The hypocrisy of religiosity.

The recent Mahasamadhi of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, lovingly referred to as Swami by his followers,sparked off many commentaries, discussions and musings on the phenomenon of Divinity incarnating in a human form, by those who subscribe to that view, and many more that totally rubbished the former and even went the extra mile in “sensationalizing” the Life of Swami so as to make for a good weekend sop opera.

This write up is not intended to address the sections of the media looking for pulp fiction to make a quick buck, instead I hope to reach out to those with an open mind, those with who claim to have nurtured a rational though process towards life.

Miracles, just Humbug! ??:- This is something I have heard a lot over the past few weeks. “How can miracles happen”? This question is largely fueled by reports of millions of devotees of Swami, who have met with situations of 'no-return' and yet the supernatural way that they were pulled out to 'safety'.Let me quote to you an instance from the vast ocean of experiences that devotees of Swami have experienced around the world. There was once a lady who was diagnosed with fatal cancer in one of her vital organs; the docs of course numbered her days and gave up hopes. The lady was obviously distraught and rushed to Swami. Swami pulled out sacred ash from no where, and said “ Cancer is Canceled”; Lo and behold subsequent lab reports confirmed the non existence of the disease. Now that was just a 'moral' of the story and the I have not ventured into the emotional roller coaster that the person would have gone thru. Now, let me pose a question to those who would urge with rationality, “Is this not Divine intervention?”.

There is immense hypocrisy that lies within man today. Faced with trauma, physical or mental, man looks towards God for succor. He goes to Temples, Churches and other pilgrim spots with a hope for a miracle. But when the same divinity descends on earth wearing a human 'dress', there is resentment, dis-belief. Swami used to refer to this anecdote on many occasions. Man worships the snake, he makes beautiful idols of the reptile and offers prayers to the same. If the snake comes alive, Man will gather a few strong people and get the snake banished from human habitation. Such is the reaction of man towards divinity. People pray the miracles happen, but it has become a fashion to criticize them in public.

Khalil Gibran wrote "We shall pass with the flowing of the rivers, and we shall be nameless. But those who crossed Him in mid-stream shall be remembered for crossing Him in mid-stream." For those of us that were privileged to be in the proximity of the Divine, wearing the human form of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, consider it a life worth living. For those who weren’t as fortunate, instead of crying 'sour grapes' have no choice but to look within. For Swami says, “I am God. You are also God. The only difference is I am aware, and you are not.”

May peace and wisdom prevail.

The eternal Human Values

I pen down these thoughts in the wake of the two most bizarre and unfortunate incidents in the recent history of India, the terror attacks on Mumbai and the Satyam accounting controversy.

Its all panning out as it were clearly orchestrated by God to teach man, in one final attempt, after all prodding and sweet talk, what the outcome would be if man desserts his conscience. Might sound like a prehistoric excuse to lean back on; but lets face it, the eternal vices of greed, jealousy, anger, lust etc are popping their ugly hoods of dominance at every corner, at every prick like never before.

When the terror attacks on Mumbai rocked the world, eminent persons expressed ,and rightly so, a need for a better security system, a need for better technology to fight organised terrorism; but not one soul seemed to understand the need to stem the problem at its root.

What is it that makes a terrorist a 'terrorist'. Its nothing but misguided and untended childhood. Installing the immortal and eternal human values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Non-violence and Love is the need of the hour. Easier said than done...right? But is there an attempt to place the character molding of children as a priority in our lives? When the fad is to "break the rules" and succumb to the whims and fancies of ones own indiscretion,peace comes at a cost.

When 'Satyam' was unearthed, I cannot but ask myself what destruction can the wicked Satan cause, if the voice of the conscience is given a pass. What not did the Raju brothers have...bunglows, cars, name, fame and all the joys of the material world that a mortal could ask for...but when greed hooks on, even the seven worlds aren't sufficient to please one.

Is there something wrong with our way of imparting education? Are we turning our kids into money machines? Answers to these questions are obviously yes. But now what?

The beckon light glows brightly, just look within.

Measures to counter terror

America, in spite of being at the helm of prosperity and economic development has not faced significant attacks after 9/11, because they swung into action from day one; they took measures that would not allow terror to breed.

While the need of the hour is exactly that, we are engaged in politicking and face saving trivialities. Beef up security in all places where people assemble, be it offices, temples, mosques, railway stations, airports, seaports etc. I am sure people will not mind the implementation of these measures as they would completely understand that it is only for their safety.Ask people at metros to carry any govt issued id proofs; make arrangements to issue to the genuine residents who might not have one already. The ideal system to adopt would be the social security system, but to get there we need to know who all stay in our country.

Measures are plenty, only if our leaders had the will.

Is Sathya Sai Baba God?

A unique phenomenon, Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthy remains the epicenter of many a debate among the scientifically driven, yet the spiritually curious.

One of the questions that torments minds is, can a mortal like you and me, be the incarnation of divinity? This question is born out of the tendency of the mind to play down human capacity; to grossly underestimate the possibilities in the realm of the spirit. It is also due to the pre-tuned mindset that God, if at all decides to descend, will come down with thunder bolt accompaniments, in a multi-limbed anatomy, with a blinding halo, and seated on a throne decked with unearthly precious stones, that will announce to the whole of the world, leaving no room what so ever for any second thoughts, that God is here. Believe me, even if that ever happened, God would be quarantined in a museum, and all of us would be lining up, along with our children, to buy a ticket, just to get a glimpse of this unusual creature. GOD, to teach, to set right, to rescue mankind, will develop kinship with man, move around like man, and so will always come down as Man.

Is Sathya Sai Baba God?

When you have a thousand worries in you head and Someone looks into your eyes and reads it all aloud, and takes all your burden upon Himself; you have found God.

When every renowned doctor in the world writes off your medical condition and sets a “best before” date for you, and then when Someone gives you a reassuring smile and waves his hand in small circles to produce a white ash that cures you off your illness; you have found God.

In a place where a cup of drinking water is hard to come by, Someone lays out pipelines stretching across thousands of kms just to ensure you get pure drinking water, free of any cost; you have found God.

When your loved ones fell sick and you knew not what to do as there was no healthcare centre in a hundred km radius, Someone sets up a huge edifice of healing, a super specialty hospital which provides free health care; you have found God.

When a square meal a day is considered a luxury, Someone sets up a primary school, a high school and a world class university to provide value based education without any cost what so ever; you have found God.

When homes around the world are crumbling due to differences of opinion, Someone gets peoples of different backgrounds, cultures and religions under one roof to pray silently, you have found God.

All of this, and that Someone expects nothing for Himself in return, just that the world becomes a peaceful place for Man. The embodiment of selflessness, Sri Sathya Sai, never wants anything for Himself; so much so that he refrains from using his Divine powers to cure his own body from certain discomforts. He even uses His physical condition to drive home a lesson to all of us; that we need to raise above body consciousness and focus on the Lord within.

It is also important to note, that had it been His intention He could have gained political mileage, public popularity both within India and internationally, but Divinity needs no recognition, needs no brand image. God has a mission and it will unfold in all its magnanimity as per His will.