Sri Sathya Sai Baba - II
M.Srikanth
/* To those of you who jumped into this section straightaway - please go and
read the above section and then come to this. */
It is not the intention of this article to pass any judgement about the
personality under consideration. I will leave it to the reader to analyse the
good and the bad in forming her/his own conclusion.
One may wonder as to how Swami has such a huge following( I gather that among
all religious leaders, sans probably the Pope, Sathya Sai Baba is the one with
the biggest following in the world). The answer is a single word : Miracles.
The unbelievable happens as a day-to-day affair in Puttaparthi or Bangalore
or wherever Swami happens to be on a given day. A mere circling of a palm and
out comes, vibhuthi(sacred ash), watches, rings, necklaces, pendants and what
not. He does this almost everyday and recipients of his bounty include
common devotees in the darshan line and the VIP devotees in the interview rooms.
In this section, I shall tell you how he does all these. He claims he is the
God incarnate of the Kaliyuga("Yuga Avathara...Sai Rama.." goes one of the
bhajans). When this claim is coupled with his daily routines of
materializations, it gives a staggering image of a super-human personality to
which people fall a ready prey.
Before I tell you about these, a few words about the routine of Swami on a
normal day would be needed. Swami wakes up at around 5:30am and gets ready for
darshan which starts around 8:00am. We students gather outside his mandir (in
the driveway) at about 7:45 am. He comes outside, talks to some of us, to some
other VIPs who might have come(On a fine morning during the Reliance cup '87,
the whole Indian Cricket Team (except Srikkanth :-( ) had come!) and proceeds
to the place where the public are assembled. As a routine, he collects letters
from his devotees, names newborn babies, blesses new couples etc. Then at
around 9:15, he comes back and goes inside the mandir. After this, the
interviews start. During his rounds, he would have (arbitrarily) selected from
among the devotees a select few who would be given interviews on that day. He
provides counsels to these people till about 11:30am. Again in the evening,
the same thing happens (no interviews in the evening). After darshan, we have
bhajans inside the mandir and occasionally Swami gives an address. Sometimes,
some students give talks.
Miracles. A few days after I joined the college, during darshan time, Swami
was casually talking about the power of meditation or some such thing when
all of a sudden he waved his hands in the air and produced a pendant containing
a beautiful picture of Lord Muruga as in Pazhani. I was stunned. I had not
seen anything like that before. I was not a devotee when I joined the college
( I joined because my father asked me to) but this was something which really
shook me. I went back to the hostel and waxed eloquent about the power of Swami
to some of my seniors. They nodded sagely and gave a cryptic smile. It was not
very long when some of them called me aside and said, " Don't start believing
all this stuff. It does not take much to become a devotee but it takes a lot
to come out of it". Saying this, one of them waved his hand and produced
vibhuthi and another produced a ring. Then they told me all.
The simplicity of this thing is going to baffle you. So, be prepared for an
exposition of gullibility of the common man.
Swami produces things out of 'thin air' by turning his right palm facing the
ground and rotating it(parallel to the ground) a few times. He then makes a
sudden motion upwards(as if he is plucking a low lying fruit) and gives out
whatever he has produced. The mechanism of doing this is simple. When he comes
out of the mandir, his left hand will be holding a kerchief or a letter or
his flowing robe. Don't look at his smiling face or his swirling right hand or
his overflowing hair. Look at his left hand: clutched in the palm with (mostly)
the middle finger, ring finger and the little finger is whatever he is going to
give out that session. Vibhuthi pellets (those of you who have seen him give out
vibhuthi will recollect that he makes a powdering action with his fingers when
he is actually delivering), rings or whatever. Just keep looking at this hand.
There will be a time when a devotee will fall at his feet or when he will lean
forward. At that time the stuff would get transfered to between the fingers in
his right hand. This would be visible too(if you are looking for it). Very soon
thereafter, the 'materialization' would take place.
Right, so you think this method is so stoooopid that even a goat would have
found it out by now. Let me tell you something, just practice this a few times.
And try it out on your friends. You will be surprised by their surprise. I can
do this easily now and have fooled many of my friends. Only I don't call myself
god or have VIPs fall at my feet.
I have seen these things happen hundreds of times. I have received vibhuti,
laddu and stuff like these myself. In our hostel there was a coterie who knew
about all these tricks. We used to have a ball of a time in the darshan line
and used to share the hilarious experiences after the show is over. A couple
of experiences would be in place.
Once, Swami was out of the mandir and was collecting letters. He had a small
silver pendant in his hand which we had all seen when he had gone past us in
the line. He had transfered it to his right hand and was just waiting for
someone to give it to, when a devotee from a back row extended a letter.
Swami bent forward and out stretched his right palm to receive it. It was a
fine Bangalore morning, the sun was out and the pendant in his hand was
gleaming for all to see! We went black and blue for a second and suppressing
a threatening-to-explode laugh, looked away. Swami went ahead, unperturbed,
and gave the pendant to some important looking guy down the line. We were
talking about this for a whole week and even thought of writing a letter to
Swami asking him to be more careful.
