Quotes of Sathya Sai on subtle body & what happens after death show Madhusudan Naidu's subtle body claim is FALSE; Muddenahalli senior faculty should dispute it or stop supporting Madhusudan

Last updated on 23rd April 2020

23rd April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so.

A) Sookshma/Sukshma sharira (body) quotes of Sathya Sai

A1)  The Primal Cause, Discourse at Prashaanthi Nilayam, on 22-3-1985, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume18/sss18-09.pdf. Given below is a large extract of the discourse:

The Truth that the scriptures teach is, that God is everywhere, near and far, above and below, inside and outside. God is One, indivisible, omnipresent.

In order to awaken to this truth, one has to attain higher levels of wakefulness. Indeed, there are four such levels. The first is, the apparently wakeful attentiveness with which we move about and busy ourselves everyday. We are very much like others, alert and aware, when thus awake.

But, Vedanta reveals four categories of wakefulness: the fully awake, the wakefulness of mind only--as while dreaming, the wakefulness of the self alone--as in deep sleep, and the illumination of the self awakening into the Over-self These are named Sthoola Sookshma, Kaarana and Mahakaarana (The Gross, the Subtle, the Causal and the Super-cause).

The gross body that is activated in the waking stage is the composite of many items--the five senses of perception, the five senses of action, the five inner instruments, the five elements in creation, the five vital airs and the self--26 in all. This is the Jagrath stage, wakefulness. The subtle body that dreams has only five vital airs, the five senses of perception, and five fundamental elements--fifteen items in all as the Sookshma (the subtle), the Yaathana vehicle which according to Vedanta, undergoes the consequences of good deeds and bad.

Kaarana (Causal) body is the third. It possesses only one nature, namely, Prajna (consciousness), pure and unmixed with the subjective and objective worlds. Since the Sthoola (gross) body is fully invoked with the objective world, the Viswa it is called Viswa; the sookshma body or the dream body is illumined by the mind and the Tejas (inner light and so it is called Tejas; the body in the deep sleep stage, when it is latent in the cause, subsumed in the Consciousness, is called Prajna. The truth, namely, Brahman, eludes all these three bodies. They are all invoked in bhrama (illusion), not in Brahman , the Absolute. What appears true in the dream is falsified when one awakes; what one experiences while awake is distorted and devalued in dreams; sleep wipes out of memory both the dream-world and the wakefulness-world. The awareness that survives these three passing stages is the Maha Kaarana, the Super conscious.

The Super or Supreme Consciousness is the Thought that became all this--the Hiranyagarbha the Golden Womb, the primal urge, the first concretisation, Easwara. When Being "thought," it became the Many, or rather, it put on the appearance of Many. The Maha Kaarana, is beyond Consciousness; the Sthoola, Sookshma and the Kaarana bodies into which it proliferated are beneath Consciousness. The former is true knowledge (eruka in Telugu). The latter is illusory experience (marupu in Telugu). God is the Lord of eruka, the Jivi is the slave of marupu (forgetting).

The Maha Kaarana the Cosmic Consciousness, is often denoted as "Param" (beyond), in Vedanta; since the concept is obviously contentless, it does not arise and fade; nor does it originate and disappear. It has no name and form, for it cannot be defined or limited or identified as separate. It is understood as Brah-man--the unmoving, immovable Totality (Poorna), the Eternal, the True, the Pure, the Attributeless. Just as the unmoving road enables the car to move along it, the Brahma principle is the basis for the existence and activities of Jivi.

