Sathya Sai Baba E-Book

Anselm Keussen

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 171

Beschreibung

Sathya Sai Baba True Divine Parents for Humanity Dears Readers, cordial greetings. Still, you might ask: ‚Sathya Sai Baba – who is that?!‘ If you haven‘t switched on your mobile to research him in the first place. Since Sai Baba has left his ‚mortal coils‘ in 2011, there seems to be less public discussion on his life and his spiritual and worldly legacy. What remains are the amazing social institutions – large ashrams, schools, colleges, a university, world-standard maximum care hospitals, huge water-providing projects – and countless selfless-service organisations all over India and the world, which Sai Baba has founded in such a solid way that they are all operating sucessfully even today, about ten years later. And there are almost endless amounts of books and media on Sathya Sai Baba and about the ‚impossible‘ divine feats of his life. A Matter of Balance But there are also other reports, mainly in the internet, that decry Sai Baba‘s work, actions and intentions in very low ways. Therefore, this book has now been written for spiritually interested people, who prefer to hear all sides out, who truly had contact from close quarters with this Avatar of Humanity – rather than jumping to spectacular, if below the belt conclusions, often long-distance, without ever seeing Sai Baba in person. It is in order to help setting a hopefully more impartial – if thoroughly personal – perspective on these True Divine Parents of Humanity, as we have experienced Sathya Sai Baba, that we have written this book. It intends to integrate the various narrations on Sathya Sai Baba with our own exchange with him in such a way – that you, Dear Readers, will hopefully be able to gain a somewhat better balanced imagination of this super-human being that often was simply called Sai.

Leseprobe

Om Sai Ram1

Introduction

Dears Readers,

cordial greetings. Still, you might ask:

'Sathya Sai Baba - who is that?!'

If you haven't switched on your mobile to research him in the first place.

Since Sai Baba has left his 'mortal coils' in 2011, there seems to be less public discussion on his personal life and his spiritual and worldly legacy.

What remains are the amazing social institutions - large ashrams, several local hospitals, schools, colleges, a big university, two world-standard maximum care clinics, huge water-providing projects - and countless selfless-service organisations all over India and the world, which have been founded by Sai Baba in such a solid way that they are all operating successfully even today, in 2022, about ten years later.

And there are almost endless amounts of books and media on Sathya Sai Baba and about the 'impossible' divine feats of his life.

A Matter of Balance

But there are also other reports, mainly in the internet, that decry Sai Baba's work, actions and intentions in very low ways.

Therefore, this book has now been written for spiritually interested people, who prefer to hear all sides out, who truly had contact from close quarters with this Avatar of Humanity - rather than jumping to spectacular, if below the belt conclusions, often long-distance, without ever seeing Sai Baba in person.

In order to help setting a hopefully more impartial - if thoroughly personal - perspective on these True Divine Parents of Humanity, as we have experienced Sathya Sai Baba, we have written the following essay.

It intends to integrate the various narrations on Sathya Sai Baba with our own exchange with him in such a way - so that you, Dear Readers, will hopefully be able to gain a better balanced imagination of this super-human being that often was simply called Sai.

All the best to you and your family

Gabriele Breucha & Anselm Keussen

1Om Sai Ram can be translated as:

Greetings to the primordial source of Love that is present in the Divine Mother and Father in you.

For Sai Baba

In deep Gratitude

And

Dedicated to

All people, families

And nations of this earth

Who are walking home

On the Godward path

Table of Contents

Introduction

In deep Gratitude

True Divine Parents for Humanity

A first Glimpse

The Three Sais

Prashanti Nilayam live

Inner View - not Interview!

A Matter of Balance

Why fear, when I am here?

Some personal Experiences

Vegetable Dumplings

A very close Encounter

The Temple of Healing

Changing Colours

The Statue of Hanuman

Hidden Smoke

Metaphysics for the nuclear Physicist

Five Human Values

The Sarva Dharma Stupa

Sadhana

Just imagine

The inspiring Interview

A Letter and a Song

Saying goodbye to the Body

Getting the Task done

Swami's Teachings through his Miracles

A rare Transformation

Solace in a Name

Please let them live, Sir!

Spotless Devotion

Healing in the Jungle

The safe Instrument

Can you let me see it?

Epilogue

Timeless Time

The Authors

Websites on Sathya Sai Baba

Further Books by the Authors

Selected Bibliography

Advaita

Sathya Sai Baba True Divine Parents for Humanity

Family Life2

A young family is travelling to the ocean during summer vacation. Also on board is a small child, who comes to the sea for the first time with its parents.

