Murders in the Prashanthi temple – reflections 1

Concerning the 1993 murders in Sathya Sai Baba’s temple bedroom apartment

SEE ALSO TRANSCRIPT OF BBC INTERVIEW WITH THE FORMER HOME MINISTER OF ANDHRA PRADESH – V.P. NAIR – ON THE MURDERS EPISODE, WITH SHORT VIDEO CLIP! (Click here)

Two decades of experience of Sathya Sai Baba, mostly apparently very positive, led me to believe that he could have had no part whatever in the six murders that were committed in June 1993. So unquestioning was my faith (as required of followers) that I accepted what little was said about it by officials in the Sai movement and in a discourse by Sathya Sai Baba himself some weeks afterwards. I put them matter behind me… like almost everyone else in the Sai movement.

I accepted, in the main, what later were seen to be the mostly irrelevant statements he made in the admittedly vague and rambling discourse some weeks later on Guru Purnima day in July 1992. Even some of the emotional outbursts and unbalanced ramblings  of the Interntional Chairman of the Sathya Sai Organization – Dr. Michael Goldstein –  in his letter to Sai devotees seemed to make things seem somewhat like a divine enigma that we could not hope to understand. (But this ploy is often used by Sai Baba and his trusted officials so as to avoid telling or explaining anything that does not suit him). The old excuse, ‘only Swami knows the reason’ soon clicked in with the followers. But then, I knew virtually nothing about the circumstances at that time, mostly only the carefully contrived bits of Sai Org. ‘information’ (cynical disinformation, actually).

Written instructions were sent out by leaders of the Sathya Sai Organisation (eg. Indulal Shah, Central Office and Michael Goldstein) not to question or discuss anything about the incident, but to ignore it and rather concentrate on oneself and one’s own spiritual practice (i.e, based on the same twisted principle as ever, namely: God does only what is good, any bad is done by us)! All that smacks of  criticism of anything Sai baba say or does is always turned back on devotees by the trusted ‘leader VIPs’ (who often defend their own actions likewise as done by persons sanctioned by Swami). This is all very well, if you care nothing for the victims, the truth of the matter, justice or if one accepts the clumsy and despicable cover-up attempted by the ashram, the police, the Andhra Pradesh State authorities and the Indian Government (in the person of then Home Minister of the Indian Government, S.B. Chavan).

In 1995, at the 70th birthday celebrations, I began to hear about the whole episode from an Indian Administrative Service Vigilance Officer, V. Ramnath, whose close colleague had been personally involved in the early investigations. The entire account was so shocking and so many confusing points remained unanswered that it seemed impossible to evaluate what was false witness and what genuine, and to piece together the evidence so as to see who might be responsible and what motives the various involved persons could have had. I set about getting inside information from persons whose judgement and honesty I could really trust. This I collated with the many press reports. Eventually the invaluable book by the award-winning skeptic and iconoclast, internationally-known Basava Premanand (Murders in Sai Baba’s Bedroom see also here) provided a mass of documentary transcripts and other evidence which helped me to understand how massive the cover-up to protect Sathya Sai Baba and his brother was.

During the hours that passed while the four intruders who had killed Sathya Sai Baba ‘s two attendants were locked in his apartment, various persons reportedly visited Sathya Sai Baba in the garage annex to the temple. Witnesses reported seeing his younger brother Janakiramiah, Joga Rao enter and exit shortly before the shots from police rifles were heard by many residents and visitors. Were Janakiramiah, Colonel Joga Rao and Sathya Sai Baba just discussing the weather, or maybe Sathya Sai Baba was further repeating his compassionate teaching, ‘Help ever, harm never’ and “See no evil, hear no evil, do no evil”?

World leaders and Sathya Sai Baba

King & Queen blessed but soon to be shot down by their son

Sathya Sai Baba welcomes all important and rich persons, especially Presidents, Prime Ministers and royalty, always giving them full priority over all those who work selflessly for him, however spiritual they may be. For example, the despotic rulers, the super-rich King & Queen of Nepal, were blessed by Sathya Sai Baba as seen in the photo from Sanathana Sarathi (March 1999). They were foully murdered by their own son in 2001! So much for the validity of Sai Baba’s blessings and his guarantee to all who are devoted to him ‘Why Fear When I Am Here?’

Rationalizing devotees will excuse Sai Baba on the grounds that “only He knows what is best for anyone” and he says that one must face death without fear and so in and on. But this only shows how slippery the words of Sai Baba invariably are! That Sai Baba immediately gave such a despot his time and praises will not be misinterpreted by independent-minded observers. That King Gjanendra was hailed as the incarnation of Vishnu – which Sai Baba also claims for himself – is another bizarre aspect of the matter.

See also  Ex-king Gyanendra of Nepal & Sathya Sai Baba

Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

Sathya Sai Baba and the Vedas – part two

from Sai Baba Discourse November, 1999

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Sathya Sai Baba claims that the original language of the Vedas was Sanskrit, saying:-
“In the Sanskrit language, the first letter of the alphabet is ‘A’ and the last one is ‘Ha.’ When you combine A and Ha, it becomes Aha.” [10 July 1986]

Aha! Interesting indeed. The quote is a good example of the simplistic quality of the “wisdom” that Sathya Sai Baba dispenses. It virtually guarantees that no serious educated person who is not deeply indoctrinated with religious nonsense, will never consider his massive claims to have any weight whatever.

Countless contradictions arise when Sathya Sai Baba makes statements about the Vedas. For example, he states that the Vedas are limitless (Sutra Vahini , p. 30) and in the same sentence says they are “incommunicable” but “can be experienced”. Yet he also promotes the daily chanting of the text of the Vedas – such as at his college and ‘Vedas Patsala’, insisting that the “correct pronunciation of them is essential. This last he illustrates with a story in Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 2, p. 256f) The widespread divorce from empirical reality into ‘inner’ spiritual realms of belief were based on the Vedic scriptures as formulated (and then written) by an ‘anonymous author’ (see Summer Showers at Brindavan 1974, p. 34) .

In the scanned quote at the head of this page, we see another incredibly bizarre statement of Sai Baba’s about how the Vedas were so helpful to the Germans and the Japanese in developing weapons during World War II! THAT is surely a great advert for the Vedas… and further, both those nations were defeated. The Japanese were defeated by the superior weapon, which today’s ruling Indians (“Bharatiyas” who were believers in Sai Baba too, like Narasimha Rao, President Kalam and other) have now also developed and tested as a challenge to Pakistan. See Sai Baba and India’s atomic arsenal. Neither the Allies nor Russian derived one fig of nuclear weapon  information from the Vedas! How come the Indians didn’t either!

Sathya Sai Baba has declared that the Vedas emanated from God Himself as inhalation/exhalation (Sathya Sai Vahini p. 176). This is in accordance with Hindu mythology, whereby Brahma let the Vedas slip from his mouth after he had created the universe, and the demonic (i.e. ‘asura‘) horse Hayagriva took hold of them and made them available to the world. This kind of nonsense is put forward even today and believed by millions.

See also  Sai Baba – India’s great lost culture and values

Sathya Sai Baba and the Vedas – part one

Sathya Sai Baba makes the phenomenal claim that he is in reality the Almighty form of the Vedas (i.e. “Vedarupa“) [Sanathana Sarathi July 1974, p. 170]

Sathya Sai Baba is worshipped as the creator of the Vedas

He writes and speaks much about them, that they are the result of sages’ (i.e. rshis) “high spiritual vision” including “body, mind and spirit” and claims that  they reveal “astronomical wonders and science, atom theories, how to acquire supernatural powers”. Their essence is contained, he states, in the Bhagavad Gita and deals with the eterrnal nature of the soul. Further they are supposedly a compenium of medical rituals and details and that chanting them and their mantras with correct pronunciation is essential.

