= Prabhat_Ranjan

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= Prabhat_Ranjan_Sarkar =
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Introduction
======================================================================
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (21 May 1921 - 21 October 1990), also known by
his spiritual name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (Ánanda Múrti meaning
"Bliss Embodiment"), and known as Bábá ("Father") to his disciples,
was a spiritual guru, philosopher, social reformer, linguist, author
and composer of 5,018 songs mostly in the Bengali language. He founded
'Ananda Marga' ('the Path of Bliss') in 1955 as a spiritual and social
organisation that continues to offer instruction in meditation and
yoga and runs numerous social service and disaster relief projects
throughout the world.

Sarkar developed his system of spiritual practice as a synthesis of
Vedic and Tantric philosophies. He denounced religious dogmas,
casteism, materialism and capitalism, considering all of these as
impediments to social harmony, progress and spiritual growth. He
described the universe as a manifestation of consciousness coming
under the bondage of its own nature, resulting in creation. His
spiritual and social philosophies embraced diversity as the law of
nature; a result of Singular Consciousness expressing itself in
numerous forms. Sarkar advocated for the welfare of humans and the
planet through his socio-economic philosophy of PROUT, which is rooted
in the idea of Neohumanism, a worldview based on inter-connectedness
of all beings.

Biography
======================================================================
Sarkar was born during the full moon of the Indian month of 'Vaeshakh'
(Buddha Purnima), on 21 May 1921 (at 6:07 in the morning) to Lakshmi
Narayan Sarkar, a homoeopathic doctor and Abharani Devi in the small
town of Jamalpur, Bihar. His family hailed from Bamunpara
(Brahmanpara), Burdwan District in West Bengal.

In 1939, Sarkar left Jamalpur for Kolkata to attend Vidyasagar College
of the University of Calcutta. Sarkar had to quit his studies to
support his family after the death of his father; from 1944 until the
early 1950s, Sarkar worked as an accountant at the Indian railways
headquarters in Jamalpur, Bihar. He taught the techniques of Yoga and
Tantra meditation to a select number of his colleagues and gradually
more people were drawn to the spiritual practices he taught.

In 1955, Sarkar founded 'Ananda Marga' ('the Path of Bliss'), a
socio-spiritual movement with a two-part mission that Sarkar stated as
"self-realization and service to all" with a spiritual practice that
synthesized Vedic and Tantric philosophies. Sarkar's ideas are
collected in the series of books called "Subháśita Samgraha", which
form part of the philosophical scriptures of 'Ananda Marga' ideology.

During the latter part of his life, his main residence was in Lake
Gardens in Kolkata, West Bengal. He also spent much time, especially
early on, in the all-round development community he founded based on
his PROUT theory at Anandanagar. Ananda Marga opened regional offices
in various countries, including the US in 1969; by 1973, he bad
established approximately 100 local centres teaching yogic and social
philosophies, with several thousand members, some living communally in
the ashrams.

In 1971, Sarkar was imprisoned in India for the alleged murder of
Ananda Marga members. On 1 April, after recovering his health, Sarkar
began fasting in support of a demand for an inquest into his
poisoning. That demand was never met. So he continued his fast for the
next five years, four months, and two days, until 2 August 1978 when
he was released from jail after having been acquitted of all charges.

In 1979, Sarkar took two world tours to meet disciples in various
countries around the world, including Switzerland, Germany, France,
Scandinavia, the Middle East, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Jamaica
and Venezuela. He was barred from entering the US by the State
Department, so instead he met his American disciples in Jamaica in
1979. Just before he died on 21 October 1990 from a heart attack, he
founded Ananda Marga Gurukula on 7 September 1990, an educational
network to preserve and develop his legacy through research, teaching
and service.

Spiritual philosophy
======================================================================
Sarkar's teachings on spiritual philosophy are a synthesis of Vedic
and Tantric philosophies. He considered himself to be "an incorrigible
optimist" in his thinking.

Cosmology
===========
Sarkar described the universe as a result of macropsychic conation -
the entire universe exists within the cosmic mind, which itself is the
first expression of consciousness coming under the bondage of its own
nature. He described the cosmological flow as being from limitless
consciousness to limited consciousness and back to limitless
consciousness, attained by meditation.

