Another inside account of Sai Baba’s gross deception and abuses

This account sent to the exposé already in 2005, not posted here until now, is by a former Sai student who moved out of India to New York. We have confirmed the identity of the person and a prominent family member in the USA. The names re kept secret because  close relatives of his were still deeply involved in the Sai Baba ashram at that time and later. His account  gives a unique insight into the workings of the ashram, which seems very authentic, especially as it by no means is one-sided, as is seen with the description of the security boys being trapped into a very difficult situation and being made into unwilling accomplices. It confirms (post factum) that Sathyajit was a sexual partner of Sathya Sai Baba in 2005 and was already close. This really brings home once again the atrociousness of it all. 

Hi,
The story of my life seemed to have changed when I first came in contact with Sai Baba at Whitefield in 1996. listening to the bhajans and watching him made me feel calm and serene. Later I decided to apply to his college and was grateful enough to get an admission to in it. Whatever I am going to write in here is what I have truly witnessed. I would also recount the experiences of my fellow friends and their names are changed for privacy. I am going to start with saying that I am no Baba basher. I feel that I got a free education in his college and I am fortunate for that. I graduated with Honours and afterwards did my Masters degree. As i was a devotee then i felt like working in swami’s ashram and stayed on for a couple more months. Later i was told by Swami that he will give me some work in the super speciality hospital. It never materialised. Then finally after waiting for two years and learning the real truth about Baba i left. 

I am going to leave the part out where I became a devotee. It is similar to the experiences most people have. I was close to Baba and was in form for quite some period. I used to get a lot of interviews and was quite happy and contended. I guess that I was a sincere devotee. Being “in form” means that a person is close to swami. This person gets regular interviews, gets gifts from swami like rings and necklaces. Swami, also talks a lot to this person and identifies him immediately in a crowd. As a point of note, it does not necessary mean  having sexual relations with swami. A person is swami’s ” chick” if he is sexually involved. This term (chick) was used locally, by students, during my period of stay in the ashram. Form boys also get unique privileges like sitting in the front for darshan always, can break several rules in the hostel like coming late for dinner, sleeeping late, avoiding classes, going out to the city. For others this is considered inappropriate behaviour and the concerned student may be kicked out of the college.

Then one fine day I saw a vibhuthi pellet in his hand and was quite confused. I did not understand its meaning or rather I should say its significance as in his ashram we try to analyze the mystery behind swami’s words and actions. I was intrigued and debated over this issue. Others as usual made up some stories but I was determined to know what’s going on. Later I got to sit in the bhajan hall where the tabla player sits and this moment defined my approach towards swami. After the interview swami comes out and stands next to the pillar, and then he goes in. Luckily the interview door room is half open and I could see him going to the window. Then he picks up an envelope and takes out a vibhuti ball from it. (Swami usually keeps crisp 500 rupee notes in the envelopes. It was the first time that i saw vibhuti in them.)  He then realizes that the door is open and looks straight at me, then winks and comes out to give that vibhuti pellet to Dr.Goldstein by crushing it.

Later during darshans I have seen him do this act several times and I have seen him carrying watches in Trayee, rings in kodai etc. Now I knew where it came from but I did not know the source. So I asked my buddies who lived inside the ashram and also in charge of security for swami about it. They said that baba has a small vibhuti pellet making machine. Also he gets his rings and fake jewelry from Kharwad in karnataka and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

When Shyam – WHO I KNEW – was in Kodai, he told me a very interesting incident. It was during darshan and he was inside the house doing some work in the kitchen. The rest of the boys and guests have gone for walks. He was cleaning up some cabinets downstairs with Dileep when he found a big box. He wanted to open it but Dileep stopped him and told him not to do so. Reason was that it is swami’s and no person should touch it. Later dileep went out on an errand and shyam got a perfect opportunity to peek inside the box. He was shocked to see all kinds of diamond rings- 3d’s,9d’s and 1d’s where d stands for a piece of diamond stone on the ring. Then during the rest of the trip he saw swami materializing the very same brooches, rings, necklaces and what not. He was personally devastated. Even more so, when swami gave him an interview and when they were alone Swami unzipped his pants and squeezed his penis. He asked shyam how he felt and was the sensation pleasant?.

Swami, in my personal opinion is a homosexual being. There are several reasons for that:
1) He molests only boys and no girl so far has reported about a molestation experience.
2) He spends most of the time with men and never with women.
3) The men around him are all homosexuals- at least in varying degrees. I do not think that I need to give out names here.
4) He loves fondling young boys. 6-24 is the age group he chooses. He likes tall, slim, fair, handsome, girlish boys a lot.
5) I have repeatedly heard him say to his favorite boys that marriage is bad and swami goes away from a boy’s life when he marries.
Most of the homosexual students had come from primary school. It was a common (well known) belief among students that these guys had been (were) molested by swami while very young and also by male school teachers. Also the fact that such students when progressing from primary school (till 6th Grade)  to high school (7-12th grade) were bold and lived an active sexual life.

This was the cause of major concern to both wardens in the hostels. I was personally told (by Shiv Shankar Sai) about such happenings – that school and college boys mixed and had regular sex). I was in my final year of masters then. How do (can) ten year old boys learn to have sex with other boys? Sai Baba had a direct influence on controlling the sexual orientation of these kids. These kids are meeting him since grade three and that’s 6 years of age.

One of my friends had this sexual experience with swami and then new never told any one about it. He got interviews many time and I used to wonder why is he so confused and flabbergasted every time he stepped out after the interview. I also saw him reluctant to come any more for darshan. He was afraid to sit in the front of the verandah. He started hiding a lot. So I began to suspect that something is going on and one day I confronted him. I clearly asked him if swami is molesting him. He beat around the bush for a while and then later realized that it is better to share the experience with someone else as it relieves some pain. He told me that swami used to rush towards him in the interview room and hug him and kiss him longingly in the mouth. Baba has the nasty habit of not only kissing but also sucking the lips of the victim. Then swami had oral sex and during this time would say “This is oneness with god, this is union with god”. My friend is like a girl in a lot of aspects like talking walking and speaking thus attracting “divine” attention. I also knew a wonderful human being called C. and he used to be a mandir boy. What it means is this guy slept in swami’s room. His life was a miserable and painful one. He had a porn star kind of a life with swami and he was so fed up with it that he nearly lost sanity. He finally found some caring woman and fled puttaparthy. Such is the situation with swami’s chosen boys. As for me, I never had a sexual experience with Swami but I believe my friends and trust them.

There is something I wish to clear, swami’s college has 300 odd students in each campus and it is portrayed that all these students are homosexuals and immoral. I sincerely believe that these men and women are of a very good nature. I trust them to do well socially. However, there are a few perverts there. Some form boys molest other students and some of these students are teachers now still molesting other pupils. Here the most perverted teacher is Ravi kumar of Whitefield College. I have personally seen him escorting boys to his room and molesting them later.

Apart from these experiences the most profound one I had was during shivaratri 2002. Here for the first time I saw swami bringing the lingam tucked under his robe. Later he switched it into a kerchief and the rest of the story is well known to all of you.

