Sai Baba Speaks of Jesus Christ

"Call me by any name - Krishna, Allah, Christ. Can't you recognise Me in any Form?
Continue your worship of your chosen God along the lines familiar to you and you'll find you
are coming near to Me, for all Names and Forms are Mine."

Sathya Sai Baba

"Forms of worship, or phraseology of adoration, or the style of address may vary, but all
religions are directed towards the same consummation. The same bloodstream circulates in
all the limbs of the body. The same divine Stream activates the entire universe. Visualise
the Supreme Architect, that Incomprehensible Designer, that Unseen Life-giver. This is
spoken of as the realisation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man."

Sathya Sai Baba

"All religions teach one basic discipline; the removal from the mind of the blemish of egoism
of running after little joys. Every religion teaches man to fill his being with the glory of God
and evict the pettiness of conceit. It trains him in the methods of detachment and
discrimination so that he may aim high and attain liberation."

"Believe that all hearts are motivated by the One and Only God; that all faiths glorify the
One and Only God; that all Names in all languages and all forms man can conceive denote
the One and Only God. cultivate the attitude of Oneness between people of all creeds, all
countries and all continents. This is the message of love I bring. That is the message I wish
you take to heart."

Sathya Sai Baba

"Jesus was a Messenger of God; but note this also; all of you are messengers of God. You
are all His children. Jesus and His Father are One. You and God are also one, and you can
become aware of it. Whatever activity you may be engaged in, wherever you may be,
however you may fare, be convinced that you are ever in God, that all is Divine, that all acts
are offerings to the glory of God, and thus make your lives full and fruitful."

Sathya Sai Baba

"Jesus sacrificed His life for the regeneration and welfare of mankind. Today, there are
some who exaggerate the so-called differences between different faiths and, for their own
selfish purposes, exploit these differences; they thereby bring a bad name to the founders
of those religions, who were spiritual giants. No Prophet, or Messiah asked his followers to
hate other religions or the followers of other faiths. Every religion has declared that God is
One and that the Divine dwells in every being. Jesus also proclained the truth that the One
Spirit resides in all beings."

Sathya Sai Baba

"All faiths are inter-related and mutually indebted to each other, for the principles they
teach and the desciplines they recommend are similar. The Vedic tradition is the first in
Time. Buddhism, which appeared about 2500 years ago, is its son. Christianity, which was
influenced by much in the Orient, is its grandson. Islam, which has the Prophets of
Christianity as its base, is the great grandson. All have Love as the fundamental discipline of
the mind in order to merge man with the Divine."

Sathya Sai Baba

"God sends sages, saints and prophets to unveil the Truth and Himself appears as an Avatar
to awaken and liberate mankind. Two thousand years ago, when narrow pride and
ignorance defiled mankind, Jesus came as the embodiment of Love and Compassion and
lived among men, holding forth the highest ideals of life."

Sathya Sai Baba

"Let the different faiths exist, let them flourish, let the Glory of God be sung in all the
languages and in a variety of tunes; that should be the idel. Respect the differences
between the faiths and recognise them as valid as far as they do not extinguish the flame of
unity."

Sathya Sai Baba

"As the air we breathe is of God's creation and available to all, so the awareness of God and
His Power and Mercy has to be available to all. True seekers on the spiritual path, must hold
onto this wide outlook and on the universality of this message. Then the conflict between
disparate faiths and credos disappears by itself, and peace and love will be restored on
Earth."

Sathya Sai Baba

 Being Near and Dear to
God...
Whatever a man sees in the world arouses fear
in him. Detachment alone can free him from
fear. Failing to grasp this profound truth, man
is allowing his desires to multiply, without
realising that desires promote attachment
instead of detachment.

As long as man is attached to the body, he

cannot get over the desire to possess the
objects that attract him. A man afflicted with
the acquisitive impulse can never get rid of
worries. To overcome this attachment and
possessiveness, ancient sages tailored their
educational system so that it promoted self-
control. Self-control also developed humility
and thus, humility became the true index of
right education. Control of the senses is
absolutely essential for achieving humility, and
education must promote such control.

Today's educational system is concerned mostly

with imparting bookish knowledge, and
students seek education only as a means for
earning a living. This link between education
and employment has to be severed, and
education must instead be transformed into the process of acquiring True Wisdom.

In life, there are two aspects that have to be considered, rights and duties. Most people are
concerned only with their rights and engage in struggles to secure them. Seldom do they
recognise their responsibilities. This is true of all fields of human activity - social, political,
economic and even spiritual. Lack of self-control is responsible for all this.

