Newsweek magazine (USA) Nov 17th 1969 - Article on Sathya Sai Baba
Here's the cover page of Newsweek magazine (USA) Nov 17th 1969 (courtesy: Google Image search on: Newsweek Baba November 17, 1969 issue
leading to a preview image in Google search for https://www.thejumpingfrog.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1233001. Note that in the result webpage the item is no longer shown):
[To open pic in larger 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.]
If I got this right, somebody in the USA seems to be offering this issue (which he/she/it claims to be in good condition) for sale for around USD 10 + shipping on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-NEWSWEEK-NOVEMBER-17-1969-SPIRO-AGNEW-BABA-ERNEST-FITZGERALD-IOWA-BEEF-/371280846736.
The image of the article on Sathya Sai Baba (courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/srinivasgst/posts/2633578133322470):
Ravi: I have given below some of the text from the article (which seems to have been incorrectly referred to as an editorial in the above mentioned Facebook page). I have omitted text parts or added comments in italics for parts that I feel are inaccurate or inappropriate.
SATYA SAI BABA
Newsweek
Contents November 17, 1969
RELIGION ................................ 110
An Indian holy man builds a legend
The God-Possessed
When Sathyanarayana Raju was born, his mother recalls, the family tambura twanged of its own accord and a cobra appeared mysteriously beneath his crib. As a child, he showed mystic powers and a love of sacred verse. And one day when he was 13 years old, he returned home from school and told his mother, a well-to-do matron (well-to-do matron is inaccurate) in the village of Puttaparti: “I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai Baba. I do not consider myself related to you. My work is waiting. My bhakthas [devotees] are waiting. Good-by(e). Worship me every Thursday.”
With that, Baba left home to begin the life of a god-possessed holy man. His mother pleaded with him to come back, but it was too late; throngs of Hindus were already crowding around the youth calling him "tiny prophet," "mysterious prodigy" and "God on earth."
'Divine': Such events are not unusual in India, where thousands of self-proclaimed gurus and holy men roam, begging for a living and teaching their faithful. But Baba the god-possessed is unique. He claims to be "the Lord come in human form," a reincarnation of Krishna, one of the major Hindu gods. And thousands of devout Hindus believe that the 42-year-old, bushy-haired holy man with flashing eyes and a voice “like the sound of a bell” can perform miracles, heal the sick and project his mind through time and space. Each November, 50,000 Indians trek to Puttaparti to celebrate his birthday. The former chief scientist in the government’s Ministry of Defense insists that Baba is "beyond the laws of physics and chemistry, a divine phenomenon, an incarnation."
Since he began leading the life of a holy man, Baba’s "miracles" have become legend throughout India. A leading lawyer swears that Baba cured him of Parkinson’s disease with a wave of his hand, and Baba is said to have walked along the seashore at Cape Comorin in South India with prayer beads forming magically at his feet after each step. He reportedly produces the Bhagavad Gita and sandalwood statuettes of Krishna from the sand by magic, and once, when travelling in a car that ran out of gas, is said to have turned a bucketful of water into gasoline. When a murderer appeared at his religious school disguised in holy garb, the story goes, Baba detected the villain immediately and told him: "Confess your crime. There is no escape." And Charles Penn, an American pilot, insists that Baba miraculously appeared at his side during a crash landing in India.
Stroke: But Baba probably performed his most spectacular "miracle" in 1963 at his Puttaparti school. His doctors say he collapsed with a stroke and four heart attacks, and refused medical help for a week. Then he was carried into his prayer hall and miraculously cured himself before an audience of 5,000. Baba explained that he had taken on himself the heart attacks and paralysis of "a forlorn person," since only he could survive them. "You may call these miracles," says Baba, "but for me they are just my way. For me they are no mystery. They are part of my essential miraculousness."
Baba apparently showed the promise of divinity at an early age: as a schoolboy, he is said to have amazed his classmates by making pens, pencils and books materialize out of thin air, and once he held a teacher helplessly stuck in a chair with a mental whammy.
Today, Baba leads a colorful and comfortable life, rising before dawn to lead his followers in chants and religious songs, then withdrawing for meditation. [Ravi: I am not sure about the withdrawing for meditation part's accuracy.] He dines on milk and sweets [Ravi: I am not sure about the milk and sweets part's accuracy], and each day selects several followers for interviews and counseling. Twice each day - in the morning and evening – his students throng around him for a bhajan (religious song) meeting and burn ceremonial camphor sticks. Baba tells them to lead a clean life, observe strict silence, avoid gossip and study Hindu scriptures. Unlike nearly all Indian holy men, Baba never accepts gifts or cash contributions. [Ravi: I think that should read Baba never solicits gifts or cash contributions. Also I think there would have been many Indian holy men then who did not solicit gifts or cash contributions.]
Path: Westerners may remain skeptical about Baba’s miracles, but his skills as a minister and teacher are not to be lightly dismissed. Baba says his mission is dharma-samsthapana – restoring justice to the world [Ravi: restoring ethical living/life to the world, would be more accurate], teaching men how to follow the "moral path." Sometimes Baba’s advice is full of mystical double-talk, and sometimes he preaches the most threadbare platitudes. But occasionally he rises to the mystic simplicity that lies at the heart of Oriental religion. "Do not fall so much love with the world,” he once said. “You find out the world is mad and foolish, full of crooks and cranks. Use the world as a training ground for liberation. Stand a little apart and watch both the play and the director who produces it."
At bottom, Baba’s lasting appeal may lie not in his miracles or his claim to be Krishna reincarnated, but as one Indian Government official put it, in his "human touch, his ability to enter into the hearts of men and plant a seed of faith." And that he surely has done. As one devout middle-aged woman put it; "He is my god. He is divine. What else do I want?"
