Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in March 2019

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).

https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2451446385071924

Some Shiva songs ... BTW by my family background, I am a Shaivite, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism.

'Bho Sambho' by Sudha raghunathan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOuVpPcH4bM, around 8 mins.

Interesting and somewhat modern rendition: Bho Shambo Shiva Shambo by Lakshmy Ratheesh & Radhika Venugopal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEhqGLbmGs, around 6 mins.

A Sadhguru Vasudev video. I loved the singing. Bho Shambho Shiva Shambho Swayambho - Shiva, the Adhi Yogi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36AT5eY9HtQ, 5 min. 25 secs.

A Mooji video. Interesting and joyful Shiva song. Loved to see foreign folks (white and black) sing and enjoy this Shiva song. I have a special affection for African origin music and singing. So I was very happy to see an African origin singer in this singing group. Mooji Music. Shiva Shambo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBso7TPtvJU, 7 min. 12 secs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaUoA0hPCJ4, 5 min. 27 secs. An outstanding rendition in Carnatic classical style by one of the outstanding Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century, Mahrajapuram Santhanam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharajapuram_Santhanam. I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition.
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2449575528592343

Interesting Jan. 2018 video of around 5 mins about how the Indian indentured labourers (coolies) who migrated to West Indies to work in plantation fields under colonial (Christian) masters, maintained their Hindu identity under adverse circumstances and even resisted attempts of evangelists to convert them to Christianity. "I am a West Indian Hindu | Understanding the West Indian Hindu Experience", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVCwd9M6VZw. The narrator lives in Canada and was born and raised in Canada, but his family hails from Trinidad and Tobago and their ancestors came from India.

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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2448807418669154

Croatian gents and ladies chanting Veda in front of Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind in Zagreb, Croatia, around 4 mins.

I was so happy to see this. Awesome Veda chanting by the Croatians. May God bless them.

[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/videos/319317692272047/]

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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2447993162083913

Good to see this. The police should prosecute the case and ensure that a clear message goes out to the people concerned as well as to the country through the media, that such thuggery (goonda raj) will NOT be tolerated irrespective of the religion (or caste) of the attackers and the victims. Note that the victims in this case are a Muslim family who were attacked by mob which seems to have been comprised of Hindus.

The article states, "All the arrested people are residents of Nayagaon. None of them has a regular job."

So all ten arrested are jobless fellows! The brutal reality of life in small town and village India is that some such jobless fellows turn to thuggery and associated intimidation and crime as a way of life, a livelihood! Many times, they are used by rich and powerful bosses in these towns and villages as a sort-of muscle power base with which to intimidate their enemies and rivals.

[Shared article: All 10 accused of mob attack held, cops look for missing injured youth, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/all-10-accused-of-mob-attack-held-cops-look-for-missing-injured-youth/articleshow/68588512.cms]
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2447088365507726

I am so happy to see Indian External Affairs (Foreign) minister Sushma Swaraj aggressively take up this case of the Hindu minor girls who were kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and forced to marry Muslim boys, in Pakistan.

I fully support her in this matter. May God bless her for these efforts and may she succeed in rescuing these minor Hindu girls both from their forced marriage as well as from their forced conversion to Islam.

[Shared article: Sushma Swaraj demands justice for Hindu minors forced to convert, marry, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sushma-swaraj-demands-justice-for-hindu-minors-forced-to-convert-marry/articleshow/68573201.cms]

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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2446247388925157

The plight of Hindu minorities in some Muslim majority countries like Pakistan is pitiful. I am glad that the Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has taken up the matter with Indian embassy in Pakistan to investigate and provide a report.

Regarding Pakistan PM Imran Khan's actions on this matter - I am on wait and watch mode before I come to a view on how he handles this. As an individual, he may want to respect right of religious minorities in his country, but as a politician he has to worry about what his vote bank wants him to do.

I pray to God to protect these two Hindu minor girls in Pakistan and free them from the clutches of powerful Muslims in Pakistan who are alleged to have kidnapped them and alleged to have forcibly married them to Muslim boys (which would, I guess, involve forcible conversion to Islam). I further pray to God to give courage and strength to the family members of these girls to fight for justice in Pakistan, and save the girls from these monstrous kidnappers.

[Shared article: Pak Hindu minor girls approach court seeking protection, man suspected to assist in wedding held, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pak-hindu-minor-girls-approach-court-seeking-protection-man-suspected-to-assist-in-wedding-held/articleshow/68553838.cms, 25th March 2019.]

