The Significance And Propriety Of Donation

Giving of alms and charity go hand in hand and are believed to be equally beneficial. In parlance of spirituality, these are conferrer of supreme benefits like entry into heaven (Swarg or Bahisht) the ultimate deliverance from worldly bondage (mukti), acquisition of para-normal powers (siddhi), bestowal of divine grace, capability to perform miracles and the like; whereas colloquially Daan-Punya are said to be promoter of all-round progress, success in life and are also harbinger of superiority in all walks of life. The practice of Giving alms signifies that giving is an act of virtue, whereas Taking i.e. depriving one of rights is sin. The outcome of sin in this world and in the world beyond life is physical and moral decadence. In parlance of spirituality, this itself is metaphorically known as Narak (Hell or Dozakh). Man has been given full freedom by God to choose his own activities, which may either be related to virtue or to sin. It is true that at times the milieu exerts pressure against this choice, yet what transpires ultimately depends on where the power of will of the person converges as Sankalp (a firm resolve for action with unshakable conviction in its propriety). The foregoing hypothesis is amply substantiated by the life-events of well known historical personalities like Harishchandra, Karn, Bali, Dadhichi and Bhamashah. However, those aspiring for the highest goal of entry into Heaven or Absolute Salvation are required to make even greater surrender of personal interests. Devotion to God has only one expression i.e. homogenisation of one's desires and aspirations with those of the deity being worshipped. This is how an insignificant mass of fuel acquires the brilliance of a raging fire. God is known to be affectionately disposed towards the devotee. He readily entrusts his power to the totally -surrendering - devotee and acts according to Tatter's wishes. It is exemplified in events like personification of incarnate Shri Krishna as a dancing partner of Meera and as the faithful servant guiding the blind saint Soordas by holding his stick. Sudama, Chaitanya, Hanuman and Arjun belonged to that category of devotees, who liberally sowed the seeds of everything they had acquired by endeavours of their body and mind, in the field of god and in return filled and stocked their granaries with a million times more grants of divine gifts.

The elites amongst the noble are revered by the masses as Dev Manav (divine men or angels). Entire creation of God remains indebted to such persons for their unusual contribution to mankind. All super persons have found only one way for promotion of excellence in this world. They took a pledge and persevered to pay back a million times more to the humanity than what they gained from this world. Had they been obsessed with miserliness, irrespective of their riches, they would have been counted amongst the class of avaricious persons, who like ghosts and spirits are incapable of doing anything except disturbing others.

Absolute truths and ideals are eternal and self-sustaining. At times, one may find it difficult to adhere to them. Nevertheless, they continue to be dependable guides at all times, like the lighthouses in troubled sea. All human interactions are governed by an established law, according to which whatever is given is commensurately reciprocated. Attempts to befool others by pretentious displays beget only ridicule in return. There are persons who shirk from giving anything and in return of ostentations, expect to receive a multitude of benefits. However big castle in the air they build for quick returns of their conceited actions, what they actually get is only frustration, exhaustion and irritation.

Transactions in this world are governed by pragmatism. The supermarkets of this world are full of shelves decorated with things of beauty and joy, but none of them is available free. Those at tempting to acquire them surreptitiously either meet the fate of a shoplifter or are spurned for their naiveté.

It has been eternally established that contributions of any kind are reciprocated in one way or the other. Social recognition and cooperation are reserved exclusively for those who remain satisfied with minimal return for maximum contributions. On the other hand, there are those braggarts, hypocrites and swindlers who believe in having maximum returns for their minimal efforts. As a matter of fact, there is only one process of transactions prevailing in this world and the world beyond since time immemorial and in that, contribution always precedes the benefits of acquisition. Only cheats and dacoits follow the practice of first acquiring and then giving away a fraction as alms to satisfy their conscience, though even such persons are not always successful in their misadventure.

