WELCOME TO THE JANMASHTAMI ISSUE OF E-SANAI

by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Dear fellow devotees,

Welcome to the 2014 Janmashtami edition of our e-zine.  In the last issue, I had summarized what Sri Sri Babathakur has described to us as being the function of a Sadguru, the need of a Sadguru, and how to obtain the Right Knowledge from a Sadguru.

The question that immediately comes to mind is: What Guru Dakshina should one give to a Sadguru? While it is true that all kinds of objective knowledge warrant some kind of Guru Dakshina, Sri Sri Babathakur has very categorically stated that a Sadguru never asks for Guru Dakshina.  A Sadguru has attained Supreme Realization, where He identifies Himself with the Supreme Oneness – which is the substratum of each and every object in this world.  So where is the need for Guru Dakshina?

The Sadguru instead desires that we keep the windows of our mind and intellect open at all times.  This allows for the Sadguru’s words to penetrate deep within us.  We should then constantly reflect on His Supreme words and apply them to each thought and action in our everyday lives.  The Sadguru expects His devotees to not only surrender each and every action to the Supreme I-Reality, but also the results of such thoughts and actions.  If we are able to listen carefully to the Sadguru’s words, practice them and identify ourselves with the Supreme Consciousness, then that is the best Guru Dakshina for Sadguru – for it means that we have become true students of the Sadguru.  At that time, the seeker has attained the same Knowledge that Sadguru has imparted to the student.  No object of the material world can constitute as Gurudakshina for a Sadguru – the Sadguru is looking for us to surrender our individual-I and seek the Supreme I-Reality.

Sri Sri Babathakur further points out that if the student continues to think of himself as the individual-I (Jiva), then the student is actually insulting the Sadguru by not internalizing the words of a True Realizer. He further urges his students to constantly think of themselves as Anandaswarup, Chaitanyaswarup, Premaswarup and Amritaswarup. He states categorically that this is not a theory or a doctrine – this is Reality as It is.

So, can we all agree to keep our minds open, listen to the Sadguru’s words, reflect on them – at all times? 

Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!

Reel Real Reality

by Sri P.C. Lahiri

This piece contains a few thoughts that came to me after reading about the death of Robin Williams with an indication that he had taken his own life. 

Perhaps this reel life master got into real life disaster. The super luminescence of mass adoration through reel life portrayals builds immense pressure on the real life to always live up to the way that the world wants it to be.  The impossibility of this proposition drives the reel life hero to zero in real life. Why?

Reel life is the foreground, real life is the background, and Reality is the substratum of both.  Reel life’s foundation is real life, and Reality is the immediate foundation of real life as also the indirect foundation of reel life.  In fact, Reality is the Ultimate Substratum of one and all.  This is the unquestionable Wisdom that we have received from the True Masters of the world who were established in Supreme Reality which has been termed in this incarnation by Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur (the Master) as ‘I-Reality’.

To rightly understand any happening in the foreground (reel life) and its impact on background swabhava, the innate nature (real life), the eternal presence of the Ultimate Reality as the Supreme Background, and the essence of both (reel & real life) have to always be kept in mind.  I say that it has to be kept in “mind” because we are not established in that Reality; we are not unified with That by becoming one with It.  So we have to follow such Masters who are verily that Reality Itself. 

A point must be noted here — Master has always said that you are, were and shall ever be that I-Reality; however since you do not accept and embrace it wholeheartedly, you are not able to realize and be one with It.  It is a fact that we are not able to accept our own self as the Supreme Reality.  We do not dare to spell and write our own self with capital ‘S’. This is an inhibition, a limitation we have been carrying with us life after life till we get an opportunity to meet a Perfect Master who reveals an all-encompassing, all-embracing  dimension of this universe and beyond within us as our innermost Being. The more we cultivate and become aware of that innermost Being, the more is the revelation of the I-Reality from within, till the culmination through the perfect establishment in that Being Itself, the I-Reality Itself.  Till the advent of such a life, we keep carrying feelings of incompleteness, weakness, restlessness and so on and so forth.  How do we overcome this challenge?  How will this feeling of incompleteness get merged with the Wholeness/I-ness (not mine-ness)?  Simply by following that Soul who is Wholeness/I-ness personified — the Master.

