Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

KUMBH-Eternal Journey of Indian Civilisation-A Documentary Film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReWiJ4pd6Kc , 1 hr 9 mins, published on 11th Jan 2018 by India Inspires. I finished watching the video today. I think it is a positive and good documentary on the Kumbh Mela. I enjoyed watching it. It has a small part about Sathya Sai devotees with Seva Dal scarf & badge serving devotees at Kumbh Mela (this would be a previous Kumbh Mela not the current one). Those (two) screenshots are given below. [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.] [I thank India Inspires and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing two screenshots from their video on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]

Readers may want to visit the following posts on another blog of mine: 1) John Chambers of USA, ex Cisco chairman, formerly with Wang Labs., ex US India Business council chairman, is named for Padma Bhushan, third-highest civilian award of India, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2019/01/john-chambers-of-usa-ex-cisco-chairman.html , 28th Jan. 2019 2) Some info. on John Chambers and his association with Wang Laboratories, based on Web articles, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2019/01/some-info-on-john-chambers-and-his.html , 30th Jan. 2019

From my recent Facebook post, Nobody should be pressurized to sign our petition against Madhusudan Rao Naidu spiritual fraud : https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2401237053426191 Recently I got a private Facebook message from a Sathya Sai devotee who was very upset with what she viewed as pressure from somebody else to sign our petition against Madhusudan Rao Naidu spiritual fraud, https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu . Note that this person says that she has no intention to go to Muddenahalli. So she implies that she is NOT a Muddenahalli supporter. I am not in favour of anybody pressuring anybody to sign our petition. Polite requests are fine and I am thankful again to those who have shared our petition and requested people to sign. But we should stop at polite request and not get into pressurising. Let us accept the reality that most Sathya Sai devotees who do not associate with Muddenahalli...

Last updated on 30th Jan. 2019. Given below are contents of my recent Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2399854756897754 , and most of my comments on it. Time to close our Madhusudan Rao Naidu spiritual fraud petition? Please let me know your thoughts In the past around 10 days there has been only one additional signature to our petition: Declaration by Sathya Sai devotees and alumni & staff of Sai educational institutions, condemning spiritual fraud Madhusudan Rao Naidu, https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu . So I think it is time to close the petition now with a final petition-closure update thanking all those who signed and commented for the courage they have shown in publicly associating their name with this declaration condemning spiritual fraud Madhusudan Rao Naidu. As of now we have 363 (+ 1 test) signatures from around 40 countries in the world. Those are sizeab...

Recently, in a private conversation, I felt the need to state why I chose to publicly argue about my beliefs via my iami1 blog and book. Could I not have focused on leading a changed life based on my beliefs and not get involved in publicly arguing about my beliefs via the blog and book? This post is based on my response and only my response in that private conversation (which I feel is ethical to share publicly without sharing the other person's conversation parts). Let me share a joke with a lot of inner meaning and so more of a powerful message than a joke, which I related to very much during the initial years of my spiritual journey with the Sathya Sai fraternity and Sathya Sai Baba. After you get exposed to and develop belief in Sathya Sai Baba: * Initially you become a Bannerjee. This implies that you go on an advertising campaign about him to all and sundry. * Then you become a Chatterjee. This implies that you tone down a little from advertising campaign but still ta...

Over 5,000 to take ‘sanyas’ during Kumbh, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/over-5000-to-take-sanyas-during-kumbh/articleshow/67619129.cms , 21st Jan. 2019 It is great to know that around five thousand individuals have registered to get ordained as renunciates/monks (sanyasis) during the ongoing Kumbh mela. [BTW sainthood is not the right translation for sanyas; monkhood would be a more appropriate one.] From my readings and observations about current day Hinduism, there is no doubt in my mind that Hindu sanyasis and sanyasinis (equivalent of monks and nuns) play a vital role in keeping core Hindu traditions strong across Hindu communities which are now spread around the world and not limited to India or to even people of Indian origin. [I am utterly delighted to see some people of non-Indian origin from many parts of the world adopt some Hindu traditions.] And, of course, they also keep intense and even ascetic Hindu spiritual practices strong. My prayers to ...

