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| Vol. 4, Issue 5 May 2012 |
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Reporting & Essays |
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Reportage |
The Land of Illusion
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| A journey into Sai Baba’s smalltown fiefdom, where decades-old allegations of sex abuse, murder and deception continue to linger |
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| A |
BOUT THREE-AND-A-HALF HOURS from Bangalore, past farmers’ fields and some hills, a small village came into view. The rural area gradually gave way to an airstrip, where a private jet was parked, and then to uptown buildings—resorts, hotels and a huge, pink building, the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, a ‘super |
specialty hospital’ designed by English architect Dr Keith Critchlow, close to the Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium, inaugurated in November 2006 by then President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, who also happens to be a well-regarded nuclear scientist.
This is Puttaparthi, a small town in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh spread over approximately ten square kilometres. The names of almost all hotels and shops start with ‘Sai.’ Pictures of Sathya Sai Baba are everywhere—on all shop hoardings, on the backs of auto-rickshaws, in lifts and telephone booths and even inside the Puttaparthi police station and the post office. The pictures also carry prominent Sai Baba-isms: ‘Help Ever, Hurt Never,’ ‘Love is God, Live in Love,’ ‘Unity, Purity and Divinity,’ ‘Love All, Serve All,’ and so on. With his benevolent teachings, his emphasis on communal harmony, and his numerous social work projects, Sai Baba seems like Puttaparthi’s own deity.
Everything in the village appears in line with Sai Baba’s worldview. There are many massage parlours—Sai Baba himself claims to be a “masseur healer.” Given his aversion to alcohol and tobacco, cigarettes and liquor are sold only secretly. But you can find several paan shops—Sai Baba is a paan (betel leaf and nut) eater, as his stained teeth also suggest. Almost all restaurants are vegetarian, mirroring Sai Baba’s philosophy that “meat eating fosters animal qualities in man making him descend to the demoniac level.” Puttaparthi often seems like Sai Baba’s personal kingdom.
| © VISHAL ARORA |
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An archway in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh. Much of the commerce in town caters to pilgrims to Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram. |
Coming here to meet and follow one of the world’s most influential living gurus—although it didn’t involve an undercover investigation—turned out to be one of my most taxing assignments. I was advised by many former devotees, and explicitly warned by his current disciples, not to write critically about the spiritual leader whose followers include the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the founder of the Hard Rock Café and legions of the Indian social elite.
At Hotel Sai Renaissance, where I stayed, the staff dutifully advised me what wasn’t permitted at the ashram. “Please deposit your camera and phone, and also the pen I can see in your pocket,” said the middle-aged man in a stern voice, as if he was part of Sai Baba’s security team.
Just to make sure I got the message, the notice board at the entrance of Sai Baba’s ashram, the Sai Kulwant Hall, warned that phones, tape recorders and cameras were not allowed. Not even a pen. Thankfully, I was carrying none.
Sathya Sai Baba, which roughly translates as the ‘real Sai Baba,’ claims to have been born Sathyanarayan Raju on 23 November 1926, though proof of his actual birth date is hard to come by. In October 1940, he claimed that he was an incarnation of the Sai Baba of Shirdi, a guru from Maharashtra who lived until 1918 and was revered by Hindus and Muslims. These days, he claims to be the creator of the universe, Krishna, Christ, Jehovah and Allah, all in one.
I wanted to find out why and how Sai Baba’s millions of followers, mainly Hindus, Christians and Buddhists, believe in his divinity even decades after numerous former devotees went public with accusations of sexual abuse of boys and male adults, massive cover-ups and even murder. These allegations have made Sathya Sai Baba a regular on numerous cult watch websites like rickross.com and factnet.org, where former members tell surprisingly similar stories. In the face of such overwhelming evidence of malfeasance, how does faith among the denizens of Sai Baba’s Puttaparthi fiefdom remain so strong?
| A |
T SAIBABA'S ASHRAM, I witnessed the susceptibility of faith from close quarters. Faith, they say, is seeing what is unseen, but here it apparently meant unseeing what is clearly seen.