Realms of the mind
====================
According to Sarkar's philosophy the individual mind is composed of
five layers called 'Kosas':

#'Kamamaya Kosa' ("layer of desire") or "Crude Mind": is the layer
that controls the body. It operates on instinct or passion. This layer
is sometimes conscious and sometimes subconscious.
#'Manomaya Kosa' ("layer of thinking") or "Subtle Mind": is the layer
of thought and memory. This 'Kosa' gives experience of pleasure and
pain and is developed naturally through physical clash, and in 'Ananda
Marga sadhana' by 'pranayama' with cosmic ideation.
#'Atimanasa Kosa' or "Supramental Mind": is the intuitive layer. This
'Kosa' gives the capacity of intuitive dreams, clairvoyance, telepathy
and creative insight. It is developed naturally through psychic clash,
and in 'Ananda Marga sadhana' by methods of 'pratyahara' (withdrawal)
such as 'shuddhis' and 'Guru Puja'.
#'Vijinanamaya Kosa' ("layer of the special knowledge") or "Subliminal
Mind": is the layer of conscience or discrimination ('viveka') and
'vaeragya' (non-attachment). This 'Kosa' is developed naturally
through psychic clash, and its development is accelerated by the
process of 'dharana'.
#'Hiranyamaya Kosa' ("golden level") or "Subtle Causal Mind": is the
subtlest layer. Here the awareness of mind is very close to the direct
experience of "Supreme Consciousness". Here there is only the
separation of a thin veil of ignorance. This 'Kosa' is developed
naturally through the attraction for the Great, and 'dhyana'
accelerates this process for 'sadhakas' (spiritual aspirants).

Biopsychology
===============
Sarkar's "biopsychology" reimagined the traditional 'tantric' belief
in 'chakras' ("wheels") as being due to interactions of subtle
energies through nerve plexuses. He believed this connected the
endocrine glands of the neuroendocrine system with a psychic part of
the body. The philosophy of 'Ananda Marga' considers the human body as
composed of the same five 'fundamental factors' as the rest of the
universe as explained in 'Brahmachakra'. Every factor is said to be
distributed throughout the body, but governed by a 'chakra',
substations of the mind which control their own assigned areas. The
biopsychology of 'Ananda Marga' expands the concept of the seven basic
'chakras' and in general, mainly considers:

#The 'Muladhara Chakra': at the tip of the spine (controls the solid
factor).
#The 'Svadhisthana Chakra': at the level of the genitals (controls the
liquid factor and is associated with the reproductive glands).
#The 'Manipura Chakra': at the level of the navel (controls the
luminous factor and is associated with Pancreas).
#The 'Anahata Chakra': at the center of the chest (controls the aerial
factor and is associated with Thymus).
#The 'Vishuddha Chakra': at the throat (controls the ethereal factor
and is associated with the Thyroid gland).
#The 'Ajina Chakra': between the eyebrows (associated with the
Pituitary gland).
#The 'Sahasrara Chakra': at the crown of the head (associated with the
Pineal gland). Mind's propensities ('vrttis') associated with each
'Chakra' affect the glands and the hormones secreted from those glands
(hence the emotions, physical behaviour and functioning of the various
body systems). But the glands and the hormones they secrete may also
affect the mind in a chain of feedback.

Microvita
===========
"Microvita" is plural for "Microvitum" and literally means "possessing
or with micro-life". He believed that microvita are smaller and
subtler than physical atoms and subatomic particles, and in the
psychic realm contribute to "pure consciousness". Sarkar claimed that
they would be recognised by conventional science. Sarkar gave the
intuitional theory of Microvita in 1986.

Sadhana
=========
A central point in Sarkar's philosophy is the concept of 'Sadhana'. He
described 'Sadhana' as a practice for "the transformation of fearful
love into fearless love". For Sarkar, 'Sandhana' was concretized by
the practice of meditation. He recommended to his disciples the daily
practice of individual meditation and the weekly practice of
collective meditation. These weekly meetings of his disciples, called
'Dharma Chakras,' are preceded by the collective singing of a few
'Prabhat Samgiita' (or "Songs of the New Dawn", composed by P. R.
Sarkar himself) followed by 'Baba Nam Kevalam' kiirtan, then the
mantra called 'Samgacchadvam'. The mantra 'Nityam Shuddham' marks the
end of the collective meditation, then the spiritual gathering will
end with the 'Guru Puja' 'mantra'.

