Sathya Sai Baba claimed he never slept, but…

 A former Dutch follower of Sai Baba through many years, Bas Engelbarts, mailed me about the posting on Boys in Sai Baba’s bedroom in which SB said he had ‘woken up’ (see scan on right).

Bas wrote: “I read the article and noticed that swami said that he woke up when the boys started asking her…” and ” I do remember somehow that he said something like if he falls asleep, the whole universe ceases to be. How in the world can someone be so sick, it is true what he says, that he is beyond imagination.”

Sathya Sai Baba certainly claimed that he never slept, as can be seen from two scans of excerpts from his discourses (left) and his claims were so excessive on so many matters that it does not surprise me that he also claims the universe would cease if he slept, though I do not know when or where he may have stated before Kasturi in public that he created the entire universe, as is less widely known, and even to many devotees, than it should be. Kasturi’s besotted astoundment and wild fancy about the baby’s thoughts in the cradle cast a shadow of lacking credibility over his judgement.

An interesting aspect on this is Eileen Weed’s remark in a mail to me that his sister Venkamma (with whom she lived) and the other family knew well that Sai Baba suffered from sleeplessness for years! That would explain why, as widely reported after he was hospitalised,  that he had for a long period  been given sedatives by his servitors like his favourite boy Satyajit, and then pills to quicken him up again for darshan (which hardly had any effect by the time of his wooden behaviour seen on videos at his 85th birthday celebration where he also shed tears several times).

See comment to the above by Eileen Weed:- “Good point about sb claiming he never slept, then letting it slip out that he woke up! His sister Venkamma was also a chronic insomniac. I lived in the room for years with her and never knew her to sleep more than 2-4 hours a day (including at night AND afternoon naps, which were deep – wonder if sb also conked out in the afternoon?).”

Faked miracles to try to promote Sathya Sai Baba

Since the entire Sathya Sai Baba myth has collapsed around them, those who remain devotees despite the widespread revelations about his deceptions, lies, fraud, crimes and early death often struggle to convince other by reporting ordinary events as miracles, or even faking would be proofs of miracles (see manipulated photo below right). 

The depths of widespread superstition in India can hardly be plumbed, it takes very little to blow up a commonplace event in to a miracle. This is seen in the absurd obscurantism of the legal charge of blasphemy by the Catholc Church against the well-known rationalist Sanal Edamaruku who has had to flee India so as to be able to act freely to defend himself because the police were trying to arrests him. He had discovered that the alleged miracle of water from the feet of a Jesus statue was caused by a blocked drain! 

Slithering cobra! The Mumbai Mirror is keen to promote superstitions, as is seen (on right) in the account of how a cobra (read ‘Sathya Sai Baba in his sesha form) visited his grave for a slither round (‘samadhi‘). Anyone who knows Puttaparthi well is aware that cobras are not at all uncommon and have frequently been found in  the ashram. My wife was sitting at darsan one day in the 1980s when a cobra fell from the overhanging trees among the ladies near her. We have seen other cobras in the village, and one came up the drain pipe into the toilet of a foreign devotee. But in the Indian mind, cobras are associated most firmly with Shiva and divinity. It was claimed by early biographers that a cobra rocked Sai Baba in his cradle, but his sisters and elder brother both denied this, saying a cobra was seen outside the house. Now, again, the cobra rears its head as a divinity in the deluded minds of his devotees who are constantly seeking proofs of his continued existence (somehow, some when) and of his utmost claims of divinity, over which so much doubt has been cast.

The following account is being circulated by e-mail to SB devotees, more attempts to help them keep their chins up, I suppose:-

Dear Sai Brothers & Sisters, Sai Sons & Daughters,

 Here is an amazing miracle photo. On the first anniversary of Bhagawan’s Maha Samadhi, Sai devotees of Palembang ( South Sumatra-Indonesia ) celebrates the day as a thanksgiving day. To express their gratitude to Swami, they did seva for many poor, aged and leprosy people at hospitals. They also did Nagar Sankirtan.