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At the Sai Kulwant Hall, over 10,000 people—men, women and children, locals and foreigners—were singing bhajans in Telugu, praising Hindu gods, mainly Shiva, Rama and Ganesha, and occasionally Sathya Sai Baba. Clad in a saffron robe, Sai Baba was sitting on a red padded wheelchair, referred to as his throne by his devotees. His signature afro framed his head. Two young men stood on either side of his ‘throne,’ which was placed between two four-foot tall golden lions on the slightly elevated stage. The roof above, painted in deep green with gold motifs and illuminated with crystal chandeliers, enhanced the grandeur of the daily darshan ceremony. Women were seated to his left, men to his right, on the black and white marble floor. Many in both wings prostrated themselves towards Sai Baba.
The frail-looking Sai Baba was quiet, with no expression on his wrinkled face. Occasionally, he patted his thigh to the beat of the bhajans. Carrying a white handkerchief in his left hand, he often wiped his mouth and nose, his right hand moving rarely, as if partially paralysed. His two volunteers would often kneel down to whisper in his ears or listen to him, as if receiving divine instructions. After a few bhajans, his volunteers rang a five-foot golden bell. It was time to offer the concluding hymn to Sai Baba, called the Mangal arati, a Telugu version of Om Jai Jagadish Hare, a Hindu devotional song from the 1870s.
As the arati ended, Sai Baba’s throne was wheeled towards his car, an imported silver Toyota Porte MPV parked adjacent to the stage. It bore the registration number AP 02 N 9000. The front door of the car slid open, making room for the wheelchair. As the volunteers escorted him to his car—to ferry him to his residence, barely 50 metres from the hall—an elderly man came to the stage to make an “important announcement.” “There will be a public meeting tomorrow evening to celebrate the anniversary of Bhagwan’s [God’s] mother [commemorated as Easwaramma Day].” He then proudly revealed that the President of India would also come to “seek Bhagwan’s blessings.” The devotees applauded but dispersed minutes after Sai Baba’s departure—no one else matters in Puttaparthi but the 84- year-old Swami.
After darshan, I went to the Sai Towers Restaurant for supper. I was offered the only table with a vacant chair. A couple from Hong Kong, Allan and Linda Yeoh, Catholics by birth but Sai Baba’s devotees for 15 years, were in the middle of their meal. After pleasantries, the couple began to minister to me. “Swami came into our lives in 1995,” said the fair, well-dressed Allan. His wife Linda, a fashionable woman, showed me her necklace and said it was materialised by Sai Baba—with a wave of his hand, Sai Baba miraculously creates items such as watches, rings, necklaces and vibhuti (holy ash) and gifts them to his devotees.
Allan, a barrister, tells me he currently sits on the boards of several businesses in Hong Kong. Both he and Linda became devotees after reading a book on Sai Baba, The Embodiment of Love. Linda said she was “overwhelmed with love,” something that she had “always craved for.” “It was not something psychic, which is too limited a word to describe my feelings,” she said. “Baba is not just any other human being; he is Bhagwan.” Allan is among very few people who appear on stage with Sai Baba and have been asked to share their views during a darshan gathering.
Allan then told of his friend in Hong Kong, whom he identified as Phillip, also a Catholic. Telling stories of Sai Baba’s miracles to newer devotees is routine in Puttaparthi, and is encouraged by senior devotees for the expansion of Sai Baba’s ‘kingdom.’ So Phillip wanted to see God, continued Allan. When he was a child, his Catholic schoolteacher hit him on his knuckles until they bled as punishment for refusing to believe in God until he saw him. Years later, when he was in Puttaparthi for darshan, Sai Baba came to him, touched his knuckles and asked, “Does it still hurt?” When Phillip looked at Sai Baba, he asked him if he was happy to see God (Sai Baba). “Phillip cried, recalling the day at school when he was hit on his knuckles.”
