Thakur on Holy Name and Naami

From Shroddeya Barun-da's posting in Facebook on 14 Aug 2012

Barun Chakraborty

SRI SRI THAKUR→
On The Holy Name and Living Ideal

Holy name is the vibratory image of the causative being. This Holy Name is evolved into you, me and everything else in this world. He who is the causative Being is transformed into spiritual and material planes. We cannot but think of Purus and Prakriti while contemplating on the process of creation. Science describes it as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’. There is attraction and repulsion, expansion and contraction between positive and negative. Vibration springs out of it, followed by action and reaction. Thus out of mutual conflict, addition and alternation, creation moves on multiplying in a rhythmic manner. Each rhythm is unique in itself. So we see no two things are exactly similar, each is specific. Guild of such similar instincts is called ‘Varna’. Hence ‘Varna’ is not man-made. This is ingrained in the creation. On the whole, due to interaction within the vibration conflict and counter-conflict is going on throughout the universe. In this process creation is constantly moving ever renewing itself in up heaving shoot from causative plane to spiritual and thence to material. If one has to proceed to causative plane he has to pass through the material and spiritual planes and should follow the path of eternal vibration, which has reached its present state after passing through a series of vicissitudes and trekking a very long and arduous path. Holy Name is the élan vital of the vibration; Essence of any vibration is present in the Holy Name. So it is aptly called nameless Name. if you culture this Holy name properly with adherence to the Ideal then your past will be unfolded before you. You can go right up to the root. For instance, suppose a bunch of rope is lying before you, one end of the rope is tied with some tree; you do not know which tree it is tied with. If you wish to know as to which tree the rope is connected, then you have to go ahead holding the rope. Exactly in the same process the Holy Name (Nam) and the Nami, the personified Holy Name or a Living Ideal is our only guide along this unknown path.
 

LIVING IDEAL (NAMI)
Living Ideal (Nami) is he, who is the conscious manifestation of the Holy Name, who has realized it, in nutshell, in whom the Holy Name is ever enlivened, materialized and sustained. His perception of the creation is based on the realization of the Holy Name only. So it has become meaningful to him accordingly. Thought, speech and action has been accordingly well adjusted on co-ordination with the environment and the success of its existence and growth. If we want to achieve success in or life through the holy Name, then it is possible by following the living Ideal (Nami).
 

The holy Name will never become potent in us without having active involvement with the ideal. So it is said “to meditate on him with its meaning”. Meaningful meditation means to grow up according to one’s own distinctive traits like him in whom the holy Name manifests itself in splendid specter. Meditation connotes one’s simultaneous active growth not only indulgence in idle contemplation. To become something, one needs a living model (Ideal) of the same before oneself. By following His guidance only one can become like Him, according to one’s specific traits. So the basic thing is active libido concentration and adherence for Him. Now you can find out for yourself as to how the Living ideal is absolutely essential.

Comment from Mrinal Pal

Thanks very much Barun for this highly intellectual  and  comment of very high spiritual meaning. Really I am speechless in expressing my emotion. Thanks once again.

Some more comments below 

"The holy name  has been given out by the Supreme Being Himself. It resounds in splendid refulgence in the higher spheres and can be heard within themselves by those who perform devotion by practicing Surat Shabd Yoga according to the instructions given by the Supreme Being Himself.

All obstacles thrown in the way and traps laid by Universal Mind and Matter to stop or interfere with the progress of a pilgrim to the high mansion of the Supreme Being in pure spiritual regions disappear at once on the pronunciation of the holy name  by the devotee; such is the immediate effect and beneficial influence exercised by this Almighty Name. It at once strikes awe and terror in the heart of the conflicting agents and revolting forces met with by the devotee while traversing the material regions and gradually removes them altogether from his path.

The holy name  signifies both the Supreme Being and the original Spirit or Sound current (or Word) which emanated from His Holy Feet, and which is the prime factor and principal agent in the whole creation." ---------     Somaiji Maharaj of Soamibag Agra.

Ref ---     http://www.radhasoami-faith.info/default.shtml 

"The ultimate reality is Holy Name. In Hinduism and its branches the ultimate reality is Brahman and Isvara. Brahman is considered to be the highest reality in Vedanta. The founders of Satsang, Agra, however, came forward with a new concept. According to them, The Brahman of Vedanta is limited to the second grand division of the creation whom they call "spiritual-material region". They hold that the Brahman is not the true Supreme Being or the highest reality because he is not perfectly free from mind and matter. They assert that though spiritual components predominate in Brahman, there is Maya latent in the seed form and a Supreme Reality having the least admixture of Maya cannot be styled as the highest truth. They envisaged the highest and the first grand division of creation as the region of the true Supreme Being who is absolutely spiritual and totally free from mind and matter. Such a Supreme Being they have named as Holy Name. In view of the said difference between Holy Name and Brahman, the meaning of the word is not Krishna. A casual observer however gets confused and straightway starts interpreting it for Krishna as Farquhar did when he observed : "It is necessary also to realize that the real meaning of Holy Name is Krishna."