In fact, there is only One. The One appears to the split vision as two. Look outward! It is Jivi Look inward, it is God. The outer vision makes you forget; the inner makes you remember. When man seeks to rise to the divinity which is his reality, he is remembering, struggling to know and experience. When he grovels in the lower levels of consciousness and is entangled in disease, he is caught in the coils of forgetfulness. Removing selfish desires and expanding one's urge to love and serve are the most effective means to succeed in merging with Supreme Consciousness, the Primal Cause, the Cosmic Thought, the Maha Kaarana.
--- end Bhagavan discourse extracts ---

A2) Discourse at the Poornachandra Auditorium, on 7- 7-1990, Gurupoornima day, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume23/sss23-25.pdf. Extracts from it are given below:

The body is the abode of pleasure and pain. It has three forms: Sthoola (gross), Sookshma (subtle) and Kaarana (causal). The gross physical body is Annamaya (permeated by food). It is inert. It is comparable to an instrument. What we see is only the physical body. Believing that this is real and permanent, man tends to forget the all-pervading and eternal Atmic principle.

The five pranas (vital breaths), the mind, the intellect and the ten sense organs (of perception and action) constitute the sookshma-sarira (subtle body). It functions in the dream state. In this state, the individual is oriented inwards. In it, man creates for himself a new world. The dream is itself the proof of its reality. It is self-constituted with no external relations. In the dream state, everything is created by the mind--forms, sounds and taste, which are experienced without any physical basis for them. This entire experience is limited to the individual concerned. If, for instance, ten persons are sleeping in one room, each person's dream is unique to himself. Each one's actions in the dream are unique to himself.

There is no relationship between the dream and the waking state. One individual has a dream in which his friend harasses him in many ways. If after waking up in the morning he accosts his friend and asks the latter why he harassed him, the friend replies: “You madcap! I have not seen you at all!" This means that the friend in the dream and the troubles he gave are all self-created by the dreamer. All other dream experiences are also self-created. Hence, all the experiences in dreams are confined to the individual concerned and have no connection with others in the real world. The joys and sorrows experienced in the dream are the stuff of the dream state. It is in the dream state that one goes through the consequences of good and bad actions in previous lives. This means that the experiences are related to the sookshma sarira (subtle body). In this, the mind is the most important factor. It is the mind that creates everything.

Although the mind is one, according to the different functions performed by it, different names are given to it. When it is engaged in the thought process, it is called Manas. When it is engaged in discriminating between what is permanent and what is transient, it is called Buddhi (intelligence). In its role as a reservoir of memory, it is called Chitta. When the mind identifies itself with the body, it is called Ahamkara (ego). The four names are related to the mind and their combined aspect constitutes Antahkarana (the inner instrument). Thus, both the waking and dream states are creations of the mind.
...
The Atma, however, is covered in the human being by five sheaths: Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya Kosas (sheaths). As a result, the Atma is not easily cognisable. The physical body is the Annamaya kosa (the sheath of food). The sheaths of Pranamaya (life-force), Manomaya (the mental sheath) and the Vijnanamaya (imbued with intelligence) form the sookshma sarira (subtle body). The Anandamaya kosa is the Kaarna sarira (causal or seed body). Although it has the name Anandamaya (blissful), it is not real bliss. It is the blissful state of the Atma that is reflected as an image in the sheath of Bliss (the causal). The mind is like the moon, which is not self-luminous. The Atma alone is self-effulgent. It is this light which illumines the body, mind, the Buddhi and the senses and invests them with consciousness.

--- end Bhagavan discourse extracts ---

Ravi: Conclusion we can draw from A) Sookshma/Sukshma sharira (body) quotes: From the above we see that Bhagavan refers to sookshma sharira (subtle body) as the dream-state body that we experience when we are in a dream. There is no reference whatsoever to an after-death sookshma sharira (subtle body).

B) What happens after death quotes of Sathya Sai

B1) 25 August 1999, Prasanthi Nilayam, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume32/sss32p2-03.pdf

Before driving a car, one should know where the brake, clutch, accelerator, etc. are located and how to operate them properly. Our body is a car, the mind is the steering, eyes are the headlights, heart is the engine, stomach is the petrol tank, and the four objectives of human life, namely, dharma, artha, kama, moksha, are the four wheels. The tyres, which are outside, are under control of the steering, which is inside. Likewise, mind is the steering that controls the direction of the journey of human life. So, one should make every effort to understand the nature of the mind. Mind exists even after death. Purity of man depends upon the purity of his mind. If the mind is polluted, it pollutes all his life.

