Sathya Sai Baba's excessive claims belied by his actions
"The only test anyone can apply to a guru, of whatever kind, is whether his words are in harmony with his deeds. Gurus are to be judged by how words are put in practice." (Sathya Sai Baba in Conversations with Sri Sathya Sai Baba by J. Hislop, p.22 old ed., p. 18 new ed.)
An oft-repeated claim by Sathya Sai Baba, parroted by devotees, is that many kinds of unfair and undocumented accusations have been levelled against Sai Baba through the years, both by sceptics and followers who are dissatisfied or disappointed by unfulfilled expectations as to Sai Baba's attention etc. This is based on Sai Baba's own pronouncements about how unfairly all good people have always been treated by their jealous contemporaries, and that he will be no exception himself. His defensiveness towards all who may leave him is seen in Sanathana Sarathi (11-92, p. 261), "The minds of the so-called devotees are turned in the wrong direction. If their desires are fulfilled, they praise Me. But, once a desire is not realised they go to the extent of even reviling me. Even while they are attempting to understand Me, they harbour doubts from head to foot. Some even leave me, when their worldly desires are not fulfilled." He also takes the sly precaution of warning that he will have to separate "the grain from the chaff", as if it were his own plan that devotees who cease to believe or accept him are rejected by him firstly! Why would this self-proclaimed compassionate avatar wish to do that, one asks?
One cannot but note that such predictions are most convenient for those who know they have something to hide that will not stand the light of day but which will probably eventually be discovered. They can then defend themselves by saying, 'I predicted this all along'. The propensities Sathya Sai Baba has most apparently been unable to overcome, were reportedly told about to various persons by one of his earliest and closest followers who shared his bedroom for several of his post-pubescent years (the pair of them were known locally as 'Radha and Krishna', according to Vijayamma), and it would moreover be hugely naïve to believe that he never had sexual stirrings in the normal way. He has once actually told in a discourse that the sexual instinct is the hardest of all tendencies for humans to overcome. That homosexual relations with minors are evidently quite widespread and tacitly accepted in much of India does not mean that they are openly accepted or practically legalized in the wider society, so guilt and the need to cover up must also be equally widespread.
"When I am defamed, I never get incensed, for it is only the tree full of edible fruits that is attached by sticks and stones." (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. 4 p. 184). Yes, Sai Baba ignored his critics as long as they tended to fade away, but now that the allegations of child molestation and homosexual intrusions have stuck to him indelibly at last (and on a global scale), along with powerful evidence that awaken grave suspicions of his involvement in the 1993 murders incident, he was roused and raised his voice angrily while thumping his lectern in the famous Xmas discourse of 2000. "I never get incensed" is therefore demonstrably wrong. He lashed out at his critics as Judases who take money to defame him, as demons and so forth. Despite this, the sufficiently brain-softened devotee will repeat Sai Baba's very convenient words that, though he may appear to be angry or show human emotions, he is actually wholly unmoved by everything. So he could easily stand by and hear the cold-blooded execution by rifle-fire of four of his long-serving devotees without any emotion! How convenient for him! But no so convenient for everyone! He can rage like a mad lion (as experienced by Prof. Kasturi and described by other devotees), all while pretending he was as cool as a cucumber. He intimidates his students in various ways (and sometimes their teachers too, as I saw him do in public in 1987/
Word and deed: Teachings and consequences: Sai Baba preaches that there must be unity between thought, word, and deed... also that thoughts must be good and words true. He repeatedly fails to measure up to this standard himself, as anyone who dares think a genuinely independent thought can discover. Just take, for example, his 2003 Guru Purnima discourse, as edited down in Sanathana Sarathi (August 2003, p. 229):-
"People are heroes in speech but zeroes in action. Today the world is being duped by such people. Those who have true love in their heart will not indulge in tall talk. They demonstrate their love in action. Today people speak a lot without translating their speech into action. Such people verily are thieves. They demonstrate their love in action. Today people speak a lot without translating their speech into action. Such people verily are thieves."
"People are heroes in speech but zeroes in action."
Sai Baba makes himself the ultimate hero in speech after speech. His own personal actions are observable, walking about, smiling,", putting his hand on things and people. He does nothing one could really call hard work, he rather goes around accepting adulation.
"Today the world is being duped by such people"
Like faking "materialisations" of vibuthi through sleight of hand, and of cheap trinkets (claimed to be valuable) and imported watches etc. etc. Like telling many untruths (documented in these and many other web pages) and making self-contradictory statements galore.
"Those who have true love in their heart will not indulge in tall talk."
Is not his having boasted that no one anywhere is doing even one thousandth of the work he does (Xmas 2000) talk tall? If not it must be low talk! His repeated self-praise is spread on thick in virtually all he says and does. Moreover, there are many forms of love, and many forms of action... many of Sai Baba's "loving actions' have been described by many young men on the Internet and in TV interviews.
"Today people speak a lot without translating their speech into action."
How many hundreds of millions of words has Sai Baba poured forth... shelves buckle under books containing only a fraction of his discourses, and even they are but excerpts... while his followers do over 99% of all the actions he claims to his sole credit.
"Such people verily are thieves"
Those who collect donations under false pretences, using sleight of hand, pretend to create and give away genuine diamonds (when donations will be given in return) and many other such deceits are the thieves.
Then there is the continual 'Me, Me, Me' in all Sai Baba's discourses. Just look and see in any volume... yet he tells us he is selfless, needs no praise and that speaking of one's good deeds makes them as if valueless. He certainly provides a mountain of self-praise and talk about "My" work, achievements etc.! That anyone cannot see this deceit would be incredible, but for the tremendous, subtle brain-washing that people undergo and engaged in themselves without realising it.
Sathya Sai Baba's actions most evidently no longer fit in with all that he says about himself as regards his total purity, human perfection, freedom from all lust etc., if they ever did. His fine words may apply to Divine Consciousness, but evidently not to the body and mind of Sai Baba which it supposedly inhabits. Baba always says 'I am not the body', which can also be taken as a denial of any connection with what he as 'his body' does. This is the nux of the split personality hypothesis, applicable to such psychically powerful figures... a kind of Rasputin syndrome. At all events, Sathya Sai Baba is the name of his physical form, that human being embodiment, as much as any that of super-conscious, transcendental entity.
We note that Sai Baba makes a very confusion situation in the following too: "Knowingly or unknowingly you are doing sadhana based on what you think to be correct. If you desire to know what is dhyana in the real sense, ask Me. I will explain to you. In fact, you do not need any sadhana. Do as I say; you will get the result in a moment. Divinity is that which manifests right in front of you out of His grace." (ibid)
So sadhana can be done 'unknowingly'? And sadhana (spiritual practice) is actually unnecessary, when Sathya Sai Baba does it all for his devotees... Who can really believe this? Evidently this includes those who still go on behaving just as they like, as long as they do what he tells them.
Please go to the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
(or Spanish version PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)