Money poisons religiosity, sacred learning

People do want religious institutes and preachers and advisers. Only thing is, someone else should have the idea of supporting them. They are to be merely receivers of benefits. That is in a way most natural with the original Hindu ideals. Religiosity or sacred learning gets poisoned as soon as the idea of money-getting or money-losing poison touches it. 

Founder says , “When in the highest fervor of devotion, any saint hands over his books to a devotee ( and truly devotional is mostly poor one ), how can he wipe out every work done , with the poison of demand of its price ? On the other hand , a rich man that goes to him as a religious friend , to quote an actual instance , on being treated according to his status  with a lunch costing rupees three, come forth to pay a two -anna piece , the normal price of a pamphlet, which he presents him with.His face is glowing with the idea,” I would not take a pamphlet copy free as others do. I will straight way pay it off “, A rich man would be expecting praises for having paid off his two annas for the copy, although possessing lacs. What was expected of him was,” Send your printer’s bill to me for your next pamphlet “, or  a cheque of a substantial amount for other publications.

There are several points of wrong mentalities, which the Founder had come across and which have shocked him on being smitten with the contrast between the talked – over and the actual religiosity.

A demand of some return for some great relief received from Mother, on the Founder’s exerting hard and the consequent removing of some unbearable hardship, to be used only for the furtherance of an institute , or for assisting a religious person in his religious work, is called begging.

The logic underlying the mentality has been explained above : ” Religious help is to be always free.“ Because religious work is invaluable just like saving of a drowning man, therefore is expected to be rendered  and valued as valueless. What is invaluable soon gets depreciated to be valueless, if the feeling gratitude dies.

Founder says : You save a rich man’s son from being sentenced, you see that a discarded daughter is received in her husband’s home, you avert a danger of any disappointed person prepared to commit suicide by your constant day and night praying to Mother for maintaining his equilibrium. do anything, even helping a rich man to get over an incurable disease, or speaking in terms of money itself, to get thousands. Die for them, but a word about contributing to the sacred cause of religious furtherance is called BEGGARY. This modern mentality must change.The religious belief, once so very genuine and the mentality of  ” the saints oblige us  be accepting ” has erelong disappeared.

Please don’t think this to be an outflow of  a personal injustice . I am striving hard for a change in the mentality of the whole modern religious world. Don’t be dazzled by richness of few counted saints. Study the problem deeply. A question from one of the worshipped saint’s life will open eyes, ” People came to see me in crowds and asked for instruction. People came and made me talk for three days and nights , without giving me moment’s rest. They did not even ask me whether I had eaten “.

It must be said, this is quite an honest mentality which some few and not simply an excuse for not giving. Surely there are some that give  with an honest understanding, viz., that the saints need nothing but that they must support them for their own ” Punyam ” and future welfare.

I am only explaining the embarrassing situation  in matter of finance , for the new entrant in the realm of religion , as a reformer. In India, the agreeability of circumstances  for any religious reform is this belief. Those who are Gadipatis  and like Maharajas of  the Vaishnava sect, never think of the advancing times . It is no part of their duty to help the world to being more religious. At best, their duty is to continuously play the same part, to them from the times of their forefathers. 

There is another class, which is for dittoing the past and playing the same old gramophone records, blankly refusing to see look at the changed conditions and burning questions of the day. They live in the ideal world of the Vedas, Gitas and Puranas  and refuse to descend even one step to study the actual step of facts  and try to solve the perplexing questions  of the modern life . this class is fairly rich, but it prefers idealisms.

There is still another class of high religious souls, who believe in fearful awe-inspiring distance , silence and unapproachability. To have  a darshan would be more than enough  to make a man perfect – the breath-blowing class.

Inferior values we are not referring to. There is a class, which consists of some living on the superstitions  and fears of human nature , some of the avariciousness , some on religious ignorance of the rich educated class that has left all contact with religious routine, some on the blind faith of the illiterates etc.

It has been often put forth as an argument that India is poor.This argument is simple nonsense.  If we judge the charitableness on the basis of percentage , where is the question of poverty ? Do westernized Hindu not know that in America religious lectures are actually paid for ? Formerly, people and public loved to serve  religion. There was an innocent pride  of greatness  in helping religion, there was a belief , charity would bring more money, peace and happiness. So, there , a change is required to be brought about.

Is the world going to stop its working, even if there is not a single man on earth who believe in God ? Don’t worry on that score. Mother’s  Message of Mai-ism says on the very first page ,  ” Mai-ism is one’s own personal religion to be adopted after the age of discretion and not one’s ancestral religion by birth. ” [ PAGE 143 TO 145 ]

EXTRACT FROM : MAI-ISM AUTHOR : MAI SWARUP MAI MARKAND  , MAI NIWAS, SARASWATI ROAD END, SANTA CRUZ WEST, MUMBAI 400054 INDIA.