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INTRODUCTION
David Sunfellow
SEX, LIES &
VIDEO TAPE
G.R.R. Babu
MY SAI HISTORY
Jed Geyerhahn
MORE ON SAI BABA
INTRODUCTION
By David Sunfellow
In SMORGASBORD 6, I wrote an article
entitled, "A Power Greater Than Ourselves". Among
other things, the article lamented the apparent
lack of authentic spiritual masters in the world
today. "I have yet to meet or hear of anyone alive
today," I wrote, "who embodies the kind of perfection
I believe is our birthright. And while there is
certainly no shortage of people claiming to be
perfect, those who proclaim spiritual mastership
the loudest, often turn out to be the least developed
and most lost. And this includes many of the eastern
world's most celebrated 'masters' who, along with
whatever genuine inner strengths and powers they
tapped into, frequently demonstrate glaring moral
defects and/or an inability to function gracefully
in the real world."
While many readers wrote back saying
that they, too, had grown disillusioned over the
apparent lack of spiritual masters in the world
today, one reader asked a question that has been
nagging me for decades: "What about Sai Baba?"
I first encountered Sai Baba over
twenty years ago when a friend showed me a book
of his. After reading that Sai Baba considered
himself the second coming of Christ, I promptly
dismissed both him and his claims of spiritual
mastership. Eventually, I came across a psychic
reading done by Ray Stanford (one of a handful
of psychics that I believe was genuinely gifted),
in which Sai Baba was described as "an avatar
of mind unspiritualized." This particular reading,
which was published in 1976 in the Journal of
the ASSOCIATION FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF MAN,
further accused Sai Baba of sexual indiscretions
and said that he had physically beat people who
did not do his will. According to the Stanford
source, "There is a direct contradiction in the
life of the individual involved, between what
he claims of himself and what he does in practice.
This is exemplified in the sexual life, in the
intellectual life, and in the emotional reactions
of the individual called Baba. Also is it exemplified
in the external form of those attitudes mentioned
-- such as the physical beatings which that one
has done to individuals who did not do his will."
The Stanford source also added this
pointed reminder,"Realize that He who is the true
incarnation of Love gives evidence of Himself
by love. Do not deceive yourself by rationalization
into believing that the giving of trinkets is
the evidence of love, for love given purely need
not conceal itself behind mere trinkets of gold,
stone, and tinsel."
While I viewed Sai Baba as one more
wayward guru, an increasing number of friends
continued to sing him praises. Some of these friends
actually visited him in India. Their first-person
impression of Sai Baba was that he was, indeed,
the high-powered spiritual master he claimed to
be. Others, who spent years in close association
with Sai Baba, swore that they personally witnessed
many "miracles" that could not be explained by
ordinary means. In addition, Sai Baba is well-known
in India, and often visited by Indian government
officials and world leaders -- in part because
of his supposed powers, and in part because of
his reported good works, which, among other things,
includes building hospitals and helping poor villages.
So is Sai Baba a genuine master,
or another charlatan?
To get to the bottom of this, I
contacted officials connected with THE COMMITTEE
FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF
THE PARANORMAL (CSICOP), based in the United States,
India and London. One of these gentlemen, G.R.R.
Babu, the Executive Director of INTERNATIONAL
HUMANIST & ETHICAL UNION in London, faxed
me an article he wrote that itemized many disturbing
events associated with Sai Baba, including faked
materializations, murders, corrupt government
officials, money laundering, and other scandals.
Since CSIOP and their affiliate organizations
are staunch humanists, they have a vested interest
to discredit all claims of supernatural and/or
divine interventions in the affairs of humanity.
Babu's report cannot, therefore, be viewed as
an objective overview of Sai Baba. In addition,
Babu's article has a sarcastic edge to it that
compromises normal journalistic standards. It
does, however, detail events that should cause
any seeking person to seriously question Sai Baba,
as well his claims of mastership. With permission,
I have included a copy of Babu's report on Sai
Baba in this NHNE Special Report.
I have also been in touch with Jed
Geyerhahn, a past devotee of Sai Baba. With his
permission, I have included a letter that describes
his relationship with Sai Baba. Previously published
on THE NEURAL SURFER (http://www.mtsac.edu/~dlane/saiessay.html),
Geyerhahn's letter supports and elaborates on
the accusations presented in Babu's eye-opening
overview.
While Sai Baba may not live up to
his "perfect master" billing, it is worth noting
that many of the people who have been drawn to
Sai Baba are sincere spiritual seekers. As David
Lane, the creator of THE NEURAL SURFER points
out in picking Sai Baba as one of his top ten
"Scum Bag Guru's" (http://www.mtsac.edu/~dlane/gurumay.html),
"I hesitated putting this Gumby blessing Avatar
on my list for over a year because his followers
can be (at times) so downright sweet."
Being a sincere, even a "sweet"
spiritual seeker is, of course, no guarantee we
won't be duped. Indeed, some of the most sincere,
sweet, and discerning spiritual seekers I know
were reeled in by Sai Baba -- or his devotees.
But as increasing numbers of spiritual seekers
mature, and our global network of ears and eyes
expands, I believe it is going to be increasingly
difficult for the Sai Baba's of the world to work
their magic on those of us that really want to
know the truth...
