The Baba and Neo-Mayos

Hari, I c ur point. No, I was referring to wave-particle duality. I can't agree with your conclusions on Baba, simply because I have observed too much 'data' to prove otherwise. I don't know if you knew Baba in person but I did, argued many times with him. I still disagree with him on things, but he was nothing like what u say. He described to me in great detail an event occurring elsewhere real-time, as it happened. I made a note of the time in my diary, and verified my facts with the person he was talking about. That guy was not in touch with Baba, n there were no go-betweens. It was uncanny, every detail. Many more such. Extraordinary medical miracles - that I personally verified. You can disagree with my facts, as I do with yours. 100%. Rest your heels.

@azure : Its extremely interesting that you refer to Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle as analogous to a measurement of what Sai Baba was. As Avaduta has already pointed out, this has no relevance to Sai Baba being a fraud or not, and its merely notional. Heisenberg merely postulated that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the exact physical position and the angular momentum of an electron etc beyond a certain ratio of Planck's constant. It is based on sound proveable physical principles. But IT IS possible to prove that Satya Sai Baba is a fraud to a degree of 100% certainty, with physical, visual, logical and inferential evidence. So, applying your own example, Sai Baba cannot simultaneously be a fraud as well as a good hearted philantropist...his "charity" can ONLY be a bait for his bigger fraud. QED

Azure, know why your understanding on subjects you are talking is half baked: You talk about uncertainty principle, different 'facts' based on observer's perspective, people's perception on reality differs, etc. Infer from your own statements, reality is one but seen differently. What you refer to as uncertainty and differences exist in the (observer’s) perception and not in the object perceived. So just because your eyes are impaired doesn’t mean or doesn’t make an object glorious or impaired, poor reasoning. You are biased and a poser acting as neutral: If you had the civility of allowing someone to hold on to their view, you wouldn't be asking us to stop airing our views. Neither Hari Sampath nor me, are asking Gurmurthy to stop writing. Instead we have based our arguments on sound reasoning. So who lacks civility? Know that it’s you. Read through our arguments which are based on rationale and facts. When you give up your bias, you will see the truth.

@ Hari/Avaduta Part of the reason I suggested it isn’t the brightest idea to beat the same drum endlessly is that you end up undermining your own key messages. Many simple errors jump out in your statements. For instance - the notion that there is only one fact is both simplistic and wrong. Ever heard of the good old Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle? Today, hypotheses around multiverses are based on trying to reconcile the ‘fact’ that a quantum particle can be two different ‘facts’ simultaneously, based on the observer’s perspective. More pertinently, credible studies show that people’s perceptions of the same reality differ greatly based on internal biases. It is clear that Gurumurthy didn’t mean for his article to be the 'gospel’; if you notice it is an published as an opinion. So many people can refute your muddled understanding of Baba, but that wouldn’t convince you one bit. My point here is simple, why wouldn’t you have the civility to let Gurumurthy hold onto his views? Y

Oh yeah....of course Avaduta and my comments are extensive....don't you see why ? Here we have an article by a renowned journalist Mr Gurumurthy, supporting and defending a paedophile fake godman who has cheated countless people, and all this with Mr Gurumurthy not even having spent an hour with Sai Baba. The very basis of the Sai Baba devotees' claim that he has "divine powers" has been demolished by us, with no credible refuting from anyone....so does exposing a fake godman/paedophile makes us "gutter inspectors"...inadvertently Mr Gurumurthy has conceded that Sai Baba is a gutter character...the more gutter characters we have in our societies, the more gutter inspectors we need to keep it clean. Is Mr Gurumurthy's article on Sai Baba the "gospel" ? For instance, recently Mr Gurumurthy's 3 man committee prepared a report saying Sonia Gandhi had a billion dollar black money account, which , when she denied, Mr Advani, Mr Gurumurthy's close friend publicly apologised for...so where is

Saibaba is a bad example for the society. If you still hail him for his charity missions why can’t you do the same on your own? That’s what saibaba should have taught, but he was a hypocrite; he wanted the credits, limelight, so-called Bhagvan status, worship, prayers, money, gold, comforts and luxury and also perverted pleasure. The so-called faithful and half baked intellectuals like azure who put up a false neutral stand only to vent out their hurt are missing the point. Fact is always one and it never changes. You may not want to accept it because it will hurt your ego which is built upon your believes on saibaba and you cannot see it challenged, simply because you don’t have any logical reasons to disprove arguments against saibaba. May be we are gutter inspectors, but what about those who think gutter as ultimate?

Hari and Avaduta Have you noticed the length and frequency of your comments to this article? You might have exceeded the original piece itself, by now. And in doing so, you are underscoring the very point Gurumurthy makes here about neo-Mayos. Why are you so troubled as to not be able to bear the pinprick of an opposite point of view? Are your egos so fragile? What you regard as ‘proof’ and ‘data’ are in your own mind. People who have experienced Baba other than the way you have are convinced of exactly the same. For them, you are as ignorant as you think they are. For you, it seems their positions are held out of deluded faith. For them, the mindset you hold on to so assiduously is no better than that of sewer inspectors. Neither of you will convince the other. For each ‘fact’ the other camp can lay the ‘counter-fact’. Rest in peace, go about your life and be happy. And grow up – rattling on endlessly only showcases arrested emotional development.

@Annemarie Marwah......Madam....I have seen what you have written about Sai Baba in your book "And the greatest is Love"...in 1985.....your vivid accounts of personal interviews with Sai Baba, wherein according to your own writings, he did not even know who your husband was and where he was from...Sai Baba asked your husband if he was from Madras and you had to make a sign to him to show he was your husband ...your husband said he was from Delhi...and so many such accounts in your own book show that Sai Baba was hardly divine and just doing clever guesswork, mostly wrong...and he was repeating what you were telling him, in different words....and again partly wrong...which you interpret as a sign of "omniscience"...same old case of "cold reading" by fraud psychic people...you are a prime example of highly strung emotional devotees who propagate so called "divinity" of Sai Baba in dozens of books, when its so obvious to anyone this was a clever charlatan.

A very good article and Kudos Gurumuthy garu.

The world doesn't need some babalog to remove their problems or uplift them. Come on they do not have a panacea! It is the real people who face real problems who can solve their own and others' problems. It is people with vested interests who exploit people's weaknesses by showing the tricks and make money and careers out of it. It was totally unnecessary of Mr. Gurumurthy to try to brand someone whom any man in 'right' senses will call a fraud. Yeah as for his followers from different walks of life....the world is full of crazy people. As for his good work whose money did he spend and how efficiently he has spent.

Nature has created this world for the sustenance and emancipation of living entities (Jiva). To live, all we need is minimal resources (food, clothing and shelter). But from professionals, businessmen to politicians and so-called God-men everyone hoards more than their fair share of resources. The moment you start hoarding, you are stealing what belongs to another Jiva or in total that which belongs to nature. If someone does charity with that wealth it is no charity. What belongs to others and what you have taken unrighteous possession of, if you return to the society how can that be called charity? Secondly a sizeable section of businessmen and politicians earn by unlawful means (implies hurting others). How can a hurt that is transferred from one place to another in the name of charity become an act of welfare?

@srikanth....Just to confirm to you that most of the "miracle" footage shown on youtube and various documentaries are from James Redmond's 15 year collection, and he was Sai Baba's official videographer. Of course all it takes is just one so called miracle to be shown as a trick, and the vibuthi tablet can be seen in his hand clearly. Also, when he takes out a "lingam" from his mouth, its so obvious Sai Baba is not even opening his mouth wide enough and the lingam is already in the hand towel, and its shown from 2-3 angles. The point is if you apply the same reasoning of conclusive proof in support of his "miracles" there is not even one, as Sai Baba has refused being tested all the time. Furthermore, Sai Baba has never ever created anything with his hand held flat and open and some object dropping into his hand , which would have been accepted as genuine....but then he never could.

(Contd...) Sai baba is neither a Governing principle of nature nor God nor his avatar. His followers who make such claims must ask do we have reasons to substantiate. God is infinite. While the jiva is infinitesimal and that is the position of all Jivas including Sai baba. If we go by Advaita vada (monism) there is no difference between him, me, you or God as finally it’s only one Brahmam and there is no second to Bhramam. So if we were to believe sai baba as God then you too are God. Then why should you seek God in him, seek in yourself. If we go by Dwaita vada (Jiva and Paramatma are two/ different). Saibaba is a Jiva like you and me; and no Jiva becomes paramatma. So if you are looking at him as God then it is foolishness...