   This photo was taken on Sunday, 22 April 2012 when they were doing Nagar Sankirtan at Sriwijaya Museum Palembang. We can see clearly the rays from the sky covering only the area where the devotees were doing Nagar Sankirtan. All the devotees were fully covered by rays. It is really a blessing by Swami.

Comment: The photo (reduced in size here) shows a ray of white light which manages to penetrate the foliage above most evenly, which gives away the origin of this colourless ray… a superimposition by a zealous deceiver. The full-sized photo shows other subtle signs that it is a manipulation. This will not matter to devotees, for they have such faith that they can mostly believe whatever they want. 

Sai Baba devotee’s denial overcome!

Comment since removed by sender

—– Original Message —–
From: The Wattpad Team
To: Divya Weed
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 11:53 AM
Subject: New comment on Letters from India – Part 2 – 59. The Mandir is True Darshan – June 1993

You received a comment on your story Letters from India – Part 2 – 59. The Mandir is True Darshan – June 1993!

Reply from ‘Divya’ (i.e. Eileen Weed)

Thank you for your comment on my Letters from India on Wattpad. You may be surprised to learn that in approximately 2005, I had to give up my faith that Sai Baba was who he claimed to be. My conscience simply would not allow me to continue.

At the conclusion of the Letters from India, I wrote a postscript explanation. It is the last chapter of the “Letters from Shanti Ashram”. Here is the link:
http://www.wattpad.com/7425800-letters-from-shanti-ashram-india-69-conclusion

I translated his discourses for years and they were so filled with inconsistencies, why would “God” do that? The last straw was when someone I personally knew confirmed direct knowledge that the abuse of young boys by Sai Baba, was true. The person is still a devotee, retaining faith that whatever God does is OK. Abuse of children is not OK for me. Though I still value my time in India, I feel I was duped by a narcissist.

Sai Baba’s predictions have not come true (there will be no Prema Sai, no Golden Age, no whole world coming to Parthi and even on a daily basis while alive, he lied about so many things – many instances of which I mentioned innocently in my letters), he abused young boys, and his ashram is a hub for dishonest and illegal activities. The list of deceit goes on and on. For many years I made excuses, called it his “leela” and clung to my idealistic faith. That was a reflection of my own goodness, not that of Sai Baba’s.

I put up my Letters to India, in part, to be fair to both sides – the current devotees and the ex-devotees. The devotees will see my extreme and sincere devotion and descriptions of darshans but at the same time, all the many unsavory aspects of life around Sai Baba – which have been picked up by others. See this link: https://robertpriddy.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/puttaparthi-report-by-former-long-term-devotee/

Wishing you all the best in your life.

Divya

Sathya Sai Baba discourse on how boys slept in his apartment

The following scan of part of Sathya Sai Baba’s discourse in 1998 where he tells how boys shared his bedroom has not received the attention it warrants.

See disclaimer

I discussed this revelation with my close friend and confidante, V.K. Narasimhan, famous Indian journalist who later moved to the ashram because of his devotee wife and became the editor of Sai Baba’s monthly journal Sanathana Sarathi. I asked him why Sai Baba had allowed publication, after allegations that he used males sexually had been published by Tal Brooke as ‘Avatar of the Night’ (though I had never read the book). He had thought the part about the ghost of Easwaramma a rambling and unlikely concoction. The compromising details, that three boys sleep in his bedroom, only confirms what many young men have attested since 1999.  At that time I was still a convinced though troubled devotee, due to many inconsistencies and unanswered questions about SB, including numerous reports that he was an active homosexual. In my faith and refusal to give credence to negative hearsay (which all devotees were duty bound to do, or else!)  Some years earlier a Belgian professor visiting Prashanthi  – Dr. Gabriel Spillers – tried to convince me of his strong opinion that Sai Baba had homosexual relations,  as he had spoken to people in the ashram who claimed to have had sex with the avatar! I had even ridiculed this, because Sai Baba claimed to be the purest of the pure, and constantly preached strict Victorian-type sexual morals.

