Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Last updated on 2nd Nov. 2015 At the outset, I would like to state that I presume that SaiBliss has confirmed that Sai university alumnus, bro. Ranganatha Raju, did write this OPEN LETTER to Shri Madhusudhan Naidu put up here: https://www.facebook.com/saimemories/posts/981178101928763:0 . [Update: I received confirmation from Sai Bliss as well as another alumni brother that the letter is from bro. Ranganatha Raju.] I congratulate Sai university alumnus bro. Ranganatha Raju for making these revelations about Shri Madhusudhan Rao Naidu. Now Muddenahalli group leaders/promoters who are from Sai university should give their response to this "OPEN LETTER TO MADHUSUDHAN NAIDU FROM HIS COLLEGE MATE", bro. Ranganatha Raju. That will allow us Sai devotees to view the matter in an unbiased way, as the letter revelations are essentially an eyewitness account without evidence backing them though there can be other eyewitnesses from the Sai university community who can corroborate b...

In response to my Facebook post asking Muddenahalli group leaders to give us more details about their Sathya Yuga, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1673812349502002 , bro. Ivan Escalona​ wrote a knowledgeable about Vedic (Hindu) scripture comment which I felt appropriate to share as a separate post (bro Ivan was OK with this post being put up). Ivan Escalona wrote: I think that definition of Satya Yuga is inaccurate. For one thing lets take that in Satya yuga (actually from what Ive seen, Swami always refered to it as krta yuga and not satya yuga) there are a lot of troubles from time to time, for instance you see that the first 4 of the dashavatara of Vishnu incarnated in this era, mind you, hiranyaksha and hiranya kashipur conquered the 3 worlds and put every good person to death, religion ceased, atheism was on the rise and he even tried to change the name of hari from the vedas to hiranyakashipur for instance. So we can see that krta yuga is not the paradise everyon...

My response to the article, Let's be altruists, http://www.asianage.com/mystic-mantra/let-s-be-altruists-260 , is given below. About altruism being inborn among humans - I am not sure about that. Yes, humans may be willing to help a fellow human in great trouble. However, in general, they will not go too far in terms of sacrificing their well-being for others. Especially in today's world. Therefore those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others get revered by many people as great persons or even saints (though a few selfish kind of people may consider them to be fools). A plea to the world to become altruists based on humanness may not get much response, IMHO. About what the article mentioned about Islamic scripture giving examples of God's love for his creation, is interesting. However, people are quite sceptical about such views today, to be frank. Many, especially among the well educated youth, don't pray earnestly to God. Or they make some small e...

I have given below my comments made on a Facebook post. My understanding of Hindu scriptural view on these matters and which I think Sai Baba too endorsed, is that DESIRE is the ROOT cause of man/woman being deluded that he/she is separated from eternal & unchanging Brahman/Awareness. Karma is of course said to be another big factor in life. However, if a person has become DESIRELESS and focused on Awareness, the Karma will be gone through without much impact on the person. They say that DESIRE is the main cause of even re-birth. The spirit-body/sukshma-sharira, after death of the earlier body, hankers after some things of the material world, and so is propelled to another birth, to satisfy that hankering. The spirit NEEDS A PHYSICAL BODY to fulfill its hankering! Now that is a key point of Hindu scripture, and that is why Hindus (and perhaps Buddhists & Jains) fear some spirits with bad desires (evil spirits) attempting to even enter into already living bodies (beside...

From http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume09/sss09-30.pdf , Prashaanthi Nilayam, 28-10-1969, Divine Discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba: YOUR task as swayam sevaks (self-servants) will be done, when you know full well the task for which you have earned this human frame, with all its potentialities and possibilities. It is to grow in love, expand that love, practise love, strengthen love and finally become Love and merge in the Illimitable Love, which is God. All your life, you must be Love, with Love, for Love. That is to say, love expressed through service to those that draw that love from you, and by drawing, help to increase it and deepen it. Spiritual discipline is designed to canalise that love, so that it may irrigate the heart, which will otherwise go dry. The volunteers privileged to work a% (at) the Prashaanthi Nilayam have to set the ideal for similar workers all over the world. For, here, service emanates from genuine understanding of the meaning and purpose of l...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuQbJst4Lk , 8 min. 35 secs., published April 2012. I had seen (and heard) this video-song a few years ago, when I was not on Facebook nor was I an active blogger. I had then shared it over email with a few friends & acquaintances. I recall that one USA correspondent (white gentleman, senior/elder) wrote me that he had liked it a lot and had forwarded it to many others. Here it is, for those who have not heard the song clip, and some of the words of Wintley Phipps prior to him singing it. At around 3:20 Wintley Phipps says, [John Newton is considered to be the writer of Amazing Grace song] But do you know what John Newton did before he became a Christian? He was the captain of a slave ship and many believe heard this melody that sounds very much like a West African sorrow chant, and wrote the words, "Amazing Grace", and set his words to a slave melody. [Applause]. I looked up that song - I believe God wanted that song written just...