The followers of Sai baba must see these arguments in light of sound reasoning and or based on Scriptures upon which the faiths of Sanatana dharma are built else their emotions and beliefs towards sai baba will become an act of self betrayal. All our philosophical/spiritual schools, point to five vital understanding namely Jiva, Parkriti, Bhagvan (God), Kala and Karma. Jiva is the individual living entity seen as consciousness in the bodies of all species of life. Prakriti is the material nature which has created the world with the elements earth, water, fire, air and ether and also all other phenomenon that govern them like the sun, wind, rain, etc. God is the creator, and sustainer of both prkariti and Jiva. Kala is time and Karma is the law that governs actions and reactions. In light of this wisdom Sai baba as an individual is just another jiva, a living entity like all of us...(to continue)

As Sri Sathya Sai Baba so often said: “Only the fruit laden trees receive the most stones.” This very well written and detailed article should be on the front page of every newspaper and then the people should be asked whether they know of anyone in history who has done anything like it single handed. Yes Baba has lakhs of volunteers who execute His work, but He is the Mastermind of this work and only He is able to inspire His volunteers. He was and still is and will always be the inspiring force. Not only has He provided to the poor these humangous projects in record time but He has done unbelievable and untold wonders to His millions of devotees all over the world. When these would be written down, it would be an unending book. The hospitals, the water projects, the university and the many schools all over the world (all free of cost) are only the material outcome of His Grace. Millions all over the world He made repeat the name of God in so many beautiful and melodious bhajans.

@Hari Sampath: "It has been conclusively proved that his so called "miracles" are just cheap tricks and have been caught on camera where he is clearly seen crushing vibuthi tablets, taking out rolled up gold chains etc. " I have seen dozens of such videos and none of those videos CONCLUSIVELY prove that the "miracles" are just cheap tricks. You may want to read the account of Dr. Erlandoor. Very very few of the videos may look suspicious but NONE as you say offer any CONCLUSIVE proof that the miracles are actually tricks. There have been many many recorded videos of Satya Sai baba's Vibhuti and other miracles, but only a selected few videos have been floating around in youtube/internet that are being shown to spread malicious intent.

Great job Mr.Gurumurthy for such an wonderful article enunciating the great personality of what Baba is. @Hari Sampath & Avaduta, I pity that you're wasting your time writing paragraphs of venting your resentment against Baba. I would sincerely advise you to verify your facts before slinging mud at a person of such a great stature who inspired (& still inspiring) millions. Have you ever seen him or interacted with him or have ever witnessed numerous good work being carried out all over the world with baba's inspiration and his blessings as the epicenter. If not please go, witness them and hear out from each and every one who is getting benefitted as to what Baba means to them. If you're just passing comments based on what media reports, god save you!

Here is Sai Baba speech from August 2002 "Almost 90 percent of the so-called devotees are, in fact, deceitful. Earlier, it was quite different; the devotees were few, but they were genuine devotees. Nowadays, there are too many self-seeking cheats masquerading as devotees. First thing in the morning, they adorn their forehead with Vibhuti, wrap a scarf round their neck and roam about freely in the guise of devotees. Even the stray dogs scrounging around for something to eat are better than such fake devotees! " So according to Sathya Sai Baba himself, who predicted that 2/3 of the world would be his followers by the year 2000....9 out of 10 of his "devotees" are worse than stray dogs, deceitful, and self seeking cheats wearing vibuthi on foreheads and scarves on shoulders ( his volunteers ).....Its a pathetic joke, so the "avatar" failed even after 75 years ?? His devotees better see what their "lord" thinks of them, and decide whether they belong to the 90% stray dog category or "devo

Avaduta grow up!!!! Why are you just going on digging at your own doubts created by hearsay or reading some news articles? Did you ever think of meeting Sri Satya Sai Baba on your own & verifying for yourself the TRUTH? Intelligent people do not borrow negative criticisms or reports from others & spread them.

I think the discussions should come to an end! We find the same people writing the same malicious stuff again and again out of ignorance. It is important to remember what Baba himself has said on numerous occasions that He need not be defended as those who defend and advertise him know know little about him. In fact he declares that he loves those who abuse, as much those who love. After all those who abuse Him think more frequently and intensely than those who love Him

Just a question to followers of Satya Sai Baba. Suppose you had a 12-16 year old son who is a student in Sai Baba's school/college , who comes to you one fine day and say Sai Baba misbehaved with him and tried to get him perform sexual acts...or tell you that he had been forced by Sai Baba to do so for a long time ....suppose your son tells you he was afraid of speaking of it as it would be just his word against Sai Baba....would you believe your son or dismiss him as a lunatic ? This is a dilemna hundreds of families ( Sai devotees) had faced over the years , and I had personally known many of them. Without doubt, you would see the true nature of Sai Baba and just denounce him. As far as Sai devotees are concerned, its just that most of them have not known anyone very close to them who have had direct experience of Sai Baba's dark nature....like "miracles" fraud, or sexual abuse etc...hence they rely on what they believe to be their own "divine experiences" or the "welfare projects"..

For those who say they have had "divine experiences" with Sathya Sai Baba and say critics should talk to these devotees, let me say just this : Such experiences are highly subjective, I have known and still know hundreds of devotees of Sai Baba. Many people who attribute coincidences, misinterpretations of his so called predictions and similar things to " divine powers" have later stated it never turned out that way. Its just a question of how sharp or observant a devotee can be. A "divine materialisation" of a ring which a devotee may call a miracle, may not be so divine to some other person who had seen Sai Baba hiding it in his hand. Devotees must see for themselves the very revealing videos where Sai Baba is shown to hide things in his hands and later pretend to "produce" it, and there are hundreds of eye witnesses too. The point is once a person falls for such a trick and starts believing Sai Baba to be divine, they live 24 hours a day thinking everything is " Sai Baba's will" an

Lord Krishna's detractors remained as such until annihilation. But, the embodiment of adharma, karunaniti befriended satya SaiBaba viz-vis Lord krishna, the embodiment of Dharma. This is the slur on satya Sai Baba.

Avaduta and HariSampath have very valid points. If charity is the goal why hoard the money and gold? why live in a gilded palace when a simple dwelling would do? why such high security is you fear nothing? why not divide the wealth among the poorest and disabled? why does the magic bring gold chains and lingams instead of bags of rice and wheat or bottles of water for the poor and needy? why associate with celebrities? why go about on a golden chariot? why 35 lakhs in cash and not a cheque? why die a decade sooner than predicted by yourself? Non existent, non functional governments make such acts of exhibition and cheap display into miracles! why does the govt even accept these pittances as charity and afford protection to larger hoaxes?

If you ask each of his devotees, they can narrate their own divine experiences. And they are not just 1 or 2. They are Millions from 160 countries. Those who have not experienced can never understand. Before criticizing, we need to do just one small comparison. What have we done in our life vis a vis what Baba has done. This is enough.

For those of you who think Sai Baba has lead a luxury life, Read a bit of His Life History before you even decide to spell the letters. Dont make comments without any bit of reading and understanding. It will be really good to go down to Prasanthi Nilayam and see the happening for yourself and then comment. It is really as the name states the Abode of Peace.

What a wonderfully well researched article by respected Shri Gurumurthy. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba did not give TV interviews or interviews to print media for publicity of any kind. He did not engage in any fund raising activities either and only accepted voluntary donations without publicity. nobody can name even one newspaper that has printed ads from his organizations asking for money. He did not participate in political rallies and support one party or the other. He did not take up lost political causes or whip up religious sentiments and divide people. He only engaged in the philosophy of unity of all mankind and service to the poor and needy. His numerous service and charitable activities have earned the gratitude of poor people in villages who are unlettered and unlikely to acknowledge in internet forums. One just has to go to his super specialty hospitals or educational institutions or even visit villages where his water project has quenched their thirst to glimpse the enorm

There are always critics even for good and virtuous deeds ... be that work of an ordinary soul or the enlightened ones !! Avaduta and likes do not possess that humility, vision and intellect to comprehend whatt Swami has done for the mankind !! Great writing Mr Gurumurthi, please keep it up.... let more people know though your words what SWAMI did for all !!

"He kept all the money he received in trust for the poor and the needy in his times and in future. Even the undeposited cash and gold in his personal chamber — the Yajur Mandir — made their way to the trusts after him." Both statements are contradictory. Article seems one sided.

This is in response to Shams Tabraz. What someone considers as God is that person's prerogative. They are enlightened enough to know what God is and What is not or that there is no God. It is neither Mr Tabraz nor my place to lecture somebody about their beliefs.

(contd)...His prophecies have all mostly failed, and hundreds of his statements have been proved as ridiculous and contrary to fact. He has outright been caught lying ( as in the case of the World bank loan I mentioned earlier). So Sathya Sai Baba fails the basic test of honesty and credibility. Sai Baba has , on hundreds of occasions mad preposterous statements that are contary to every event of history as we know it. He claimed publicly in 1986 that Alexander came to India and studied the Quran and the Bible....this is ridiculous as we all know that Alexander lived and died before 323 BCE and the Bible was after the 1st century and Quran by 4th-5th century AD. So, its a very well established fact Sai Baba makes ridiculous statements, which his devotees take as gospel, because they have abandoned common sense.