I know and still do the boys who were and still are in charge of security. They are all victims of rape and abuse. These guys and the rest of the crowd cannot flee as their parents would not believe them. Swami ensures that not only the student but also the family comes to the ashram for a permanent stay. So these guys are stuck there for ever and suffering quietly.

Students involved in security are of two kinds:

1) Two or three students are picked up by swami and asked to follow him while giving darshans. These guys have no knowledge of whats happening in the ashram. They come and do the job.
2) Others like Dileep, Satyajit and Prusthi are of a different kind. They know all that’s going on inside swami’s room,central trust and in the interviews. These guys know of swamis needs and fullfills them out of fear. These guys started out as devotees. Their parents were devotees too. Then they applied to the college and became students and form boys. Their parents got interviews and swami asked them to settle down in the ashram. Then they were given (these) jobs. The boys on the other hand got jobs too and everyone fell into a trap. Now the boys have to do whatever swami/ trustees tell them too. Like hiding lingams in the big hand kercheifs. These boys are torn between loyalty to swami and also feel betrayed by him. They fear for their family name as banishment from ashram means social shame. They are afraid that their parents would be treated badly if they did not behave well. It is very complex situation. Then the last hope they have, that of youth fades away. Now these boys are old and have lost all hope of leaving the ashram. At their age who will give them jobs? Hope gone, hope which actually never existed. Now they will do as told.

This is the way ashram authorities and swami break peoples heart and hopes.

Another notable person is Dr. K. Anil Kumar who is the official translator of swami. (I came to know him and we were good friends.) He (told me) said that he has to exaggerate a lot about the deeds of swami because he is told to do so. He is scared to lose his position and fame if he does not do these things. The famous water project catered only for 120 villages but he told everybody that 720 villages were given water. He told me this during the grama seva a few years back.(is this secure to say?)

Also, what happened to the money involved for the water project or the Super specialty hospital? Some of my friends in the Central Trust told me that Bangalore Srinivas and others in the trust like Janaki Ramaiiah swindled sizeable portions of it. One of them even heard srinivas asking a Larsen & Tubro person that ONLY if Srinivas is given 10000 shares of the company would he give them this project. (Village for destitute children). L and T refused, but their competitor Nagarjuna builders paid up and the project was theirs to take.
One of the boys knowing about the Central trust told me that building the Super speciality hospital in Puttaparthy was a scam too. About 100 crores were given to the Trust and the trust utilised only 40 crores. Guess what happened to the rest? It is believed that Srinivas, Janakiramaiiah and others took it.

Some of the experiences I share today only reflect the nature of society we live in and are part of. The story of swami being a fraud will never probably come to be accepted as people want to believe in something or they feel lost. Many times I have seen Baba falter but 99.99% of the people do not notice it or if they do, say simply, it is god’s will.

Only when we think and question can we improve. But in the ashram we were not allowed to think but to surrender.

I would end by saying that life goes on and with time everything will heal. Just love whatever you have because you are a unique individual and have a lot to offer to the people around you and the world at large. So let us all live in love and respect each other and make good use of the time which has been given to us.

Bye, SRI

Learning from the bizarre case of Sai Baba

Today I am promoting an excellent blog with the views of an independent source -(i.e. someone never a devotee) called Julian Walker. My acknowledgement to him, his constructive and sensible writing is worthy of wider dissemination.  The following is a very foreshortened version of the ten points which the author makes at www.elephantjournal.com entitled 10 Things We Can Learn From The Bizarre Case of Sai Baba. (A Manifesto On Reality-Based Spiritual Empowerment!)

Sai Baba lived in the extreme opulence one would unfortunately expect given the history of famous charismatic gurus like Maharaji, Osho, Adi Da, Muktananda and others (all of whom he eclipsed) while those around him starved in squalor.

1)    We are suckers for a good magic trick. There is a child in all of us that WANTS to believe,  a child that is enchanted by the possibilities of magic – and when spirituality taps into this vulnerable,  gullible,  innocent  self we have faith again in the impossible, and we believe we have found a special loophole in an otherwise difficult and challenging world.
2)    Everyone  is looking for the perfect daddy (or mommy.) When we are very young we believe our parents are perfect. When these needs are derailed by trauma, disappointment, harsh reality, they often lie dormant in us, waiting to be satisfied by charismatic lovers, rock stars, actors, teachers, and, yes – enlightenment-claiming gurus. This too can be within reasonable limits, or powerfully imbalanced and obsessive.
3)    We will fight anyone who criticizes our perfect magic daddy (or mommy.) Once taken in, we cannot be talked out of it rationally and we will fight with passion to protect what has now become a part of our psychological identity.
4)    Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Absolute power centered in one idealized individual  is a recipe for disaster. This is bad for the community, AND bad for the guru. It creates an environment in which what Carl Jung called “the shadow” is completely ignored and so can flourish like a cancer. It is no accident that in most organizations founded with the best intentions to be spiritual and pure, the power abuse and shadow manifestation of very dark secret behavior is usually rampant.
5)    Denial is not a river in Egypt. Though the stories of Sai Baba molesting young boys are rampant, and many long-term high-up members of the organization confirm it – there is a typically widespread denial. How could that be possible, he is a holy man – they must be making it up.
Or else: Perhaps he did it, perhaps he was a pedophile, but we must separate the man from the divine spirit he embodied, or we must separate the teacher from the teachings
6)    Extreme relativism  kills critical thinking and authentic spirituality. There are (I am told again and again) no facts, no objective truths,  science is out of style, everything is a relative perspective, your thoughts create your reality, who is to say what is healthy or unhealthy, true or false, and what constitutes psychological trauma or abuse, hasn’t quantum physics proven that this is an illusion? BUT
Whatever your “perspective,” being suddenly (and then repeatedly) made to perform fellatio or lingam worship via oil massage on the man you (however erroneously) believe  is god constitutes a trauma
7)    Letting go of the fake magic opens us to the magic of reality. The more we heal from our early wounds, and relinquish our unreasonable childhood needs – the more our spirituality can be an expression of growth, health, grounding and integration. Take the leap, let go of the plastic baubles, real jewels are all around you!
8)    Part of true empowerment is facing our powerlessness. We are vulnerable to manipulation. We have complex and deep psychological patterns. We do not and will never have power over everything,  nor should this be our goal, nor should we seek out magical figures who we believe have attained this goal through some magical or divine means. Its just not part of being human.
9)    Behind all of this is our deep-seated fear of death. My sense is that human beings who have spent some time making peace with death are much more grounded, more open to life, and less vulnerable to fantasy-based, destructive or at the very least unskillful and fragmenting spirituality.
We really can create a new paradigm. We really can learn from the past and move this spiritual developmental line to a new level /stage. We really can learn from the mistakes and madness of old world religion that still has so much of the planet in its grips, from the failed experiment of the “enlightened guru” trip

Sachin Tendulkar gets some sound advice

One debate which passed me by at the time is an article in the Times of India about Taslima Nasreen’s advice to Sachin Tendulkar. It is interesting in view of close on 2000 comments posted after the article.
 