SEX, LIES
& VIDEO TAPE:
RETELLING THE SATYA SAI BABA STORY
By G.R.R. BABU
General Secretary,
RATIONALIST ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
THE SAI AVATAR
When a luminescent ball of light
entered Easwaramma while she was bathing, little
did she or Pedda Venkappa Raju, her illiterate
husband, realize that the Lord had chosen her
surrogate womb for His next parthenocarpic incarnation.
Official literature enlightens us that the Lord's
coming was anticipated long ago by Jesus and Mohammed.
For those who cannot find the relevant passages
in their version of the Bible or Koran, a more
contemporary declaration was made by the Lord
Himself. In 1918 during His earlier incarnation
as the Sai Baba of Shirdi, He had revealed that
8 years after leaving the Shirdi body, He would
be reborn in Puttaparthi village of Easwaramma,
"as the moon grows in the sky," and a male child
was born on 23 November, 1926. To mark the momentous
significance of the event, musical instruments
in the house played by themselves at the time
of the birth: the air, and a cobra, lord of reptiles,
wailed in attendance to protect the Lord. It is
fair to assume that just as with the birth of
the Buddha, elephants trumpeted in joy, peacocks
danced and the gods rejoiced.
Despite His omniscience, Satyanorayana
Raju -- for that was his given name -- went to
school where the playful display of his miraculous
powers was soon recognized by all. Friends came
to love him for his magically created gifts and
teachers feared his just wrath: one of them would
not come unstuck from his chair, unless he begged
for forgiveness and expressed remorse at ill treating
the children! In 1940, after tortuous treatment
by doctors for suspected mental illness, at the
age of 15, Satyanarayana Raju revealed His avatarhood
to the world and identified Himself as Satya Sai
Baba. As He was to reveal later to his disciples,
"I, the Lord, incarnated at Puttaparthi. Buddha,
Christ, Mohammed and others were not avatars.
They had some divine power... My power is infinite;
My Truth is inexplicable, even unfathomable. My
task is the regeneration of humanity by Truth
and Love." We are reassured that when the present
incarnation would be over at age 96, in the year
2022, He would be reborn as Prema Sai in Mandya
district of Kamataka.
MAN OF MIRACLES
Satya Sai Baba would often say "miracles
are my visiting cards": a phrase which is also
the title of a largely hearsay, cock-and-bull
account of Satya Sai Baba's paranormal powers,
by Icelandic parapsychologist Errlelndur Haraldsson
(more about Haraldsson at the end of this article).
Despite His insistence that His religious message
was more important than the "tinsel" miracles
He performed, the stupendous "powers" of Satya
Sai Baba soon came to be know all over the world.
Based on the "most reliable information", but
mistaking God for guru, the READER'S DIGEST book
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts - II gives us this
credulous account: "Sai Baba is an Indian guru
blessed with extraordinary powers. He can produce
gold rings and coins out of thin air, change rock
into candy, and flowers into jewels. He heals
the sick with the aid of vibhuti (sacred wood
ash), which seems to appear from nowhere as he
waves his hand. Perhaps the most astonishing display
of Sai Baba's powers took place in 1953, when
the blue and stiff body of Radhakrishna which
was cold, shrunken and starting to decompose,
was brought back to life by Baba. In the 50 years
that Sai Baba has been demonstrating his apparently
miraculous powers, no one has found any evidence
of trickery."
In addition to these reports, Dr.
John Hislop, American industrialist and management
consultant, and also Chairman of the CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF AMERICAN SAI ORGANIZATION tells us earnestly
how in 1971 Satya Sai Baba resurrected Walter
Cowan, declared dead due to cardiac failure. The
late Dr. Suri Bhagavantam, director of the prestigious
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, Bangalore, Scientific
advisor to the government of India and also Baba's
interpreter narrated how once Satya Sai Baba created
out of nowhere a copy of the Bhagavadgita (alas
even the Lord is not immune to orthographic error,
as a skeptic pointed out!) In a contemporary enactment
of New Testament miracles, He once converted water
into petrol by dipping His finger into the water.
He relieves devotees' ailments by taking them
onto Himself, conducts surgeries with psychic
powers and plucks out-of-season mango fruit from
tamarind trees. It is believed that Baba was responsible
for repelling the Chinese army "invading India
like locusts". Reports abound of His bilocation
(having appeared in two places at the same time);
He Himself claimed that He never sleeps.
In what can only be described as
divine disapproval of capitalist claims on intellectual
property rights, by the mere waving of His hand,
Satya Sai Baba also "creates" and distributes
trade mark protected Parker pens and Omega watches.
The vibhuti He creates has been variously used
by devotees in treating terminal cancer and for
curing pimples. The irreverent skeptic is admonished:
"Do not try to delve into Me; Baba is beyond the
keenest intellect, the sharpest brain... How can
the limited know the depth of the unlimited? How
can the ant delve into the mountain? It is beyond
you to know how or why I create things... the
objects that I create, I create them by My Will,
the same way I created the universe. Develop faith
and veneration and derive joy through Prema (love).
That is the utmost you can do, do that and benefit."