First of all, lets assume that Sai Baba did some charity work for noble causes as his devotees insist. But since his devotees completely accept his words that he is an infallible Avatar, with total divine powers, omniscient etc, lets put Sathya Sai Baba through a very basic human integrity and credibility test. It has been conclusively proved that his so called "miracles" are just cheap tricks and have been caught on camera where he is clearly seen crushing vibuthi tablets, taking out rolled up gold chains etc. Hundreds of people close to him have given eyewitness testimonies that he had been doing it all the time. Some devotees ( past and present) claim he once had some powers but since he lost them later, he resorted to trickery to maintain his image. Sai Baba's claim that he had resurrected 2 people from death has been proved to be hollow, as indeed his claims his vibuthi can cure cancer etc. His prophecies have all mostly failed, and hundreds of his statements have been proved as

Temples, charities, holy men, and politicians are all competing with the central, state, and local tax authorities. The only suckers who contribute to taxes are members of the salaried class. I recommend we get rid of all taxes, and allow charities like the ones established by Sai Baba, to take over everything that government runs including the nation's defense. Why bother having a government if the super successful charity model is replicated on a large scale? For Sai Baba to shine, do we need to have a really lousy unresponsive government for 50 years? What is the cause and effect here? Do we have to dysfunctional governments motivate charities to show them the alternative? Do we need to thank the poor people of Rayalaseema for enduring 50 years of water scarcity so one day Sai Baba could show his magic? India is the home of the world's oldest ascetic tradition. We do not associate Swamis and Sanyasis with well endowed charities. This is relatively new business! A wealthy man

his bibhuti 'charishma' from palm was exposed by Mr. prabir Ghosh, director of Science and Rationalists' Association of India long ago.in life he was a successful fellow indeed.only god knows about his overall karma.

A noble man does not seek self praise and propaganda, but saibaba did. He might have done some charity with other's money, but what did he do to earn them? A daily wage laborer's little charity is more sanctified than saibaba's. It has his struggle in earning and compassion in giving. Whereas Saibaba stole others money calling himself God and did charity to cover his crime. If his followers believe serving humanity is their religion, they should have pursued their own life with nobility, rather than discrediting their own lives following someone blindly. If anyone appreciates charity, why can’t he do it himself to the best of his ability? Why flush a someone's private chamber with gold, silver and currency? Had these people used their time and resources for self development and in giving a helping hand to others, exploiters like saibaba would have not mushroomed in our society.

If Sai baba was not a seeker of fame and wealth he would have preached 'do charity in whatever ways you can, you need not give it to me'. He ran a trust in his own name like Karunanidhi who was shamelessly launching all schemes in his name. If saibaba considered helping humanity as the ultimate service, why should he display cheap tricks like pulling out chains and rings? Discard even that, why abuse Shivling by taking it out from his mouth. We all know saliva is contamination. How can anyone place Shivling in his mouth just to impress upon naive believers? If his reverence to Shivling is only so much, what could be his level of thinking? Fact is that he cheated people in the name of God, made a flock of blind believers, made them believe that he had solutions for all their lives problems, coveted their hard earned money (leave aside those of wealthy businessmen and corrupt politicians), wasted their time, energy, efforts and even prayers.

Saibaba was running a 40,000 crore empire. When most people in our country don’t have even a descent shelter, he was sleeping on a silver cot bedecked with gold ornamentation. He was eating in gold plates and living in a chamber of ill-gotten treasure. Why does a sadhu need so much of wealth and why should he live with such plethora of luxuries? He was claiming himself as God but he was simply a man who was unable to save himself from old age, disease and death, how can he save others from these? If every man holds only a fair share of wealth then there will be sufficient for everyone. Saibaba's hoarding of wealth is nothing but criminal abuse of resources. People who are praising him for his charity work never really see that his charity only amounts to a meagre sum of wealth that he has amassed and he amassed it by deceiving people in every possible way.

Mr. Gurumurthy seems to have missed the point. Rs. 35 Lakhs which were caught being moved in a car boot ... is a proof of the way money is getting into wrong hands and being looted for personal gains instead of for the purposes sai baba (more so the ones who have given him the money) intended i.e. for public good. The trust members denied any link with the money and claimed that they are in no way related to that money. Once the driver opened his mouth in police interrogation ... and it was clear that they would be found guilty .. they started the explanation that it was meant for constructing sai babas samaadhi and ... what not ... No one knows the truth about when sai baba died. Every one understands that the committee members colluded with some politicians and moved away a lot of cash and other valuables .... between the time sai baba fell ill and he was declared dead ... a 15+ days gap. Is Gurumurthy also in collusion with the robbers ... since he asks people to ign

what about all the children he abused? What will they think of him?

With respect to this comment, "RAMA,Krishna,Jesus,Mohammad,Shirdi Sai Baba as human beings? As they were bor as human beinhgs why are they being worshipped as Gods, " I want to clarify that We muslims do not worship Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) as he is a Prophet and Messenger of God just like Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). GOD was sending messengers to guide people towards HIM and all the prophets had the same message. WORSHIP THE CREATOR NOT HIS CREATIONS

I am amused to know the charity work done by SATYA SAI TRUST in the field of potable drinking water, medical services and education to the poor people of India. I salute the divine soul for that and hope that his spirit of serving the poorest among the poor will ever remain active in many more people of India

It is certainly not a surprise that the very intelligent and pious Gurumurthi could rightly bring out a unique article on the most genuine humanist Sri Sathya Sai Baba.All are entitled to their opinions,no doubt. But when it comes to expression,one has to do a lot of homework to know the truth.No critic of Baba has taken to any serious study of Him before they ventured to do it.It is really a pity. He declared He was Sai Baba of Shirdi reborn as early as 1940.What was He worth then or where was Puttaparthi at that time? People are not fools to extol some one as great, let alone their accepting Him as God.The atheists have a notion that they are very wise and all devotees are of blind faith.Devotees are more rational than the others who claim to be so.May the Lord bless Sri Gurumurthi with a very clear insight and knowledge on whatever he takes up to write.Love,

On the eve of Guru Poornima its indeed so wonderful to read about the great life and service of our beloved Swami....no matter what comes Swami and his divine mission will continue to move forward...a huge thanks to Mr.Gurumurthi for this write up

This is in response to Avaduta's comment. What Sai's followers call Sai is none of Avaduta's business. To them Sai is God or God incarnate. If they impose their will on the rest, then people like Avaduta can fight. The names of Hindu Pantheon are not patented. Hence anybody can use the names of Hindu Pantheon. The case will not stand in the court of law.

contd....." was hardly surprised to discover that the Ramakrishna Mission does at least 80 times more in term of volume in the fields of medical , educational and other disaster relief activities each year. Ramakrishna Mission educate more than 3 lakh people through more than 1200 educational institutions each year. Around 80 lakhs of people receive medical assistance, ranging from the simple to the most complex problems, each year through 15 hospitals and over 100 dispensaries. They do all this without fanfare or having Primeministers and Presidents visiting or putting out full page adverts.Gurumurthyji ( himself one of the beneficiaries of the RKM education system) should do honest introspection about these facts and try to explain why he thinks the Sathya Sai trust welfare activities are "unparalleled". Morover , people like Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet and George Soros have donated more $100 billion for charity, all their own hard earned money. Yet another example of the

Shri Hari Sampath's remarks on both Shri Gurumurthy and Shri Satya Sai - Sai Bhagawan to millions - are very telling!!! He quotes Mahaswami, but does not seem to have even understood the basic teaching of The Mahaswami, Chandrasekara Saraswathi!!! It is not important what the mistakes were of anyone; it is important to see what they can be remembered for - what they have done for the mankind, etc. This is the Mahaswami's basic teaching - and from that score alone, the article by Shri Gurumurthy is not only in line with the teachings of the Mahaswami, but also serves a higher purpose - of letting those who dont know these details, know them!!! Faith - the corner stone of our religion - is in the minds of people. Sai Bhagwan was, nay, IS, the divine incarnate for many millions!!! That alone is enough for all the rest of us to respect Him.

To the people who ever talking about Hinudtwa , hinduism, hindustan etc... what the hell we are doing in our daily life being hindu ?? Rather being any religious represent-or ?. Lets grow our children too in the same way we are thinking today so that they will spend more time in stupid activities like breaking churches or majids or temples than being spend their life in humanity. Does anybody know, why we ring a bell in the temple ? why only coconut served ? why Harathi is given ? why incenses put ? why we put right leg on left leg while making shastanga pranam in the temple ?? If you know all these thing then I agree you are true follower of Hindu. This kind of questions applicable for other patents who are having religious fever. Why religion if it is of no use in our daily life ? what is the meaning of following religions if you don't know exactly the act your are doing?. At least do the service to poor man

With Ref to comments from Avaduta - Saibaba may not be god sent .His trust or schools may not be compared to schools like Shankara,Madhava ...etc.Money in the trust may be public money & he may have used god's name.But no one can take away the good work he has done as mentioned by Guru in his article.That indeed make him a noble soul & remians ultimate reality.We need to respect such noble soul though not worship.India needs many more gurus like Sai baba who can lead this nation to glory.Money with the govt is also public money which is plundered day in & day out.

timely and righly said. god bless you sir. sairam

@Avadootha, does a person become holy when he wears rags or fasts, stays in austere condition, grows beard and only walks on foot? Second, who knows the ways of God. Shridi Baba said, I come in all forms. Sai Baba never asked anybody abandon their religion and come to him. He never asked YOU or ME to worship him. So, you dont have a right to Judge a person who has not asked you to worship him, Second who is God ! for me He is GOD who seamlessly tiresomely professes love, reaches out to people, connects to them, allieveate their suffering, empathizes with them and cares for them...The so called saints of India like ramanuja, shankara, madhwacharya did nothing but preach davita and advaita and divided the Hindu community. Also there is nothing like Hinduism. There were two sects of people who worhsiped God in form of Akara (vishnu) and Nirakara(shiva). Even today in across India, fanatics of these sects do not go to each other temple, do not worship and not rever each other. The so c