See some of the huge number of comments to examine the quality of the pro- and contra- writers and sample the Indian debate on Sai Baba. It is natural to assume that supporters of Sai Baba would rush to attack this outspoken lady, as they have ever done the same when the opportunity has arisen. But the results are interesting… see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/opinions/8073838.cms

Shirdi Sai much more popular than Sathya Sai – statistics

An interesting statistic was just sent to me. By comparing the search trends in the biggest Russian search engine (Yandex) for the searches for various spiritual icons or gurus, we see the relative unimportance of Sathya Sai Baba in Russia – far from what one would expect with a person who is claimed to have anything from 30 million to 600 million followers worldwide!

The data for a comparison between those searching for Shirdi Sai Baba and, alternatively, Sathya Sai Baba clearly show their divergence in popularity (this was on Google). Shirdi Sai is far more popular that Sathya Sai. (The increase in searches for Sathya Sai Baba earlier this year simply indicates interest in the death). 

These data can be checked by using  http://www.google.com/insights/search/?hl=en-GB#q=sathya%20sai%20baba%2Cshirdi%20sai%20baba&date=1%2F2011%2012m&cmpt=q

Sathya Sai Baba ‘teachings’ – part two

Here are some of the underlying fallacies of the entire Sai Baba teaching, also common to much other religious  and pseudo-philosophical mysticism. In Sathya Sai Speaks we read:-

“…the world is but a mental image of the individual.” (Vol.9. p.168) and “the world is a structure raised on one strong pillar, ‘I’. For, when this ‘I’ is dormant during deep sleep, there is no world as far as you are concerned.” (Vol. IV Ch. 48). Further: “Whatever is not in man cannot be anywhere outside him. Whatever is visible outside him is but a rough reflection of what really is in him.“ (Sathya Sai Vahini – paragraph ii)

But if one accepts the above statements as true, one enters a disorienting hall of mirrors – a labyrinth of endless dead-ends. Only by having an Ariadne thread of critical thinking -and a perception embracing whole systems of thought – may one retrace one’s missteps and find the exit. If one only follows Sai Baba’s dictum – to have implicit faith in all he said (being allegedly omniscient), then one becomes trapped in ideas which deny reality to anything but the mind (or insubstantial ‘soul/spirit’). However, one cannot delimit reality in any way… and it is foolish to deny that everything that has any form exists as such (i.e. that ‘reality’ is eternal and immaterial only).

Sathya Sai Baba’s so-called ‘spiritual teaching’ – when one goes beyond the simple aphorisms and moral exhortations – draws his followers into a far-reaching set of false speculations and unfounded beliefs and hopes which create a cognitive disorientation and leads to loss of contact with reality and sometimes worse than that. Of course, many of the elements of these are not unique to him by any means – they are taken from India’s religious monistic philosophy and mikxed up in the confused Sai Baba eclecticism of diverse and opposing systems of Indian theology. He draws on systems which are fundamentally different – either those based on ‘advaita‘ (total non-dualism) on  ‘dvaita‘ (dualism) or ‘vishtadvaita (modified non-dualism)’.

According to Sai Baba, the world we perceive and live in is only a product of each human ego (or self or ‘I’). Since he holds that reality is only what is within each person, the external world is but a distorted, unreal appearance which reflects that reality. This implies that everyone is trapped within one’s own mind in what amounts to one’s own hall of mirrors –  a cocoon which is thereby isolated from any external reality! According to this, what I see and think is only the reflection of my own mind, so I see what I choose to see and think. I cannot know any reality ‘outside’ myself, only the labyrinth of self-reflections. Consequently, as Sai Baba also asserts, the way he appears to anyone is simply a reflection of how anyone perceives him – chooses to see him, but in no way represents him in reality! The same must apply to everyone’s perception of everyone else, including his perceptions of us… but he claims to be the exception to that rule!

Ultimately, this ‘teaching’ has the function of confusing people deeply both about themselves, but equally – or even more so – about him, Sathya Sai Baba. No one can criticize him in any way because he has in advance proclaimed that he is unknowable. Very handy, if one has a lot to hide!

When I first entered the Sathya Sai Baba labyrinth, the problematical nature of such a convoluted ‘teaching’, which almost entirely lacks empirical founding, was already familiar to me, having researched and lectured in (Western) philosophy and science for many years previously and also having studied a wide variety of philosophical cosmologies, including Indian philosophies/theologies and the writings of several widely acclaimed ‘spiritual masters’. I had already been involved with an Indian swami/yogi of the Ramakrishna Math for years, because I had felt the need to investigate religious mysticism, not only from some academic ivory tower, but by involvement in its requirements for insight and ‘spiritual realization’. However, I did not of course know at the time how assuming that supra-mental perception and similar ‘spiritual powers’ might be attainable, would lead me right on further into age-old and bottomless speculations which – as they are studied and developed – lead one further into mental traps through subtle psychic phenomena and deceptive assumptions and conclusions generated from one’s own experiences. My decision to investigate these matters by plunging wholeheartedly into the ‘spiritual search’ led me into deep and virtually endless convolutions of Indian cosmological speculations – which are very pervasive ideas that cannot be conclusively tested. That cost me many years (in spiritual practices). Having invested all possible faith in that search and found the results wanting – checking every nook and cranny for the ‘promised land’ of spiritual liberation – I did not realize the nature of the cosmological trap. Not until circumstances not fully under my mental control jolted me out and finally emerged to see it more and more for what it was: a largely irrational and groundless perspective, one which is deeply intertwined with age-old superstitions and beliefs which are ultimately untestable except by fruitless sacrifice of oneself and even the risk of one’s sanity or life as an integrated person.

I have since observed how many such committed ‘spiritual seekers’ have not been able to free themselves psychologically from such a quest, even when they are confronted with facts which are faith-destroying and so begin to re-evaluate from the ground upwards. I cannot but think that there has to be enough energy and genuine self-confidence – along with other crucial circumstances – before one can smash one’s way out of the hall of mirrors one has painstakingly internalised (from ‘teachings’) and extended further by one’s own mind, creating emotional dependencies, and practicing the prescribed way of life for a long time. It takes years gradually to wean the mind of cherished notions, detach from all that went with these, and so reorient oneself to doctrine-free perception and sane rationality.

Sathya Sai Baba ‘teachings’ – part one

While I was deeply involved in trying to realise the goals of Indian spirituality – seeking further within – I was attracted to the mystery and enigma of Sathya Sai Baba, whose claims were accepted by a very large number of apparently highly educated and realistic people professing high ideals and good values. Much of what he said was infused with very positive and optimistic ‘spirituality’ and succinct moral advice and values that I could already accept, while there was also much fascinating esoteric information which I wished to penetrate as far as possible. I knew that much of this was drawn from Indian religious and mystical traditions, about which I already knew a great deal – having read many of the supposed ‘masters’ and largely embraced the ideas and advice of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and others like him. It was. however, the amazing coincidences and apparently ‘paranormal’ phenomena I experienced in connection with my interest in Sathya Sai Baba that was the trigger for my visiting him through many years – having sufficient interviews with him to give me a sound basis for my further investigations.