I asked VKN about the boys who slept in Sai Baba’s room and he was clearly uncomfortable, saying said it was a tradition. In my innocence, I assumed it was a boon granted by a spiritual master, to be allowed to massage his feet and legs etc.  Narasimhan did say that homosexuality was not considered as abnormal in India as it is in the West (or words to that effect). Incidentally, homosexuality was then against the law in India and even carried a death penalty! But VKN was very elderly and his experience of the West was largely from pre-war years. I asked VKN the age of the boys and he gave it as about 18 to 20 years old. He asked me whether this fact would cause any problems in the West were it to become known, was there anything wrong in it. I said that it most certainly would cause a major stir, especially  if the boys had been under age. He looked quite crestfallen and sat silent for some time, as if unable to find words, a most unusual state of affairs for him, as anyone who met him privately knows well! He died in March 2000 after long sufferings, so there was no longer any need for me to keep quite about many things he told me so. Unscrupulous elements at the ashram, and jealous enemies there, would have put his personal security could have been at considerable risk had I written about this earlier. My conscience insisted that I reveal his confidences to me to the public, which became more and more of a burden.

Anil Kumar of Sathya Sai Baba infamy continues to deceive himself and others

Still blustering – his Besserwissen arrogance shining through his false humility – the deeply compromised Professor Anil Kumar continues to defend one of India’s most untruthful, calculating and degenerate claimants to be the God Avatar of the Age, even after all that has come out to disprove and discredit Sathya Sai Baba. Apparently totally indoctrinated by his Lord and master, he is still hanging on to the prominence among followers Sai Baba alone gave him through having him interpret his rambling and increasingly incoherent and unreal discourses (Kumar improvising the discourse himself to get through the worst howlers). He now relies on others who are equally disoriented to transcribe and translate his own pompous and pseudo-discourses he delivers to devotees (almost as if he were in SB’s boots!). He tries hard to rationalise away most embarrassing facts about Sai Baba, namely that all the massive hoard of money, precious metals etc. (see scan below) “had nothing to do with him”! But Sai Baba had grown up in extreme poverty and in his dotage he evidently became a classic miser!
On the right is what one of Sai Baba’s former abused students (himself a professor now) says about this Kumar:-

One can get the true size of this man by reading the following:-
Example of his Master’s Voice

An Interview with Professor Anil Kumar 

Professor Anil Kumar’s interview with the Thailand media – 1 (struggle to explain away the hoarded goods!)

Professor Anil Kumars interview with the Thailand-media-2

Professor Anil Kumar, Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘left-hand’ man (a married man, but is also accused most credibly of philandering, and with Sai Baba’s permission too!)

Though it is less than a year ago that the final chapter in the disclosures about the ignominious death and aftermath of Sathya Sai Baba,  a reminder of some of it is in place, since Kumar continues as though nothing had intervened to explode the myth of this Deity of All Deities!

Article posted in various Indian media

 

Sanal Edamaruku – discriminatory scandal from India’s revanchist laws

So much for the exercise of freedom of expression and human rights in India! The religious churches and cults still have free play to suppress the truth and get people arrested!

Neither the courts nor the police exercise due discrimination, rather discriminate against free thinking people.  Please sign the petition if you hold freedom of expression dear!

Perils to India’s countless victims of abuse are deep and many

excerpt from the New York Times 13-1-2013

Fortunately, the suppression of the truth about India’s corruption and human rights for women has now become impossible to ignore even in India. Whether radical and effective changes will be made remains to be seen, and if not, how long the issues will be kept alive there, is uncertain. The world can but hope! The report on the Delhi rape case, its repercussions and background in the New York Times (excerpt shown on right) reflects the content and scope of the debate that has currently been raging in the Indian media because so many upright Indians who are outraged by the extent of rape and violence against women and the utter passivity of most police, judiciary and government officials. They have at last forced the issue by tireless public campaigning. Unfortunately, however, the lynch mentality has been stirred up while officialdom should bear much of the blame for the state of affairs. That the perpetrating accused rapists and murderers were to be denied legal defence also shows a lot about the state of justice in India today, while Mr Singh’s lawyer, AK Anand, who stood forth for the defence said something with which many who have experience of Indian police will agree: “A confession is immaterial as concerns Indian law. No statement made in the presence of police has any value in the eyes of the law.” Previously, another lawyer, Manohar Lal Sharma, who is representing Mr Singh’s brother Mukesh, claimed his client and the other accused were tortured while in custody. A spokesman for the Delhi police, Rajan Bhagat, last night refused to comment on the allegation. Torture by police is rightly suspected, as it is known to be so commonplace! 