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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2445464262336803

This is a Sept. 2018 article from the big USA media house - CBS. An extract from the article, "A new report tracking the roots, spread and effects of violent Islamist extremism found that 121 groups that share elements from a common ideology are now operating worldwide. Their activities resulted in the deaths of 84,000 people – nearly 22,000 of them civilians – in 66 countries in 2017, the report found."

Religious extremism (Islamic extremism, Christian extremism, Hindu extremism ...) which kills people of other religions mainly because they are of a different religion is not just bad but an evil that has to be fought against by all good people worldwide, irrespective of whether they are religious or not.

[Article link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/islamist-extremism-caused-84000-deaths-worldwide-in-2017-a-new-report-says/]

The above share-comment of mine was put up as a comment elsewhere on a post which shared the CBS News article (which is where I saw it). The author of that post responded to my comment, "Very true sir... I think once an offensive attitude starts in one religion against another it's a matter of time before other religion picks it up also (or gets wiped out :()... It's a vicious cycle... Someone like our swami needs to preside over to end such cycles"

I responded (slightly edited):
Well said --name-snipped-- sir. It ***is*** a vicious cycle. Great spiritual masters/religious teachers need to break such cycles.
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2444983625718200

The police should conduct a full investigation and reveal the motives of the attackers. If this Muslim family in Haryana was attacked simply because they are Muslim then that should be reported by the police to the public, and then this should be unequivocally condemned by all major political parties.

Sometimes there may be business enmity or some other enmity that may be the underlying cause. Even in that case, the law should take its course and assailants should face punishment under Indian law.

No group of Hindus have any right to violently target Muslims in India just because they are Muslim and have prospered. India is for all Indians no matter what their religion or even if they have no religion.
[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/videos/1857509427688837/]
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2441986402684589

How a Yogi drops his body (short story) - Swami rama

Interesting, 2 min 45 secs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prdAZkf1k-A
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2441721499377746

Hindi: Bhar do jholi meri ya Muhammad
Laut kar main na jaunga khaali

Rough English translation: Please fill my bag/container, Oh Muhammad!
I will not go back empty handed
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Enjoyed this Qawwali by Mumbai policeman done by himself plus a metal bucket used as a (metallic) drum.

Video is 1 min. 21 secs.

[Shared video: https://www.facebook.com/thebetterindia/videos/246393659604637/]
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2440780422805187

As the Sai bhajan goes: Bhava Bhaya Harna ....

[My rough translation which may be slightly inaccurate: The remover of fear of worldly existence ...]

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has played, and continues to play, a big role in my ongoing journey to overcome fears of worldly existence. I am so deeply grateful to him for that. Jai Sai Ram!

[Shared post has pic of Bhagavan with message, "FAITH IN GOD REMOVES ALL FEARS" - Divine Discourse, 29th July 1996.]
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https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2443338565882706

 I think the ignorance that Bhagavan is referring to here is spiritual ignorance as against ignorance of material world knowledge.

[Shared post has pic of Bhagavan with the message, "Ignorance is the most important cause of sorrow.-Baba."]
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In FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2432138083669421,
I wrote: If you are feeling blue about preaching or speaking about God, here's something that might lead you to be red-hot revived! The kid speaks of Jesus but perhaps that inspiration can be used for other deities of other religions too. The state seems to be Mississippi, USA, which is part of the Bible Belt of the USA.
[Shared video link: https://www.facebook.com/1718972725043585/videos/284453375517650/, around 3 mins.]

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In FB post, https://www.facebook.com/vr.ganti.1/posts/10214246437299514, in response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- As explained in a previous comment, since early 2017 I do not make any comments about Mr. Rathnakar.
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In response to a comment made under above comment, I wrote (slightly edited) on 1st March 2019:
I am sorry for the apparent fear that you have had for so many years after Mahasamasadhi as you have been silent for so long. Now you are trying to give the impression that you are a very brave person!

It is people like Mr. Vr Ganti, Terry Reis Kennedy and I (and a few others too who I have not named) who had the guts to expose Muddenahalli group on social media and take all the vicious attacks we got then from Muddenahalli group supporters. My social media work in this regard started in early 2015. Note that at that time there were many Prasanthi Nilayam ashram paid staff and honorary staff who were openly supportive of Muddenahalli group. Further note that Ms. Kennedy and I were living in Puttaparthi then (I continue to live in Parthi) and had to face some nasty behaviour from Muddenahalli group supporters in Puttaparthi, whereas Mr. Ganti was based in Singapore and for a time in the USA but still had to face some unpleasant impacts on his real life.