I set about trying to practice Sai Baba’s advice – the ‘teaching’ to the full. I soon came up against the problem that his words are very often too vague and ambiguous, also self-contradictory – for clear practical application. During my many years of commitment to the aim of all genuine aspirants – and on the continued requests of Sai Baba’s journal editor V.K. Narashimhan, I wrote in one of my many truth-searching articles in Sanathana Sarathi at a time when I had not fully plumbed the issue to the extent that I have done since. Following Sai Baba’s advice, I had suspended disbelief and eschewed my long training in critical thinking and philosophical analysis. Not until after the final disillusionment about Sathya Sai Baba’s truthfulness and genuineness, did I gradually give these abilities full rein again, with the result that I was continually surprised by how little of his teaching stood up to the process of analytical deconstruction, scientific temper and even sound and well-tried common sense.

One key with which one opens the trap-door and enters the circular labyrinth of his ideas is this:
“the world is but a mental image of the individual. How this happens is a mystery. One can only say, that just as sleep is the cause of dreams, maya or the Basic ignorance is the cause of Creation.” (Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.9. p.168).
This central part of Sathya Sai’s ”teaching” makes each person isolated from any external reality, livings with their private hall of mirrors. He holds that reality is only what is within us. This means, within the mind…even though spiritual teaching tries to convince people that the “true self “ completely transcends the mind. They call it ‘eternal spirit’ or ‘heart’ or ‘universal consciousness’. (Incidentally, consciousness must always be consciousness of something, or else it is not consciousness). However, the fact remains that the human mind is always there as long as we are conscious at all as the medium of everything we experience – for as long as there is life. [Note that claims presented so as to refute this – that consciousness persists after clinical death, and that people have been literally ‘resurrected’ in surgeries after total brain death – are so far not properly documented or scientifically proven. The drug ketamine reportedly recreates all of the phenomena described by ‘near death’ case studies].

Unfortunately, in trying to explain (i.e. rationalize away) some contradictions in Sai Baba’s teaching, I wrote an article in Sanathana Sarathi where I proposed (without taking any critical view towards Sai Baba’s teaching on this) :-

‘What is within is also without. A mirror reflects what images it receives, only in reverse and according to its clarity. This world around us, this interminable universe registers itself in our awareness as inconceivably intricate, eventful and whole. It appears to be massively ‘material’, not mental; it seems to be objective to consciousness and not to be conscious itself. The mind seems powerless to command it or even to penetrate its vastness, limited and localised as we (seemingly) are by the body. Yet because it is ‘absent’ for the mind which does not cognise it, we cannot be fully certain that it is not somehow a projection of mind.’  RP in Sanathana Sarathi, Apr, ’91, p. 101ff )

Further, Sai Baba’s view is that good and ill seen in others is only one’s own reflection and what is outside is a rough reflection of what is within. (see Sathya Sai Speaks Vol 25, p.296 and Sathya Sai Vahini ii). Therefore, it follows with logical necessity that one can never know anyone else, only oneself.

Obviously, this view can only be false. Yet Sai Baba and other sometime advaitist speculators disagree arguing that the self is the universal self within each of us, which is the same one self in every case – but it is only the individual ego’s which differ! This is useless speculation since for all who live in the world, knowing the similarities and differences between individuals – whether regarded as egocentric or unselfish selves – is an essential to life, and even to personal survival. Sai Baba’s unoriginal solipsistic ideas lead into a circular mental and emotional trap, ultimately tending to cut one-off mentally (and even emotionally) more and more from any real persons or objectively existent facts and realities. The human psyche invariably has tremendous flexibility and tolerance of conflicting ideas, however, so that those who believe in such a view still cannot bring themselves to apply it consistently in all things. Far from it. To ignore the existence of anything but the supposed universal self within oneself (which one cannot even find) means that one cannot carry function in the world of practical and social interaction, nor accept the assumptions and goals that society and living imply. The less one regards this theory as an absurd and impracticable fancy – the more one has to believe that one cannot really know anyone or anything in reality. That way lies madness.

On the solipsistic theory of ‘universal selfhood’: If I assume or attribute good of someone, it can only be my own good thinking. I am ‘projecting’ this onto them, them also being an aspect of myself. Likewise if I project badness, then it is my own badness. On the same principle, the same applies to everything else I seem to know outside of me; it is not outside me nor existent independent of my mind in reality, so I can only ever know them properly by self-examination! This is what Sathya Sai Baba believes and preaches constantly. Further, he repeatedly warns that, since the mind (in his view) creates all we experience, one should think, hear and see no evil but rather ‘wear rose-tinted glasses’ and only see good, think good!. As the teacher of this – Sathya Sai as a living person in the real world – puts himself beyond my mind and totally beyond everyone’s understanding.

Sathya Sai Organization no longer fit for purpose

Since the death of the figurehead of the Sai Organization, the wind has gone out of its sails and it flounders around – as does the Sai Central Trust – without proper direction, because its entire agenda and direction depended on the autocratic decisions of Sathya Sai Baba, acting through his minions like its International Chairmen, first Indulal Shah then Dr. Michael Goldstein. The Sai Organization is a strict top-down structure within which genuine feedback (other than praise for its policies and its leaders) was totally ignored, according to the rules enshrined in its Charter and the manipulative practices of its highest office-bearers, as condoned by Sai Baba while he was alive. The convoluted and often vague and self-defeating Charter was written by Indulal Shah, sent out for comments, virtually none of which were accepted – they were simply ignored. (Apropos, the Central Coordinator for UK and Ireland, Lucas Ralli, was booted out by Shah because he had made many radical recommendations of change based on a wide democratic process of consultation within the UK organization. After him so was his replacement, Aime Levy, booted by Shah). Instructions to all office-bearers are that the Charter is kept secret, only for members to see!

That a power struggle is underway – or will soon develop – to control its direction, nature and any assets it has, is inevitable, since there were no provisions made for its operation after the all-important figurehead died and could not longer communicate his wishes through its leaders. No doubt there are still many people in the organization who claim to have an internal hotline to Sathya Sai Baba – as hundreds of claims made by devotees at all levels, and many hagiographic articles and books show. This only complicates the running of whatever projects there are that may be doing good social service, but it has always been thus (as I can testify, having been the representative of the Norwegian branch for nearly two decades until I resigned). Meanwhile, all the same old faces are still in the top positions (apart from those who have departed this life) and their internal cronyism and factional struggles will decide what the future holds. Not a pretty prospect! Here is the problem according to the Charter(s) of the Sai Organization as outlined by Serguei Badaev:-

Office Bearers in the Sathya Sai Organisation:
According to the Indian version of the Charter all office bearers are appointed from above. State President appoints all office bearers from the level of state down to the level of centres and groups. At the same time, according to the Overseas version from the level of centres and groups there are elections (they are called “selections” in the text) by consensus up to the level of the Chairman of the Central Council, which is appointed from above. So, starting with the Chairman of the Central Council we have office bearers who are not elected and not accountable to the lower levels of the Organisation.