(Excerpt from official website of Satsang, Soamibag, Agra, U.P.)

Thakur Vani

Hypergamous Marriage

Barun Chakraborty

Hypergamous Marriage

Hypergamous Marriage, Eugenics and Social Integration

As compatible marriage within similar class and clans is propitious, so also proper hypergamous marriage is beneficial in all respects. Hypergamous marriage means the union of a male of a higher Varna with a female of lower Varna. In the scriptures it is highly applauded and countenanced. The fundamental principles of marriage are applicable here also. So apt hypergamous marriage can achieve the twin objectives of marriage e.g., superior becoming and procreation of good children. Over and above this it has many more good effects. As a common Ideal creates a divine integration in the society, so hypergamous marriage effects a blood-compactness among different Varnas and binds them together in a deep mutual relationship. So a common Ideal and hypergamous marriage are the harbinger of social integration.

The Assimilative Power of Society and Expansion towards Becoming

In this connection it should be mentioned that inter-provincial marriage should be introduced both within similar class and different Varnas in a hypergamous manner. That can consolidate national integration on a firm foundation. Moreover there is no bar to establishing marital relations with foreign societies and countries maintaining the fundamental principles of marriage in tact. That serves to expand the society gradually. If the assimilative power of the society does not increase, eventually the society becomes weak and isolated. Moreover if the society does not advance towards existential expansion, it invariably becomes a prey to hostile external forces and proceeds towards annihilation under their aggressive pressure. If we do not move forward towards growth, decadence becomes inevitable. We should have a deep and thorough understanding about the cross current of forces that operates unfailingly in the social plane. We should go onward towards growth with bold steps keeping adherence, existential orthodoxy and conservatism unaffected. It will not do to indulge in suicidal dangerous propensities discarding Ideal, culture, tradition and benign characteristics for the sake of welcoming so called liberalism. We cannot afford to destroy the foundation of our existence which has been built up little by little by the cumulative efforts of thousands of years; rather we have to enrich it all the more by accumulating and assimilating existential elements from all around. Thereby we shall be benefited by others and others will also be benefited by us and herein lies Dharma.

The Influence of Mutual Regard and Love

The admiration of the lower Varna towards a higher and a responsible sense of affection and compassion of the higher Varna for the lower make the society imbued with love and an urge for higher becoming through the cultivation of regard, love and service. Such a go of life intensifies the urge for self-culture. Where such a trend prevails, mutual service and co-operation become dominant instead of forcible demands. The prevalence of hypergamous marriage automatically brings in such a mentality. It cannot be adequately described as to what a stupendous amount of social benefit flows from it. It dispels an unaccommodative egoistic attitude and invokes and installs a tendency of mutual regard in its place. Instead of conflict and struggle there appears a hankering for harmony and fellowship. As a result of this the whole society becomes crystallized and fortified. So no one has to deteriorate owing to weakness, caused by social disintegration. In such an atmosphere people naturally come to the rescue of one another in times of danger. The spiritual and intellectual power of the Vipra, the valour and diplomacy of the Kshatriya, the economic power and acquisitive talent of the Baishya and the working capacity and service-ableness of the Shudra become all the more combined and coordinated through the existence of a common Ideal and hypergamous marriage and thus protect, nurture and defend one and all like an impregnable fortress. And it is thus, that social evolution becomes spontaneous.

Benign Consequences of Hypergamy

Moreover, as a result of the judicious inter-marriage of different Varnas, people with varied richer instincts are born, and they turn out to be invaluable assets to the nation. We know that the seed predominates. The father supplies the seed and the mother receives and measures it and gives shape to it by providing suitable nurture. So there appears a difference in the resultant form of the seed i.e., the child according to the characteristic nature of the receptivity, measuring capacity and nurture of the mother, which again depend on her biological structure. Thus there grow different subsections within each Varna according to the difference in the Varna of the mother. And in every subsection a special type of the paternal instinct is discernible, as within the Bipra Varna there are original ‘Bipras’ born of Bipra parents, there are ‘Murdhabshikta Bipras’ who are born of a Bipra father and a Kshatriya mother, there are ‘Ambustha Bipras’ who spring from a Bipra father and a Baishya mother and there are ‘Parashab Bipras’ who owe their origin to Bipra fathers and Shudra mothers. Every one of these sections has its distinct characteristics. And this distinctiveness has its special suitability and contribution to the society. It holds good with regard to the subsections obtaining in each Varna. So we should make a proper assessment as to how enormously these varieties contribute to the enrichment of the society. Again as a result of the prevalence of hypergamy, vigour, valour and enlivening energy flare up in the nation through the nurture of newer and newer blood-combinations. So Sri Sri Thakur has said: “Marriage within similar class produces a balanced temperament and hypergamy increases vigour”.