The so-called ‘wisdom’ about the atom, nature and the cosmos is entirely speculative and non-experimental and is wrapped in a kind of  lifestyle philosophy for “discovery of the true self” with the aim of total freedom from all suffering. As to knowledge of the causes of virtually everything in nature and human life – Vedic knowledge was less advanced than that of the early Greeks. It is of course far inferior to the wealth of tried and thoroughly tested knowledge available today. The Vedas are  a body of hymns, mantras and unempirical speculations, mostly based on the sheer belief in Deities so fantastic and unlikely, so ineffectual and so totally invisible and intangible, as to be nothing but fictional fantasy, not even worthy of the title of ‘Science Fiction’. This is indisputable to all qualified, working evolutionary and earth scientists…  upon whom the survival of mankind as we know it is most likely more dependent than those of any other branch of applied human intelligence today.

The Vedas and all the myth-based “wisdom without knowledge” that followed upon them – the Ramayana, the Gita, the Bhagavatha and much more, are utterly failed attempts to understand the earth, the physical universe, or the evolutionary origin of mankind or the psychological, social or medical causes of the ills of humanity.  This is shown by the comparatively immeasurably vast progress in all branches of human knowledge through scientific methods and information and research technologies from which “sages” of the Vedas were totally remote. Just as brief examples, the causes of different weather conditions were believed to be deities, while bacteria, viruses and a host of other causes of medical conditions were completely unguessed at by the “sages”. Nothing in Indian scripture suggests that they had anything approaching a true concept of energy per se – that is, of anything other than diverse forces in nature. The concept of a unifying energy  was first conceived and established by the exact scientific experiments Michael Faraday. No one in known history had any idea of electromagnetism before the 17th Century, which was put on a sound basis by the experiments and equations of James Clerk Maxwell, a crucial step towards Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Creationism is the belief that God exists as the creator of the universe. It is a dire travesty on human intelligence and knowledge in the modern age. Only those ignorant of the sheer breadth and quality of evolutionary science can adopt this merely speculative and unfounded belief. This ignorance envelops Sathya Sai Baba’s world view. It is religious moralism in a very ‘fundamental’ and strictly puritan form… fighting the ‘seven deadly sins’, denigrating the use of the senses  and the discursive intellect and all manner of emotional attachment (other than to the Atma) and not least the benefits of ‘materialism’.

The primitive faith in divine creation of the universe and mankind (without evolution) and consequently in universal supernatural causation [known today known as primitive superstition] suffuses Hindu scripture and literature.   The causes of all natural phenomena were – and are by many today – believed to be deities, including all acts of the human condition in the form of supposed ‘karma’, so religious practices were the only solution to all ills – so generations performed worship of countless idols of deities and implored both worldly and ‘spiritual’ assistance through repeating mantras and holy names and ever more futile and convoluted ritual. This is seen demonstrated in the teachings and daily rituals of Sathya Sai Baba and his followers.

See some of Sai Baba’s many pronouncements on the Vedas

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Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

Sathya Sai Baba blessings

Sai Baba has repeatedly stated in his discourses that he  knows everything about everything and that nothing he does is without meaning. This opens for many ways of interpreting anything Sathya Sai Baba is seen to do, or does NOT do, as a blessing. There is a group indoctrination which begins as soon as one enters an ashram in explanations to newcomers by believers of how to understand Sathya Sai Baba’s alleged “mystery” and of the many ways one can supposedly derive a “divine” benefit, blessing, or boon. Blessings are supposedly given by Sathya Sai Baba in numerous ways:-

– by his supposedly “materializing” vibuti ashes or a ring or other small objects for a person
– by his handing out ‘prasad‘ (blessed foodstuffs) like laddu or sweets, mangoes or saris or whatever
– by talking to or touching a person
– by allowing his feet or the hem of his robe to be touched by a person
– by receiving a letter proffered to him.
– by raising one or two arms towards the crowd in a posture said to convey blessings (like the Pope)
– by touching any object proffered to him at darsan
– by his uttering a word to (or even within earshot of) a person
– by a nod or other gesture towards a person, including simply looking at them
– by ‘writing on air’ in front of a person, or other gestures which the person hopes to see or expects as a blessing
and so on…

For decades, Sathya Sai Baba has been unable to give interviews to more than a tiny fraction of those who visit him, and now they hardly ever occur at all. Many followers travel very far to his ashrams and then wait for very long periods day after day in the hope or expectation of getting some notice, response, message or blessing to confirm their efforts and themselves.

There is a group indoctrination which begins as soon as one enters an ashram in explanations to newcomers by believers of how to understand Sathya Sai Baba’s alleged “mystery”. Followers are very inventive in interpreting anything he is seen to do, or does NOT do, as a personal blessing. The informal system of supposed  ‘communication’ with Sai Baba is sustained by the fact that he is so very hard to get access to, so normal communication and interaction being excluded, followers learn from those “in the know” how to extract meaning from just about any perceptible movement he makes. every word he is heard to  say or any other detail about him which  could be taken as a sign (i.e. which way he turns when he comes from the veranda, what colour his robe is that day and so forth.

Anyone who checks experience with some vestige of an inquiring mind soon discovers that the various forms of ‘blessing’ that Sathya Sai Baba gives do not lead to the desired or expected result in the great majority of instances. This is most evident with projects that he ‘blesses; but which come to nothing… anything good that follows is attributed to his mystical machinations behind the scenes of the mere physical world, whatever it is… Of course, the unfulfilled blessing is also rationalised as being “for ones own good”, which good one cannot possibly know oneself! The ‘blessing’ is turned completely on its head and becomes a ‘test’ or a ‘lesson’. Knowing all this, one simply has to pity the believers…

Many observers are somewhat puzzled that many books Sathya Sai Baba ‘blesses’ and signs for publication are poorly written by any literary standards and often contain inaccuracies and direct errors of fact, besides copious exaggerated language, transparent ‘projections’ and what one comes to learn are largely wishful imaginings about Sathya Sai Baba. Nearly all books in the Sai hagiographic ‘literature’ lack sources and documentations. Hardly any of the quotations of Sai Baba are sourced and they are sometimes garbled in reproduction. On one occasion, long after publication, Sai Baba has himself stated that his meaning was completely misinterpreted and his words misstated by Dr. Hislop (i.e. Sai Baba’s words on kundalini shakti in Conversations with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) and on another he has actually refuted that the fanciful Howard Murphet (“not perfect Murphet”) was incorrect in claiming that some light on a photo of ‘the avatar’ was caused by his miraculous leela. Otherwise, he has remained silent on the content of most writings about him. These authors’ books have served to increase his reputation, particularly among impressionable followers who take too much at face value. Most prefer to believe at all costs, whether or not it is hocus-pocus.

More on interpreting Sathya Sai Baba and his blessings

Sathya Sai Baba and the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama bows deeply

The Dalai Lama is known world-wide for his courage and often illumining and largely acceptable teachings, but above all for his life, which is truly a message of non-violence and standing for the truth and what is right. His righteous (dharmic) life has been in strict adherence to non-violence, seen in all he has done since his inauguration, and through the tremendously difficult decades through which it has been incumbent on him to try to protect and better his people. He makes himself as accessible as possible to people without them having to kow-tow, while he is open to questions, answers directly and frankly and in intelligible, accurate ways. If one bows to him, he returns the bow and bows more deeply! It would be fitting for Sai Baba to bow to the Dalai Lama, but he bows to no one… he is too high and mighty for that! Yet some of his most deluded followers – like N. Kasturi and V. Balu – once wrote about him as having great humility!