What did you do then, --Name-snipped--, against all this battering we were getting??? Perhaps you wanted to stay silent then out of fear and were watching the "fun" of Mr. Ganti, Ms. Kennedy and I getting battered by Muddenahalli group supporters on social media, with some of their actions impacting our real lives as well.

I do not have any fear of Mr. Rathnakar. No matter how much you or anybody else may think so, I am NOT afraid of anybody in Puttaparthi as I am a law abiding citizen of India and I am not afraid of even death so long as I follow Sathya & Dharma, as I understand it, which is the main teaching of Sanathana Dharma which has been reinforced in me by my beloved and revered Gurudev, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. So why should I be afraid of anybody in Puttaparthi?

However, I respect Bhagavan's family members including those that have sided with Muddenahalli group in the past. While in Bhagavan's physical presence I saw for myself the special attention Bhagavan gave to his physical form family. I was respectful of Bhagavan's family when Bhagavan was in physical form, and I continue to be respectful towards them even now.

As I said earlier which you don't seem to understand, I have made a decision in early 2017 not to comment about Mr. Rathnakar. Period. The post which has those comments was in the past at which time I responded to comments. I did not put up that post now. It was Mr. Ganti who put up a reference to it now.

You seem to love to attack people who stood up for Sathya & Dharma in Sathya Sai movement when this great divisive threat of Muddenahalli group came upon us. I wonder whether you are a friend or foe of the Sathya Sai movement. If you continue your attacks in this manner, I would prefer to stop interacting with you.
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In response to comment on above comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - I did perceive your comment as very aggressive against me. Note that I have been viciously attacked on social media by Muddenahalli group people who initially tried to act as if they are friends. So I am suspicious of aggressive comments against me and react strongly to them.

But I am happy to see that you have used polite words in the end of your comment. So I will continue to engage in this conversation.

You have no need to impress me and I have no need to impress you. Am ignoring the 'boost' part of your comment as I am not interested in knowing those views of yours.

Noted your appreciation of our work in exposing MDH on social media. That's good of you.

Ignoring the part about me not commenting about Mr. Rathnakar as I have already expressed my views on it and I don't think there is anything more to add.

I do think that you trying to re-open a quite forgotten controversy of a few years ago (the Dr. Voleti - Mr. Rathnakar matter) is something that may hurt the Prasanthi Nilayam based Sathya Sai movement. That is one of the reasons I wondered whether you are friend or foe of (Prasanthi Nilayam based) Sathya Sai movement.

Now it really depends on how you comment on such matters on social media for us Prasanthi Nilayam Sathya Sai movement supporters including me to judge whether your comments are helping Prasanthi Nilayam Sathya Sai movement or hurting it.

That is when at least I will be able to take a view on whether your social media comments are those of a friend or a foe of Prasanthi Nilayam Sathya Sai movement.

I am sorry if some of my words hurt you but social media has been used by some Muddenahalli group people in the past in a horrible way to hurt Prasanthi Nilayam Sathya Sai movement. So I react emotionally and aggressively to comments that I see as something that may hurt PN Sathya Sai movement. Unfortunate but that's how it is. And the blame for this state of affairs goes to Facebook fake ID Muddenahalli group cowards and crooks some of whom are based in Melbourne, Australia and who seem to have been supported by some in Muddenahalli and in Puttaparthi.

My prayers to Shiva-Shakti Swarupa Kali Yuga Avatar Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to help ensure that Prasanthi Nilayam Sathya Sai movement follows the path of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. Jai Sai Ram!
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In response to a comment I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - I disagree with your view. Mr. Ganti acts as an agent provocateur by raking up past matters. My normal approach is to ignore such provocations from Mr. Ganti wrt Prasanthi Nilayam and focus on the great work that he has done in exposing Muddenahalli group. Note that many persons among PN supporters active on social media do not interact with Mr. Ganti. I too had stopped interactions with him for some time. ... But as I saw that he was continuing to do great work in exposing MDH I decided to interact again with him but only on the MDH exposure work and ignore PN related parts of his posts.