A girl of a lower Varna naturally cherishes a keen and active admiration for a suitable husband belonging to a higher Varna. This existential admiration invariably enhances the life-urge of the child abundantly. A regardful ardour becomes ingrained in them. Again some organic evolution is effected in the mother in course of her endeavour to nurture the higher seed. And women also become normally elevated through the impact of an intimate contact with the family-environment of her husband having a superior Varna and corresponding superior culture. So can there be any doubt about the fact that this kind of hypergamy is supremely propitious in all respects?

Elixir from Ramakrishna Kothamrito

 

Na jayate mriyate va kedachin na yam bhutva

bhavita va na bhuyah,

Ajo nityah sashvato yam purano na hanyate

hanyamane sarire. (Gita 2:20)

[The Atman is neither born nor does it die.

Coming into being and ceasing to be do not take

place in it. Unborn, eternal, constant and ancient,

it is not killed when the body is slain.]

Is it suicide if a liberated person terminates his life?

Vijaykrishna Goswami has come to see

Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna in the Kali Temple at

Dakshineswar. He is accompanied by three or

four Brahmo bhaktas. It is the month of

Agrahayana, the fourth day of the bright

fortnight, Thursday, 14 December 1882. These

people have come from Calcutta by boat with

Balaram, the great devotee of the Paramahansa

Deva. Sri Ramakrishna at that time was resting

for a while at midday. It is on Sundays that

people come in large numbers. However, bhaktas

who want to have personal talk with him usually

come on other days.

The Paramahansa Deva is seated on the wooden

cot. Vijay, Balaram, M. and some other bhaktas

are sitting on a mat while others are seated on the

bare floor in front of Thakur facing west.

Bhagirathi (the Ganga) is seen from the western

door of the room. Winter time waters of

Bhagirathi are steady and limpid. Just beyond the

door is the western semi-circular verandah.

Beyond it are the flower gardens followed by the

embankment. Along the western side of the

embankment flows the holy Ganga, redeemer of

the sins, as if washing joyfully the feet of the

temple of the Lord.

It is winter, so all are clad in woollen clothes.

Vijay is suffering from acute colic pain, so he

has brought medicine with him in a small glass

bottle. He will take the medicine when due.

Nowadays Vijay is a paid preacher in the

Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. He has to deliver

sermons from the pulpit of the Samaj. So, he has

controversies with the Samaj on different matters

these days. He has accepted the assignment, so

he is helpless. He is not free to act and express

his independent views. Vijay comes from a very

pious family from

the family of Advaita

Goswami. Advaita Goswami was a jnani. He

meditated upon the formless Brahman and at the

same time he showed the highest excellence of

bhakti. He was a chief intimate disciple of

Bhagavan Chaitanya Deva. He used to dance

mad in the love of Hari. When he danced he

would lose his entity so much that even the cloth

that he was wearing would slip down. Vijay too

has joined the Brahmo Samaj. Here he meditates

on the formless Para Brahman. But the blood of

the great bhakta Advaita Goswami, his ancestor,

flows through his veins. So, the seed of Hari’s

love lies ready to sprout within him, only the

right time is awaited. That is why he has been

charmed on seeing the state of Bhagavan Sri

Ramakrishna of being deep drunk in the divine

love for Hari, the state that is rare even amongst

gods. Just as the snake charmed by the music

keeps sitting beside the snake charmer, Vijay too

charmed by the Bhagavata (divine words)

issuing out of the hallowed lips of the

Paramahansa Deva keeps sitting by his side. And

when he dances like a child in the love of Hari,

Vijay too dances with him.

Vishnu’s house is in Ariadaha, he has committed

suicide by cutting his throat with a knife. Today

his topic comes up first.

Sri Ramakrishna (to Vijay, M. and other bhaktas)

— See, this boy has terminated his life. When I

heard it, I felt very bad. He used to come here, he

was a schoolboy but he would often say that he

had no liking for the world. He had lived with

some relatives for a few days in the West (in the

west of Bengal, i.e. Uttar Pradesh or Punjab etc.).

