Answer to Reader's Query - One

BABA

Answer to Reader's Query - One

Respected Márgii Brothers and Sisters,
Namaskára

Táraka Brahma Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji came to this dusty earth and gave all the teachings needed for the establishment of dharma. He has given these teachings in the form of discourses. And so these discourses are a priceless jewel for all the living and nonliving beings of the universe. And yet tragically, the forms of these discourses published in our Ánanda Marga books today—when compared to the “As Is” discourses—are seen to be extremely distorted. Fixing the published versions of Bábá's discourses and getting them into “As Is” condition is critical to the protection and propagation of dharma on this planet.

That fixing the published discourses and removing the distortions therein, is important and indeed essential to the fulfilment of Bábá's work, no rational individual would dispute. We do from time to time though receive letters of inquiry as to the best ways to achieve this goal. There are particular questions that people raise—and so we have prepared some answers to “frequently asked questions”, which will be published in a series on this network. The below is the first such response to a question that some have asked.

Today's Question

Q: Why don't you present each “As Is” discourse in full rather than in parcel pieces. And why not create a website for the presentation of all Bábá's “As Is” discourses? Publications is not taking on and not going to take on this work. You are involved, so why don't you do it?

Answer:

Human Beings Live In An Organized Society

Bábá guides that human beings thrive in a society. People live together in a complex interdependent web in which each has his/her own work and together the combined effect of all the individuals makes the society run. It is for this very reason that Bábá created an organization, for an organization can do work which individuals or small groups of individuals cannot.

Large Public Works Are To Be

Undertaken by the Government

For example, in a city or state, the government builds and maintains roads for the people to travel on. If severe potholes and cracks make the roads difficult or impossible to travel on, the citizens have two options: begin making their own roads, or voice their concerns to the government and if need be give pressure to the government to fix the roads. Making roads and other such large public works such as building bridges, carrying out garbage collection for the entire state, maintaining a police dept, a fire dept, an army – these are works to be carried out by the government. Local citizens on their own cannot manage such massive projects, and as a result when the systems of road maintenance etc break down, then the people come and complain to the government to get the work done. Indeed that is what the government is for.

Individuals Do Not Have Scope

To Complete Large Public Works

Individuals or small groups of individuals do not have the means to undertake such projects, and that is why through time the systems of government evolved in society, to address such works which are large in scope and beneficial to all the citizens. Bábá in His teachings completely supports this large-scale, collective organization of society for the accomplishment of works essential to the welfare of all.

Correcting All the Published Discourses

of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji

Is a Large Public Work

The work of correcting and printing (on paper or on-line) all the works of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji is a massive public work, of a scope demanding the involvement of an organization. It is like the construction of a road or of hundreds of roads and bridges— such works demand the involvement of a tremendous mechanism.

If The Govt Doesn't Do Its Job

The Next Step is To Complain To the Govt

(Not To Undertake the Large Public Work Oneself)

And if the government or here in this case the organization is not doing its work, then Bábá's guideline is to complain to the organization and get it to do its work. Bábá guides: Do not think the organization is hopeless or pretend it doesn’t exist, and start trying to fulfill all its duties oneself. That would be like:

1. Personally going out into the road with a shovel and tarmac and starting to fill in the potholes in a 100 kilometer stretch by hand, instead of requesting the government to do it.
   
2. When the military is not working well, personally creating one's own army, purchasing massive numbers of weapons, training soldiers, and building tanks and airplanes.
   
3. If the police becomes corrupt, responding by starting one's own police force, training and staffing police in all the cities, arresting criminals, and constructing police stations.
   
4. When the garbage is not being collected, buying one's own garbage truck and picking up the garbage of all the residents of the city.
   

So these are not the ways to solve the above-mentioned four problems. If the government is not fixing the country's roads, or providing military protection to its citizens, or civilian police protection, or garbage collection services, then the people of the country are to remind the government to do its job—and take stronger steps as needed to ensure the the government provides the facilities which it has a constitutional duty to provide.

When the government is not doing its job to provide the above-mentioned facilities, for the citizens to attempt to provide the facilities themselves is a wrong approach which Bábá does not appreciate. Collective problems need collective solutions.

In the same way, one should not think the organization is hopeless or pretend it doesn’t exist, and start trying to fulfill all its duties oneself. A few Ánanda Márgiis trying to fix and redo all the published discourses of Lord Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrtiji, is like the citizens of a country trying to create their own army, navy, and air force. 
 

To Redo All the Printed Discourses

Needs a Large Team of People

And Significant Funding

The work of going through the audio, transcribing and preparing “As Is” discourses, proofing and cross-checking them, doing translations of them, making Roman Saḿskrta versions of them, comparing them with AMPS publications printed version, and ultimately posting them to a web page and also printing new books—all this requires a large team of people, and significant funding.

Indeed to complete all the above for just one discourse requires a team of five or ten people, and then completing this same task for hundreds or even thousands of discourses needs a veritable army.

This type of large-scale work requires a large body i.e. a government or an organization. That is why Bábá wants such large governing bodies to be created, for the execution of large scale works for the public welfare.

If the Govt Doesn't Do Its Job, Bábá's Guideline is:

1. Complain to the Govt

2. Make the Public Aware

And if that government or organization is not doing its job, it is incumbent upon the people to bring it to the attention of that government or organization. And if that body is not responsive to fixing the problem, then Bábá's guideline is to raise public consciousness about the matter and ultimately to protest openly if needed. The endpoint here is that with the raising of public consciousness around the issue, the public becomes unified as a powerful voice which brings pressure to bear on the government or organization to get its work done properly. History bears witness that this is what works, and Bábá discusses this in many PROUT discourses and supports it fully. 
 

Bábá's Guideline:

Make the Government (Or Organization) Do Its Job

So in sum on this first point: Public works like making roads or producing and maintaining the entire shástra of Táraka Brahma are to be accomplished by a large governing body and not by small groups of individuals. Small groups are not to attempt the works of large governments and organizations; this is against Bábá's very approach. Bábá’s approach is to fix the defective governmental body. If the large governing body is not doing its job, then there is a stepwise approach which Bábá has given for raising the matter and getting it solved. That stepwise approach is the second point of this series, to be published on the Network next week.


At His Lotus Feet,

Ciranútana
Ánanda Márga Discourse Network Editors