Welcome to the 2018 Issue of Raas Purnima

by Sri Sandip Dasgupta

Dear fellow devotees,

Welcome to the Raaspurnima edition of our electronic magazine. In this issue, I will try to reflect on some excerpts of Sri Sri Babathakur’s lecture given on Mar 11, 1988 at Delhi. 

Sri Sri Babathakur gave a very vivid example of dyeing a cloth.  In order to dye a cloth, you need a container of color, and you need the cloth to be straightened before it is immersed in the color. If we have folds in the cloth, then the cloth will not get colored uniformly. Our Master went on to say that the Sadguru is here with the bowl of color – the Knowledge of Oneness. If we are 100% sincere and immerse our mind into this Knowledge, then we don’t need anything else – no sadhana, no bhajan etc. On the other hand, if we have our own reservations, hold on to our own likes and dislikes – then we will not succeed in our spiritual lives.

Later in the lecture, our Master explained the difference between a leader and a seeker. According to him, it is very easy to become a leader because all you have to do is point out an opposing point of view – and you will get a lot of supporters. On the other hand, Dharma asks us to ‘Look at yourself, see within yourself, study yourself, learn yourself, get qualified – then assert yourself for others, for the upliftment of others’. Furthermore he went on to tell us that we should not try to teach anything that we haven’t fully learnt and understood. 

He stated that Jnana is not about knowing a lot of things – Jnana is to know your own Self, to know about the One Brahman within you. According to Him, if we study about ourselves, we will gain knowledge about the universe.

As you can see, our Master has provided us with several gems in the talks he delivered to us. It’s now up to us to decide how sincere we want to be in attaining the Science of Oneness. 

Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur! Joy Babathakur!

       

Acceptance

by Smt. Susmita Devi

‘Acceptance has nothing to do with education’ was the headline of an article in the Times of India, dated September 9^th, 2018. This headline reminded me immediately about one of the ‘formulas’ heard at the saintly feet of Satguru Sri Sri Babathakur, which says: “Accept, adjust, accommodate to reach the Absolute.” (formula of fourfold A). Let me elaborate a bit more on this formula. 

The first one is to ‘Accept’. We all have innate biases or prejudices to what is acceptable (or not) in regard to food or/and social behavior, but even more so in regard to religion. Acquired biases may change over time, and are mostly inherited from the society one is brought up in or lives in… be it behavior, food or courtesies.  Cultural diversities are innumerable, but if one’s mind is (more or less!) flexible, it is possible to adjust to such diversities. But, if one is a staunch follower of only one culture, adjustment to and eventual merger of diversities, may appear difficult or impossible, according to one’s upbringing, and thus mindset. 

Travels to different areas of the world, especially when young, helps greatly in accepting all kinds of varieties (languages, clothing, food, religions, behavior patterns etc.). I was born in Denmark and brought up partly in Denmark and partly in Norway.  My basic training in life was thus imprinted by my living in those countries.  My Guru, Sri Sri Babathakur - whom I first met on the subtle plane during intense meditations in Denmark, and later sought out in physically form - brought me to India (West Bengal). 

So, as you can see, I have experienced all kinds of cultural patterns… to end up seeking a way to reach the Innerscient (Godly) way of living. The last step on my approach was to include (or at least sample) a bit of the ways of the multiple expressions of Indian culture.  I was ready to accept a vast variety of differences in all spheres of life – mundane as well as spiritual. So, to return to the practical use of a formula presented by Sri Sri Babathakur can, and actually has, helped me lead a more harmonious life in the midst of the ordinary humdrum. Below are the parts of the formula of fourfold A explained.

 Acceptance is the very first step of transformation - from a rather materialistic outlook to, slowly but surely, a state of full acceptance of the line of teaching which Sri Sri Babathakur has provided. Being in His presence made the incomprehensible, comprehensible.  For the direct follower of a saintly personage, one’s pattern of action and reaction (as imbibed from the society one was brought up in) slowly changes to become more accommodating, comprehensive and lucid.

The second step, Adjustment to circumstances of life, requires dedication to the purpose.  Adjustment implies the self-effort to make the mind fine-tune itself to new and/or unconventional ways of thinking and reacting - and in that way, reassess and perceive the events of one’s life in a different way.  Adjustment of one’s thought and activity patterns (willingly or unwillingly), however is not always easy.  A great deal of control of one’s mind-work and change of some habits are undoubtedly, needed. 

Accommodation The word implies to consciously make room (in the mind and memory) for instructions and inspiration of Divine origin - like the enlightening talks from a Satguru.  It calls for incorporating the directives given by the Satguru in one’s practical daily life - which while initially demand some willing effort, will slowly and eventually become one’s way of living. 

Absolute is the highest point to reach in accepting, understanding and actively using the guidance a saintly personage like Satguru Sri Sri Babathakur.  The word ‘Absolute’ (with capital A) implies the words and teachings of a Satguru being remembered and used in all circumstances for the remainder of one’s life. 

It is, truly worth practicing acceptance and adjustment and to accommodate the features of one’s daily life, towards the end result of reaching the Absolute. And if one does sincerely practice this, the endeavor is bound to facilitate greater awareness of one’s thinking, doings and reactions.

Such awareness enables one to be less perturbed by the events/happenings of a common life…in fact, being perturbed becomes uncommon!  This of utmost importance to a spiritual seeker, and particularly to one who is a householder (irrespective of gender) striving to lead a harmonious family life (that otherwise is fraught with discords like jealousy, envy, and disrespect).

