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Sathya Sai Baba
File:SAISAI.jpgSathya Sai Baba in the 1990s

Sathya Sai Baba (Template:Lang-te), born Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926 with the family name of "Ratnakaram", is a controversial South Indian guru, religious leader and orator. He is described by his followers as a godman and miracle worker.

The Sathya Sai Organization reports that there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 114 countries world-wide. The number of Sathya Sai Baba adherents is estimated to be somewhere around 6 million, although followers cite anywhere from 50 to 100 million". He is considered by his followers to be an avatar and the reincarnation of the saint Sai Baba of Shirdi.

Biography

File:NICE SAI.jpg
Sathya Sai Baba addresses his followers

Sathyanarayana Raju was born to Peddavenkama Raju and Eswaramma in an agrarian family in the remote village of Puttaparthi, located in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. Biographer and devotee Schulman wrote in 1971 that "for any episode of Baba's childhood, there are countless contrasting versions and, at this point, the author discovered that it was no longer possible to separate the facts from the legend".

An official four-volume biography was written by devotee Professor Narayana Kasturi under the guidance of Sathya Sai Baba. The biography recounts an anecdotal incident where a cobra was found in the bedclothes of Sathya Sai Baba shortly after he was born.. The book states that the incident led to him becoming known as "lord of serpents" among the villagers. Devotee Arnold Schulman contradicts the story, stating that Sathyanarayana Raju's sister, who claims to have been present at his birth, recounts the cobra was found outside of the house, several hours after Raju was born, a sight not uncommon in the village. The young Sathyanarayana, the biography states, was a vegetarian and was "known" for his aversion to animal cruelty.

At the age of eight, Satynanarayana Raju attended higher elementary school in Bukkapatnam.. After that he joined another high school at Uravakonda. The biography says that on March 8, 1940, Satynanarayana Raju started behaving "as if a scorpion had stung in his foot". He exhibited strange behavior after this, and entered a coma state. After some time, he got up and his behavior worried his parents - he did not want to eat, remained silent for extended periods of time, and recited ancient shlokas or elaborated on holy Hindu scriptures. In May 1940, he proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of the fakir and saint Sai Baba of Shirdi and subsequently took the fakir's name, Sai Baba. In October 1940, at the age of 14, Sai Baba threw away his books and announced, "My devotees are calling me. I have my work." He then spent the next three days under a tree in the garden of an excise inspector (government officer) and many people gathered around him. Baba taught them his bhajans (devotional songs that are sung out aloud in praise of minor Hindu deities or in praise of sai baba himself). Sai Baba declared himself to be an avatar (a divine incarnation sent to Earth to bring about spiritual renewal.) He has consistently maintained this position ever since. Sathya Sai Baba is listed in the 1942 school record of Bukkapatnam.

In 1944, a mandir for followers of Sathya Sai Baba was built near the village, which is now called the old mandir (old temple). The construction of Prashanthi Nilayam, the current ashram, was started in 1948.

Sanathana Sarathi, the official magazine for the followers of Sathya Sai Baba, was published for the first time in 1958.

In 1960, Sathya Sai Baba said that he would be in this mortal Human form for another 59 years. In 1963, during a discourse, Sai Baba made statements declaring himself a reincarnation of Shiva and Shakti. He also claimed that Sai Baba of Shirdi was an incarnation of Shiva and that his future reincarnation, Prema Sai Baba, would be a reincarnation of Shakti. He publicly repeated this claim in 1976. Baba's biography states that Prema Sai Baba will be born in Mysore State. Sathya Sai Baba had two sisters, one older brother (the late Seshama Raju) and a younger brother (the late R.V.Janaki Ramaiah).

Sai Baba has established three temples (referred to as a mandirs) in India. The first center, established in Mumbai, is referred to as either Dharmakshetra or "athyam. The second center, established in Hyderabad, is referred to as Shivam, and the third center, established in Chennai, is referred to as Sundaram..

Since 2005, Sathya Sai Baba has been confined to a wheelchair, and his failing health has forced him to make fewer public appearances.

Beliefs and practices of followers

Template:Wikify is deprecated. Please use a more specific cleanup template as listed in the documentation.
Main article: Sathya Sai Baba movement Further information: Bibliography of Sathya Sai Baba

]] Sathya Sai Baba gives discourses on religious topics in his native language Telugu to devotees. Twice daily, devotees engage in worship of Sai Baba by conducting rituals such as aarti and singing devotional songs in front of his picture. Sai Baba has said that his followers do not need to give up their original religion. His followers view his teachings as syncretic (uniting all religions). Some famous sayings of his are, "Help ever, hurt never" and "Love all, serve all".

