Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Shri Stalin said, "Actually my father wanted to call me Ayyadurai. Because Periyar (social reformer and the leader of Dravidian movement) was called Ayya, and Durai was the name of C N Annadurai (former CM and founder of DMK). But on the day of my birth, Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi) was attending a condolence meeting for Russian Communist party leader Joseph Stalin. When a note was handed over to the stage informing him about the birth of a boy, he instantly announced that he is naming his child after the late Communist leader". Ref: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/give-tamil-names-to-your-children-dmk-chief-stalin/ . For those who do not know much about Shri Stalin (of Tamil Nadu), here's his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._K._Stalin . Shri M.K. Stalin's father, Shri M.Karunanidhi, is a leader of the Dravidian Self Respect movement and has been chief minister of Tamil Nadu five times for a total of around 19 years. His first CM stint sta...

Last updated on 29th Jan. 2018 Pawan Kalyan Addressing Public At Hanuman Circle | Pawan Craze in Puttaparthi | Mahaa News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cOLQadx_3k , 13 min. 52 secs, published on 28th Jan 2018. From around 10 min. 30 secs in this video, you can see Telugu movie star and Jana Sena political party founder, Shri Pawan Kalyan, holding up Bhagavan's photo and also paying obeisance to it. I have taken a couple of screenshot pics of that and attached it below. [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.] Shri Kalyan had words of great appreciation for Bhagavan and said that he was inspired by the service work promoted by Bhagavan in Puttaparthi which he would like to see being done elsewhere in Ananthapur district and in Andhra Pradesh. Saibliss Facebook post on this matter: https://www.facebook.com/saimemories/posts/1698008490245717 , give...

Today I saw this wonderful interview video: SOULJOURNS, SHAUN BROWN, SAI BABA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In_AjLKkWEw , slightly over 50 mins, interview was conducted in January 2005 [the youtube video was published in Jun 2012]. Above pic: Shaun Brown (from screenshot of video) [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.] I have interacted off and on with Shaun Brown from Australia on Facebook over the past two to three years. So this video was of particular interest to me. Overall I think the video expresses Shaun's experiences of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Swami) very well. Note that Shaun also seems to have played a role in spreading the word about Swami in Australia. I think most other viewers will agree with me when I say that the viewer feels that Shaun is speaking the truth without any exaggerations, about his journey with Sai Baba and his efforts ...

Brother Satish Naik (Facebook user Saibliss) put up a very notable post today: MUDDENAHALLI CHAMELEONS ON PROWL:- WATCH OUT FOR NEW COLOURS, https://www.facebook.com/notes/saibliss/muddenahalli-chameleons-on-prowl-watch-out-for-new-colours/1686514128061820/ . It is a superb post giving a short account of the FALSE BELIEF propagated by B.N. Narasimhamurthy, ex-warden of Sai university, and Madhusudan Rao Naidu, ex-student of Sai university by misusing the HOLY NAME of Kali Yuga Avatar, Shiva-Shakti Swarupa, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I have given below some extracts from the post : [Above pic shows Madhusudan Rao Naidu in an orange dress with B.N. Narasimhamurthy behind him in a white dress.] Cunning man [B.N. Narasimhamurthy referred to as BNM] he is, for this, he chose two most strong and important weapons; First is Swami Himself, His name and second His dear students. BNM is using Swami's name, Swami's pictures and Swami's students to destroy Sai mission. ...

Last updated on 16th Jan. 2018 The post contents below are based on some comments of mine in a recent conversation elsewhere. However, I have signficantly added to those comments, and deleted some parts of the comments. I have not read Capra's famous book, Tao of Physics. I am given to understand that Capra is quoted as saying in the book: "Thus, the Void of the Eastern mystics can easily be compared to the quantum field of subatomic physics. Like the quantum field, it gives birth to an infinite variety of forms which it sustains and, eventually, reabsorbs." This seems to be similar to some articles that appeared after Higgs (jointly with Englert) won the 2013 Nobel prize in Physics. Given below is my contrarian view from extracts from my blog post: Why I shy away from comparisons between Physics theories like Higgs field and deep spiritual philosophy like Vedanta?, https://iami1.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/why-i-shy-away-from-comparisons-between-physics-theories-l...