Comments on some Hindu nationalist bulletin boards and website articles (eg. chackra.com) have repeatedly accused Sathya Sai Baba exposé writers of ‘India-bashing’ when they point out the tremendous ills that plague India, but which are given relatively minimal airing in Indian media. Prominent writers on India have long pointed out that the effect of Hindu nationalism is a kind of ‘double-accounting’ whereby one kind of account is given to all foreign visitors and media, while the true account is known more or less to almost all who live there… yet must remain unspoken. Globalisation, the internet and the opening of India to world travel and business are making an environment in which younger Indians are able more and more to challenge the fossilised authoritarian status quo at least in word if not yet very effectively in action.

The double-accounting reached its apex with the case of Sathya Sai Baba, whose serial sexual abuses (with murder involvement) were apparently no fewer than those of Jimmy Savile. While Savile was not apprehended or exposed by any active whistle blowers, the pedophile offences against young boys and men by Sai Baba were, yet these were covered up to the highest level by the Indian government, the judiciary and all but the very bravest journalists now and again. While the shocking Savile case finally came to light and is causing a major reorganisation of BBC management and guidelines, there are no signs that the Indian media or any other body there is willing to deal with their ‘elephant in the room’, the unsolved and quashed crimes of their Living God Incarnate, long worshipped and hence protected by a series of Indian Prime Ministers, Presidents, Supreme and High Court judges. Even the ignominious manner of the supposedly ‘omnipotent’ Sai Baba’s death and the aftermath of finding his vast hidden hoard of money, gold and countless valuables, has not caused any prominent figure to denounce him for what he was. The infamous 1993 murders in which he was deeply implicated were covered over when Narasimha Rao’s government cynically quashed the CBI investigation before any conclusion was published. Sathya Sai Baba came to expound Hindu nationalism in many of its worst aspects, despite his constant propaganda about universal values and religious tolerance. He repeatedly claimed his ‘advent’ would herald a total transformation of the world led by India’s example and even went so far in his dotage to state that the whole world would become Hindu between 2020 and 2030!

Violence on a very wide scale against women is not something imagined by Westerners, it is documented by Indian’ own National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) 2005-06, see very brief scan from their large study:-

Sathya Sai Baba on friendship and boys’ behaviour

The following documents show how Sathya Sai Baba tried to control ‘his’ boys (i.e. what he called “My only property”). One has to be quite thick not to understand the purpose, at least when one reads the famous 15-year old who told how Sai Baba abused him sexually (his identity is known to friends of his family, exposé activists and also to those who retain his affidavit)! Because secrecy was imposed on all those who he molested, not talking is also strongly recommended. Friendship is not to be with girls, but with God (i.e. Sai Baba Himself according to himself!).

FRIENDSHIP: “We should have friendship with the mind. It is only the friendship with the mind that remains as the root cause for everything. In the culture of Bharath, only a true friend is obtained, you can easily obtain God.” (Discourse by Sri Sathya Sai Baba – January 14th, 2003)

This is how Sathya Sai Baba pursued his Divine Friendship with minors and other young male devotees who suited his predilections:-

Guru male chauvinism and worse yet again – Asaram Babu

http://indiancults.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/satya-sai-baba-and-haramkhor-asaram-bapu-exchanging-tips-to-fool-people/

In an article in the Times of India, Tuesday, Janani Karthik, interviewed Indian actress Kushbu who reportedly said of self-proclaimed ‘spiritual leader’ Asaram Babu:- “His comments are completely baseless. No woman can be blamed for a rape. Nirbhaya is not responsible for the fatal attack as the rape has been forced on her. There is absolutely no mistake from her side. He cannot call himself a Godman after uttering such a harsh comment.” She further adds, “After making this statement, he had no guts to face the media. He just made this statement for sheer publicity. Nobody knew who he was before this controversy. He says that he has five crore followers. After his comment, I am sure everybody will stop following him. This is just not male chauvinism, this is something beyond that.” (bold type by editor)

