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EL DESPERTAR SAI: THE GOD POSSESSED: AN ARTICLE ON SRI SATHYA SAI BABA FROM THE 1969 EDITION OF NEWSWEEK THE GOD POSSESSED: AN ARTICLE ON SRI SATHYA SAI BABA FROM THE 1969 EDITION OF NEWSWEEK - EL DESPERTAR SAI

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viernes, 7 de junio de 2013

THE GOD POSSESSED: AN ARTICLE ON SRI SATHYA SAI BABA FROM THE 1969 EDITION OF NEWSWEEK


"The God Possessed" : An article on Sri Sathya Sai Baba from the 1969 edition of Newsweek

The cover of the final Newsweek print issue in December 2012
The cover of the final Newsweek print issue in December 2012
Source: Newsweek

Published in New York City from 1933 to December 2012, the Newsweek (according to info on Wikipedia) was a weekly magazine with the second-largest print-edition circulation, only behind the iconic TIME magazine. During its prime, it had a worldwide circulation of over 4 million and it published in Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish, Rioplatense Spanish, Arabic and Turkish other than English.

Imagine my joy when somebody forwarded by email, a scanned page of the 'religion' section of this famous magazine which carried a story about my dear Lord, Master, Best Friend and Guide - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba! I searched for the soft copy of that article everywhere on the world wide web but, sadly, it wasn't there. That is why I decided that I must type out from the image and post it for all to read. The original image of the scanned page is also posted in its full resolution in the article.

Apart from a single factual error the article makes in calling Swami the son of "a well-to-do matron in the village", I find that the journalist has done some homework in terms of researching and presenting honestly. There is also a mention of an incident from Mr.Charles Penn's life. A similar incident in Al Drukker's life is also popular among devotees. Of course, the devotion that one would see in a devotee's article is missing here but the reverence and awe can be easily perceived.

By the way, December 2012 was the last print-edition of the Newsweek. The article has been presented below after the heading.

The picture that accompanied the article
The picture that accompanied the article
Source: Newsweek

An Indian Holy Man builds a legend


The God Possessed

When Sathyanarayana Raju was born, his mother recalls, the family tambura twanged of its own accord and a cobra appeared mysteriously beneath his crib.As a child, he showed mystic powers and a love of sacred verse. And one day when he was 13 years old, he returned home from school and told his mother, a well-to-do matron in the village of Puttaparthi: "I am no longer your Sathya, I am Sai Baba. I do not consider myself related to you. My work is waiting. My Bhaktas(devotees) are waiting. Good-by. Worship me every Thursday."

With that, Baba left home to begin the life of a god-possessed holy man. His mother pleaded with him to come back, but it was too late: throngs of Hindus were already crowding around the youth calling him "tiny prophet", "mysterious prodigy" and "God on earth."

Divine:

Such events are not unusual in India, where thousands of self-proclaimed gurus and holy men roam, begging for a living and teaching their faithful. But Baba, the god-possessed is unique. He claims to be "the Lord come in human form," a reincarnation of Krishna, one of the major Hindu gods. And thousands of devout Hindus believe that the 42-year-old, bushy-haired holy man with flashing eyes, and a voice "like the sound of a bell" can perform miracles, heal the sick and project his mind through time and space. Each November, 50,000 Indians trek to Puttaparthi to celebrate his birthday. The former chief scientist in the government's Ministry of Defense insists that Baba is "beyond the laws of physics and chemistry, a divine phenomenon, an incarnation."

Since he began leading the life of a holy man, Baba's miracles have become legend throughout India. A leading lawyer swears that Baba cured him of Parkinson's disease with a wave of his hand, and Baba is said to have walked along the seashore at Cape Comorin in South India with prayer beads forming magically at his feet after each step. He reportedly produces the Bhagavad-Gitaand sandalwood statuettes of Krishna from the sand by magic, and once, when traveling in a car that ran out of gas, is said to have turned a bucketful of water into gasoline. When a murderer appeared at his religious school disguised in a holy garb, the story goes, Baba detected the villain immediately and told him:"Confess your crime. There is no escape." And Charles Penn, an American pilot insists that Baba miraculously appeared at his side during a crash landing in India.