Men should regard their senses as potential enemies and not allow senses to have their own
way. They should be subject to one's control and direction. What is the easiest way to
achieve this mastery? Only the spiritual path. If there is real faith and devotion in man, the
senses would be powerless against him. It is the decline in faith and devotion that has led
man to become a slave of the senses.

The prompting of intellectual reasoning should not be identified with the dictates of the
Conscience. Rather, the directives should come from the Heart. When you dive deep into a
problem and enquire whether what you do is in the interests of your friends and Society in
general, your Conscience will give you the right answer.

Man is made up of three constituents, the body, the Mind and the Atma. Man needs the
body for performing actions. But, if the actions are done without using the discriminating
power of the Mind, man would be behaving like an animal, which acts on impulse. Moreover,
if the Mind, without relying on the eternal and ever pure Atma, follows the demands of the
body and the senses, the actions would be demonic. Bereft of the influence of the Atma, the
combination of the Mind and the body can lead to demonic qualities. However, when one is
installed in the Atmic principle, transcending the body and the Mind, one attains the Divine.

Hence, sanctify all your words, thoughts and deeds. Make your Heart pure so that it
becomes a worthy abode for the Divine.

Excerpts from a Discourse of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, 1st October 2003

http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_01/03OCT01/Blossoms/SSSpeaks.htm

God
God equals man minus ego.

You have come from God, you are a spark of His Glory; you are a wave of that Ocean of
Bliss; you will get peace only when you again merge in Him.

The heart with compassion is the temple of God.

If God is a flower, you should feel yourself a bee that sucks its honey;

If he is a Tree, Be a creeper that clings to it; If he is the sky, be a tiny star that twinkles in
it.

Above all, be conscious of the Truth

That you and He are bound

By Supreme Love.

God has no preferences and prejudices; His is but reaction, reflection and resound.

Prayer must emanate from the heart, where God resides, and not from the head where
doctrines and doubts clash.

Nations are many, but Earth is one;

Beings are many, but Breath is one;
Stars are many, but Sky is one;
Oceans are many, but Water is one;
Religions are many, but God is one;
Jewels are many, but Gold is one;
Appearances are many, but Reality is One.
God, if you think, God you are. Dust if you think, dust you are. As you think, so you
become. Think God, be God.

Transmuting "man" into "God" and experiencing that Ananda or Bliss is the one and only
achievement for which life is to be devoted.

Duty is God;
Work is worship.

O Lord, take my love and let it flow in fullness of devotion to Thee.

O Lord, take my hands and let them work incessantly for Thee.
O Lord, take my soul and let it be merged in oneness with Thee.
O Lord, take my mind and thoughts and let them be in tune with Thee.
O Lord, take my everything and let me be an instrument for thy work.

God is the mother and father of the world.

Our parents are the mother and father of this body.
God is one; there are not many Gods, one for each tribe among men.

Once we surrender our mind to God completely, He will take care of us in every way.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God or devil, good or bad are denisens of one's own heart

Where God is there the devil cannot be.

God plays pranks and directs.

He causes tears and quenches tears.

He cures madness and inflicts madness.

God rewards according to the manner

in which He is conceived or approached.

He grants you consolation and courage

Once you have cleansed yourself by tears.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God is the Seed;

The Universe is the Tree,
Impulses and passions are the branches,
Intelligence is the flower,
Pure Consciousness is the fruit,
Love is the sweetness in the fruit.
 From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

See God in everyone you meet;

See God in everything you handle;
Live together; Revere each other;
Let not the seeds of envy and hate grow and choke
The clear stream of love.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God is

The soul of Life;

God is

The Granter, the Force,

The Sustainer.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God is worshipped only in

pictures, images, idols.

He is not recognised in

all living beings,

In beauty, harmony, melody,

truth and goodness.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God thinks, plans and resolves

in all heads,

He sees through all the eyes,

He eats through all mouths,

Hears through every ear.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God will never disown you,

for He is your very core,

Your basic Reality.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God will certainly be pleased if you give water for the thirsty, bread for the hungry and
clothes to the naked.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

Love God with all your heart,

With all your soul

and with all your strength.

Love is the form of Brahman (The Supreme Reality)

Brahman is love Divine.

The merger of human love with

Divine love brings about Cosmic Order

One who is full of love attains

The states of Oneness with Him.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

Why fear when I am here?

Never be afraid of anything because God is in you, with you, above you, around you. He
follows you like a shadow. Never forget him.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

If you incline towards God the passions that enslaves you will be rendered powerless.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

If you become aware of God's presence within you and also the presence of the same God
in all else,

There is nothing to equal the peace and joy that you get.

