Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

The great Pakistani qawwali singer, Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahab and party singing a variation of multi-faith song whose authorship is attributed to Guru Nanak (founder of Sikh religion): (only audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66CdTLhMuwk , 13 min. 49 secs. The song is titled "Koi Bole Ram Ram Koi Khudaye" which means some say Ram Ram (Hindus who worship Rama) and some say Khuda (Muslims who worship Allah referred to as Khuda). Here's a video of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahab and party singing it live in a Gurudwara (Sikh place of worship) in 1989 (the video and audio quality is middling): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88QkKR5WvIo , around 30 mins. Here are the lyrics with English translation of the original song: http://forum.spiritualindia.org/sai-baba-videos-and-audios/koi-bole-ram-ram-koi-khudae-(with-lyrics-meaning)/ . Note that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has added some words of his own in the renditions mentioned above. ----- Young Sikh singers giving th...

I support the wife of Maharashtra CM (Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis) attending a Christmas Charity event and tweeting about it. Being a Hindu does not mean that one should not attend charity and good faith events associated with other religions. I think early 21st century Hinduism in free and independent India should be secure and confident of itself, such that attending charity and good faith events of other religions does not lead to fear about Hinduism in India being threatened! In this early 21st century India, my faith in, and practice of, Hinduism is certainly very secure and I don't feel threatened in the least if I attend a faith event of another religion. She had attended the event in Mumbai which is, by and large, a great example of a city with multi-faith appreciation (and not just tolerance) even though the majority is Hindu. I say this as a person born and bred in Mumbai and who spent most of his commercial work life of around two decades in Mumbai. I hope Ms. ...

22nd April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. Given below are the contents of two of my recent Facebook posts and some of my comments on them. From my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2035692856647281 , dated 13th Dec. 2017: I have unblocked Mr. V.R. Ganti on Facebook and sent him a Facebook message A few minutes ago I unblocked Mr. V.R. Ganti and sent him a Facebook message as follows: Sairam V.R. Ganti sir, As you continue to be somebody who has relentlessly been critical of Asathya-Adharma of Muddenhalli group, I have unblocked you on Facebook and, if you are willing to interact with me, I would like to continue interactions with you on Muddenahalli matters. Of course, I will not interact with you on anything critical that you may say on Prasanthi Nilayam, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and its trustees. I am a supporter of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. Regards Ravi S...

Last updated on 21st April 2020 21st April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. I am currently facing some health issues due to which I had initially decided not to write about such a sensitive matter thereby avoiding the emotional stress of writing the post and facing any negative reactions to it. I had hoped that some others would write on it in social media but I think that the Sai univeristy and Sai schools run directly under physical form Bhagavan till His Mahasamadhi, are so highly respected in the Sai fraternity that most people active on social media about Sai matters prefer to stay silent on these topics. So I think I am the only guy who is willing to write about this topic on social media. My conscience is driving me to put up this public post. My view is that sharing these matters publicly will better inform the Sathya Sai fraternity in general, and the Sai educational institutions faculty in part...

Last updated on  22nd April 2020 22nd April 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 is based on a recent comment exchange I had with a person on Facebook. Given below are my comments (slightly edited) from that exchange. Those who want to view the full exchange may view the original exchange on my Facebook post here:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2032164650333435 . ------ In my view, Sathya Sai has given us clear unambiguous (hard) statements about not accepting mediums and communicators. Somebody can choose to ignore those statements of Sathya Sai. But that does not change the reality that Sathya Sai did make those clear statements. And, as far I can recall, Sathya Sai has made NO STATEMENT about having a chosen communicator after he gave up the body. --- Well, I am bothered by Madhusudan's words being conveyed as Sathya Sai's words, and his so called "discourses...

Last updated on  23rd April 2020 23rd April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. Some time back today, I saw a recent so called darshan video of so called chosen communicator Madhusudan Rao Naidu, https://www.facebook.com/srisathyasaivrinda/videos/734574910071374/ . The guy has become so confident now in this role! Narasimhamurthy (once we used to refer to him respectfully as Narasimhamurthy sir) now comes across as the dutiful elderly assistant of Madhu Baba during Madhu Baba's darshan round! One of the Parthi school teachers who has joined Muddenahalli group is seen reverentially speaking to Madhu Baba like he would have spoken to real physical form Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba! My God! The craving that some people have for physical form interaction with Swami is to such an extent that for them now Madhu Baba is Swami! Prior to Madhu Baba public drama debut in May 2014, even in my wildest dreams I w...

22nd April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. The public Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/selvi.samuvael/posts/1937482699619246 , dated 8th Dec. 2017, questions Madhusudan Rao Naidu's status as a Guru. It shares a quote of Sathya Sai from http://www.sathyasai.org/events/festival/gurupoornima-2017 . I have given below a larger extract from this link: Who is a Guru? Sathya Sai Baba declares that the true guru is one who can raise the student to his own level and who has no ego or selfishness. He cautions that there are many in the world today who profess to be gurus and that we must use our discrimination and look for the signs of a true guru— one who is completely selfless, equal-minded and without envy. He teaches that the true guru will lead us to discover that we are our own guru—the God within. "Many unwary spiritual aspirants are attracted by the magic of words and the verbal gymnast...