The article as it appeared in the Newsweek on November 17th, 1969
The article as it appeared in the Newsweek on November 17th, 1969

Stroke

But Baba probably performed his most spectacular miracle in 1963 at his Puttaparthi School. His doctors say he collapsed with a stroke and four heat attacks, and refused medical help for a week. Then he was carried into his prayer hall and miraculously cured himself before an audience of 5,000. Baba explained that he had taken on himself the heart attacks and paralysis of a forlorn person, since only he could survive them. "You may call these miracles," says Baba, "but for me they are just my way. For me they are no mystery. They are part of my essential miraculousness."

Baba apparently showed the promise of divinity at an early age: as a school boy, he is said to have amazed his classmates by making pens, pencils and books materialize out of thin air, and once he held a teacher helplessly stuck in a chair with mental whammy.

Today, Baba leads a colourful and a comfortable life, rising before dawn to lead his followers in chants and religious songs, and then withdrawing for meditation. He dines on milk and sweets, and each day selects several followers for interviews and counseling. Twice each day- in the morning and evening- his students throng around him for a bhajan (religious sons) meeting and burn ceremonial camphor sticks. Baba tells them to lead a clean life, observe strict silence, avoid gossip and study Hindu scriptures. Unlike nearly all-Indian holy men, Baba never accepts gifts or cash contributions.

Path

Westerners may remain skeptical about Baba's miracles, but his skills as a minister and teacher are not to be lightly dismissed. Baba says his mission is dharma-samsthapana - restoring justice to the world teaching men how to follow the moral path. Sometimes Baba's advice is full of mystical and double-talk, and sometimes he preaches the most threadbare platitudes. But occasionally he rises to the mystic simplicity that lies at the heart of Oriental religion. "Do not fall so much in love with the world," he once said. "You find out the world is mad and foolish, full of crooks and cranks. Use the world as a training ground for liberation. Stand a little apart and watch both the play and the director who produces it."

At bottom, Baba's lasting appeal may lie not in his miracles or his claim to beKrishna reincarnated, but as one Indian Government official put it, in his "humantouch, his ability to enter into the hearts of men and plant a seed of faith." Andthat he surely has done. As one devout middle-aged woman put it: "He is my god.He is divine. What else do I want?"

- end of article (Newsweek, November 17th, 1969)

A word on the media

While it is true that some representatives of the mass media indulge in 'non-journalistic', 'unscientific' styles of reporting - sitting at a desk, imagining, sensationalizing and then writing - there are also those that have thankfully retained the dignity of researching facts and presenting honestly. And as the days go by, am seeing more and more articles in reputed media like The Huffington Post (international) and Indian Express (Indian).

That definitely makes me happy for who will not feel hurt or sad when wrong things are written about the being they love with all heart - and that too without proper research? Truth always triumphs. It will always prevail.
--
FUENTE: http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com/hub/The-God-Possessed-An-article-on-Sri-Sathya-Sai-Baba-from-the-1969-edition-of-Newsweek



Sri Sathya Sai Baba 1926 - 2011

Source: aravindb1982

The detractors say that 'sleight of hand' and 'magic tricks' won him followers who were gullible and naive. The devotees say that 'physical manifestations' earned him die-hard critics who were so blind and hard-hearted that they refused to see the millions of lives he positively affected. The life and history of Sri Sathya Sai Baba seems to remind one of the proverbial tree laden with fruit - it always receives stones. While some stones were cast to enjoy and relish the sweet fruits, some were cast because it seems so tempting to just do it!

Of course, he cannot be accepted as a prophet. What religion did he establish? He just brought together humanity under the principles of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of god. In a world that stands on the brink of religious disaster due to self-centered zealots, he exhorted a Hindu to be a better Hindu, a Muslim to be a better Muslim and a Christian to be a better Christian. The symbol that he designed to represent the organisation had representations from all the major religions of the world.

A colored version of the logo Baba designed to represent the unity of all faiths.
A colored version of the logo Baba designed to represent the unity of all faiths.