One may argue that Lord Rama cared only for His wife Seeta and if you go by IPC He is a murder for having killed innocent Vali.Demon Jarasandha defeated lord Krishna in war and it does not mean that Krishna is not an avatar.Krishna would have yielded His power to prevent bloo shed in Mahabharat war but He did not do so. When Lord Rama and Krisna were alive in their Physical bodies one few understood that they were Avatar.99 per cent of ordinary people thought that they were just like human beings like them. Lord Krishna died a violent death at the end though He is lord of this universe. Shiradi Sai lost to a wrestler in a match in Shiradi and it does not mean that he is not divine. The actions of divine people are beyond human comprehesions,logic and imaginations,so says Mata Amritanandamayi. Sathya sai Baba is beyond human comprehensions.Even if you do thousansd years of research you can not understand his divity unless you have love filled heart without ego and good Karma.The write

I too have experienced the great power of Sai Baba, but whatever his greatness there was a dark side to him as well. His charitable works can never be done by me or anybody commenting on this article and many wonderful stundents have come out of his institutions. His charisma has been explained very well in the article, but I will give you a few examples of not such charitable behaivior and would like agenuine response to it. By the way I have had interviews of swami of course some decades ago. Please remember four students were shot dead in Prashanti Nilayam. At the time of the shooting swami was nowhere near them, it was under the orders of his brother. It was done in a closed room. The reasons have never been explained swami always dismissed it as being due to jealous behavior. Why was he keeping crores with him almost under his bed. Was swami so helpless that he could not trust anyone.

Let us recognize the services rendered by Baba and his organization, if not more then at least as much as we appreciate services of churches to their followers and others. Nobody can deny that Baba and his organization has done a great deal of social service, in other words, if there were any donations they have been put to good use, at least better use then the politicians would allow. As for the argument that a really holy person doesn't require comforts and luxury I think that such arguments are missing the point. An enlightened person considers poverty and luxury EQUAL and has no particular reason to crave or shun any of them. Whether Baba craved luxury or was indifferent to it is something nobody can know, except Baba. As for Baba being an avatar, it is possible, after all he didn't claim to be avatar of Sri Ram or Krishna, but of Sai Baba. If there really are avatars, then he might as well be one.

A good read about the social work that Sai Baba has done and how he managed the generous donations. What always perplexed me is...why a great person with so much following have to perform stage tricks. I would like to understand the basis for this, I know he had good leadership and managerial skills, was these tricks used for some reason perhaps?

Sai ram!

(contd)...""The World Bank people were very much impressed. They said that they had never heard about or seen such stupendous service activities undertaken by a charitable organisation anywhere else in the world. They were happy that Sathya Sai Baba was providing drinking water to a distant place like Madras. They have agreed to bear the expenditure involved in this project. On this sacred day of Ugadi before I came out to give Darshan, we received a telephone call at about 7 a.m. conveying this message." I would like to know from Gurumurthyji whether this is a fact because WB does NOT fund charity organizations, they deal only with Governments. Looks like Sathya Sai Baba was making up the whole story, like he does most of the time. Sai Trust is not even listed on the WB website.

(cont)Ramakrishna Mission does at least 80 times more in term of volume in the fields of medical , educational and other disaster relief activities each year. Ramakrishna Mission educate more than 3 lakh people through more than 1200 educational institutions each year. Around 80 lakhs of people receive medical assistance, ranging from the simple to the most complex problems, each year through 15 hospitals and over 100 dispensaries. They do all this without fanfare or having Primeministers and Presidents visiting or putting out full page adverts.Gurumurthyji ( himself one of the beneficiaries of the RKM education system) should do honest introspection about these facts and try to explain why he thinks the Sathya Sai trust welfare activities are "unparalleled". Morover , people like Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet and George Soros have donated more $100 billion for charity, all their own hard earned money. Yet another example of the author's ill informed opinions and tunnel vision

With an estimated population of 950 million Hindus in India alone and a number of distinct schools of thoughts Hinduism is deprived of a universal collective governing body to represent itself thus making itself easily vulnerable to abuses and that is how people like Sai baba have mushroomed. As per the authentic texts of Hinduism and even by any rational or meaningful debate Sai baba doesn’t fit the bill of God. He is just another Jiva. Let his followers hail his social work and call him a social activist or a philanthropist but not abuse Hinduism or insult Hindus by calling him Bhagavan and equating him with Rama or Krishna. There is neither sound reasoning nor scriptural references to support such claims. Schools like Shankara, Madhava, Ramanuja and the likes (which are genuine and based on Shastras) should file a legal suit against Sai baba and his followers and ban them from using the names of Hindu Gods and misleading people.

My post is ref to observations By Hari Sampath 7/12/2011 10:59:00 PM ! Yes we also agree reg other paralllel philanthraphic organisations also have done yeoman service to humanity and no one disagrees about Ramakrishna misssion's activities etc initiated by his famous disciple like Vivekananda ! The problem is not about individuals or individual differences etc that may exist or exist even today between followers but about its overall imapact on the society thro its services ! The men who are running the trust as well as those who guide the runnig of the trust etc are eminent men /scholars who were /are with him and it si time that they are allowed to run the show if needed with the Govt s eminent men also in the trust (like chief justice/chief election commisoners or statesman poluyticians etc

each one of us have experienced his divinity and we are all undergoing a testing phase. Request all not to get disturbed though it easier said than implemented. Me having seen him when i was less than 2 yr old as first darshan, have experienced him last 42 yrs and feel the same even after 24th April , he is beyond the physical frame we all loved . He is still there to protect all of us and have come to know there are some devotees who are able to see/converse with him in the same physical form. there are some ulteriors motives behind the malicious compaign. Swamy never cared to reply to all those who tried to show mud on him with an analogy elephent need not worry when a dog barks at it and also it is below its dignity to respond.. media unfortunately out of improving their TRPs are resorting to this.

Like Mr. Sampath, I happen to know a lot of people who volunteer in the name of Sathya Sai Baba. They do yeoman service. This is indisputable. Where did Mr. Gurumurthy say that Sai samiti is a better organisation than Ramakrishna Mission? Ramakrishna Mission is a great philanthropic organisation and so is Sai samiti. There is no competition between the two.Infact while rebutting Sonia Gandhi's ill conceived comments, Gurumurthy does mention Ramakrishna Mission. He also mentioned the langars conducted by the Gurudwaras too.

not his devotee but had a great respect for this divine incarnation of a GREAT AVATAR from outside of earth's humanity we therefore look forward to his next appearance in a few years time as Prema Baba...Sai Ram.

An eye opener for Bhagwan's devotees,doubting Thomases&non believers..Jai Sairam.

In April 2002, Sathya Sai Baba spoke about his proposal to provide drinking water to Chennai, and in that public speech he stated that members of his Trust approached the World Bank for financial assistance, and the World bank promised unlimited funds within 12 hours. Here is what Sai Baba said "In this connection, Chakravarthy (the Secretary of the Central Trust), Srinivasan from Madras (President, All India Sri Sathya Sai Organisations), and Indulal Shah from Bombay (Chairman of Sri Sathya Sai World Council) have approached the World Bank authorities and explained to them about the selfless service activities that we have undertaken. They told the World Bank authorities that all our activities are purely service-oriented and that we do not expect anything in return. They just repeated like parrots whatever Swami had told them to convey.The World Bank people were very much impressed. They said that they had never heard about or seen such stupendous service activities undertaken by a c

very nice article presented by shri Gurumurthy. He has vividely described Shri Sathya Sai Babas welfare activities and how he created hundred and thousands of volunteers across the globe. hats off to Shri Gurumurthy for highlighting Shri Satya Baba achievements.

Many Many thanks for Bringing out the truth. Since OUR SAI adcised HURT NEVER,HELP EVER,he could not distance from anyone,whether he or she is corrupt or not. That ids the GODLINESS OF A MAN who lived HIS whole life of 85 English years for the NEEDY and POOR of the Society. Try to do at least 1/100000 OF what BABA has DONE and start criticising after that. LONG LIVE SATYA SAI BABA IN THE HEARTS OF MILLIONS.

Let us send our love/swami's love to Mr.Gurumoorthy and Hari Sampath,avadutta and all. SAIRAM

How can anyone call Saibaba an Avatar? In Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, “I appear to protect the devotees, to destroy the evil minded and to establish dharma.” So whenever there is a decline in religion God takes avatar to bring back dharma. Dharma here means tenets of religion. He not only propagates Dharma he himself remains an epitome of dharma. When Rama incarnated, he sacrificed all his personal comforts, took to the forests and even took the pangs of separation from His beloved consort Sita only to establish Dharma. Krishna moved from his parents, moved to Gokula, killed many demons, left his all affectionate Yahoda Maiya, Nanda baba and his very own Gopas and Gopis and went to Mathura to kill kamsa, then left even Mathura and finally ensured the destruction of his own clan yadu vamsa to reduce the burden on earth. Where are the Avatars and where is Sai Baba? Sai baba is way too far from any dharmic principles except for the social work he did parting with meager sum of his ill-got

How can anyone call Sai baba a saint? According to scriptures a person in the renounced order of life should accept the bare minimum for his sustenance. He should shun luxury and comfort. He should either wander around or live in a place with earth as his bed. He should look at the association of worldly minded people as poison. He should abstain from any form of association with women. He must not hoard wealth and indulge in mundane affairs. He should remain socially reclusive. In literal sense a person who has accepted renunciation is ‘socially dead’. What about Sai baba? He wears saffron but leads a royal life with all comforts, luxuries and wealth, shows cheap tricks, misleads seekers of religion and faith, fosters ties with the corrupt and hides behind a clean image propagated through false propaganda. The author must have known that mere appearance and exhibitionist philanthropy alone doesn't make one a saint. By the tenets of any sane religion, Sai baba is nothing more than an e

God bless u sir...

