The Ánanda Vacanámrtam (“Blissful Discourses”) series assembles all the known General Darshan discourses given by Márga Guru Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. General Darshan (GD) pravacanas, 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 pravacanas 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 pravacanas given before 1978. Starting with that part, the series has comprised discourses recovered from old tapes, old magazines, and typed or handwritten notes. The present Part 34 comprises exclusively material from old tapes, and comprises the last remaining known General Darshans that were given in English and that have been recovered in the form of still-audible tapes (or in the form of magazine articles or notes). It is still possible, however, that further unpublished English General Darshans will yet come to light.

The Central Publications Department of Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha appeals to all Margis to continue their efforts in helping recover old tapes, notes and magazines.

The present Ánanda Vacanámrtam includes two of Márga Guru’s pravacanas that lacked indication of date or place, but are thought, from their proximity to other material on the tapes, to be from his overseas tours in 1979. “Plus and Minus Make It Zero” is thought to be from Timmern, and “He Thinks and We Perceive” from Reykjavik. “To Save Humanity” was given in Frankfurt, and “Be Free From All Complexes” in Caracas, on the second of those tours.

To assist researchers, it is our policy to indicate in the Publisher’s Note – in addition to the original language of each discourse, 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 discourse is in existence. In the case of Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 34, tapes are in existence for all the discourses.

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

Many readers are concerned that the author’s discourses, 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.

All the discourses herein were given by the author in English. None has previously been published except “Blind Mind and Conscience”, which appeared in Discourses on Krśńa and the Giitá earlier this year.

We particularly wish to thank Ácárya Prańavátmakánanda Avadhúta, the Incharge of Archive Section (Public Relations Department). In giving us access to the tapes and transcripts of his section, he also took much trouble to pinpoint which ones would be necessary for this volume.