লালন ফকিরের মাজার

লালন ফকিরের মাজার

Tuesday 10 April 2012

I'M HARUN BAUL SPEAKING (10)


Global desire fortransition to sustainabilitymay remain ever unfulfilled. There are many reasons for this, but foremost is the inevitability of humanspartial ignorance. We shall be forever incomplete.
আশা পূর্ণ হলো না,
আমার মনের বাসনা (লালন ফকির)
Asha Purna holo na,
Amar moner bashona. (Lalon Fakir).
(Desires are not fulfilled, so my hopes remain).

Humans desire. They desire sustainabilitysustainability for longevity of life. This is at the core of human hope and desire. Ones longevity of life is believed to rest in ones state of physical and spiritual health requiring knowledge of food intake, conjugality, physical labouring and environmentalism. All these are rather more personal than societal. Thus, transition to sustainability includes great personal discipline.

According to my guru Aziz Shah Fakir, acquiring practicable know-how of self-knowing, among others, is a starting point for achieving self(reliant)-sustainability. Ones health, spiritual state, hopes and desiresall manifest the state of ones self-knowing and exist in a synergistic relationship, though they vary from person to person, culture to culture and environment to environment.

In Bangladesh culture people strongly desire descendants. A fulfillment of this desire fulfills the vacuum of non-existence generated at death. People desire to live after their death by leaving behind a genealogy.

Aziz Shah Fakir emphasises that desire for a genealogical sustainability warrants other forms of sustainability: social sustainability, technological sustainability and environmental sustainability (STES). He does not value economic sustainability, though pundits pay almost a full weight on economic sustainability alone.

The Fakir considers economic sustainability, as if, a ghost. Economic sustainability does not have its own footings to sustain itself. According to Aziz Shah Fakir, economic sustainability is not a reality by itself. It is just a synergy between social, technological and environmental reality of a given society in a given time.

Economic sustainability is fluctuating and fragile. If social and environmental sustainability can be properly maintained through appropriate technology systems (Lagsoi and Jugasoi Prajukti), only then can a desirable economic condition prevail, and vice versa. My guru also stresses that a tiny elite, rich and powerful group of people in Bangladesh, deprives the majority of their economic share, by perpetually practising and maintaining an unsustainable culture of corruption.

The present phenomena of Cintai (mugging) and killing in Bangladesh are socio-natural reprisals occurring of their own accord in a corrupt culture. These are inevitable until we make the transition to a sustainable society for the future.

Aziz Shah Fakir prophesies that the current trend of socio-natural reprisal will continue to increase with the increase of the corruption culture of Bangladesh, and vice-versa. This rate of increase may be leading climactically to a natural process that might end the present unsustainable societal condition in Bangladesh. People in general want a society free from corruption and mugging. Amidst dreadfulness, Cintai of illegal money and wealth, and killing off muggers indicate a better future.

মেঘ দেখে কেউ করিসনে ভয়
আরালে তার সূর্য হাঁসে,
হারা শশীর হারা আলো
অন্ধকারেই ফিরে আসে।
Megh dekhe kew korisnare bhoy
Arale tar surjya ha(n)she,
Hara shashir hara alo
andkokarei fire ashe.
(Do not be frightened seeing the clouds, for the sun smiles behind.
The lost light of the moon returns only at the fall of night).

People ignorantly talk about STES (social, technological and economic sustainability) as if each component has the same importance. They are wrongand wrongly adopt various means to sustain their mindset of these three forms of sustainability. Intellectual Pundits developing free, rational and secular thinking believe they can use terms to satisfy their thoughts. Transplantation of knowledge by Baul gurus to their initiates differs largely from that of pundits in its practical nature. Health education is an example. Bauls define health as a state of self-reliant body energy that can resist diseases and slow down aging. The keys to their self-reliant health management are: moderate intake of food at the time of hunger, drinking of water freely between meals, accumulation of body energy (janma lota) through sexo-yogic practices and spiritual ecstasy/orgasm. These generate a self-reliant and sustainable way of life allowing people to discharge their social, religious and environmental obligations. How many pundits would support the Baul views in context?

