Reaction, reflection, resound – Sai Baba’s karmic doctrine

““All these things you see around you are your own reflections, as if in a mirror.” (Sai Baba, Summer Showers 1990, p. 118)

“There are many things that we see hear and experience.  We think that it is the eyes that see, the ears that hear and the mind that experiences.  In fact, it is not so.  Everything is reaction, reflection and resound.” (Sai Baba, Sanathana Sarathi, April 2003, p.118)

Sai Baba ‘taught’ that the mind creates reality, and that everything we experience comes from within us, not any outer reality. This denies that there is an external world, a reality outside ourselves that impinges on the senses and goes to forming the human mind. This idea was developed by the sophists in early Greece, against which the classical philosophers who formed the root of European thought, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others argued most convincingly. Mainstream philosophy and science have overwhelmingly rejected this so-called ‘solipsist’ tenet as untenable. (‘solipsism’ derives from ‘solus ipse‘ or ‘only oneself’). One obvious reason is that it implies that no one else but oneself exists. That everything is created by our own individual mind, from within us (somewhere) – there being nothing whatever outside any of us – boils down to irrational fancy.

Sai Baba’s claim that whatever we see is a reflection of ourselves, and that whatever happens is a reaction to our own actions and so on is confused thinking. Working out its consequences for actual living very soon brings one up a maze of uncertainties, confusions and unsolvable dilemmas. This idea arose as part of metaphysical speculations about the nature of the cosmos as having a non-material origin (i.e. ‘the mind of God’). One had no science to speak of, so early mankind invented explanations of why things were as best they could. The entire body of these theological assumptions, extended and confabulated through millennia, form a labyrinth of complex arguments which can only be penetrated and deconstructed through diligent and very extended study. Few have the time or means to do so. None of it  has any basis that can be scientifically tested, not least a basic tenet – belief in a law of karma (action and reaction). The variants of karmic lore would explain how good and ill are the result of our own actions, which inevitably create reactions (sooner or later). It is promoted as a reassuring explanation that, eventually, justice is done through the workings of karma from one lifetime to another. Good acts produce benefits, bad acts get punished. However, since this is observable as not at all certain in real life, it required the belief in reincarnation of individual souls through many lifetimes to make it seem to work out. The same personality is supposed to be reincarnated in a new body at some time after death, and it carries with it a ‘karmic’ balance sheet (of good and bad actions) into the next incarnation, in which even the total environment is determined by the nature of the individual’s tendencies and ‘balance sheet’. The entire doctrine is untestable and relies on unproven assumptions about God and the cosmos.

Sai Baba ‘taught’ that the mind creates reality, and that everything we experience comes from within us, not any outer reality. This denies that there is an external world, a reality outside ourselves that impinges on the senses and goes to forming the human mind. This idea was developed by the sophists in early Greece, against which the classical philosophers who formed the root of European thought, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others argued most convincingly. Mainstream philosophy and science have overwhelmingly rejected this so-called ‘solipsist’ tenet as untenable. (‘solipsism’ derives from ‘solus ipse‘ or ‘only oneself’). One obvious reason is that it implies that no one else but oneself exists.

That the world is a figment of the human mind, a created fiction, is central to most Hindu-Vedantic theologies, giving rise to all manner of unworldly ideas and practices. It is a doctrine which is so unworldly that it cannot be put into any effective practice and, if taken seriously, leads to a denial of – and distortion of – most human relations and our interactions with the natural world. If adopted, there is nothing one can do by hope and pray for illumination as to the reality forever hidden behind the appearances given us by the senses.  (One can see the massive debilitating effects this resignation to ignorance of causality and religiously inculcated disbelief in the reality of the world and society has had on Indian life and society, both historically and today). The cause of this illusion (‘maya‘) is traditionally identified as God, who is supposedly resident within each person (in the heart, it is said – despite the fact now so well known, that the heart is nothing but a pump and all emotion arises in the brain).

Sathya Sai Baba used this ‘teaching’ not least to ensure that his devotees could be told that anything he said or did was really only their own subjective experience. In this way, lies he told and abuses he practiced were supposedly only the deluded perceptions of those who discovered them.  Many supplicants came to Sai Baba with all manner of problem, especially incurable illnesses . If they did not happen to get better or problems get solved, the doctrine pointed out that these were their own fault (in one way or another). Sai Baba tried, with much success among his indoctrinated followers, to  put himself beyond criticism in this way and helped him control their thoughts and actions.  Not only does the solipsistic argument brush aside any divine responsibility, but Sai Baba made clear that it applies to all natural events that happen too. The cause of  catastrophes like tsunamis, earthquake devastation etc. he put down entirely to our own actions. In 1993 he stated:- “The spiritual lapses of man account for these calamities.” (p. 342 Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 27)

Fallacies in doctrines of ‘karma’ (and healing)
The spiritual search for the ‘self’

Reflection, reaction, resound explained by Anil Kumar?

“Every human being is like a mirror. In the mirror, you find a reflection of yourself. In many mirrors, you see many reflections of yourself. Reflection. Reaction. Resound.”  
(Sathya Sai Baba Discourse October 9, 2009. http://media.radiosai.org/journals/Portal/pd-articles/PD-29_10_2009.htm)

Anil Kumar Kamaraju (a former botanist, hence professor) had close access to Sai Baba as his interpreter etc. He is living on the memory of Sai Baba, and – with his small band of servile helpers – is obtaining money from lecturing to the remaining flock of devotees wherever they can be found… around the world, where he travels on junkets (invitations with free air tickets, free board and lodging always was the norm for Indian Sai VIPs) .“This kind of reaction, reflection and resound calls for extreme precaution in our choice of action or non-action.”