In another occasion, a singer had come to Brindavan and we were inside the
mandir listening to him sing. Swami wanted to give him a watch and it was in
readiness beneath his left thigh in the sofa on which he was sitting. I was
sitting in the third row from Swami and was keeping a 'close' watch. The
song got over and Swami shifted in his seat a slight bit and the watch was
now in his left hand. He bent forward and moved the watch to his right hand.
I saw this and looked up and saw that Swami was watching me! I turned red but
so did Swami! He started shifting around a lot, asked one of the students to
change the direction of the table fan and when the audience was looking away
put the watch back into his left hand. Now, the student who was changing the
fan was a nervous wreck with everyone watching him and whatever happened, there
were sparks flying out of the socket! Soon a few other students went there
to set it alright. By now the watch had gone back to below the thigh. That
singer never got it that day(I really felt sorry for him). The next day
morning, in the darshan line, Swami came near me and opened his right palm
before my eyes and said, "Hmm..Namasivayah! ( He called me this since I used
to give talks in Tamil and started all my talks with "Namasivayah vaazhga!
Naadhan thaaL vaazhga!"), nEthu ennannavO ninaichaachu! raathiri ennannavO
swapnam kandaachu! paarthukkO! oNNum illa! Doubting Thomas! Doubting Thomas!".
I wish I could have asked him to open the left palm then since,I knew he had
something there! Well, now this seems funny, but at that time I got very scared
and wrote a very apologetic letter to him!
There are a couple of other standard tricks that he does. During Dussehra, he
does a Vibhuthi abhishek of Shirdi Sai Baba. He gets a small pot and turns
it upside down and shows there is nothing in it. After this, he puts his hands
inside the pot and vibhuthi starts flowing out. Even a goat with a rational mind
would figure out what he is doing. Take a pot, fill it with vibuthi and solidify
it with some water and let it stand. Till you disturb it, nothing will fall out.
Another thing that he used to do was materialize linga. He does this by
regurgitation(yes!). He makes motions as if he is trying to get it out of his
nabhi and soon enough, has it out of his mouth. You will find plenty of these
if you visit the museum in Puttaparthi. The way he does this is also simple.
There is always a queue of trusted lieutenants(sp?) who stand beside him
and pass him white hand kerchiefs on which he would eventually place the linga
that 'comes out'. In one of these kerchiefs, the linga itself will come and
all he has to do is to take it close to his mouth and make a motion as if the
linga just dropped into the kerchief. I have not seen this myself(he no longer
does this) but I have seen videos of this. My point is, once you have proved
that one of his miracles is magic, the rest don't need any proof.
Some students in the college always know these and live a life of forced
devotion and false pretense. They have to, for if they don't life can get very
unpleasant. The parents of most of these students are very ardent devotees
whose lives have been defined by their devotion to Swami. It would be impossible
to convince them that Swami is not what they think he is but only a cheap
charlatan doing popular tricks. The lives of these students are truely
pitiable. They live a constant Jeckyll and Hyde life from which there is no
reprieve.
But lives of some students are more horrible.
<to be continued...>
--
---------------------------------------------------------------
M.Srikanth (ka...@cse.ogi.edu)
18361, NW Heritage Pkwy #1, Aloha, OR 97006. (503) 690 9520.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chandramouli Venkatesh - CS
>Sathya Sai Baba : The bad
>
>/* To those of you who jumped into this section straightaway - please go and
>read the above section and then come to this. */
>
>
>mandir listening to him sing. Swami wanted to give him a watch and it was in
>readiness beneath his left thigh in the sofa on which he was sitting. I was
>sitting in the third row from Swami and was keeping a 'close' watch. The
>song got over and Swami shifted in his seat a slight bit and the watch was
>now in his left hand. He bent forward and moved the watch to his right hand.
>I saw this and looked up and saw that Swami was watching me! I turned red but
>so did Swami! He started shifting around a lot, asked one of the students to
>change the direction of the table fan and when the audience was looking away
>put the watch back into his left hand. Now, the student who was changing the
>fan was a nervous wreck with everyone watching him and whatever happened, there
>were sparks flying out of the socket! Soon a few other students went there
>to set it alright. By now the watch had gone back to below the thigh. That
>singer never got it that day(I really felt sorry for him). The next day
>morning, in the darshan line, Swami came near me and opened his right palm
>before my eyes and said, "Hmm..Namasivayah! ( He called me this since I used
>to give talks in Tamil and started all my talks with "Namasivayah vaazhga!
>Naadhan thaaL vaazhga!"), nEthu ennannavO ninaichaachu! raathiri ennannavO
>swapnam kandaachu! paarthukkO! oNNum illa! Doubting Thomas! Doubting Thomas!".