I think revisiting the old matter in the manner in which some comments here have revisited it, are re-opening the healed wound and putting salt on it.
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In response to a comment I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - This is just not working out. So it is best that we do not interact. I will be unfriending you shortly and I request you not to tag me.
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In response to a comment I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - You may not know what is referred to as tagging on Facebook. Typing a person's name and then choosing the person's icon-name from a drop-down results in a blue link display in the comment. That results in a notification being sent by Facebook to the person about the comment. So both you and I have tagged each other in our comments here. I request you not to do so in future. I too will not do so.
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In response to a comment by Mr. V.R. Ganti that partly said, "The first point is about whether people in Parthi / Prashanthi Nilayam arer scared of RJR or not. In my opinion, there is no doubt at all." I wrote (as a separate top-level comment and not under the original comment):
Vr Ganti - If your view is that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar then I disagree and think it is time for me to part ways with you.
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A person responded: Ravi S. Iyer OMG! Why is this childish remarks. Let's be united for our common goal. Whether you're scared of Rathnakar or not, that doesn't matter for meeting our objectives.
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I responded (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- - I vehemently oppose your view that my remarks are childish.

What is your view on this statement of Mr. Ganti: "The first point is about whether people in Parthi / Prashanthi Nilayam arer scared of RJR or not. In my opinion, there is no doubt at all."

Do you think all of us in Puttaparthi are scared of Mr. Rathnakar? Do you think I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar?
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The person responded:  Ravi S. Iyer garu, I'm just concerned about why are you worrying too much about what other people think whether you're scared of Shri Ratnakar or not? And to me, frankly speaking saying you ll unfriend anyone for expressing their views sounds childish..thts all.
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I responded (slightly edited):  --Name-snipped-- - There is something called self-respect. If somebody says --Name-snipped-- is scared of Mr. Rathnakar, scared of Malaysia Sai orgn. bosses and scared of Malaysia Prime Minister, do you think that's OK?

I mean, somebody who is your Facebook friend saying so publicly on Facebook.
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I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - What do you think? If somebody who is your Facebook friend says --Name-snipped-- is scared of Mr. Rathnakar and says is scared of Mr. Donald Trump, President of USA, how would you feel? Would you want to continue to be Facebook friends with that person?
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--Name-snipped-- responded:
That would depend on who is saying that and why. I may just laugh it off as ridiculous, I may defend my position, or I might just finally block that person if they had been irking me for quite some time...
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I responded (slightly edited):
Thanks --Name-snipped--. My reactions are similar to the latter part of the possible actions you mentioned. Thank you for responding.
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I wrote:
Vr Ganti - If I do not get a response from you to my above comment (within reasonable time) then I will presume that your view is that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar (which I disagree with). And then I will take suitable action (unfriending you and requesting you not to tag me in future).
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In response to comment by Mr. V.R. Ganti, I wrote:
Vr Ganti sir - Thank you for your response.

Regarding what you view as my childish behaviour:
I unfriended you in the past because of your providing a platform for misrepresented and false remarks viciously maligning me (and another person) by Muddenahalli group Fake ID coward and crook (Venkatesh Babu/Parthi Resident) who seems to be based in Melbourne, Australia and who either is Bhaskar Iyer of Melbourne, Australia or was supported by him. Venkatesh Babu/Parthi Resident Fake ID coward and crook seems to have also been supported by Muddenahalli group fellows in Muddenahalli and Puttaparthi. I have documented that matter in great detail in these two posts of mine: http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2017/02/my-facebook-posts-related-to.html and http://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2017/02/misrepresentation-and-fabrication-by.html.

Your actions then in providing a platform for Venkatesh Babu/Parthi Resident to conduct these misrepresented and fabricated attacks on me were very unfriendly to me, and so I did the correct action of unfriending you.

Many months later I decided to friend you again as I saw that you were continuing your wonderful work in exposing Muddenahalli group. I felt I should overlook the past unfriendly attitude of yours towards me and co-operate again with you in opposing Muddenhalli group. So I friended you again which you kindly accepted and we were able to team up again and do some work in opposing Muddenahalli group FALSE CLAIMS and misguidance of Sathya Sai devotees worldwide.

Now you have made an insulting statement about Puttaparthi people in one of your previous comments on this post. You wrote: "The first point is about whether people in Parthi / Prashanthi Nilayam arer scared of RJR or not. In my opinion, there is no doubt at all." This is in the context of another person commenting on this post that I seem to be afraid of Mr. Rathnakar (which I denied).