Click on image text to zoom in

Indeed, this sounds most hollow when it is realised that the good Anil Kamaraju Kumar is known to be a philanderer and to have kept a foreign (Finnish) mistress, while married and serving his Lord and Master, who insisted on celibacy… See:  Professor Anil Kumar, Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘left-hand’ man. Enough said as to word and action in Mr. Kumar’s ‘spiritual practice’!

As to reflection, reaction and resound, one needs a proper explanation of what this was supposed to mean, and to functions the doctrine served in Sai Baba’s so-called “dispensation” of wisdom, but no coherent practicable meaning can actually be given, which is why both Sai Baba and Anil Kumar give nothing but vague, general unsatisfactory answers.  In brief, it holds that we can see nothing but a reflection of ourselves in anything whatever, however much we try! Likewise, all that happens is a reaction to our own (previous) actions. In an eggshell, the problem with this idea – that ‘I am the only person who exists’ – is that if one tries to apply these speculations to oneself and live as if they were true, endless confusion, contradictions, uncertainty and other unthinkable consequences follow… It is actually impossible to get through life sanely taking such a doctrine seriously!  Professor Kumar preaches that doctrine but most certainly does not act on it himself! This ‘doctrine’, however, came in very handy for Sai Baba (as for many another guru and preacher) when wanting to explain away a person’s problems – ‘they are self-created’, don’t you know! It also absolves him from any form of criticism because the person is only seeing himself, not the Divine Master! A useful doctrine for controlling and manipulating others, as Indian priesthoods always have done, and for castigating people as the cause of all human and even earthly ills (and Sai Baba insisted) including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, believe it or not!) See disclaimer

Dr. Anil Kumar runs a gaudy website (http://www.saiwisdom.com) devoted primarily to the subject of himself, his travels and ‘satsangs’ (get-togethers). That he is bombastic and self-important is not in question.  He chants a bhajan after his satsang (just like his Bhagavan did) and he inadvertently reveals his self-esteem in some jokes as if at his own expense, such as on 31 December 2000, when he told his audience: “I have told you a number of times that, “In this age of BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, I am ABC: Anil Kumar Broadcasting Corporation!” (Laughter)

Brian Steel lists piquant examples of Kumar’s uninhibited blurting: (At one point where he is comparing SB’s ‘afro’ hairstyle to the Biblical “crown of crowns”, Kumar gives free rein to his poetic vision: “As Bhagavan walks giving darshan, when the wind blows, His beautiful hair tosses like the golden daffodils along the Milky Way of William Wordsworth. How nicely and beautifully our good Lord adjusts His hair, ah-ha! It is a sight for the gods.”)  Kumar makes “countless forced comparisons with the New Testament. What educator Kumar performs here is a caricature of “scholarship”, tantamount to brain-washing.”

One great advantage of Professor Anil Kumar’s talks is that any religious historian or other sober non-follower who reads them will reject the whole rigmarole as beyond the realms of remote likelihood. Learn more about the mental antics of the compromised Kumar, see the following:-

Anil Kumar of Sathya Sai Baba infamy continues to deceive himself and others Still blustering – his Besserwissen arrogance shining through his false humility – he 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.

The Latest Example of His Master’s Voice  Brian Steel analyses the role of Anil Kumar in Sai propaganda and disinformation. He points out that, however bizarre some of Kumar’s offering may sound, they are accepted without demur by most devotees as accurate and authentic pieces of the SB story: in other words, as officially endorsed. Much of the SB legend has been strengthened and sustained in this indirect way.

Professor Anil Kumar’s interview with the Thailand media – 1  Anil Kumar Kamaraju (a former botanist) had close access to Sai Baba as his interpreter etc. He is living on the memory of Sai Baba, and – with his small band of servile helpers – is obtaining money from lecturing to the remaining flock of devotees around the land.

Professor Anil Kumar’s interview with the Thailand media – 2 Anil Kumar exhibits his  overwhelming gullibility as an endorser of Sai Baba’s impossible claims.

Interview with Professor Anil Kumar Thailand media 3  Anil Kumar Kamaraju confirmed that the British architect Keith Critchlow, who was close to Prince Charles and designed the super-speciality hospital in Puttaparthi, advised the Prince  to visit Sai Baba. And Charles was said to be keen to make the trip.

Sai Trust to print more books, says obscurantist Anil Kumar

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

The Latest Example of His Master’s Voice Brian Steel writes of Anil Kumar’s web-published unquestioning endorsements of SB and his Divine claims (but also of his boastfulness and his peculiar anecdotes). Steel shows excerpts of Kumar’s claims, exaggeration, far-fetched comparisons, adulation,which are completely transparent as to require no comment.

The following substantial comment was made to the above came from one who knew Anil Kumar and his helper associates:-

Eileenweed said February 5, 2014 at 4:06 am e

Anil Kumar’s outrageously flowery and exaggerated descriptions entirely comes to a standstill in the privacy of his own home. When I went a number of times to the teacher’s quarters across from sb’s parent’s burial site on Samadhi Road where he lived, to ask sticky questions about sb’s senseless words in discourses (he was often in the company of several ardent admirers), Anil Kumar only said, “I have no idea why he said that! NO IDEA!” The silence would be deafening as I waited for the characteristic poetic surge that I thought would follow, but never did.

In addition, I was asked on numerous occasions by my long-time acquaintance SH, to transcribe Anil Kumar’s fantastically fictional talks so they could be published on that website by her long-time boyfriend LG. Apparently (and amazingly?! NOT) they cannot find enough people willing to spend time on that lofty service, so SH often has to do it herself. SH and LG often go along (at their own expense) with Anil Kumar when he is invited to various places to talk about sb, to set up the audio and video equipment. One wonders just how many people bother to go to the site and read those talks.