Law of Social Cycle
=====================
The concept of 'Varna' describes four main socio-psychological types,
whereby human psychological and physical endowment and social
motivations are expressed: the 'Vipra' (intellectual), 'Kshatriya'
(warrior), 'Vaishya' (acquisitor) and 'Shudra' (labourer). 'Varna', in
Sarkar's perspective, however is more than just a psychological trait
but rather an archetype, approximately to Michel Foucault's notion of
epistemes, which are broader frameworks of knowledge defining what is
true and real. Sarkar clarified that 'Varna' is not the same as Hindu
idea of "caste". He was an ardent advocate of building a casteless
society, in which everyone gets equal opportunities to fulfil their
highest human potential based on their physical, psychological and
spiritual strengths. To materialize this, Sarkar propounded Prout.

Sarkar's "Law of Social Cycle" applies these traits in a theory of
historical evolution, where ages rise and fall in terms of ruling
elites representing one of the above-mentioned traits. This "law"
possibly connects to the earlier cyclical historical ideas of Sri
Aurobindo, with a focus on the psychology of human development, as
well as Ibn Khaldun, among other macrohistorians ideas about cycles.
However, along with a cyclical dimension--the rise and fall of
ages--Sarkar's theory exhibits a correspondent linear dimension, in
that economic and technological "progress" are considered critical in
terms of meeting the changing material conditions of life. Ultimately,
for Sarkar, true progress has to prioritise development in the
spiritual dimension.

Spirituality for Sarkar is defined as the individual realising the
"true self". In addition to yogic meditational practices and purity of
thought and deed, Sarkar attached great importance to selfless social
service as a means of liberation. Sarkar considered it necessary for
the social arrangements to support the inner development of human
beings and rejected both capitalism and communism as appropriate
social structures for humanity to move forward to the golden age of a
balanced way of life sustaining all-round progress. A serious problem
with capitalism was according to Sarkar the concentration of wealth in
a few hands and stoppages in the rolling of money which he considered
root causes of recessions, even depressions. A spiritual way of life,
however, would in no way be divorced from creating structures that
help meet the basic, though ever changing, needs--food, housing,
clothing, health and education.

Sarkar developed both 'Ánanda Márga' and the 'Progressive Utilization
Theory' as practical means to encourage harmony and co-operation to
help society escape this proposed cycle. Sarkar argues that once the
social cycle is understood and 'sadvipras' evolved, then the periods
of exploitation can be largely reduced, if not eliminated. With
leadership that is representative of all aspects of the 'varnas'--that
is, the leader engaged in service, who is courageous, who uses the
intellect for the benefits of others, and who has
innovative/entrepreneurial skills--the cycle can become an upward
spiral.
Sarkar's concept of 'karma samnyasa' refers to the principle that a
yogi becomes a person with all-round development and a balanced mind,
that he called a 'sadvipra'; and that this is accomplished by someone
who remains fixed on the "supreme" consciousness through
transformative personal practices and engaging in the politics of
social liberation as a form of service work.

PROUT: Progressive Utilisation Theory
=======================================
By 1959, Sarkar had developed the socio-economic Progressive
Utilization Theory (Prout). In 1961, the theory was formally outlined
in his book 'Ananda Sutram', published under his spiritual name Shrii
Shrii Ánandamúrti. In 1968, Sarkar founded the organisation "Proutist
Block of India" (PBI), to further the ideals of his theory through
political and social action. The PBI was soon superseded by "Proutist
Universal" (PU), which primarily consists of five federations
(students, intellectuals, farmers, labour, and youth).

A Prout economy is cooperative and decentralised. Its focus is
collective welfare rather than to profit, without neglecting
individuals and their merits. "Progressive utilization" refers to the
optimising the use of natural, industrial and human resources on a
sustainable basis for the entire ecosystem. The theory claims to
overcome the limitations of both capitalism and communism. It is
inline with Sarkar's social theory of the Law of Social Cycle. The
theory aims to encompass the whole of individual and collective
existence for all beings, including physical, educational, social,
political, mental, cultural and spiritual.

Neohumanism 
===================================================================
In 1982, Sarkar extended his writings on the subject of human society
with the introduction of his new theory of Neohumanism. If humanism
tends to contemplate only humans in a human-centric view, Neohumanism,
according to Sarkar's theory, is instead the elevation of humanism to
universalism. Sarkar said "When the underlying spirit of humanism is
extended to everything, animate and inanimate, in this universe - I
have designated this as "Neohumanism". This Neohumanism will elevate
humanism to universalism, the cult of love for all created beings of
this universe." Neohumanism is said to prefer existential value over
utility value for all living beings.