Across the globe, local Sathya Sai Baba groups assemble to sing bhajans (devotional songs in praise of different gods) often accompanied by rhythmic clapping of hands, to do collective community service (called seva), and teach "Education in Human Values" .

According to the Sathya Sai organization, Sathyanarayana Raju has written several articles on religious topics, later collected by the trust in the form of books, titled "Vahinis" (vehicles). There are sixteen vahinis.

Sai organization claims to advocate five values: sathya (truth), dharma (Hindu word for right conduct), ahimsa (non-violence), prema (love for God and all his creatures) and shantih (peace).

Other teachings are:

  • Service and charity (seva) to others.
  • Love for all creatures and objects.
  • Putting a ceiling on one's desires is sadhana.
  • Celibacy after age of fifty.
  • Vegetarianism, moderate and sattvik diet.
  • Abstinence from drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and taking drugs.
  • Meditation (dhyan). Baba teaches four techniques: repetition of the 'name of God'( "Sai" or "Sai Baba") , visualizing the form of God(often on sai baba's physical form), sitting in silence, and jyoti (Flame/Light meditation).
  • Importance of bhakti (devotion) to Sai Baba.
  • Developing "prashanti"( vaguely translates to carefree-ness) and eschewing vices of character.
  • Japa (ritual chanting of Baba's name) and other sadhana (spiritual exercise) to foster devotion.
  • Highly committed devotees use the phrase "Sai Ram" as a salutation.
  • Conducting pooja or aarti( a form of ritual worship) twice daily in front of Baba photos.
  • At the ashram frequent "yagnas" or ritual worship involving ritual sacrifices of vegetable matter and ghee to a pyre is conducted for the baba.

Materialization and other miracles

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This section contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (March 2009)


In some books, magazines, filmed interviews and articles, Sathya Sai Baba's followers report miracles of various kinds that they attribute to him. Claims have been made by devotees that objects have appeared spontaneously in connection with pictures and altars of Sathya Sai Baba.

Documentaries produced by the BBC and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, analyzing videos of the supposed miracles, suggest that they can be explained as sleight of hand tricks. In the 1995 TV documentary Guru Busters, by UK's Channel 4, Sathya Sai Baba was accused of faking his materializations. A videotape was provided which suggested that magician's tricks were being utilized. The same videotape was mentioned in the Deccan Chronicle, on 23 November 1992, on a front page headline "DD Tape Unveils Baba Magic".

The documentary Seduced By Sai Baba, produced by Denmark's national television and radio broadcaster Danish radio was aired in Denmark, Australia and Norway. The documentary carried interview in which former long-term devotees who recount experiencing sexual violations in the hands of the godman. The documentary also carried exposés of how the purported miracles are done by the godman.

In April 1976, Dr. H. Narasimhaiah, a physicist, rationalist and then vice chancellor of Bangalore University, founded and chaired a committee to investigate supposed miracles and other supernatural activities. Narasimhaiah wrote Sathya Sai Baba several letters in which he challenged Baba to perform his miracles under controlled conditions. Sathya Sai Baba said that he did not consent to Narasimhaiah's challenge because he felt his approach was improper, and that the spiritual nature of his abilities was not within the realm of science. The committee did not produce any evidence to support the miracles, and was dissolved in August 1977. Narasimhaiah considered the fact that Sathya Sai Baba ignored his letters as one among several indications that his miracles are fraudulent.

The retired Icelandic psychology professor Erlendur Haraldsson investigated Sathya Sai Baba and documented the guru's reported miracles and manifestations through first-hand interviews with devotees. Haraldsson's research yielded many testimonies of various objects being materialized. Haraldsson said that the largest object claimed by some devotees to have been materialized that he saw was a mangalsutra necklace, 32 inches long, 16 inches long on each side. Haraldsson believed that healings do not play a prominent role in Sathya Sai Baba's activities.

The magazine India Today published in December 2000 a cover story about the Baba and the allegations of fake miracles quoting the magician P. C. Sorcar, Jr. who considered the Baba a fraud. Basava Premanand, a skeptic and amateur magician, asserted that he has been investigating Sathya Sai Baba since 1968 and emphatically believes the "guru" to be a cheater and charlatan. Premanand sued Sathya Sai Baba in 1986 for violation of the Gold Control Act for Sathya Sai Baba's purported "materializations" of gold objects. The case was dismissed, but Premanand appealed on the ground that claimed spiritual power is not a defence recognised in law. Premanand later said that he could duplicate some of Sathya Sai Baba's acts using sleight of hand and the production of a lingam from his mouth.

