| DISCLAIMER One should be aware that Sathya Sai Baba has proven himself to be something quite other than what he claims to be and what one could suppose him to be from reading the following, which was written while the author was unaware of the seriousness and depth of the dark sides of Sathya Sai Baba. Everything has to be reconsidered in the light of the revelations about his activities that are easily found on the internet, and on my 'enigma' website |
Sathya Sai recycles the teaching of many prominent Indian 'spiritual masters' of the past two centuries who held that, in order to realise the divinity within us, we have to engage in activities that bring spirituality into our daily lives. As the chief discipline Baba emphasises unselfish service of others (seva) without thought of any other benefits for ourselves. Similarly, he reasserts the doctrine that each action - good or bad - sooner or later brings a corresponding good or bad reaction on oneself (the law of karma). Only through the self discipline of renouncing desire for the fruits of one's actions - while still playing one's part in society - and by concentrating the mind on omnipresent divinity or its various forms can one become free of the necessary consequences of karma, which otherwise will continue life after life on the wheel of rebirth.
Sathya Sai Baba holds that he personally revives the truth of the universal teaching in this era, primarily in and through his own actions, whereby he declared: "My Life is My Message" (which words, however, were originally said by Mahatma Gandhi). He therefore invites anyone who wishes to come, observe and experience him, whether they believe what he says or not. He gives the guarantee that he will help every honest seeker, which indicates persons who are becoming open-hearted or at least open-minded. However, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get him to give a straigth answer to a simple question... even if one can get the opportunity to talk to him for a few minutes.
So as to help people to approach realisation of their true Selves, Sathya Sai Baba claims to have inspired them since his childhood to live in accordance with their true, higher nature. He says we must master our lower, animal impulses and egoistic sensory desires and learn to live as true human beings. He teaches those who get the benefit of his personal guidance in ways which are often quite unique, at once sublime and simple, usually through direct words which are yet pregnant with deep meanings that reverberate and gradually rise into one's awareness through time. Many of India's leading professors of Sanskrit, Brahmin pundits, swamis and advanced yogis have stated that Baba's knowledge is unsurpassed in its depth and wisdom in previous recorded Indian history. Sathya Sai employs simplicity of expression which, though this implies constant vagueness and over-generalisation, appeals to a large number of simple Indian peasants.
The teaching of Advaita, non-dualism, is one part of Sathya Sai's hold-all teaching. This asserts that God and the devotee are one, as are also God and the created cosmos. God is not separate from the human, being ever-present by virtue of the Eternal Soul or Atma, which is the immortal, unchanging and universal divine spark in all beings, operative in various potencies at various stages of evolution. He assures us again and again that we are not the body, our emotions, our thoughts, our actions or the mind but that we are God, despite our not yet being aware of it. He says he has come to bring us that awareness and the experience of the unity that everyone and all is. "The knowledge of the Spirit (Atma) as the very basis of all beings is now forgotten and that is the cause of all the unrest, the confusion and the moral crisis of today. It is to awaken the sleeping, and communicate to them this message that I have come." (Sathya Sai Avatar, Vol. 1, Para. 46.) This teaching differs radically from that of theists, of course, who deny the divinity of mankind and hold that God alone is divine. Theists include the great majority of the world's Christians, Muslims, Jews plus numerous other minor faiths.
However, he encourages those who hold to dualism and worship him as God, separate from themselves (i.e devotees of God and himself)... as well as teaching qualified dualism (vishtadvaita). He switches between these three basically incompatible doctrines as it suits him. Sathya Sai promotes his teaching (and himself) in the form of discourses, which he began to give only in his thirties when he was already known to many followers as a 'miracle boy'. Human beings are given life, he says, so as to reach the goal of total liberation from worldly cares through the discovery of the divinity that is both inherent within ourselves and outside us in all other persons, in nature and the universe. Sooner or later, everyone will attain to this goal, he assures us. Yet a lifetime of self-seeking and enjoyments without spiritual seeking and practice is a life wasted, and one is then reborn again and again until the supreme goal of being is reached.
Like many another religious teaching, especially Christianity upon which Sathya Sai draws in a very eclectic manner, he says that the cardinal route to God is through universal love. He interprets this as leading towards 'self-realisation', which means developing one's understanding of values that are universal to humanity. All that is good and positive in feelings, thoughts, words and actions are included under the five human values truth (sathya), right action (dharma), love (prema), peace of mind (shanthi) and non-violence (ahimsa). All other values that any civilised society holds high can be shown to be based on and derivable from these five.
Human values and their consequences are largely beyond the present theoretical and practical scope of scientific investigations. To understand these values it is held that one must practice them. All the good and positive in any feelings, thoughts, words or acts he summarises under these five main universal values. All other values are then seen as being derived from these five, which are found as ideals striven for by good people in every civilisation and society in every age ... even though they are certainly not always practiced. Sathya Sai holds that these are "eternal" values which cannot change and which exists independently of individual persons or societies, though they have to be expressed and interpreted differently according to the culture and changing times. These values are the keystone of all sound education, which Baba says "is for life, not merely for making a living".
Further questions on Sathya Sai's teachings are examined at:
2) Sathya Sai Baba's teaching as 'universal'
3) Sathya Sai Baba's Human Values
4) Sai Educare as a educational institution