How does Sathya Sai Baba compare with the Dalai Lama?
Sai Baba purposely keeps everyone waiting, many of them almost endlessly, whoever they are. He hardly ever gives a straight answer to any honest question, if any at all, and he is known to everyone without exception not to be able to stand the slightest bit of criticism from anyone. Yet he full of criticism of others – in general in many of his discourses but also personally in interviews where he regularly ridicules people to get laughs. The only person in recent decades who could sometimes question him at all freely was my very good friend, V.K. Narasimhan…who helped Sai Baba by editing out the gaffes from the recorded discourses! Due to his reputation and contacts, Narasimhan was an intermediary bringing many top Indian politicians he had long known to the ashram by endorsing Sai Baba as a social reformer. Sathya Sai Baba is certainly not revered and respected worldwide by the vast numbers of people and governments as is the Dalai Lama.

Sai authorities desperate to get Dalai Lama to endorse Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Baba is certainly not revered and respected worldwide by the vast numbers of people and governments as is the Dalai Lama, nor is he known to most of the world, like the Dalai Lama.  Sai Baba supporters have tried to create the illusion that the Dalai Lama somehow endorses Sai Baba (which he NEVER has done), simply because he once  gave a lecture at the Sathya Sai International Centre in Delhi (Jan. 3, 2004), where he generously mentioned Sai Baba just once as follows:“I am happy to see that Sathya Sai Baba has said that his mission is not to convert people to other traditions. He would like a Buddhist to be a better Buddhist, a Muslim to be a better Muslim and a Hindu to be a better Hindu." That was all!  The Director of the Centre where the Dalai Lama spoke, Dr. Karan Singh, coupled the names of Dalai Lama and Sathya Sai Baba in his address. However, the Dalai Lama emphasised that those of the Buddhist faith’ should stick to Buddhism, and Muslims to their faith, both of which religions firmly and totally reject the possibility of anyone being God Incarnate. Mahayana Buddhism rejects the existence of a God Creator.  This seems one good reason why – in his self-proclaimed Godhood as World Saviour and Avatar – Sai Baba has never so much as mentioned the Dalai Lama!

Sai Baba sweepingly berates just about everyone in the world at regular intervals from his platform but the Dalai Lama never uses such language, even about the despotic and mendacious Chinese government.

Sathya Sai Baba hides in fear while the Dalai Lama does not: The Dalai Lama has real humility and enormous courage – putting himself in the front line – without protection from any troops or gunmen of his own  – against one of the worst regimes in history. By comparison, Sai Baba has had 20 full-time plain-clothes security people since about 1994 (costing well over Rs. 200,000 a month by now. And who do you think pays?). These spies mingle undercover in the crowds. V.K. Narasimhan gave me the facts about this already in 1996. Is this for the sake of the devotees or Sai Baba? It is no more for devotees than are the metal detectors, the intensive body searches of men and women going to view Sai Baba (darshan) or the fact that Sai Baba hides daily and at night in a fortress-built apartment palace. He is guarded by additional Israel-trained commandos visibly armed with automatic weapons, he travels in a bomb-proof vehicle. No one can get into Sai Baba’s presence with the tiniest of items that could conceivably be used as any kind of weapon. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has convincingly lived non-violence in all he does (not just in constant torrents of repetitive words as does Sai Baba) and has never had to conceal himself nearby in a room in his own ashram while four close attendants were assassinated with his tacit and later public approval, or condone subsequent cover-ups and quashing of all legal redress to the victims’ families.

Sai Baba claims that his word is absolute law in all things – whose will is always done by mega-obsequious officials in the ashram – would not even risk answering any questions about the murders, (just reread Sai Baba’s devious, insubstantial Gurupurnima discourse in 1993 about related details!). Also this “ever-tranquil, totally unaffected” Sai Baba dropped his guard and showed everyone his hidden hand in his Xmas 2000 discourse… namely, that by damning his critics to constant rebirths in many shameful lives, he is not compassionate or loving of everyone (as he has always claimed before and since, even of his detractors). More recently, he has damned various Indian newspaper editors to the same fate. Has the Dalai Lama ever damned or threatened anyone like that? The answer is a resounding ‘No!’

The Dalai Lama, however, is never patronising nor does he harangue the whole world for being impure and under the sway of inhuman and demonic forces, as does Sai Baba constantly. Sai Baba talks down to people from a position of claimed eminence. He constantly points to his own works and service and hardly ever attributes any credit to anyone else, boasting most embarrassingly about his achievements: i.e. none do 1000th of what he does, he announced at Christmas 2000. Others do all the work and provide the funds for all to which he so selflessly lends ‘His Precious Name’. He celebrates himself and his birthdays like no other event, claiming it is the devotees who want it. But the fact is, known to those who speak with frank ashramites, that almost only he thrives on it; most residents dread it. It is Sai Baba’s annual super self-praise event at Prashanti Nilayam, where he rides on in his bizarre silver-encrusted motorised chariot-cum-jeep. All that matters is numbers and show!

See 16 points of comparison between the Dalai Lama and Sathya Sai Baba

Above I compared the words and actions of Sathya Sai Baba with those of the Dalai Lama, showing how there was a world of difference between the dharma practised by the Dalai Lama and the deceptive words and action of Sai Baba. I also noted that the Dalai Lama had never endorsed Sathya Sai Baba in anything he had said. However, Chris Dokter pointed out in a comment on that blog, that this was not entirely true:-

Chris Dokter of The Netherlands commented.:-
“Alas, Robert, though I heartily agree with the gist of your post, I think it cannot go unmentioned here that the Dalai Lama DID in fact give some sort of endorsement to Sathya Sai Baba in the end. Posthumously, on April 25 2011, he issued an official message of condolence, which was published in the Tibetan Sun e.g. (See this link: http://www.tibetsun.com/archive/2011/04/25/dalai-lama-mourns-passing-away-of-sai-baba/), and also on the Dalai Lama’s homepage. It attracted international attention. This is what was stated by the Dalai Lama: “I am saddened by the passing away of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the respected spiritual leader. I would like to convey my condolences and prayers to all the followers, devotees and admirers of the late spiritual leader.”
I must say I was quite taken aback by this message.”

Robert replied:-
Hi Chris! Thanks for the correction. I did not know that. It is extremely disappointing… surely the Dalai Lama knew Sai Baba’s megalomaniacal claims (Creator of the Universe etc. ad. inf.) and would surely NEVER be able to support them, being a Buddhist. I suspect that, dependent as the Dalai Lama and his community in India are on the authorities, he may have been pressured into the statement one way or another. He never said anything like that once throughout the life of Sathya Sai Baba… which fact I consider speaks louder than words, really.

Chris Dokter  replied: “I agree with your take on it, Robert. Still, I wish the Dalai Lama would have refrained from any comment on SB ‘kicking the bucket’. More, I would have liked to have seen a moral, if controversial stance of him if he felt compelled to comment at all.”

Kristina Jure commented: Having read the comment posted by Chrisdokter, I would like to share my experience with Buddhists. In 2009 January I have visited one of the biggest Buddhist monasteries in India in Karnataka. There are 5000 monks in this city of monastic buildings with the residence for Dalai Lama and I was accomodated as a tourist by one small community inside the monastery and given the translator to walk around and take pictures, also invited to watch the debates and their rituals and rites. The most impressive experience for me as the former devotee of SSB was the way they reacted to my message that I actually came to them from Prashanthi Nilayam. They started smiling at each other and I could feel they felt sorry for me. I’ve asked the translator whether Buddhists believe that Swami is the creator of the Universe and he replied with the smile that “certainly not”. Nobody in fact believed him at all. And this official statement made by Dalai Lama could be interpreted as his compassion to those who were in suffering, but not as his official acknowledgment of the self-styled avatar, I assume. The reaction of all the monks to the messages by SSB was quite ironic, I should say, and their position was formed by Dalai Lama himself because they were practising absolute respect and obedience to him.

