In armchair critic Vir Sanghvi's latest attack on Hindu Godmen, he disingenuously states, "The truth is that every single “miracle” performed by India’s swamis can be reproduced — with more skill — by any moderately talented magician."
Apparently Vir Sanghvi has not done very thorough, if any, research as there are many miracles such as healings(Ref. 1),(Ref. 2) attributed to both Sathya Sai Baba and Shirdi Sai Baba (not to mention other Hindu Masters) which cannot and have not been duplicated by magicians.
"Some years ago Dr. Osis discussed our observations with Doug Henning. Mr. Henning said that he could, with advance preparation, duplicate all the phenomena he saw on the film. But when Dr. Osis described the incident in which the enamel stone with Sai Baba's picture disappeared from Dr. Osis' ring, Mr. Henning commented that this was beyond the skills of the magicians. He stated further that if Sai Baba produces objects on demand, then he is performing feats that no magician can duplicate."
The operative phrase here is, "with advance preparation". The truth is, no person has been more "investigated and scrutinized" on the spot than Sathya Sai Baba in the over eighty years he has been alive. Over several decades, hundreds of books have been written about the miraculous phenomena surrounding Sathya Sai Baba. In the early seventies, socially conscious playwright and award-winning screenwriter, Rod Serling narrated Man of Miracles: Sathya Sai Baba in a series for broadcast television in the United States.
According to a January 24, 2002 obituary in The Arizona Republic, Dr. Frank Baranowski Ph.D.:
"appeared on the Larry King Show and was tested at four colleges and six clinics, including the famous Schmertz in Basel, Switzerland, for his amazing ability to see the human aura. He was featured in the motion pictures 'Mind, Body & Spirit,'' ''The Psychic Connection'' and has appeared on ''Sightings' ' and ''Unsolved Mysteries.'' Dr. Baranowski was covered by all major networks, the BBC and Canadian television. The consummate radio professional, Baranowski had a faithful and enormous audience on his ''Mysteries Around Us'' program."
Dr. Baranowski made the following statement about Sai Baba:
"Now, I have always been able to see the human aura. The auras around average people extend as much as three to five feet. Auras are composed of every imaginable colour and these colours change as a person's emotional, physical and mental states change. In general, whenever the colour blue is evident in a person's aura, it is an indication of deep spirituality; green is a healing color; yellow indicates high intelligence; and red means anger or frustration.
The colour pink, which is rarely seen, typifies a person capable of selfless love, and this was the colour that Sathya Sai Baba had around Him. The aura around Sathya Sai Baba went beyond the building reaching thirty or forty feet in all directions. Never having seen any aura like this before, my first reaction was to look for fluorescent lights, which may have been shining on Him. But as I watched, the beautiful pink energy pattern moved as He moved; there was no doubt that this was His aura.
Entranced by this remarkable sight, I barely heard the devotional songs that were being sung, and before I knew it, Sathya Sai Baba had gone. The crowd settled in the now-familiar cross-legged positions and prepared themselves to wait until Sathya Sai Baba's next appearance, four hours later.
I have had the pleasure of meeting such personalities as ex-president Gerald Ford, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and Pope John Paul II, and I have studied their auras as well as tens of thousands of others, I say this not as a testimonial but as a fact; not one person I have ever seen has an aura to compare to the size and colour of Sathya Sai Baba's aura." Read more
More recently, temples dedicated to Sai Baba and devotees have been releasing photos onto the internet of miraculous phenomena attributed to Sathya Sai Baba while skeptics remain totally mum about their existence (Ref.).
The last time Mr. Sanghvi wrote an article (The Truth about Sathya Sai Baba) bashing Sai Baba, his minions were quick to censor and delete both my comments and those of my associate Joe Moreno, webmaster of saisathyasai.com. (Ref.) This type of censorship has been a common occurrence when dealing with those inimical to spirituality, Hinduism and Sathya Sai Baba. While skeptics like Vir Sanghvi look down their noses and prattle about "ethics and honesty," their actions show anything but an honest spirit of debate. The skeptics are so threatened by the facts that they have taken to using the media to publish one-sided articles in which they think they will not be held accountable for their dishonest tactics. Skeptics try to present their opinions as fact and try to act like they are being objective when the truth is they are using their half-baked opinions to make money (while simultaneously pretending they have no selfish motives).