Now I know that in the past you have made sweeping statements which should not be interpreted literally. But your comment in this context seems to rather clearly indicate that you think that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar (which I disagree with). I don't want to be friends with a person who thinks that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar. It is as simple as that for me. So if you make a clear statement that you are NOT saying that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar then it becomes clear that you are not including me specifically in your sweeping statement above: "The first point is about whether people in Parthi / Prashanthi Nilayam arer scared of RJR or not. In my opinion, there is no doubt at all."

You have written "As regards whether you are scared of RJR is not on which I can me a conclusive statement either this way or that way." That's not good enough for me to view you as a friend.

If you don't make a clear statement that in your view I am not scared of Mr. Rathnakar then given the support you seem to have provided another person on this post who said that I seem to be scared of Mr. Rathnakar, I have no option but to treat you as an unfriendly person to me which then means that I will have to unfriend you.

So my behaviour in this matter is not childish but logical and appropriate, in my considered opinion.

Regarding your remarks against Mr. Rathnakar - that is something between you and Mr. Rathnakar. I have decided not to get involved. That does not mean I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar. Just because you don't make any negative comments about first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and about current Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, though there are quite a few critical comments about them by others, I have not said that Mr. Ganti fears Lee Hsien Loong. Have I? That would be an incorrect conclusion. Have I said that since you live in Singapore and Lee Hsien Loong is the boss of Singapore, you are scared of Lee Hsien Loong and so you don't make any negative comments about him? I have not as that would be an incorrect conclusion.

A person choosing not to get involved in some matters does not necessarily mean that person is scared. Implying so about a person/persons is NOT a friendly thing to say.

Regarding me threatening you: You are dramatising things. It is a simple matter of me saying that if you are of the view that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar then I don't want to be friends with you. Where is the threat? Am I saying I will file a police complaint against you? Am I saying I will file a court case against you? Come on Mr. Ganti! Don't overdramatize things.

Regarding respect for me: I am glad to know that you respect me. I have publicly stated on Facebook and blog my admiration for the courage with which you have exposed Muddenahalli group. So you know how much I respect you for that work of yours. But if you think I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar then I will continue to respect the work that you have done against Muddenahalli group but I will NOT view you as my friend and so will have no option but to stop interacting with you. Thanks. Jai Sairam!
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In response to a comment arguing for spirit of unity, I wrote (multiple comments):
Spirit of Unity does not mean swallowing insulting statements about everybody in Puttaparthi being scared of Mr. Rathnakar. What is the use of Unity among people who choose to insult others in the group? Better to stay away from people who insult you and the town in which you stay - that is my considered opinion.

Tomorrow somebody may say everybody in Singapore is afraid of Lee Hsien Loong. And everybody in Malaysia is afraid of Mahathir Mohammed. And everybody in USA is afraid of Donald Trump. And everybody in India is afraid of Narendra Modi. Should we tolerate such nonsense in our group to maintain "Spirit of Unity"?
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In response to comment with question "Vr Ganti garu mentioned you're scared of Shri Rathnakar..??", I wrote:
He wrote in support of another person who said that I seemed to be scared of Mr. Rathnakar. He said Puttaparthi people are scared of Mr. Rathnakar - no doubt at all - or something like that. Very clearly, he was supporting the other person. I have been interacting with Mr. Ganti for 3 to 4 years now. I know how he operates.
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In response to comment "To me, I don't care what people think of me as it does not matter at all to my personal progress.", I wrote:
Noted that you don't care what people think (or even publicly say) of you. For me it is different. If somebody says something bad about me which I disagree with (constructive criticism is different - I welcome it) then I prefer not to view that person as a friend and prefer to stay away from that person.
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In response to comment (slightly edited to fix typo), "I am like you also sir; of what use is such artificial synthetic unity. The unity necessary is an intrinsic one where there is mutual respect and regard. Insult and unity cannot coexist. Genuine positive criticism and genuine showing of mirror respectfully is very different from this kind of tacit and explicit insult", I wrote (slightly edited):
Thank you --Name-snipped-- sir for your valuable view.
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In response to comment by Mr. V.R. Ganti that partly said, "Here the question is not Ganti or Ravi Iyer Garu.", I wrote:
Vr Ganti sir - For me now, it is a question of Mr. Ganti and me. The question is simple - Does Mr. Ganti think that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar? If no then fine, I would be glad to continue to be his friend.

If yes or not sure then I think it would be best that we part ways with good wishes for each other.