From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

God can be addressed by any name that taste sweet to your tongue or pictured in any form
that appeals to your sense of wonder and awe.

God designed in different faiths adored by different human communities are all limbs of the
One God that really is.

God does not live in structures of stone or brick. He lives in soft hearts warm with sympathy
and fragrant with universal love.

God has no forms, no limbs, no qualities, no preferences, no prejudices.

God has no beginning and no end.

From the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Without God, life is like a school without a teacher. It is a wire with no current passing
through it; it is a body with no soul.

Sathya Sai Baba

"This world is His Play, it is not an empty dream; it has purpose and use. It is the means by
which we can discover God; see Him in the beauty, grandeur, the order, the majesty of
nature. these are but shadows of His glory and His Splendour. The play is His, the role is his
gift, the lines are written by Him; He directs, He decides the dress and decoration, the
gesture and the tone, the entrance and the exit. You have to act well the part and receive
His approbation, when the curtain falls. Earn, by your efficiency and enthusiasm, the right
to play higher and higher roles - that is the meaning and purpose of life. Do not worry about
anything. Place yourself fully at His disposal, He knows. He has written the Play and He
knows how it will end and how it will go on. Yours is but to act and retire. The Lord alone is
aware of the Play, for His is the Plan! You see only the part of the Play on the stage and so
it is all very confused. When the entire story is unfolded, then you will appreciate His plan,
not until then; for that, you will have to get behind the screen of Maya and contact the
Director Himself. While you are an actor on the stage reciting your role, you cannot grasp
the inner meaning of the entire play which has the 'World' as the stage ang 'ages' as the
duration. You are only actors on the stage, before the footlights. The Director who knows
the Play, who assigns the roles, who gives the cues, who calls you in and puts you on - He
is behind the curatin. You're a puppet, He holds the strings. You are only working out His
plan. Identification with the adventure in the Play and with its success or failure."

From the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 Sathya Sai Baba's 'universal teaching'
'Universal religion'- a pprogressive ideal or a revanchist chimera?

Sathya Sai Baba has often asserted that all religions express the same essentially good core
values. That is easier said than understood, let alone proved. Some basic values are much the
same in mainstream religions, yet many equally core values differ very radically. For example:-

1) The present Pope Benedict XVI - leader of over 600 million Catholics - rejects as heretical all
religious doctrines which do not accept Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. This is
regarded as the essential spiritual value by most believing Christians.

2) Judaism awaits its prophesied Messiah, but most evidently does not recognise this is Sathya
Sai Baba, who does not fulfil their scriptural conditions. Most Buddhists reject the whole idea of
a God Creator of the Universe, as Sai Baba claims he is.

3) Similarly, Islam rejects non-Islamists as heretics, and the Koran even urges Muslims to kill
'non-believers'. Islam further rejects Hinduism at the most basic level in that Allah [God] cannot
incarnate in a human body (as Sathya Sai Baba constantly claims for himself) or be represented
in any idol or image. Hinduism accepts thousands of deities and idols of all kinds. from bits of
wood at Jagannath to statues and pictures of Hindu deities of every description.

Though Sathya Sai Baba has once or twice granted that diversity of faiths is the spice of life and
a necessity in a world where everyone is placed differently, there is, of course, nothing at all new
about this. In Europe, many spokesmen have promoted religious tolerance firmly at least since
the Enlightenment, notably including the philosophers Spinoza and Erasmus and, after them, too
many to name. However, much that once was Hindu tradition for many centuries has been spread
via many routes and other religions to the world at large. It was doubtless instrumental in
stimulating the inter-faith movement (with Swami Vivekananda at the Chicago Unity of Religion
Conference in the late 1800s) and some of it is indirectly enshrined in many nations' secular
constitutions and in the Geneva Convention on Human Rights on religious freedom.

Old-fashioned oppressive religions vs. modern humanist values

There is some good moral basic in Sathya Sai Baba's teaching, which preaches high ideals and
good intentions as do many religious movements. Unfortunately, it does not do this without
many dire warnings about sin and retribution. Moral preaching and social pressure to conform
becomes increasingly outmoded - except in backward societies - as global culture and
progressive modern realities of all kinds impinge on world consciousness. Sai Baba's notion of
"universality" is a rather naive attempt at promoting something like an inter-faith movement,
though with Hindu values as both the basis and the crowing achievement! In no Sai Baba
connection has there ever been any serious inter-faith discussion - such as occurs elsewhere in
the world. It was attempted by Lucas Ralli in London when he was th eUK leader of the Sathya
Sai Organization in the 1980s, but it was a wash-out as those who partook were almost only
persons inclined to regard Sai Baba as a holy person. This is not surprising as, on their gurus'
instruction, the Sathya Sai Organization always insists on acceptance of its own premises in all
public exposure any denies cooperation with any other religious organizations. Never does Sai
Baba or any of his obedient followers enter into any discussion which may turn out in any way to
be critical or prove divisive. Therefore he and his followers stick entirely within his own doctrine
at all times. This religious exclusivity is practiced just as rigorously in the Sathya Sai Baba
movement as it is in Catholicism, Islam or the many warring sects. Sai Baba's claim to
"universality" is therefore seriously undermined in both doctrine and practice from the start. This
can be seen yet more clearly when one examines Sathya Sai Baba's rejection of 'human rights' in
favour of 'human duties' see Sai Baba's religious values vs. human rights