The British journalist Mick Brown discussed in his 1998 book that Sathya Sai Baba's claim of "resurrecting" the American Walter Cowan in 1971 was probably untrue. His opinion was based on the letters from attending doctors, provided in the Indian Skeptic magazine (published by Premanand). Mick Brown also related, in the same book, his experiences with manifestations of vibuthi, from Sathya Sai Baba's pictures in houses in London, which he felt were not fraudulent or the result of trickery. Brown wrote with regards to Sathya Sai Baba's claims of omniscience, that "skeptics have produced documentation clearly showing discrepancies between Baba's reading of historical events and biblical prophecies and the established accounts."

In October 2007, Baba reportedly announced that he would "appear on the moon" and asked devotees to proceed to the local airport. The miracle failed to happen and the baba and his devotees turned back after waiting for an hour. Police officers found it difficult to disperse the utterly disappointed crowd, and no explanation was offered by the Sai Trust for the failure of the miracle. Rationalists claimed the publicity was an attempt to boost the Baba's waning popularity.

Ashrams and mandirs

The daily program at Sathya Sai Baba's temples usually begins with the chanting of "OM" and a morning prayer (Suprabatham). This is followed by Veda Parayan (chanting of the Vedas), nagarasankirtana (morning devotional songs) and twice a day bhajans and darshan (baba walks around or is wheel-chaired around amongst the gathered devotees) Particularly significant are the darshans during October (the Dasara holidays and November (the month of Sai Baba's birth). During darshan Sathya Sai Baba walks among his followers and may interact with people, accept letters, "materialize" and distribute vibhuti (sacred ash) or call groups or individuals for private interviews. Interviews are chosen solely at the Sai Baba's discretion. Followers consider it a great privilege to get an interview and sometimes a single person, group or family will be invited for a private interview. It is claimed by the Sathya Sai Organization that meeting him has spiritual benefits.

President of India Visits Sai Baba

On May 7, 2009, the President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil payed her respects to Sathya Sai Baba with a visit to Prashanti Nilayam, the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba. The President came by a chartered Indian Air Force plane. She was granted a half an hour with Sai Baba. What they discussed is unknown at the present time.


Political row

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In January 2007, Sathya Sai Baba found himself embroiled in a political row after his remarks opposing the proposed partition of Andhra Pradesh as a "great sin", claiming that there was no demand from the people to bifurcate the state into Telangana and Andhra states. The comments caused an outcry among pro-Telangana activists who angrily voiced their protests in street marches and attacks on the Sivam building, Sathya Sai Baba's temple in Hyderabad, which was staffed by a few followers. Shouting anti-Sai Baba slogans, the protestors pulled down a large picture of Sai Baba and trampled on it before taking it outside and setting it on fire. An effigy of Sathya Sai Baba was also reported to have been burnt, and twenty protestors were arrested following several police complaints.

A number of political figures criticised Sathya Sai Baba including K. Chandrasekhar Rao, leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and former Union Minister, who suggested that Sathya Sai Baba should restrict himself to religious functions and not involve himself in politics. Sai Baba's followers responded by calling a 'bandh' in which shops and business establishments were shut down to protest against the remarks of the Telangana leaders, and effigies of the critics were set alight. K. Kesava Rao, President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, maintained that Sathya Sai Baba's comments had been "misinterpreted" and that the remark was not political. Digvijay Singh, Congress secretary-general, disagreed with suggestions that Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy could have instigated Sathya Sai Baba to make his statement, and confirmed that his party approved plans for the creation of a separate Telangana state. "With due respect to Sai Baba we can say that the work for setting up the second state reorganisation commission will go on," he said.

Raising of funds

Central to the activities if the Sai organization is raising of funds which, the organization claims, are used for charity. According to an article by the Indian news-agency Thehelka, all donations to the Sathya Sai Central Trust have been given tax exemptions and the total value of the Sai Baba's recorded assets, movable and immovable, both within the country and abroad, is Rs 5,000 crores (approx. 1 billion USD), "give or take a bit". The article states that every year, the Sathya Sai Central Trust is bloated with donations worth approximately Rs 65 crore. It also has about Rs 130 crore in fixed deposits (FD) and other term deposits all over the world. The trust has so far raised about Rs 385 crore in the form of loans for some of the Sai Baba's projects.