  

Life Today Depends Much On Multi

by Sri Ajit Halder

Our daily life counts heavily on the concept and use of the word Multi.  We wake up in the morning and eat our breakfast with multigrain cereal and enjoy the taste of multifarious food items.  If we need fresh supplies of cereals or any other provision, we go to multilevel shopping centre, purchase milk in multipack cartons and multi-choice food items in multi-stores.  We buy, say, seven items - each item costing £5.67p and we multiply 5.67 by 7 to calculate the total price £39.69 to pay.  We relax in our lounge watching multi-channel programs on multi-screen TV.  We speak on the phone and time-division multiplexing technology enables two-way conversation with our friend over the phone. We use computers with multiprocessing facility since they are able to process two or more data streams simultaneously. We can print multi copies of a document on a printer, and can watch videos or news reports on multi-split screen images. We make preparation for our trip to a foreign land and we need foreign currency to pay for our holiday expenses.  We go to a foreign exchange dealer who deals in multicurrency and we buy our travel money.  In cities we park our car in a multi storey car park and remember the parking floor number so as to walk straight to that level when getting back our car. You may hear your friend boasting about and flashing his/her multiple credit cards taken out of a multi pocket wallet.  You open the front page of the morning newspaper and read the story of a young enterprising multimillionaire businessman with a photograph showing his smiling face. 

The word ‘multi’ is widely used as a prefix to form a composite word like ‘multimedia’ in which ‘multi’ means ‘many’, ‘much’, ‘many times’, ‘more than one’, ‘in many respects’ - and the word ‘multi’ is used to form words like multiple, multivitamin, multitasking and many more similar sounding words.

In everyday life we come across other examples such as: we live in multi-storied apartments and work in a building as part of an office multiplex. We use multi flash camera for taking pictures; we operate a multifunctional tool; and we draw electricity from a multigrid network of power supply system. Furthermore, we live as citizens of a multinational, multicultural Britain which is a country with multi-lingual, multi community structure.  Similar is the life style in multistate Bharat which is a democracy based on multiparty political system. 

We drive on multi lane motorway, and we take care to be on the right track meaning the extreme left lane when we want to leave the motorway in Britain.

We appear in examinations and attempt MCQ (Multiple Choice Question). With careful thinking we select one answer from the given set of probable answers and hope that we have chosen the correct answer. MCDM is a well-known acronym for multiple-criteria decision-making and we often make decisions mainly on intuition. And lastly, multi options offering a choice from a range of goods and services may cause confusion and eventual frustration. 

Enough has been said on Multi affecting our everyday worldly life. Now we consider how we can lead a nobler, spiritual life.  Turning our attention to spiritual living, we note that communities of the world practice multi faiths.  And Hindus face the criticism that we worship multi Gods.  However this view is unfounded because Hindus believe in one Supreme God who is all-pervasive in multi forms.  Each form i.e. manifestation of God, represents one of the multi attributes of the same God. 

Hinduism has always recognized the Oneness of God and believes that in the ultimate analysis, the only Reality is God. Hindu sacred texts abound with verses depicting the Oneness of the Divine Reality. This can be seen from the following verse quoted from the Rig Veda:

‘Indram mitram varuNam agnim ãhuh
atho divyah sa suparNo garutmãn,
ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,
agnim yamam mãtari’švãnam ãhuh’.

In translation the verse means: ‘They hail Him as Indra, as Mitra, as Varuna, as Agni, also as that divine and noble-winged Garutmaan. It is of the One Truth that the wise ones speak in diverse ways, whether as Agni, or as Yama, or as Maatarisvaan’.

Hindus worship the divine in multi forms.  The different deities of Hinduism reflect intimate realizations of the Divine Reality on various levels. This Reality is everywhere, in everything, in every being - and everything is an expression, an image, an echo of this Reality.  This view asserts that the Divine Being can be approached in multi ways. 

In our pursuit of a religious life, the contribution of multimedia cannot be overestimated.  Multimedia is a communication facility that uses a combination of text, sound, image and video to convey information to people effectively. Now we explore how multimedia may be used for enlightening our mind and ennobling our spirit by accessing multi sources of Hindu scriptural text and religious discourses on the internet. 

Reading religious literature like the Gita and its interpretation online will be a rewarding and spiritually uplifting experience. Listening to the recitations of verses of the Gita, the Chandi, and devotional songs will soothe our minds.   Watching video discussion on Ramakrishna Kathaamrita and religious discourses given by saintly figures will help in our spiritual quest.  

We want to visit places of pilgrimage as part of a ritual; quite often the remoteness of the site or the hazard of the journey may stand in our way to undertake the travel to the holy place. We need not despair, for multimedia can assist us to view videos of holy sites.  While watching those visuals with commentaries, we will feel we are virtually present in those places, thus fulfilling our dream of visiting a site of pilgrimage. 

In this connection, mention may be made of the vast literature of and the sermons given by Sri Sri Babathakur available in multimedia format on the Internet.  The website of the Saccidananda Society provides links to video recordings of Sri Sri Babathakur delivering discourses on various occasions, to listen to the bhajans sung by the Divine Master, as well as viewing documentary films on Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur. 

Multimedia can be used to view the events happening ‘live’, and we can benefit from watching images and motion video of learned discussions on our smartphones, iPads, or on the home television screen.