Five crore is 50 million! The same claim (plus 10 million more) was made by Sathya Sai Baba in the 1960s, but it was based on on imagination and deceitful propaganda, which continued and increased until his ‘premature’ death in 2011. Sai Baba’s editor V.K. Narasimhan showed me numerous instances where Sa Baba had multiplied such figures by 10! (See the proof here)

January 8: NEW DELHI: “Congress today hit out at spiritual leader Asaram Bapu for his controversial remarks against the Delhi gang rape victim and then against the media saying they “reflect a very sick and unhealthy mind. Party spokesperson P C Chacko rued that at a time when the whole nation is outraged over this heinous crime, these “so-called spiritual leaders” are “aggravating the problem” with such utterances, which no civilised society can endorse.”

“He made a statement and today he is blaming the media… the statement is condemnable and atrocious. It reflects a very sick mindset of these leaders. They should refrain from making such utterances,” Chacko said. Unfazed by the outrage sparked by his remark against the Delhi gangrape victim, Asaram Bapu today sought to justify the comments and compared all those criticising him to “barking dogs”. Asaram also compared himself to an elephant who will not respond to “barking dogs” and said his remarks in connection with the December 16 gang rape incident were misconstrued by the media and his critics. And the Deccan Herald added other remarks he made, like: ““First one dog barked. Then another dog barked. Soon all the dogs in the neighbourhood started barking,” he said addressing his supporters.”

Asaram Babu is a mere copyist of Sathya Sai Baba, who repeatedly spoke of critics as ‘barking dogs’ Sai Baba also feared to be interviewed by the press (because he was a king of ignorant blunders) and who only spoke to those he knew would endorse all he said. Such gurus do much more damage to the image of India than their indoctrinated followers can possibly understand.

Sai Baba heart surgeon urinated on the Samadhi

Knowing how all officials and devotees in Prashanthi Nilayam are in total denial about Sathya Sai Baba’s widely known crimes and sexual activities, this sounds like a typical solution of the tried and trusted ‘ damage-limitation’ type. Maybe the doctor was protesting on the basis of all he knows about Sathya Sai Baba… who knows? See also http://saibabadeceptions.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/sathya-sai-baba-samadhi-urinated-upon-by-super-speciality-hospital-doctor/

S

Tehelka.com and the Delhi rapes – new India’s media conscience

Those behind the investigative tehelka.com – an English language and independent magazine – have shown courage and determination in exposing some of India’s worst problems and those responsible, from government corruption (exchange of huge bribes) to the male chauvinistic exploiters of women – not least a majority of Indian police chiefs in some states. Their excellent and exhaustive work concerning this latter issue is showcased below here. 

The Delhi Rape case highlights the parlous situation in India as regards sexual abuse. The rape statistics in India are no doubt related to the very widespread sexual abuse of children, both girls AND boys. According to the governmental official report on Child Sex Abuse in India, fifty-three per cent of a very large sample across the whole of India said they’d been sexually abused, mostly by a person known to them. That is over 20 million child victims! Over 23% of boys had suffered serious forms of sexual abuse! (See more here) The shameful passivity of the Indian government and police towards the known and documented sexual abuse in India by their own nationals seems at last to have reached the agenda. But the very widespread homosexual abuse of boys still passes in silence!  Due not least to this, India’s most popular holy man, Sathya Sai Baba, was never brought to book, despite a huge mass of evidence and testimony available on-line from many well-informed sources (not least here). It is thus beyond all reasonable doubt that Sai Baba was a major sexual abuser of boys and young men and deeply involved in the murder of four of his devotees in 1993. What actually happened in Prashanthi Nilayam on June 6, 1993, was that – after the four had intruded and knifed to death two of Sai Baba’s servants – the Puttaparthi police cold-bloodedly shot dead in a major hail of bullets (after some hours of discussion) the four devotees who were armed only with knives. It was widely suspected that sexual abuses by Sai Baba were a motive for at least some of his four executed ex-students. That was far worse than what the deeply discredited Delhi police just said and did! The Sai Baba bedroom murders were reported by various eyewitnesses and news media as having been done at the behest of Sathya Sai Baba! Hundreds of former followers have testified showing how he was a major exploiter of people involved in many alleged criminal activities for all of which he was protected at the highest level in government and the judiciary!

