Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

I recently read the term Puttaparthi Mafia (PPM) in a Facebook post by which the author of the post seemed to be referring to supporters of Puttaparthi Sai mission who expose the truth about Muddenahalli (MDH) spiritual fraud. Well, these people seem to be vehemently opposed to knowing and accepting the TRUTH. They want to muzzle exposure of MDH spiritual fraud. India and many countries in the world have freedom of speech. So MDH supporters better learn to live with the TRUTH of MDH spiritual fraud being written in social media and elsewhere (like a court of law in India). Further, if they don't like Puttaparthi Sai mission supporters they may please stay away from Puttaparthi Sai mission. Puttaparthi Sai mission has already been badly damaged by TRAITORS. Why do they want to damage it even further by coining names like Puttaparthi Mafia? Is this how they show their love for the Puttaparthi Sai mission created and nurtured by our beloved Lord, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba? Is ...

Last modified on 17th August 2015 From Sathyam Shivam Sundaram, Volume 1 by N. Kasturi [ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=M_RdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT102&lpg=PT102 ] Baba was engaged even during those early days in Upadesh; in fact, His Life is one continuous Upadesh. A clear example of this is the Upadesham He gave to Digambara Swami, when he came to Puttaparthi, in 1941. The town of Bukkapatnam was all agog with the visit of this ascetic, an aged man, who had lost the use of both his legs, who had discarded dress, and therefore was looked upon by the masses as a triple example of sagehood. His admirers were eager to watch the reactions of Baba, when pitted against a veteran of many hardships. The Digambara Swami had taken also a vow of silence and so, the curiosity of the people became greater. The sweet little Divine Child met the Hefty Hero, who was carried to the village and deposited in front of the Karnam's House. Baba gave the unclothed Sage a big towel (!) and some ...

I have given below a comment I recently made in this Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/terry.reiskennedy/posts/10207585852663211 I have heard Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Sai Kulwant Hall speaking (sometime after 2002) about why he does not go abroad even though Sai devotees abroad keep praying fervently for him to come. This is direct hearing and not listening to any audio file or reading any discourse text both of which could be edited. The reason he gave for not going abroad was something on the lines of Him first attending to Bharat's (India's) problems. Brother Sathyajit Salian, who did many years of very dedicated personal level service to Bhagavan, and for which I have heard Bhagavan praise Him to the skies in Sai Kulwant Hall, with my own ears (not audio file or discourse text), shared some words of Bhagavan in a talk he gave (after Mahasamadhi). Sathyajit said that in the ending period of Bhagavan's sojourn on earth when he was physically quite down, Sathyaj...

Losing my religion for equality: 2009 article by former USA President Jimmy Carter,  http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html . A couple of small extracts from it: "I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service." ... "The Elders are an independent group of eminent glob...

Fascinating photo of Swami! [Courtesy: Facebook user Shubha Ramesh Kumar, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155740118030538&set=p.10155740118030538&type=1 ] How he played the various human roles he took upon himself, with so much identification with the role. The great actor in the great drama/Maya of existence! I cannot but be reminded of how Krishna, as per Swami's accounts of Krishna, played the role of charioteer of Arjuna, very well, doing all the tasks of charioteers like washing the horses after the day's battle. Note that Krishna was a king then, who took upon himself the role of the charioteer of Arjuna, to steer the great Mahabharata war to victory for the Dharmic Pandavas over the Adharmic but militarily far more powerful Kauravas. What an awesome TEACHER we Sai devotees have been blessed with! Jai Sairam!

While I knew that many US cities were tough on the homeless (as, I guess, they want to keep their cities looking nice and there may also be some security concerns regarding some of the homeless) but can giving them food be illegal with a fine or even a jail term if the fine is not paid? I could not believe the change.org petition, Charging a Good Samaritan for feeding the homeless punishable by a fine or jail time in Denver?,  https://www.change.org/p/john-hickenlooper-release-the-ban-on-citizens-giving-food-to-the-homeless-in-denver . But here's a Nov. 2014 Mother Jones report, Is Giving Food to the Homeless Illegal in Your City Too?, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/90-year-old-florida-veteran-arrested-feeding-homeless-bans , which shows that it is true in many cities in the USA!!! What a shocker! I think such a law being passed in democratic India, at least in the three decades and more that I have lived in India as an adult, and in the coming decades, was, is an...

The first reactions of people being exposed to truth about misdeeds of those in positions of power, whether it be a spiritual organization, a commercial orgn., lower government offices or even highest government offices, is shock followed by, many times, anger against the messengers of the bad news truth. Off with the head of the bad news messenger has been the cry of many powerful people and their supporters, over the ages, and so, over the ages, messengers of bad news truth (whistle blowers is the current term) have had to face the wrath of some people, and sometimes even lost their heads! However, especially in our Internet revolutionized early twenty-first century world, it is far better to face up to the truth, even if it is bad news, rather than sweep the bad news truth under the carpet. Sweeping it under the carpet may have worked, to some extent, in the twentieth century, but is a terrible management approach to problems, in today's times. Denial of real problems will ...