Sathya Sai Baba in Encyclopedia Britannica
Posted by robertpriddy on June 21, 2013
The Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry on Sathya Sai Baba is up-to-date enough to note his death and accurate enough to recognise the controversy about his sexual abuses and murders in his bedroom, but ends with a vague statement that is not supported by fact. It is simple an unfounded belief (as propagated by some of his most deluded followers) that his crimes have not having deterred his ‘millions of followers’. These crimes have led to a huge loss of followers, especially in the West and other rich and civilised countries, while countless subsequently left him because of his wrongly-predicted death and, above all, the manner in which it happened (massive organ failures but without a legal death certificate or inquest after evident disconnection from life support by his minders on a chosen day, Easter Sunday! Nor did the researcher research his birth date, which is very controversial, his documented school records having recorded dates which conflict entirely with his claims (by about 3 years). The reasons for fixing his birth date on 23 November 1926 were almost certainly part of a plan of deception, including the claim that it was predicted as Krishna’s descent by Sri Aurobindo.
Rather outdated entry in the most serious of encyclopedias
See also some of those who left Sai baba due to the sex abuses etc. PROMINENT EX-FOLLOWERS OF SATHYA SAI BABA
thinkerandtinker said
Hello Robert, I am not so sure that the birth date of 23 Nov. 1926 is related to Aurobindo’s claim. Kasturi only seemed to notice this is Sathya Sivam Sundaram volume 3. So it seems more as a coincidence to me. Andries
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Hello Andries, Indeed, one cannot be 100% certain. It is a question of likelihood, and I consider it to be very high despite Kasturi’s lapse in discovering the ‘coincidence’, not least because of so much supporting circumstantial evidence, which I have documented in an up-dated web page at http://www.saibaba-x.org.uk/7/SchoolRecord.htm. Ra. Ganapati knew of the connection and some other early hagiographer made a lot out of it (can’t find the quote among the 300 devotee books in my cellar).
thinkerandtinker said
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Errors_in_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_that_have_been_corrected_in_Wikipedia#Demographics_of_the_Sathya_Sai_Baba_movement
chrisdokter said
Is there anything we can do to influence the content of this text, Robert? I agree it is not up to par, especially since the motto of the E.B. is FACTS MATTER.
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Hi Chris. The writers of this entry, and the Encyclopedia itself, seem not to like to be bothered by feedback, as they have no facility for contacting them about errors, nor do either of the authors have any contact details. Robert
eileenweed said
I agree completely! They need to remove that fanciful last sentence, which as you pointed out, is wholly unsupported by fact.