Sai Baba is versed in much Indian scripture and mythology, though reportedly not as securely in
Sanskrit as he claims and many believe. Nor is he conversant with (or ignores) reasonable Hindu
interpretations of some Indian scriptures. Further, he is most evidently not well-informed about
other major religious scriptures (see for example analysis of this made by Brian Steel). The
Vedas and Vedanta with advaita, plus the generalised Hindu Indian guru traditions, are where
almost the whole of his teaching originates. Sathya Sai Baba has himself said that he his
teachings are not new, they are the ancient Sanathana Dharma though he actually claims it was
himself who invented them all in those days anyhow! (Note sanathana dharma is sometimes
referred to as the 'perennial philosophy', such as by Aldous Huxley).

Differing 'anti-universal' ideas of God

Sathya Sai Baba also asserts again and again that all religions are quite simply ignorant of God's
true nature which is unknowable (i.e. being the Divinity, he himself cannot be understood, as he
has repeatedly claimed). Nonetheless, he holds that all religions worship the same God. But this
is also a misleadingly facile statement for even the different mainstream religions worship
each their own peculiar and theologically-determined ideas of God.

Whether a Divine entity - One God - who fits with one or other of these often distinctly different
ideas is itself actually exists is, of course, beyond any valid proof. That all people worship the
same god is much like saying that, in the night all cows look black. Some see God as creator of
the universe, others do not accept God created the universe (Official Catholic doctrine today!)
Besides, most Buddhist sects do not accept a God creator, but only a supposedly fully realised
human being as a Buddha. The 2007 plea by Muslim clerics over the whole world towards the
Pope and Christians generally to accept that there is but one God showed up the very basic
difference between the two faiths on this issue.

Apart from all this, there are thousands of ideas of deities, gods, goddesses and powers
worshipped by every variety of tribe, sub-culture, sect and cult. Who can know that this is the
same God? Nobody! And certainly not anyone who is ignorant of human history and other
cultures than Sai Babas own childhood faith, namely, an eclectic hodgepodge, superstitious,
multi-deity, idolatrous version of Hinduism. He believes this to be ageless and the true origin and
essential truth of all religion. Thus, he has stated: The Hindu religion knows no growth or
decline. It belongs to all countries. It is acceptable to all people. (Sathya Sai Speaks p. 172,
Volume XX11)

Under the tutelage of the devotee and history professor, Prof. N. Kasturi, Sathya Sai came to
understand that the main religious approach of the West was towards an external God, while the
Eastern view seeks the God within oneself. Kasturi knew these matters well as he had long been
a Ramakrishna devotee and had studied English and sp knew Western culture. Quite mistakenly,
Sai Baba also propounds that all Westerners regard death as that of both the body and the soul!
This is totally wrong, of course, as regards Christian belief in resurrection of the body and eternal
nature of the soul. How ill-informed he is about other religions than those on his doorstep is
shown clearly. He is completely untutored as regards Islam, to which he therefore only devotes a
few vague generalising sentences throughout all his thousands of discourses. He has said he has
not come to start a new religion or sect, by sect he has created and he also subsequently
announced the 'Sai religion' a supposed "universal" religion, yet one based entirely on the Hindu
Sanathana Dharma or traditional Indian way of righteousness. This latter is not at all the basis
of Judaism, Christianity or Islam, though some similarities are obviously found.

The contention that Sathya Sai Baba is the avatar of God in this eon, that is - the greatest possible
Divine Power that can incarnate in a human frame - is not acceptable to Christians, Muslims,
Jews, Buddhists or many other religious traditions. It is therefore a divisive and not unifying
claim.

Universal human values - secular or religious?