Sarkar's Neohumanism places great emphasis on rationality and
encourages what he calls a "protospiritual mentality," a process of
continually recognising each object with which we come in contact,
externally or internally, as a manifestation of the Supreme
Consciousness (Brahma). According to Sarkar, rationality helps to give
rise to devotion, which he consider to be the "highest and most
valuable treasure of humanity". In Sarkar's view, Neohumanism leads to
the liberation of human intellect from the constraints of imposed
dogma and the principle of selfish pleasure and psychic complexes
helping to bridge the gap between the inner and outer worlds.

Culture
=========
In his series of discourses 'Talks on Prout', given in Ranchi in July
1961, Sarkar makes a distinction between the terms "culture" and
"customs". According to Sarkar "culture... is the collective name for
different expressions of life..." but "...all of society has the same
culture. There are local variations in the mode or state of cultural
expression, but the expression is universal... These local variations
are called customs... Thus local modes of expression bearing local or
group specialities are customs, but the expression itself is culture.
Therefore it is a mistake to readjust boundaries on the basis of
language and culture. Indian culture and the culture of the world are
one and the same."

The philosophy of Sarkar reinterprets the general concept of culture
by inserting it into a new universalistic outlook. As described by
Antonello Maggipinto:

Works
======================================================================
Although Sarkar spent only seventeen years of his life working
full-time for his organisations (1966-1971 and 1978-1990), he left
behind a vast legacy, including over 250 books written on a wide
variety of topics. Many of this books are compilations or collections
of speeches given by him during spiritual or social meetings. He is
primarily known as the spiritual teacher behind Ananda Marga, but
Sarkar wrote over 1500 pages on his socio-politico-economic
Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), with several thousand more
pages dedicated to linguistics and the study of languages; Sarkar's
writings on linguistics included, among other works, 'Shabda Cayanika'
("A Collection of Words"), an unfinished, twenty-six volume dictated
encyclopaedia on the Bengali language. Beyond this, he wrote books on
sociology, agriculture, history, literature, education, medicine,
cosmology, and philosophy, also notably founding the philosophy of
Neohumanism in 1982 and the Theory of Microvita in 1986. In his Theory
of Microvita, Sarkar "believed that the atoms and the subatomic
particles throughout the boundless universe are imbued with life."

Music
=======
In 1982 Sarkar started composing songs. In eight years, until the date
of his death, He completed the composition of 5018 songs in multiple
languages. His collection of songs is called Prabhat Samgiita ("Songs
of the New Dawn").

See also
======================================================================
* List of founders of religious traditions
* List of Hindu gurus and sants
* List of philosophers
* Music of Bengal
* List of political parties in India
* List of Bengalis
* List of Indian writers
* Hindu reform movements
*Kaosikii dance

Bibliography
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*Inayatullah, Sohail,
[http://www.meta-future.org/uploads/7/7/3/2/7732993/inayatullah_sarkars_spiritual_dialectics_futures_journal.pdf
"Sarkar's spiritual-dialectics: an unconventional view of the
future"]. 'Futures', February 1988, retrieved June 2013.
* [http://www.metafuture.org/Books/Understanding_Sarkar_Brill.htm
authors book page].
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External links
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*
*
* [http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sarkar,_Prabhatranjan
Sarkar, Prabhatranjan Banglapedia]
*
[https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/interview/story/19780815-my-interpretation-of-violence-can-co-exist-with-ahimsa-anandmurti-818549-2015-02-03
Sarkar Interview]
* [https://sarkarverse.org/wiki/Prabhat_Ranjan_Sarkar Prabhat Ranjan
Sarkar - Sarkarverse]
*
[https://www.veethi.com/india-people/prabhat_ranjan_sarkar-profile-5724-30.htm
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar - Veethi]
*
https://web.archive.org/web/20200629230159/http://www.gurusofindia.org/Home/PrabhatRanjanSarkar
*
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/Anandamurti-shrii-shrii-1923-1990-prabhat-ranjan-sarkar
Works by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar]
*
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/42493010/A-Brief-Biography-of-Shri-Anandamurti-or-P-R-Sarkar
A Brief Biography of Shri Anandamurti or P R Sarkar]
*
https://thinkindiaquarterly.org/index.php/think-india/article/view/18106

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