The 'come and experience' Muddenahalli line of argument; Need for unconvinced devotees to write about their experiences

Last updated July 17th 2016

In a recent facebook exchange, https://www.facebook.com/saikeshav.personal/posts/966435720066471, as well as previous facebook exchanges I had with some Muddenahalli Swami subtle body & chosen communicator believers (MDH believers) I was quite repeatedly told to 'come and experience' claimed Swami subtle body (and communicator) in Muddenahalli. I gave my multiple reasons for not wanting to visit Muddenahalli.

But as I think about it, I think their argument is a good one. They have put out on the Internet good experiences of MDH believers. But I don't think there are many well publicized accounts of people who went to MDH but came back unconvinced. Now a few months ago I was told by one lady that she had gone to MDH and at 'Darshan' time there she prayed for a sign from Swami to confirm that He was there (i.e. confirm the claim of Swami subtle body being there) or something like that. She did not receive any such sign and so came back unconvinced. However, some of her friends seem to have got convinced and became regular visitors to MDH. BTW the lady told me that with physical form Swami at Darshan time, she would get a response to her prayer for a sign. So that is why she tried the same when she went to MDH.

I also know of a Sai university alumnus who met brother M, the chosen communicator with MDH (claimed) Swami subtle body, and was unconvinced about brother M's claims.

However, these accounts do not seem to be easily available on the Internet. I think, for the truth to be known about MDH (whether genuine or not), those devotees including Sai university students & teachers who went to MDH but were not convinced about claimed MDH Swami subtle body phenomenon, should share their accounts publicly. Of course, they should do so only if they genuinely went there but did not get convinced.

Now I am not against MDH but want the truth to be known about this very controversial and very divisive matter affecting UNITY in the Sai fraternity.

Maybe it is the destiny of some people to get associated with MDH and the destiny of others (like me) to not get associated with MDH. But, in any case, the more truthful and detailed data we have, in favour of MDH belief and against MDH belief, the easier it will become to ascertain the truth of the extraordinary and very controversial claim of Swami subtle body in Muddenahalli, which can be seen and interacted with only, with few rare exceptions, by a chosen communicator.

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On the Facebook page associated with this post there was the following comment exchange:

Pardha Saradhi Uppala wrote:

If you have 3 friends A, B and C, and trust all of them with all your heart, and you go to a wedding and B says, "I haven't seen A in the wedding" and C says, "I have seen A in the wedding.", what would you conclude? The conclusion has to be that both are right but B might have missed 'A' because of several reasons, but 'A' is there. In other words, if you trust/respect any of the people who believe in MDH, there is more chance that it is true. Just like Swami chose who could connect to Him in His physical Form, He might be doing the same now.

I wrote back:

@Pardha Saradhi Uppala: What you have said is certainly a possibility, though given what physical form Swami has said about intermediaries, I consider that possibility to be very, very low. I mean, Swami would have had to change his mind after Mahasamadhi on the matter, and on deep spiritual matters as well as on Dharma, my direct experience of Swami is that He would stick to 'His guns' i.e. be a Dharmadhikaari and lay down the law of Dharma in Kali Yuga context, whether His devotees liked it or not. And I admired Him then for it (even though I felt He was being just too strict then), and admire Him even more now as I have an improved understanding of Dharma. I simply cannot envisage Swami changing his approach after Mahasamadhi and opt to have a "chosen communicator". I just, just cannot digest it!

And I think I must say here that most long-time servitors of Swami with extensive interactions with Him at Puttaparthi (Prasathi Nilayam) like Chakravarthi sir, S.V. Giri sir, Anilkumar Kamaraju sir, G. Venkataraman sir (Radio Sai head and former VC of Sai university), as well as noted "form boy" servitors like brother Satyajit Salian would have a similar stand to mine about disbelief in "chosen communicator" and some have publicly said words to similar effect. The names I have mentioned are of people whom physical Swami would interact with very closely almost on a daily basis during at least the last decade of Swami's physical stay among us (I was in Parthi for most of this period and so speak from direct observation), and they (barring brother Satyajit Salian being a youngster) were entrusted heavy responsibilities of the Puttaparhti mission by physical form Swami. So their words regarding "chosen communicator" and Swami-dream-instructions for third-parties must be taken very, very seriously.

But then, to be fair, maybe my unwillingness to accept the "chosen communicator" is my mindset issue. I certainly do not have paranormal siddhis/powers to know from divine insight whether the "chosen communicator" is really seeing and interacting with real subtle body of Bhagavan based at Muddenahalli.

Perhaps the bottom line is the inner feeling/inner calling of devotees who go to MDH. One thing that I have understood well about spirituality is that it is a calling, quite literally. I mean, something within goes almost crazy when one hears about and goes to a spiritual master that is meant for one. The call/pull towards that particular spiritual master is irresistible. That's what happened to me with (physical from) Bhagavan. Maybe for some MDH believers it is similar. I certainly respect their faith and their calling.

Nevertheless, me putting up posts on my blog & on facebook about the concerns I have about MDH belief, are also required, IMHO. History is replete with instances of misguided spiritual masters who have damaged the lives of their flock. And so providing more accurate information on the very extraordinary and very controversial MDH claims will help in reducing damage if it eventually turns out to be a case of misguided belief.
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Readers may want to read my post, Why I don't have to go to Muddenahalli to conclude that the claim of so called subtle body & so called communicator is FALSE, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.in/2015/08/why-i-dont-have-to-go-to-muddenahalli.html, August 2015