Chris Dokter  replied: Dear Kristina Jure. Though I agree the Dalai Lama’s statement can be seen as compassionate towards all those who were grief stricken, I am still troubled by the very fact that he chose to comment at all. I personally have little doubt the Dalai Lama would have laughed at the silly claims by Sai Baba, but it remains a fact that his message was published widely, and was on the whole interpreted as a supportive message by the international press, the Indian media and the SSB Organisation.
Compassion is good. Nothing wrong with it. But timing is everything when you are a public figure. And compassion with followers is one thing. But why did the Dalai Lama not openly show his compassion for all the victims of Sai Baba even once, the ex-followers? Does not compassion need courage in order to be balanced and not give offence? Or do you think the Dalai Lama was wholly ignorant of all the scandal and politics surrounding Sathya Sai Baba during the last decades?

Robert comments: It remains to be said that the comparisons I made between DL and SB stand well. In Gandhi’s own words (used on his tomb as his epitaph), namely “My Life in My Message” (later misappropriated by Sathya Sai Baba for himself and without acknowledgement) the Dalai Lama stands forth as exemplary, while Sathya Sai Baba’s actions and words were quite another story! The Dalai Lama respected the dead and, no doubt, the feelings of loss of SB devotees by his brief greeting, and – humble as he is – he was evidently no better informed about Sathya Sai Baba’s real life than are the majority of his remaining supporters, which includes the current Prime Minister and President and so on.

Sathya Sai Baba ashrams in decline

Our contacts in the ashrams inform us how apartments in Prashanthi Nilayam – and in Puttaparthi village – have become quite a drug on the market nowadays, not least due to the decline of the Sathya Sai following from abroad and the unavailability of Sai Baba for interviews etc., while the credit crunch has not helped either.Western ladies who were once permanent residents have been persecuted and ignored so much that they have had to leave the ashram and even relinquish their apartments (always without a cent of recompense, also despite however much money they may have invested in making them livable). The Sathya Sai airport – a white elephant from the start – has been on the market for a long time but not been sold despite attempts to offload it with diverse sweeteners in the form of a large tract of extra land for property development.The State authorities pump in money and services to make Puttaparthi a tourist centre, which has attracted a large number of low-class Indian ‘spiritual holidaymakers’. mostly apparently hoping to benefit materially and/or socially from a visit.

The pleading faces and begging postures of many devotees at darsan – not least Westerners and a number of the selected VIPs – shows how true after all were Sai Baba’s words about the majority of people coming for something they want from him. Some have gained favours by sitting inordinate lengths of time in the ‘lines’ before darshan to get a prominent place (regardless of others whom they thereby displace) month after month until Sai Baba could hardly fail to reward them without seeming very hard-hearted to all those who observe these sad cases. The thousands of hours of discomfort they undergo – and their blank faces and often self-piteous expressions in front of Sai Baba – says at least as much about their level of desperation and dependency as their faith. They continue this behaviour when they are made VIPs too! The fixation one observes in them and others shows what a personality cult the Sai Baba movement really is. Those who strive in all ways to become important in the movement are mostly self-important, self-seeking and often uncivil persons who I would definitely have avoided entirely had I not then been a devotee… they mostly recall the phrase, ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread’.

The foreigners who live long-term or permanently at Sai Baba ashrams develop an almost visible ‘residential patina’ that seems to serve as protection against all the abrasions and scours that they receive regularly from the native powers-that-be, from most of the ashram staff, from members of the ‘Seva Dal’, from other competitive residents and visitors and from the inevitable low caste workers and corrupt hangers-on of all kinds. Particularly vintage ashram ladies have this tough veneer, along with carefully adopted Indian traits like perfect use of saris, wiliness in learning short-cuts to privileges and condescending attitudes towards newcomers. I have never seen or heard of more than an exceptional few of these people doing anything except take care of their own quotidian affairs… no service work, no proper study or self-discipline… just following the routines, always knowing how to ‘cut corners’ and generally get ahead of others.

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Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

Sathya Sai Baba – insider report

Dr. G. Venkataraman and ashram boss Chackravati get free cars out of money donated for the poor and suffering etc.!

A friend in Oslo, another ex-devotee, received an unsolicited e-mail from a Sai devotee – one of the several remaining Sai followers in Norway, an Indian immigrant who propagates her information from alleged ‘close friends of Swami’. I do not give her name and e-mail address are deleted so as not to embarrass her more than her news itself does. She reveals facts which are otherwise carefully hidden from the public, not least the number of uncured fractures that Sai Baba has had in 3 years prior to 2006. Take special note of the admissions and other points  I have underlined in my translation of Norwegian to English.

Puttaparthi water shortage in 2006
Most surprising ought to be the reported lack of water in Puttaparthi after the much-trumpeted  multi-million dollar Rayalaseema Water project,  primarily designed for this area which includes Prashanthi Nilayam ashram. Other proof that it failed dismally… the water table suddenly dropped drastically cutting off most of the supplies of water to the area (not predicted by the self-proclaimed ‘omniscient’ and ‘omnipotent’ Sathya Sai Baba whose boast is that his plans and words can never fail to come true. Much money was reportedly embezzled by shoddy contractors and who knows who else. The leader of the project selected by Sai Baba was a known embezzler who was forced to resign from a government post for major financial irregularities… Mr. K. Chackravati, later head of the Prashanthi Nilayam ashram and major power broker on the Central Trust.

Why does Sai Baba “sit and cry all day”?
Secondly one must deplore the continued poverty of villagers there when Sai Baba was rolling in money and wasting it on many showpiece white elephants – (i.e. museums praising ‘the Avatar’, a 95% deserted Sai airport, a giant indoor stadium for ‘his’ students to play sports in and for an international tennis tournament which never took place). Dirt poor villagers watched as five of his his fat cat VIP’s (Chackravati, Dr. G. Venkataraman and Co.) were given expensive new Japanese cars out of funds donated for ‘good works’! Sathya Sai Baba’s younger brother, Janakiramiah, who was a blackmailer of police, a trusted Central Trust member, Janaki Ramiah, was a super-rich speculator on local property died some years ago. (Sai Baba shed tears in public then!)  That Sai Baba sits and cries so much illustrates the absurd dishonesty of his years of boastful claims to be unmoved by any pleasure! He has a lot to feel very guilty about, that is certain, but I should think he is only crying about his own situation!