Bauls differ from pundits in their sophistical views of poverty. In their view, poverty which is culturally acceptable and geo-environmentally unavoidable in Bangladesh can be assessed in terms of the Hindu-Muslim-Buddhist philosophy which values a non-materialistic life-style. The former is practised by the Fakirs of traditional societies who live their lives at subsistence level - the level of ecosystemic norms.

As most of the non-Judao-Christian religions of the worldand some Christians - prescribe such living, this type of poverty in Bangladesh may be understood as the poverty of religio-environmental reality and ethical beliefs and practices which preserve the norms of the eco-environmental systems. Baul Fakirs of Bangladesh are included in this category. They hardly eat meat and eggs; and outwardly live their lives in poverty.

Inwardly, they are seen to be very happy and relaxed. We hear from pundits to say that Bhutan is one of the poorest countries of the world, though Bhutans people have adequate food, clothing and shelter, as well as works of art and music, and more time for families and friends than most wealthy nations of the world. It is, therefore, conceivable that the poverty of the Baul Fakirs and that of the Bhutanees needs no remediation: it is environmentally benign, and an exemplar of sustainability.

Bauls differ from Mullahs (Muslim clerics) in acquiring sustainability. Mullahsmeans are to snatch Allahs favour for them through motivating Allah during their boring and lengthy quarrelsome Monajat (grace-seeking) sessions in the prayer. Bauls believe in techno-spiritual means. Techno-spiritual means is defined by Bauls as self-reliant technologies for stable health and peace management in humansdaily lives. These skills derive from cultural wisdoman outcome of societal experiences in applying scriptural revelations successfully in practical contexts. The blessed people possess wisdom of the body manifesting as techno-spiritual sustainability.

Bauls believe that the lineage of Murshids (gurus) are amongst the blessed people. They exercise techno-spiritual sustainability by means of arithmetic oftransition’ –paribartan- the transition through technological changes, not intellectual shifts. Gune pore sharli dofa korli rofa gole male (In all counting and assessing your task ends in mere disputes).
This suggests that people consider arithmetical computation of their future without considering the law of universal (nitya) transition. To progress the transition to a sustainable community, Aziz Shah Fakir suggests to progress the transition taking a straight path, the path of the blessed people, the path followed by their lineagethe Sufi/Baul traditions.

The present day Baul tradition of Bangladesh follow the blessed personages as their guide in following the straight path of transition. Bauls accept the straight path as the source of undisputable and unmistakable way forward as well as the source of knowledge base for self-development. Who are the blessed? The blessed are those who have transformed their mortality to ever-sustainabilityimmortality by dint of their contributions to social, technological and environmental reforms for sustainability.

Bauls contemplate in following the straight path of their gurus to progress a social, technological and environmental transition towards sustainability. Lalon sings:

ভবে মানুষ গুরু নিষ্ঠ যার।

সর্ব সাধনা সিদ্ধ হয় তার।

..
বহু তর্কে দিন বইয়ে যায়

বিশ্বাসে ধান নিকটে পাই

সিরাজ সাঁই ডেকে বলে লালনকে

কুতর্কের দোকান খুলিস না আর।

Vobe manusa guru nistha jar.
Sarva sadhana siddha hoy tar.
...
Bohu torkey din boia jai
Biswase dhon nikote pai
Siraj Sain deke bole Lalon ke
Kutarker dokan khulish ne ar.
(Those who can establish faith in man-guru, their desires are achievable.
...
Sophistry results in wasting of time, while faith begets desired results at ease.
Seraj Sain (guru of Lalon) suggests Lalon not to transact sophistry).

To accomplish sarva sadhana (all-desires), Bauls believe in gurusdirectives as scriptural. Guru vakya shar, ar sab bahya gnan (Guru's lessons are the truth, others are external to it). Wisdom still springs universally through the echoes of words and deeds of man-guru. The sources of knowledge base of the present are mostly the products of pundits.