Soon they are watching, as their toddler is setting out with his little sieve, shovel and bucket to create new worlds of sand and water at the shore.

Then the little kid has an idea - and it fills its colourful tiny bucket partly with the salty present of the slowly rolling waves.

All exited, the child carefully tip-toes back to its parents, so nothing is spilled. Then it proudly presents the small bucket to them, half-filled with salty water, only to proclaim rather seriously: 'Look - that's it!'

All the many people, who have written about Sai Baba probably felt a bit like this child, when they tried to fathom the infinite waters of the Sathya Sai Ocean!

Sathya Sai Baba has inspired countless writers and many media-makers from all around the globe to document the divine enigma of his resounding message, works and life in very detailed books, films and websites.

Therefore - we asked ourselves - which purpose would it serve to write 'yet another book' on the loving mystery that Sai Baba was and is?

Trying to 'describe' the eternally indescribable?

No, this is not our goal. Especially, as our memory of the reported events in Sai Baba's life may be incomplete in some cases. Also, we would have preferred to indicate the exact sources of our remembered quotes, which was not possible for time-related reasons.

But you can find them easily, because there are so many comprehensive reports, articles, books and media on Sathya Sai Baba already - and a selection that contains all the details of the events mentioned in this text can be found in the Bibliography at the end of this book.

In addition, our own lives, works and writings have been influenced and shaped by Sai Baba - or Swami, as he liked to be called - to such a degree that we feel it is appropriate to share a summary of our experiences with this God in human form - with all interested readers, but also with the readers of our other books, see page →.

Books that would never have been written in this form without the benevolent and divine guidance and living example of Sathya Sai Baba.

2 Source see Bibliography.

A first Glimpse

'Sai Baba,' my friend said, 'this is Sathya Sai Baba of India, a great yogi and spiritual master - but are you really listening?' she asked me, as I had gotten so absorbed by the person on that postcard I had noticed next to the door.

Scrutinizing the cherub-like face above that orange robe and impressed by the huge Afro-Look the person in the picture was sporting, I answered cautiously:

'Well, one of those many Indian Gurus, as it seems - but there is something alive in his face . . . and what is he doing or teaching, this particular Baba?,' I asked back, while I still looked at the timeless face in front of me.

My friend paused for a while. Then she smiled and said: 'It's quite similar to the message of Christ - or to the core of all major religions - that we should love and serve each other, instead of harming others and clinging to worldly goods.

And that we should remember our own Inner Spark of the Divine', she added.

But then she continued, somewhat shyly at first: 'And Sai Baba is working many miracles every day - like curing the sick, or manifesting things ...

'Red Alert!' my science-oriented medical mind called out, 'manifesting things' - in a nuclear reactor, or what?'

But I managed to maintain a neutral face when I replied: 'Sounds interesting - and how much is he charging to his followers?'

My friend giggled a little and stated: 'Nothing. He isn't taking any fees for himself. Only donations for social projects, like feeding the poor, re-building villages or constructing and running schools and hospitals.

And you pay a small amount for room and board, if you want to stay at one of his two Ashrams near Bangalore - today again Bengaluru - in South India.'

That was back in the beginning of the 1980s.

And step by step, my initial scepticism was changed into a questioning curiosity, when reports by a couple, who had personally seen Sai Baba in India, confirmed those informations.

Eventually, a friendly fate named Nancy arranged things in such a way that Howard Murphet's book:

Sai Baba - Man of Miracles claimed my full attention.

Written by a no-nonsense Australian - who had worked in the UK chemical industry in the PR-section before the war and had headed the British Military Press Corps that reported on the Nuremberg Nazi-Trials - this was a truly impressive book.

Evidently a book by a very clear-minded and rational person - but still: How could all those 'impossible' miracles be true, like 'creating' rings, necklaces, Swiss watches or airplane-tickets by the wave of his magic hand and from thin air?! And how did Sai Baba solve the problems of a celibate life?

Then, a quiet voice inside of me mentioned:

'And if only a fraction of Howard Murphet's book is true - it would always be enough to justify a journey to India, to see and experience for yourself, who this Sathya Sai Baba really is!'

In the end, the result was an expedition to India in 1985, including two inspiring 14-day stays at Sai Baba's Ashram Prashanti Nilayam, which I - Anselm - did by myself.

Later on, we - Gabriele and Anselm - were able to stay at Sai Baba's Ashrams during several visits to India.