Unless one takes pleasure in building castles in the air or is prone to daydreaming, a pragmatic approach for solid achievements would necessarily require emulation of the practice being followed by the large-hearted benevolent supermen of yore, which brought them the double benefit of self- contentment on one hand and credit in the society on the other. It is this broad-mindedness and dedication to humanity which has provided saints, reformists, martyrs and social workers, profound advantages from this world as well as from God. Who in this world has ever got the gifts of celestial boons and paranormal powers without imbibitions of asceticism in life? Does one accumulate wealth without making any investment? Now and then one keeps on borrowing something or the other from people and nature. But do we care to keep an account of what has been paid back? Whenever some loan is taken for any business, it has to be returned with interest. Though this is also an eternal law of nature, paradoxically, everyone wants to be totally exempted from it. Here, in this world, everyone is always found looking for an opportunity to take something from just anyone. On the other hand, whenever one is asked- to make some contribution, the general tendency is either to exhibit a disinclination or polite helplessness.

                                                                                                      

It is an established law that for any significant gain in any field of human endeavour one has to make a commensurate contribution. There is absolutely no doubt that this law of nature covers all dimensions of time and space and sensory and extra- sensory transactions. This unwritten law of nature can be felt and seen working in all aspects of life. "Give and take", "Contribute and receive", "Sow and reap" and your bag will never be empty. Since time immemorial many miserly persons have attempted to circumvent this law, but they have failed miserably.

That brings us to another problem in this world abounding with "have nots". How does one receive something from those who have nothing to give? Would it not be childish to expect such people to follow the ideal of contributing for others and perform other virtuous benevolent acts which necessarily involve expenditure? Here, one aspect of the word "contribution" needs clarification. Generally, by "Giving" one means contributing monetarily by partaking one's personal resources. Unfortunately, the modern society measures acts of benevolence on scales of money or related resources and those persons who give away large amount of donation in cash or kind, earn name and fame are appreciated for their generosity. Being a current practice no doubt it has also been accepted as a norm. Persons having faith in the magic of greasing palms and clandestine gifts, claim that even God can be made favorable by making appropriate oblations of material things or by prayers and flattery. They believe that while bestowing favors, God hardly ever considers the ethics or propriety of the purpose of request.

Under these circumstances, one should not be surprised if philanthropy is understood merely as an act of donating money, property or articles for some socially useful purpose; or providing means of subsistence to needy persons. It is not surprising that today money being squandered for personal entertainment and egoistic displays is also being listed under the head of philanthropic expenditure. During the Middle Ages, one of the religious rituals accepted by the society was sacrifice of animals (Balidan). According to another custom prevalent in those days, the working-class (Harijans) were being given only leftover meals. This, they later rightly came to regard as a disgraceful practice and refused to accept such food. There was a time when the clothes discarded by sick persons were gladly accepted by the poor, a practice which today even the poorest self-respecting pauper would spurn. Now-a-days the concept of "Dan" (donation) has been very much misunderstood and exploited by the "merchants of religion". In the extravagance of a Hindu marriage, it has found various names like, Kanyadan and Vagdan. There is yet another common practice of giving Dan by donating money to some government - approved institution for the purpose of income tax relief. The do nor feels happy in the double advantage of, on the one hand savings in tax and on the other, social recognition as a philanthropist. Today, succumbing to pressure from person seeking donations; monetarily obliging family members and relations and going for a picnic on the pretext of pilgrimage are also considered as religious, virtuous or philanthropic acts. Some derive consolation in building places of entertainment such as gardens, parks and swimming pools, which they consider utilities of social welfare. With such a concept of donation, giving bribe should also be considered a kind of donation since it is given generously to benefit someone. Man has become so much conceited that drinks and drugs are also being considered consecrated after having been oblated to some deity (e.g. Bhang is offered to the deity Shiva). Exhibition of one's generosity by cash donations to an institution is also regarded as a virtuous act. That the personal image so built is encashed in some other way appears irrelevant to the donor. In a way in its present practice, giving donation may more appropriately be termed as a business transaction.

There can be only one criterion for considering donation as an act of virtue. The donation made must be made use of by a creditable agency for some noble purpose. On the contrary, any amount spent in the name of donation, which directly or indirectly promotes conservatism, hypocrisy, showmanship, addictions, dogmatism or superstitions, is likely to produce adverse reactions for the donor as well. Only when an activity results in promotion of excellence, it forms the basis for virtues which bring in multifarious benefits to the donor. On the other hand if donations tend to patronize vicious persons or evil designs, irrespective of the spirit behind giving, they are likely to produce a variety of disastrous consequences for the donor, the receiver and others.