Regarding anything else you have to say about Mr. Rathnakar - that is between you and him. I don't want to get involved in the matter.
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In response to comment by Mr. V.R. Ganti, "Ha Ha Ha - Comparing RJR with PM of Singapore and PM of Malaysia is ridiculour. In any case by comparing like that it implies that RJR is a politician which has many more repurcussions I suppose Ravi Iyer Garu.", I wrote:
Vr Ganti sir - Since you have made sweeping statements insulting (all implied) Puttaparthi people that they are scared of Mr. Rathnakar, I had no option but to bring in some other comparisons to show how ridiculous your sweeping statement is.
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In response to a comment by Mr. Ganti, I wrote:
Vr Ganti - So it is clear that you think I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar. I vehemently disagree with you. But I don't want to waste any more time trying to make you see the truth. You are free to live in your fantasy world viewing it as your Sathya and your Dharma world. I am not interested to associate any more with you.

I have unfriended you. Do not tag me in future. Do not post any comments on my posts.
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In response to a comment by Mr. Ganti, I wrote:
Ha! Ha! What a joker you are Vr Ganti. You think you are the only hero in the world and the rest of all of us are cowards. Today you have targeted me (after initially saying something else - not sure ... which shows you did not have the guts to tell me at that time itself what you thought). Tomorrow you will target somebody else who thinks you are a good friend of theirs! And you will say that you are doing it in the name of Sathya & Dharma! What a joke!

Anyway, I think there is no point in trying to cure you of your delusion that you alone are the heroic man in the world and the rest of the world are cowards.

But you have done good work exposing Muddenahalli group. That has to be acknowledged despite these delusional fantasies that you seem to have got trapped in. I will always acknowledge that good work of yours, despite other weaknesses and delusions that you seem to be suffering from. Good Luck to you too. Hope you will get to real Sathya and real Dharma from delusional Sathya and delusional Dharma. Jai Sai Ram!
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I wrote (multiple messages compressed to one):
Vr Ganti sir - After my last comment to you, this Swami Darshan video appeared on my wall - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10152864882186119

You and I have fought together to expose Muddenahalli group Asathya - Adharma which is misguiding thousands of devotees around the world using the name of our beloved and revered Gurudev Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I don't want our last exchanges to be harsh.

You are elder to me in years and perhaps more experienced in life. I value your leadership in exposing Muddenahalli group.

I would like memories of my last interactions with you on Facebook to be of this leadership that you showed when Sathya Sai movement was totally in the grip of Muddenahalli group spiritual fraudsters.

Both you and I have a common Gurudev. So we are Guru bandhus.

I thank you for your leadership then sir. That has been an absolutely vital contribution that you have made in the post-Mahasamadhi Sathya Sai movement. I will never ever forget that contribution as I know from our many close interactions on Facebook (including private chats) then how hard you worked and how much courage you showed.

I wish you well sir. May Bhagavan bless you for your great courage and work in exposing Muddenahalli group spiritual fraud. Jai Sai Ram!
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Vr Ganti wrote: I am rather surprised that after the above comments you have changed your tone has changed. Good - within moments you changed. Suddenly you started good remarks started coming in. Anyway, I dont get carried away Sir.

I thought you have unfriended already.
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I responded: All the best to you sir! Jai Sai Ram!

I wrote: I have unfriended but not blocked. So I can still see your comments and you can see mine. My request to you not to comment on my posts stays. I will also not comment on your posts (after this exchange). Also you should not tag me. I will also not tag you. Thanks. Jai Sai Ram!
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A person commented: Ravi S. Iyer Vr Ganti Please end this. Mentioning Ravi as afraid of RJR or anyone in a public platform is not a nice approach. Fear or by policy, let our personal space be not intruded. Ravi choose to not to engage in topic on RJR, probably because RJR is mortal limited time version like all of us. Whereas, MDH is weed with fast spreading seeds. So allow Ravi to focus on his choice of Sai mission. Both of you love each other a lot. So, let us refrain from making statements that hurts. It's no use to avoid non violence and preach violence in speech. Unfriending, disconnecting between people who actually like each other is equal to suicide. It's a short life, why not forgive, forget and stay together.
...
I am probably a little more than half your age. We look of examples and guidance. and I am deeply hurt by the way Sai devotees engage in arguments and abuses while the soil under them is being fast washed away.
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I responded (slightly edited):  --Name-snipped-- - Appreciate your efforts to patch things up between Mr. Ganti and me. But it has gone too far now. Life is like that. We need to get a move on. Mr. Ganti can do his work independent of me, and I will do my work independent of Mr. Ganti. Thanks. But, I repeat, I appreciate your efforts to patch things up. Jai Sai Ram!
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In response to a comment by Mr. V.R.Ganti, I wrote (multiple comments given as one message):
Vr Ganti - I did NOT know about it. If you had told me earlier I would have unfriended you then itself.

