Sathya Sai Baba

Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is a controversial Indian guru who has a global following with devotees from all over the world and Sai Samithis (Sathya Sai Baba groups) in many countries. He was born under the name Sathya Narayana Raju. He claims to have been born on 23 November, 1926 but according to his school register, he was born in 1929. He says that he is a reincarnation of the guru Shirdi Sai Baba.

Beliefs and practices

Sathya Sai Baba resides much of the time in his main ashram called Prashanthi Nilayam (abode of peace) at Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India. He also has an ashram in Whitefield (sometimes called Kadugodi), a town on the outskirts of Bangalore. His popularity and the donations by followers enabled Sathya Sai Baba and his organizations to build a big ashram near the once poor and isolated village of Puttaparthi.

He is an excellent orator in his native language Telugu. He claims to be an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Shiva and a re-incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. He says that he is omniscient, omnipotent and free from desires. He preaches love and the unity of all religions. He says that all religions lead to God and that followers should continue to follow their original religions. He says that he will make Christians better Christians and Hindus better Hindus, etc.

He claims to perform miracles daily in the form of materializations of small objects. He says that he cures diseases of his devotees sometimes by his spiritual power and sometimes by taking over the disease himself. Followers attribute many miracles of all kinds to him that, they say, even happen in their own countries. He says he perfoms these miracles to attract people and then to transform them spiritually.

His rather traditional Hindu teachings come from many sects of Hinduism including advaita and occasionally from other religions. He proclaims that love is his form, and the only way man can emancipate himself is through self-less loving. He stresses the importance of sadhana (spiritual exercises) and says that there are three forms of meditation that are safe and lead quickly to moksha (liberation from ignorance and from the endless re-births due to karmic consequences). The forms are namasmarana (repetition of the name of God), light meditation (mental concentration on a bright light) and the so ham meditation (repeating the mantra "so ham" silently). He teaches the importance of bhakti (devotion) and that it grows more easily if one has an Ishta-Deva (chosen deity). For many devotees the Ishta-Deva is Sathya Sai Baba himself. He teaches a strict morality and the importance of renouncing worldly desires.

One important practice in his ashrams is darshan (visit), i.e., Sathya Sai Baba shows himself to his followers, accepts letters and materializes and distributes vibhuti (holy ash). Sathya Sai Baba claims that his darshan has spiritual benefits for people who attend it. Usually people wait hours to get a good place for darshan. During darshan Sathya Sai Baba invites people for a group interview with him in a room in the ashram 's temple. Among followers it is considered a great privilege to get such an interview. Sometimes a person from this group is invited for a private interview.

He has revived the bhajan (devotional singing) culture in Hinduism. The local Sathya Sai Baba groups assemble to sing bhajans, study Sathya Sai Baba's teachings and the holy books of world religions. Besides they are often involved in community service that they call seva. His followers generally don't proselytize.

He runs a number of educational institutions and hospitals on charity. He has made large contributions to the drinking water project for the whole of Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh.

The logo of the Sathya Sai organization is a styled lotus flower with the so called 5 human values in its petals i.e. sathya (truth), dharma (path of righteousness), ahimsa (non-violence), prema (love) and shanti (peace). It has replaced the old logo with the symbols of the 5 or 6 world religions in the petals.

Organisations: Sathya Sai Organisation and Sathya Sai Central Trust

All the local Sathya Sai Baba groups are part of a hierarchical structure called the Sathya Sai Organisation. The chairman of the organisation is Indulal Shah.

The Sri Sathya Sai central trust was founded in 1972 and is mainly involved in charity such as the Rayalaseema water project. The trust has tax exempt status and is a major recipient of donations from abroad.

Controversy

Sathya Sai Baba is the subject of intense controversy. One of his most long-standing critics is the Indian skeptic Basava Premanand who has published several critical books about him with ominous titles such as "Lure of miracles" and "Divine Octopus" [1]. He has also dragged Sathya Sai Baba to court alleging his violation of the Gold Control Act.

Cult leader

He has been accused of being a cult leader that uses mind control, propaganda who has created a personality cult. Critics say that one of the many examples of lies and propaganda is his claim that he was born on 23 November 1926. On 24 November Aurobindo said that the Divine had descended on earth and stopped speaking from then on. Sathya Sai Baba said that Aurobindo referred to him. Later, his school record showed a different birth date [2].