An unduly given donation also produces many other problems. By making the recipient habitually dependent on the unearned money, the donor opens avenues of decadence for the former, who becomes prone to inaction. There is no harm in helping a class of persons in times of crisis, but making them habitually dependent on other's help, is like making a healthy person a paralytic recluse. There are no two opinions that in order to qualify as an act of virtue, the donation must accrue from one's honest earnings. Then there exists the problem of finding sufficient quantity of honestly earned money and resources in this vast majority of " have nots", which could be appropriately utilized for commendable welfare activities as virtuous donations. As a matter of fact, donations made generously by affluent persons are generally meant to redeem their own sins i.e. through an act of donation, they intend to lighten the burden of misdeeds on their conscience. 

Propriety implores each man to follow the living standard of an average citizen of his country. "Simple living and high thinking" must be the motto of life. One should feel contented with hard-earned money earned through honest means. Deceit and oppression should never form means of earning. Savings, if any, must be, without procrastination utilized for counteracting disorderliness and undesirable elements of society. The nursery of excellence and progressiveness is dying today because of lack of arrangements for augmentation of virtuous traits in the society. One has; therefore, to do whatever one can to save it. It has been a tradition during the past golden era (Satyug). It is as much relevant for modern times.

Donation of Time–The Supreme charity - I

Charity means Giving. It involves an endeavour to energize and develop natural capabilities provided by God to each human being and benefiting others there from. This is the basis for creating heavenly environment on this earth. 

Taking i.e. hoarding, usurping tantamount to depriving others of their rights and advantages. This, in fact is an act of sin of which hell is a metaphorical expression. 

All super persons born in this world have used an exclusive methodology for promotion of excellence. They reciprocated by multiplying manifold whatever they received and gave it to the world. 

Donation of money is only symbolical. It could as well be misused and create adverse reactions for the receiver. Real donation is that which one makes of one's talents, since out of talents only are generated wealth and resources. Donation of time is charity in real sense since time is a natural gift of God available to everyone in equal measure. 

However, one is not motivated to donate time for higher objectives unless there emerges in the heart of the person an irresistible urge to follow ideals in life.

We are passing, through an unusual phase in human history. The emergency necessitates immediate decision and fast action, like the one required when the house is on fire or the train is about to leave the station. Had Hanuman, Buddha, Samarth Guru Ramdas, Vivekanand and other super persons not taken a timely decision and action, they would have missed the glorious opportunity, which later made them famous. 

Jesus Christ has rightly said that an opportunity for a virtuous deed must be grabbed even if it is within the reach of left hand, lest one is misguided by Satan in the short time taken by bringing the right hand in the right place.

- By Shriram Sharma Acharya

The Divine Itself is the Invisible Puppeteer

Let there be no doubt that such gigantic schemes are planned and executed under the guidance, direction and protection of That Supreme Lord of Absolute Time (Mahakal). Only He can make a mountain out of a molehill or a molehill out of a mountain. Existing as an entity beyond the confinement of dimensions, the Creator is never seen working like a limited physical being. Behind all great achievements of great men is the hand and will of That Invisible Entity.

In fact, greatness never belongs to a human being. It is the grace of God operating through man for executing HIS OWN will which outwardly appears as the greatness of a person. The vision outlined above belongs to the supreme Being who has the absolute responsibility of creation, sustenance and maintenance of this cosmos. It is HE who conducts unique experiments with HIS powers for protection of morality, perennial values and for containment of upsurge in immoral practices. How can the plan of THAT BEING fail, WHO is the Creator of the unique creature like man, who controls the entire management of the cosmos? Who can defy his will and action?

The Supreme Being is Omnipresent. Therefore, he is also present within the self of each individual. One can easily seek His favour for a desired objective by upgrading one’s status of morality and committing oneself to his assignment of welfare of humankind. Arjun and Hanuman had become worthy of Divine grace in this manner. Numerous individuals, following this prerequisites for Divine grace have been obliged by Divinity, performed great deeds and have been acknowledged by the world as great men in history. Under its mega-plan named Yug Nirman Yojna (A plan for establishing New World Order) this mission undertook numerous programmes which were planned and executed successfully to cover large sections of society. The credit for the remarkable success of these extraordinary schemes does not go to any particular person or his endeavour but to Divine inspirations and grace. The planners of the mission at its headquarters at Shantikunj, have formulated a detailed scheme and blueprints for its execution for the period covering 1989 A.D. to 2001 A.D.An environment of extraordinary zeal and courage has been created. Since Divinity ITSELF is executor of this plan, there should not be any doubt about achieving the desired objective.