Significant differences between two versions of the Charter concern the tenure of office bearers and their re-selection. The Indian version reads that the All India President, National and Zonal Coordinators “shall hold office during the pleasure of Bhagawan Baba”. For office bearers of lower level the tenure is 2 years with further re-nomination. In the Overseas version all office bearers from the level of central coordinators down hold their offices for a period of 2 years and can be re-nominated only one more period of 2 years. It is interesting fact that the Indian version doesn’t give any limitations on the consequent re-nomination of office bearers, but at the same time mentions that office bearers can’t hold office in more than one unit of the Organisation or in any other religious or spiritual organisation. This is a point
which is omitted in the Overseas version.

NOTE! The Charter is kept secret, only for members to see! See the original Sai Organization Charter quoted and explained here its alleged purpose outlined here and its history noted here

India’s Home Minister could not avoid investigation by CBI, but quashed it later

“DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES”

No one can convince me that Sathya Sai Baba – with the governmental assistance of the then Home Minister, S.B. Chavan, was not complicit in the execution and cover-up of four ex-student devotees in his apartment. Nor that he fully shared the moral and legal guilt for the incident. This is partly because my close friend, the famous Indian journalist V.K. Narasimhan (now deceased) who attended Sai Baba on a daily basis, told me secretly in 1996 many utterly damaging details. These, which obviously made a huge and indelible impression on me, I carefully noted down at the time in my daily diary at Prashanthi Nilayam, which records in some detail what he told me then and which guarantees that my memory is not at fault on what I have stated since then. Narasimhan (VKN) became my closest friend and confidante in the Sai movement, a person who was VERY close to Sai Baba for reasons he on occasion publicly stated he did not fully understand. (Note, however, that the respect in which he was held in public, along with his fame and contacts throughout the Indian elite were extremely useful to Sathya Sai Baba in building up his political power in India. I learned how Narasimhan was pleasantly naive in some ways, but he was also easily flattered by others). Not until some time after his death was I able to publicise the facts without danger to him. He told me how the police were forced into doing the executions by blackmail, in which Sai Baba’s younger brother (Janaki ramiah) played a leading role along with other ashram officials. Later on, before a shocked V.K. Narasimhan, Home Minister Chavan congratulated Janaki ramiah on his blackmailing role, to which the latter replied “Dead men tell no tales” and both laughed! Later, S.B. Chavan manipulated the CBI and quashed the entire investigation into the murders, which remain unsolved in law. (See here)

I cannot doubt my friend VKN’s confidences to me, and I am willing to testify to the truth of them. When discussing at Sai Towers with me in the presence of its owner, R. Padmanabhan, and Chris Parnell (a prominent Sai Organisation leader in Australia), VKN told how he had asked Sai Baba on several occasions about the murders and he said in a loud voice “But his answers were not convincing, not convincing, not convincing!” Sai Baba’s Guru Purnima discourse about the episode was wholly unconvincing and devious too. From this discourse one can take the measure of Sai Baba, a devious, blustering, wrathful demoniser, inordinate boaster and actual liar. As to S.B. Chavan, the Indian press recorded his antics in a large number of articles, of which a few during four days not long after the executions are of interest. Take your pick!

10-6-1993 Chavan flies to Sai Baba’s ashram (Times of India, Bangalore)
10-6-1993 Chavan meets Sai Baba (Times of India, Bombay
11-6-1993 CBI probe not needed: Chavan (Times of India, Bangalore)
11-6-1993 Moily meets Chavan & CBI probe if needed, says Chavan (Indian Express, Bangalore)
11-6-1993 CBI willing to probe murder bid (Times of India, Bombay)
11-6-1993 Security for Sai Baba to be stepped up (The Telegraph, Calcutta)
11-6-1993 Tight security at Prashanthi Nilayam (The Hindu, Coimbatore)
11-6-1993 Enigma wrapped in mystery (Indian Express, Coimbatore)
11-6-1993 Chavan reviews security steps for Baba, rules out CBI probe (Deccan Herald)
11-6-1993 Chavan willing for CBI probe (Indian Express, Kozhikode)
11-6-1993 Chavan at Puttaparthi, offers CBI probe (Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad)
11-6-1993 ‘CBI can probe Sai Baba case’ Indian Express, Coimbatore
12-6-1993 Why Not CBI? Andhra Police Chief tries to avoid the CBI investigating. (Deccan Herald)
13-6-1993 PUCL wants to quiz Sai Baba (The Hindustan Times, New Delhi)
13-6-1993 Why isn’t Sai Baba cooperating? (The Pioneer, New Delhi)
13-6-1993 Ashram probe winds into dark alley (Indian Express, New Delhi)

Sathya Sai is fast becoming yesterday’s news

Latest from UK NewsNow on Sai Baba

Anyone who searches the internet for positive news about Sathya Sai Baba will be disappointed. The air has gone out of the huge Sai propaganda balloon and his officials and follower are lying low, as far as can be discovered.
The news on Sathya Sai Baba as registered by the international media overview – News Now UK – shows what made the news at least peripherally outside India and when it ceased to register anything more:-

Thanks to Vaibhavg Govindan for his supportive comment to the testimony by former Sai hostel boys, which I report here:-

“Thanks to Mr. Robert C Priddy for his effort in bringing real information about Baba.From this we can understand people made him so rich and TOTAL SURRENDER FOR SALVATION mantra worked very well for BABA.
In future parents should not send their children to these kind of ashrams.Once again i am repeating don’t search of a GOD in fake guru’s soul. God is within you. Surrender your thoughts to your consciousness but not to coloured clothes Babas.
SAI BABA’S DEVOTEES, HAVE THEY SEEN GOD?- NO THEY HAVE SEEN ONLY THE LUSTFUL GURU (FOND OF NAME & FAME, CROWD, MONEY, LUSTFUL CREATURE.).
THE ABOVE MENTIONED IS NOT A NATURE OF GOD. SAI DEVOTEES ALL, ASK YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS, WHERE IS GOD?
YOU WILL GET THE ANSWER. NO NEED SPENDING TIME IN ASHRAM AND WASHING CLOTHES FOR A FAKE PERSON. TIME IS PRECIOUS.
INVENT,EXPLORE, WORK FOR OUR MOTHER LAND, CONTRIBUTE GOOD THINGS TO OUR NATION.
DONATE FOR BLIND PEOPLE’S EDUCATION DONT ENCOURAGE ASHRAMS (DON’T MAKE THEM LAZY)”

Sathya Sai College: ex-student tells of awful culture there

The following mail continues the account I received from a former student. Such accounts are valuable not only to outsiders, but also to those who were at the colleges so that they can see what others experienced. There is much that remains unsaid about masters and other boys at such institutions – ant not least about Sathya Sai Baba himself – because of the censorship and often very strong punishments that were meted out, as numerous former students have related. I had asked him if he knew a student I had met before he began at the college and who wanted to learn guitar from me. His behaviour became more and more withdrawn towards my wife and I as his time at the Sai College went on, though he showedf me a Citizen watch with (alleged) diamonds around the face that Sai Baba had given him. When he took his MBA I met him again by chance and he was then loaded with Sai trinkets, including a supposed ‘green diamond’ ring such as I had since 1986.

