The power of mass media is known to everybody and Ananda Marga advocate the proper use of technology for the welfare of all. The following letter is the spontaneous call that might resonate in the mind and heart of many people facing the challenge of keeping a spiritual flow in the midst of the daily chores and occupations.
Namaskar Sisters and Brothers,
This whole idea occurred to me a few days ago. It was hatched in my 3 day car ride back from the retreat in Ananda Kanan this summer. My cd player began to destroy cd’s so i had to stop listening to kirtan… long drive, so i tried the radio…. There is so much garbage on the radio… 98% toxic… there was virtually no where go get interesting conversations, music was mostly pop culture (pseudo-culture).. very toxic… plenty of right wing propaganda, confused fundamentalism, talk radio about greed and extolling the virtues of capitalism… really toxic….. It occurred to me that the most difficulty part of my job as a healer is reaching peoples minds…. they are so indoctrinated with false beliefs, which keep them trapped… AND there is hardly anywhere where they can get something uplifting, and truly sentient….
Then the idea gradually took shape: AMBC – Ananda Marga Broadcasting Cooperative…. an umbrella organization for (1) A Monthly Journal that we have: (Crimson Dawn), (2) an Ananda Marga Radio, and (3) a video broadcast as in UStream-TV and then (4) a “best of clips” uploaded onto our own YouTube channel.
from my point of view there are advantages to video as in Youtube and other advantages to radio…
For YouTube video, it reaches potentially a very large audience… YouTube demands your attention, and can’t do much else while watching because it is visual… it’s good to introduce people – but to hold them is needed something else.
For a radio, the advantage is you can play while driving the car or walking down the street, you can play while cooking diner or while cleaning the house. Radio becomes the “soundtrack to your life”…. You could play radio music as the background to a gathering of people. If i could find sentient radio, that is what i would listen to pretty much all the time……
I envision 3 channels, i would say 1 could be all Kiirtan all the time, 1 channel could be a study in Prabhat Samgiita… each Baba song, a deep dive into devotion… there is enough material for a whole channel devoted to that…. with commentary and translations to better understand… The 3rd channel could be talk radio… there are so many things we could share on talk radio… here is a list of some of the things that occurred to me:
1. Interviews of various workers and the various projects around the sector and around the globe
2 Interview someone releasing a book on spirituality
3. Story time, uplifting stories, even Radio Drama’s (like old time radio shows)…. maybe bring to life some of Baba’ devotional and fictional stories, maybe some real life stories too.
4. A News hour program looking at the news of the day from a Proutist perspective…. We could have correspondents in various regions reporting in with their commentary and news.
5. Svadhyaya hour – reading and discussing Baba’s works – scriptures
6. English language learning hour with “Slow News” in intermediate English for the brothers and sisters trying to learn English
7. Sentient cooking hour
8. Interview in depth on the AM yoga practices
9. Neohuminist hour
10. Education from a spiritual point of view, discussion with educators in the field, also about rising children
11. when a disaster hits, there is a place where Margies could meet and mobilize
12. We could get a BBC news feed for the “Top of the Hour” news in brief, followed by a AMBC news brief.
13. A natural health and healing hour hosted by a doctor or other health care providerRegarding the financial aspect we could find a way to share income with the content generators (Co-operative) broadcasting. We can promote AMBC as a “Listeners Supported” channel much like PBS. The platform could have a “Tip Jar” to encourage donations, we could have fund raising drives like PBS and ask for monthly recurring contributions. We could take ads for sentient products and services, advertise retreats, yoga and meditation classes….
I invite the Margii to get in touch and talk about, generate more ideas and with the help of the Public Relations Department of Ananda Marga we can start implementing something and grow from there.
Mukunda, (503) 367-7217
The Public Relations Department of Ananda Marga in New York Sector has already several projects for promoting Ananda Marga. One of them is Crimson Dawn. AMBC Ananda Marga Broadcasting Cooperative can bring an entire new level of involvement and development. Responding to the solicitation of Mukunda here are a few Channels that have been set up on the fly or re-adjusted for the need:
It is now imperative to ask for help and cooperation in order to make the idea a real platform. Don’t hesitate to comment to prs.nys@gmail.com or michowen99@gmail.com . We will need some commitments for a committee able to work and advice at the same time. You are most welcome!
AMBC (TM) Ananda Marga Broadcasting Cooperative