—– Original Message —– From: “K A. > Hei igjen > Jeg mottar disse mailene – det er helt merkelig > hvordan alt, absolutt alt tolkes positivt! sukk. > Hilsen K. Dato: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:37:00 +0200 Fra: Manj…Mahes….@[suppressed].no: Emne: sai hilsen… fra Parthi… Hei og Sai ram !!!!!!!!!!!!! >> Er nettopp tilbake fra Swamis hellig jord Parthi. Swami er i topp form og gjør sin beste i en så sein alder for å hjelpe sitt landsby folk som enda sliter med fattigdom og vannmangel. Ifølge Swami sine nære venner har Swami blittveldig emosjonell i det siste, ofte sitter med tårer. Litt kan det være for vanlige folk. uforståelig >> >>Swami har problemer med å bevege, har hatt fem fraksjoner i 2003, 2004 og 2005; og kun den eneble kurert. Igjen ifølge sine nære venner er altså dette en forberedelse Swami har satt i gang. Swami har blitt på denne nødt til forberede (mentalt) sine tilgjengere slik at De kan godta det at Swami forlater (fysisk) denne verden, og det er for å unngå tragiske hendelser som kan skje om 15 år. måten >> >>Jeg fikk anledning til å ta med noen spesiellematerialer fra Swami (blessed by Swami) og dersom noen få tilsendt noe av dette kan sende en email med sin adresse til meg. Viputhi (the holy ash) har jeg dessverre blitt Kum Kum (the red coloured..) Swami ga oss den spesielle dagen (Dasara)  som en blessing, har jeg litt igjen å gi bort. ønsker å tom for, >> >> Noen gang vet vi ikke hva eller hvem Swami mente at disse hellige ting skulle komme fram til, som er årsak til at jeg sender denne åpen melding til alle jeg kjenner til i Norge. >> Jeg har tatt med meg noen store bilder av Swami, og dersom noen ønsker å få tilsendt en bilde, kan bare sende en email ti meg. >> >> Flere nyheter med intervjuer og bilder er påvente. Parthi forbereder seg til den store dag: OktoberSai org. ble opprettet den 19/20 oktober) 19/20. ( >> Ha en flott torsdag.. >> Sai ram igjen >> M. >> Always in Sai seva

—-Original message—- [Translated from the Norwegian] From: “K.A. Hi again. I receive these mails – it is really remarkable how everything, absolutely everything, is interpreted positively! groan Greetings K. Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:37:00 +0200 >> From: Manj… Mahes…. @[suppressed].no: >> Subject Sai greetings… from Parthi… >> Hi and Sai ram !!!!!!!!!!!!! Just got back from Swami’s holy ground Parthi. Swami is in top condition and does his best in such old age to help his village people who still struggle from poverty and lack of water. close friends, he has become very emotional recently, often sitting in tears. It can be a little difficult for ordinary people to understand. According to Swami’s >> Swami has problems in moving, has had five fractures in 2003,2004 and 2005, and only one was cured. Again according to his close friends, this is actually a preparation Swami has started up. It was necessary for Swami in this way Swami has to prepare (mentally) his followers so they will be able to accept it when he leaves this (physical) world, and that is to avoid tragic happenings that can occur in 15 years. >> I got the opportunity to bring with me some special materials from Swami (blessed by Swami) and if anyone who wants to have some of this sent to them, can send an e-mail with their address to me. I have unfortunately run out of vibuthi (the holy ash), but I have a little Kum Kum (the red coloured) left, which Swami gave us on the special day (Dasara) as a blessing. >> Sometimes we do not know what or who Swami intends that these holy things should come forth to, which is the reason I am sending this open announcement to all I know in Norway. I have brought with me some large pictures of Swami, and if anyone who wants to have a picture sent can just send an e-mail to me. >> More news with interviews and pictures are awaited. Parthi is preparing itself for the big day October 19/20 (Sai Org. was started on 19/20 October) Have a great Thursday Sai Ram igjen M Always in Sai Seva

Sathya Sai Baba prophecies on his own death date(s)

Sathya Narayana Raju (later Sathya Sai Baba) is reported by several devotee writers as having said he will die at the age 95 and/or 96 (in some places in India a person who is 95, yet is in-the 96th year, is said to be 96 years old.) On various occasions Baba has reportedly said in private that his life would last 96 years [eg by S. Balu, ‘Living Divinity’ London: Sawbridge Enterprises, 1981, p. 29] which age he finally confirmed in a discourse in 2000. Yet in two early discourses in 1960 and 1961 respectively, he gave the length of his remaining life as 58 and 59 years (see scan of one instance below). This adds up to a life-span of only either 92 (or 93 years if one reckons SB is at 58, in his 59th year, as commonly done in India).)! However, Mr. Ratan Lal, who was one of the closest associates of Sathya Sai Baba for many years, reported in a lecture at the ashram that  Sai Baba had repeated the prediction of 96 years personally to him, telling this to a friend of ours who edited his books for him (Anne-Irene). Sai Baba later confirmed he would die at 96 in a public discourse. Moreover, Sai Baba had also told Mr. Lal that was no-one’s business when he would leave the body – he could even prolong his life if he deemed necessary! It certainly seems he was covering himself for whenever it actually happens.
Mr. and Mrs. Ratan Lal lived in the Prashanthi Nilayam ashram as very close servitors to Sathya Sai Baba for decades. They knew a great deal about what went on and partook in the cover-up of the sexual abuse facts and all untoward incidents, as all residents must do, or lose their apartments and, in many cases, face destitution (as did the long-devoted resident families of some of the four students who were executed in 1993).

Sathya Sai Baba to die on his own birthday?
If that were not enough, the Norwegian journalist, Thorbjørn Færøvik, who visited Prashanthi Nilayam in 1998, reported the following statement from the organizer of the World Conference on the Future of Humanity:-

“He’s going to die on his 95-year anniversary, ” said Dr. A. Murthi, who sitting in the organizing committee for the World Conference and is a sworn devotee of Sai Baba.
– How can Sai Baba know?
– Because he is the son of God. Son of God knows everything.
– It will say that Sai Baba has a good 20 years left to live?
– Exactly. And during these 20 years we must solve a series of problems.
– What?
– We need to create complete peace and harmony”
(Translation “– Han kommer til å dø på sin 95-årsdag, sier dr. A. Murthi, som sitter i arrangementskomiteen for verdenskonferansen og er en svoren tilhenger av Sai Baba. – Hvordan kan Sai Baba vite det? – Fordi han er Guds sønn. Guds sønn vet alt. – Det vil si at Sai Baba har vel 20 år igjen å leve? – Nettopp. Og i løpet av disse 20 årene må vi løse en rekke problemer. – Hvilke? – Vi må skape fullstendig fred og harmoni på Jorden. Vi må lære menneskene dannet tale og dannet atferd. ” from ‘India, stevnemøte med skjebnen’ by Thorbjørn Færøvik. J.W. Cappelans Forlag. 1999)

Subsequently proof that Sai Baba did also state he would live until 96 years of age has been located:-

So what about when his prophecies are so self-contradictory? Which age will it be? Ninety-two, Ninety-three, Ninety-five, Ninety-six? Or whenever he sees fit?It is interesting too that no Indian astrologer who has made predictions about Sathya Sai Baba has given the date of his death… though most of them they do this with great confidence for anyone who wants!

 

 

UPDATE – AS ALL SHOULD KNOW BY NOW, SATHYA SAI BABA (REPORTEDLY) DIED ON APRIL 24TH, 2011 AND WAS BURIED AT PRASHANTHI NILAYAM. HE WAS AGE 84! THE CAUSE OF HIS ORGAN FAILURES WAS NEVER CERTIFIED (POSSIBLY AIDS) AND THE MANNER OF HIS BEING DISCONNECTED FROM HIS LIFE SUPPORT – BY WHOM AND ON WHOSE DECISION HAS BEEN KEPT STRICTLY SECRET… NO DEATH CERTIFICATE HAS BEEN ISSUED AS OF MAY 2011.

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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

Sathya Sai Baba blames everything on others, nothing on himself

The most unreasonable of all excuses – to avert all blame from oneself for anything one does – is to claim that one is the Divine Godhead – pure, infallible and entirely benevolent. This is exactly what Sathya Sai Baba does, and he constantly repeats this theme. He is ever fault-finding and criticising others, including all his devotees.

They are held to be the sole cause of all their sufferings and difficulties in life. The actions of mankind are the only cause of everything bad that happens in the world – even earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural phenomena. People are particularly culpable if they do not believe in God or try to see and experience God. It has nothing to do with God or Sai Baba, who masquerades as the Deity above all Deities. Altogether, it is incredible that anyone can accept this full doctrine – I was never able to accept the above excuses… it was always a flaw in his teaching which I would overlook because of the many things I once thought positive about him.