From: t.t. <x@yahoo.com>
Date: 17 September 2010 01:04:48 CEST
To: Robert Priddy <rero@getmail.no>
Subject: Re: Thanks for comment

Hello Mr Priddy,
Nice to hear from you. Hope you are doing well. I do remember a Srivat….. from Secunderabad. He was a slim, tall chap and known to be a “form boy”. Like other form boys he used to look unhappy and worried whenever SB used to talk to him. I never knew him personally but I knew that he is from the same area as me. SB’s gifting progresses along with the level of abuse. First timers who merely got oiled get a silver ring. They get upgraded to gold when SB engages in worser abuse with them. If a boy has been given a watch or a gold ring, you can assume with 150% certainty that he has been abused.  It is true that students are forbidden from speaking to foreigners. Being seen speaking to foreigners on a continuous basis is certainly grounds for expulsion.

What disgusts me is that the people running the college and hostel knew everything but pretended devotion. These scumbags were throwing young kinds into SB’s den basically. It is one thing to strongly believe in someone(albeit an impostor) but to know everything and still talk about SB’s so called divinity  is utterly inexcusable. They used to brainwash students saying that “Swami is doing so much for you guys. His love for students knows no bounds” etc. He “loved” students a lot alright, the perverted serpent.

The warden used to always say “boys you are here for Swami. This is a great opportunity for you to be close to divinity”. I used to feel very upset with such ridiculous statements. The prospectus to SB’s college says they offer a degree, not a romantic stay with SB!  And the outside world mistakenly thinks that SB is giving great free education to the students! Whenever SB visited Bangalore, the warden used to stand near the door of the hostel and visually inspect every boy on his way to Darshan to make sure they were fully shaved and their hair nicely oiled and combed.

As you said, abuses have rocked the Catholic religion like never before. It is disgusting how people misuse the name of God to dupe the gullible masses. At least in the Western World, victims are getting a day of justice in a court of law. In India, there is no chance of such a thing happening with SB. There were a couple of bogus Gurus arrested and thrown in jail in India but they are small fish compared to the mega million foreign currency earning whale that is SB. India is my country but I am not proud of the utter corruption and hopelessness that exists there. People there are utterly greedy and don’t bat an eyelid before harming others. I feel bad whenever Westerners get duped by scummy Indians as it further ruins the reputation of India and leaves people shattered.

It is always nice chatting with you. I appreciate the outstanding exposure work you have done over the years. Take care.

The two previous accounts of the Sathya Sai College etc. by ‘t.t’ are found here:-

More testimony from another ex-Sai Baba student

More evidence piles up on male sex abuse by Sathya Sai Baba and teachers etc.

Also read accounts from ‘Raman’ here:-

An account of false Sai Baba miracles in early days  and Dramatic new sex testimony from ex-student at Prashanthi Nilayam  and Testimony about Sai Baba and his Hostels for Boys  and
Strong Sai Baba sex abuse testimony from ex-’form boy’

And other Sai Baba sex abuse accounts:-

Four Sai Baba defectors give striking testimony
Testimony from a Sai Baba sexually-abused male and more from Huffington Post
Many young men claiming sexual contact with Sathya Sai Baba
Hans de Kraker: telling comments on Sai Baba on The Telegraph obituary
Sathya Sai Baba on record

Sai officials’ secret collusion over the death of Sathya Sai Baba

from YouTube (in Telugu, not English). Video now unavailable

Google listing of YouTube video removed through intervention of SSB supporters

The Sathya Sai Central Trust and Hospital authorities have covered up all that happened during the illness and death of Sathya Sai Baba. My informant in Indian has summarized the Telugu statement by Mr. Nagi Reddy as follows:

Nagi Reddy has evidently found the power of these people too entrenched to confront further, since nothing had been heard of his request. Still, it should not be forgotten that the Sai Trust and Hospital authorities actually discussed and made public their thoughts on whether or not to bury him alive, using as a pretext some barbaric and ancient Hindu religious pretext! (See here). Why did they need to consider that? Because he was still alive and ‘refused to die’, so to speak, or because he was already dead and they wanted to deny the fact to preserve a sheen of divinity (while conveniently getting rid of him by live burial)? Alternatively they were faced with an unprecedented situation with the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) – it was announced that SSB was unconscious (much of the time) and probably fully so later on. He may or may not have been brain dead, while his body was still ticking over with all the artificial support systems (heart stimulation, breathing, dialysis and so on). To “disconnect an avatar” from life support has no precedents in Indian scripture, of course. There can be no doubt that the timing of the death was decided by those who were in control (we do not even know who that was, or who took the decision). All the complex funeral arrangements at Prashanthi Nilayam were ready for the day (including timing of flight bookings and official visits by dignitaries, the massing of security forced and huge police presence etc.) Dr. Safaya made clear that he resigned his post because he had somehow been unduly pressured, but why and how the public is not allowed to know! Add to all this the lies about the coffin-casket, which was the same one that they had ordered nearly a month before his death was announced. These people are totally unaccountable to anyone  devotees or the public and their credibility has been destroyed in the eyes of any decent people! They are a clandestine gang of deceivers and corrupted persons.
See ‘Sathya Sai Baba’s death and inscrutability’ 

Mr Nagi Reddy alleged that before admitting Baba to the hospital, trust members subjected him to cruelty by not feeding him properly. He said that under the freedom of information act he had filed a request to the trust to provide him details about Sai Baba’s hospital admission register, case sheet, and details of treatment administered to him. He said that he would go to court if the information was not provided to him.  (The original Telugu text was posted at http://thatstelugu.oneindia.in/grapevine/2011/nagi-reddy-accuses-sri-sathya-sai-trust-210511-aid0070.html)

More evidence piles up on male sex abuse by Sathya Sai Baba and teachers etc.

My anonymous source, an ex-student who has written informing me of diverse events and names (some suppressed) at the Sathya Sai Colleges and ashrams, sent the following almost one year ago. It was yet another confirmation of the masses of independent testimony we who are involved in the exposé of Sathya Sai Baba have received in one way or another and have checked for authenticity as far as possible.
On 2 Sep 2010, at 01:22, t.t. wrote:

Hello Mr Priddy,

Thankfully, the Sai saga is now on it’s last legs with a wheel chair bound SB literally not having a leg to stand on. It is bad to speak ill of those who are suffering but in the case of SB, he is paying for his sins by suffering daily humiliation in a wheel chair with thousands as witness. Too often, sinners just leave the world abruptly enjoying comforts till the last second. SB is suffering right here on earth as he should. Of course, delusional SB devotees will argue that SB has taken up the suffering of some devotee and is going through physical pain on purpose to teach the world a lesson. In Hindu philosophy, they say that a devotee’s intense devotion can make up for the deficiencies in a Guru. That is 100% true for SB. He is blessed to have such faithful devotees and not the other way around.

