To Raviji, Well you bring up a good point but living in a scientific world and a techonological one at that I think as people get more educated and understand religious views they also come to question the existance of God in some way. Living in a material world, no one knows what God looks like or where God is. In hinduism we goto a temple to see a deity, it is because God kindly shows himself in this deity that we are able to worship him other than that we do not know if God exists, even though we think. >>>When you speculate in this way people come to accept what is more material and what is more human rather than what is more ‘beyond human’. In this case, I’m a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, he is a human yes but he is also a great Yogi. Remeber that there are good Yogis and also Bogis. A Yogi like the Shirdi Sai Baba basically preached what the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta said. Let’s say you are very speculative of their peachings, at this point you should look at their actions. When you look at what these Yogis did, was their final result beneficial to society? or no? must be the question. If these Yogis provide a sense of hope and light to people in misery, if they preach Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma Yoga and actually perform it, if they work together so that both Muslims and Hindus can live side by side…and thus have such a great positive impact on the people, then why not follow them? We follow these ‘humans’ because they are the closest thing to God we can AS HUMANS relate to. That is the reason, I believe the importance of such people.

If you are on a quest to seek a Spiritual Master, I would suggest you read some of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s books. He distinguishes between the Yogi and the Bogi. He shows how to pick the right spiritual master, who teaches based on knowledge and truth and not pleasure for material things. Who teaches as a representative of Godhead instead of calling himself the Godhead. Hope it helps.

i seek guidance from the gita because it’s law passed down directly from a divine source. sai baba on the other hand is merely a human. we should focus our attention on what god teaches rather than praising gurus.

what is referred to as “sai baba’s teachings” are actually teachings already documented in our holy books.

“The latest in these so called exposes is a BBC documentary whose agenda was so predetermined to denigrate Baba that it stooped to the unethical use of a spy camera. In a last farcical gesture, the producer hired some roadside entertainers to attempt to simulate Baba’s chamatkar. The result is so ludicrous that it leaves the viewer wondering as to who is funding this bizarre display of hostile reporting. The BBC is ultimately governed by the Anglican establishment, and churches in the west are losing out financially to the appeal of the Sai Baba movement. As a commercial broadcaster, the BBC’s opting for sleaze would have the dual advantage of discrediting a rival as well as getting good audience rating. The Church of England can have no objection to programmes that weaken perceived threats—like the papacy or Hindu holy men—to its (declining) influence in the world. Posing as a lion in Asia, the BBC is a mouse in Britain. It dare not criticise public icons like the Queen, who happens to be the supremo of the Anglican church.”

What are your thoughts on what BBC has documented about Satya Sai Baba called ‘Secret Swami’?

-Sai K.