> of the jail, He took me to task for that thought. He asked me to remember
> the actual occasion but I could not, even after some effort. Then He
> touched my head with His stick and I remembered instantly. I was amazed to
> realize that He remembered every thought of mine, yet only with His power
> could I remember my own thoughts!
>
> During another reporting session, Baba asked Ac. Citkrs'n'ananda Avt.
> about conversations he had when he was an engineering student in his
> hostel in Coimbatore. He could not remember anything. Then Baba
> temporarily gave him a special power to recollect his conversations about
> a haunted room and many other matters with his friends. He was amazed how
> Baba could do it.
>
> Baba praised Gandharii of the Mahabharata. e told how when her son, the
> immoral Duryodhana, went before the battle to receive her blessings of
> victory, she only said, "Where there is Krs'n'a, there is dharma, and
> where there is dharma, there is victory." She did not give importance to
> filial love, but to dharma. Viewers of the popular TV serial that was made
> of this epic may remember that this part was included by the script
> writer, the late Mr. Rahi Mazum Raza. In fact I knew Mr. Raza personally
> and he happily included these lines after I mentioned them to him.
>
> Once while I was talking with Baba in March or April of 1982, He traced my
> ancestry back to 544 BC. He also described my home village perfectly,
> named many of the local places and explained many local words. He
> illustrated how each word and name evolved out of the ancient history of
> the place and then became simplified. The things He spoke about are known
> only superficially by the local people of my village, yet He spoke in
> great detail. I think someday someone with a highly developed intuition
> will rediscover this knowledge. Some are in Baba's book, Varna Vicitra.
>
> In Jamalpur, about February 1966, one new Acarya asked Baba, "When You
> know everything, why do You ask questions of us?"
>
> He replied, "My son, do you want that I not speak to you at all?"
>
> In the early 1950's in Jamalpur, Baba carefully selected His disciples and
> purposely maintained an aura of secrecy. At that time they could not
> comprehend Baba's vision for the future of Ananda Marga because they were
> very few, perhaps less than 50. His plans seemed impossible to realize in
> their lifetime.
>
> His extreme secrecy conveyed both a good and bad impression to the public.
> In fact, His extreme aversion to public recognition was a special facet of
> His mysterious existence. He told Harigovind Dada then, "Malicious
> propaganda is the real propaganda."
>
> In the early seventies when Baba was arrested and the most horrible
> slander about Him and the organization was carried by the national and
> even world mass media, He used to console me by saying that, "Apapracar is
> the real pracar." This means that negative reporting and sensationalism is
> a highly effective means of getting well known.
>
> Throughout His life He refused to meet journalists. He explained that He
> was a spiritual Guru, not a politician, and so only gave audiences to
> initiated Ananda Margiis. In this way He hid His multi-faceted divine
> expressions from mass recognition; and He left this earthly abode when His
> genius could remain hidden no more. The recognition and the garlands He
> left for His disciples.
>
> He did not want cunning and conceited people around Him. In March 1968 in
> Ranchi He told me categorically that He did not want misdirected
> millionaires and self-serving politicians to join Ananda Marga. He said,
> "Wherever they go, they pollute society." While good people welcome Ananda
> Marga, its strong moral stand causes headaches for bad people. "Let all
> good people of the world love my sons and daughters," He said.
>
> Nevertheless, these last 28 years I have been wondering and worrying why
> such a beautiful ideology and its founder should remain in oblivion. Once
> He told me that India's main defect is that her leaders are over jealous.
> They never allow others to come to prominence. By hook or by crook they
> sabotage the emergence of any independent great personality. So there was
> a concerted effort to undermine the glory of Ananda Marga and keep the
> middle class intelligentsia away from it.
>
> We were and still are too primitive to fully appreciate His ideas. Due to
> defective education, we are nationalists, we have different sentiments, we
> identify with different religions. we have no common ideals, though
> spirituality is fundamentally the same for all. While making the final
> touches to His discourses on microvita, He told us that He had made us do
> 25 years of sadhana so that we could understand this concept and utilize
> it in our lives and society. Gradually His universal philosophy spread
> universal values of life that will eventually result in a common
> constitution for the entire human society.
>
> Baba told me once, "The human body is a miniature form of this universe."
> In every human disciple, there is a fight going on between the spiritual
> personality and the combined influence of the cellular minds of the
> physical and psycho-physical body. The culmination of this fight is the
> achievement of spiritual realization. Then only does one become completely
> universal.
>
> Science is advancing and Baba encouraged us to help this advancement; but
> we should be careful to transmute the negative aspects of intellectual
> vibrations (pratikula vedana) into intellectuo-spiritual vibrations
> (apluta vedana).
>
> He personally taught me a method to achieve this. The body remains
> completely motionless and one has the feeling of being completely at ease
> out of the body. This is called apluta samadhi, and it can be practiced
> only in a burial ground. The difficulty is that one cannot easily come out
> of this state; one may want to re-enter the body and stand up, but it is
> very hard to do so.