In his discourse in Kodaikanal on 18th May 2003, (Sanathana Sarathi July 2003), Sai Baba said:

“Who is God? Does He really exist? Many people are obsessed by such doubts. It is foolish to entertain such doubts. God is present in all. (….) There is no scope for doubt in this regard. You cannot deny the existence of a person who is standing right in front of you. Likewise, you cannot deny the existence of all-pervasive God.” [ibid p. 194]

Not true! I can easily deny the existence of all-pervasive God. whoever may be standing in front of me. I quite simply do not believe it. The implication was obvious – Sathya Sai Baba was standing in front of his captive, indoctrinated audience, who overwhelmingly believed him to be God (even though there are great differences in interpretation of what ‘God” means). The world at large would never accept his pseudo-logic… he seems to forget anyone but those who worship him.

” God exists for those who think He exists. He does not exist for those who deny Him.”

So God’s existence depends on us, and if we think God doesn’t exist, we in a way cheat him out of his existence. This is a clear – if unwitting – admission that Sai Baba thinks God’s existence is simply a subjective belief! [ibid p.195]

“The fundamental principle of all names and forms is within you. All that you see in the external world is only a reaction, reflection and resound of the fundamental principle. (….) You suffer from self-created delusion. In this manner, you deceive yourself. You betray yourself. Your feelings are responsible for this. Your doubts are the cause of this.”

Sathya Sai Baba is in the external world – so is this perception caused by our feelings and doubts – and so is nothing but a “self-created delusion”? However one interprets this, it amounts to the quite insane and totally unhelpful theory that the entire universe is a delusion and whatever is supposedly real (‘God’) is an invisible, unknowable. To lay all the responsibility at the
door of the devotee or the critic for creating a delusion (i. e. the universe) is beyond absurdity. Yet Sathya Sai Baba has constantly claimed he created the universe – thus showing himself responsible for any or all the delusion. This is irrational megalomania taken to psychopathic extremes.

“…man should be totally free from doubts.He should be firm and steady. But today man is filled with doubts. Where do doubts come from? They arise out of his own imagination.” – “You see God day in and day out…. Yet you think that you have not seen God. How foolish it looks. You think they are mere external forms. In fact, what you see outside is the reflection of your inner being. You are forgetting the reality and getting deluded by the reaction, reflection and resound.” [ibid p.196]

In claiming God is everywhere, in everyone, and we are all God, Sai Baba promotes a failed and logically circular “spiritual teaching” – one which is bolstered by such a mass of inconsistent belief-based and contra-rational and contra-factual thinking – that some people without strong intellectual discrimination, experience and knowledge are quite easily taken in by it.

For a more thorough explanation of the complete falsity of this pantheistic and solipsist confusion, see here.

Amusing aside: According to his teaching, Sai Baba’s behaviour is a reflection of our own inner being. This is possibly why some office bearers in the Sai Org. accuse anyone who claims to have been sexually abused by Sai Baba to be sexual abusers
themselves. It is certain that critics who find complete credibility in most of the allegations are accused of ‘looking through dirty glasses’ because Sai Baba says one should always view everything and everyone through rose-tinted glasses,especially himself (claiming that he is totally pure!)

Final laughing points:–

“There is love in every man but he is diverting it towards his wife, children, friends, relatives and worldly possessions,” [ibid p.199] Sathya Sai Baba – posing as God incarnate – craves the love we have for our dearest and for each other!

“All of you are the very forms of God. That is why you have gathered here. As there is divinity in you, you have developed love towards this Divine Form.”Since there is supposedly the very same divinity in everyone, why isn’t everyone in the world trying to visit him? However, as usual, Sai Baba has contradicted his axiom that there is a “Divine spark’ in everyone, by naming his critics as demons, without any divine spark!”… a hard-hearted person cannot be called a spark of Divinity; he is verily a demon.” [p. 323, Sanathana Sarathi, November 2002] Sathya Sai Baba actually believes in black magic demons, quite literally, as many of his talks make clear – not least those on the demons in the Ramayana and other Hindu scriptures .

Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

Dr. Naresh Bhatia’s exposure of Sathya Sai Baba

Dr. Naresh Bhatia, who for six years was the head of the blood bank of the Sai Super Speciality hospital, is quoted in The Findings, by the UK whistle-blower and exposé writer, David Bailey: “Three young students from Sai Baba’s junior male college were called for interview. One of them, a seven year old boy student, came out of the interview room crying. He continued to cry for two days, and was unable to eat or study. That evening Dr Bhatia, on duty in the children’s canteen, was asked to find the cause of the child’s distress. He questioned and then examined the child, and found that he had been sexually penetrated, via his anus. The child was taken to Bangalore and re-examined. A second medical opinion confirmed sexual abuse. Dr Bhatia had been involved in sexual activity with Sai Baba for six years, believing that he was serving divinity. He went to Sai Baba: “Why do you do this to such a young child when you have all of us adults and the older students to play with?” Sai Baba’s reply: “Don’t bargain with God!” Soon after, five men went to Dr Bhatia’s home, threatening his life with knives. He made his escape by car, fleeing to Delhi.” The author and journalist Mick Brown wrote about his visit to Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram and his meeting with V.K. Narasimhan in his perceptive and often critical book “The Spiritual Tourist” As a journalist, Mick Brown subsequently investigated some of the many allegations of sexual abuse made against Sai Baba, visiting the Rahm family in the USA and others in that pursuit of the truth. Brown wrote a major article in the Sunday Telegraph (12 November 2000 click here) summarizing what he characterised as ‘The Divine Downfall’. There he related that Bhatia resigned from his post at the hospital in December 1999 and is now an administrator at a hospital in New Delhi. and stated: “Contacted by phone, Bhatia said that he had become a devotee of Sai Baba in 1971, at the age of 20, and that he had sexual relations with Sai Baba for “15 or 16 years”. In that time, he said, he was also aware that Sai Baba had relations with “many, many” students from the college and school, and with devotees from overseas.”

The Sunday Telegraph article gained much prominence and was soon republished around the world in a number of prominent dailies in other languages. Thereafter Dr. Bhatia fell mysteriously silent. He has not been available to stand forth and repeat his allegations since.

Front cover of Bhatia's hagiography

Corrupt power removed Bhatia: This case illustrates the reach of Sai Baba’s worldly power in India that Bhatia can no longer repeat any of the massive allegations. He describes how his life was threatened at Puttaparthi by thugs and had to flee to Delhi, where he took employment as a doctor. Dr. Bhatia was one of the closest servitors of Sai Baba in the 1990s and was known to be so to all regular visitors to the ashrams. He was married with children and was a very frequent and very popular ‘lecturer’ at Prashanthi Nilayam – which is to say he would tell all about Sai Baba in the prevailing politically correct manner. He was held in very high esteem as such by many rather naive persons I knew, but I always avoided his ‘lectures’ as I had read his excessively naive and over-eulogising book ‘Dreams and realities face to face with God‘ and could not stomach such near-hysterical and flowery praises of Sai Baba. Nonetheless, his importance in the movement was such that drastic measures were taken to discredit him after he challenging Sai Baba. His book was immediately taken off sale at the Sathya Sai Baba Book & Publications Trust, and it was banned. The egocentric US publisher devotee, Jack Scher, a millionaire who had so to speak ‘bought into’ a veranda place by setting up a publishing co. for Sai books in the US called ‘Leela Press’ had to trash all his copies. V.K.Narasimhan was instructed to publish the disclaimer about Dr. Bhatia in Sanathana Sarathi.