The founder-manager of this mission ascribes the extraordinary feats accomplished during last eighty years of his life essentially to the grace of divine powers. He says that whatever he has been able to achieve by virtue of his ordinary intellect and meager resources is akin to lifting a hill on the little finger. Elaboration of the well known accomplishments, such as creation of enormous literature, organization of the mission, creative movements and establishment of thousands of centres of excellence (Pragya Kendras), itself would appear incredibly beyond the capacity of an individual. These are all indicative of the direction and cooperation of that expert Magician. An average mind may find it incredulous that in future this movement will be able to associate with it adequate number of talented persons and sufficient resources for its world-wide creative activities. But a decision has already been taken to achieve everything as planned. Problems are many, complex, apparently insurmountable and varied.  

The founder of the mission observes that it is not possible for his physical earthly body to tackle them adequately. Great deeds influencing the population extensively can only be performed by immortals by developing paranormal powers (Sookshma Shakti). This is the only way to infuse talents in a large number of individuals. He says that the task of reverting the inverted progressive trends all over the world is extremely difficult for which his physical body will be an impediment rather than a tool. Hence “The Strategist” of the mission (Sootra Sanchalak) has decided to work through the paranormal powers of his astral body, which is going to be fully operative within a short time here after. (In the west, the process of voluntarily, purposefully, discarding the physical body by prophets and saints for working through the subtle astral body is understood as “Resurrection”. Global expansion of ideologies and multiplication of followers long after the death of their founders are tangible evidences of this phenomenon).

Let there be no apprehensions about the movement of the train (the mission's activities) in absence of the engine (the leader). For estimating the capacity of the engine, it is necessary to appreciate the power (that invisible being) which has been pushing it forward. The architect of this mission has assured that even for the period beyond his physical disappearance, arrangements have been made for dynamic, talented personnel, necessary resources and self-propelling momentum for completion of this mega-project by the dawn of the New Millennium.  He is confident that even after casting of his mortal frame, things will work exactly as planned, Non-believers may find it incredible, but the faithful, who have trust in the competence of almighty, would not find it difficult to observe that the diving force which has been providing success to the mission on each step since last eighty years will itself take over charge of the responsibilities handed over to his ordinary dedicated follower (founder of the mission) and see to it that whatever is desired will be brought to a successful completion. The founder of the mission has written and edited the matter to be published in the periodicals till 2001 A.D. and other literature to be published in future. He is leaving behind a team of successors who will not leave any stone unturned for reaching the target. Whenever there is a crisis on this planet, which goes beyond the management of man, Divinity descends to restore order and deploys certain individuals for expressing its design. Legends tell that the holy Ganga came down from its heavenly abode to earth by God’s will but Bhagirath was chosen to chart its course.

Flowing down across the country, the holy Ganga went as a mobile shrine absolving rich and poor alike of their sins without any discrimination. In the new 21st century, Divinity is sending down ‘Enlightened Intelligence’ for the welfare of humankind as the new Ganga of this century for the entire world. Whether it is in conformity with the eternal law of nature, which does not permit a state of disorder beyond a certain limit, or according to the will and discipline enforced by the Creator, appearance of Pragya-Enlightened Intelligence and wisdom in man in the near future is a certainty. Millions will queue up to welcome, felicitate and fulfil the requirements of the New age.

Let us not think that time is too short for so many persons to reconcile to the change of order in the new millennium. Those who have faith in God and in the infallibility of His design should also have a conviction that the Supreme Power WHO is capable of changing a molehill into a mountain can also bring about this metamorphosis in the world order through the medium of a few persons with limited resources.