I do not tolerate people who make such statements about me.

Hate to get into this harshness but you insist on making such statements. So I have to respond.

Lots of people have said lots of things about you Mr. Ganti to me. I have not used that against you.

I was focused on your contribution to expose Muddenahalli group and ignored stuff people said about you.

But you are judging me on Mr. Rathnakar matter. For me the issue is that he is Bhagavan's chosen relative who was made trustee. So I respect Bhagavan's decision. That you will NOT be able to understand as you have not served in Bhagavan's mission at Prasanthi Nilayam as I have.

When Bhagavan was in physical form, I respected Bhagavan's relatives who were chosen by him to take on responsible ashram management positions, and now after Bhagavan's Mahasamadhi I continue to have the same respect.

You will NOT understand that as you have not served in Bhagavan's mission in PN as staff for years like I have.

So you jump to conclusions that I am scared of Mr. Rathnakar instead of understanding that I respect Bhagavan's decision to have made him trustee.

We all have our weaknesses. I too have weaknesses and Bhagavan gave me room to work on it. You will NOT understand that as you have not served for years with Bhagavan in physical form. We are not perfect. Bhagavan gives us the room to improve.

You jump at every small mistake of SSSCT trustees and call them all sorts of names and demand their ouster!

How easy it is for a man to sit in Singapore and call for ouster of SSSCT trustees!

I have said enough. I hope to close this now. I don't want to block Mr. Ganti. Let's hope that this exchange winds down quickly.
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Vr Ganti wrote: Ravi Iyer Garu - Can you kindly stop from keep on commenting.
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I responded:  Vr Ganti sir - You stop commenting about me and then I will stop commenting about you. Okay?
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A person commented: Ravi S. Iyer Vr Ganti garu.. please both of you don't fight. Forget and forgive. That's human. We at time say something unknowingly or unintentionally. It's just a slip of tongue. Let's forgive and not react on this.
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I (Ravi) responded (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- - It's over. I have decided to move on. As I said elsewhere Mr. Ganti can work independently of me and I will work independently of him. I wish him well. Let me add that I plan not to say anything negative of him in future unless he says anything negative of me. This way while we would not be working together, we will not be coming in the way of each other.
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In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- sir - I think --Name-snipped-- was approaching it from an emotional angle in trying to patch things up. I appreciate her efforts and her intent.
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In response to comments, I wrote (slightly edited):
--Name-snipped-- - I understand your efforts to patch things up and appreciate your good intentions. --Name-snipped-- sir has viewed things from a pure logical perspective, which has its validity too from a pure logic perspective. But life, I have learned, is a mix of logic and emotion. So I do give value to both logic and emotion. Jai Sai Ram!
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--Name-snipped-- wrote: Ravi S. Iyer I don't want to hurt neither of you hence used those words. But actually I wasn't aware of the whole conversation as I did not read all of it. So I may have missed some parts here.
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I responded (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- - Don't worry about it. Let us be emotionally smart with this one and close it :-).
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--Name-snipped-- responded: Ravi S. Iyer thank you heaps🙏
[I (Ravi) Facebook-Liked the above comment.]
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A person commented (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- there is no malice in your intent and as I said earlier too your intent is good. Ravi sir and Ganti sir are two of my heros as well. But I think to factually minimize and diminish the issue/insult at hand and brushing it off with purely emotional sentimental feel-good all-is-well Band-Aids is prehaps ineffective when the two sides you are dealing with are highly intelligent and advanced thinkers is what I was trying to highlight.
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I responded (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- sir - I am no hero :-). I have many flaws but I am a law-abiding Indian citizen and try hard to follow Sathya and Dharma, even if I may not succeed all the time.

I am deeply grateful to Prasanthi Nilayam based Sathya Sai movement which I have benefited from greatly right from around 1993/94. And so I am just a Jatayu like fellow who, despite some health challenges, has fought and is ready to continue to fight those Muddenahalli group fellows and others of that type who want to hurt Prasanthi Nilayam based Sathya Sai movement.
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A person commented: usually egos clashes. As Swami say you need two hands to clash to make a clap ! If there is one hand it is impossible to clap !
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Another person referring to the above comment wrote (slightly edited): --Name-snipped-- My mom used to say, "It takes two to tango"...
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I responded (slightly edited): I think it is wrong to characterise this matter as an ego clash. Would --Name-snipped-- and --Name-snipped-- accept being told that they are scared of so-and-so, when that is not the case, and when that is being used to tarnish their name? I don't know. But in my case, it is a matter of self-respect that I should not continue to associate with a person who says that of me.