Sexual Abuse of boys and young men

The most prominent accusation by ex-members is that he is a homosexual and a paedophile and that he sexually abuses his young male followers and the students from his schools and the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning during private interviews. These followers say that they have had a bad experience because of his behaviour. Several first hand testimonies of this have been published on the internet [3]. Some of these testimonies have been written down under a fake name to protect the privacy of the young men and boys involved. In some cases these young men are willing to talk to serious enquirers. There are far more second hand testimonies [4]. The first one to publish these allegations was the American Tal Brooke in his book Lord of the Air, later extended and called Avatar of the Night (published 1976). From the perspective of a follower this is a very serious allegation because homosexuality would prove that Sathya Sai Baba is not the desireless saint that he claims to be.

False claims of omniscience, omnipotence and miracles

In 1976 Dr. H. Narasimhaiah who was a member of a miracle comittee publicly invited Sathya Sai Baba to perform his miracles under controlled circumstances which Sathya Sai Baba refused [5]. The controversy that was the consequence of this incident made him well known in India. Sathya Sai Baba said that he found the attitude of the committee improper [6] . Another skeptic, Dale Beyerstein from Canada, has proven that Sathya Sai Baba's claims of omniscience and omnipotence are untrue. [7] Skeptics believe him to be a charlatan and his followers naive and suffering from the true-believer syndrome.

Shocking Findings by ex-follower David Bailey in 2000

In and after the year 2000 the allegations against Sathya Sai Baba became louder, mainly because a Welsh musician, David Bailey, and his wife Faye Bailey became ex-followers and published the experiences, opinions, and testimonies of theirs as well as other ex-followers in a document called The Findings. This document was published on the internet [8]. Until that document followers were generally unaware of any allegation or were aware but found them unconvincing. A lot of followers were shocked and became ex-followers after reading the document. For some long-time ardent followers, it took years to recover from the shock. Most ex-followers left silently but some became activists. The activists wrote letters and supported websites to warn others against Sathya Sai Baba. Usually they felt cheated, angry and betrayed and wanted Sathya Sai Baba to stop sexually abusing boys and young men.

Accomplice of 6 murders

On 6 June, 1993 six inmates of Prashanti Nilayam were killed in Sathya Sai Baba's bedroom. Four of them were assailants armed with knives, who were shot dead by the police. Initial reports by the police and media claimed this to be a failed attempt on the life of Sathya Sai Baba. Later the murders were attributed to internal squabbles in Prashanti Nilayam. Basava Premanand went to court accusing the police and the government for destroying evidence of the murders. The appeal was dismissed by the High Court.

False claims about the discourses

The Australian scholar and ex-follower Brian Steel accuses the Sathya Sai Baba organization of editing the discourses to improve them which is rather peculiar for the discourses of a person who claims to be omniscient.

Ignorance of science, contradicting teachings, unnecessary secrecy

Ex-follower Robert Priddy from Norway has pointed out that Sathya Sai Baba's assertions about magnetism differ greatly from generally accepted science. Robert Priddy also accuses him of having contradictions in his teachings and, in general, having major discrepancies between word and deed in a variety of subjects. He accuses the Sathya Sai organization of being unnecessarily secretive.

Sleight of hand presented as miracles, demon, the Antichrist or charlatan

Critics claim that the materializations are fake and done by sleight of hand as, they say, can be seen on footage available on the internet [9]. On the other hand, it is very difficult to find a rational explanation for some of the miracle stories. Some ex-followers believe in the truth of the allegations but at the same time refuse to retract the stories of miracles that they claim to have experienced which they attribute to him. Hence quite a lot of ex-followers believe that he has siddhis (psychic abilities) or is a powerful demon, or is the Antichrist. Other ex-followers believe that some of the miracles are real but mistakenly attributed to Sathya Sai Baba. Skeptics believe him to be a charlatan and his followers naive and suffering from the true-believer syndrome.

The media and the controversy

Several media articles have appeared on the guru. One of the most important critical article was a frontpage article in the nationwide India Today magazine called "A God accused" in december 2000. The New York Times published a rather positive article on the guru without mentioning the allegations at all in december 2002 [10]. The newspaper chose to ignore the letters of several ex-followers that pointed to the serious allegations without giving any reason. There was also an extremely critical TV documentary "Seduced By Sai Baba", first broadcast on January 30, 2002 that has been screened several times in Denmark and Norway. The 54-minute documentary was produced by Denmark's national television and radio broadcaster Danish Radio and was also aired in Australia on 12 February 2004 [11].