Sathya Sai Baba projects his belief that, if everyone were to follow the particular general human
values he prescribes, there would be universal peace and understanding, yet he nonetheless sees
these values as entirely dependent on there being an universally shared spiritual or religious faith
at the core of all approaches to God. Thus he defines human values as divinely-ordained values,
God-given and set in stone, therefore not of human or secular origin. This is contradicted by the
fact that human values are so variable and that all religious organizations have historically
always eventually splintered into sects across differing cultures and national ideals. Many major
religious doctrines have been deeply challenged and have been falling away in recent centuries.
So diverse are the moral codes and value priorities insisted on by the main religions and their
countless divisions, that any genuine agreement on the same value religious system is obviously
a chimera. This does not mean that civilisation cannot move on towards a shared value system
through human rights and international law and agreements, which the rise of democracy has
been bringing with it almost everywhere it gains a grip.

Sathya Sai Baba ignores religious differences, however, by concentrating very much on the
positive and unitive aspects of religious teachings and completely ignoring any examination of
the differences. For people of differing religious, political and personal persuasions to agree on
such a basis seems so remote, far too removed from practical life today and in the foreseeable
future. It would also require that the clock be set back on the huge and accelerating advances of
scientific understanding of man and the cosmos and the consequent narrowing down of the areas
of human uncertainty upon which religions rely for their existence.
Sathya Sai Baba's answer to this is that the essence of all true religions express the same basic
human values and the same faith in the existence and benevolence of divinity, in whatever form
it may be represented or worshipped... or as it is thought to be as formless. It is an idealistic
notion which many have hoped would be possible, not least since Swami Vivekananda proposed
this at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in1893. Yet is it impossible to see how existing
mainstream religions can surmount their most fundamental differences, which include critical
matters of faith and values. The conflicts between the scriptures and key beliefs of Islam and
Hinduism, between Christianity and Islam, Buddhism and Judaism and so on and on are
insuperable, unless they are modified beyond all recognition. They may profess some of the
same values, but even human values are not fixed entities and they differ in theory and practice
throughout the cultures and societies of the globe.

Sathya Sai Baba's teaching claimed to express 'universal' values. He applauds that there are
different approaches to God and regards the essential 'human values as being shared by all good
teachings and people, whatever their faith. This is not such a novel or 'progressive' idea, of
course, for tolerance of different faiths was widespread in for ages and it has become more and
more central in Western values and embodied in law. Diversity of faiths is unavoidable, anyhow,
in this world where everyone is placed differently. The so-called 'Sai religion' thus seems to have
a universal outlook, until one looks more closely into the teaching, where it is seen as
overwhelmingly Hindu-oriented in its cultural content, values and examples, which clash at basic
levels with those of other mainstream religions. The clash is particularly strong with moderate
religious movements and, obviously, with secular humanism. See Sathya Sai Baba's religious
fundamentalism

Sathya Sai Baba's teaching should be clearly distinguished from Sathya Sai Baba's rationale for
it. The moral teaching is one thing, the grounds he gives for it's alleged truth are quite another!
The difference lies in that between morality and knowledge (i.e. between 'ought' and 'is'). Sathya
Sai Baba teaches what we ought to do or not to do, how we best should live and behave for our
own good and that of all others. The teaching itself may still be accepted as morally on the right
side by many for whom Sathya Sai Baba's supporting accounts of man, nature and God are not
even half-believable, consistent or properly understandable. The "universality" claimed by the
Sai religion is underpinned by faith in Sai Baba's view of the laws of human life, which builds on
the cornerstone of the theory of karma and reincarnation (transmigration) of souls in new bodies
on earth.

Whether this is reasonable or not (though definitively rejected by Judaism, Christianity and
Islam), Sai Baba also justifies his "universal spirituality" with accounts of how everything is
constituted and the causes of everything... the make-up of the human being, the nature of the
cosmos and of the Divine reality or God. All this, without notable exceptions, is very traditional
Indian thought and much of it is highly questionable, while much of what Sai Baba holds has
been shown by science to fall very far short of the truth, often proven absurd

Sectarian tendencies in teaching and practice

Sathya Sai Baba always asserts the Vedantic view as the most inclusive and ultimate. This is
itself an implicit denial of universal religion, for it ignores the fact of basic differences in both
the conceptions and practices of major religions. His insistence that he alone is God in human
form come down to redeem the world, makes him one contender among the many claimants and
faiths. Such a claim - of divine embodiment - is flatly and fundamentally rejected by Islam and
mainstream (mahayana) Buddhism. Islam regards the idea of God having any form whatever as
sheer blasphemy. Even the human form, because it is of divine origin, cannot be portrayed in
Islam. Little wonder, then. that only a mere handful of Muslims are ever seen near Sathya Sai
Baba, and these are from peripheral sects with unconventional ideas, like the Sufis.

