By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
Every New Year, everybody looks forward to a change in one’s life. A major one, for the better.
Mine came about 44 years ago. Yes, that’s how young I am. It was the first semester of school year 1976-1977. It was supposed to be my last year in college. I just had to go through 36 units or two semesters and then one summer of practicum in a factory.
After four years of academic struggle, I wanted change from the “good life” of being a carefree, galivanting student. That was how we were at UP at Los Banos. I sort of got lost in that campus where freedom was unlimited. Then it dawned on me that I was not getting any younger, that I had to make something out of myself. Some revolutionary change in my life had to come, and it came.
We had a fraternity brod then who was into yoga and I approached him because I saw the dramatic change in him. He used to be one of us. We were galivanting—often drunk whenever we got the chance. How we avoided getting kicked out is altogether another story. And he totally changed. He sort of became a saint. He became totally sober, always rushing back to the dorm to take a bath and do his meditation and yoga exercises. From his usual drunken look, his face brightened, and his eyes became piercingly clear.
He invited me to join his Ananda Marga Yoga group doing meditation every early Friday evening on a corner of one of the university’s grounds. It was a small group of about five fellow students. They taught me the rudiments of meditation, after which we collectively partook of a vegetarian meal prepared by the lady member and brought to that spot.
A few weeks after, a yoga teacher in orange upper garment and white pants and was wearing simple sandals. He had a long blond beard with matching mustache and long blond hair, combed backwards as how philosophers in the middle ages might have looked. He was caucasian, obviously an American. When he asked me, “How are you brother?”, there was a magical warmth to it. A warmth of being a true friend. Many years after, I found out he was not one of those hippies who accidentally got into yoga. He had a PhD in psychology from a prestigious university in the US but gave up everything to become a monk, a spiritual teacher.
That semester with my new life (a vegetarian, regular in meditation and yoga exercises), I did very well in my academics. It was a total reversal of how I used to be. Then something happened. Some members from Metro Manila would be coming to give us a lecture. It turned out the small group included Dennis Teves and former DENR Secretary Gina Lopez (bless their souls). From the lectures of Dennis Teves, I came to know that Ananda Marga was not just about meditation or yoga. It is for spiritual progress and for that to be achieved society has to change.
While spirituality can change the values of people, so many cannot achieve that unless there is reform in all corners of society. Hungry or dirt poor people would be thinking more of where to get the next meal than spirituality. A victim of injustice like one whose daughter was raped by a politician would be preoccupied with attaining justice than the niceties of a sermon or of philosophies.
So there has to be justice where economic resources are rationally distributed and inequity is kept to the minimum. Where political power is not gained by those with self-interest at heart, but by those who are competent in leading people for the collective progress not just for a few cronies and relatives. This could only happen if the leadership is competent and moral. Morality can only be maintained by those who are spiritually evolved. As Arthur Koestler said, only the saint and the revolutionary can save us.
In short, the yoga group I joined had a socio-economic and political philosophy (called the PROgressive Utilization Theory – PROUT) and as I delved into the books on this, I wanted to know more. Although at first, I got convinced by it, I though some professional evaluation had to be undertaken. And I had to do it myself. I thought, “If I have to live by some rules for a life-goal then I have to be convinced it was the right thing.”
There was no other way but to study the social sciences—political science, economics, philosophy, sociology and other subjects dealing with society. I had that feeling that I found the way, for my personal contentment, if not salvation, and a role to play in a comprehensive change in society.
There was no college of social sciences then in UP Los Banos (it has one now) so I transferred to a campus where there was such a department. So I came up to UP Baguio where I majored in political science and economics. I got the chance to know more about capitalism, communism (Karl Marx), and other theories. Comparing these to the socio-economic and political philosophy of Ananda Marga which was propounded in 1955, all the earlier ones were deficient in so many respects. The one with the worst defect is Marxism or communism—it is based on the premise that man or people are just economic beings. Solve their economic needs and everything would be OK. On the other hand, PROUT’s premise is that man is a spiritual being. Taking care of his economic needs is just the base from which his spiritual progress can proceed to satisfy his spiritual goal— either to be with the Holy Father or to finally be one with Him.
Even with respect to details on how a society should progress with respect to worldly matters like socio-economic and political systems, PROUT by far is the most complete compared to the rest. Even with respect to how to attain social change or how to implement its philosophy on socio-economic and political matters.
So where is Ananda Marga now? It is now all over the world. Even in Russia which was considered to be impenetrable to groups that want to implement social change.
If a movement is limited to one country, it can be squeezed or controlled by more powerful countries and would be unable to achieve real progress for its people. Thus, any global change can only be achieved by a global movement.** (More next week.)