Coming back to the case of Robin Williams, I present some thoughts based only on my understanding developed through my association with the Master.   I mean no disrespect to anyone’s feelings and beliefs.  Please forgive me if I inadvertently offend anyone’s belief system or emotions. 

If in life the reel persona of the foreground acquires a such monstrous size that the real life persona of the background is not trained and refined enough to withstand (due to a lack of understanding of the Reality behind all), then the foreground & background both collapse. The Reality was, is and shall ever remain the Ultimate Substratum which reveals the appearance of the foreground (reel life) and the background (real life), and also reveals their collapse.  The super structure that appears as the tallest building in the world (a highly successful reel life) is sustained by the invisible foundation inside mother earth (the innate nature — mind, intellect and ego — the real life).  With the impact of an earthquake of right intensity (the blinding sparkle and humongous demands of reel life on real life), the tallest of buildings collapses as the foundation (the innate nature, i.e. swabhava) is not able to support and sustain it any longer.  Both of them, the foreground building and the background invisible foundation inside mother earth, collapse on mother earth.  Mother earth (the Reality) remains as it is.  If the foundation was very strongly embedded and entrenched very deep inside mother earth, then the super structure would not have collapsed.  The more the nearness of real life to its innermost Reality, the stronger is the foundation of such a life to withstand any earthquake in reel or real life.

By being established in I-Reality, the Masters have played the real and reel life games to absolute perfection. All perfect Masters were Awareness personified and identified.  It is for this reason that their world-game has been of such qualitative & quantitative excellence that for generations and ages, it is respected and followed by large cross sections of humanity. Every time they have appeared, benchmarks have been set which have withstood the all-consuming tsunami of time.  The adoration and adulation that they received during their lifetime was unparalleled and unprecedented - yet they weren't affected by such adoration and adulation at all.  Master often said that ‘this One’ (pointing towards himself) is only doing fochkami (a Bengali word, meaning gamefully indulging in the frills of life).  What has been revealed by Him shall perhaps take hundreds of years for the humanity to grasp and yet He like a playful child says that I only indulge in the frills of life.  Such is the majesty, beauty and ease of the Masters.  For them, the real and reel life is nothing but the shadow of their True Nature, the I-Reality. 

Common man plays the reel life game by not even being properly aware of real life, what to talk of the I-Reality. We merely use real life (inner nature) for benefits and gains in reel life (outer nature), therefore suffering incessant miseries. Humanity in general accepts the real life as the Reality.  The fact of the matter is that what is being perceived as real life is not even real— it is only a reflection of the Reality, an ephemeral appearance of the I-Reality to play the sameside game.  Hence the real life appearance comes and goes.  If it was truly real, then it would have been there always as it is.  This life is real only to the extent that through it (i.e. this ephemeral real life), we can get identified with the eternal I-Reality.  It is in this context the phrase ‘real life’ has been used in this piece.

A life that goes from Reality to reel via real is an exemplary one for the entire humanity.  A life which considers reel to be real without even recognizing Reality ends in disaster.

      

Sowing and Reaping

by Smt. Susmita Devi

Reading the newspaper a few days ago, I was reminded of the very wise words of Sri Sri Babathakur concerning social behaviour. He urged us to send out favorable charged vibrations all the time and not to hurt anybody – either through thoughts, words or deeds (notice the sequence as all actions start out with a thought).  He thoroughly explained the inner meaning of the common dictum: ‘What you sow, so you reap’. This adage is just another way to explain the immutable Law of Karma in a Western way although Christians do not believe in reincarnation.