A very good article indeed.Also to be noted is that besides the 2 free super specialty hospitals,Baba runs 2 general hospitals too. @Suresh Naig The first general hospital was started in 1956 with a single bed and a single doctor with funds available then.Now it is a 100 bedded one which treats over 30,000 patients per month(of course free of cost).All the free schools and colleges He built were in 1960s and 70s,now around 15000 have passed out of these institutions.Some record books consider the water supply activity of 5 districts as the largest constructional social service undertaken in the world.Hope Suresh Naig understands that such an activity can only be undertaken when you have enough money.And He has done the maximum possible with the resources He Had all His life.

I would like to bring to the attention of the author, Shri Gurumurthy, his description of the Sathya Sai welfare activities as "unparalleled". According to my limited understanding of the English language, its meant to convey the meaning " without equal". Having great respect for Gurumurthyji's judgment ( rapidly diminishing by the day), I embarked upon the onerous task of finding out if Sai Baba's welfare was really "without equal". I took all the statistics Gurumurthy-ji had provided.....and knowing he has little or no direct knowledge of the Sathya Sai welfare activities, I relied on the personal knowledge I have ( having been part of the Sai Baba organization for years, which Gurumurthi-ji unfortunately missed out on), and calculated the service work of Sai Baba's 2 super spec hospitals, 4 colleges and the water project( which the SB trust handed over to the Andhra Govt for running within 2 years of inception). I was hardly surprised to discover that the Ramakrishna Mission does at

very true a must read !

Well that was indeed a fitting reply to all those people who criticise BABA.Well Swami does not stop there; but wants everyone of us to emulate his action, his service, his love.He set a great role model for everyone of us. It is time that we stop speaking and start contributing to our own society in whatever small way we can.Remember Sea is made out of droplets and every droplet counts.

Thanks Gurumurthy for the wonderful article and a fitting rejoinder to all the mud slingers of the media. It is well said that “ No prophet is honored in his own county” . Baba did not do it for the adulations, awards and honors. He did it as a loving father and mother to poor, weak and helpless. Baba always said that there is God in every one and it is no surprise that he found one in Karunanidhi too! The highest form of Hindu Philosophy of Advaita is not for the media mud slingers who see only money in everyone and every thing!

I request every one not to respond to Hari sampath anymore as he is no mood to realise the sentiments of so many people.Le him bark alone alone and alone.

ah media, ,,,they are just keen about the common man fallen in pit ,hundred cameras of diffrnt channels keep focussed on same petty news items,and even army generals take pride in retriving common place things in light of media coverage. BABA never bothered about media, as HE had done much more for normal publicity,,besides he never aspired commendations and awards as HE himself would give it to dignatories. media felt that unless they are invited ,they wont write good about HIM. but then HIS unparalled projects need no recommendation.besides creating so many prestigious educational and health institutions had anyboby else the foresight that the common man and the elite of this country required education on Human values...HE even paved the way for that through free online programmes.

Any one who has been reading News papers for the last 21/2 months , would have clearly discerned that the mudslinging on Swamy is the part of an orchestrated work , unleashed on Sai Trusts, by around 250 relatives of Swamy, to usurp the wealth He has created. Swamy had clearly declared that all the riches with Him are the property of His devotees and would go to them as many welfare projects in future. All the 400 odd relatives of Karunanidhi, who had caused trauma to the public, are under scanner and are on the run. The same fate will befall on these 250 odd relatives of Swamy, who had been shied away by Swamy, through out His life. Persons like our esteemed Shri. Gurumurthy, would not dare to write, unless they are totally convinced of the merits of the such evolved beings as our Swamy. Thanks Guruji. S.Ramakoti

Thank you so much sir for this briliant and much needed article !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baba needs no news agency to validate His actions. His work began on His own terms and will continue on HIs WILL. We the devotees who know Him will not be shaken due to the media crying foul.Devotion TRUST and Following are not achieved by a report card of who are the dignitaries who come to Baba. It is a PERSONAL JOUIRNEY . The grace of the human spirit meeting the divine. Life is a very short journey and it will be in the best interest of each human to embrace any form of divinity that appeals ,and move forward in the journey of life. Every avatar had their share of media frenzy but it could not take away from the cause they came to perform. IT TAKES MORE THAN A HUMAN FORM TO ACHIEVE ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT BABA PERFORMED IN HIS LIFETIME. India has born many holy souls and will continue to be the beacon for the world. Baba did not invite the media to help cover all His massive projects. They were done in true spirit for service to mankind. HIS GLORY AND WILL SHALL PERSIST THROUG

very happy to see the real comments. Swami is God to us. Remembering Swami's words. See good Do good and think Good. Swami Does not require anything but true faith and love. May God bless you Mr. Gurumurthy.

how wonderful is your article on shri sathya saibaba's contribution to humanity. when ever anyone dares to good for the humanity, skeptics cannot help but bring that person down. any person who questions about the great work that swami has done for mankind, has to first ask himself or herself, if that person has ever done any small act of kindess towards anybody without any expectation. the answer will definitely be in the negative. great article sir. hats off to you. sairam

Wonderful article by Shri.Gurumurthy... God bless....

Can Mr. Hari Sampath, quote and justify the correct figures? Else it is exactly what he is blaming S Gurumurthy of "Careless armchair journalism". Is Mr. Sampath denying the existence of hospitals at Puttabarthi and Bengaluru? Is free care not being provided at these hospitals? The lakes and sumps built by the trust has been acknowledged by Planning commision but Mr Sampath happens to have better ideas and more informed than Planning commision.

Can Mr. Hari Sampath, quote the correct figures? Else it is exactly what he is blaming S Gurumurthy of "Careless armchair journalism". Is Mr. Sampath denying the existence of hospitals at Puttabarthi and Bengaluru? Is free care not being provided at these hospitals? The lakes and sumps built by the trust has been acknowledged by Planning commision but Mr Sampath happens to have better ideas and more informed than Planning commision.

Its hilarious to find some people here comparing Sathya Sai Baba to Avatars like Lord Shri Rama and Lord Krishna. Whatever be the so called "paradoxes" in their lives, one thing is certain. They both were strong adherents to Truth and Dharma, and did NOT even remotely endorse, support or associate with totally corrupt kings or rulers, in fact they fought them and put an end to their Adharmic rule. Sathya Sai Baba has publicly endorsed , supported and identified with some of the most corrupt of this country, like Narasimha Rao, Ashok Chavan, Karunanidhi et al and has been in turn supported and endorsed by these highly corrupt ruling class. Not once in his lifetime had Sai Baba ever taken a public stand against these corrupt rulers, in fact he even visited Karunanidhi and said he had given his heart to Karunanidhi. Krishna and Rama left the physical world after restoring Dharma...Sai Baba has left it in the worst possible state of corruption, with Adharma at its peak. An Avatar will fear

From some of the comments by some readers who can only abuse Hindu icons, demonise Hindu culture and heritage, it is clear that Katherine May, the Gutter Inspector is dead but is reborn as vile Hindus who continue the gutter abuses. SG, God Bless You with Long Life for your good work

Great to see the facts being projected. The press and the disgruntled elements made lot of noise. They were more busy with extremely superficial issues than making an effort to understand the commendable work done by Sai Organisations. One should make an honest and sincere effort to appreciate the good work done by Sai Organisation before criticising it. Only the person who help others will understand and realise the value of Bhagawan Baba. I am sure that this is a very temporary phase and the world will soon realise the value of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and His Mission. The Truth will prevail.

salutations to u guru murthy, for a gift , to millions of Sai family on this gurupoornima; long live u and ur family

Thank you, Sir, for this article. I have been a keen reader of your columns since my childhood, and like always, this one is truly thought provoking. The experiences given by Baba to each devotee are unique in their own way. Why would any devotee stop believing in Swami by reading any kind of false news? I do not know if the media is trying to convert the believers into atheists. His guiding light will always lead us to the Higher Purpose of our lives.

its just awesome sri gurumoorthy garu...FANTABULOUS article which all media people and many socalled "HUMAN BEINGS" who do not realize about satyasai baba , started speaking some junk about him and ALL THE EDUCATED PERSONS with HEART must and should REALIZE ..ITS THE TIME FOR EVRYONE IN THE WORLD TO recognize and REALIZE about saibaba.. Atleast try to spend some time in knowing actual facts and genuine things about him from the devotees of him, and try to read about the experiences he gave to his devotees and teachings of him.. still even IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BELEIVE HIM AS A GOD, ATLEAST feel how fortunate we are ,to have such a personality in our INDIA living with us.. Please try to spread the glory,services and his concern and compassion to HUMANITY... Dear people THINK a moment with HEART about his doings and sacrifice.. Jai sairam..