I could write a book about the goings on in SB’s educational institutions but the following is a summarized recollection of my stay in SB’s educational institution.

Many of the students know the ugly truth. I was a student for only for several years but many have studied there for 15-18 years, starting from kindergarten. It is impossible for them to not know. By the time they complete their education, almost 100% of the students would have heard tales of SB’s abuse and fakery. There are some who continue to believe in SB deluding themselves that it is all Swami’s leela to test their devotion and that they must never abandon their faith. One thing the Sai cult is very good at is in brainwashing. It is all a big scam. Students in the institution fake devotion so that they can get free education and benefits. 3/4th of the students come from the lower middle class and they do whatever it takes to gain what they want. I was at Whitefield when the murders happened. Even then, I continued to have a positive outlook towards SB. I am not from a devotee family so I had never believed him to be God but I used to respect him for the social work activities he was doing.
Around the same time, a good friend and class mate of mine had become a “form boy”. Initially things seemed to be going well. He got a gold colored citizen watch, ring, etc from SB. But his behavior changed and he seemed unhappy. It was puzzling for the rest of us, because being close to SB is what everyone aspires for. And then he revealed that SB had abused him. He had grown up in a devotee family and this betrayal was even more painful for him. It was a shocking discovery for me.

There was another boy in the hostel who was very devoted and most sincere in doing seva activities. He was called for an interview and while he lifted up his head after doing paadanamaskar, SB shoved his organ into this boy’s mouth. When the boy went and complained about this to the warden, the warden scolded him saying “what nonsense are you talking”. So, the warden, the lecturers (many of them ex students themselves) everybody knew but pretended devotion! It is a disgusting, repulsive set up.

As for his miracles, I have never seen him do any materialization in a convincing fashion. Transferring objects – whether it’s a vibhuti ball, a ring or a chain from the left hand to the right and faking a materialization is his usual modus operandi. However, as you have said, he may be capable of hypnosis, transportation of objects through will power, etc. I suspect in his early days he may have practiced sorcery or some such dark art to influence and win over devotees. I myself never attended an interview but sat close to his seat in Trayee Brindavan many times when he held an audience with the students in the evenings. He distracts people’s attention when he switches objects from left hand to the right. Other students who have been to the interview room have reported seeing Vibhuti pellets, rings etc under the cushion. The so called oil materialization is done by crushing a vitamin oil capsule. With a couple of boys he did the genital switch trick, which lends credence to the rumor that he is a hermaphrodite.

“Form boys” don’t wear underwear when they go out for darshan. SB chides them if they sign off their letters to him as “your son”. He tells them to address themselves as “your wife” instead. It is common among “form boys” to joke among themselves whether they had a “one way” or “two way” when one of them returns from the interview room. Besides rings, watches and goodies like imported candy and such, SB gives the “form boys” money. The annual Kodai Kanal summer trips are the worst in terms of amount of abuse as there is no college to attend and the boys stay with him in the same building all day all night. There was this boy who was most sincere in his devotion who was picked by SB at the last minute to travel to Kodai Kanal for summer vacation. Prior to that, he had never been a “form boy” and SB had picked him unexpectedly. A while later, it was reported that SB was very pissed off with him and nearly kicked him out! The real reason is that the boy refused SB’s advances and therefore angered him greatly. There were several other such boys who discovered his true colors on the Kodai Kanal trips but tricked themselves into believing that SB is testing them through a leela!

The atmosphere in the hostel is terrible. From outside the building looks nice with it’s wedding cake design but life on the inside is anything but nice. The education in the college is free but there is a fee for boarding and food in the hostel. Students sleep on the floor, 14-16 in each room. The food is nice during the summer course when there are VIP guests and such but during regular times, it used to taste terrible and lack in nutrition. A boy once collapsed while giving a speech in the college. The doctor who looked at him advised him to eat lot of green leaves such as spinach to get iron. But in the hostel they never served green leaves! They used to serve substandard rice and daal which was again supplied at a subsidized cost by some devotee or the other. When I was new, I had an Oliver Twist movement where I asked for an extra portion and was refused! And if anyone showed up late for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the lecturer in charge of the dining room would close the door on them! Imagine denying food to growing boys in the name of discipline!

Most of the lecturers are ex students. They live in the hostel as well. They are a bunch of frustrated individuals who desire to leave the movement but are trapped without an exit once they are in. They take out their frustrations on the students, behaving very rudely towards them. One lecturer had a very short fuse. When students don’t wake up early in the day for morning prayer, he is known to kick them and say “wake up you bastard”. He once threw a boy’s guitar out of the window from the third floor in anger.

There was another lecturer who once lost his temper and slapped a boy repeatedly (like 25-30 times) in front of the whole class! There were several lecturers known to be abusers and boys in the know used to keep a safe distance from them. One time a boy was attacked by one such lecturer so he went and complained to the warden. The warden told him there is nothing he can do about it! The irony is that through all this suffering, many pray to SB to help them, thinking that he is some kind of savior!

Looking back, I am glad I escaped from that den of lies and deception without much damage. It also helped that I discovered the truth towards the end of my stay there. The last few months I avoided Darshan as much as possible, minimizing any chances of me ending up as another victim!

Over the years as I have read your blog and various other expose blogs, I have understood how SB’s fraud occurs on a global scale. Thanks for making so much information available to the world.

India’s corruption fed by Sathya Sai Baba

from http://www.indiatimes.com/

India is rising up to ask why the present Government is stifling the call by Anna Hazare for an end to massive corruption at the highest level. This is an event unprecedented even since India’s world-shaking non-violent battle for Independence. All media outlets in India are now centered on the all-important issue for the future of the suffering masses of Indians, on which its future reputation and much of its prosperity depends, as can be seen by two examples highlighted here. Lord Paul is the UK’s most successful and respected businessman of Indian origin who invests in India despite all, his testimony should not be taken lightly!

from The Hindu article

Hailed as a godman, Incarnate Divinity and reviver of Indian culture and a prime example of dharma by a long series of Prime Ministers and Presidents of India, Sathya Sai Baba endorsed all the most corrupt government ministers and officials, bent devotee judges, blackmailed murdering police and sexual abusing wardens and teachers in his own colleges through most of his lifetime. That is the actual message of ‘His Life! More and more of his former students who have been the victims of the corruption rife at the Sathya Sai institutions are speaking up, not least on this blog site. The latest former student entry yesterday (see blog below this one) received a most apt comment which I re-post here:-

Kristina Jure facebook.com/kristinjurex kristinjure@yahoo.com 86.100.52.16

Submitted on 2011/08/17 at 7:51 am Thank you that you finally started talking. The false cult is worth of (i.e. ‘deserves’) the crash after so many years. Only his ex-students now can make it so that the real truth really starts its reign. Ironically, but ssb words will come into truth – his students will make the future of the country, should they stop pandering the falsehood. Boys, speak up…

As Kristina Jure says, the students who have suffered at the hands of Sathya Sai Baba and his disgusting minions who abused them, who have seen the inside of the huge guru scam and how it works, may well eventually rise into positions from which they can expose and put an end to all that!