Living in a society with innumerable written and unwritten rules and regulations (not to forget superstitions), we learn from an early age to observe rules of behavior that are supposed to allow the people around us live in relative harmony.  I consciously use the term ‘relative’ since only the outer aspect of behavior is perceptible to others.  One’s thoughts about observance of societal graces mostly remain unknown to the people with whom we interact socially.  The inner result of consciously practicing positive thoughts – refuting a frustrated or angry mood rooted in the ego - is healthier for oneself and eases tension between the involved persons.  An angry or frustrated person’s heart rate goes up and the blood pressure rises, which again affect the functioning of inner organs and may result in a deadly heart attack or other forms of physical and mental ailments.  I am not advocating the suppression of thoughts here, but instead, the deliberate regulation of the ensuing mind-work.

An effect of practicing the above motto of ‘Fourfold A’ (Accept, Adjust, Accommodate to reach the Absolute) is the remembrance that one’s thoughts and actions inevitably carry some results.  One definitely becomes more forgiving, more mentally and physically adjustable, and more in harmony with one’s environment. Grudges of past happenings will by design, be put on the back-burner of memory and thus won’t disturb one’s daily life. Such relegated memories may serve as teaching tools for what not to do or think in the future. The improved quality kernels imbibed through parents and Gurus are as a consequence of this practice, given a chance to grow unimpeded by negative thoughts and actions.

The ensuing result does not come on its own... conscious practice in positive thinking is needed.  In fact all changes in constructive thought patterns and subsequent actions need conscious awareness that positivity ought to prevail.  I often used the phrase ‘Let us agree to disagree’, which leaves both parties with a calmer mind.  A pleasant side-effect of such a practice is that one’s company becomes more sought after for the soothing effect that the personality emanates... something akin to that emanating from a Sadguru and other saintly personages, although to a less potent degree.  Remembrance of the maxim of Sri Sri Babathakur’s 'Fourfold A' is a rather easy way to achieve much greater harmony in life.  The formula, however, does not indicate that all should be accepted as it appears.  A certain level of discrimination of when or what to accept and adjust must be honed over time through practice.  The word ‘practice’ appears many times in this article, for without regular conscious practice, the desired result may be rather far off in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Old proverbs are occasionally tossed around in conversations; however few use them as background for serious ponderings of their inner meanings and why they were once uttered and are still repeated.  It can be said that only the proverbs based on Eternal Truths (empirical or those based on certain surmises) remain alive.  One is reminded of them mostly if one has done or said something unsuitable for the circumstances.  There are however some people who collect and memorize dictums as an easy memo-technique to be applied in their own life or to remind others about long-known truths (which once upon a time may have come from higher sources of awareness).

Dictums are not based on higher awareness, but on practical experiences like ‘A stitch in time saves nine’, ‘An elephant can’t go through the eye of a needle’ or ‘The one stealing an egg can also steal a cow’ etc.  One can find such truisms in all civilizations and languages existing on earth.  Don’t forget, that before writing became as easy as it is today, such sayings were memorized and repeated over and again till they were firmly entrenched in the minds of the people and, actually, became a way of life.

Sri Sri Babathakur often used short, to-the-point dictums (that he referred to as ‘formulas’ in the course of His discourses).  In this way He attempted to help devotees master memo-techniques.  Such short sayings will, with some amount of practice, pop up in the mind to purify it.  Because they are easy to memorize, they are also easier to put into practice instead of long-winding explanations and elaborate quotations.

Study Session Dedicated to Divine Words

 

by Sri Utsav Sen

By the Grace of Sadguru Sri Sri Babathakur, I have had the good fortune of being able to participate in several satsang calls through teleconference bridge on a monthly basis while living in the USA. This has been made possible thanks to the untiring efforts of Swapna di (Swapna Banerjee  from New Jersey) who has been consistently coordinating and scheduling these hour long sessions through emails. Thanks are also due to Sandip da (Sandip Dasgupta from California) for setting up the teleconference bridge, Rishi (Siddharth Dasgupta, Sandip da’s son) and Champa di (Champa Dasgupta) for rendering Sri Sri Babathakur’s revealed bhajans during the satsangs, and Bapi da (Sri P. C. Lahiri) for regularly joining us from India to share his insights on Sri Sri Babathakur’s teachings with the participants.