Dr. Venkataraman, who is the director of RadioSai.org, recently addressed Vir Sanghvi's unsubstantiated accusations about Sathya Sai Baba by stating,
"Not all need believe that Baba is an Avatar. However, that disbelief does not give them the right to support unsubstantiated slander or cast aspersions on His social missions, and that too without even having bothered to become acquainted with the basic facts – anybody with decency would concede that there is no private charitable Trust that has done so much for the poor and the underprivileged of this country on the health and drinking water fields as Baba has done."
Professor Venkataraman is right. Religious beliefs are sacrosanct while criminal accusations must be addressed by law enforcement, nottrial by internet.
One does have to wonder why a supposedly successful editor of a Hindu newspaper has taken upon himself the stance of bashing Hindus for the purpose of making money in written form. Does it pay well?
Update: My comment was posted (05/04/08) here (page 2) on Vir Sanghvi's newest article.
Clearly, Puttaparthi is a medieval fiefdom, ruled over by its despotic feudal Lord Sai Baba, and his shameless barons such as Indulal Shah, impervious to the forces of the law.--Barry Pittard, Anti-Sai Extremist
Barry Pittard, the self-proclaimed, self-promoting international coordinator for the anti-Sai Baba movement, has been huffing and puffing for years, daily obsessing over accusations regarding Sai Baba and gossiping like an old woman drunk on rum balls at a tea party. Barry has spammed the internet with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of his dishonest diatribes filled with unsubstantiated second-hand stories (hearsay), misrepresentations and half-truths for which anti-Sais are so well-known. One frustrated blogger named Rajeev even wrote,
"I keep getting mail from some (white Christian?) Australian nut-case about how he has evidence that the Sai Baba molested children, but the evidence never materializes. Compare this to the hundreds, if not thousands, of Catholic priests accused and many formally convicted in court of large-scale pedophilia across several continents."
One ex-devotee connected to the anti-Sai campaign wrote complaining about Pittard's secrecy and stalling tactics in 2001 (Ref.)
59: 11-01-01 TERRIE “I agree with you about the non-value of hearsay. That is one reason that I have ‘retired’ from the exposé, except for helping a little with Sunrise. The Sunrise staff will not emphasize the molestation stories because we don’t know anyone personally who was molested. We also will no longer post letters by someone who says, “I know somone who was molested,” or “I’m in contact with victims.” If the so-called victims want to fight for what is right, then it is up to them to speak out and use their real names, not send their message via a third party. It is the victims who should be carrying the exposé, not those who are relying on hearsay.”
66: 11-05-01 TERRIE “Barry, I am not the ex-devotee in the street. I’ve helped with Sunrise almost from its beginning and have monitored discussion boards. If you and everyone else who personally knows victims have not seen fit to put even one victim in touch with me (aside from the few well known victims who have posted their stories on the Internet), where does that put faith and trust? Do you think I am going to shout the names of sb’s victims from the rooftops??? I am therefore put in my present position of not being a credible witness to anything. Time to leave the floundering exposé.”
Another anti-Sai posting as SUNRISE (representing the Snowcrest/Sunrise website which is run by a Christian pastor named Dennis Engdahl) wrote:
73: 11-08-01 SUNRISE "We continue to feel that the victims should be out there fighting for themselves and any future victims there might be. The current situation reminds us of the prince (victims) who sends his servant (non-victims working for the exposé) to fetch the bride (the truth about sb). The bride never makes it back to the prince, but runs off with the servant. (Without the victims, the truth will be known only to a few "believers," and the exposé will fail.)
The exposé cannot succeed without the victims having the courage to present themselves before the world and tell their story. But perhaps a global catrastrophe will make it all unecessary. SB will go down in the general chaos."
Yes folks, this is the mentality of these apocalyptic vigilantes! They hope there will be a global catastrophe which would kill Sai Baba AND many others just so they don't have to demand that accusers press charges as is required of ALL alleged victims of crimes!
By Pittard's own admission he was kicked out of the ashram in 1982 and told never to return again after spreading the same type of gossip he is now recycling on the internet. Somehow, Pittard was able to weasel his way back into the ashram with a woman named Shanti in the late nineties only to cause more problems. The truth is, not even ONE of the dubiously alleged "hundreds of mostly white adult (not children) male victims" have had the guts to file charges or file a court case despite even more dubious anti-Sai claims of 'irrefutable evidence' that Sai Baba is a 'pedophile' and years of brow beating the public over the head with bullying (Ref.) and fearmongering tactics. Even the BBC could not find any Indian children claiming to have been molested and resorted to parading two white adult males (who contradicted their previous stories) in the Secret Swami 'crockumentary'. Where are all the abused Indian children and their irate parents, Barry?