Given below are my comments (edited) from a recent conversation I had elsewhere which I thought may benefit readers who are interested in science as well as spirituality and faith in God. ---, have you heard about Dr. Francis Collins, who is one of the top scientists of the world who has publicly argued for faith and against the atheism and agnosticism of scientists like Richard Dawkins? If not, I can point you to a Caltech talk of his which I found to be superb in refuting Dawkins' arguments and in showing that one can be a scientist and have faith in God. --- Here is my blog post on it: https://iami1.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/francis-collins-the-language-of-god-a-scientist-presents-evidence-of-belief-transcript/ --- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba was the Avatar in physical form, explaining the mystery of creation and the spiritual laws like that of Karma and reincarnation. So we are extraordinarily blessed to have got clear wisdom from such a powerful source. But when it ...

This post follows up on a recent post: Interesting videos about East (one Indian spiritual tradition - Radhanath Swami) meeting West (one USA Christian tradition - Cornell West) organized by Princeton University group in April 2011, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/01/interesting-videos-about-east-one.html , 9th Jan. 2018. Here's the video: Radhanath Swami and Father Francis Clooney : Encountering God- Hindu and Christian Perspectives - Columbia university, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1FshvupA08 , around 1 hr. 50 mins., published on 12th May 2012. [The event seems to have been held in April 2012.] From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier_Clooney , "Francis Xavier Clooney SJ is an American Jesuit Roman Catholic priest and scholar in the teachings of Hinduism. He is currently a professor at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts." At around 43 mins 25 secs, Fr. Clooney says, "And I think when I went to Kathmandu in 1973, it was kind ...

The Indian tradition talked about is mainly the ISKCON Bhakti tradition which is expounded by Radhanath Swami. The Christian tradition is talked about by Dr. Cornell West. I have given the links to the two videos first, followed by introductory info. about the two main speakers. 1) Radhanath Swami and Dr. Cornel West - 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv0RFMQgh10 , around 50 mins. To skip the introduction start from 17:30. An extract from the description of the video: "Princeton scholar Dr. Cornel West and Radhanath Swami, a spiritual teacher, activist and author, in a discussion titled "East Meets West: A Dialogue Between Cornel West and Radhanath Swami". Tuesday, April 19, 2011 in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall." 2) Radhanath Swami and Dr. Cornel West - 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbXwtr3Cg8 , around 55 mins Ravi: I saw both the videos in full and recommend it for full viewing to those interested in such topics, who can make the time ...

Last updated on 22nd April 2020 22nd 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. Given below are the contents of my recent Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2055884684628098 : Shri V.R. Ganti is now my Facebook friend! I felt it appropriate to publicly share what I wrote to Vr Ganti sir on private Facebook chat a few minutes ago (slightly edited): Ganti sir, It has been a great privilege for me to work with you to expose Muddenahalli group using Sathya and Dharma. I have happily accepted your friend request. One important request from me sir: Please do not comment against SSSCT trustees and Prasanthi Nilayam on my posts. As that will land me in a big soup!!!! Please understand my delicate position in this matter. On anything else -  I will be honoured to have your comments on my posts. Please do not misunderstand. Puttaparthi is a tough place to live in, as one has...

Given below are the contents of Smt. Shubha Ramesh Kumar's public Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/shubha.kumar/videos/10159465154755538/ , dated 5th Jan. 2018. The post has a video of around 31 mins, which has some illustrative video content but whose main content is the audio which is stated to be that of a Radio Sai interview. --- Start text contents of Shubha Ramesh Kumar's public Facebook post --- Of confusion, regret, the return home and lessons for all... In part 3 of their Tryst with Divinity interview on Radio Sai, Bangalore based Mrs Gita Umesh & Mr SundarRao Umesh Rao long standing devotees of Bhagwan, speak of the turmoil they went through post Mahasamadhi of Bhagawan in 2011 and how they innocently believed the words of Madhusudhan Naidu when he approached them. This interview is particularly an eye opener for anyone who in their moments of vulnerability, wholeheartedly believed that the Muddenahalli group was truly carrying forward Bhagawan’s mes...

This post is copy-pasted from  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-new-york-times-publisher-job-moves.html . The New York Times has been one of the newspapers that I have greatly admired and been inspired by, for decades. I think from sometime in the 1990s I have been exposed to New York Times articles on a somewhat regular basis, either as articles reprinted in Indian newspapers or as articles that I read over the Internet. I loved the usage of English in it as it seemed to me to be quite easy to understand, without fancy verbiage being used to show off the vocabulary of the writer but putting general readers at a disadvantage, and without compromising on conveying the message to the readers. In India I had come across quite a few writers who tended to show off their vocabulary and used heavy and sometimes unnecessary linguistic ornamentation for their articles. The contrast that most New York Times articles had was refreshing and led me to try to adopt a similar app...