Broaching Puttaparthi’s most taboo topic, I reminded Allan, “Sai Baba has been accused of sexually molesting children and faking miracles.” Though a little uncomfortable, Allan seemed sensible enough to at least attempt to answer my questions. He said he saw vibhuti coming from Sai Baba’s palm and “it was not an illusion. These allegations [of sexual abuse] are not a big deal.” | | | |
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Readers' Comments |
Total Comments
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Nathan
25 April 2012
05:20 PM
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I am Wondering that Indian Peoples are the Worst Foolish Peoples In the World. They Belive anything in the Name Of God. Thus Advantages For Bastards Like Puttapathi Sai, Nithyananda etc.... My Foolish Indian Friends We Are Educated, We Should Not Belive These F***ing S**ts. See I Belive God There Was A Power Controls Beyond Human Beings. Just Remember My Friends Please, Once Who See God Or He/She Got the Blessing From the God Will Don't Likes Whatever Human Loves Eg: Sex, Money, luxury life Etc..... But Here Its Opposite. Do u Peoples Know The Bank balance and Properties Of Mr.Puttapathi Sai? Sitting in a Golden Throne And Cheating Peoples. Shall I tell Who Got the True Blessing Of the God, Who Saw the God Ramanar, Shridi Sai Baba, Vallalar Those Peoples Are Real Mahan's. They Lived A Very Normal life, Tok Normal Food Not Lived In the Shadow of Royal And Rich.
Kindly My Friends Please Dont Pray Humans, Please Pray God In Temples, Church And Mosque. Puttapathi is not a god he is magician black magician, Even David Blane And Chris Angels Can Do More than Puutapathi and nithyanandha Do'S
''BELIVE GOD BUT DONT BELIVE THE HUMAN BEING WHO SAYS I AM A GOD"
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Ajay Singh
8 July 2011
03:27 PM
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I wonder howmany people speaking out against Sathya Sai Baba have even visited His ashram and seen Him even once! How foolish it is to sit on the sidelines and criticize. First experience, then share your experience.
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mhp sarma
22 June 2011
02:52 PM
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Dear friends,
thanks for the news and all, let not forget that AS A HUMAN BEING HOW MUCH OF OUR TIME, WORTH and MONEY we are spending for the sake of our fellow human being. let first think about him as a great human being who served the mankind and promoted humanity.
scandals and doubts - are normal for every one he is also not exception. but LET US TAKE GOOD and GROW GOOD and GO GOOD in our life. stop blaming.
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Lydia
14 May 2011
01:14 PM
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Great article Vishal... The sad part is people are so mesmerised to sort the differenced between Good and Evil .
I remember an incident during my school days, the girl in my next class(Grade 8) was affected with cancer and her entire family believed blindly that the so called God Man will cure her sickness and waited in Puttaparthi for almost a week for his Darshan. He did not give his most value darshan, the girl’s condition worsened and in a week she died.
Unable to suffer this loss, the entire family including her aunt and Uncle ‘s family (I do not have the exact count) committed suicide.they killed the little Kids in the family too. I still do not understand why the entire family died even if the Girl was inseparable part of the family.The only one who survived was the girl’s uncle.
Whenever I here news about this person called Sai baba – It still leaves me hard feelings that he killed an entire family just cheating everyone that he could cure Cancer. I do not know how many people have died like this expecting a healing from a person who cannot heal.
And I think the Sai Trust would be devising wicked plans to bring up the movie - the Next incarnation and fool people again..
@ nobeatingroundthebush and @ MEHER BABA : Do u both have some Human thing atleast inside you. Just because somebody has an institute and does some good with the funds flooding does not mean he can commit serious crimes and still be free outside. If it had been any other person , you guys woould not have forgiven . Just because you ppl are so stupid to realize the truth , you can accep him with all the unpardonable acts of his. Not necessary that e very one should accept a Man with offensive acts and Cheap tricks to be God.
@ JAY NAIDU: You asked for other Charges against your so called God man and I have illustrated one above.
@ dr hemant sant : You have no right to talk about others faith which is blameless and which has enough proof and when you are so stupid to trust soemone who has molested Kids and ruined thier innocence and Lives. And I don not think any one forced you to watch Kate Williams Wedding
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Rashmi Sharma
2 May 2011
07:11 PM
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This is good work Vishal.
I come from a family which prides itself on being staunch "Sai Devotees". From the day I way born, I was told that Baba is God, and for many years I beleved it. I sang Bhajans, went for Nagar Sankirtans, went for Bal Vikas classes, and joined in the activities of the local Sai Samiti.
In 2002, I went to Whitefield for my first real Darshan. I didnt see anything spectacular, but enough to know the difference between truth and farce.
I no longer have any faith in Baba. But I realize that among devotees, to doubt Baba is to commit the greatest of sins. Their faith gives him protection. And now that he is gone, the truth may have gone with him.
Your article may not make people renounce their faith, but as long as it plants the seed of doubt even in one devotee's mind, I guess you task will be done.