One must note that while Pittard claims to have "world-class legal resources" at his beck and call, not one lawyer has chosen to represent any of those accusers or even make a statement backing Pittard's claims. In other words there are NO legal entities backing Barry Pittard's claims. In fact, Barry Pittard tries to cover up the fact that not one of the accusers, all adults, has ever even tried to file charges with the police in India. Accusers ONLY tell their tales of woe to anti-Sai activists and the media yet avoid law enforcement and even money hungry lawyers.
From 2002 until his unseating in 2005, the very ignorant MP, Tony Colman was being used by anti-Sai activists (including Barry Pittard) to try and smear Sai Baba in Parliament as a pedophile without any proof whatsoever. Colman even wrote Prime Minister Tony Blair several letters, all documented on the UK government website (Ref.). In one of several letters, Prime Minister Blair replied to Colman,
Officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and other Government Departments are aware of the many allegations against Sai Baba. Our High Commission in New Delhi and Deputy High Commission in Chennai continue to monitor the situation closely. However, as I understand, FCO Ministers explained to you last year, there is little that the Government can do. Those who have complaints against Sai Baba will have to take them to the Indian police. No formal charges have been brought against him.
Pittard also covers up the fact that all the identified accusers claims are past the statute of limitations, even though he claims to be in contact with competent lawyers. How's that for 'accountability' Barry? Yet Barry Pittard continues to hide behind his smoke screen, ranting and raving like a prima donna about his many anonymous contacts and 'informants'. Like most anti-Sais, Pittard pretends to know things he does not know and generally makes a fool of himself by refusing to answer legitimate questions regarding accusations while hypocritically babbling about 'lack of accountability' and 'cult-like secretiveness'; all qualities he himself exhibits on a daily basis while he peddles his agenda from behind a self-made iron curtain as he acts as a front man for a group of white (except for an Iranian-American and a African-Brit) adult males who claim to have been molested but were too cowardly to file charges in India within statutory mandates.
Anti-Sai apologists have erroneously tried to claim and even outright stated that they do not need a court of law (Ref.) to find Sathya Sai Baba guilty. Pittard et al use the excuse (just one of many ruses) that they have ‘irrefutable evidence'. This is the type of illogic and dishonesty which drives a smear campaign run almost exclusively by white male foreigners who feel emboldened to harass the Sai Organization, worldwide devotees, the Indian people and Indian government in the name of justice. It is important to note that the identified accusers are also adult, predominantly white male foreigners. This smear campaign is a lot like a Hollywood movie set. From a distance it looks 'real', but when you get up close and examine the structure of the buildings, you find they are all phony fronts. No substance. Phony. False fronts. Unsubstantiated accusations along with cult-like pressure tactics (guilt-tripping, etc.) and feeding the hysteria and apparent lie 'that children are being molested' has led to the manipulation of ignorant and unsuspecting journalists (Ref. 1), (Ref. 2), (Ref.3) hoping to make a name for themselves. 'Guilty until proven innocent,' is the philosophy they try to inculcate in others (including me when I began to look into their accusations in 2002) and what makes this extra-legal movement so very dangerous as they suspiciously try to hold justice hostage by making serious criminal accusations which have not been vetted through the legal system.
Barry Pittard lied when he claimed in an article posted on the Snowcrest/Sunrise website in September 2001:
Until the NEXUS article, mentioned below, I dismissed for many years as absurd no fewer than nine accounts of sexual abuse by Sai Baba, five of which I had heard between 1978 and 1982, and two shortly before I read the article, the rest between 1997 and 2000.
In a previous article dated just two months earlier (July 14, 2001) Pittard bragged about his attempt to "bring Sai Baba to justice...cough, cough" when he wrote:
Very crucially, we speak of April, 1982. I left Puttparthi to seek out two great saints, to get their assistance in how I should dharmically go about handling a report made to me that Sai Baba had been engaged in homosexual activity since he was a boy.
One of these spiritual figures was Swami Chidananda, the successor to the historically renowned Swami Shivandanda, of the Divine Life Mission, at Rishikesh. The other was Ananda Mai Ma, of Haridwar, of whom you can read in Yogananda's famous Autobiography of a Yogi. My process is too involved to do justice to. In essence, I decided that because of my experiences of countless incredible experiences of Sai Baba whom I regarded as totally Divine, the stories could not be true.