Last updated on 20th Jan. 2019 This post is based on a recent comment response I made on Facebook elsewhere in the context of a suggestion made by somebody that a particular SSSCT trustee should lead a delegation to Muddenahalli and demand explanation from them for setting up their cult organization. From my perspective, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT) is a body of nine trustees. I think it is inappropriate to talk about any particular trustee, in this regard. What should be discussed is the action of the body of SSSCT as a whole. So should SSSCT as a body, "COME TO THE FRONT AND LEAD A DELEGATION TO MHALLI (group based in Muddenahalli, Karnataka, India) AND DEMAND EXPLANATION FOR SETTING UP A CULT ORGANIZATION"? What power does SSSCT have over Muddenahalli group for Muddenahalli group to entertain such a demand for explanation? Muddenahalli group may use such a visit by SSSCT to humiliate them as revenge for the criticism SSSCT has made against them. If Mudden...

Last updated on 18th Jan. 2019 http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_17/01JAN19/Note-from-sri-sathya-sai-central-trust.htm dated 17th Jan. 2019 The document is signed by the Member-Secretary of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT). I have given below a screenshot of a section of the document which is related to spiritual fraud Madhusudan Rao Naidu. [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.] Given below is the text in above pic: Sacrilegious Behaviour of the Impostors To right thinking devotees of Bhagawan Baba, the claims being made by one Sri Madhusudan Naidu,a former student of Sri Sathya Sai University (known as Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning) and Sri Narasimha Murthy, a former hostel warden of its Brindavan campus, that Bhagawan Baba was in communication with them in a subtle form and progressively that Bhagawan Baba had ent...

From my recent Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2393093974240499 I am not surprised by this development of the nuns who protested publicly against the rape accused priest, being separated and transferred elsewhere. Now what will these nuns do? If they are financially dependent on the Church organization they are associated with, they will have no option but to obey the transfer order. I think in our early 21st century times, spiritual aspirants from all religions should, if possible, ensure that they do not become financially dependent on the spiritual institution that they get associated with in a full time capacity, and always have a workable exit plan to fall back on, if and when they get exploited by the institution. I say, if possible, because I think the brutal reality is that for many persons who have associated with spiritual institutions in India right from a young age in a full time capacity, they are financially dependent on the institution an...

On this petition,  https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu , at 11:09 PM IST on 14th Jan. 2019, we have got 362 signatures. We had 333 signatures on 7th Jan. 2019 evening. So that makes it around 29 signatures in around 7 days - an average of around 4 new signatures per day. The new signatures counted manually from the signatures file below, are from Sri Lanka (2), India (13), Guatemala (1), South Africa (1), US (4), Portugal (1), Italy (4), Malta (1), Argentina (1), Singapore (1), Croatia (1) and Australia (1). This totals to 31. I think the difference (31 instead of 29) is due to update delays or some other minor issue like that. What is clear is that there is slight but continued interest in the petition across various countries in the world. To save time, I have not whitened 1 test user signature and 1 test user comment (both made by me). Here are the latest signatures and comments files Signatu...

Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in this post which references an Indian political leader. I entirely agree with the following points related to belief in Sabiramala deity Ayyappa, expressed by Dr. Shashi Tharoor in this article: Forgive me liberal friends, but I can’t completely overlook faith of Sabarimala devotees, https://theprint.in/opinion/forgive-me-liberal-friends-but-i-cant-completely-overlook-faith-of-sabarimala-devotees/174990/ . Please note that I am not commenting at all about Indian politics and Indian political parties mentioned in the article. 1. Confusion of liberals about the restrictions on women’s entry into Sabarimala. 2. Sabarimala worshippers "believe in its legends the way Catholics believe in the Virgin Birth or Muslims in the divine revelation to their Prophet, as beliefs integral to their faith. Just as a Supreme Court verdict ordering the Catholic Church to ordain women as priests and bishops in the name of gender equa...

SANSKRIT LOVE SONG TO INDIA, composed by Shri Chandrabhanu Tripathi, sung by a Western lady (teacher of Sanskrit in UK, I believe), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpv8eMlXuzM , 4 min. 23 secs. The youtube video description gives the English translation of the verses of the song. The last lines of the song as translated to English in the video description, are very appropriate, in my considered opinion: "We bow to the land, to India, The one supreme dharma, we always esteem, For which we offer our wealth, our life, Beloved India, always to be respected" Ravi: Bharat is the land of Dharma, the land of Tyaga (sacrifice) for the sake of Dharma, the land where God is adored through various ways, and the land where God loves to incarnate in human form! प्रियं भारतं तत् सदा वन्दनीयम् Beloved Bharat (India), always to be revered! I truly, truly believe the above line based on living most of my over five decades life in Bharat/India. Bharat/India is a holy land of re...