THE SATYA SAI COMMUNITY
Sai Baba's exhortation to believe
has found many receptive ears. Today His followers
number at least two million, with growing numbers
being recorded in the spiritually-impoverished
West. Australian journalist and theosophist Howard
Murphet and London photographer David Baily came
to scoff, but stayed to pray. "Noted" American
psychologist Dr. Samuel Sandweiss was convinced
when he was told, "I am everything, everywhere,
omniscient, omnipotent, and so whatever I will,
instantly happens." Dr. Hislop asks in tragically
foolish wonder, "Baba has the inconceivably immense
task of the Universe. How can He afford to spend
time talking to people like us?" Baba reassures
him: "Baba with his limitless bodies, is everywhere
doing the tasks... that is Baba's omnipresence.
God is not subject to any limitation." Dr. Hislop
is delighted at this explanation.
The credit for polishing Baba's
halting English and capturing his evident lyrical
derangement goes to official biographer, the erudite
Kasturi: "I am all that is, all that can be known,
all that seeks fulfillment. Sunrise and Sunset
keep repeating, for I have willed [them] to; the
stars that lend sublime charm to the nocturnal
sky hide their faces from human eyes during the
day, in obedience to my desire; the wind blows
with no respite in order to keep animate beings
alive, since that is My wish; streams and rivulets
giggle, laugh or roar along beds during their
pilgrimages to the sea, for it pleases Me; mankind
itself is molded into a million faces to present
the variety I relish." This has obviously enlightened
the person from whom I borrowed some Satya Sai
Baba literature: he had written down in pencil,
in fervent devotion: "I, befitting and fortunate
slave, carry out every command of the master without
any question of why and what... I am slave of
the master who has released me from my ignorance,
whatever my master does is of the greatest benefit
to all concerned."
The confederacy of irrationality,
gullibility and superstition establishes a kinship
which transcends cultural and national barriers.
Among the miracle mongering Satya Sai followers
are top Indian political leaders and judges, Presidents
and Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius,
several former Greek Prime Ministers, the Spanish
Royal family, members of the International diplomatic
corps, advocates, engineers, doctors and common
folk. Perhaps because it is they who need the
most spiritual advice, it is very common to see
the pacific and teetotaler Satya Sai Baba in the
company of power brokers, associates of international
arms traders and liquor barons. Notable among
Baba's international inner circle are Guilio Andreotti,
former Prime Minister of Italy, currently on trial
for murder of a journalist, former Italian Prime
Minister Bettino Craxi, sentenced to 5 1/2 years
of imprisonment for corruption and Princess Poihlavi,
sister of the former Shah of Iran, caught in Switzerland
in 1962 for carrying heroin.
BEGONE SATYA SAI!
Into such a community of God-fearing
people came the late Srilankan Dr. Abraham T.
Kovoor, Asian president of the WORLD UNION OF
FREE THINKERS and Dr. H. Narasimhaiah, India's
best known rationalist and former vice chancellor
of the BANGALORE UNIVERSITY, who together led
the most animated attack on Satya Sai Baba and
his world view.
Dr. Kovoor narrates in his book
Begone Godmen! that in 1973, during a newspaper
debate on Satya Sai Baba, Dr. Bhagavantam (Baba's
interpreter from Telugu to English) wrote of the
"awe-inspiring, wonderful experience of the Seiko
watch manufacturer", who, when on a visit to Puttaparth
was presented by Sai Baba with the very watch
that the manufacturer had, pending tests, kept
in a safe in Japan. With this materialization,
all his doubts about the divine powers of Satya
Sai Baba melted away. "He fell prostrate at Sai
Baba's feet and worshipped him. Since then he
is an ardent devotee of the Bhagavon." Since Dr.
Sbhagavantam was not forth coming with details,
a suspicious Dr. Kovoor made inquiries with Shoji
Hattori, President of SEIKO WATCH COMPANY in Tokyo
to verify the facts. Mr. Hattori wrote back "...I
am in no way able to further your knowledge as
regards the man mentioned in your letter, Mr.
Sai Baba. Neither I nor any members of my staff
have ever made the acquaintance of this individual.
I am sure that these reports are completely unfounded."
Bhagavantam remained silent when confronted with
the response.
The national scandal that broke
out when Dr. Kovoor released his correspondence
to the press, describing Satya Sai Baba as a "sleight-of-hand"
trickster and exposing one of India's brilliant
scientists as a Satya Sai agent, was only surpassed
by nuclear scientist, Dr. H. Narosimhaiah's crusade
as Vice-Chancellor of BANGALORE UNIVERSITY, when
in 1976 he appointed a 12 member official committee
"to investigate rationally and scientifically
miracles and any other verifiable superstitions."
Dr. Narasimhaiah's committee exposed Sai Krishna,
a 7 year old child-protege of Satya Sai Baba,
by pulling out the packet of vibhuti hidden in
the underclothes of Sai Krishna. Several sundry
godmen immediately confessed that they did not
have any miraculous powers. It was Satya Sai Baba's
turn now and the committee requested Him to allow
them an investigation. When they visited Him,
a terrified Satya Sai Baba locked Himself up in
His Whitefield residence, close to Bangalore.
