Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Given the context of my recent post: Billy Graham rule about Christian Protestant male preachers avoiding sexual scandal; My views in context of Hindu & Christian male spiritual aspirants/preachers, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/02/billy-graham-rule-and-my-views-about-it.html , I felt it appropriate to put up this post in this spiritual blog. Aaj phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai, Aaj Phir Marne Ka Irada hai - Oldie (1965) hit Hindi film song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpLyDTEw3Z4 , 3 min. 44 secs. The above lines mean: Today I have the desire to live again; Today I have the intention to die again The background is that the lady (Waheeda Rahman) is caught up in an unhappy marriage to an archaeologist, and is attracted to the Guide (shown in the clip, played by Dev Anand) who the archaeologist has hired for his archaeological trip. The Guide falls headlong in love with her. The rich archaeologist had laid her stopping her dancing (she was a dancing girl from a poor famil...

Note: Readers who prefer not to read about sensItive matters like sexual temptation may please skip reading (rest of) this post. Here are some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham_rule : The Billy Graham rule or the Mike Pence rule is a practice among male Protestant Christian leaders, in which they avoid spending time alone with women to whom they are not married. It is named after Billy Graham, the most notable proponent of the practice. It is adopted as a display of integrity, a means of avoiding sexual temptation, and to avoid any appearance of doing something considered morally objectionable, but has been criticized as being sexist. ... In 1948, Graham held a series of evangelistic meetings in Modesto, California. Together with Cliff Barrows, Grady Wilson and George Beverly Shea, he resolved to "avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion". The accountability agreement, which has become known as the ...

Last updated on 26th Feb 2018 Billy Graham Tribute: The Most Important Moment of Your Life, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OADLU5bzDfc , around 31 minutes. The video has segments of a very powerful sermon by the Late Rev. Billy Graham when he was young and very energetic. Given below are some very powerful words from this video of Rev. Billy Graham. Note that I view Jesus Christ as a Divine figure but I view other figures from other religions like Hinduism (e.g. Rama and Krishna) also as divine figures (I am a Hindu). So there is a slight difference between my beliefs and Rev. Billy Graham's beliefs as shown in the transcript snippets below. But I deeply respect Rev. Graham's belief. From around 2:55 .. inspite of our disobedience, inspite of our sins, God loves us. That's the thrilling thing about it. And God loves every person in the whole world with a love that is beyond our comprehension. And God proved His love by giving His son on the cross. If you ever dou...

These questions cropped up in the context of a recent post of mine on Billy Graham. One view was that most USA evangelicals would have the view that salvation was possible only through Jesus Christ, and that people of other religions like Hinduism who believe in other gods (divine beings/Avatars) would burn in Hell forever. A relevant extract from the Billy Graham post that I put up on my spiritual blog here: http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/02/billy-graham-one-of-most-influential.html , is given below: *) What We Believe from Billy Graham's main web site: https://billygraham.org/about/what-we-believe/. [Ravi: I need to say here that my religious and spiritual beliefs do not match with that of Rev. Billy Graham as expressed in the above webpage. In particular, while I view Lord Jesus Christ as a divine figure, I do NOT view Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to achieve merger in God ('merger in God' in Hinduism is roughly equivalent to salvation in Christianity). I am a ...

Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham  : William Franklin Graham Jr. KBE (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelical Christian evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally after 1949. He has been called one of the most influential preachers of the 20th century. He held large indoor and outdoor rallies with sermons which were broadcast on radio and television, some still being re-broadcast into the 21st century. In his six decades of television, Graham hosted annual Billy Graham Crusades, which ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the popular radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiated segregation and, in addition to his religious aims, helped shape the worldview of a huge number of people coming from different backgrounds leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. Graham preached to live audiences of n...

The incident given below was conveyed to me recently by an eyewitness to it. I have full faith that the eyewitness (E1) related it to me truthfully as he recalled it. It happened sometime between 1989 and 1993. Swami (Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) had called a top Indian national level Sai organization office bearer (NOB1) to the interview room and asked E1 and another person to be in the room. After NOB1 had come into the room, Swami spoke very angrily to him about reports of many (Sathya Sai) devotees from a South Indian state going to a medium (person who claimed that she spoke Swami's words) there. Swami also said that he was informed/knew that the top office bearer for the state Sai orgn. (OB2, different person) had visited the medium. Swami was furious that the Sai orgn. (of which NOB1 was a senior office bearer at national level) had not taken steps to dissuade Sai devotees from believing in and visiting the medium. Swami also conveyed to NOB1, his fury at OB2 for (repo...