Some eleven years hence we shall enter in the next millennium. (This book was published in 1990 A.D.) In spite of perfectly sound health, the founder of this mission does not wish to live in this physical body that long. (He cast off his physical sheath and acquired the astral one on 2nd June 1990 A.D.). However he gives an assurance that in order to enhance his spiritual power and paranormally interact with large number of persons collectively and extensively, he will continue to work through his astral body and ensure that the Divinity Enlightened intelligence and wisdom of the New Age appears as scheduled. Those desiring the grace of God at the appropriate time for working as instruments of HIS will and thereby earning the distinction of being associated with the “Revolution of the Millennium”, need to be prepared in advance.

In the new Millennium, Divinity expects each enlightened person to become worthy of Divine grace by getting rid of vices like greed and jealousy and take part in the Divine plan of establishing the New World Order.

What matters most is to avail of the opportunity, which comes only to those who are attentive to the call of the Time Spirit (Mahakal) and show necessary courage to act accordingly.

The Twenty first Century is herewith a comprehensive, all-pervasive revolution of its own kind. With it is coming a new structure of global environment full of bliss and exuberance. The citadel of impropriety is about to collapse. It is the inevitable destiny of man, associating with which, one can have the rare privilege of participation in an epoch-building event, benefiting the entire human race and be remembered with pride by the posterity.

-By Shri Ram Sharma Acharya

Inspired and Dedicated Volunteers Required for Establishing the New World Order

In course of the next ten years, the mission proposes to accomplish quite a few projects on priority basis. (The projects in hand are already being implemented speedily.) In this period, one million such new volunteers of both sexes will be recruited and trained for creative schemes, who though finding it difficult to give their whole time, are at least prepared to donate a few hours each day regularly for this work. It is planned to associate ten million social architects for this great change.

For achieving total literacy amongst the illiterate masses, each literate person will be asked to resolve to educate an average of ten individuals and in this way express gratitude to the Creator for getting an opportunity for his/her own education. In this way, this movement will make such a contribution in spreading literacy which otherwise won’t be possible by opening any number of schools and allocating any amount of funds for literacy. As regards corrupt practices attempts will be made to make the tradition of unpretentious marriage ceremonies a norm instead of exception. Simultaneously, other regressive trends like belief in superstition and socially damaging activities would also diminish and ultimately disappear altogether. Once collaboration of each individual in the society is assured by way of regular donation of a little time and money, this small contribution itself will help in proliferation of many creative welfare schemes.

On awakening from the slumber of illiteracy, the two-third illiterate masses will find themselves in a new state of awareness and therefore will be too eager to acquire knowledge through the print media. They will yearn to quench their intellectual thirst by reading books. In such a situation, unless provided with creative literature conforming to the requirements of the new world order, they will go for cheap literature; which would be worse than being illiterate. Hence the human being of the new millennium needs new creative literature in all languages. Provision for it, though a formidable and demanding task, will have to be made.

So far, this movement for the New World Order is being carried out amongst the masses by the enlightened volunteers under the direct supervision of the headquarters at Shantikunj, but it is expected that in the days to come greatly talented individuals in many fields will also join this crusade. The latter would be the elites of the society, enlightened intellectuals, financiers, artists and great men committed to the welfare of mankind. In modern world, most persons are engaged in pursuing their narrow self interests, but soon they will be inspired and compelled by the cosmic spirit to take up assignments under compulsions of the environment of the New Age. Generally, people find it difficult to spare time, money or resources for other persons, but in a crisis, an impulse from within makes the individual take a course of action to which one is not ordinarily inclined. When prophets, saints, revolutionaries and great social reformers appear in this world, a large number of persons come forward to follow in their footsteps. The sudden appearance of millions of Bhikshus (missionaries) in the time of Buddha and Satyagrahis (passive non-co-operators towards injustice) with Gandhi shows that unless insensitive, deaf, dumb or disabled, human beings do respond to the contemporary requirements of humanity, the planners at Shantikunj are fully engaged in preparing the methodology for activating such individuals in the Twenty-first Century. They will be seen emerging with the advent of the new millennium.

As mentioned earlier, most of the holy rivers of India have their source in the Himalayas. The headquarters of this mission at Shantikunj in the Himalayas will also prove to be the fount of the virtual holy river of enlightenment, which will provide direction and inspiration to millions around the world. May God make this generator of power sufficiently strong to provide dynamism to competent persons for this noble cause!

-By Shri Ram Sharma Acharya