According to The Times:"Sai Baba is being challenged on another more prosaic front. Questions are being asked about the fundraising techniques employed by his followers. Some are accused of targeting vulnerable rich people and claiming that the miracle worker might be able to cure the afflictions of old age." The Times reported on the case of Clarissa Mason, the second wife of the film star James Mason: "When Clarissa died of cancer in 1994, she willed a large part of her late husband's £13 million estate to the cult, although, due to a dispute with Mason's children, Portland and Morgan, who contend that the estate was not hers to will in the first place, it will be some time before the cult can hope to see any of the Mason millions. Clarissa Mason believed utterly in the powers of Sai Baba, filling her house near Lake Geneva with pictures of the "godman". Her legacy has gone to a trust whose beneficiaries are believed by Mason's children to include a follower of Sai Baba." Joseph Edamaruku states: " He raises enormous amounts of money from India and around the world. We do not believe claims that it is spent on hospitals and charitable works."

Sai Baba responded in a 1993 discourse to allegations that funds donated to the Sathya Sai Central Trust were used in an improper manner. "The Sathya Sai Central Trust would never be burnt by fire. The trust is so sacred. Every naya paisa is spent in the correct way. We know that. The world does not know that. This body is 67 years old. Swami never stretched His hand at any moment. What is the reason? You will certainly get what is required if you have good feelings either in India or abroad. There are no people who are ready to do that. There will be no dearth of money if you are prepared to do. Therefore, a single naya paisa is not wasted. People say crores and crores are mismanaged. This is utterly false. To give such a publicity to the Central Trust is worst of the sins. In this world, nowhere else things are dealt with in such a sacred way. Therefore, our institution is growing day by day. Not only that. Nothing can happen to our institutions so long as the sun and moon are there. It is because of the envious people that this happened. This publicity leads to restlessness in this world. They earn sin. It is not good. Do good if you are capable. Or shut your mouth and sit quiet. Not doing harm is a great help. You are harming others. It is not good. You may speculate why Swami has not come forward with replies." There must be an appropriate time for everything.