--- end Bhagavan discourse extract ---

B2) Discourse on the evening of 20-5-1993 at the Sai Ramesh Hall, Brindhaavan, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume26/sss26-18.pdf

After death, where does the Aathma go? This is a question on many people's minds. What happens to the Aathma after the body is cast off and how long does it take to be re-born? These are ridiculous questions. This can be explained by an example. If you put on the switch, the bulb burns because of the electric energy flowing through it. When the bulb is removed, nothing happens to the energy which is still there, though bulb is gone. Similarly, the body comes and goes but the Aathma is eternal.

Embodiments of the Divine Aathma! You must get rid of all narrow ideas and attitudes. All worldly things are like passing clouds. There is only one that is permanent and changeless. That is Brahmathathva. It should be realised through the path of pure Love.
--- end Bhagavan discourse extract ---

B3) Discourse at the Summer Course in Brindavan, on 27-5-1991, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume24/sss24-13.pdf

No one can easily explain the secret of creation. There is a shadow which closely follows every object. Likewise the reactions of each action of man closely follow the Prana. When the Prana (life-breath) leaves one body and enters another, the results of one's actions follow the Prana to the other body. The Prana enters another appropriate body in accordance with the results of the actions in the previous body. Hence, one can reach a worthy state in life by doing good deeds and cherishing good feelings. "As you sow, so will you reap." You cannot get a mango fruit by planting a lemon seed.

Man may fancy that he is capable of achieving anything. But his achievements are solely related to the nature of his actions. The Creator sends each one at birth with a garland made of the results of his good and bad deeds in his previous birth. The scriptures exhort men to adhere to good thoughts and good deeds as the only way of realising a good life. The fruits of your actions will be reaped only by you and none else.

You alone are responsible for your joys and sorrows. God is in no way responsible. He is only a witness. But if you pray to Him with all your heart and soul, the effects of all karmas will disappear like mist. Devotion will free man from the consequences of his deeds. If man devotes a small fraction of the enormous time he devotes to his wealth, family and position, to thoughts of God, he need have no fear about the Lord of Death. If one does not think of God even for a moment, how can he hope for peace of mind?

--- end Bhagavan discourse extract ---

B4) Sivarathri, 4-3-2000, Prasanthi Nilaya(m), http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume33/sss33-05.pdf

Both the present and the former Vice Chancellors of our Institute have prayed to Me (in their speeches earlier) that I should explain in detail the concept of Pancha Koshas (five sheaths of the Self). The pure Atma is enveloped by five sheaths; and due to its association with these sheaths, it acquires their traits. The physical body is referred to as the Annamaya Kosha (food sheath). The atma associated with gross body in its waking state is called ‘Viswa’ as it is endowed with jnanendriyas and karmendriyas (organs of perception and action). As this body is involved in various external activities, it is also known as Vyavaharika.

Thus, the Vedas have given various names to this sheath which comprises the sthula sareera (gross body). The Pranamaya Kosha (life sheath), Manomaya Kosha (mind sheath) and Vijnanamaya Kosha (wisdom sheath) form the sukshma sareera (subtle body) as they are not visible to the naked eye. Mind in its subtle form is all-pervasive. That is why it is said, Manomoolam Idam Jagat (mind is the basis for the entire world). Anandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath) refers to the karana sareera (causal body). One should go beyond all the five sheaths in order to experience bliss. This state is known as turiya, which is beyond sushupti (deep sleep state). This refers to the Mahakarana Swarupa (supreme casual aspect). This is Paramarthika (the ultimate spiritual principle). The bliss experienced in this state is true bliss. This bliss cannot be obtained through the senses, mind or intellect.
--- end Bhagavan discourse extract ---

Ravi: Conclusion we can draw from B) What happens after death quotes: Bhagavan says that after death Prana goes from the previous dead body to a new body. From the above quotes, we can also say that this Prana is accompanied or followed by the mind and "the results of one's actions" (Karmic consequences). Bhagavan DOES NOT USE THE TERM SOOKSHMA/SUKSHMA SHARIRA for this Prana + mind + Karmic consequences group that goes from the dead body to a new body.