In the face of incongruous beliefs and warring sects, the detail of his teachings makes evident the
difference between his ideas and what is believed in other mainstream religions on many
controversial points. All in all, Sathya Sai Baba says enough to contradict Christian scriptures
and creeds to amounts to a major disavowal of the history of Jesus' life and a rebuttal of the
doctrine of forgiveness in favour of explaining everything as deserved karma. Though he clearly
said Jesus died when crucified (see scan below) he also claimed the exact opposite in various
connections: that Jesus did not actually die on the cross, but survived to travel eastwards after the
crucifixion to live long and die in his eighties or later. However, this could well be true, despite
Christian doctrine. But whether true or false, it goes to show how non-universal any religious-
historical teaching such as Sathya Sai Baba's unavoidably becomes. His accounts of Jesus'
boyhood and subsequent travels and spiritual education in India confront the official and
ingrained belief of most denominations of the world's ca. 2 billion Christians. Much of Sathya
Sai Baba's ramblings about Jesus' life are too confused, seriously ill-informed or historically
absurd to have any credence. (See here)
Many Indians, unfortunately, embrace the idea that God is of their nationality ('God Lives in
India' etc.) and this seems important for their self-confidence and sense of national identity .
Sathya Sai Baba's followers are overwhelmingly Indian, and he speaks mainly for Indians or
Hindus and about Hindu history, culture, society and values. The majority of Indians do not, of
course, accept Sathya Sai Baba's claims and an intelligent minority have so far spoken out
against the deceits and fraud that he perpetrates, though this can be dangerous as many
harassments and even murders have occurred. That so many Westerners have taken Sathya Sai
Baba's incredible claims and often impossible advice so much to heart, is but an advantage for
his name, fame and power and finances, though this has changed quite a lot since the expos took
off on the Internet in 2000. His belief-system does have positive aspects, undeniably,or else it
could not survive at all. Yet much of it is so simplistic, vague and unworldly that it causes them
to undertake bizarre and grotesque twists and turns of their minds which would be nothing but
highly laughable were it not causing much confusion, self-negation and actual suffering. In
order to break free of the indoctrination one has to stop turning away from or rationalising the
obvious facts, let alone other covered-up facts that are far harder to discover for oneself!

Experience teaches that, once a movement of this kind - however faulty at the core - has reached
a certain size and financial power, it tends to survive whatever is revealed about it. Too many
people have become dependent on it financially and for some kind of occasional 'mental-
emotional fix'. Those drugged on cultist 'opium of the people' are found in every era and area of
human life. Contemporary examples are scientology, the Moonies, the Hare Krishna ISKCON
movement, the Rajneesh/Osho's travesty of spirituality, a range of so-called 'Kriya Yoga' guru
movements, Maharishi Mahesh yogi's Transcendental Meditation, and impure and criminal
Swamis in plenty plus many, many other self-proclaimed untrustworthy 'spiritual leaders' and
'enlightened masters' or whatever.

Though he claims to be 'the' universal teacher of this eon, Sathya Sai Baba's teaching as a whole
is so Hindu-focused in content and style that it will surely remain a minority movement
compared to the major religions. It is also too general and vague on important matters, very weak
indeed on many known facts. In short, a grand eclectic mix of ancient Indian values and
superstitions, scriptures and otherworldly philosophies, combined with some more modern
values and some ideas lacking in classical Hinduism imbibed from Jewish and Christian and
Jewish culture (especially the constant emphasis on love of others, not originally an Indian
conception at all, but a European one). As regards Sai Baba's and Hinduism's acceptance that
there must be different approaches to God, and that one can be fairly tolerant at times towards
agnostics and atheists, does credit to it (compared to most Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
Sathya Sai Baba has insisted upon magnanimity to those of all faiths, and towards all people
(though he actually has made some gross exceptions to this in recent years by damning his critics
and lying outright about them and their motives).
Where is God?
As in the sesame seed oil exists,
As in milk ghee is present,
As fragrance resides in a flower,
As the juice exists in a fruit,
As fire is latent in a faggot
So Is the Divine immanent in subtle form

Oil is present throughout the sesame seed. Ghee is present in every drop of milk. Fragrance
is present in an invisible form in a flower. A fruit is filled with sweet juice. In every piece of
wood fire is latent. In the same manner the Divine is immanent in the entire cosmos in a
subtle form.

God is present not in some country or some body. Like vision in the eye and
hearing in the ear, God is present in the mind as Consciousness (Chaitanya).
The cosmos is the visible manifestation of the invisible Supreme Self.