Newsweek, November 17, 1969
leading to a preview image in Google search for https://www.thejumpingfrog.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1233001. Note that in the result webpage the item is no longer shown):
[To open pic in larger 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.]
If I got this right, somebody in the USA seems to be offering this issue (which he/she/it claims to be in good condition) for sale for around USD 10 + shipping on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-NEWSWEEK-NOVEMBER-17-1969-SPIRO-AGNEW-BABA-ERNEST-FITZGERALD-IOWA-BEEF-/371280846736.
The image of the article on Sathya Sai Baba (courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/srinivasgst/posts/2633578133322470):
Ravi: I have given below some of the text from the article (which seems to have been incorrectly referred to as an editorial in the above mentioned Facebook page). I have omitted text parts or added comments in italics for parts that I feel are inaccurate or inappropriate.
SATYA SAI BABA
Newsweek
Contents November 17, 1969
RELIGION ................................ 110
An Indian holy man builds a legend
The God-Possessed
When Sathyanarayana Raju was born, his mother recalls, the family tambura twanged of its own accord and a cobra appeared mysteriously beneath his crib. As a child, he showed mystic powers and a love of sacred verse. And one day when he was 13 years old, he returned home from school and told his mother, a well-to-do matron (well-to-do matron is inaccurate) in the village of Puttaparti: “I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai Baba. I do not consider myself related to you. My work is waiting. My bhakthas [devotees] are waiting. Good-by(e). Worship me every Thursday.”
With that, Baba left home to begin the life of a god-possessed holy man. His mother pleaded with him to come back, but it was too late; throngs of Hindus were already crowding around the youth calling him "tiny prophet," "mysterious prodigy" and "God on earth."
'Divine': Such events are not unusual in India, where thousands of self-proclaimed gurus and holy men roam, begging for a living and teaching their faithful. But Baba the god-possessed is unique. He claims to be "the Lord come in human form," a reincarnation of Krishna, one of the major Hindu gods. And thousands of devout Hindus believe that the 42-year-old, bushy-haired holy man with flashing eyes and a voice “like the sound of a bell” can perform miracles, heal the sick and project his mind through time and space. Each November, 50,000 Indians trek to Puttaparti to celebrate his birthday. The former chief scientist in the government’s Ministry of Defense insists that Baba is "beyond the laws of physics and chemistry, a divine phenomenon, an incarnation."
Since he began leading the life of a holy man, Baba’s "miracles" have become legend throughout India. A leading lawyer swears that Baba cured him of Parkinson’s disease with a wave of his hand, and Baba is said to have walked along the seashore at Cape Comorin in South India with prayer beads forming magically at his feet after each step. He reportedly produces the Bhagavad Gita and sandalwood statuettes of Krishna from the sand by magic, and once, when travelling in a car that ran out of gas, is said to have turned a bucketful of water into gasoline. When a murderer appeared at his religious school disguised in holy garb, the story goes, Baba detected the villain immediately and told him: "Confess your crime. There is no escape." And Charles Penn, an American pilot, insists that Baba miraculously appeared at his side during a crash landing in India.
Stroke: But Baba probably performed his most spectacular "miracle" in 1963 at his Puttaparti school. His doctors say he collapsed with a stroke and four heart attacks, and refused medical help for a week. Then he was carried into his prayer hall and miraculously cured himself before an audience of 5,000. Baba explained that he had taken on himself the heart attacks and paralysis of "a forlorn person," since only he could survive them. "You may call these miracles," says Baba, "but for me they are just my way. For me they are no mystery. They are part of my essential miraculousness."
Baba apparently showed the promise of divinity at an early age: as a schoolboy, he is said to have amazed his classmates by making pens, pencils and books materialize out of thin air, and once he held a teacher helplessly stuck in a chair with a mental whammy.
Today, Baba leads a colorful and comfortable life, rising before dawn to lead his followers in chants and religious songs, then withdrawing for meditation. [Ravi: I am not sure about the withdrawing for meditation part's accuracy.] He dines on milk and sweets [Ravi: I am not sure about the milk and sweets part's accuracy], and each day selects several followers for interviews and counseling. Twice each day - in the morning and evening – his students throng around him for a bhajan (religious song) meeting and burn ceremonial camphor sticks. Baba tells them to lead a clean life, observe strict silence, avoid gossip and study Hindu scriptures. Unlike nearly all Indian holy men, Baba never accepts gifts or cash contributions. [Ravi: I think that should read Baba never solicits gifts or cash contributions. Also I think there would have been many Indian holy men then who did not solicit gifts or cash contributions.]
Path: Westerners may remain skeptical about Baba’s miracles, but his skills as a minister and teacher are not to be lightly dismissed. Baba says his mission is dharma-samsthapana – restoring justice to the world [Ravi: restoring ethical living/life to the world, would be more accurate], teaching men how to follow the "moral path." Sometimes Baba’s advice is full of mystical double-talk, and sometimes he preaches the most threadbare platitudes. But occasionally he rises to the mystic simplicity that lies at the heart of Oriental religion. "Do not fall so much love with the world,” he once said. “You find out the world is mad and foolish, full of crooks and cranks. Use the world as a training ground for liberation. Stand a little apart and watch both the play and the director who produces it."
At bottom, Baba’s lasting appeal may lie not in his miracles or his claim to be Krishna reincarnated, but as one Indian Government official put it, in his "human touch, his ability to enter into the hearts of men and plant a seed of faith." And that he surely has done. As one devout middle-aged woman put it; "He is my god. He is divine. What else do I want?"
Newsweek, November 17, 1969
Comments
Post a Comment