Aum Sri Sai Ram On this petition ( https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu ), we have got 333 signatures around 7:10 PM IST on 7th Jan. 2019. We had 319 signatures around the same time yesterday and so we have seen only 14 new signers in the around 24 hours between them. Note that after this update, the next update may be made only after some days or weeks. How long should we keep the petition open for signing? My view is that we can keep it open for many more weeks unless there is another petition/declaration on the same lines from some alumni leader and/or top administrator of SSSIHL who is an alumnus (e.g. Registrar, Controller of Examinations of SSSIHL or Director of an SSSIHL campus). Note that Madhusudan Rao Naidu is an alumnus of SSSIHL. So it will be very fitting for senior SSSIHL alumni leaders and/or senior alumni who hold senior administrative positions in SSSIHL to publicly condemn their junior ...

Last updated on 7th Jan. 2019 [This petition update was made around 8 PM IST, 6th Jan. 2019 on change.org.] Aum Sri Sai Ram On this petition ( https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu ), we have got 319 signatures around 7:05 PM IST on 6th Jan. 2019 I did not get any request to NOT publicly share their name so far (till around 7.40 PM today, 6th Jan.). The first petition PDF file linked below has the name and place information of Sathya Sai devotees worldwide who showed the courage to publicly speak up against Asathya (untruth) & Adharma (unethical behaviour) of spiritual fraud Madhusudan Rao Naidu by signing this petition. The second petition PDF file linked below has 'Reason for signing' or other comments made by some signers. I thank all signers for this public stand they have taken via this petition. I think it will help in some way to save some persons from getting trapped by Madhusud...

Our petition link: https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu After 7.00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) today (6th Jan. 2019), I will be sharing the petition, signature and comment info. After some thought, I feel the best way for me to faithfully and ethically share this data would be as follows: 1. I will download the "PDF: petition letter and signatures" from change.org. Note that I have added the main contents of our petition to the body of the petition letter now (earlier I had not known that I had to do this). Given below are pics which show how the two pages of the petition letter and part of the next page which is the start of signatures section, look now (downloaded around 9.30 AM, today 6th Jan.) with names masked (except mine). When I share the PDF after 7 PM today, the names will NOT be masked, except for any requests to NOT share their name that I receive on my public email id of ravi@rav...

[This update was made a few minutes ago and is for our petition: https://www.change.org/p/sathya-sai-devotee-fraternity-worldwide-we-condemn-spiritual-fraud-madhusudan-rao-naidu . The update text and attached pic are given below.] As of 6.50 PM Indian Standard Time on 5th Jan. 2019, 283 persons have signed this petition. Petition signers should please note that while signing the petition, they see a checkbox field labelled "Display my name and comment on this petition". By default this checkbox is checked/On. If they don't want their name (and city/town & country) and comment to be displayed/shared in the petition, then they ***MUST*** uncheck this checkbox. Petition signers should further note that as the petition has been addressed to Sathya Sai devotee fraternity worldwide including alumni and staff of Sai educational institutions, the petition signature data (name, city/town & country, and comments) provided to me, the petition creator, by change.org wi...

Given below are the reasons why I now feel it is ethical (fair) for me to share petition signature data (name, city & country, comments) provided to me by change.org, with the Sathya Sai fraternity. However, I will provide an option to signers to write to me if they don't want their signature date to be shared with Sathya Sai fraternity. 1) How does change.org help/guide documentation suggest using the petition and signatures? From http://guide.change.org/decision-makers Print your petition or download a digital copy onto a flash drive or CD and bring it with you. Being able to show the decision-maker the signatures and comments of your supporters is a powerful argument. --- end extract from http://guide.change.org/decision-makers --- Now our petition is directed to: Sathya Sai devotee fraternity worldwide including alumni and staff of Sai educational institutions Therefore it is logical to share the petition signatures and comments with the Sathya Sai devotee frat...

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer). On FB post, =============================================================== On my FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2289871497896081 , I responded to a comment on 30th Jan. 2019, as follows (slightly edited): Alok Dara Shikoh : Very sorry to know about forcible conversion of your ancestor to Islam. I am fine with people voluntarily, without any threat or without any material inducement, converting to a religion. But forcible conversion is bad. Regarding polygamy: My views on polygamy in India have changed over the past decade or so, based on my readings about society in India and my observations of life in rural Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Karunanidhi, the late well known political leader of Tamil Nadu, had multiple wives. Many rich and powerful people either have multiple wives or a wife and one or more mistresses which knowledge is well known in ...