Bapi da's participation has been instrumental in providing a clearer perspective and deeper analysis of the contents of our satsangs - readings which are conducted both in English and Bengali, explanations of the inner meanings of words in bhajans, as well as insights into anecdotes from the notes that Aruna mashi (Aruna Dasgupta, Sandip da’s mother) graciously reads to us whenever she participates. Bapi da kindly agreed to shed light on most of these aspects of the satsangs based on his direct experiences of being in the company of the All Divine Master, Sri Sri Babathakur over several years. Bapi da's inputs have possibly helped many of us on these calls get more interested in His teachings which are inherently unique and absolutely original.

Thanks to Bapi da's encouragement, our virtual satsang on May 16 (9 pm – 10 pm EST) to commemorate the occasion of Buddha Purnima was transformed by His Grace into a case study of specific pages of Atma Sutra and Sri Sanai.  This was a great idea since it not only involved studying specific content in advance, but also allowed many of us to mentally prepare for vocal participation.

The process of reflections on what was read included responses from learned seniors on call including Bapi da, Swapna di and Sandip da.  Personally, this helped me get more insight into the sayings of Sri Sri Babathakur which though I have listened to several times in the past, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate. Full appreciation of what Sri Sri Babathakur had indicated through His Guru Vani over the course of five or six decades is probably a life-long process.  However I believe that if we are able to devote dedicated time in similar future study sessions focusing on specific excerpts from His lectures, it will go a long way in bringing us closer and closer to our own True Self as per His guidance through his "torch" of Wisdom.

Since this was the first time we were planning a study session, everyone participating was given an opportunity to speak out and contribute to the discussion about what Our Beloved Divine Master meant by certain indications in his speech specifically with regards to being prepared (i.e. "Nije ke toiri kore newa") or coming to a state where one can begin truly comprehending and embracing the Science of Oneness by His Grace. Hopefully we will be able to continue on this path and move step by step towards the next Golden Age (Satya Yuga).

Joy Guru Joy Maa Joy Babathakur

Religion Inspired India's Freedom Fighters

by Sri Ajit Halder

This article focuses on the untiring efforts of Indian freedom fighters to free India from British colonial rule.  Every year Indians celebrate Independence Day on the 15^th of August with great enthusiasm.  This article therefore aims to serve as a timely tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of India’s freedom fighters.

The theme of this article is the influence of the moral and aesthetic teachings of religion in general, and Hinduism in particular, that motivated the leaders and influenced the masses to engage in the struggle for India’s Independence.  True, India’s founding figures derived their liberal views and principles of democracy from the West; however it must be emphasized that those leaders were equally inspired by India's rich tradition of spiritual and scriptural knowledge. This is evident in their utterances, writings and religious practices.

Note that although the title of the article is rather short, the subject it ought to cover must be broad considering both the temporal and spatial dimensions of India's freedom struggle.  In terms of time, India’s freedom struggle spread across a period spanning almost two centuries, beginning with the battle of Plassey in 1757, covering the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, and culminating in the attainment of independence in 1947.  In terms of space, the struggle for independence took place both within India and abroad - with revolutionary terrorist acts in London, the Gadar Movement in USA, and INA action in Singapore and the Malayan peninsula being a few of the major events to have occurred overseas.

The first word in the title is ‘Religion’, and a discussion on this word will help to understand the purpose of this article. 

Religion:

The word religion stands for faith or belief in something higher and nobler than worldly concerns.  Religion recognizes a super-human controlling power, the Ishwara, God.  In India, religion is a way of life and is an integral part of the culture of the Indian masses.