All He could do was spew helpless vitriol at the
Narasimhaiah Committee.
AVATAR OF THE NIGHT
As if these resounding rationalist
responses and public humiliations were not enough,
in 1976 another bomb shell was thrown at Him.
Tal Brooke, born again Christian who spent 14
months with Satya Sai Baba, wrote the book Avatar
of the Night, (all three thousand copies of the
book released in India were purchased and destroyed)
describing Satya Sai Baba's homosexual lust (how
can a good Christian accept that?) and assaults
on young boys. It is quite revealing of the submission
and intelligence level of the Sai devotee that
despite Sai Baba's enticement: "What is mine is
yours, money, food, anything. Just ask!", Tal
Brooke said to himself "Lust contradicts Baba's
nature; therefore it does not exist in him. Blind
faith... Baba is innocent". It took Tal Brooke
three such consummate encounters and numerous
similar accounts of pedophilia from friends to
realize that Satya Sai Baba's nudging pelvis,
pawing hands and intimate behaviour were not part
of any soul-cleansing encounter.
With news of these events and later
incidents, the seeds of doubt were sown in many
minds. How is it that Sai Baba's own brother-in-law
died of rabies? Why did Baba, Himself a psychic
surgeon, have to be hospitalized for ruptured
appendicitis and broken leg? And preaching simplicity,
why does He travel in Mercedes cars and require
heavy protection? Why did Sai Baba have to wave
his hand in circles, before producing anything?
Was it because of prestidigitation, as emphatically
asserted by the renowned Indian stage magician
P.C. Sarcar Jr. and skeptic E. Premanand? Does
His occasional transvestism and derision for women
really illustrate the Male-Female principle of
the universe? Why is it that some doctors have
gone on record stating that post mortems of bodies
of several women coming from Puttapathl showed
signs of torture? Is it true that some of the
foreign nationals visiting Puttaparthl were disappearing
after entire properties were bequeathed to the
Satya Sai Organization? And is it true that Proshanti
Nilayam (Satya Sai Baba's "abode of peace" at
Puttaparthl) was the campus of criminals? Is it
not surprising that the police, in a routine security
combing of Prashanti Nilayam before the visit
of the Home Minister of India, discover, apart
from cyanide and land mines, the deadly plastic-explosive
RDX used by Hindu-Muslim terrorists in Bombay?
And why did Satya Sai Baba, whose religion officially
also embraces the values of Islam, welcome the
anti-Muslim Hindu fundamentalist Vishwa Hindu
Parishad's campaign?
"LET THERE BE A NECKLACE..."
But the most spectacular fodder
for doubt for the believer was the unique birthday
gift given to Satya Sai Baba by the DECCAN CHRONICLE
of 23 November, 1992. This largely circulated,
Hyderabad-based English daily published what the
rationalist could only dream of. Splashed on the
front page were pictures from a video recording
of Satya Sai Baba's "creation" of a gold necklace,
in the presence of the Prime Minister of India,
Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao. The video tape shows unambiguously
Satya Sai Baba being passed clandestinely a necklace
by his personal assistant Radhakrishna Menon,
which later Satya Sai Baba "materializes" after
a wave of his hand. Filmed by a state television
crew covering the Prime Minister, the cassette
was suppressed. However, a copy was leaked and
several copies of the cassette were distributed
in India and abroad. A big meeting was organized
by us to felicitate the courageous journalist
Venu Kodimela and for a long time, watching the
cassette became a necessary ritual of all our
public meetings. Some were shown on local and
district cable television too -- at great bodily
risk as some rationalists came to know. However,
the publicity remarkably affected the number of
devotees visiting Puttaparthi, though some still
insist that "miracles" are performed to attract
people to the good work being done by Baba and
that Baba never claimed any special powers!
CRIME AND KARMA:
MURDERS IN THE BEDROOM
Much worse was in store when on
6 June, 1993, six inmates of Prashanti Nilayam
were murdered in Satya Sai Baba's bedroom. It
is alleged that two were killed by the assailants
and the police claimed to have shot dead -- in
self defence -- four of the assailants, who were
armed only with knives. Realizing the danger to
his person, Baba Himself ran for His life, jumped
out of an open window and started off a secret
alarm, whose existence even the inner core did
not know of. Interestingly, all the people killed
were part of the inner circle of Sai Baba, among
whom Radha Krishna Menon, the personal assistant
who was caught on video passing the necklace clandestinely
to Baba. Baba Himself spoke of the murders in
His Gurupoornima lecture and dealt with the question
of whether the deaths of his near and dear were
unavoidable. "Birth and death go together. One
should realize that death is a natural phenomenon
and avoid worrying about it... You must note that
Swami's life is in His own hands and not in those
of anyone else. If I will it, I can live as long
as I please. Because He is the almighty, God cannot
behave in any arbitrary manner. Not realizing
this truth, men who are involved in worldly ways
ask questions as to why in certain situations,
God did not use his limitless powers to avert
certain untoward events..."