While the Divine is in such close proximity to him, man in his ignorance goes
seeking God everywhere. The Divine is effulgent in every man as Sath-Chith-
Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss), the Cosmic Consciousness.

Reflections of the sun shining in the sky can be seen in the oceans, rivers, the lakes and in
wells. Though the reflections are varied, the sun is one alone. The Divine is present in man
like the unseen thread which holds a garland of gems together. The entire cosmos is
permeated by the Divine and is the visible manifestation of the Divine.

Nothing in the world, no object, no human being, no creature can be found wherein God is
not present. Though man appears in the world in different forms, speaking different
languages, his essential humanness is common to one and all. There is only one race, that
is the human race. God is only one. He is Sath-Chith-Ananda.

Just as a seed sprouts and grows into a plant wherein a flower blossoms, so does the Divine
seed grow in the heart of man and blossoms as a flower, Sath-Chith-Ananda. Just as it is
natural for a seed to become a fragrant flower, so is it natural for man to experience the
bliss of the Divine (Sath-Chith-Ananda).

There are many evidences to demonstrate the Divinity that is inherent in man. But few men
are ready to make the sacrifice that is required to experience this Divinity.

The ancient sages regarded human life as full of fragrance to be enjoyed. They considered
life as full of nectarine sweetness. When man is oblivious of this sweetness, he ceases to be
human. Sacrifice (Thyaga) is the sweetness in humanness (Manavathva). The scriptures
declare: Only through sacrifice can man realise the eternal Divine. But, immersed in
selfishness, man fails to recognise this truth.

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, June 15, 2004

http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/12June15/03_Spiritual_Blossoms/01_Sathya_Sai_Speaks/sai_speaks.htm
 The Royal Path to God
The more one loves one's fellow beings, the greater would be
the Bliss that one enjoys. The more you love others, the
happier you would be. Therefore, if you wish to be constantly
happy, you must always love all. Love is the Royal Path to
God. The best way to God is to love all and serve all.

Everyone wants to be happy. Such a desire is natural and it

springs from the fact that man's true nature is Bliss. Bliss is
the Form of God but man does not understand that. He does not understand that he has
originated from God, that life's undercurrent is God, and that his final destination also is
God. Bliss should be the goal, and one must seek it in all earnestness. The human body is
temporary; hence, the pleasure that it can give is also fleeting. One must therefore seek
that which is permanent, that is God, or, what is the same thing, Bliss.

It is meaningless to seek Bliss by way of instruments such as the sense organs that are
impermanent. The body can give only bodily pleasure, and the Mind can at best give mental
satisfaction. But these do not represent Bliss; Divine Love alone is Bliss. This Love Principle
is present not only in man but also in all beings, birds and beasts included. Therefore, one
has to place the same value on the lives of all beings. Share the love latent within you with
not only fellow human beings but also with all the creatures in Nature. That is the True
Universal Love Principle. Such Principle alone should be the basis of one's life.

The Path of True Love alone can take you unfailingly to God and confer Permanent Bliss.
Bodies may be different but the God within all bodies is the same. There is a man who is
addressed as father by his son. The daughter-in-law calls him father-in-law, while the
grandchildren call him grandfather. The individual is the same but the manner in which
different people address him varies. Similarly the same God is given different names by the
followers of different religions; they hail Him as Allah, Jesus, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and
so on. Though the names vary, God is one and the same. Therefore, there is really no room
for dispute between people belonging to different religions. You may address God by the
name of your choice but all calls go to the same destination. Goal is one and God also is
one.

Scholarship will not protect or redeem you; only Pure Love can. Pure Love is like a well-
paved, one-way road with no speed breakers. You can rush along it to God at whatever
speed you want. Overcoming all obstacles, you must keep rushing towards God. That must
be the characteristic of your spiritual journey.

Excerpts from a Divine Discourse of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, September 15, 2003

http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/02SEPT15/Blossoms/SSSpeaks.htm
Nine steps in the pilgrimage of man towards God
Nava Vidha Bhakti

The nine steps in the pilgrimage of man towards God along the path of dedication and
surrender are:

1. Developing a desire to listen to the glory and grandeur of the handiwork of God and
of the various awe-inspiring manifestations of Divinity.
2. Singing oneself about the Lord, in praise of His magnificence and manifold exploits.
3. Dwelling on the Lord in the mind, reveling in the contemplation of His beauty,
Majesty and Compassion.
4. Entering upon the worship of the Lord, by concentrating on honoring the feet.
5. This develops into a total propitiation of the Lord and systematic ritualistic worship,
in which the aspirant gets inner satisfaction and inspiration.
6. The aspirant begins to see the favorite Form of God, which he likes to worship, in all
beings and all objects, wherever he turns to and so he develops an attitude of
Vandana or reverence towards nature and all life.
7. Established in this bent of mind, he becomes the devoted servant of all, with no
sense of superiority or inferiority.
8. This takes the seeker so near the Lord that he feels himself to be the confidant and
comrade, the companion and friend, the sharer of God's power and pity, of God's
triumphs and achievements, His Sakha.
9. This is the prelude to the final step of total surrender or Atma-nivedanam, yielding
fully to the Will of the Lord.