Religious beliefs influenced and guided the leaders of India and its masses as they took their fight to gain freedom as a religious act.  This resonates with the Hindu maxim ‘Serving humanity (in the present context, serving fellow Indians) is an act of worshiping Divinity’.  It must be stressed here that besides Hindus, members of various religious groups like the Moslems, Jains, Buddhists, and Christians were involved in the struggle for freedom and their heroism and sacrifice are gratefully acknowledged.

The Gita, a principal Hindu scripture, played a distinct role in shaping the thoughts of national political leaders and its doctrine of Karma Yoga motivated those involved in the movement.  Mahatma Gandhi wrote the following acknowledging his debt to the Gita:

“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day”.

These are indeed inspiring words to his many followers, and the verses of the Gita kindled hope and encouragement in the hearts of the agitators to carry on their mission.

Gandhiji was a devotee of Sri Ramachandra, and the Ramacharit Manas impressed him much.  In Gandhiji’s prayer meetings, the hymn Ramdhun and other Hindu devotional songs and readings from the scriptures were regularly presented.  All these brought a religious fervor to the prayer sessions, much appreciated by the large gatherings that attended those meetings.

The emphasis placed on doing one’s duty – the principle of Karma Yoga as propounded in the Gita - found utterance in the writings of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In the words of Pandit Nehru:

“The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence.  It is a call to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe”.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote the ‘Gita Rahasya’ and Sri Aurobindo published his ‘Essays on the Gita’.  In these books, the authors discussed the moral teachings of the scripture that threw new light on how to attain spirituality through noble actions.  It becomes clear that the message of the Gita inspired Gandhiji and other leaders to guide the freedom movement.

In worshipping Devi Shakti, the feminine aspect of divine energy, Hinduism eloquently glorifies the concept of Women Power.  Hindus worship Durga Mata as the Mother Goddess.  The notion of motherhood has also found a respectful place in adoration of the motherland.  ‘Maatri Bhumi’ is not only our mothers’ land, but being the land of our birth, is reverentially recognized as our Mother.  This warmth of feeling towards our motherland asserts a moral relationship with Bhaarat Maata. The song ‘Vande Mataram’ from Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s famous creation Anandamath greatly inspired the freedom fighters. The song is a hymn to the motherland India; it literally means ‘I bow to thee, Mother Land’. The hymn played a vital role in the independence movement.  It was first sung by Poet Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress and henceforth became popular as the marching song of the masses parading the streets of a city demanding Purna Swaraj, i.e. full sovereignty for India.

No doubt the Gita text had a profound impact on the religious thinking of our national leaders.  Added to this, the founding figures immersed themselves in ancient Sanskrit and Buddhist literature and the edicts of Emperor Asoka.  Nehru searched for India’s old artifacts in his ‘Discovery of India’ and chose the Asokan Lion Pillar and the Buddhist wheel of law as national symbols for a new, independent India.  Gandhiji introduced phrases like ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (Truth always triumphs), ‘Satyagraha’ (holding on to the Truth) and ‘Sarvadaya’ (Universal awakening) from Sanskrit, and people participating in mass demonstration chanted these phrases to create enthusiasm and nationalistic feeling. These slogans are quoted here to emphasize the moral-political motive of Gandhiji to inspire the Indian masses to follow him in protest marches.

The broad aim of this article has been to emphasize the proposition that religion inspired India’s freedom fighters.  This was attempted through a detailed discussion on the principles of religion, the message of the Gita, and India’s artistic tradition and culture.   It is hoped that this article will help the reader appreciate the braiding together of two knowledge traditions: the religious tradition oriented towards aestheticism and morality (inherited from ancient India’s rich knowledge source), and the Western liberal thoughts aimed at gaining political independence from colonial rule and establishing social justice and equality for all in liberated India.