See also:- The transformation of India by devotees of Sai Baba
Why is India not cleaned up?
Sai Baba on the Indian Government
Sai Baba: hoarding, secrecy, mistrust, powerlessness, deceit
The obvious illegality of the Sai Central Trust’s appropriation of treasure hoard
Corruption India: Sai Baba cult hoard plunder by Trustees?
Sai Baba’s Bhagwati shows total disrespect for justice
Indian CID officer on Sathya Sai Baba murders and corruption

More testimony from another ex-Sai Baba student

The time has come to post a series of interesting and revealing e-mails from a former Sai student who contacted me and has written several accounts so I should know more about the situation as it was at the Sai colleges. Of course, until further notice the identity of this person is also protected for reasons that are now well-known (and become more evident when you read the following account)  In the following t.t. tells how the murders were perceived by one who was studying there at the time:-

On 30 Aug 2010, at 06:32, t.t. wrote:
Hello Mr Priddy,
Hope you are doing well.  I was a final year bachelors student at the Whitefield campus when the 1993 murders happened. Sairam was known to be a jovial, mischievous type of guy. He was good in English and was reputed to have been a “form boy” at one time giving speeches. At the time of the summer course, he had already completed his post graduation. In those days, it wasn’t unusual for old students to show up for the summer course. It was odd that his badge had just the letter ‘K’ and me and a couple of friends talked about it and laughed it off.

On the day the murders happened, we were summoned to the prayer hall in the hostel just as we were about to leave for the college in the morning. Mr Anil Kumar made the announcement that there was a scuffle at Prashanti Nilayam last night and that it had resulted in a the deaths of Radha Krishan and Sai Kumar Mahajan. Mahajan was a Post Graduate student. His family had already suffered a loss a while ago as his father had passed away.

College was dismissed for the day. For the rest of the day, we were at the hostel talking to each other and absorbing the news as it came in. At that time, it was not known who the attackers were and we were all wondering what the security had been up-to. Slowly, news came in that it was all an inside job and as the names of the attackers were revealed, we were all in a state of shock and disbelief.

There have been several versions of what happened that day and the motives behind it. The version that I heard at that time was that the attackers set out to attack Sai Baba. Radhakrishna and Mahajan got in the way, so they were killed. Then they reached Sai Baba’s room.

Here, there are again 2 different versions of what happened next. One is that Sai Baba was tipped off about the attackers and he fled to the garage before they reached his room and hid there. Another version is that the attackers reached Sai Baba’s room, he shouted at them “what do you think you are doing” or some such thing and they chickened out and did not go ahead and attack him as they had initially planned. This is a plausible theory because these were all not professional killers but ex students and perhaps the enormity of what they were about to do hit home and they froze momentarily. So, in that moment Sai Baba may have closed the door on them and fled to the garage. I heard that he was scared, pacing up and down shirtless on the balcony and imploring people to do something about the situation. So much so for the supreme protector of the world!

We were told that the Police shot dead the attackers in self defense upon opening the door to Sai Baba’s room. But we know that it is most likely a fabrication. It isn’t uncommon for the Police in India to kill people in cold blood and then claim that they killed them in self defense. “Fake encounters” are dime a dozen and no one with common sense takes the words of the police at face value. (You may take a look at this recent article for the latest instance of a high profile “encounter” http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266865).

As for the motives of the attackers, one common thread among them was that most of them were ex students and no longer in the good graces of Sai Baba. As is very well known, it is his habit to ignore the very existence of people who were once close to him. I heard E.K. Suresh Kumar used to make the Vibhuti balls that Sai Baba carries around during Darshan. At that time he was part of the team that was in charge of security in Prashanti Nilayam. From what I heard he. was in a state of limbo, with no employment and no revenue and only empty promises by Sai Baba about finding him a job.

A few months later, Vijay Prabhu, brother of Suresh Prabhu and believed to be part of the group of attackers, was nabbed in a neighboring state. But what happened after that, no one knows. It is a great mystery to me if this man was ever questioned about the motives behind the attacks and what he revealed. Here is the man who most likely knows what happened but no one, not even the investigative media questioned him! I suspect his silence was bought in return for his life and that of his family which lived in Prashanti Nilayam.

It has been many years since these incidents happened but I must say Sai Baba still has worshippers because they are good at deluding themselves! “This is just a leela of Swami to seperate the wheat from the chaff” was the explanation given at that time. Never mind that lives were lost due to this so called leela. And today, they still worship him as he goes around in a wheel chair looking clueless and helpless. The power of self delusion is supreme indeed!

Sathya Sai Baba and AIDS – rampant in Andhra Pradesh

It is of interest that the State in India where Sathya Sai Baba lived – Andhra Pradesh – and where his influence was greatest is the one with the highest levels of AIDS due to male homosexuality. We can read:-

Andhra Pradesh in the southeast of the country has a total population of around 76 million, of whom 6 million live in or around the city of Hyderabad. The HIV prevalence at ante-natal clinics was 1% in 2007. This figure is smaller than the reported 1.26% in 2006, but remains the highest out of all states.²⁴ HIV prevalence at STD clinics was very high at 17% in 2007. Among high-risk groups, HIV prevalence was highest among men who have sex with men (MSM) (17%), followed by female sex workers (9.7%) and IDUs (3.7%).^{25
(see http://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm).}

One hardly need point out that Sai Baba was very widely and credibly accused of massive sexual abuse of young men and even boys (see here) but I am informed by a private source that one student told that he had AIDS and  Sathya Sai Baba was extremely angry with him before other boys. It may have been because he had engaged in sex with that boy. In any case, the reported extent of his male sex contacts was such that it is highly likely that he was HIV infected. Since there is no available medical data from his team of doctors on the actual cause of his illness which led to and intensive care unit (ICU), multiple organ failure and death, after losing weight (wasting illness) until he weighed less than 30 kg, the known facts are in accordance with the hypothesis that he died of AIDS. Here are some of the medical indicators that support this hypothesis:-

Michael J. Murray, M.D., Ph.D.and Douglas B. Coursin, M.D. Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, University of Wisconsin – Madison Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin write:-

“Cachexia and Wasting: The multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), though newly described, has manifested itself in intensive care unit (ICU) patients for several decades. As the name implies, it is a syndrome in which more than one organ system fails. Failure of these multiple organ systems may or may not be related to the initial injury or disease process for which the patient was admitted to the ICU. …initial results most likely manifest themselves as the MODS when endogenous mediators are released in excessive amounts or because of a number of other predisposing factors, i.e., immunosuppression in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and organ failure from iatrogenic causes (amino glycoside nephrotoxicity) either of which,in essence, leads to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome”

Obviously, for anyone who knows the minds of the close followers of Sathya Sai Baba, such a fact could NEVER, NEVER be revealed were it so! That no proper account of his death had every been given, the suspicion that this is what is being covered up is increased radically. An independent medical examination would also have revealed whether or not he was, as many have claimed, a physical hermaphrodite… which all close followers would deny even if they knew it to be true because of their fear of Sathya Sai Baba’s wrath – even from his grave!