Bhagavan gave a lot of importance to senior faculty who had dedicated their lives to his mission. [BTW I should clarify here that I was NOT one such person; I was just a free service faculty/teacher who was focused more on my own spiritual quest but also contributed something towards Bhagavan's mission. My free service contributions as teacher (and systems manager) in the Sai university are nowhere near the contributions of some of the senior faculty who served in Bhagavan's educational mission for decades and are now with Muddenahalli group.] Now those of these senior faculty who have got associated with Muddenahalli group have to behave responsibly. They supporting and endorsing Madhusudan Rao Naidu's claim of being a so called chosen communicator of a so called subtle body (Sukshma sharira) of Bhagavan, will surely contribute to many young students, as well as some other Sai devotees following in their footsteps, and accepting Madhusudan Rao Naidu's claim.

Therefore these senior faculty owe it to Bhagavan and owe it to the Sathya Sai fraternity to seriously consider whether their endorsement/support of Madhusudan Rao Naidu's outrageous communicator claim is Dharmic or Adharmic, is right or wrong.

Unless these senior faculty are able to provide quotations from (physical form) Bhagavan's discourses that dispute my conclusions above, we can rightly conclude that these senior faculty of Sai educational institutions who after spending many years (few decades I think) with physical form Bhagavan, and who now are associated with Muddenahalli group, are failing in their duty to both Bhagavan as well as the Sathya Sai fraternity. They are failing to use their discrimination power to study physical form Bhagavan's discourses to test whether Madhusudan Rao Naidu's claim can be considered to be true or false. And then it will have to be said that these senior faculty are ****ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTING**** to misguiding students under their care as well as other Sai devotees, with respect to Madhusudan Rao Naidu's so called chosen communicator claim. What sadder destiny can a teacher have than to spiritually misguide the students under his care!

Just stating that they are teaching the same spiritual values to Muddenahalli institution students that they were teaching earlier in other Sathya Sai educational institutions, cannot be used to wash away the misguidance they are doing by encouraging students to accept Madhusudan Rao Naidu's outrageous claim.

I am not saying that Bhagavan is NOT in Muddenahalli. Bhagavan is everywhere - in Puttaparthi and in Muddenahalli. They surely can do all their educational institution activities and Bhagavan worship without Madhusudan Rao Naidu's deluded drama, which will remove all the issues I have mentioned above. The problem is not Muddenahalli group's worship of Bhagavan and their service activities. The problem is Madhusudan Rao Naidu. He is MISGUIDING people including students USING THE HOLY NAME of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Whatever powers of mind-reading and predictions he may be getting from some ghost like thing he claims to be able to see and communicate with, come from some other supernatural power/ghost/spirit and NOT FROM Shiva-Shakti Swarupa, Kali Yuga Avatar, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba!
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In my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2039216449628255, associated with this blog post, I made the following comment(s):

In Terry Reis Kennedy's Facebook share, https://www.facebook.com/terry.reiskennedy/posts/10215249698014555, of this post of mine, I made the following comment:

Terry Reis Kennedy, feel free to use any part or whole of my posts in your letter to attorneys. And thanks for the kind words about me.

For me, it is a strange situation. You would know most of what I have written below but I think it is appropriate to mention it again. I had intensely prayed to Bhagavan in the period of Oct 2002 to mid Jan 2003 for a chance to serve Him and becoming a part of His ashram family so to speak. After testing me quite a bit, Bhagavan eventually accepted my letter at darshan and later, I was told, gave permission to the then vice-chancellor of Sai university, Shri S.V. Giri, to allow me to provide free services to Sai university as Honorary Staff/Honorary Faculty (which later became 'Regular' Visiting Faculty) from end Jan 2003 onwards.