He would occasionally meditate sitting in some

solitary plain, forest or hill. He used to tell me

that he had strange visions of various forms of

the Lord.

“I believe that it was his last birth. In his

previous birth he had done much of the work,

some was left undone. It appears that he

accomplished that much in this life.

“One must believe in the sanskaras[1] of the

previous lives. They say that a man was

practising shava sadhana (spiritual discipline on

a corpse). Seated in a deep forest he was

worshipping Bhagavati (the Divine Mother). But

he started having frightful visions and in the end
 a tiger carried him away. There was another man

who had climbed up a nearby tree for fear of the

tiger. Seeing a dead body and ready

arrangements for worship he came down, took

some holy water and sat on the corpse. He had

performed only a little japa when Bhagavati

appeared before him and said, ‘I am pleased with

you. Ask for a boon.’ Paying obeisance at the

lotus feet of the Mother, he said, ‘Mother, I just

ask you one thing. I am amazed at Your action.

After making so many arrangements, this man

had been practising sadhana laboriously for so

many days, but You did not bless him. On the

other hand, I know nothing, hear nothing, never

repeat Your name, nor practise any spiritual

discipline, have no spiritual knowledge, no

bhakti still

I am receiving so much of Your

grace!’ Bhagavati laughed as she said, ‘Child,

you don’t remember your past lives. You did

sadhana for Me during so many births. It is

because of the strength of that sadhana that all

these things were arranged for you, it is also for

that reason that you are blessed with My vision.

Now speak out, what boon do you want?’

A bhakta says, “I feel frightened to hear of the

suicide.”

Sri Ramakrishna — Suicide is a great sin, one

will have to return to this world again and again

and suffer its trials and tribulations.

“Even so if a person terminates his life after

having the vision of the Lord, it is not suicide.

There is no harm in giving up the body that way.

Some people terminate their lives after attaining

jnana. When a gold image has been cast in an

earthen mould, the mould may be preserved, or

may be cracked and thrown away.

“Many years ago, a boy used to come here from

Barahnagar. He was about twenty years old. His

name was Gopal Sen. When he would come

here, he used to experience such deep emotions

that Hriday had to hold him later

he fell and

broke his limbs. The boy suddenly touched my

feet and said, ‘Sir, I shall not be able to come

here any more. So I take your leave.’ A few days

later I heard that he had given up his body.

Varna System - As Viewed by Shri Shri Thakur

From --   Pankaj Kumar

The Utility of Varna System :-----Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra.

Social-classification on the basis of stable hereditary instinct and distinctiveness combined with provision for hereditary occupation in tune with the same constitutes the crucial criterion of Varna System. Every well-breed individual is a unique asset to the society according to his instinct and distinctiveness. He has something special to do and contribute to humanity which cannot be accomplished by anyone else. In this respect the Varna System has no connection with so-called casteism in which hatred and discord predominate. The word “Jati” is the Bengali synonym for the English word race or ethnic group. From the stand point the whole of the Indian Hindu Society is simply one of the branches of Aryan race.

The Varna system is a scientific gradation of human beings, which justifies every individual existence, so far as his role in the fulfillment of some specific practical nee

d of the society and the world-order is concerned. So, it is not a new invention, rather it is a discovery and immanent and spontaneously active truth of the cosmic order and the practical application of the same in the organization and management of the Human society.

Every individual has some ability according to his nature. The fulfilling ability of every individual and every class is an indispensable necessity for the protection of the existence and interest of all others. Without the specific service of a particular Varna the life cycle of all others may be put out of gear at any moment. It holds well in respect of the service of every particular Varna.

The Varna system presupposes a social pattern in which no class can go on without the service of any other class. Thus different Varnas have to be normally interdependent and inter-interested. Under these circumstances, mutual love, service, co-operation and amity come to exist in the society quite naturally. Wherever an opposite tendency is found, that is to be regarded as a distortion springing from ignorance. That is no integral part of the science of Varna. Varna has sought to establish every individual and every class in a position of unique and extra-ordinary dignity in the society according to his distinctiveness.

It has again endeavour to definitely point out his proper place and divinely ordained function in the universe, where he is unparalleled and singular, without the efficient and benign active co-operation of whom the whole world may be flooded with an upheaval of indiscipline and chaos. The creator has desired every man to be installed in unique glory and in tune with that Varna System, has constantly and consistently attempted to highlight and enshrine the paramount importance of individuals by introducing and emphasizing a kind of existential individual liberty, which is a perfect accord with the Ideal and the environment.