>
> Baba was Mahakaola. Who is a Mahakaola? Those who can move the collective
> ectoplasm, through the medium of their own ectoplasmic rhythmic stamina by
> awakening new power in shabda. The awakening of this power is called
> purashcaran'a in Sanskrit, and those who can perform this tough task are
> called Mahakaola. They can create a stir in the universe. They alone are
> worthy of the status of Guru and none else.
>
> Divine Love and Subtle Tanmatras
> I want to include in this short book, which is incomplete in so many
> dimensions, a humble attempt to portray a profile of His divine love.
> Science, mentioned earlier, is only vocal on the operative (objective)
> side and not on the cognitive (subjective) side. So how can one understand
> love?
>
> Once a veteran Marxist challenged me with his atheism. I simply asked,
> "Have you ever observed how a mother holds her little baby? The baby is
> unable to articulate, but the sea of emotions exchanged through their
> glances, just like the enraptured non-verbal communication between two
> lovers, cannot be disregarded even by an atheist. How much they
> communicate! Even many volumes of writing will fail to capture the
> fullness of their emotional states. Can any science measure the intensity
> of these states through inferences? Yet can any scientist deny this love?"
>
> He nodded in agreement with me and became deeply silent. I continued,
> "Then how can you deny the Universal Love? Our individual love is only a
> reflection of that Love. When Cosmic Love enters you, you want to explode
> into pieces for others like a bomb. This is an intensely emotive feeling.
> How can anyone deny the reality of this experience?"
>
> In our day to day lives, we have many intuitional experiences which
> science cannot measure, and which unfortunately we often ignore. Suppose
> you are quietly humming a tune, and after walking a few hundred meters you
> hear the same tune wafting from a nearby house or shop. There are many
> such experiences, which startle us when they occur, but which we
> subsequently forget.
>
> Baba once told me, "God is love and love is God." We can measure our
> spiritual evolution by our capacity to love selflessly. Selfless love,
> like service, is unilateral, i.e., we must not accept anything in return.
> With advancement in sadhana, our propensity for hatred also slowly
> diminishes.
>
> How few children are fortunate enough to receive true love from their
> parents? And then even those few are usually taught to be selfish or to
> stay close to home. Baba demonstrated a kind of loving greater than any we
> had ever experienced.
>
> Every Margii experienced in Baba's physical presence the feeling of a
> whole family sitting together. The Ananda Marga family has always been
> very cosmopolitan. Every year new members join from distant lands and
> remote cultures.
>
> As a true father, He used to admonish us. He was very affectionate and
> communicated profoundly without words, inducing in us tears of joy upon
> meeting and tears of sorrow at every temporary parting.
>
> He was our first family. He was our Father, our Mother, our Child, our
> Teacher, our Friend, our Authority. Every aspect of human relations He
> fulfilled with true family feeling.
>
> Another of Baba's great attributes was supreme optimism. It was
> infectious, so how can we criticize those of His devotees who believed
> that Sadvipra Samaj (a society guided by moral spiritualists) would be
> established before He left His physical body? Contrary to our
> expectations, it was not established on the geographical or political
> planes in His lifetime. Rapid change is frequently superficial; for
> universal values to permeate deep into the foundations of human society,
> in a permanent way, must take some time.
>
> Yet it should also be noted that in Ananda Marga He established a
> miniature form of Sadvipra Samaj. And for those disciples who followed the
> Sixteen Points[17] strictly, nature provided for all their needs without
> exception. So in a way, His Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) was
> also established in individual Margii families.
>
> Through love He created a truly universal family. This concept did not
> just remain a utopian ideal: in reality, the whole Ananda Marga became a
> great family during His physical sojourn on this earth. Wise disciples
> will now have to expand the frontiers of this family by helping people to
> grow through the spirit of inquiry, through a scientific and rational
> approach. The dogmas which still bind us can be eradicated only through
> meditation and open-minded study.
>
> The feeling of being one of His close, intimate family members was more
> intense during the early days when our numbers were less. As our numbers
> increased, He used to chide me for being possessive of Him and jealous of
> others. He said, "You are older, a senior disciple. Let the new ones get a
> chance." So I helplessly had to accept His will, though my individual
> connection with Him became less physical and more psychic.
>
> The collective family feeling also became stronger; I believe it will
> continue to intensify as we become more spiritual. Eventually our family
> feeling will expand to embrace animals and plants and the entire inanimate
> world.
>
> Baba was the very embodiment of Supreme love. He had two kinds of
> relationship: one with His disciples individually and the other with us
> collectively. As a father He was equal to all.
>
> Everyone received their brimful and felt contented. ' Everyone felt Him to
> be impartial. Incredibly, every disciple truly felt, "My Guru is my
> personal property." He gave each of us the feeling, "He loves me the
> most."
>
> His physical presence emanated a special bliss which was experienced even
> by those who did not conform to His ideology. It was universal. Some days
> when, due to the pressure of work, His disciples could not complete the
> target He had set for them, He used to feign anger and would not take
> food. Everyone used to worry over this and there would be a great
> commotion around His quarters.