That catapulted me into the Sai university teaching staff category which was a vital part of Bhagavan's educational mission. I made quite a few spiritual mistakes for which Bhagavan corrected me, sometimes sternly and sometimes in a very angry way. But Bhagavan gave me time to correct myself and showed happiness and approval when I corrected myself.

After Bhagavan's Mahasamadhi in April 2011, I felt that it is my bounden duty to Bhagavan to contribute my best, within the health and other challenges that I face, to the Sai university with which I had by then been associated for over 8 years (free service). But a period of Asathya-Adharma spiritual darkness descended on Sai university shortly after Bhagavan's Mahasamadhi. Narasimhamurthy had gained spiritual master control of Sai university with his FALSE CLAIM as the dream-instruction medium of Swami as not only the then vice-chancellor --Name1-snipped-- fell wholesale into this Narasimhamurthy trap, but also the other senior administrators of Sai university!

I vividly recall the gut-wrenching period I went through from Jul 2011 to March 2012 when I directly experienced some of this Asathya-Adharma madness in the top echelons of Sai university and was informed about similar experiences faced by some senior faculty who chose to be loyal to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's teachings wrt mediums and so refused to believe Narasimhamurthy. On some weird UGC (Indian university regulatory body) rules pretext or the other, the loyalists were either forced out or parted ways in disgust from the Sai university. I parted ways in March 2012 feeling terribly depressed about the pathetic state of affairs in Sai university top echelons then.

As matters became significantly worse after the public drama of Madhusudan Rao Naidu started trapping and deluding people worldwide from second half of 2014 onwards, I felt it was my bounden duty to my beloved and revered Gurudev Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, out of gratitude for all that he had given me including his spiritual guidance during the years I was with the Sai university (prior to Mahasamadhi), to expose Muddenahalli group FALSE CLAIMS. I simply had to do my duty to Bhagavan. My conscience would NOT allow me to be a silent witness to Madhusudan Rao Naidu and Narasimhamurthy publicly misguiding thousands of Sathya Sai devotees across the globe. Note that prior to May 2014 the Muddenahalli group fellows did their Asathya-Adharma medium/communicator work in secrecy and so I was not in a position to expose them. I would hear things here and there but that was not enough to know about their claims for sure, and publicly expose them.

Today in end 2017, I can say that I have played my role in exposing the Asathya-Adharma madness that had got Sai university top echelons in its grip, and also impacted the Sai Higher secondary school in Prasanthi NIlayam. I have also played my role in reversing the Asathya-Adharma spiritual darkness that had gripped top echelons of Sai university, and also some senior teachers (and juniors) in Sai school in Prasanthi Nilayam. As a bonus :-(, I have earned the enmity of some people of Muddenahalli group and been the target of Shakuni poison attacks including some threatening looks and gestures that I faced in Puttaparthi from people of Prasanthi Nilayam ashram who were supporters of Muddenahalli group (and perhaps had gained financially in terms of job designation and salary in ashram system, due to that support). But I have the great satisfaction of having walked the path of Sathya & Dharma in this extraordinarily testing period that we went through after Mahasamadhi. My conscience is at ease and I am sure that if I get an opportunity (in this body) to have darshan of Prema Sai Baba when Prema Sai Baba reveals Himself, I will be able to look Bhagavan (as Prema Sai Baba) in the eye and convey to him via my prayers and thoughts that I did my duty towards Him to the best of my knowledge and ability.

To conclude, for me, opposing Muddenahalli group FALSE CLAIMS and MISGUIDANCE of thousands of Sathya Sai devotees across the world using their Madhusudan Rao Naidu related communicator FALSE CLAIMS (and any Narasimhamurthy dream-medium FALSE CLAIMS) is my BOUNDEN DUTY towards Bhagavan. Even if hundreds of Muddenahalli group Fake Facebook Ids attack me on social media from Melbourne, Australia and other places in the world, or perhaps attempt to do something worse to me, I will NOT fail in doing my BOUNDEN DUTY to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, my beloved and revered Gurudev. Jai Sairam!
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[I thank sssbpt.info and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]