In 1999/2000 a lady friend of ours – Anne-Irene – had close connections with ‘deep insiders’ at Prashanthi Nilayam, especially Mr.& Mrs. Ratan Lal and the US lady called Veronica who ran the foreigners’ canteen. Anne-Irene was present when Dr. Naresh Bhatia was discredited and made to leave his post as head of the Blood Donation Unit at Sathya Sai Baba’s big hospital in Puttaparti. She reported how rumours flew in all directions, as is always the case when such events occur at the Sai ashrams, for there is always a rigid clamp-down on anyone who knows facts from telling the truth. As usual, those unsupported rumours were set going and allowed to flourish with ‘no comments’… especially that Dr. Bhatia had been caught having sexual relations with nurses at the hospital, and that this had been going on with other young ladies over whom he was in a position of authority.

Bhatia has declared that he still recognizes Sai Baba as God, the major divine avatar of the present aeon… despite Bhatia’s testimony that Sai Baba is a serial and perverted abuser of young boys. Explain that whoever can! Dr. Bhatia was also contacted by investigators on behalf of the BBC in 2002 and I was told bt them that he had confirmed the original account about his dismissal, though he was not interviewed in the documentary ‘The Secret Swami’, which could only use one hour of footage out of 80 hours recorded around the world. Moreover, powerful Sai Baba interests with the support of government and police authorities have effectively silenced Dr. Bhatia.

IMPORTANT NOTE! However, Dr. Bhatia has provided extremely interesting accounts of his first and subsequent interviews with Sathya Sai Baba which anyone who has any common sense – and in view of Bhatia’s subsequent claims of years of sexual relations with SB – are nothing less than a description of “total surrender” body and soul along with his best friend Sarma. See scans of his very revealing account here.

Amusing footnote; It was suggested by the fanatical and unlikely defender of Sai Baba, Gerald Joe Moreno, that author and journalist Mick Brown could not have known whether it really was Dr. Naresh Bhatia to whom he spoke when he phoned the number given to him by a contact of Bhatia.  Moreno strongly implies that it was someone else who answered Mick Brown’s questions – presumably a “blatant, shameless liar” who wanted to smear Sai Baba who was happily on hand while Bhatia himself was presumably detained by his henchmen? Moreno sees blatant, shameless liars all over the place, presumably now also in Indian telephone exchanges… or what?

See full original posting of the Bhatia confrontation with SaiBaba on sekty.net Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

Moreno: anonymity and the dark – or love, light & spirituality?

Another example of Moreno’s disingenuous policy involves the picture he posted of my son (and I) on his abuse pages at saisathyasai.com , which he doggedly refused to remove, compounding his sin by making dirty attack pages against my son based on what other persons have done with whom he was associated in a band for a year or so (easily found, search for ‘Kai Nicolai Priddy’).

From Gerald Moreno’s hate blogs at ‘Sathya Sai Baba – Life, Love and Spirituality’

It was taken by Moreno from a Google cache of one of my former school’s website. The image was not removed by me, but by the moderator of the website in question. The photo depicted my son, who is in no way involved in the exposé and who in a civil way contacted Joe Moreno asking for its removal from his website. Moreno refused on the grounds that the image was publicly available on Google cache! Therefore steps were taken to remove the original, even though Joe’s ‘excuse’ was invalid anyhow.

Joe Moreno is not a devotee but is the main defender of all Sathya Sai matters The major and unrepentant infringer of copyright – countless photos of critics and texts of mine – rails at length about ONE SINGLE photo which he for some reason is rather desperate to hide away.

Gerald Moreno has lost whatever tenuous grip he might have had on facts. The implication that I – rather than him – am a “thief” after the removal of an image of my son and I, is quite stunning. Further, that it is me – and not himself – who “likes anonymity and the dark” is another of the many self-defeating blunders Moreno increasingly makes in his careless knee-jerk tit-for-tat tirades. I remind that I have posted many web pages which detail my own history and many personal details, my addresses, photos, biographical details and web pages recounting many of my experiences and interpretations. I have published several books – including ‘Source of the Dream’ which contains a photo of me inside and – in the Indian Sai Towers Publishing edition (2000) – there is a large photo of myself filling the back cover. So I can hardly be accused of “seeking anonymity and the dark”. However, it is Moreno who so wants to hide his face from the public as he once tried to hide among the hundreds of other Gerald Morenos in the United Sates. But his location, address and other details were eventually found by helpers of the exposé (see more on this here sathyasaibaba in the shadows).

Dreams of Sathya Sai Baba – imaginary or real?

THE SELF-PROCLAIMED “OMNISCIENT” SELF-CONTRADICTOR OF PUTTAPARTHI, SATHYA SAI BABA, REFUTES HIS OWN TEACHING OF DECADES THAT HE ACTUALLY MANIFESTS HIMSELF IN PEOPLE’S DREAMS Some people claim to have seen God in their dream. Where is dream? Where is God? In fact, dream experience itself is not real. It is only an illusion. They are deluded to think that way. You say that Swami appeared in your dream last night. This is not correct. I do not appear in anybody’s dream. When you intensely desire that Swami must appear in your dream and constantly think of the same, that intense desire will assume a form in your dream. God does not assume a form or change into another form. You have witnessed something in your dream. What is it? It is your own self, nothing other than that. You are visualising your own self in the dream state. Do not be under the illusion “Rama has appeared in my dream, Krishna has appeared in my dream, Swami has appeared in my dream”. This is a sign of ignorance. All these are dreams only. How can a dream be called a reality? The very word “dream” explains its nature. As long as you are in sleep, this experience may be true. The moment you wake up, the experience vanishes. (Source http://sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/25-10-04_Discourse.htm)

Compare these amazing revelations by the ‘omniscient avatar’ with his former well-known ‘revelations’. That he intervenes in dreams has been believed by virtually every devotee. They have been told so by him on many occasions and believed him fully. In ‘Vision of the Divine’ he is reported verbatim telling Dr. Fanibunda that
he comes into people’s dreams, and only when he wills it himself.
They have written countless articles and books about their dreams of Sathys Sai Baba which he has often reportedly confirmed they were true visits from him in person:-

“Dreams are nothing but the reflection of the subconscious mind. Swami appearing in dreams is very auspicious…Dreams are the reflection, reaction and resound of that which is within you. The same does not apply to dreams in which Swami appears. Swami appears in dreams only when He wills it and not when you want.” (Sanathana Sarathi, April 1999, p. 98)

With his typical systemic inconsistency, he contradicts that one cannot dream of him at all without his will and changes it to only “very clear” dreams. However, even this he has now refuted! What a confusing deceiver he has been, and remains! He comes across as very confused himself

“There are certain confusing dreams in which your feelings play an active role. You may be seeing Swami but at the same time your feelings get mixed up and cause confusion. You may see yourself in Puttaparthi at one point in time and in America at the very next, and so on and so forth. These dreams are not willed by Swami. These result from indigestion and improper food. Dreams which are willed by me are very clear and give no room for confusion or doubt.”

However, blaming indigestion or improper food is quite laughable in view of his saying thatdreams reflect etc. the subconscious mind. He has said many other conflicting things through the years about how different kinds of dream arise. He quoted the sage Pippalada (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 24, p. 144), who held that indigestion does NOT cause dreams, but sleep does. THAT is astounding news!

