Ananda Marga or Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha was founded by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar as a social and spiritual movement.
In favor of this group they have made some progress in providing social services and relief under its neo humanistic values through education and PROUT or Progressive Utilization Theory yet there still remains some controversial matters to this sect such as the mythical legends which are attributed to the man Shrii Shrii Anandamurti who some claim was an accomplished yogi by age 4. He is also regarded by some of his followers as a miracle worker and mind reader. Furthermore P.R. Sarkar has been given the status as being god incarnate which is typical of admirers to give such exaggerated accreditation to their guru. Marga guru shrii shrii anandamurti may receive accolades as championing a cause in heralding social reform but there have been many others who have also contributed to such philanthropic work without divine recognition.
Other questionable matters as related to this movement is its presentation as being “scientific” with such unproven matters as the belief that the mind can be disturbed by consuming onions, garlic, leeks, chives, mushroom, etc. Also a person is said to achieve a sense of well being in practicing physical restraint by limiting sexual activity to four times a month.
However my greatest skepticism is whether or not this philosophy is able to fill the spiritual vacuum through its discipline of meditation along with its sixteen points and ten principles of morality known as yama and hiyama. For those of you who are not succeeding in becoming “realized” as attaining to the “path of bliss” and are weary of this arduous spiritual journey I would encourage you that there is another who can help shoulder your spiritual burden.
Mt 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Maybe you are a sadhaka who is practicing sadhana and you are wondering if this is all there is or perhaps you have your doubts whether this is the real deal of finding ultimate reality in that you have not been able to satiate the hunger and thirst of your soul by filling the emptiness or void in your heart and yet there is one who is able to fully satisfy.
John 6:35
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
In AMPS there is an attempt to strive towards personal and societal transformation and yet what do you do with your guilt when you are not able to live up to the rigorous expectations of living a moral life? This failure to achieve an ethical standard is typical/normal and yet I would like to encourage you that there is a solution but it can’t be obtained on your own merit or effort but it comes as a gift from God. This provision of grace has come through the person and work of Jesus who is able to literally transform and regenerate you by the removal of moral guilt and by changing your very nature in the way you think and act.
Moreover this whole experience of deliverance is effectively communicated by a biblical character whose name was Paul and he was considered a moral man by the standards of his society yet he lacked the dimension of righteousness which he yearned for in serving the Supreme Consciousness or God and therefore he found his liberation in the power of Jesus who set him free by allowing him to overcome his natural weakness. This is his entry on the matter as found in Romans 7:14-25.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
My friend perhaps you identity with Paul’s struggle to obtain moral excellence and yet the mission of Christ was to unite us to God through his life and death resulting in both positional and practical righteousness.
Jesus is the light of the world and He has come to release those who are bound in darkness not through some physical, emotional or spiritual exercise of Tantra but through the power of His own sacrificial life that was given for you.
John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Maybe you are desirous to see the fulfillment of World Peace and yet one day this will be achieved when Jesus the Prince of Peace establishes his coming kingdom on earth. However in the meanwhile we can experience the peace of God in how we live out our lives in the here and now as well as the hereafter.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Perhaps you are looking for an ultimate sense of love and Jesus is the personification of such love so much so that he gave His life for those who were considered his enemies. It is this kind of unconditional and altruistic love which a person can receive which in turn allows us to reciprocate the love of God in how we respond to the Lord and others.
Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:7-12
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
In defense of Christianity it began as an eastern religion which to date is the largest intercontinental movement whereby millions of life’s have been changed not only personally but they have also altered the global climate and landscape to such a degree that much of the humanitarian work that is going on worldwide is either a direct result or influence of Christian intervention which started such establishments or institutions as orphanages and hospitals. I am providing a link which has some testimonials of people whose lives has been touched through the Christian experience.
www.cbn.com/700club/features/Amazing/
Finally it was not my intent to offend anyone over the content of this post but I am presenting this case as one who cares for your spiritual well being. Moreover I don’t want to merely end this appeal by contrasting competing views but rather I would just encourage you to think outside of the box of Ananda Marga and I challenge you to simply pray to God in your own way and ask him to reveal to you the truth concerning Jesus.
In conclusion this isn’t just about another religion or philosophy but rather it is about a relationship that is “realized” in outliving any guru’s idealism. A relationship which can be simply appropriated through the love of God in Christ.
John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Religions of the world: a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices/ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, editors; Todd M. Johnson, World Religious Statistics; Donald Wiebe, Introduction-2nd ed., Copyright 2010 by ABC-CLIO, LLC. Reproduced with permission of ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
“Reprinted by permission. “(Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions), James A. Beverley, 2009,Thomas Nelson Inc. Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.”
Thank you for the informing post.
I have to thank Ananda Marga for bringing me back to Christ though.
Peace be with us.