Parliamentary questions and USA travel warning

The United States Department of State has issued a travel warning against Sathya Sai Baba under the section 'Crime in Andhra Pradesh' [12]. The warning however doesn't mention his name explicitly. Critical questions have been asked in the British Parliament about the suicide of a British young man who claimed he had been sexually abused by Sathya Sai Baba and the European Parliament about human rights violations by Sathya Sai Baba.

No internet for followers, allegation of information control

Sathya Sai Baba says that his followers should not use the internet but focus instead on the innernet (i.e., follow spiritual practices). Critics use this admonition to show that Sathya Sai Baba wants to control the information that followers receive. In spite of Sathya Sai Baba's advice, some followers maintain websites.

Answering the allegations

The followers point to the small number of first hand non-anonymous testimonies of sexual abuse by Sathya Sai Baba. Consequently, they say, the allegations are not proven and Sathya Sai Baba is like everybody else innocent, until proven otherwise. Sathya Sai Baba himself has not given a detailed rebuttal of the allegations but has said that people who tell bad stories about him have been bribed or do this out of jealously because of Sathya Sai Baba’s fame. [13]

Besides followers argue that a person who has the ability to perform miracles can never be a sinner because from the traditional Hindu literature it is a well known fact that the ability to perform miracles diminishes if a person sins. And after all, even some ex-followers believe him to perform miracles. It may be true that some materializations are what critics would consider fake but followers say that this is Sathya Sai Baba's leela (divine play) or a test of faith. Besides thousands of miracles remain as true as always.

Believers say that one should judge a prophet by its fruits as Jesus said according to the Bible (Matt 7:16). The fruits in terms of charity is a fact and the fruits of personal transformation is their personal experience. These fruits are good and are certain for the followers. The allegations would be bad, if true but are not proven. So purely based on the weight of evidence one can trust Sathya Sai Baba.

Followers purport Sathya Sai Baba's group is not a cult because it displays atypical characteristics like charity and tolerance towards other faiths. Also, it does not claim to be the only way to God and truth, and does not advocate proselytizing. They point out that often cults will expect their adherents to abandon worldly duties and to severe ties with their families, which is something Sathya Sai Baba has explicitly said not to do. Besides they say that faith in Sathya Sai Baba should not be blind, unlike faith of cult members. Sathya Sai Baba explicity invites people to investigate his authenticity as can be read in the booklet Sandeha Nivarini [14].

Followers find it very implausible that the allegations would be justified because Sathya Sai Baba has never been succesfully prosecuted. Followers assert that if this is due to a conspiracy or corruption or influence by SSB on politician, as critics believe, then the burden of proof of this assertion is on the critics.

The current Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee has written a letter in defence of Sathya Sai Baba that has been published on the internet [15]. The current president of India Abdul Kalam visited the main ashram at least twice and made a speech at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning on 22nd November, 2002.

Bibliography

Books by Sathya Sai Baba

Rama Katha Rasavahini in Telugu translated into English by Narayana Kasturi
Sathya Sai Speaks, many volumes Some of these public discourses have been published on the internet [16]

Books by followers about Sathya Sai Baba

Sathyam Sivam Sundaran Part I,II & III Biography by Narayana Kasturi

Critical books about Sathya Sai Baba

The Murders in Sai Baba's bedroom by Basava Premanand
Avatar of the Night by Tal Brooke

Miscellaneous

Miracles are my visiting cards - An investigative inquiry on Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian mystic with the gift of foresight believed to perform modern miracles by Erlendur Haraldsson, PhD

Quotes

Teachings
- Hands that help are holier than lips that pray.

Sathya Sai Baba about himself
- Why fear when I am here?
- My life is My message.
- Love my uncertainty
- I have a "Task": To foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of ananda (bliss). I have a "Vow": To lead all who stray away from the straight path again into goodness and save them. I am attached to a "work" that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack. I have a "reason to be proud", for I rescue all who worship and adore me, aright. I have my definition of the "devotion" I expect: Those devoted to me have to treat joy and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude. This means that I will never give up those who attach themselves to me. Quote is from a letter that he wrote to his brother in 1947