Humiliation and insult are ways by which cult-leader wannabes try to dominate people. I have seen that in Prasanthi Nilayam (PN) itself even when Swami was in physical form, which became much more after Swami Mahasamadhi. When Swami was in physical form, I have tolerated some minor level of humiliation from those in power in PN system (e.g. being mildly ticked off by a dept. head for some matter that I was not responsible for). I did that as if I had tried to fight for justice in that minor case, there was a danger that I might be asked to leave the institution I was associated with as free service staff, and lose the most precious thing in PN ashram then for me, which was staff seating at Swami darshan!

But even when Swami was in physical form, I have drawn the line about the level of humiliation and insult that I was wiling to tolerate. I once insisted on clarification from my then HOD over email to dept. staff for some previous email from the HOD to dept. staff which I felt was grossly inappropriate and which could have referred to me and somebody else (the person was not named and so there was ambiguity). I said that otherwise I will quit from my free service activity in the PN institution I was with then (Sai university). It was a matter of protecting one's self-esteem and dignity. Eventually the then HOD backed down and wrote a short email which addressed the issue adequately. I immediately dropped the matter, thanked the then HOD and continued my free service staff activity there.

A fellow free service staff of PN system who was serving here before I associated with PN system in Oct. 2002, and who continues to offer free service now (must be close to two decades of free service!), once told me that self-esteem (or he may have said self-respect) is important. This person is unmarried and along with his service in PN system does other individual spiritual sadhana. I view him as a valued spiritual aspirant colleague, a Guru bandhu (brother)/Guru brethren, in Puttaparthi. I entirely agree with his words that self-esteem is important even in PN ashram. I extend that to spiritual groups (like the one we have on Facebook platform). One should not allow others to unjustly humiliate and insult one (minor things can be tolerated but not major things). I don't think swallowing such humiliation and insults and saying, Yes sir, Sairam sir, leads to spiritual progress. In fact, I think it may lead to tragic domination over one by some wannabe cult-leader types. And, very, very unfortunately, I know of such cases that have happened after Mahasamadhi in Puttaparthi apart from the many cases in Muddenahalli group where Narasimhamurthy and Madhusudan Naidu are the cult-leader types who have trapped many Sai devotees. Note that Indians as well as foreign devotees (people from almost all continents: Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Africa) have got trapped as followers of some cult-leader types in our own Sathya Sai fraternity after Mahasamadhi! I find it to be an astonishing social phenomenon.

But this is my view (about it not being an ego clash but a matter of having self-respect). Others are entitled to their views.
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I wrote (slightly edited):  I see that --Name-snipped-2-- has made a reference to me here. I do not give any value to her statements and do not want to waste my time referring to her words. But I would like readers to know that I am blocking  --Name-snipped-2-- now and will not be wasting my time reading or responding to her comments.
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I wrote (slightly edited): Have just blocked --Name-snipped-2-- and am thankfully not able to see any of her comments. Jai Sai Ram!
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Mr. V.R. Ganti wrote (in part): Sometime last week I was told by Ravi Garu that if I stop, he would stop this needless discussions. I am in fact not spending much time on FB for some reasons ... In the meantime, I only hope that the needless comments would stop.
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I (Ravi) responded (multiple comments coalesced into one message below:
I am responding to comments made about the matter by others. I am not saying anything about you.

If nobody comments about the matter with respect to me, I will have no reason to respond. I hope you understand that.
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A person commented: very good and much respected but my comments had nothing to do with your discussion, they were pointing out to completely different matters related to the PN and Muddenahalli issues that the original post was reffering.
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I (Ravi) responded (on 5th March 2019):
In my above comments, I am presuming that Mr. Ganti was referring to the "ego clashes" comment followed by the 'it takes two to tango' comment and my response to it in inner-level comments under a separate and earlier comment on this post. That's the only comment I had made today on this post, other than my above comments in this thread.
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Shared FB post, https://www.facebook.com/chris.gosden.79/posts/10218131337495690 which has a pic with some text. The beginning line is: "Walk away from people who put you down." and the ending line is: "The more you walk away from things that poison your soul, the healthier you will be."

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