The police report was twice changed,
from attempt to murder Baba to internal squabbles
in Prashanti Nilayam. Mysteriously, Shankar Dayal
Sharma, the President of the Indian Republic deviated
from protocol and propriety and said that the
murders were "all about a girl". When asked why
Satya Sai Baba, the head of the Institution in
whose bedroom the murders took place, was not
interrogated, Home Minister Chavan who visited
Sai Baba twice immediately after the incident
insisted that Sai Baba was not present at the
time of murder, further compromising the investigation.
Surprisingly, Prashanti Nilayam authorities themselves
filed no police complaint.
B. Premanand, magician, former devotee
of Baba and today the most important Indian Skeptic
-- Sai Baba baiter alive, however refused to accept
the interference into the investigation and hauled
the government to court, accusing the police of
having willfully destroyed evidence. Amusingly,
in the post, Premanand and K.N. Balagopal, rationalist
advocate in the Supreme Court of India, had dragged
Satya Sai Baba to court for violation of the Gold
Control Act which imposed restrictions on the
"manufacture, possession, sale and transfer of
gold", since Satya Sai Baba "materialized" gold
ornaments to be given to devotees. While rejecting
the petition, the High Court Judge Justice Y.V.
Anjaneyulu, a member of the Satya Sai inner circle,
allowed the argument that an article materialized
by spiritual powers cannot be said to have been
manufactured, prepared or processed. Perhaps for
the first time in jurisprudence spiritual powers
were recognized as valid defence in law!
In the present murder case, however,
Premanand petitioned to the High Court in a public
interest petition that the case be transferred
to an impartial investigative agency so that justice
might be done. In the High Court, while dismissing
the plea, Premanand was admonished by Chief Justice
Mishra, who even threatened to punish him the
next time he "misused" the Court with such complaints,
with the intention of defaming Satya Sai Baba.
In January, the SUPREME COURT OF INDIA expunged
all the remarks made by the High Court Judge,
boasting rationalist morale. Also, chastened by
the SUPREME COURT OF INDIA, in the first week
of May the HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH STATE
admitted a contempt of Court petition by Premanand
against the government and the police. Premanand
and Satya Sai Baba have been brought to the front
pages of news papers again. The judicial mood
in India is remarkably different since the past
few months, what with the INDIAN SUPREME COURT
taking up an "operation clean hands", arresting
several corrupt politicians and also forcing the
Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to arrest
his favorite Godman and arms dealer-power broker
Chandraswami in the first week of May. Rationalists
keep their fingers crossed...
THE CASE OF THE MISSING KIDNEY
In the Marathi language weekly LOK
PRABHA, of 19 January, 1996, was published a most
shocking account concerning the SATYA SAI INSTITUTE
OF HIGHER MEDICAL SCIENCES, set up at an expense
of 2000 million Indian rupees and where all medical
treatment is done free. Triambak Karvande, a peasant
from Latur district of Maharastra was to have
received his son Balaji's kidney in a transplant
operation. A week after the operation, a dying
Triambak was informed that the transplant was
a failure and father and son were sent back home.
Back in their town, two CT scans and a sonography
done by Dr. Kastur of the MAHARASTRA INSTITUTE
OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND RESEARCH CENTRE revealed
that Triambak was never operated for a kidney
transplant, the scans also confirmed that Balaji's
kidney was indeed taken out of his body. So where
did Balaji's kidney go? Is the hospital -- with
a hitherto very good reputation -- in fact a part
of the international organ theft business? Initial
complaints made by the victim went unheeded ,
but the MAHARASTRA SUPERSTITION ERADICATION COMMITTEE,
after its own independent investigation, is working
on helping the Karvande family get legal aid.
The Truth might be out soon.
SAI EMPIRE & PHILANTHROPY
B. Premanand, also advisor on miracle
exposure to the RATIONALIST ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
and editor of INDIAN SKEPTIC, estimates the Sai
Empire to be worth 60000 million rupees (1714
million USD). Puttaparthi now has an airport and
3000 small apartments are available for rentals
to accommodate the cash-rich Americans, Scandinavians,
Belgians, Germans, Dutch, Malaysians and Japanese
who come. Prashanti Nilayam itself has adequate
infrastructure to feed 10,000 people at one time.
To have an idea of the scale of operations, consider
the fact that in 1982, the target of the SATYA
SAI ORGANIZATION was adoption of 6000 villages,
to "fulfill all the physical and spiritual needs
of the community". There are 3000 Satya Sai centres
in India and 400 centres abroad in 85 countries
and they publicize and market the fact that more
than 100, 000 children are taught free in centres
run by SRI SATYA SAI BAL VIKAS TRUST and do propaganda
about their social service activities. UNION BANK
OF INDIA, owned by the state, does not charge
any fee for money transfer to Satya Sai Baba and
the money keeps flowing.
When Satya Sai Baba celebrated his
70th birthday in November, '95, the President
and the Prime Minister of India were in attendance
and applauded the SATYA SAI WATER SCHEME meant
to provide drinking water to every village of
the dry district of Ananthapur. It is a matter
of detail that five months after the inauguration,
water is yet to flow from village taps, as tanks
have crashed and pipes burst because of inferior
construction material used due to corruption.
