Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

I recently watched a video where a quite well known Conservative values speaker in the USA, Mr. Glenn Beck, was focusing on the phrase, "firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence" in the founding documents of the USA. The speaker also claimed that he places a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence for his business activities (radio talk show host, book writer and more). I found it quite interesting that USA founding documents had such content, and so decided to do some reading up on it. It is the USA Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776, that has this phrase as well as some very lofty phrases. This document seems to be main formal document with names & signatures where the leaders of the American revolutionaries wanting independence from their then ruler, Great Britain, openly and boldly proclaimed their independence and seem to have indicated their willingness to fight a war of independence with Great Britain to protect/achieve their i

Last updated on 29th Sept. 2016 A correspondent from a foreign country (not India) wrote the following to me over email (slightly edited; correspondent was OK with public sharing): --Name-snipped-- claims that Prashanti Nilayam is losing its glory. What does he base this on? When did he last come to Prashanti Nilayam? What facts did he observe that led him to this conclusion? I’ve been to Prashanti Nilayam more recently than --name-snipped-- and found the Divine Glory of the Avatar’s abode just as powerful as when Swami was physically present. Not only that, when our youth went for the World Youth Festival they came back filled with stories of Swami’s miracles which they experienced in Prashanti Nilayam, including having His darshan. Yet --name-snipped-- and his ‘friends’ and ‘sources’ in Puttaparthi see only human dramas and politicking. How sad for them. To be in the holiest place on earth and utterly waste that rare and Divinely granted opportunity. Swami said that the world

Firstly, I am NOT a supporter of Muddenahalli group. I publicly write that belief in so called communicator, Madhusudan Rao Naidu, is a FALSE BELIEF, and write against the SERIOUS DIVISIVE THREAT Muddenahalli group has become for Sathya Sai movement worldwide. However, I would like to keep a balanced and truthful stand, and so am putting up this post. Today I had a meeting and conversation with an elder who interacts with Shri B.N. Narasimhamurthy at Muddenahalli. Recently I saw a photograph (see attached pic) of somebody doing Sashtanga Namaskar to Shri B.N. Narasimhamurthy sir (BNNM) and was wondering whether BNNM had now acquired a Swami kind of stature among Muddenahalli group. I frankly asked this elder about it. The elder dismissed it and said that, in this matter, BNNM is like the warden (sir) that he was before Mahasamadhi and that he speaks to people with love and respect. In fact, the elder shared with me that in end 2012 he himself wanted to do Sashtanga Namaskar to

Last updated on 28th Sept. 2016 Given below is a comment I made on Mr. Ganti's Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/notes/vr-ganti/is-prashanthi-nilayam-losing-alebit-slowly-its-glory/10207607441408766 . I live in outside ashram Puttaparthi and am not associated with any Sai institution in Puttaparthi (or elsewhere) since March 2012. Prior to that I was offering free service in the Sai university from Jan. 2003 to Mar. 2012 with designations of Honorary Staff, Honorary Faculty and Visiting Faculty. Mr. Ganti writes, "I am told that the entire town of PUTTAPARTHI is gripped by FEAR and people are, just not only hesitant but are afraid to voice their views. When will PARTHI VASIYO (residents of Parthi) get freedom is the question I have." I am NOT gripped by FEAR!!! Mr. Ganti seems to live in some imaginary world of his when he uses such words. However, I do not typically publicly criticize Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust or Swami family members. This is how it

Given below is a comment (slightly edited) I made on Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/notes/vr-ganti/chethna-garu-did-she-realize-her-mistake-and-come-back-to-parthi-for-good/10207594525325872  [Swami refers to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba]: --Name-snipped--, Since you have tagged me in a comment, I am responding. Otherwise I would not have liked to respond to this matter. My stand on Muddenahalli group belief in so called communicator, Madhusudan Rao Naidu, that it is a FALSE BELIEF, is a public and clear stand. Further, my stand is that office bearers of official Sai orgn. should not associate with Muddenahalli group, and that is also the official Sai orgn. stand, I believe. I think it is up to the current All India President of Sai orgn., Shri Nimish Pandya, to PUBLICLY clarify what his stand is with respect to Smt. Chetana Raju, who is an important person from Swami's family and who has been an important figure in Prasanthi Nilayam functions associated with women&

A correspondent passed on this very interesting article from the leading science journal, Nature, titled, Religion and science can have a true dialogue, http://www.nature.com/news/religion-and-science-can-have-a-true-dialogue-1.20627 , dated 22nd Sept. 2016 A short extract from it: They [group of UK church leaders] were frustrated by the task of engaging seriously with science against the backdrop of a popular narrative of science–faith conflict that pervades contemporary culture. Too often, this simplistic claimed tension is used in the media, for instance, to pigeonhole ethical arguments from (even highly scientifically literate) religious figures as being relevant only to those ‘of faith’, rather than expressing a broader concern for human welfare. --- end short extract ---

