The Ánanda Vacanámrtam (“Blissful Discourses”) series assembles all the known General Darshan discourses given by Márga Guru Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. General Darshan (GD) speeches, or discourses, were those given to Ananda Marga members, often as a part of the daily routine, in whatever locality Márga Guru happened to be staying in at the time. Normally briefer and lighter in tone (though no less profound in their fundamental meanings) than the discourses given on the formal occasions of Dharma Mahácakra (DMC), these talks were sometimes delivered in a very intimate way to relatively small groups of Margis.

The Ánanda Vacanámrtam series was begun in 1978 with the GD discourses given by the author at that time; it then kept pace with the GD discourses that the author gave over the subsequent six years. Starting with Part 23, the series has included GD speeches given before 1978.

Some of the discourses in the Ánanda Vacanámrtam series were recovered in the form of typed discourse notes; or if recovered from an established magazine of the mission, then recovered in the form of an article that appeared to be a summary or approximation of the original discourse, but perhaps not an exact rendering. It has been thought advisable to locate such discourses separately within each part of Ánanda Vacanámrtam, in an appendix called “From the Notebooks of Devotees”. In the present volume, the discourse “You Must Live Glorious Lives” will be found in that appendix in the last pages of the book. Writers who wish to quote from this discourse should attribute the material to the “Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 33 appendix”.

To assist researchers, it is our policy to indicate here – in addition to the original language of each speech, the date and place, by whom it was translated, and where, if other than in this book, it was originally published – whether or not a tape of the speech is in existence. At the time of this printing, however, not all the cataloguing of tapes has been finished. Further information as to tapes will be given in future printings.

In the cases of some of the discourses published here, no written record was found of the language in which the discourse was given; but if the language could be clearly inferred from the location and other circumstances of the discourse, we have cited that language.

Footnotes by the editors have all been signed “–Eds.” Unsigned footnotes are those of the author.

Many readers are concerned that the author’s speeches, as published, should adhere as closely as possible to the precise wording the author used in speaking. For this reason, in the case of discourses given originally in English, the editors have not altered pronouns and other terms which the author in his lifetime considered “common-gender” words. As the author once said, “You know, ‘man’ is not only masculine gender, ‘man’ is common gender also. ‘Man is mortal’ – here ‘man’ means both male and female.”

The author was a natural advocate of women’s rights and on at least one occasion indicated that “lopsided justice” in language should be eliminated at some future date. In keeping with this guideline and with present-day trends, it is our policy in the case of translated discourses (where the published wording will necessarily be that of the translators) to use gender-neutral language.

Square brackets [   ] in the text are used to indicate translations by the editors or other editorial insertions. Round brackets (   ) indicate a word or words originally given by the author.

Twenty-nine of the discourses presented here, that is, all except three of the discourses in this book, were given in Hindi in or around the “Sádhaná Year”, 1969. These twenty-nine as well as other discourses from that period were recorded in the form of handwritten notes taken by Ác. Vijayánanda Avt. The others from that period have already been published in Bengali in Tattva Kaomudii Parts 2 and 3, and in both Bengali and English in Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell Parts 4 and 5.

The [[twenty-nine discourses]] were originally published in English in various issues of “Notes on Spiritual Philosophy” (also known as “Seminar Notes”) in 1969 or within a year or two thereafter. Minor English re-editing has been done by Ác. Acyutánanda Avt. The titles of two of the discourses as they appeared in “Notes on Spiritual Philosophy” have been changed here to avoid confusion with other discourses given at other times and places. “Svábhávika Dharma and Bhágavata Dharma” originally appeared as “Bhágavata Dharma”, and “Atimánasa Yoga Samádhi” originally appeared as “Samádhi”.

The other three discourses herein:

“Brahma Cakra”. Discourse in English. Tape.

“The Three Vital Factors”. Discourse in English. Tape.

Appendix: From the Notebooks of Devotees

“You Must Live Glorious Lives”. Source: typed notes. Original language not identified in the typed notes. The typed notes were headed “Discourse on Vijaya Dashamii, Calcutta, 10 October 1989.” English re-editing by Ác. Acyutánanda Avt.

We particularly wish to thank Shrii Vinaya of New York Sector, who sent us, along with other discourses from old magazines, or in the form of typed notes, already published in Ánanda Vacanámrtam Parts 30 and 31, one discourse that is included here.