( contd) The article smacks of hagiography and its is obvious to even the most ardent of Gurumurthy's admirers that the "pro Hindu" cause he unapologetically espouses ( the cause itself is eminently worthy, no doubt ) has come down to the unfortunate levels of having to shamelessly prop up one of the "most dubious characters" in the holy society of Hindus....and these are not my words but the words of Mahaswami Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati on Sathya Sai Baba who Shri Gurumurthi holds in high esteem as his Guru ( rightly so). I can almost see the Mahaswami turning in His samadhi, if such things like Gurumurthy's articles would effect him, which I quite doubt. The urgency with which the representatives of today's Hindutva rush to provide a cloak of respectability to characters on the borderline of criminality shows their desperation and paranoia about imagined persecution of the great Hindu traditions which needs neither fake godmen nor their misguided supporters to ho

Who's money is it anyway? A rich man hoards money in excess even a commoner earns more than his due share of wealth for decent living, corrupt politicians earn by abusing power, all the excess is nothing but pain inflicted on every other being on the planet, it is nothing but the resources and opportunities of all those who are deprived and down trodden. A part of the stolen wealth in the kitty of Sai baba spent on sustaining a clean image and engaging his following does not become glory. Neither does that set an example for the society. Let there be an unbiased probe free from the influence of money power and following and see if his so-called saintly image will survive or not.

This is one of the most imbalanced and uninformed articles I have ever had the misfortune of reading from Shri Gurumurthiji, who, for several years had been writing with remarkable insight into a variety of national issues. I had all along been a great admirer of Gurumurthiji (and still am) but to project Sathya Sai Baba's "welfare actvities" as unparalleled humanism is ridiculous and at best an example of careless armchair journalism. Many of the "facts" of the Sathya Sai charitable trust are grossly exaggerated and doubtless, repeated uncritically from the Trust's "official record". The article smacks of hagiography and its is obvious to even the most ardent of Gurumurthy's admirers that the "pro Hindu" cause he unapologetically espouses ( the cause itself is eminently worthy, no doubt ) has come down to the unfortunate levels of having to shamelessly prop up one of the "most dubious characters" in the holy society of Hindus....and these are not my words but the words of Mahaswami Sr

My Humble Pranums to you Sir for an excellent article on Baba .......those "gutter" people who speak ill of HIS DEVINE deserve where they belong , in their own "gutters". I challenge any one to come face to face with me and question me in a debate publicly or privately about His Work and HIS Humanitarian Care without asking for a penney and I will put them in proper perspective , hoping maybe, just maybe, that they may be able to crawl out of the "gutter" where they make most noise.

I agree with part of of the article. Yes, Sai Baba did a lot for the poor. But he is not God and he definitely not a pure person like all these people claim. Why don't you just call him a Great humanitarian. He didn' t have to do all those fake tricks to destroy Hinduism.. He could have been a good teacher. This is just my opinion after knowing him for 45 yrs.

Congratuations Shri Gurumurthy on your excellent article filled with facts and figures. But beware ! You will be condemned as Fundamentalist,Religious fanatic and supporter of Hindutva once again for nth time. Nevrtheless, Thank you for trying to put some semblance of reasoning in so called unbiased media

A fair judgement is one that looks at positives and negatives without bias. You have shown bias in portraying Sai baba. He was not all clean. No one with a compassionate heart will even desire to sleep on a silver cot and accrue so much of personal comforts and luxuries, what to speak of a saint who adores renunciation than riches of the world. That way Sai baba is neither a saint nor a compassionate soul. Miracles and magics might appeal to those carried away by the hallucination of irrational belief. His alleged perverted sex scandals are yet to be probed, perhaps money, might and following will keep them forever concealed. And by the way who's money is it anyway? A rich man hoards money in excess even a commoner earns more than his due share of wealth for decent living, corrupt politicians earn by abusing power, all the excess is nothing but pain inflicted on every other being on the planet, it is nothing but the resources and opportunities of all those who are deprived and down tro

I repent for blaming Saibaba

The single quotes in Suresh Naig's comment indicates that he does not believe that the trust does great work. He should visit the super speciality hospitals at Puttaparthi and Bangalore before he comes to a conclusion. The author is not being hypersensitive. It was the media which went overdrive when a mere 35 lakhs was found. The driver was not from the trust. These are lies planted by the media. For a trust which is supposed to have around 1400 Crores, 35 lakhs should be a pittance. So 35 lakhs found should not be newsworthy. It was sensationalised. If the driver were from the trust and if he were to found with say 100 crores, then it should have been news. Suresh Naig did not understand the term Gutter inspector. If he googles for Katherine Mayou, he will be able to understand the context in which it is used. Any Hindu ascetic, if he gains fame, the media goes into an overdrive.

May god bless you sir !

Thanks sir. Plz do write some more of these things to make our rat race people to think a bit louder

It is not about what He built during his lifetime, many will say it was people who donated the money and He just built it for the people but it is about the spirit of love and service that He has kindled in humanity. There are many volunteers today across the world doing service because of His message and teachings. No other has been able to achieve this in all these years of the existence of this universe where mankind has been taught what humanity means not by words but by His pure, selfless actions.

Thanks sir. Plz do write some more of these things to make our rat race people to think a bit louder

Sairam. Finally it felt really good to read an article without any bias or coloured by opinions but giving exact facts.

Sri Gurumurthy has captured the essense of the dictum of Sai - Love all and Serve all - by highlighting the good work done by Baba and his trust. Whether we call Sai Baba as God or not is not really of concern at the moment. What must be understood by the public is the good work done for the welfare of humanity by one single person and by one single organization. This good continues even today - the University and the Hospital are the testimonies for the same. One has to come to Puttaparthi to see and experiance.... Samastha Loka Sukino Bavanthu .... Jai Sai Ram

thank you sir for giving such elaborate details about our beloved swamy.. people should have experience but they cannot understand him.. we can only pity their ignorance.. Swamy is making them talk like this to test our patience.. we know what swamy is.. we small sena of swamy will do our duty rest HE does..We support the CENTRAL TRUST who are chosen men of swamy for doing the needful.. these are all passing clouds. .. today who are criticising may become a ardent devotees... by M.Vasantha Lakshmi

Sairam brother Gurumurthy.. we thank you for the explanation you have given for the dirty comments of media & others who don't have any experience of our beloved Swamy. It will take several births for them to realise that.. how now Shirdi sai Baba is considered.. at least we are lucky swamy has chosen us as his workers even as little ant or squirel.. Sairam to all

God Bless U Sir, Satya

I was very very happy to read your article and the in-depth details that you have covered. Many who DON'T KNOW about my GOD, will surely able to perceive the good things that he has done to the humanity. After reading your articile late last night, I had a good sleep. Thanks a million for the eye opener to many :-) By Jayashree Ranga

Sir, Much as your article is well written, I strongly feel ONE your endorsement of Bhaghawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba as an embodiment is superfluous and it comes too late . I have not read any article of yours on Bhaghawan when he was with us. If it is your offering to him the article should have written differently.TWO the ultimate degradation of the Bhagawan was to refer to Karunanidhi accepting Him as God-Saint. Who is Karunanidhi in the Context of the Bhaghawan ? What do want from MK ?Very disappointing is your Article

To answer Suresh Naig, this is NOT PUBLIC's MONEY. Baba never wanted public money. This is money from Baba's devotees; devotees who aspire to help our poor brothers and sisters. Bab said the money should come from the "source" and not from force. Baba never asked or begged for money. Swami only accepted money if it was offered with selfless love to be used selflessly tp help society. I am from the West Indies and people from the West Indies have had Open Heart Surgery there in the Puttaparthi Hospital. Some people who are in India are (sadly) missing the opportunity to enjoy the love of the Avathar. Remember this is a chance in many many lifetimes.

This article deserved to be published in all leading news papers in bold letters in front page.

My humble request to all the devotees and followers of Sri Sathya Sai Baba to circulate this brilliant piece of article to every one around you wherever you are and expose how section of media of Telugu has been misleading the people on sri SAthya Sai Baba and the Trust.

Great article!! Thanks for telling the Truth. I am one of the foreign (American) doctors serving in the Super Specialty Hospital in Bangalore several months each year. Yes, the work continues, better than ever before, Swami is still with us, in our hearts.

Finally, thank god a well known and reputed person comes out in the wide world against the filth regarding Beloved Swami. This is a big slap against the people who published crap all these few months.. thanks express for publishing this article. Swami's soldiers are there to protect HIS work and mission no matter what swami work will be a big blow on filthy people. Thank you so much gurumurthy sir.

that is such a beautiful well written piece bought a tear to my eye, May the lord bless us all, jai sai ram

Finally an article which is clear and above board. There have been articles after articles in media of all hue and cry about crores being stashed away. All that has died down a natural death in a silent way as they were unfounded and false. Media did not even express their regret for false reporting. The devotees at large were tormented and hounded wherever they went and were questioned for a unconfirmed report than being appreciated for the great task done by their master. Leave alone, recognizing the great service projects of their master, the devotees were not even allowed to mourn the loss of their most revered one. The trust conducted a search in the presence of legal luminaries and has declared whatever was found, deposited in the the banks, media found fault in this act too. It clearly showed that the act was by some disgruntled elements than well meaning devotees.