Importantly, this is an instance of how when governments
default in their duties, religious organizations
occupy that space. On this single birthday, a
little known foundation from America and another
from Japan donated 1600 million Indian rupees
(45 million US Dollars) for the Satya Sai charity
work. Premanand is investigating whether this
is in fact a money laundering operation.
A look into the world view of high-school
dropout Satya Sai Baba should help clarify why
His style of philanthropy and education must be
combated: "At the centre (of the world), everything
is liquid. Everything is melted. No temperature.
Everything is liquid, like water. Gold, iron,
silver all are liquid. Next there is solid. Then
trees. Then human beings and animals. At the very
centre is the divine. It is the support of everything.
First is liquid, chemistry. Then solid, physics.
Then trees, Botany. Then man, the pinnacle of
life. But at the centre, supporting all, is the
divine. Without the divine, where is chemistry,
physics, botany? Like this will be the teaching
of all courses at the university." A few years
ago, the SATYA SAI INSTITUTE OF HIGHER LEARNING
has been declared a deemed University by Madhuri
Shah, devotee and Chairperson of the UNIVERSITY
GRANTS COMMISSION, on par with the rest of India's
Centres of Higher Learning!
Alas, news of philanthropy in poor
countries drowns out rational discourse. Sadly,
Indians are still racists, and when pale face
comes and approves, there is little else to doubt.
State Radio & Television do propaganda for
him. Journalists are either gullible or are on
payroll. Judges are at times prone to decide based
on personal beliefs: the situation is worsened
by the political patronage received (Sai Baba's
influence increased manifold ever since superstitious
Narasimha Rao and his cabinet retire and President
Sankar Dayal Sharma started visiting Him even
in their official capacity). And in India, criminal
and political identities overlap. Scientists,
advocates and intellectuals mislead the others
and set examples by their own mistaken devotion
for this modern Tartuffe. Many well meaning people
-- and there are many such among the Satya Sai
Baba followers and admirers -- fail to realize
that philanthropy is merely an investment in the
Satya Sai Baba cult and empire and a way of evading
tax. Thanks to the intellectuals and the common
man's willful suspension of disbelief and critical
faculties, the Satya Sai octopus has been able
to spread its tentacles far and wide with the
lure of miracles.
BALA SAI BABA, THE REAL AVATAR!
Disillusioned by the bedroom murders,
exposes in newspapers, news of Premanand's court
battles, power struggles in the Sai empire and
reports like that of the disappearing kidney and
the failed water project, and disappointed by
birth day extravaganzas, many disciples are turning
away from Satya Sai Baba. Their destination now
is the Palghat (Kerala) born BALA SAI BABA (the
child Sai Baba), who at 35 years of age is a bit
overgrown for his name. He claims to be the real
Sai avatar, set up an ashram in Kurnool district
of Andhra Pradesh and resembles Satya Sai Baba
trait for trait. This till-recently-unemployed
youth also hints that Satya Sai Baba is an impostor!
He dresses like Satya Sai Baba, performs the same
tricks as Satya Sai Baba does and has been very
successful in attracting a large number of devotees.
He also recruits devotees from Europe and else
where and seems to have hit at the right marketing
mix.
Dr. Narasimhaiah said to me in Bangalore
once that our work is like that of Sisyphus. It
does not matter even if the SUPREME COURT puts
Satya Sai Baba on trial. Our work has to continue:
after working to expose Bala Sai Baba in the year
2022 we might still be busy with Prema Sai...
HOW NOT TO STUDY PARANORMAL PHENOMENON
LESSONS
Associate Professor of Psychology
at UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND, parapsychologist Dr.
Erlendur Haraldsson came to India several times
(twice along with Karlis Osis, co-author of their
book on near-death experiences At the Hour of
Death) to investigate Satya Sai Baba's paranormal
powers. The result of his efforts over ten years
is the book Miracles are My Visiting Cards, An
Investigative Report on the Psychic Phenomena
associated with Sathya Sai Baba, published in
1987.
Dr. Haraldsson's repeated requests
for controlled experiments were firmly rejected
by Satya Sai Baba and his team was asked "not
to pester" Baba with more requests. Charmed by
the charisma of Baba and more predisposed to believe
than to investigate, Dr. Haraldsson settles for
his own inefficient and subjective-personal-informal
observation as well as hearsay accounts from devotees.
Yet, in their article, The Appearance and Disappearance
of Objects in the Presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba
in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL
RESEARCH Vol. 71, January, 1977, Haraldsson and
Karlis Osis express their gratitude to Sri Satya
Sai Baba "for his kind co-operation in their investigation"!
Dr. Haraldsson's book does not indicate
that he is aware of Satya Sai Baba's father's
brother being a tantrik-conjuror. He could perhaps
have been Satya Sai's teacher. Despite assuring
us that he "tried his very best" to trace all
critical rumours about Sai Baba, in the chapter
titled "Critics" only Dr. H. Narasimhaiah is mentioned.
No mention of Dr. Kovoor's whirlwind tours of
Andhra, his challenges to Satya Sai Baba, his
largely attended public meetings (30,000 people
for instance) to the accompaniment of stupendous
publicity! Contributors to the national debates
in the then prestigious ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY of
India, and the tabloids BLITZ and CURRENT WEEKLY
are ignored. Interestingly, Dr. Haraldsson is
unaware even of the Seiko watch controversy. Later,
he says that he was unwilling to take it up because
of the various versions of it! One has not heard
of an "investigative" researcher shy away on such
dubious grounds.
