Baba loved us. Like a father, a mother, a guru, a friend. Like Krishna or Shiva, as we imagined them to be from our stories. Like a simple and affectionate village elder from Rayalseema. Like a celebrity whose grace and poise could electrify a hundred thousand spectators at once. Like a leader who spoke the highest philosophies about society and the individual in the clearest of modern and folk idioms. Like no one else but the one his devotees would call Swami.
For nearly 25 years, Swami was the God, Guru and Elder-figure of my family. Like most devotees, we knew this day would come. We just hoped it would not come anytime soon, as we would of anyone we love. And now that it has, it is not so much his divinity or spirituality that I think about, but just him and just his presence in our lives all these years as if he were a part of our family. Because that is how we knew Swami. He was not a distant figure. He made the effort to know us, to talk to us, reassure us, chide us gently when he had to, deal with the mundane worries we sometimes thrust on him, sometimes take the rap for the faults of his devotees, but he was always there. And even if in recent years the face to face meetings with him became fewer, a few softly spoken words from him, and sometimes even a glance, were enough to assure us that he was looking out for us. Whether this was seen as coming from a god who commanded nature and miracles, a holy man brimming with spiritual example, or a selfless and wise elder who cared for each family's concerns, one cannot say precisely. But one can say quite surely that there are probably hundreds of thousands of people on this earth today who feel Swami's absence like I do -- not just in a religious sense, but in the deeply intimate sense of a familiar family figure who is no longer with us. He was not just a picture, and he was not just a god. He was Swami.
Yet, for many other people, Swami is only "Sai Baba," a name that they will read about in the news. There has already been a great deal written about Baba's life and legacy in the news media in the last three weeks. Some accounts have been professional and fair, reporting on his devotees and on his enormous acts of service to people through free schools, hospitals and water supply projects. Other reports speculate on the future of his organization and its assets, smelling money and drama more than the incense and camphor. Yet others seem like nothing more than opportunistic displays of superior wit through snide remarks on his mortality and on the least consequential parts of his life, real or hallucinated. But for all who believe a man who is revered by so many is worthy of a more sober assessment beyond the impossibly divisive one of religious faith, I have to say only one thing matters. It is what you saw happening in Swami's presence if you made the effort to go there.
It is what you saw after the endless waits in the great halls of Prashanthi Nilayam before his darshan. It is what you heard when a thousand voices gasped as one at the moment of his entrance. It is what you sensed about the lightness in his feet and precision in his hands from a distance. It is what you felt when he came closer from amidst the rows of hundreds of bodies and you saw the look on his face, the love in his eyes. It is what happened when you felt the compassion in his distinct voice, and laughed at the wit and grace in his words. But all this is still only a measure of what happened to us in his presence, an expression of my devotion, perhaps.
What of him? What did it take out of one human body to do so much for so many? Just think of what it takes to make one stranger feel happy, reassured, illuminated, on the strength of the integrity of your goodwill alone. Swami did that a million times, talking, taking letters, making traditional gestures of blessing and assurance, making a contact with his devotees in a way that shows in virtually any photo where you can see how his devotees look when they look at him. And no matter how much all those in this world who have known him and adored him serve each other and love each other in his name, the love that this gentle man gave to the world will not be equaled easily.
Sathya Sai Baba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Revered Hindu guru Sathya Sai Baba dies at age 84 - Yahoo! News
Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba passes away - The Times of India
Sathya Sai Baba's death triggers fight for his £5.5 billion empire ...
http://indianrationalists.blogspot.com/
Whatever freedom his victims may find in his death it cannot approach that they would have felt had he been brought to justice.
However, I can comment on the spirituality of such "miracles."
A Zen novice spent twenty years practicing Zazen (sitting meditation) and rushed into the Master's room saying that he has "powers."
The master smiled gently and said, "Never mind. If you continue meditating for another twenty years such distractions would disappear!"
If a person has a real message he/she would not need to perform miracles to convince people of veracity of the message.
But what if the message is " hey i can do this and more than you ever can imagine because i am God, keep this trinket in case you fall into trouble and need something to remember me"
For me the message is important. I have not read any of Sai Baba's works but for anyone to claim that he/she is God and everyone else is not sounds sheer egotism to me. But then I'm an atheist and so what would I know about how a non-existent being would behave.
No, he made extraordinary claims, which require extraordinary evidence, but his cheap trickery has been well documented and exposed. See: http://youtu.be/_BVEJDPrGpM
Your name states that you are an atheist however giving a person claiming supernatural powers without substantiating those claims with evidence the "benefit of the doubt" is antithetical to atheism and skepticism.
But the important point to me is that suppose a high tech being could do Sai Baba's feats through technology rather than trickery, it still would not make the person a god.
My more important point is that any religious political philosophical leader, could be judged by looking at the message and actions and not claimed miracles. I'm saying even if Jesus were to have walked on water that would not have made him holy let alone a god.
The fact that he supposedly killed an innocent fig tree makes him a suspect person to follow.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sai+baba+tricks&aq=f
Many authors like Vladimir Antonov, Phyllis Krystal , Howard Murphet, Tommy S. W. Wong, Samuel H. Sandweiss, John Hislop, Mario Mazzoleni etc etc etc lots of books for you to peruse.
There are some negative authors too, former devotees like Tal Brooke, Barry Pittard, Robert Priddy, Mark Roche, Alaya Rahm - some or all of what they write/say is also True.
God is not Good, he / It is both Good and Evil and every human makes up his own mind about how the world/God works through reactions to his actions. Actions created by Human freewill and reaction given to him by God - That sums up KARMA, the results of which human will enjoy/suffer through multiple reincarnations. The way to reach/see/feel God is to rid EGO!
Love All Serve All.
God is Truth and Truth only.
-----
Check out my channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/gozeep
This man is Isaac Tigrett, The person he is talking about is God in human form Sathya Sai Baba Isaac found "Hard Rock Cafe" and became a multimillionaire. Then he got saved from a Car crash death by Sai Baba teleporting and saving him like Superman
Then a second time Isaac drug overdosed and died, Sai Baba appeared and ressurected him. Therefore immensely grateful, Isaac went to India and build a free for all Super specialty hospital in the name of Sai Baba
Going through near death/death and coming back is nothing new for Sai Baba. He has even made some devotees to rise from the dead state.
From Wikipedia:
"In 1963, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a stroke and four severe heart attacks.[29] It is believed by some that he healed himself of these, and on recovering announced that he would be reborn as Prema Sai Baba in the state of Karnataka 1 years after his final death."
It also made me stand back and as you said in your article to see that a person so revered is deserving of a more sober assessment.
Your so well written tribute is appreciated. It offers someone less familar with the traditions in India of guru-god-elder a wider view .
According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on? the third day after? his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday)
The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith.1 Corinthians 15:12-20 The resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God Romans 1:4 and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness.Acts 17:31 God has given Christians "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead".1 Peter 1:3 Christians, through faith in the working of GodColossians 2:12 are spiritually resurrected with Jesus so that they may walk in a new way of life.Romans 6:4
You know what will happen when Sai Baba is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May Prisanthi Nilayam flourish for ever, in momory of Swami.