>
> To my astonishment, I found that a similar anxiety and commotion took
> place in the prison when Baba was there. The same tension spread among the
> guards, wardens and other inmates when Baba refused to take the glass of
> buttermilk which He used to drink twice a day during His long fast in the
> jail.
>
> He was so special that people used to feel a strong and irresistible
> attraction for Him. Among His disciples there used to be a competition to
> rush to Him and be with Him.
>
> Ac. Amitananda Avt. once said to Baba, "The General Secretary is so
> lucky."
>
> "Why?" asked Baba.
>
> "Because he can always go to Your room."
>
> Baba laughed and said, "Then My slippers are even more lucky! No, unnais
> se biis nahi hoga. [Nineteen won't be made into twenty.] Whosoever works
> for humanity, wherever they may be, Grace will go to them accordingly.
> Even one paisa more than that, one cannot get."
>
> Good people, even children, liked Him because here they found a person who
> only loved. We have heard about God who punishes wrong doing and rewards
> good deeds. Everyone hopes for rewards and fears punishment. Yet in Baba
> we found a person who would forgive a thousand times. Not only that, He
> would take on the bad sam'skaras of His disciples and thereby free us from
> nature's reaction. His punishments were always blessings in disguise. Many
> of those disciples who had the opportunity to receive punishment from Him
> realized that upon receiving a scratch, they had escaped reactions of
> formidable consequence.
>
> His devotees used to get much pleasure from giving Him small gifts from
> their homelands. A few of these gifts were quite costly, most were very
> humble, but He gave equal importance to all. Once in a small gathering of
> devotees He said, "The physical value of different gifts may differ, but
> psychically they have the same value for Me." He said this to reassure His
> economically poor devotees who occasionally worried that their offerings
> were somehow of less importance.
>
> One example will illustrate this truth. In March 1990 a boy from Bihar
> travelled to Calcutta to visit Baba. After purchasing his train ticket he
> had only 25 paisa left (less than one US cent). So he used that coin to
> purchase a guava for Baba. When he saw the items brought by other devotees
> from all over the world, he felt ashamed and left without offering it.
>
> Meanwhile, in another room Baba was taking His lunch. Doctors had
> prohibited Him from eating guava because of His diabetes, but suddenly
> Baba demanded to eat a guava. His Personal Assistant searched the kitchen,
> but found none. Baba then instructed him to go outside and ask if any of
> the devotees had a guava. He did so, and the boy from Bihar offered his
> guava. It was brought to Baba and He ate it with great relish. From this
> incident I realized that Baba gave more value to the intensity of devotion
> with which an offering is made than its physical or psychic value.
>
> Baba proved logically in His RU lecture of 1967, "Pragati and
> Paincavedana", that there can be no progress in the physical and mental
> spheres. At best, physical progress means the demise of an old structure
> and the creation a new one, as for example in the construction of a motor
> car. In the mental realm, progress means fighting against all dogmas. "The
> best is yet to come," should be the attitude, He would say. In the
> spiritual realm, progress means to cultivate Radhabhava[18] for the
> Supreme.
>
> It is interesting to note that where the spiritual concepts of the
> Vaisnavites, Sufis, and Ananda Margiis coincide is in the point of
> Radhabhava. According to Ananda Marga the fundamental starting point of
> spirituality is this longing for the Great, longing to be united with the
> Great in wedlock. The feeling at first is, "I love You because it gives me
> bliss" and the final feeling is, "I want to love You because now I know
> this gives You bliss. I want to be Yours." In this state one is even ready
> to sacrifice his or her life, if it will make Him happy. The unit self is
> absolutely negated here.
>
> An ideal love, I believe, is that between two lovers whose likes or
> sam'skaras (reactive momenta in potential form) are almost the same. Both
> of them would be accomplished in every possible sense. They would also be
> physically charming to each other. Then, their mutual love will touch some
> very deep strings inside. Baba's love to every individual disciple touched
> much deeper strings than this ideal love of lovers. A few such husbands
> and wives (who are very much spiritually developed) confessed to me that
> Baba's love was much deeper than their attraction for each other.
>
> There are many kinds of love: for example, the love between father and
> son, mother and son, between friends, brother and sister, master and
> servant, husband and wife. All these are love with different dimensions
> and limits. According to Paramahamsa Ramakrishna the love between an ideal
> husband and wife who are mentally married contains all the forms of love,
> and hence it is superior to the others. This ideal love is similar to what
> is known, in Tantric terminology, as madhurbhava.
>
> Higher than this is the devotional stage of mahabhava. I knew a little
> about this from the life of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, who was a Brahmavid,
> a knower of Brahma. (Brahmavid Brahmaeva bhavati: "One who realizes Brahma
> becomes Brahma".) From my earliest days in Ananda Marga, I was curious to
> know more about this bhava.
>
> In Jamalpur around January 1966, I met a boy called Vinod. (Today he is an
> engineer in the Indian Railways.) He was behaving like an intoxicated
> person, singing and dancing all the time. He would run up to Baba, touch
> His chin and then run away singing, "You are really Krs'n'a of Vrindavan!"
>