Nor does Haraldsson mention Satya
Sai Baba specialist B. Premanand, whose first
book in English on Baba, Lure of Miracles, was
published in 1976. Dr. Haraldsson's excuse on
6 April, 1988 to Dale Bayerstein, editor of the
excellent 1994 book, Sai Baba's Miracles: An Overview
is that no one in India mentioned Premanand to
him. Dr. Haraldsson writes in his letter of 21
October, 1988 to Dale Bayerstein that Dr. H. Narasimhaiah
did not think it worthwhile for him to visit Premanand.
When informed of this, Dr. Narasimhaiah issued
a written clarification that he respected Premanand's
work and could never have said what Haraldsson
reported. This is not the only complaint of misquoting
about Haraldsson. Two chapters of the book Miracles
are My Visiting Cards are devoted to M. Krishna
and Varadu (in no way critics, looking at the
contents of the book), former personal assistants
to Satya Sai Baba in the earlier days; Krishna
converted to Christianity later. Now, Mr. Krishna's
son, a good friend of mine, insists that I report
his late father's intense displeasure with the
way in which Dr. Haraldsson blocked out some of
the things told to him and in the manner in which
some statements were transformed to suit Dr. Haraldsson's
purposes. In an interview with me and Premanand,
P.V.N. Nair, editor of DECCAN CHRONICLE, whom
Haraldsson accused of misquoting him as saying
that he was "disappointed with Satya Sai Baba",
regretted that out of good faith he had not tape
recorded the interview. Premanand has shown how
different versions and sequences of the same event
(production of ring for Karlis Osis) have been
written by Haraldsson. When Premanand asked for
clarification and explanation in an undoubtedly
long questionnaire, the very prolific Dr. Haraldsson
suddenly has no time to write!
Haraldsson is aware that propaganda
of the claimed resurrection from death of Walter
Cowan and Radhakrishna had the support of Satya
Sai Baba. He is also aware that Dr. Fanibunda,
himself a medical doctor, testified to the resurrection
of Cowan. Haraldsson's own conclusion is that
the stories of resurrections are false. Yet, to
our scientist-investigator the role of Satya Sai
Baba is not suspect. Nor that of Dr. Fanibunda,
whose testimony he approvingly uses in another
case. It also does not occur to this impartial
investigator, forever solicitous of being scientific
and objective that since he himself has found
some stories to be false, he has necessarily to
work under controlled conditions. This is how
professional credentials become suspect. Some
of the stories Haraldsson reports are not even
amenable to verification by us. For example, he
mentions how a burglar prowling in the house of
a Satya Sai Baba devotee was scared away by Satya
Sai's bilocation. He does not mention the name
of the devotee, nor the name of the police station
which later caught the burglar.
In the April, 1995 issue of the
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH,
Haraldsson and Richard Wiseman write an article
Reactions To and An Assessment of a Videotape
on Satya Sai Baba, where they make pathetic attempts
to show that from the DECCAN CHRONICLE-Doordarshan
tape no evidence of fraud by Satya Sai Baba can
be deduced. Haraldsson and co-author are invited
to watch our copy of the tape, or watch one of
the episodes of the British program, The Guru
Busters, a television program on Rationalist work
in India, which has quite clear visuals. They
should also read the analysis of a Satya Sai Baba
video tape by Dale Bayerstein, Leon Mandrake's
et al (a team of professional magicians) where
among others they detect Satya Sai Baba "thumb
palming" a necklace, before "materialisation"
(published in Bayerstein's book). Perhaps, Haraldsson
is also unaware of Premanand's video cassette
of Satya Sai Baba producing a gold necklace at
a wedding in Balakrishna Eradi's family (a former
judge from Kerala).
While waiting to watch this, the
authors should find time to read the account of
the Dutch author Piel Vroon who wrote an expanded
version of his article Sinterklass in India (Santa
Claus in India), published in De Volkskrant of
5 December, 1992. Piet Vroon was at Puttaparthi
to film Baba at "work", and he and his partner
detected Baba remove rings, necklaces and watches
from behind flower vases and from pillows of his
chair. They also detected Sai Baba holding vibhuti
balls in one hand, transferring them to the other
hand, pulverising them and distributing them.
Vibhuti is also hidden in the mouth and removed
while wiping the face, which Baba does very often.
Piel Vroon's conclusion is unambiguous: "we just
think that he's a trickster and a cheat."
It is easy to see these things,
especially when one's work, and perhaps livelihood,
does not depend on funding from parapsychology
foundations!
MY SAI HISTORY
By Jed Geyerhahn
<JGeyerhahn@aol.com>
First published May, 1997, on THE
NEURAL SURFER:
http://members.tripod.com/~dlane5/saiessay.html
My Sai history is what would really
be compelling about my word against Sai Baba.
I have received 3 rings, many interviews and lots
of personal attention. I was a very close friend
of Hal Honig, an aquaintence to Sam Sandweiss
and others. These names may not be familiar to
you, but they are prominant names in Sai circles.
