Preface
Humanity now stands at the crossroads. Human society is at the tail end of the Kali yuga, the dark age - an era when immoral forces have gained total control over political, economic, and other material resources of the world, which benefit only the privileged few who have access to them. The larger humanity bleeds, suffering under the sheer weight of unjust political, economic and social systems. This is true in all countries of the world. Human beings are oppressed not only by power-hungry politicians, but also blood-thristy, supranational corporate giants. This is the curse of this dark age. Materialism has completely corrupted the bodies and minds of men. Moralists are very few. Those few moralists who stand up against the gross injustices are silenced, sometimes killed.
It has been said that when dharma surrenders to the powerful immoral forces, Parama Purusa is forced to take a human form to restore dharma to its rightful position in the world.
It is for this very purpose that Lord Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji, affectionately known as Baba to His devotees, has come to this little planet and created Ananda Marga to fulfill His Mission of establishing a universal human society based on cardinal human values and neo-humanism.
Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people have been enchanted by the lofty but practical ideals of this great personality, and their numbers are growing. He has exhorted His devotees to follow a simple life of sadhana, service and sacrifice.
Like some other monks and nuns of Ananda Marga, I have been blessed to have been lovingly guided by Him at every step of my spiritual journey. He has dispensed His blessing in many ways. Whatever the mode of dispensing His blessing, I have benefited tremendously, so that I can now be a better instrument to serve the suffering humanity as a renunciate.
"Living With Baba" is just a humble attempt to highlight some of the immensely rich and wonderous experiences I have had as a disciple of Baba. I know I will never be able to record my stories in their original richness and depth. However, I feel that I must try to recapture some of those wonderful experiences, just to show spiritual aspirants, and those who might be inspired to adopt a spiritual life, a glimpse of the unfathomable personality of Baba.
The work of publishing a book inevitably involves many helping hands. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped one way or another in this effort. My deep gratitude goes to sister Gayatrii and her son Taraka, of the United States for their untiring efforts at stitching together these stories in a readable form. I am also grateful to brother Birendra, Lokeshvara, Cetan and the wonderful team of Margiis from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for their efforts at publishing this book. My deepest gratitude goes to my beloved Baba, without whose inspiration this book would never have seen the light of print.
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