My position on certain aspects of dreams and the nature of their different origins has developed considerably since I wrote the book ‘Source of the Dream’ in 1994 (Bangalore Sun-Sky Publications, sold at Prashanthi Nilayam bookshop). Now I have just published a new book in India, 650-plus pages, entitled “End of the Dream”. Dreams are, in my opinion, self-generated… even those which have precognitive elements which later occur. My views on dreams were formed after a long life of deep interest in this and related subjects, and a brief summary has been on-line for some years now as part of my work on human psychology, ‘The Human Whole’.
After having been involved in teaching at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Oslo, and formerly as staff in group therapy at two treatment homes in Scandinavia, and having recorded dreams and studied virtually the entire serious literature on them in psychology, psychoanalysis both Freudian, Jungian, existential and many other theories and therapies etc., I have at least learned finally from my personal experiences that what Sathya Sai Baba has said about dreams contains so much unempirical nonsense as to be misleading and worthless.

 

 

extra links: Paul Holbach on dreams of Sai Baba etc. —  Supposed ‘dream invasions’ by SSB

AMUSING FOOTNOTE

DR. MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN’S WIFE DREAMS OF SAI BABA
WHO BOTH CLAIMS HE COMES IN PEOPLE’S DREAMS, BUT ALSO DENIES HE EVER DOES!
In his 2004 a public discourse noted above he denied most firmly that he ever enters anyone’s dreams

Excerpt from The “Hindu” Andhra Pradesh 26 November 2004 By Staff Reporter Satya Sai trust to host global meet on divinity. PUTTAPARTHI, NOV. 25. The Sri Satya Sai Central Trust will organise a world conference on `unity, purity and divinity’ as part of the Satya Saibaba’s 80th birthday celebrations here next year. Two ardent devotees of Saibaba were given the opportunity to speak at the spiritual leader’s 79th birthday function held here on Wednesday. Michael Cochstein, a practising physician from Southern California, USA, said he had found his spiritual divinity at Puttaparthi. “Swamy spoke to my wife in her dream one day when we were passing through a difficult phase and I had fallen in love with him immediately,” Mr. Cochstein said. He claimed that Saibaba had taught him that selfless love was the key to happy life. Stating that Saibaba was an embodiment of selfless love, Mr. Cochstein said the greatest joy in life was knowing selfless love through Saibaba. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2004/11/26/stories/2004112606490300.htm

It is noteworthy that such a newspaper as ‘The Hindu’ gets the name of such an important Sai VIP wrong! (‘Michael Cochstein’ is none other than the delightful Dr. Michael Goldstein International Chairman of the Sathya Sai Organization).

Goldstein makes a point of “Swamy spoke to my wife in a dream one day“. (Sounds like a daydream?) One has to commiserate with those who still believe fully in Sai Baba’s pronouncements that no one can dream of him without His Will! For it has slipped their attention that Sathya Sai Baba had again vastly modified his position on this recently.

Gerald Moreno rants about pictures on-line

From Gerald Moreno’s web log

Gerald Moreno wants to see photos of many former ex-devotees on-line. Why? Because he wants to use more of them to promote his hate-filled blogs and web pages to promote Sathya Sai Baba and his organization through images which Google will register, thus making his pages more prominent on the image listings. His use of bold text indicates his state of mind. Gerald Moreno makes a wilful false statement about my images… he well know that I posted two images of myself together with V.K. Narasimhan on my websites at least 8 years ago. On his vishvarupa.com ‘Robert Priddy deception’ pages [long since deleted by him]  he even accused me of having illegally posted those images because they infringed the rights of Narasimhan! The images in question are my copyright.

Why does Joe Moreno complain that the image of me which appears top left of this blogsite is a “very small thumbnail-sized picture”? What’s the big deal… why does Joe want bigger ones? So he can distort them more thoroughly?

Moreno has posted another image of me found by him elsewhere on the web – and he surely is aware that several other images of my are available – I can count 6 more just offhand – some at websites I know he has carefully trawled because he has also taken materials which infringe my copyright.

After he had for years posted copyrighted photos of many ex-devotees – and has deformed their faces or bodies to smear them disgustingly – some critics eventually responded by posting his image (not deforming it). It is clear that Gerald Moreno wants not to be recognised, and one can very well understand why he feels that a liability.  Of the supposed millions of Sai devotees, the overwhelming majority would reject him and his works as entirely against their values and those preached by of Sathya Sai Baba. Any who do not must be the worst dross of the Sai movement.

Sathya Sai Baba – he says, but

See also

Moreno major distortion of Basava Premanand’s Declaration

Gerald Moreno and “oiling between the pubic area and the navel”
Moreno and sexual abuse, denial and subterfuge
Gerald Moreno banned from Wikipedia
The Sathya Sai Organization’s defender, Gerald ‘Joe’ Moreno
Gerald Moreno plus vicious associates
Gerald Moreno and “copyright blathering”
G.J. Moreno’s ’senile dementia’ slurs, avoidances & irrationality
The Gerald Joe Moreno dossier – part 1
The Gerald Moreno dossier – part 2
Gerald Moreno firmly defends sex abusers and cover-up

Gerald Moreno – Christian Fundamentalists, Anti-Semitism, Fascism

The pro-Sai activist and front man on the Internet for defending Sai Baba and Co., Gerald Moreno, has tried by all kinds of false insinuation to smear former followers of Sathya Sai Baba in numerous ways – too many even to summarize effectively here. His unconcealed and massive agenda of trying to find devious ways simply to assassinate their characters, and bundle all together as liars and worse has been exposed on this blog site already.

“Second Coming” according to Moreno: He introduced the term “second coming” in a heated slanging match with Tony O’Cleary on Yahoo groups. He now tries to worm his way out of this that he uses the term “second coming” – when applied to what “Anti-Sai activists cling” –  in a wholly non-Christian sense. But the term is overwhelmingly related to fundamentalist Christian belief. This unalienable association arises firstly in any mind. Moreno relies on such methods to try to create false impressions. Such as when he greeted me “Heil Priddy” (he cannot deny he did so as it is recorded). In his latest blog on Christian fundamentalism he even uses an image of the risen Christ to increase the association of this idea to my name.

By picking out and magnifying a minor point into a long cantankerous justification intended to prove he has never ever even indirectly tried to associate me with Christian Fundamentalism. In view of all the evidence, it signally fails to pass the test of resonability.  Meanwhile, he also carefully avoids the challenge that he called Reinier van der Sandt a fundamentalist Christian, which both he and I can attaest is most certainly not true. Moreno is unable to face up to the proofs against his constant stream of base and baseless slurs against critics of the guru whose following he says he has left, but continues religiously to defend and praise.

Moreno has gone to considerable lengths to try to colour Sai Baba critics in general as Christians and/or fundamentalists of some degree:-
“For several years, many people have correctly suspected that there are Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christian movements against Sathya Sai Baba and Hinduism. Anti-Sai Activists have continually denied that Christian movements exist and have tried to dismiss these suspicions as excuse-making and the like.”[from Moreno’s web page at http://www.saisathyasai.com/baba/Ex-Baba.com/christian-atheist-anti-sai-movements.html%5D

How we could have “have continually denied that Christian movements exist” is preposterous in itself. Moreno makes many such sweeping generalizations and also has tried to compromise the entire range of individual he groups under the common brand “Anti-Sai Activists” in many devious ways. Such as because some Christian website has linked to critics’ pages! They were not asked to link and no one known in the exposé has had anything whatever to do with them. Moreno tries to smears by association.

Anti-Semitism slurs: Moreno has applied the same McCarthy techniques to his claim that Barry Pittard is anti-Semitic. The facts are strongly to the contrary! See Barry Pittard’s full refutation of this slur here. and also see Sai Baba Internet Man – No Apology When Caught Using

See also:-

Anti-Semitism Slur Sathya Sai Baba Man Gerald Moreno – Banned By Eight Wikpedia Editors

Sathya Sai Baba Apologist Joe Moreno’s Random Personal Attack Style (1)

Sathya Sai Baba Love, Light and Spirituality Exposed