Everyone from the Tibetan Monks to the Islamic scholars, Hindu yogis to Christian fathers, Sikh gurus to Buddhist preachers visited him and were received warmly with love by his followers. They were amazed with his deep understanding of their religion and often admired the insights he provided. The 'Vahini' series of books that he authored convey the greatest spiritual Truths in easy and practical terms - all one has to do is to pick one and read it! But still, how can he be a prophet when he did not start a new religion?

The world credits him for his massive social welfare projects - drinking water schemes, super specialty hospitals and free higher education. The critics also acknowledge that fact while the followers parade it as proof of his divinity. And in that, both seem to miss the point. Sathya Sai Baba never believed in a few buildings (however big or grand) making the world a better place as he believed in a few ideas.

The schools and university were a result of the idea that Education is a process of bringing out from within what is already latent in an individual. And that latent treasure is love, truth, right conduct, peace, understanding and compassion which he exhorted every student to make patent. The Sathya Sai Grama seva or village service, where every student spends a week going to villages distributing food and clothes, was instituted not so much to serve the poor but to imbibe the idea, spirit and joy of service in the student. As the chancellor of the University, he always advised the students to get a good name for themselves, their parents and their Alma Mater. He told them that they had received good education without a fee because education is everyone's birthright and they need not feel grateful about it. But the gratitude, however, became a part of every student's life as he/she went about perpetuating this service.

The hospitals and water projects arose because he felt that water and medical care were people's right. They should not be a costly purchase. Much has been written about these projects but very little has been said about how he wanted people to imbibe the spirit of service and love. "When a thorn pricks the foot, the hand automatically goes to remove it without feeling that it is helping the foot. That is how service has to be rendered."

Actually commonsense right?
Actually commonsense right?
Source: aravindb1982

And yet, they say that he surrounded himself with the rich, the popular and the elite! Such talk only shows that people indulging in it have not bothered to visit him even once. If his interactions with the poor, the suffering and the helpless are not known, it is only because attention has not been drawn to them. Sachin Tendulkar's visit to pay homage to him was splashed across media in every form but we see no mention of the massive housing project that he made for the flood victims of Orissa or the Village Integrated programmes he charted for the tribal regions of East and West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.

And when it came to the question, "Who are you? Are you God?", his reply always was, "Find out who you are. You will realize that you too are God." Godhood is not donned, it has to be accepted by people. Let us be honest and fair. If any of us claim godhood by ascending a pulpit, how many followers will we have in, say, 80 years from now? Starting as a poor boy in a drought-prone village that had not heard the sounds of a motor vehicle, having millions of followers world-wide is some achievement. He threw away his history books one day and today, he has entered history books. But when it came to Godhood, he always thrust back Godhood on the people saying, "You are all God. you just are not aware of it" , reminiscent of "God you think, God you are; Dust you think, dust you are" isn't it?

"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." was what Einstein said of Mahatma Gandhi. The amazing stories of grace of Sathya Sai are such that even when he walked upon the earth, people found it hard to believe. Many came, saw with their own eyes, experienced in their own beings and accepted him as their Lord. Some however chose to stay in their own little coops, happy to heap scathing criticism. "Why explore something that is impossible?" seems to be the theorem. "When something is impossible, even if millions speak in glowing terms about it, it must be false and everyone must be crazy" is the automatic corollary!

There is no difference between the detractor and devotee when it comes to his/her passion, intensity and belief.There is one major difference however. While the former quotes reports, newspapers, articles and written accounts to emphasize the criticism, the latter only speaks of deep conviction born from personal experience! And that shows why one seems to blare louder to make a point while the other seems to melt into silence when confronted. The rationale of the head never seems to gather enough momentum to overpower the conviction of the heart!

And that is why, those that have experienced him in their hearts refuse to accept that he has 'died'. For them, he lives on forever and they receive guidance and help whenever they need. They have no doubts in that and they see no need to convince anyone else about it. That is the power of what one has observed and experienced. Reminds one of Albert Einstein when he was scoffed at his proposal of the photoelectric effect. When science had evolved over a century to prove that light was a wave and not a particle, here was someone considered a genius who based his effect on the premise that light was a particle! The photoelectric effect which he gave in 1905 won the Nobel prize in 1921.

When theory and experiment seem to clash with observation and experience, should we not go with the experience?


FUENTE: http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com/hub/Sathya-Sai-Baba-1926-2011




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