How sensitive the topic of abortion is in the USA can be sensed from this article where a pastor advises his congregation to vote for the Republican party as its platform is against abortion: [Please note that this is a sensitive matter. Readers who prefer to avoid reading about such sensitive matters may please skip reading the remaining part of this post.] From the Heart of a Pastor: What I Am Telling My Congregation About the Election, http://www.charismanews.com/politics/opinion/59867-from-the-heart-of-a-pastor-what-i-am-telling-my-congregation-about-the-election , dated Sept. 13th 2016. Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections. ------------------------------------------------- Ravi: I find abortion to be a very complex topic from a spiritual point of view. I don't

Last updated on 25th Sept. 2016 [Update on 25th Sept. 2016: Initially when this post was put up on 22nd Sept. 2016 with the title, "Some more thoughts and responses about my current writing stand on Muddenahalli group belief", I had not got approval from the correspondent with whom I had this exchange to share her part of the exchange. So I presented my part of that conversation in this post without any reference to the mail conversation. Now the correspondent, an old friend of mine from my software industry days in Mumbai (she was not with the software development work but was with the finance section of the first software consultancy company that I worked in, from 1984 to 1990 in Mumbai), has given her approval to share her part of the conversation too. So I have included her part too (slightly edited) in this post. My portion of the exchange is slightly edited as well.] Note: The order below is slightly different from the mail exchange order which was not broken into

Last updated on 19th Sept. 2016 In the book, The Life and Teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi by Antonio Rigopoulos, Page 285 to 290, the author (Rigopoulos) covers Shirdi Sai Baba's adherance to faqr (poverty), sabr (patience) and tawakkul (trust/surrender), which the author says are three fundamental aspects of tariq(a), the classical spiritual path of Sufism. Some info. from wikipedia on these matters, before I get back to Rigopoulos' book From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariqa : A Tariqa (or tariqah; Arabic: طريقة‎‎ ṭarīqah) is the term for a school or order of Sufism, or especially for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking Haqīqah, which translates as "ultimate truth". A Tariqa has a Murshid (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. The members or followers of a tariqa are known as Murīdīn (singular Murīd), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God a

मां की ममता, मां का आशीर्वाद जीवन जीने की जड़ी-बूटी होता है। Mother's affection, mother's blessing, is the herb for living life. Text & Pic courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/photos/a.10150164299700165.421791.177526890164/10157555355780165/?type=3 Ravi: I put up the following comment on the above Facebook post: They say that God's love for his devotee is like the unconditional and ever present love of the mother towards her child. India, IMHO, is blessed to have a Prime Minister who reveres and values his mother's love and blessings. Today seems to be PM Narendra Modi's birthday. Happy birthday, Hon'ble Prime Minister sir! [I thank  www.facebook.com/narendramodi  and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above pic and text from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]

From http://www.saibabaofshirdi.net/satcharita/sai45.html , precious words of Shirdi Sai Baba: This story [Ravi: what is narrated before this extract] exhorts us to give respect to the words of other saints, but at the same time asks us to have full faith in our Mother, i.e., the Guru, and abide by His instructions: for he knows our welfare better than any other person. Carve out on your heart, the following words of Baba - "There are innumerable saints in this world, but 'Our father' (Guru) is the Father (Real Guru). Others might say many good things, but we should never forget our Guru's words. In short, love your Guru whole-heartedly, surrender to Him completely and prostrate yourselves before Him reverentially and then you will see that there is no sea of the mundane existence before you to cross, there is no darkness before the sun." From Narasimhaswami, Charters and Sayings (as reported by Antonio Rigopoulos in his book on Shirdi Sai Baba), Shirdi Sai Ba

Last updated on 17th Sept. 2016 To Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi AND Hon'ble Union Human Resource Development minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar Dear gentlemen, I am a devotee of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, and an Indian citizen. A recent reported statement of Hon'ble Union Minster for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri AnanthKumar, has resulted in me writing this open letter to you. In the article, "Sathya Sai Trust's initiative to educate poor worth emulating: Ananth Kumar" in the Deccan Herald, dated Sept. 5th 2016, http://www.deccanherald.com/content/568717/sathya-sai-trusts-initiative-educate.html , Shri Ananth Kumar's visit to an event held at Sathyasai Grama (Village), Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka, is covered. Shri Ananth Kumar's Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/Ananthkumar.official/posts/590788154440969 , has photographs related to the event which shows him sharing the d

1) About me not giving up and being willing to go to jail, willing to give up my life etc.. sounding like bravado like some suicide-bomber: I would like to point out that I am NOT threatening unilateral violence on anybody. I am simply stating that I am willing to go to jail for my writings (which is what some writers do) and even if there is a threat to my life (which there isn't as of now) like the apostle-martyrs of the Christian faith (St. Stephen, St. Peter etc.) I am willing to give up my life too. There is a HUGE difference of physical violence intent between a suicide bomber and a person willing to be a non-unilateral-violence religious martyr (I believe in self-defence against violence). 2) About me feeling righteous about myself: In the context of my views about Muddenahalli group belief, my view is that I am airing my genuine opinion of Muddenahalli group belief related to my beloved Guru, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. 3)About me fooling myself if I think I am on