Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Last updated on 3rd March 2021 Thought I should inform readers that as I now write about various spiritual groups and spiritual masters, and am not limited to writing about Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I have changed my (main) social media profiles (Facebook, Blogger, Twitter and LinkedIn) to reflect that. I have labelled myself just as a writer on spirituality & religion as well as worldly topics. In the details about me, of course, I refer to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. For e.g. in my blog About Me page, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/about-ravi-s-iyer.html  , I write: "I am deeply grateful to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and try hard to follow His teachings but am not successful all the time. I have my fair share of human flaws. I think it is appropriate for me to mention here that I pray to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba everyday." The reason for putting up this post is to let new visitors who visit my social media profiles to know that I now am a writer on general...

Close to a month ago, on 27th Jan. 2021, I received an email from "The Google Search Team" with the message, "Hello Ravi S. Iyer,  Your account is now verified and your knowledge panel on Google has been claimed.". Associated screenshot is given below. [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.] I also made some changes to my Notion Press author profile which has now been reflected in Google Knowledge Panel (GKP). The GKP as it is shown today, 22nd Feb. 2021, is given below. Note that the 'Claim this knowledge panel' button is no longer shown at the bottom of the GKP. Given below are screenshots of how Google search for: ravi s iyer shows my GKP on the right of the results window. The link for my GKP is: https://g.co/kgs/XoDk94 . It took many months for this claiming process to be completed as I had initiated the Google Knowledge Panel ...

Last updated on 23rd Feb. 2021 Sri B.V. Narasimha Swamiji, Great Apostle of Shirdi Sai Baba Pic courtesy: http://omshirdisaibaba.blogspot.com/2012/06/apostle-of-sri-sai-baba.html https://bonjanrao.blogspot.com/2012/08/b-v-narasimhaswamiji.html (referred to later as Bonjanrao blog post) has a detailed account of the life and work of Shri B.V. Narasimha Swamiji (BVNS) who is viewed as the 'Great Apostle' of Shirdi Sai Baba, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi . This account has been written by Late Shri Bondada Janardhana Rao, Shirdi Sai Baba pracharak (preacher/disseminator). [5th June 2018 post, https://bonjanrao.blogspot.com/2018/06/sad-demise-of-compiler-of-this-blog.html , by a Shri Murali Krishna informs us of the sad passing away of Shri Bondada Janardhana Rao on 12th May 2018.] I first would like to convey my gratitude to Shri B. Janardhana Rao, pracharak of Shirdi Sai Baba, for the above account of Shri B.V. Narasimha Swamiji and for the many other posts r...

The 'Great Apostle' of Shirdi Sai Baba, B.V. Narasimha Swami (BVNS; https://bonjanrao.blogspot.com/2012/08/b-v-narasimhaswamiji.html has a detailed bio) went in 1933 to stay with Upasni Maharaj (1870 to 1941),  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upasni_Maharaj , in Sakori, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. He later wrote a biography on Upasni Maharaj titled, "Sage of Sakori", https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Sage_of_Sakori.html?id=WleZHAAACAAJ , which seems to have been first published in 1935. In all probability, Upasni Maharaj himself would have provided some details to BVNS for this book. A 1948 edition published by Upasni Maharaj ashram is available for free download at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.59159/page/n3/mode/2up . It has positive reviews of the book from some publications in India like Sunday Times, Madras, The Hindu Mind, Kumbakonam and Scholar, Palaghat as well as by noted persons like S. Radhakrishnan, who was then Vice-Chancellor...

Given below are some quotes of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba from Sanathana Sarathi Sept. 2020: [Below quotes are from 29th April 1996 discourse in Kodaikanal:] "There are presently so many people in the world. Similarly, there were many people when Rama and Krishna incarnated on earth. Did all of them worship Rama and Krishna? Did all of them have firm faith in their Avatarhood? No. If you have a photo or idol of God before you, you should believe that it has life force. That is the truth." "Devotees have been worshipping God since ancient times. But they do not attain what they desire from God in spite of worshipping Him for a long time. What is the reason? The reason is that the devotees do not have the firm conviction that the idol or picture they are worshipping is endowed with the Living Presence of the Divine. If they feel the Divine Presence, they will experience Divine Bliss." "God has the form of bliss which is eternal and indestructible. But man does ...

Yesterday night I was going through Sanathana Sarathi (English) January 2021 issue (print version). It had an article covering Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's 1st Jan. 1992 discourse. Given below are some quotes of Bhagavan from this discourse-article: 'The greatest cause of bondage is the failure to know himself. An individual who is not aware of his true self cannot escape from sorrow.' ... 'Hence, the destination for man is the realisation of his divinity. This realisation must come through the Vedantic process of exclusion ("Neti, Neti" "not this, not this"). "I am not the body. I am not the intellect. I am not the Will. I am not the Antahkarana (the inner instrument)." All these are only instruments. Man should realise: "I am the master of all of them". When by this process of elimination man realises his true Self, he is freed from sorrow. Man's most precious and sacred gift from God is Buddhi (intelligence). The intellig...

Last updated on 7th Feb. 2021 Firstly, who is Bhakti Tirtha Swami? His wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_Tirtha_Swami , tells us that he was born in 1950 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA in a Christian family and was named John Edwin Favors. He appeared on TV as a child to preach Christianity. In 1968 he studied in Princeton University (a prestigious US university) earning a B.A. in Psychology and African American Studies in 1972. While studying in Princeton University, he got associated with Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights movement and was at the forefront of political activism on campus. After he finished his studies in Princeton, he made a big turn from his academic studies and political activism life to join Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON) in 1973! He eventually became a guru and preacher in ISKCON and a governing body commissioner! He met leaders like Nelson Mandela and Kenneth Kaunda, had many media interviews, and wrote 17 books on religious topics. He founded...