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nobeatingroundthebush
1 May 2011
10:41 AM
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Ok you exposed him. So now what? Are you happy?
So are those who recieved the benefits of his unparalled social work
So are those whose minds and souls were healed by reposing immense faith in him. Don't you see him as a psychiatrist and psychologist to all these people.
Ok he enjoyed sexual pleasure. So? How did it make your life worse?
Ok he did magician tricks. So? How did it make your life worse?
Understandably, Vishal got to make his livelihood, some fame, by means of this article. So thank him Vishal and move on. :)
Maybe some people lincluding governers politicians sportsmen and commoners are gullible. Is it any of your business?
Live and let live and enjoy what you have. Dont be so envious.
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Puninder
30 April 2011
04:28 PM
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Excellent work Vishal.
I have some interest in religious studies and have had the priveledge of studying the greatest scriptures available on this earth. Like Bible, Geeta, Guru Granth Sahib, Koran, some vedas & shastras as well.
One truth, which can be extratcted from these scriptures, people should realise is that a true messenger or a true divine does not need to propagandise his teachings.
So people who fall prey to such baba's and so called holy saints, should read the great scriptures available on this earth to understand how these scriptures never propagandise the gurus, messengers, divine lights. etc.
Guru Granth Sahib says that there are three kinds of religious messengers on this earth:
1) Who have experienced the divine on this earth and are able to spread the message across. They are pure and believe in supreme and are not biased.
Examples: Guru Nanak, Krishan, Ram, Buddha, Mahavira, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ. Shiva, etc. (basically all avatars) also holy sufi saints like Hafiz, Bulley Shah, Kabir, etc.
Note: none of them ever claimed to be god. Even they themselves performed samadhis and offered prayers to God/the Almighty.
2) Who have experienced the divine on this earth but could not say anything much about them. Even they are considered pure and believed in supreme and are were not biased.
Examples: Swami Ramkrishna Paramhansa.
Note: His teachings were spreaded by Swami Vivekanand.
3) Who have NOT experienced the divine on this earth BUT are SELLING messages, claiming themselves to be spiritual gurus, saints and GOD. Guru Granth Sahib calls these people TRADERS OF SPIRITUALISM/RELIGION.
Examples: Sathya Sai Baba, Nirankaris, etc. ( I don’t need to say more, examples are pervasive).
So friends please read teachings/scriptures/biographies of these great souls, and you will find that they never mentioned anything about themselves or narrated anything about themselves or to some extent they mentioned of themselves as NONE or MINISCULE (I am not able to find better words), because they got lost so much in the bliss of divine and merged themselves as one with him but luckily enough they worked across to spread the message to enlighten people like us.
Clearly, when such great souls mentioned in human history did not call themselves a GOD, instead offered prayers by themselves to GOD, then how can a human being called Sathya Sai Baba claims to be a GOD himself?
It is like after Sathya Sai Baba’s death we may have to live without GOD, or before his birth world was without a GOD.
Know thy GOD!
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Anonymous
30 April 2011
02:42 PM
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You have identified the truth, but then how do you nail it? People like Sai Baba are able to manipulate people to create wealth and then abuse this wealth to manipulate the system. It is a self serving circle that is completed with the aid of many powerful people who realise the truth, but abet it instead as they need the show to go on. It is a world run by Money and Fame.
It is a pity that the hundreds, possibly thousands of young men and women sexually abused by the so called mystic, guru, god will never be able to find justice. That all of this has happened in this era is a shame to our society.
There is a significant body of evidence that explains how Sai Baba produces things through petty magician's starter tricks and how he has repeatedly abused young boys, men and women. It is a pity that all of this body of evidence will add up to little.
It is time we demand the highest propriety and transparency from institutions such as these instead of bow and fall flat in the expectation of salvation.
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MEHER BABA
30 April 2011
10:18 AM
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Love & Selfless Service should be the motto. Whether Sai Baba is GOD or not God is irrelevant. What is important is being a PERFECT STUDENT rather than judging somebody through media reports. Sai Baba is not forcing you to be his devotee. He is just a plain medium just like Christ, Krishna, Rama etc who are called AVATARS, the first human being to become self realised. All human beings have divinity latent in them and its the job of the AVATAR or Perfect Master like SHIRDI SAI BABA to show us the way. Our EGO which has developed through multiple incarnations carries a lot of SANSKARAS and that determines our attitude towards life & GOD-MEN. So GET A LIFE brother, and stop judging people. Let's all MIND OUR OWN BUSINESS of following the TEN COMMANDMENTS. You don't need GOD for it, you just need a SPIRITUAL MENTOR just like in Real Life for our Material needs.