>I wish I could have asked him to open the left palm then since,I knew he had
>something there! Well, now this seems funny, but at that time I got very scared
>and wrote a very apologetic letter to him!
>
Remeber reading something like this in Illustrated Weekly, I think it was in
Dec '92. can't remember the exact issue as such.It seems Swami was participating
in the inauguration of some kalyANa maNdapam in B'lore and presented some big
shot with a golden chain goT from "thin air" . But a later look at the video
recording of the function showed one of his assistants passing "the chain" to
the Swami before "the act".
The piece concluded by saying, if I remember right," wish someone had recorded
Jesus walking on water".
NOTE: None of this is my personal opinion. I am NOT a pro or anti any Swami or
anything like that. Just thought of letting you guys know of some related
stuff. However I have heard many other stories of Swami's "miracles" from
many of my relatives and friends, including things like "nectar pouring out
of Swami's photo", "Foot prints on vibUthi" etc.
This was NOT meant to offend anyone. Very sorry if that's how you felt !
CV
Balaji Kannan
In article <1993Jun13.0...@serval.net.wsu.edu> cven...@stimpy.eecs.wsu.edu (Chandramouli Venkatesh - CS) writes:
>In article <54...@ogicse.ogi.edu> ka...@cse.ogi.edu (M.Srikanth) writes:
>>Sathya Sai Baba : The bad
>>
>>/* To those of you who jumped into this section straightaway - please go and
>>read the above section and then come to this. */
>>
>>
>>In another occasion, a singer had come to Brindavan and we were inside the
>>mandir listening to him sing. Swami wanted to give him a watch and it was in
>Remeber reading something like this in Illustrated Weekly, I think it was in
>Dec '92. can't remember the exact issue as such.It seems Swami was participating
>in the inauguration of some kalyANa maNdapam in B'lore and presented some big
[....]
>This was NOT meant to offend anyone. Very sorry if that's how you felt !
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>CV
You $%%^^%&*&*&&&&&&#$#@ !!!! :-) Actually, I cudn't help sobbing after I read
all these articles insulting His Highness and his "divinity" !!! Please don't
expose Indian Swamijis who perfrom hat tricks in the "real" stage on networld
:-)
cheers,
bk [without a halo :-(] :-)
Chandramouli Venkatesh - CS
>
>
>
>
>>This was NOT meant to offend anyone. Very sorry if that's how you felt !
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>CV
>
>
> You $%%^^%&*&*&&&&&&#$#@ !!!! :-) Actually, I cudn't help sobbing after I read
> all these articles insulting His Highness and his "divinity" !!! Please don't
> expose Indian Swamijis who perfrom hat tricks in the "real" stage on networld
> :-)
>
oNNum solla mudiyAdhuppA indha US lEy ! kaNda kaNdadhukkellAm sue
paNNuvAnga ! I am sure u guys had heard about some guy being taken to
court for shouting at a group of guys as "buffaloes", for it was
considered a "racially motivated verbal abuse" !!!!!! adhAn safeA
modhallayEy ippidi pOttudaNum !
On a related note: Please NEVER EVER leave your terminal unattended and
make sure that u logout before you leave. I know a case wherein the
person got into serious trouble for apparently no mistake of his, other
than leaving the terminal unattended!!!! I am serious and no kidding!
CV
Kathiravan Krishnamurthi
>anything like that. Just thought of letting you guys know of some related
>stuff. However I have heard many other stories of Swami's "miracles" from
>many of my relatives and friends, including things like "nectar pouring out
>of Swami's photo", "Foot prints on vibUthi" etc.
>This was NOT meant to offend anyone. Very sorry if that's how you felt !
thanks sreekaanth:
These kind of people who
claim to be gOds are a problem in India. There is some
good happening as well. A lot of people are ready
to do anything form saai. In Canada saai is a big
thing. They have groups. In Ottawa there are two
of them. Most of them are good people. But when
it comes to saai they say he is a god. They
talk weird things.
On the same note: sangkaraachaariaar
or the dravidian equivalent bangaaru are not
as popular as saai. also they do not claim
to be gOds.
I personally know families who have
sent their children for some saaiyaisation [:-)]
to India bcause they were dating white girls, going
to bars and trying to become pseudo canadians. saai
serves the purpose of these guys as well as
other fools who think saai is going to revive sanskrit.
One guy told me that gOd[saai] chose to be born
as a telugu because telugu has a lot of sanskirt [which
is not very true in the first place].
god head is right within us!
"Odi Odi utkalantha sOthiyai
naadi naadi naatkaLum kazhinthana
thEdi thEdi alaikinRa marularkaaL
kOdi kOdi eniRantha kOdiyE" -sivavaakiyan
All fools who claim saai to be gOd. gOd is
within you.
saai may not have claimed to be
gOd. These fools claim that. Their bhajans
also reflect that. On the same note MGR/Kushpoo
will also qualify.
If saai had claimed to be gOd
then he is a fraud.
anban
Kathiravan
>CV