[continued from previous message]   
      
   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 sádhana. 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."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)