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

God by itself has no form
God by itself has no form. But people mould it in the shape of a ring or a chain, thereby
giving it a form. Likewise, many forms are attributed to the formless Divinity. Divinity is
pure, immortal, attributeless, formless, ancient and eternal. But people worship a form for
their own satisfaction. That is why God incarnates. He is the creator, sustainer and
destroyer. But you think different gods exist for creation, sustenance and destruction. They
are all like ministers of God. Everything is under His control. So, when you offer something
to God, it amounts to offering to all gods.

Formless God can be visualised in the form of all beings. He is the Reality and all the
forms are His reflections. One is Paraksha (indirect experience). In fact, there is only One,
not two. But it appears to be two. You may find the projection of earthquakes, floods and
volcano eruptions on the cinema screen but the screen is unaffected by all this. You may
find a river on the screen but the screen does not get wet. Likewise, all the multiplicity
appears only to the external vision: the Illumination mind sees only oneness. That oneness
is the Divine power. It is present in one and all. You search for God in various places as you
are unable to understand this truth. To know this truth, love all. Then you can visualise the
unity in diversity and vice-versa. God declared Mamaivamsho Jeevaloke Jeevabhuta
Sanathana (the external Atma in all beings is part of My Being). Do not get deluded by the
differences in physical form. Treat everyone alike. Consider all that you see as your own
reflection. When you cultivate this feeling of oneness, you will attain the level of Illumination
mind. When you are at the level of Super mind, you think that you are different form
others. This is dualism. It is said, "A man with dual mind is half blind." Gradually go up to
the Higher mind where you will understand your true nature. Then you reach Illumination
mind. Once you experience this unity in totality, you attain Over mind. That is your goal.
That is everything for you. All the spiritual practices are meant to attain this goal. Practices
that are done with physical body cannot improve the state of mind. What is essential is the
purity of mind.

The Anantapur College Girls came to Me and said, "Swami, boys are going to each and
every house in the village distributing food packets. Once we finish packing the food, we
have no other work. Please give us some work. I told them to go to the villages, clean the
temples and whitewash them. Body itself is the temple of God. When you whitewash the
temples outside, think that you are painting the temple of body with love.

God assumes human form to serve and sustain humanity. I am your servant not the
master. Understand this truth. I come to you, wherever you are seated, to give Darshan, I
never say that you should come to Me. It is said, God always stand sat the entrance of your
Puja room ready to give whatever you ask for. God is always ready to grant the wishes of
His devotees. God renders service to man, so that He may serve his fellow beings.

No visit to any pilgrim centre, no penance, no Yogic practice will help you in crossing
over the ocean of Samsara other than the service rendered to the noble.

(Excerpts from Swami's Discuorse: Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. "Wings for the flight to
the Divine - Love and Service" 20 November 2000, Prasanthi Nilayam).
 How can one contemplate on God with an invisible form? What is the use of such
contemplation? Divinity is the very life breath that can be perceived and heard. How can
one recognise and experience the sound of this Divine breath? The Upanishads have given
the names of "Brahman" and "Atma" for this invisible Divine breath in human beings. The
body is living, as long as the life breath emanates from the body. Mind is made up of
sankalpa (resolution) and vikalpa (negation or dissolution). This is the Vishnu Principle.
What is the root cause for this Brahma Principle? That which attracts the sound (sabda).

The allpervading sound of the sruthis is constantly in us, with us and is part of us. When
you hear the sound of the manthras, you feel very happy, even though you are not able to
understand their meanings. There may be several meanings for the words in these
manthras. But, the very sound emerging from the chanting of these manthras will make you
happy.

In order to understand the nature of Divinity (Paramatma), we must engage our mind
in the contemplation of the Transcendental Principle (Parathathwa). Where does the mind
come from? It comes from the sankalpa (resolve) and vikalpa (negation or dissolution).
They in turn come from the nature of sabda (sound). Sound is the real Brahma Thathwa
(the Principle of Brahma).

(Excerpts from Swami's Discuorse: Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. "Soham -The Right
Sadhana" 12 Oct. 2002, Prasanthi Nilayam).