Tehelka have since 2000 posted a few articles fairly critical about Sathya Sai Baba, but after his funeral was attended by top Indian personalities, have also written articles showing the supportive testimony of believers. This without comment of Sai Baba having been widely reported as involved in criminal activities for all of which he was protected at the highest level in government and the judiciary! It is therefore to be hoped that Tehelka writers will continue their upright and fearless exposure of the huge problems of sexual abuse, ALSO against boys, but cardinally so in the case of Sathya Sai Baba will help avoid the ridicule in which it is held by all who know how Prime Ministers, Presidents and Supreme Court judges and other Indian luminaries have worshipped Sathya Sai Baba, a self-proclaimed God in Human Form, creator of the Universe and come to save all of humanity. See his pronouncements on himself and his mission here. Meanwhile, tehelka’s efforts to put the horrendous rape and murder in Delhi in its wider perspective –  as showcased below – is an admirable example for other Indian media to learn from:-

An earlier Tehelka article entitled ‘ASHRAM MANDIRAM: fortress of solitude’ made valid comments about Sathya Sai Baba and his ashrams, and with good reason. Unfortunately, this article was dropped in the new set of archives and even from the Internet archive wayback machine. It was however preserved here. Another critical article also dropped was ‘Is the Sai Baba’s empire beginning to disintegrate?‘

Sathya Sai Baba never wanted his ‘miracles’ proved by experts

Sathya Sai Baba never allowed any controlled observation of his alleged materialization ‘miracles’ by scientists – most notably refusing Dr. Karl Osis and Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson to do any experimental tests. That is a major reason for doubting the countless non-confirmable personal reports of such things. It does not, however, constitute proof that it was all fraud, but it certainly did no help his cause among most people.  Had he passed just one good thorough test, it would have secured his reputation, so – if he were genuine – why did he hold back?  Sai Baba’s own explanation was that it is faith in him and his divine nature that was the only test worth making. No one dared ask him why, if faith is the only crucial factor, did he perform such supposedly miraculous acts in the first place?’

Sai Baba spoke of miracles as flowing naturally from his Divine Nature and that they were his ‘visiting cards’ to awaken people to faith, but that they had no real importance, nothing compared to the works he was to perform in bringing the whole of humanity back to a spiritual way of life and religious faith. This religious faith criterion made proof superfluous, unnecessary and even counter-productive. It also could be used as a retort against ‘worldly’ and ‘materialistic’ people and thus press his followers to believe materialization to be genuine divine acts. Or else! All in all, it was most likely simply a way to avoid scrutiny of his ‘unimportant’ materialisation and other acts, which he strictly warned people against repeatedly! Here are his words on this subject:-

“…it is essential that I warn you of another subject also. Do not spend your time trying to understand Me.. It is beyond anyone’s capacity to understand Me.” Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 12, p. 311

To cap it all – and to ridicule human intellect, scholars, scientists and theologists, Sai Baba laid down the dictum on his own total inscrutability: “For example, there are many who observe my actions and start declaring that my nature is such and such. They are unable to gauge the sanctity, the majesty, and the eternal reality that is me. The power of Sai is limitless; It manifests for ever. All forms of ‘power’ are resident in this Sai palm.” 19 June 1974, p. 226 Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 12 new ed. and Sathya Sai Speaks IX, 88-92 old edition) “In truth, you cannot understand the nature of my Reality either today or even after a thousand years of steady austerity or ardent inquiry even if all mankind joins in that effort.” 17 May 1968 (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 8, p. 99 new edition – Vol VI, 210-213 old edition)

See report on  the new edition of Haraldsson’s book ‘Modern Miracles’ and criticism of its considerable failing and suppression of known facts.