Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Given below are contents of my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1664944943722076 : SSSCT trustees Sri V. Srinivasan and Sri Naganand vocally, openly and forcefully criticized DUAL LOYALTY (Muddenahalli group related) among any office bearers in Singapore; Wonderful! [SSSCT stands for Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the top official Sathya Sai orgn. body.] Some extracts from Sri Vr Ganti​'s recent note, "V Srinivasan, Naganand & Satyajit Salian - Visit to Singapore - A Great Initiative", https://www.facebook.com/notes/vr-ganti/v-srinivasan-naganand-satyajit-salian-visit-to-singapore-a-great-initiative/10205211929762472 : The main message carried out by them [Ravi: SSSCT trustees] was that Sai Devotees could go anywhere, worship anybody and participate in any activity of any other religious or spiritual organization  (including Muddenhalli) and donate as much money they wish to,  so long as they are not office bearers in the Sai Organiz...

Last updated on 19th Sept. 2015 Ganesh Chaturthi festival started yesterday (17th Sept. 2015). Some info. about it from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi : Ganesha Chaturthi (Gaṇēśa Caturthī or Vināyaka Caviti) is the Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the god Ganesha, who has an elephant-head. The festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between August and September. The festival usually lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). The modern festival involves installing clay images of Ganesha in public pandals (temporary shrines), which are worshipped for ten days. These are immersed at the end of the festival in a body of water such as a lake, along with the idol. Some Hindus also install the clay images of Ganesha in their homes. The festival was celebrated as...

Last updated on 18th Sept. 2020 18th Sept. 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. This post got missed out in the name-snipping I did some months ago. Given below are my Facebook share comments on a recent Facebook post by brother Satyajit Salian,  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1664450623771508 . The Sai devotee world is watching now how the leaders of the Puttaparthi mission will counter the FALSE CLAIMS of Muddenhalli so called subtle body and so called communicator. Let us see what Sri V. Srinivasan (trustee, SSSCT), Sri Naganand (trustee, SSSCT), and brother Satyajit Salian speak in their public meetings in East Asian countries including Singapore. I think it is now quite well established by Mr. Vr Ganti​ that some members of official Sai orgn. Singapore (and perhaps some leaders of official Sai orgn. Singapore in the past) are sympathisers/believers/supporters of so called Muddenhalli subtle...

The September 2015 issue of Sanathana Sarathi carries a fascinating article titled, "Swami's Miracles show His Infinite Love for Humanity" by Dr. V. Mohan, a medical doctor and convener of the Board of Trustees, Sri Sathya Sai Trust, Tamil Nadu, India. The article details a few medical miracles witnessed personally by Dr. V. Mohan, where the concerned patients were devotees of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, with the miracles happening on their or Dr Mohan's prayer to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In the article Dr. V. Mohan writes: Sceptics and non-believers often ask me, if there are so many miracles, why does not Baba cure everyone and why does He build hospitals for treating patients, even given that everything is done 100% free of cost. I do not have answers to such questions, but I do know one thing. To be a beneficiary of His grace, we must be worthy of it. Secondly, we should have full faith in Him. Swami has often said that only when our faith meets His gra...

Embodiments of Love! I am not asking all of you to become renunciants. Do your duty and keep your focus on God. Realise that there is one fundamental basis for everything. Once you recognise this truth, you will develop detachment automatically. It is not possible to to develop a sense of detachment by force. As you develop love for God more and more, detachment will go on increasing in you. The secret lies in turning your mind towards God. Here is a lock and here is the key. Turn the key towards right, the lock opens. Turn it towards left, it closes. Your heart is the lock and mind is the key. You turn the mind towards God, you get liberation. You turn it towards the world, you get bondage. That is why it is said, Manah Eva Manushyanam Karanam Bandhamokshayo (mind is the cause of bondage and liberation of man). The above extract is from Divine discourse of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 10th Sept. 1996 [Printed in Sanathana Sarathi, Sept. 2...

Rescuing Islam, one fatwa at a time, http://www.asianage.com/columnists/rescuing-islam-one-fatwa-time-476 , dated 16th Sept. 2015 A couple of small extracts: Regrettably, it’s a time of great distress for moderate, peace-loving, mystically-inclined and Sufism-inspired Islamic scholars. The extremists easily command the headlines and, thus, obscure what the mainstream, moderate Muslim thinkers are saying and doing to save Islam from the clutches of the radicals’ gross misinterpretations. ... The recently issued 1,100-page fatwa by Indian Islamic cleric Mufti Misbahi is a welcome effort to counter terrorism. The fatwa, drafted after four-month-long rigorous research, must be studied thoroughly. Refuting the misguiding claims of the ISIS, Mufti Misbahi surmised: “Our religion deems even those who mistreat animals as criminals. While Islam teaches us to abandon the mistreatment towards animals, there is an entity which beheads, defiles and maims people with impunity. How can that en...

Last updated on 6th Aug. 2022 I would like to first say that I believe in Shirdi Sai Baba's teaching of "Sabka Maalik Ek" (The master of all is ONE). In other words, I believe in ONE GOD with various religions including Islam being various paths/ways to worship and merge in that ONE GOD. Specifically, I am not against Islam, and am actually supportive of it, so long as it does not interfere in the right of others (like me, a Hindu) to practise their faiths which are different from Islam  (e.g. Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism) . Shirdi Sai Baba used to say "Allah Maalik" (Allah/God is the master) very often; I revere the same Shirdi Sai Baba, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi ,  and try to follow His teachings. Today's (14th Sept. 2015) The Hindu carried an email interview of Audrey Truschke, Mellon postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, in the context of her forthcomi...