I just read your article. An excellent write up on Sai Babaji. This should be printed in all the media, not only in Indian, but international also.For along time I have been looking for some thing like this to give to my Aamerican colleagues. Now I have it. If I may suggest this should go in the official Sai Baba website. Thank you Swami for letting Sri Gurumurthiji write this. Very humbly with Swami's Love. Indra Mohindra . Boston U.S.A.

G sir, you nailed this article about Truth on Sathya Sai Baba on the foreheads of talkers,mischievous elements,gossip newspapers/magazines/TV Channels so that they can shut their mouths forever.Baba or his trusts never ask for money or donation.His trusts render service free of cost,caste,religion or politics.His trusts achievement in educational fields by providing free education to students are worthy of emulation.His trusts took a loan from Canara Bank to provide free drinking water to Rayalaseema, a water starved district which a Govt failed to do.His sena adopted villages to render service to poor including self-maintanable reverse osmosis plants for drinking water.Narayana Seva in providing food to the needy and excellent package for a decent living of families affected in Tsunami without advertisement or fanfare is Baba trusts hallmark.SSS is internationally recognised but not criticized as in India.Bab's works are phenomenal and unmatched for plan and execution.

Respected sir, Thankyou so much for such an eyeopener article for those are willing to open there eyes, and would like to know the real truth.

Greatness will never fade only sometimes there shall be shadows. Baba's soldiers should rise to the occassion and protect the legacy & insitutions built by him for us.

Very True. Kudos to you for braving to write the truth. You have just scratched, only the tip of an iceburg. This Avatar has provided unfathomable service to mankind, not only to uplift many economically, but countless millions spiritually, in india and abroad. I encourage you to scratch more of this iceburg, so that this world can benefit, by his teaching of Sathya, dharma, Ahimsa....etc of which the world is very much in need. Ashok Malik Vancouver Canada.

Om Sri Sairam Thanks Sri Gurumurthi , Swami in you, Swami in all names & forms, Swami all over- Thanks to Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Brahman, Guru Nanak - for putting in words with facts and figures what is almost impossible- even to put in words the tip of the ice berg- what Swami has blessed humanity seeing only in His human form. Please bless us with an article as to how Swami turned millions of global humanity Truth-ward, Godward, Spirit-ward -all silently and without even taking notice of it -in Avatar's own Omnipresence and organisation ways and taken many with Him to oneness of Bliss. Like Sri Satya has commented on this article of Gods blessing- " Good one bro.......even this is just a spec of dust. No being in a life time can at least dream of such projects............As HE said, this is just the beginning..........." - By satya 7/11/2011 4:00:00 PM Truth is said to be beyond mind and words, beyond names and forms, beyond time and space; beyond life dream; Silence

GOD BLESS YOU SIR

and finally a Brilliant article!

GOD BLESS YOU SIR

Thanks Gurumurthy for stating the truth!

Why are we afraid of truth, and try to always catch up with false, lie, sin @Media. Truth is easy simple, he didn't name himself Sathya for name sake but for reality, the purpose of humanity. He is so pure, like divine, and he made us pure by his life's messages. One world famous newspaper shut down its door's after serving 150 years, owing responsibility for the lies and false, sin, here we have so many media channels, newspaper's telling, publishing false, wrong news day-in and day-out, what is their face on this land. Sathya Sai Baba trust is the only trust in entire world, with such a purity.

Gurumurthy's excellent piece has come as a breather for the thousands of devotees who were apprehensive of the future of the projects Baba had undertaken for the welfare of the poor without any considerations of caste,colour or creed..The trustees he handpicked were men of integrity,honesty and totally devoted to Baba and carried out his orders with utmost sincererity.It is the fervent hope and prayer of millions that the pet projects of Baba which he considered as divine will be carried forward without interference from any quarters.

Om Sri Sai Ram. Firstly, millions of thanks to Sri Gurumurthy for his excellent article. No one from the print / e media has the courage & honesty to report the truth. As it is stated in the official Radio Sai web site, for these so called "investigative" journalists, "Good News is No News". Hence no wonder they have ignored all the Great service projects of Bgagawan Baba all these years.... yet, they preferred to blow out the mud slinging campaign without any slightest regard to ethical reporting. It is still a pity for people like "Satish Naig" 62 lines of Sri Gurumurthy's article did not make him to introspect; but who chose to dweleve on one single last line of the article mentioning about Katherine Mayo !! I request all "Satish Naig"s of the country to please try to contact in person at least one single patient who might be living in his / her city who got treated by the super speciality hospotals and hear what they have to say about their personal experience.. and then let th

Great article. Sri Sathya Sai Baba is one of the greatest personalities of this age. Some of us were fortunate to experience His Divinity. Baba took us on a path where we saw each other as a part of one universe - all equal regardless of our religion colour or any other outer difference. Where else can you see people from all walks of life from all over the world work with each other other and serve each other with love. Love, as Baba told us, is God. He lived a life of humility,ate sparsely and showed utmost connsideration towards all of us. Thank you for this article.

It is important to analyse the pros and cons of an issue before writing about them. Sometimes, journos produce mere lopsided information. I wish, people who have the might of the pen actually do their homework before writing imaginary data... Congrats! What you have written Mr.Gurumurthy seems to be a truthful report of the state of affairs to SSS Centra Trust. What readers need is unbiased and truth information. Three Cheers!

Once agai n, the great work of Baba has been brought out excellently. These are just a few of the works which the great Baba undertook. One can learn thousands of such works executed for the benefit of the poor and the down-trodden. Such was his class that the wealthy and the mighty knelt before Him, to adore. People who came to scoff, remained to pray, was the adage about the Village School Master, by Oliver Goldsmith. The same can be attributed to Baba. Hats off to Mr. Gurumurthy. - from New Jersey, USA.

So well said, Mr Gurumurthy says exactly what I have been saying for years. No matter whether you suspect Baba to be deviant or whatever. No matter whatever else, he has brought water to Ananthapur, Chennai. The unGodly govt of DMK has done nothing for the Chennai, it was Satya Saibaba who got water flowing to the city. The free schools and hospitals of high quality are not managed by the govt. That world famous surgeons fall over each other to work in the free hospital, for free, for a whole year, whne they coul d be making big money in their own countries, is a testament to the humanism of Satya Saibab. That is why it is painfull to hear talk about his deviant behaviour.

Thank God,, Ethical and high moral people like Gurumurthy has done the Sai Community great service by this beautiful article. The man with purity sees purity everywhere, Gurumurthy with an heart opf pure love and empathy has see the goodness of the Sai essence and has put it to writing. This is waht is needed Swami and his sacred good work immnese it is there why not write about it, but sadly many people with corrupted mindset and negative attitudes only tries to find fault in Swami and his work. Realy we are very happy Sir for this very very true and insightful article.

Its a very nice article by Mr.gurumurthy. Iam Happy that finally someone is giving news to the news papers. I was reading responses by some of the readers saying - public money. Can someone define public money?I feel Public money is the money which is paid to the Govt as taxes,If not paid the citizen will be put behind bars, The money given for charity is not public money,It is the money given by individuals out of love,devotion, and a desire to be part of the great service initiatives by the trust and baba. The money was donated by individuals who believed baba as god,guru,etc and by the people who believed in the service projects. It was not given by force nor was it deducted from their earnings forcefully against their wishes. How can you call it public Money. Atleast call it devotee's fund. They have given it to the trust and baba in whom they believe,why are the outsiders trying to force them selves into the whole scene. Who ever has given the funds have given it in good faith a

Superb article. Sir keep up the good work.Our experiences with SWAMY are more than enough to understand HIS GODLINESS.But there are many people who are yet to experience HIS GODLINESS.

Good one bro.......even this is just a spec of dust. No being in a life time can at least dream of such projects............As HE said, this is just the beginning...........

excellent article sir ! :) very very happy to see some wonderful Truth Revealing Posts about BABA, after a long time, in media :) :)

provision of drinking water and high quality medical care to the poor as classic examples of Baba's love and affection towards the poor. He did this as service to poor is service to God. His services to the human will portray him as God for ever.

It is a real shame that we have only one Gurumurthy left in this country to talk about right, good and bad. He has clearly given his data for public consumption without his opinions. His referance materials are purely from Government sources. In India you will not be remembered if yo do good things. Whereas, if you involve only in evil, terrorism and nepotism, you will be either ruling this country or getting accolades from the so called ‘intellectuals’ who wants status-quo on anything and everything. If anyone tries to bring change or betterment, they do not like, especially, elitist English media and left leaning ‘intellectuals’! No wonder this country is cursed, shamed and become hell hole of the Universe!

Excellent article. Hats off to Gurumurthy.