I think they may be viewing it like the (senior) school kids in this oldie (1962) Hindi film, Anpadh's famous song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmarDySZ0LQ , 3 min. 6 secs. :-) Here are the lyrics: https://www.lyricsbogie.com/movies/anpadh-1962/sikandar-ne-poras-se-ki-thi-ladai.html . I think I must add that it is a great achievement of both the Parthi loyalists and the Muddenahalli splinter group that there has been no violence between the groups so far. I pray to Bhagavan that it continues to be this way. ... The first line of the song is: Sikander Ne Porus se ki thi ladai to ki thi ladai, to main kya karoon - which means if Sikander had fought with Porus then he had fought with Porus, what shall I do about that (what does that have to do with me)? For ancient India, a few centuries before 1 AD and few centuries after 1 AD, the Greek and Roman empire contacts (and trade) were notable. Perhaps the main European name of those days that has made its way into North Indi...

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. The video segment can be seen on youtube, with --Name1-snipped-- coming into view from the left edge of the video around 1 hr. 27 min. 37 seconds, here: --link-snipped-- . [I have tried to set it to automatically start at 1 hr. 27 min. 37 seconds but if that does not work readers will have to manually set the start time as they are viewing the long video.] You may stop viewing the video after Madhusudan Rao Naidu goes well beyond --Name1-snipped-- at around 1 hr. 27 min. 52 seconds. [Update on 4th Nov. 2018 In a later post, I have taken a more nuanced view. Here's the post: My view of how Prasanthi Nilayam system got severely and negatively impacted by Guru Drohi Narasimhamurthy, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/08/my-view-of-how-prasanthi-nilayam-system.html , 21st Aug. 2018. Relevant extract from it is giv...

I would like to first say that I believe in Shirdi Sai Baba's teaching of "Sabka Maalik Ek" (The master of all is ONE). In other words, I believe in ONE GOD with various religions including Islam being various paths/ways to worship and merge in that ONE GOD. Specifically, I am not against Islam, and am actually supportive of it, so long as it does not interfere in the right of others (like me, a Hindu) to practise their faiths which are different from Islam (e.g. Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism). Shirdi Sai Baba used to say "Allah Maalik" (Allah/God is the master) very often; I revere the same Shirdi Sai Baba, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi , and try to follow His teachings. Some info. about the South Indian Hindu kingdom of Travancore which comes under the modern state of Kerala, from its wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travancore : The Kingdom of Travancore was an Indian kingdom from 1729 until 1949...

Last updated on 17th Feb. 2018 Given below are large extracts from a discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Malleswaram, Bangalore on 11th Dec. 1985, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume18/sss18-28.pdf (slightly edited to fix typo type errors and also give some clarifications to non-Indian readers) : REAL equality among men has to be achieved not by the equal distribution of material things but by the cultivation of love, which promotes a sense of the divinity that is inherent in all beings. In this land of Bharat [ancient name for India] , through all the vicissitudes of history, Truth has been regarded as the highest value to be cherished by man. This is the essence of the cultural heritage that has been given down to us as Sanathana Dharma [Eternal ethical way of life as propounded by ancient Hinduism] . The ancient sages emphasized the importance of Karma Yoga, the discharge of one's duties in life in a dedicated spirit. Through Karma Yoga man achieves control ...

Last updated on 19th Feb. 2018 Thoroughly enjoyed this cartoon of Calvin complaining about being educated against his will and his rights (to remain ignorant) being trampled upon, and that he liked things better when he didn't understand them: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/01/08 . I think that this cartoon of Calvin is even more relevant in the spiritual field. Many people prefer to be devoted to a particular spiritual master and be obedient to the associated spiritual group  leaders, or similarly be devoted to religion, but not get too deep into philosophy related to deep questions about life and death, suffering, good and evil etc. taught by the spiritual master and/or religion. In Hinduism which is my religion, I think I can say that most Hindus prefer to be devoted to their Ishta Devatas (favourite spiritually powerful beings/gods) and be very reverential towards, but not deeply study and understand, scripture associated with deep philosophy of the Hindus, ...

Last updated on 6 Jun 2024 6 Jun. 2024: Sensitive content has been snipped. 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. From around 1:27:37 in Maha Shivarathri Celebrations: 13 February 2018, Evening, --link-snipped--, you can see former Sai University vice-chancellor, --Name1-snipped-- bowing deeply to, and worshipping Madhusudan Rao Naidu and the gold lingams held in a plate by Madhusudan Naidu. I have also given below 4 screenshots related to this. The screenshots are from another video of this event which is no longer available [--link-snipped--]. The timestamp in the first screenshot below of 1:39:12 roughly corresponds to 1:27:37 in the video mentioned earlier which is currently viewable. --pic-snipped-- --pic-snipped-- --pic-snipped-- --pic-snipped-- I hate writing this post. But somebody has to do it as former vice-chancellor of Sai university (Sri Sathya Sai Institue ...