These are clearly superficial. Debates amongst pundits themselves on contemporary social, religious, political, environmental and economic issues suggest that pundit's views on any of these issues are largely unclear. They lack wisdom, and are therefore, ineffective. Debates therefore continue. Unfettered arguments generated from free thinking are presented in the debates. Outcomes do not sustain for a long. They are rejected by other pundits.

Still, Pundits call the outcomes innovative and self-explanatory - as if the end-users of their innovations need no guide for right understanding and application. People with varying aptitudes freely adopt punditsinnovations in diverse ways. They are quickly misguided due to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Amongst Islamic pundits, members of Tablighi Jamaat are the living exemplars. Their distortions and interpretations of Islam are unfettered. 'Islam' - the religion of five pillars (six pillars according to Tablighi movement) is the religion of peace and the only nominated religion by Allah over all other religions. The truth regarding this faith perhaps lies elsewhere. Such a faith is maintained by Tablighi Jamaat because like free thinker pundits, Tablighi people have turned away from recognising and obeying man-guru - the blessed.

My man-guru Darvish Aziz Shah Fakir gives his discourse to me on the grammar of desiring. A pundit living in village Bangladesh should not desire building up his food and drinking habits similar to that of pundits living in the city. Such a desire is the result of unfettered/uninformed free thinking. Fulfillment may be ever far reaching for them.

The need for knowing the blue-print of the straight path to the transition to sustainability is undeniably desirable, especially in the environment of our mysterious nature. Baul naturalists (man-guru) show the straight path differently to people depending on their intellectual adaptability. The prophet (sm.) advised people in this way

তোমরা সব খলিফা 'লে, যে যা বুঝে দিও বলে।
অসৎ অভক্ত জনা, গুপ্ত ভেদ তারে বলো না
বলিলেও সে মানিবে না, করবে অহঙ্কারী।

Tomra sab Kalifa role,
Je ja bujhe dio bole.
Asat abhakta jona
Gupta bhed tare bolona
Bolileo se manibena
Karbe ahangkari. ( Lalon)

Interpretation:
(Administrative Chiefs were advised by the Prophet (sm) to advise people in accordance with their levels of understanding. Dishonest and disobedient people should not be told the secrets, for they would not accept).

Bauls are, though, apparently illiterate and often deliberately live in a poverty-like situation, their greedless life style with high spirituality transcends poverty. Baulsdemonstration of life management is pro-environmental to progress the transition to sustainability. They stress that people's undesirable physical and spiritual health causes present social and technological problems consequencing the undercurrent of environmental problems which synergistically create economic problems.

According to Aziz Shah Fakir, economic problems are largely outcomes of the synergy between degraded socio-spirituality, inappropriate technologies and an unhealthy environment. A fix of these factors could regenerate this synergy restoring holistic sustainability.

Bauls aspire to restore sustainability by restoring technology of nature, and strengthening values and spirituality in people. Aziz Shah Fakir preaches that nature itself is the best teacher for those who want to learn from the technology of natureecological manifestation and management. Bauls support scientific findings of air and water pollution through chemical fumes and chemical run-off, while they discard notions of air and water pollution as caused by the natural decomposition of biodegradable things. Bauls stress that decomposed things cause organisms and support life.

Many animals, fish and birds live on dead and/or decomposed things - wastes. Vultures, crows and many other species and organisms sustain consuming wastes only. Crops, plants and trees grow and live on decomposed organisms and clean them. If dead animals are all buried in the ground and all kitchen wastes are incinerated in the name of environmental cleanliness, then it is more a cleaning act of biodiversity. Some pundits of Bangladesh suggest cultivation of only large species of fish, for large fish are more profitable. These pundits do not think about king fisher, river gull and many other marine birds and snakes which are dependent on small fish.



Dated 07/11/2002 www.bangladesh-web.com

Md. Amzad Hossain

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