I got back to Puttaparthi in July. An Australian woman knew that I had lived lengthily around Sai Baba. She was in some distress. She told me that she had heard Sai Baba was had at some time engaged in homosexual activity. I told her I would do my best to address the matter. I went to the famous author, my fellow Australian, Howard Murphet, who has written a series of best selling books on Sai Baba, and to Richard Bayer, from the U.S.A., the most senior Sai Organization official then present at Puttaparthi.... Murphet was as finely courteous as Bayer was extremely rude.
Within days, I was told by Kutumb Rao, the then Manager of Puttaparthi, a retired Judge of the Andhra Pradesh Court, that Sai Baba had ordered him to send me out, never to return.
The Snowcrest website (also known as Sunrise), even labeled Pittard's article with the url tag, St. Barry! It is very clear from Pittard's comments and actions that he thought he was some great white super sleuth who was going to "expose" Sai Baba as being a homosexual. Some people have recently come forward claiming Barry Pittard was thrown out of the ashram for public nudity/indecent exposure (Ref.)! Barry Pittard impregnated a twenty year old out of wedlock when he was almost sixty years old and dishonestly claims on the internet she was his wife even though he never married her.
Front men such as Barry Pittard, whose connections to Nexus magazine and Adelaide Institute indicate that he may operate under the aegis of white supremacists, use anti-Hindu rhetoric and blatant misinformation to accuse the Indian government of a ‘crime’ it has not committed and attempt to mock justice by refusing to use the legal system to process suspicious, unsubstantiated accusations of sexual abuse and fraud. Intelligent people know it only takes ONEcredible victim to process such a claim so there is absolutely NO excuse considering Pittard et al repeatedly brag that they have 'irrefutable evidence' and numerous credible witnesses.
Duncan Roads, owner of Nexus Magazine showed his antipathy for and ignorance of the legal system when he posted the following comment (this website owned by Reinier van der Sandt has been permanently blocked due to malicious copyright infringement of saisathyasai.com...see exbaba.com guestbook, 2007 entries) on the Exbaba guestbook. And speaking of deception, all of the accusers in Duncan Roads dubious magazine article, Sai Baba: guru gone wrong?, (Ref.), alleging Sai Baba's pedophilia were ADULTS, not children! Duncan Roads claims he seriously investigated the accusations but has never once asked any of the ADULT male accusers (who he claims are children) to file charges. Why didn't Duncan Roads follow his very vocal, dramatic "true believer" convictions and use those deep pockets to get his alleged "victims" some help filing charges after he used them to make money selling his magazine? Actions speak much louder than words, Duncan.
Interestingly, Duncan Roads is an AIDS denier (who also says he is opened-minded about the Holocaust), along with the reptilian conspiracist David Icke. My position on the AIDS deniers is that they appear to be a group of racists who are targeting countries with people of color to spread their disinformation and many of these same people "just happen" to also be involved in the smear campaign against Sai Baba. Many years ago, before I ever knew about the accusations regarding Sai Baba, a friend of mine who used to work for the NSA told me Duncan Roads was a racist.
In a 1997 Sydney Morning Herald article titled The Plot Thickens, Richard Guillatt wrote,
Roads acknowledges he was somewhat naive in his early days as an editor; he printed an article on the banking system, for instance, without realising that its author was a White Supremacist who believes that interracial couples should be exterminated. These days, he assures me, he is careful to make sure articles are authoritative and well researched.
Yeah, right! We can see in the statement below from the exbaba.com guestbook how carefully researched and objective Duncan Roads comments are.
Home Page: Date: Wed Jan 03 04:01:25 2007 Referred By: Duncan Roads
Thank God more and more people are waking up to the fact that Sai Baba is a rapist and a pedophile.
If only more Sai Baba 'believers' would examine both sides of the debate and see for themselves, but they are obviously too afraid of learning that they have been conned.
Thus these 'true believers' still have major ego problems, else they would be able to read and confront the ugly truth of their deception.
Duncan Roads Editor Nexus Magazine
Barry Pittard, who is known in earlier years to have dyed his hair blonde, has specifically targeted a Rabbi, a doctor named Goldstein and a doctor Anand in his hate-based writings. In one of his recent hate-filled blog diatribes, Barry Pittard incorrectly calls and even libels Michael Jackson as a convicted megastar (with a pic of Jackson behind bars). The apparently power-drunk Pittard was asleep at the wheel when Jackson was acquitted on ALL counts! The accuser's mother was then arrested and convicted on welfare fraud charges as a result of evidence brought forth by Jackson's attorney. Is this attempt to smear an innocent black man just more anecdotal proof Pittard is a white supremacist? What part of INNOCENT until proven guilty doesn't Pittard and his democratically-challenged buddies understand?