Being deeply grateful to Sai Baba for his loving guidance in our lives, we were shocked to hear about some rather sinister accusations against him that circulated in the Internet since about the turn of the millennium.

During the years since 1985, we have been able to see and experience for ourselves that Sai Baba's divine personality was as genuine as his superhuman abilities.

And we have researched major parts of the available literature and other media on the 'Sai-Phenomenon' rather thoroughly - all of which only confirmed our confidence in his actions.

Despite this, we had to face strong doubts and difficult inner battles, when those rumours about transgressions or even abuse were first spread in the internet.

And it took quite a while, until we came to terms with those dark insinuations. How did that happen?

Well, mainly by looking at the 'whole picture' of Sai Baba's message, his works and his impact on the human society, next to our personal impressions from our visits to his main Ashrams in India.

The result of this sometimes tedious process has now been compiled in the following pages - in order to assist all interested readers in forming their own image and opinion of the True Divine Parents of Humanity, who Sathya Sai Baba was, is - and is going to be, as you yourself maybe will see.

The Three Sais

While the world was watching - first in small, later in ever increasing numbers of seekers - Sathya Sai Baba had shown himself to be 'Love in Action' ever since the tender age of fourteen years, when he first declared his Avatarhood.

On that day, Sathya Narayena Raju, which used to be his civil name, turned into Sathya Sai Baba, which means: True Divine Mother and Father!

But Sai Baba isn't 'only two', meaning Mother and Father of Humanity, no - he is hopefully 'even three'! How that?

Now, for one thing, there once was a holy man that used to be called Sai Baba of Shirdi, who evidently had also displayed very similar paranormal powers.

He had lived from - around - 1835 until 1918, and had devoted his whole life to helping others, sometimes also employing amazing 'leelos' or 'miracles'.

While dwelling both in a somewhat dilapidated Mosque and in an old Hindu-Temple, he was working tirelessly to enable understanding, peace and further cooperation between the often fighting people of Islamic and Hindu faith.

As we will see below, Shirdi Sai Baba 'preceded' the later Sathya Sai Baba, who often stated that Shirdi Sai had been his previous incarnation.

And on top of all this, Sathya Sai Baba - 1926 to 2011 - has already predicted that he will even return for a third incarnation, as Prema Sai Baba, the Divine Mother and Father of Love, because Prema means Love in Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language.

In other words, Sathya Sai Baba himself has promised to be a 'Triple Avatar', to help humanity in coping with its mostly ego-made global crisis.

Hm. A 'Triple Avatar'... interesting enough.

But what did it really look like, that 'Love in Action', which Sathya Sai Baba has shown throughout his life?

Prashanti Nilayam live

How did Sai Baba interact with his endless visitors from all the continents and nations of the earth?

How did he live?

And what remains of his work today?

Let's begin with the first question. Considering Sai Baba's global renown and his awesome paranormal abilities, he still was quite accessible - for Indians from any caste or creed, as well as for people from around the world.

'There is only one caste, the caste of humanity', Sai was often explaining.

Ancient sacred chants - Omkar, Mantras and Bhajans - accompanied by traditional holy dances called Kirtanas mark the beginning of the day in Prashanti Nilayam, the Abode of Peace Supreme, as Baba's ashram next to Puttaparthi is called. These chants and dances start as early as five o'clock in the morning.

And during Sai's life-time, one was well advised to be up that early, in order to 'sit in line' when tokens were drawn to decide, which of the lines was to go first into the temple precincts to see the Avatar.

These enchanting mornings, sitting 'online' on the sands of Prashanti Nilayam - with no internet at all, during the 1980s and 1990s - still remain etched forever in our memories.

Ladies and Gents each separate forming their lines quietly in the early morning cool under the coconut-trees, where the birds were wildly welcoming the new day, while the powerful Indian sun slowly rose to play with some first rays in the lush fans of the trees.

These special surroundings fit well with everybody's anticipation of soon seeing the Divine in human form directly.

Now both women and men walked in, line for line, and then settled in their respective quarters of the large temple-compound. In earlier years, until the late 1980s, the visitors were seated on fine sand.

When ever more people came to the Ashram, Sai Baba had a huge and beautifully decorated hall constructed right in front of his temple during the beginning of the 1990s, which is named Sai Kulwant Hall, so people were better protected from the sun.

Now we go back to witness the ongoing early morning procedures in Prashanti Nilayam.

As all had settled - and after a little while of timelessness - a gentle music would begin to play, swiftly focussing everybody's attention. Because this was the moment we all had been waiting for.