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Shudh Sai
30 April 2011
10:13 AM
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Sathya Sai Baba does not roughly translate in to 'real' but 'Truth'.
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dr hemant sant
30 April 2011
07:33 AM
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Man needs God and Guru to be able to say Sorry..Please...and Thank You for events that he thinks he she has no controll over..Ramdas Shankara all said God is in goodness in you..your behavior actions..Chidananda rupah shivo ham..Christians have got all humane values right except Your concept of God his son and ''ghosts'' all medievial still clinging to old books..The marriage vows and speech we billions heard at kate William wedding showed Universal values of living and marriage that Christianity shares with us all..esp vedic truth which supposes No God No Guru..path showers..direction givers cannot become destination..Sad GURU is he she who simplifies the complicated..We all human beings will one day find this One in whole and whole in each One Vedic truth..till then avoid bitterness..Faith moves mountains..albiet in wrong directions in some..allow..medium is not important the destination is all paths lead to thee..without pure gyna truth diretion your Boat will never each the Proper port of universal one ness..
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JAY NAIDU
30 April 2011
01:45 AM
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very well written. what i like is the balancing part, but still you could have added the work he did for the destitute and many others. He was not god. he was a human like us, but i guess accusations need evidences to be proven. Like the murder charges, devotees turning hostile and being child molester may be true and also it may be true that the government there has played down these issues. but a counter argument can be that other people who stash money in the name of god are the ones who conspired and planted these stories, so the money being donated to the baba comes to them. THE ARGUMENTS WILL NEVER END. But what cannot be argued is the fact that he helped many children getting educated. Many ill were cured in the free hospitals. the donations went back to small villages giving them electricity and water supply. he worked better than our government in short span. Itna karne ke baad saamne se mango to people would kill themselves, children who would have lived on streets and become criminals in future would have said molest me but educate me free so that i can change my future. AUR KYA CHARGES HAI BATAU TO ???
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Winx
30 April 2011
01:32 AM
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Anyways thank god! the god died. when is he coming back? After 100 years this time? Cant see one more pervert like this getting worshiped anymore
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J. Panicker
30 April 2011
01:00 AM
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Nice Article..
How can you identify whether the so called ‘miracle’ (if they are not black magic) that you see comes from God or Evil (personified by Satan)?
God has given free will to humans. So human beings can choose to follow Him or the Evil. The humans, in the pursuit of God, may be cheated into believing the Evil for God unless they know the real attributes of God and the real attributes of Evil. Understand that Evil also has the same agenda as GOD: to gather the human souls to themselves.
One should remember that Satan and his dominions (devils and demons) are second only to God in power. Evil domain wields significant power in this material world. Evil also possess power to sway the human soul ultimately to cheat them and to make them feel empty.
First and the foremost attribute of GOD is that He is Holy. Evil is unholy. This is the one significant difference. When you see miracles, but not holy life behind the miracles, then those miracles are not from God.
One thing I notice in this article is that a teaching of Jesus was taken out of context by Dr Naresh K Bhatia. Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust, you have already committed adultery. He was saying that you should not only commit adultery with your body, but also not with your mind and thoughts. This is the holiness that God expects of human beings (and Jesus came to impart this holiness and righteousness to humans through his sacrifice...)
From the article, I do not see any trace of divine holiness in the main character portrayed by Vishal in this article. He is just another human being who pursued his ego and manipulated the BITE (behaviour, information, thoughts, and emotions) of his innocent followers to achieve personal fame and wealth, but he should be given credit for managing his money well to help some of the poorest of poor in India.
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SVLN Nageswara Rao
29 April 2011
04:33 PM
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People are harping on his social services. Social Services and Hospitals - a cover up action when accusations mounted on him. Money spent is may be less than 1 % of his donation box collections. Services at hospitals were offered by gullible doctor fraternity. He helped Bachchans or Sachins so that he could stay in lime light. Majority of his contributors are highly corrupt government officials and black-money holders.
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