My aunt is Elizabeth Elwell, a well known Bhajan
teacher, who lived in the Puttaparti Ash Ram for
9 years, and is still active in the organization
in New Hampshire. I have rings, a pictures of
me with baba, and could get more witness accounts
of sleight of hand. As I said, I just need to
get this stuff together, and I am very excited
for this oppurtunity...
My first witness account of sleight
of hand was in Brindaven. I saw Baba come out
of the personal interview room and sit down. As
he was sitting there, I noticed a large gold watch
under his small hand, which he was unsuccesfully
trying to hide. A moment later he made the familiar
circular motion with his hand as if he were materialising
the object, and then gave a student the watch.
On another occasion, I saw Sai Baba reach between
the cushions of hischair for something, and then
moments later he made the circular motion and
showed everyone a small container filled with
vibhuti, the gray ash. I then noticed that behind
the cushion in his chair there was something shiny,
and he paid careful attention to correct the position
of the cushion to hide the object. Another time
I saw him take a worn bracelet from a man, then
with his hand cupped blew on it three times at
the same time moving his hand up and down. On
the final movement, he tossed the chain into the
side of his chair so it slid down between the
inside of the chairs large arm and his leg. He
then discreetly took took something from his other
hand and made the circular motion and gave the
man a new bracelet. What is really funny about
that situation is that Sai Baba forgot to take
the old bracelet from his chair when he left,
so when he got up, there it lay in plain view
for everyone in the room. A student I was with,
and who was very devoted to Baba, picked it up
and looked at it, confirming that it was the old
bracelet. When Baba returned and noticed his mistake,
he scolded this student, who was sitting right
at the foot of Baba's chair and could not miss
the bracelet. Then Baba sat and in a flash picked
up the bracelet and very discreetly tossed it
into the outside upper corner of the arm of the
chair. There were no visible pockets there, but
there is a very large seem, and the arms of the
chair are huge enough to store lots of things.
It is also well known that prominant
figures in the Indian government make fairly frequent
stops to visit with Sai Baba, including the president
of India. (I was in India when the president came
to visit Sai Baba. When this happens there is
huge comotion and Indians crowd darshan to see
the president, not Sai Baba). The students also
know that Sai is a hoax, that he does not materialise
a thing. However, they are getting a very inexpensive
education, so they keep there mouths shut. The
student I talked with most, would not tell me
other things that he knew, but I am sure that
it had to do with the students who spent the night
with Baba. I know this because this is where he
would no longer answer my questions. Everyone
knows that Sai Baba has students spend the night
with him. They stay up to "serve" him at night.
It's a very well kept secret as to how they serve
Sai Baba, but little will come out because no
student wants to be kicked out of Sai Baba's school.
As stated, they are receiving a very good educations
there, very inexpensively. I say very inexpensively
because many believe it to be free, but this is
not the case. Students pay for room and board,
which to many is rather expensive. The education
part is free, but there are bills.
This brings me to my very questionable
experiences with Sai Baba. On my second trip to
Sai Baba I had four interviews. Each time I saw
Baba, his hand would gradually make more prominant
connections to my groin. The first interview was
a slight swipe, the second a definite touch and
the third time he grabbed me and with a very stern
face looked me directly in the eye and said "you
are very weak!" Needless to say, he scared and
embarassed me. I was guilt ridden to have sexual
passion, though I was a healthy 16 year old boy,
a testosterone machine. I was not going to talk
to anyone about the experience. In the final interview
he asked me to take my pants down. I was totally
confused, so he took them down for me. He then
made vibhutti and rubbed it on my genitals. On
my third trip, he did the same thing, but rubbed
oil on my genitals. Fortunately, I was never taken
advantage of any worse, but I was humiliated when
I realised his true intentions, and I felt I had
really lost an innocence that I would have cherished
keeping.
When I finally did talk about what
happened to me, the first two reactions were to
never speak of it with others because the whole
thing would be taken out of context and misconstrued.
Then I talked to others my own age and they told
me of similiar experiences. I even heard terrible
stories of children who would meet with Sai Baba
twice a week to play "sex games" and the like.
Oral sex and masturbation were common in these
meetings. Many of my own friends told me about
attempts by Sai Baba to touch them, but they wouldn't
let him. I need to really put this together better,
but this is a sketch of what I have. Any comments
would be helpful, and you can do what you like
with any of this material. You can also post my
email address for anyone who like to contact me
(JGeyerhahn@aol.com). I would be very greatful
to talk with any X-devotees who have had similiar
experieces with Sai Baba. It might encourage me
to get this all together quicker, and they might
help me put something larger together.
Sincerely,
Jed
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
MORE ON SAI BABA:
The Findings - NPI News:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
The Sai Critic:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
The Neural Surfer Website:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
Sathya Sai Baba Exposed: Cult, Magic,
And Brainwashing:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
Sai Baba: A Critical Page:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
Beyerstein's Critique of Sai Baba's
purported miracles:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
Freedom of Mind's "Sathya Sai Organization"
Resources:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Copyright 1998 by NewHeavenNewEarth
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