This era is with full of money and corruption. Now no humanity and ho recognization for "doing good" and "being good". Swamy's awatar is according to the era. People talk about swamys very little magical tricks like materialization of holy hash. And they say he is a magician and he cheats people. also there were comments that any magician can do this kind of tricks Yes he is a magician. But apart from this small things, Bhagwan did many magical and unbelievable things. Can you imagine a world class super specialty hospital just got build and started running in 6 months ?. Can you imagine a water project supplies free water where there is no blessings of Ganga ?. and so on. Does any other magician have guts to do this kind of work??? No just swamy, devotees are doing better magical work than any body else. Does any body else can do Magecian khya uskaa baap ko bhi nahi hogaa..

Enjoyed reading your article sir! As we can see in the comments box, people without logic and reason make comments like, swami accumulated wealth and so he had to do some social work! His free educational institutions providing world class education free of cost were started as early as 1968 though the sathya sai university began later! I have studied in that Institution, I owe every skill and every value I have in my life to My master Sathya Sai!, My brother is a student of the same Institution and what hasnt he got from the Institute! He has got even patent rights! We have the next generation of kids from the family who have also studied in the same schools and colleges and they have similar stories to share! My father Prof. Radhaswamy, the well known author of the book Advanced Accountancy by sultan chand & sons worked for 18 years at the institution and he rendered free service and enjoyed every moment of his stay there! I mention who my father is just to tell you all that the gre

GOD BLESS YOU

nuff said...great article!!...that oughta shut some people up.....viewing something negatively always yields it negative.....a well written article by Mr.Gurumurthy.....good job sir...

well said, sir. in keeping, i would like to add - when stray dogs bark, turning your head is paying undue attention and offer of encouragement. please do write more, but with complete indifference to all the clutter. we, who believe and know, cherish and remain committed to goals he made for us. thanks and sai ram

thank you Sir . I strongly advocate SILENCE & Faith along with Patience for all who have had the good fortune of Being with the Aavatar during His lifetime. we who have had the privilege of Darshan, Sparshan & Sanbhashana of Swami over decades, must carry on His Divine work regardless of petty minds, their ignorant remarks & The lure of Money which makes some pitiable humans, slave to such cravings... let us who have heard HIM, internalize the teachings & Help ever Hurt never, speak obligingly even if we cannot oblige, forgive those who know not what they say&do. The future is for us to show Swami our true love & Devotion to HIm, to His noble cause of Service above the Self........ let us spend more time in introspection, rather than in media hype... Thank you, Sri Gurumurthy for bringing so many of Babas exemplary Sevas to the front page. dr Mangala Ayre

Once again, Gurumurthy shows his class.

Om Sri Sai Ram, just happened to see your article about Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In the present age of Kali what one can except the press and people to talk. Money and only money and nothing else. It is said YadhBhavam Thath Bhavathi. Is ipossible, as you have pointed, to complete mega projects within no time as Swami had done. For believers He Was a POORNAVATHAR who has said "No one can comprehend My Glory Whoever he may be, Whatever his method of enquiry be and however long his attempt be. We can only pity those who have notstill understoodHim.. SaiRam let Swami Bless you on your mission of educating the masses. SaiRam Again

One can understand the author's reverence for Sai Baba and his 'noble cause', but he had gone too far calling the right thinking people as gutter inspectors. The society needs gutter inspectors too, otherwise we will have clogged sewers polluting the environment. Baba's noble social service began after unprecedented accumulation of funds offered by public. When public money is involved it is subjected to public scrutiny too, and I don't understand the hyper sensitivity of the author to the comments of Baba's non believers. Finally, only a gutter invites a gutter inspector.

wow what an article about swamy. I have been waiting for this kind of article. Thank you Gurumurthy garu for this post. It is correct that all idiots of india started blaming about money , trust and wealth of swamy. Never discussed about good things done by sathya sai organizations. Current andhra politicization are busy in unwanted issues and it is clearly known that they are actually forgetting that FREE service is getting done by sathya sai organizations. As people should expect this kind of work by government but it is not happening. Even Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam ( TTD) which is richest in the world is not capable of doing a single good work done by sathya sai organization. I am a IT prof. As you said. yes I love to do service. I never got a chance to talk or touch feet of swamy. I never heard his discourse directly. But the points he needed to tell to me was clear. service to man is service to god. There is no sense to talk about trust and money. People don't have

Aakruti (Form) to Samskruthi (Transformation):Bhagavan is He for those who revere Him so, not for any personal gain, but for a total transformation of their Bodies into working machines / vehicles for Loka Sangraha, welfare of the Universe.Such Bhagavan in Human form, has blessed: Samasta Lokaaha Sukhinoh Bhavantu; by dint of a perfect thought,word and deed of His ARMY( Athi Rudra Maha Yaga) of His devotees the world over.Movement of this kind is so extraordinary and eternal that can never be warded off by any worldly machinations or digressiveness' tactics.Eventually Bhagavan reveals Himself through Samadhi and continuity of His Seva through His Volunteers in total self-surrender and sacrifice.Let the Public .Media Men/women would do better opening their eyes and watch the prevailing SAI phenomenon.

Well said Sri Gurumurthy and thank IE for carrying the truth in a main stream media. Wish every media organsiation reports the truth like this. All these days the fourth estate of this great country could not pay a respecting tribute to one of its greatest citizens. For one who served humanity both with spiritual knowledge and material benefits. Sri Sathya Sai Baba's legacy is the change he brought in the hearts of millions to be more compassionate to society and to believe in GOD as your only saviour.

Respected Sir, Its nice to hear that at least there is one person who has written a few good word. thanks you, Sai ram.

Excellent Sir! A whiff of fresh air in a putrid atmosphere!

Excellent data, analysis and exposition of the same.Thanks for this article.

I hope this fabulous article of guru will put an end to the doubts of readers about sai baba & his work.

Eventhough I am not very advernt devotee of Baba, I know the greater services He has done to society. May be some people may think he is not a God, but defiinitely I can say he is GOD FATHER to many poor people in the world. I am haapy to read your article and I pray Baba and God to be always with the True Trustees who are doing His Services without any personal benefit.

As a devotee, it makes me so happy to see all these emerging. Am not against people having doubts and reservations. It only hurts when people slander and cast blame without the slightest checking of facts. Thank you Mr.Gurumurthy for this article.

This article, to me, captures the essence of what he has been. It also clearly sums up that most of us are focussed in the wrong direction as far as the recent events go.

If some selfish politicians beat around the bush on Babas as they do with Khandamal clash between Hindu tribals resisting conversion against the converted tribals influenced by FERA aid agents, as saffron terror, Shri. Gurumurthy Sir has been specific on the accomplishments of Satya Sai Baba is need of the hour. There is a Baba demanding an ordinance to declare the stashed money as national asset and the government with the elite economist PM, indifferent to the sufferings of people due to price rise but seriously concerned to bring in a law to paint all terror attacks, saffron. No criminals must escape for the color they cover themselves. However, UPA government is trying to divert the attention of people towards Red, Green, White, Black & Saffron religious terror to suppress the 2 G, Black money cases the Supreme Court is ceased with. Are the tribal supported Maoists defending our mines and mineral wealth from the imperialist forces or the tribals should be cracked on religious

kudos to Gurumurthy for studying with open heart and mind ,digesting,assimilating and expressing about Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and his life for the humanity.I HUMBLY REQUEST,APPEAL TO ALL THE MEDIA PERSONNEL A SECTION OF THE TELUGU MEDIA IN PARTICULAR TO REALISE THE FACTS OF SRI SATHYA SAI BABA by having first hand information and experience of Baba.Recently Prabhu Chawla while answering a question in his net column said that it is insult to call Sri Sathya Sai Baba a GOD as like any one is a human being.But when questioned again that were RAMA,Krishna,Jesus,Mohammad,Shirdi Sai Baba as human beings? As they were bor as human beinhgs why are they being worshipped as Gods/ No answer from Prabhu Chawla. There are many peole ignorant of Baba and His divine service to the humanity.It looks they are intolerant,jealous of Baba because he is for the welfare of the humanity with spiritual awakening taking the Indian culture to every house hold and every uman being.A section of Telugu media

Truth only will last, nothing else. As baba used to tell his life was his message...and our life is also is message for the generations. Where materiality ends knowledge begins... Indian people are thrown to dark by selfish people coluding with unethical media. India media has no boundries, no restrictions. Hence mis-use of freedom of speech. In UK & US there are several mischeif being done in missonaries and churches, in governments. However freedom is given to media there. Media does not make those issues a sensational, they just report it (telecasted only once). Shame on Indian media whoes interest is only make sensation for TRP and advertisements. The upraise of this negative media is due to government policies to support its political survival and snub the opposition, however they are forgetting that they are raiding on a lion which would kill themselves if media feels insecured.

Sir, this is a fine 'Report- card' of Sri Sathya Sai Baba's trust , its greatness in uplifting poor people and providing them with basic amenities. As per one of the present trustees, the Sai Trust is NOT a religious trust but one that is engaged in social work. That is all. There the matter stands. The earlier statements made here in Express were in the context when Sai trust was hailed as a religious trust, which is not, as per the Trust's own contentions. Hope, since it is only a 'Trust meant for social activities' it is in the process of answering all that the Govt. wanted to know from it, in whatever form, to the queries raised by it.

superb article. our seculars will never write this type of article

I am reminded of my school days when my teacher says that even a small black spot on good white shire will attract many persons attention. Hence do not make wrong things.