Sai Baba Fraud – Comments and Replies

Some comments received from Vasudeva S. and replies by Robert Priddy
-vasudeva007 Says

Aug 18, 1:01 PMHi Robert Priddy,  I am writing to you after reading some of the material about Satya Sai Baba by you. I have personally seen Baba already having things to materialize in his hand before he actually materialized the objects. Of course I have routinely seen Baba transferring something from left hand to right hand before he creates vibuthi. I have seen this one instance where he had a sugar candy in his left hand before he materialized and gave it to a boy who was laughing. But I do have to say that I have also seen him create things out of no where and by blowing at the objects they get vanished. I am at loss what to belive and what not to beleive. Are this all the tricks Baba is performing on a doubting being like me? Somee of my friends tell me all these are Baba’s leela’s and I should forget about them and one can never understand Baba’s ways. Regards S.

vasudeva007 Says
August 18th, 2007 at 4:21 amHi Robert,
I am not sure if Baba is geniune or fraud. In terms of materializations definitely I have seen some fake ones and real(??) ones. I have seen objects already in his hand before he materialized them. But also I have seen other way round too, Baba creating things from thin air and vanishing them. It all baffles me. Well, I would like to know if Baba is a trickster then there must be extensive network involved in his game play, like some place or people involved where these material objects are manufactured or procured and persons transporting these objects. But, to my knowledge no body has found any such network or persons involved. Any comments from your side?
– Thanks Shenoy

robertpriddy says

Hi Vasudeva,
Think about this – in many cases people have claimed to have seen Sai Baba change physical appearance totally, even several persons together, but at the same time others have been present who have not seen any change at all. This applies to many account of him during public ‘darshan’ – some see haloes, others not and so forth. Now, were these changes (and materializations) real phenomena, then all present would have seen it. Sai Baba does not want anyone to understand his ways, – on the contrary! That is why he has always created a mystery around himself – it began in his childhood! Check out some of my many explanations of these matters on my various web pages.

If you doubt that suggestion can be so powerful as to change people’s states of mind very radically, without more than a few clever words, study the work of UK’s Derren Brown, who can make people picked out of a group on the street or anywhere see and hear things and can find out what they are thinking, exactly what they have on their persons (including written shopping lists). He can very quickly induce a state of drunken stupor in a person (showing just how he does it) and turn it on an off with a few words (even words written on a piece or sent by mobile phone message).

Many well-known, respected people and professional psychologists in UK have attested that there is no fraud whatever involve (no fixing of TV sequences or use of stooges). He says openly there are no psychic powers involved, but many techniques he has learned in observing personal psychology, varying means of suggestion, neuro-linguistic programming, misdirection of attention (as in stage ‘magic’ and pick-pocketing, for example) and much else. He explains some of his techniques in detail. He has a tremendous (possibly ‘photographic’) memory too. He has a very wide ‘repertoire’ and much of what he does is more dramatic that Sai Baba is seen to do. But he remains a sceptic about all ’spiritual’ powers, also about mediumism/contacting the dead, which he has reconstructed in a very convincing way, but he explains how and why he is a sceptic. kind of manipulation of perception done by Derren Brown is most impressive and dramatic – and is also intended to be so. My view is exactly the same as to Sathya Sai Baba. He is a showman and manipulator.

Some of Derren Brown’s work is available on YouTube.com (Search ‘Derren Brown’) and DVDs are available of some of his TV series, with masses of background data and interviews proving the genuineness of his non-psychic but very considerable abilities. I recommend:

Mediumism – Derren Brown http://youtube.com/watch?v=G18NfN76bAs
(This is not the best of his demonstrations of mediumism, but it is good enough for that anyhow!)
Discussion on spirituality http://youtube.com/watch?v=2ryYYCe8qg4
Induction of drunkenness http://youtube.com/watch?v=zryGzTbU49I
Zombies shoot-up http://youtube.com/watch?v=cjRAcajFte0
taring competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEuKgEjwi6A
Fate? http://youtube.com/watch?v=18HFs4DfoTc

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Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
See also Devotee attacks on the Sai petition and petitioners