Last updated on 20th December 2016 Thought I should share a comment I made on a Facebook post which had some views on Advaita Thought I would add my two bits here: I have heard Bhagavan say in public discourses LIVE in Sai Kulwant Hall, "Mano moolam idam Jagath" i.e. the mind is at the root (is the cause) of this world. Which implies that if one is able to die-mind then the illusive jagath (world) disappears, leaving behind the eternal Atma (self) alone. I have also heard Bhagavan in public discourses LIVE in Sai Kulwant Hall talk about "Tath Twam Asi" Mahavakya (great pithy statement) from the Upanishads - You are that. Implying that all of us (at our essential reality level) are God. But I found one discourse of his that I heard LIVE sitting in Sai Kulwant Hall, to be very, very useful in my own spiritual journey where he said "I am I". Maybe he had said that in discourses earlier too but I had not caught it properly. This time it went home ver...

Note: A former Sai university alumnus shared this article of his with me and was OK with me putting it up on this PUBLIC blog. [I have made some minor edits in this post which have been okayed by the author (Sai university alumnus).] This writing is not about those who run the "show", this is about those who attend it. This may be read as very rude, disrespectful or even stern by some, while some may feel it necessary. Nevertheless it is still a perspective, maybe, even a perspective only. When Swami was amongst us, festivals seemed to be the most beautiful in Puttaparthi. It seems to have changed now, isn't it? Was anyone in Parthi responsible for a decision that the Lord Himself decided to take? Was anyone in human form capable to decide for Him not to leave us and go? Was there not one devotee in the whole world whose prayers could hold Him from giving up His beautiful form? Well, if we were responsible, capable or devoted enough for any of it to happen where is t...

Last updated on 28th October 2015 Courtesy: Vandana Prabhu, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=913075912120634 [My Facebook share of it: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1673260339557203 ] The above pic has what seems to be a Krishna idol manifested by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on an evening/night on the Chitravathi sands. The Krishna idol seems to be placed on top of a lit electric torch (long one). Swami's eyes and face, IMHO, reflect delight coupled with wonder at his own creation. And the faces & eyes of Shri Kasturi and two of the young men seated to Swami's left (right in the photo) all of whom have a clear view of the idol, reflect that wonder too! What a great & blessed photo this is, as it has captured the wonder & delight of the Sathya Sai Avatar at his assumed human form's creation of an idol of a former human form (Krishna) of his! Thanks to both the photographer and the person who shared this photo on the Internet ...

This is an account of an ashram associated higher educational institution (a deemed university) in India that suffered significant loss of spiritual radiance/fire due to a combination of bodily passing away of the ashram founder and the influence of money. During the time the ashram founder was alive, he was personally involved in running of this deemed university (DU). Salaries were rather limited especially for youngsters, as compared to well paying universities elsewhere in India. In fact, some youngsters were being paid very poor salary. But there was no compulsion. Youngsters were willing to work on low salary due to the physical proximity chances they had with the ashram founder who was a very powerful mystic. It was considered to be great good fortune to get a chance to serve the ashram founder in his DU. Further, expenses in the ashram setup were also quite limited for those who were living in the ashram or DU hostel. This combination of simple & frugal lifestyle and d...

Note: I felt it appropriate to copy-paste this post contents from my miscellaneous blog post,  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2015/10/foundation-laying-ceremony-of-amaravati.html . I think the challenges faced by the Andhra Pradesh govt. after bifurcation of erstwhile unified Andhra Pradesh into Telangana (which got the jewel of Hyderabad in terms of revenue) and residual Andhra Pradesh (which has no big revenue generation city), are enormous and unparalleled in whatever I have seen or read about in my life in mainland India as an adult (or even as a boy) over the past four to five decades. That Hon'ble AP Chief Minister (CM) Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._Chandrababu_Naidu , and his team have courageously taken on this challenge and are doing everything they can to make it a great opportunity, is wonderful and inspiring. I pray to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to shower His Grace on these efforts of AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu and team, incl...