In the light of the new day, Sathya Sai Baba appeared from his quarters in the temple, his orange robe and his amazing halo of full black and curly hair clearly visible.

At the same time, the invisible impact of Sai Baba's powerful presence could be felt. Slowly, he would walk towards the women's side, sometimes 'writing in the air' with his right index finger - then again seemingly lifting up the air in a spiralling movement that he made with his whole right hand.

Just those apparently simple gestures have again and again cured 'incurable' diseases, brought back lost jobs, avoided accidents in a surprising way - or calmed the waves in fighting families.

But now Swami, as Sai Baba mostly liked to be called - which means Lord or Master - reaches the front lines of the women, most of them in colourful Indian Saris.

Vibhuti - a Ray of the Divine

Here and there, he briefly speaks with several of them or he accepts some letters. And then, it is happening: With a few turns of his superhuman hand, he is now manifesting Vibhuti, as this sacred ash is called.

It should be remembered at this point, that Sathya Sai Baba 'produced' this holy ash probably dozens of times every day - to protect, to heal and to transform his followers on the spiritual path.

Depending on the situation, this blessed and freshly created ash could vary from light grey powder of Jasmine scent up to the darker, more solid compounds of medicinal smell, which are reported as well.

And Baba happily worked this 'small miracle' - from his own perspective - again and again, for those many ailing or doubting visitors - to cure, to convince and also to motivate.

Reports on those amazing powers of Sai Baba's glorious Vibhuti abound in media and literature - a diabetic condition or a drinking habit that was eliminated, cancers of various kinds that were cured, or this heart-, eye- or earoperation, which became superfluous, after the healing sacred ash had been ingested.

Here a less spectacular, but still special anecdote that is connected with this amazing Vibhuti, told from memory.

Healing Vibhuti for whom?

A woman who had a number of problems in her life went to see Sai Baba. At the same time, she had a cat that had fallen sick, which she had left in a friend's care.

But by the time she reached the Ashram, she didn't think of her cat any more, as she was so preoccupied with all the health issues in her family and other problems.

Later, she was very grateful as Swami was talking with her. Knowing all her troubles, he gave her small parcels of Vibhuti for her afflicted family members and herself. The woman was overwhelmed with joy.

Beaming happily - she thought she was to leave now.

But when she took a first tentative step, Sai called out to her and said: 'Wait, wait - this here is for your cat now!', while he handed her an additional packet of Vibhuti - for her sick cat she entirely had forgotten about!

With this, we're going back to the events of the morning Dorshon, which signifies personally meeting and seeing a Divine person.

As we've been watching, Sai Baba gently floated along and through the women's lines, blessing, taking letters or at times writing a first OM with chalk on the slate of a first-year disciple. But he also had a very 'down-to-earth' humour.

When a woman repeated her ardent wish:

'Swami, I want a child from you!' a little too often during Darshan, he replied with a gentle, if impish smile: 'Well, right here and now?!' which solved and saved the situation in an unexpected way.

While Swami moved along and through the lines of the women like this, chatting, patting, taking letters, or making and giving Vibhuti to some, he now gradually approached the men's side, who were mostly dressed in white summer clothes.

And at rare occasions, he would take a step back from the lines or two - and then, only for some moments, his face mirrored all the messages he was receiving from the many thousands of devotees present - on the inner plane and virtually at the same time!

The variety and intensity of those countless bundled emotions appeared as one living flow on his face - but only very briefly - maybe to let us share his constant connection with all of us on this inner mental plane.

But in the next instant, he could be fully concentrated again, wandering towards that sea of white-clad spiritual aspirants on the men's side.

As he approached them, Sai Baba in his orange robe, who was of moderate frame himself, was joined by two 'body-guards' in white or in the Khakis of a Colonel - and they had quite an impressive physique.

Which at times even proved necessary, when whole flocks of those men - mostly Indian, but not only - quickly surged forward in their religious fervour, so close to the original source, intending to 'dive' at Baba's feet, so to speak.

But then these two protecting 'towers' at the side of the spiritual giant leapt into action, gently prodding those clusters and waves of emotional men away from his divine feet.

But soon, Sai Baba directed his path straight through the lines of these men again, which sometimes turned out to be a challenge for his two tall helpers, trying to keep up with him - to receive, for instance, a thick bundle of letters, which Sai had collected so far.

How to read letters

But what were those letters for? Well, these letters were one tangible form, by which Sai Baba's visitors were able to hand all their difficulties, trials and tribulations in written words to him.