Part of the purpose of this extra-legal campaign seems to be to incite public violence and enlist mentally unstable persons in an attempt to encourage the assassination of Sathya Sai Baba as well as to discredit and destabilize the Indian government.
Given Pittard's lynch mob, win-at-all-cost mentality and penchant for embellishing and attempting to legitimize claims which are just NOT credible given the KNOWN facts, I am seriously beginning to wonder if he is not an alcoholic and/or paranoid schizophrenic. When you combine the issue of Pittard's twisting and down right cover-up of many of the facts, one is left with the distinct impression that there is something very wrong with Barry Pittard.
One thing is certain though. Barry Pittard and other anti-Sais like Robert Priddy, Duncan Roads and Conny Larsson live in their own virtual reality where they think they can con the general public into believing "men" eighteen years and older are children who claim to have been molested! Go figure.
There is no greater Sadhana (spiritual exercise) than service. Service is the principle means for acquiring divine grace. Without being a devoted follower, you cannot become a worthy leader. If you are not willing to do work, you cannot attain divinity. Each one has to realize this truth. Service to society is the highest good. It is Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-violence that give happiness. These are the five principles that sustain life. Under no circumstances should these principles be given up. Render service to society with these principles in your mind, and with broad-minded dedication to the well-being of all.--Sathya Sai Baba, Thought for the Day, Sept. 11, 2009
SRI SATHYA SAI BABA A LIVING LEGEND AN EMBODIMENT OF LOVE FOR ALL MANKIND
We are deeply pained and anguished by the wild, reckless and concocted allegations made by certain vested interests and people against Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. We would normally expect that responsible media would ascertain the true facts before printing such calumny - especially when the person is revered globally as an embodiment of love and selfless service to humanity. Since this professional ethic has not been observed by a section of the media, we have elected to go public with this signed statement.
We are among several million people in the world who regard Sri Sathya Baba as a great spiritual master and teacher. We come from different nationalities and religions and greatly admire the fact that Sathya Sai Baba asks us to become a true follower of our chosen path. His is a message of truth, right conduct, love, peace and non-violence. He always emphasizes that these universal human values belong to all faiths and religious traditions.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba leads by example. he devotes all his time and energy for the well being of society. People from all walks of life and from all parts of world visit him in Prasanthi Nilayam (Andhra Pradesh, India). He meets them and showers his love and blessings on all those who seek him. He has been the sole inspiration behind some of the most monumental public service projects in recent times. He has set up schools, colleges and universities where finest qualify man-making education is imparted to all at no cost. His educational program of universal human values is being used by thousands of educational institutions all over the world. He has set up hospitals where complex surgical interventions are performed everyday without any cost to the patients. He has set up a mammoth clean drinking water network in drought-prone areas. Indeed the list of activities and projects inspired by him continues to grow with new projects being undertaken in all parts of the world.
We have had the privilege of meeting Sri Sathya Sai Baba many times and seeing him engage ceaselessly in community service projects.
We unequivocally condemn the baseless and malicious allegations being hurled upon Sathya Sai Baba in certain quarters. Great men have often faced slander in their lives. Such pitiful efforts neither diminish their glory nor slow down their resolve to achieve their mission.
May God give good sense to all who create these scurrilous stories and wisdom to all others not to pay any heed to them.
A.B. VAJPAYEE Prime Minister of India
P.N. Bhagawati Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
Ranganath Mishra Chair Person, National Human Rights Commissioner of India Formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
Najma Heptulla President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union; UNDP Distinguished Human Development Ambassador
Shivraj V. Patil Member of Parliament, India; Formerly of the Lok Sabda & Union Minister
I'm just a girl whose intentions are good (a work in progress).
"Adore man; the adoration reaches Me. Neglect man; you neglect Me. Of what avail is it to worship the Lord and to suppress man, His counterpart? Love for God must be manifested as love for man, and love must express itself as service. Through love alone--love acquired through spiritual discipline and shared with all as spiritual discipline--can peace be attained, by the individual as well as by the nation."--Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discourse [50th Birthday]: 23 November 1975
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