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Edwards, Linda (2001). A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 137. ISBN 0664222595.
  2. ^ Lewis, James R. (Editor) (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions:Second Edition. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-88-7. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  3. Haraldsson, Erlendur, An investigative inquiry on Sathya Sai Baba (1997 revised and updated edition published by Sai Towers, Prashanti Nilayam, India) ISBN 81-86822-32-1
  4. Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Vol. 2 N-Z). New York: Rosen. ISBN 0-8239-2287-1.
    Hindu religious figure of the type known as avatar, godman (pg 583)
  5. Nagel, Alexandra (note: Nagel is a critical former follower) "Een mysterieuze ontmoeting... :Sai Baba en mentalist Wolf Messing" published in Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie 368, vol. 72 nr 4, December 2005, pp. 14-17 Template:Nl icon
    *Haraldsson, Erlendur, Miracles are my visiting cards - An investigative inquiry on Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian mystic with the gift of foresight believed to perform modern miracles (1997 revised and updated edition published by Sai Towers, Prasanthi Nilayam, India) ISBN 81-86822-32-1 page 55: "They carried the family name of Ratnakara and belonged to the Raju caste "
    *Menon, Amarnath K. (April 12, 2000). "A God Accused". India Today. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help):
    *Woodhead, Linda. Religion in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformation. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21784-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
    *Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Vol. 1). Rosen. ISBN 0-8239-3179-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Entry: "Godman"
    *Hummel, Reinhart (1984). "Guru, Miracle Worker, Religious Founder: Sathya Sai Baba". Dialog Center. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help): "People's motives for that journey are often serious or incurable diseases, for Sai Baba has an unrivaled reputation as a miracle worker."
  6. The Sai Organization: Numbers to Sai Centers and Names of Countries
    "The inspiration of Sathya Sai Baba's example and message of unselfish love and service has resulted in the establishment of over 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 114 countries throughout the world."
  7. *Nagel, Alexandra "De Sai Paradox: Tegenstrijdigheden van en rondom Sathya Sai Baba"/"The Sai Paradox contradictions of and surrounding Sathya Sai Baba" from the magazine "Religieuze Bewegingen in Nederland, 'Sekten' "/"Religious movements in the Netherlands, 'Cults/Sects' ", 1994, nr. 29. published by the Free University Amsterdam press, (1994) ISBN 90-5383-341-2 reports the following estimates: Beyerstein (1992:3) : 6 million; Riti & Theodore (1993:31): 30 million; Sluizer (1993:19): 70 million; Van Dijk (1993:30) "between 50 and 100 million."
    *Adherents cites Chryssides, George. Exploring New Religions. London, UK: Cassells (1999) (10 million)
    *Brown, Mick (2000-10-28). "Divine Downfall". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)"The guru Sai Baba has left India only once, yet his devotees across the world are estimated at up to 50 million."
    *Edwards, Linda (2001). A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0664222595. (venerated by hundreds of millions in India and abroad)
  8. http://www.vishvarupa.com/sathya-sai-baba/
  9. Chennai Online, "Sri Sathya Sai Baba : A living Devil" by Ramakrishnan R, Available online
  10. Schulman, Arnold (1971). Baba. Viking Press. pp. 122–124. ISBN 0-670-14343-X.
    According to him, contrasting versions about Baba's childhood may be due to the fact that he needed interpreters to interpret other interpreters (as in the case of his interview with Baba's sister). Schulman concluded that what the translators said may well have been quite different from what was actually said.
  11. Brown, Mick (2000-10-28). "Divine Downfall". Daily Telegraph. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Kent, Alexandra (2001). Divinity and Diversity: A Hindu Revitalization Movement in Malaysia. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. p. 37. ISBN 8791114403. The birth was symbolically marked by a frog in the bedclothes
  13. Schulman, Arnold (1971). Baba. Viking Press. pp. 122–124. ISBN 0-670-14343-X. One of Baba's two sisters, however, who claims to have been present at his birth, says that the cobra was not found under the blanket, but several hours after Baba was born a cobra was seen outside the house, a sight not uncommon in the village.
  14. ^ Murphet, Howard (1977). Man of Miracles. Weiser. ISBN 0877283354.
  15. Babb, Lawrence A. (1983). "Sathya Sai Baba's Magic" (PDF). Anthropological Quarterly. 56 (3). Washington DC: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research: 116–124. doi:10.2307/3317305. Retrieved 2007-12-18.: "In 1940, at the age of fourteen, he proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of the celebrated Sai Baba of Shirdi-a saint who became famous in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
  16. Padmanaban, Ranganathan (2000). Love Is My Form (Vol. 1: The Advent). Sai Towers Publishing. pp. 68, 132–133, 147. ISBN 8186822763.
  17. ^ Bowen, David (1988). The Sathya Sai Baba Community in Bradford: Its origins and development, religious beliefs and practices. Leeds: University Press. ISBN 1871363020.
  18. Sathya Sai Speaks Vol. I, 31:198; Prashanthi Nilayam (29-9-1960) Sathya Sai Geetha iii Available online (pdf file)
  19. Available online Shiva Shakthi, Gurupournima Day, 6 July 1963, (Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks III 5, 19.)
  20. "Interview with Blitz journalist - September 1976". Retrieved 2007-12-20.
    "Finally, Prema Sai, the third Avathar will promote the evangelical news that not only does God reside in everybody, but everybody is God. That will be the final wisdom which will enable every man and woman to go to God. The three Avathars carry the triple message of work, worship and wisdom."
  21. Kasturi, Narayana (1973). Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part II: The Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publications Trust. pp. 88–89. ISBN 81-7208-127-8.
    "He said, "I have been keeping back from you all these years one secret about Me; the time has come when I can reveal it to you. This is a sacred day. I am Siva-Sakthi," He declared, "born in the gothra of Bharadwaja, according to a boon won by that sage from Siva and Sakthi. Sakthi Herself was born in the gothra of that sage as Sai Baba of Shirdi; Siva and Sakthi have incarnated as Myself in his gothra now; Siva alone will incarnate as the third Sai (Prema Sai Baba) in the same gothra in Mysore State."
  22. "Sathya Sai Baba's younger brother dies" (CMS). Times of India. 2003-10-18. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. "Satya Saibaba's brother passes away" (HTML). The Hindu. 2003-10-18. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. Sathyam, Shivam and Sundaram Mandirs On Official radiosai.org website Available online
  25. Sai Baba turns 82, is still going strong, IBN Live. "However, he has been confined to a wheelchair for over two years now and his failing health has forced him to make fewer public appearances."
  26. ^ Babb, Lawrence A. (2000) . Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc. pp. 198–199. ISBN 1577661532. OCLC 45491795. LCCN 85-0 – 0. "Sathya Sai Baba is, among other things, considered a teacher by devotees. The devotees' focus is on worship, in singing devotional songs in praise of Sathya and conducting rites invoking and praising Sai Baba - which involve arti - which is performed by devotees in front of his picture, twice daily. He frequently gives "discourses", now compiled in several volumes. He usually speaks in Telugu, and before a Hindi-speaking audience an interpreter is required. One of his most characteristic rhetorical devices is the ad hoc (and often false) etymology. For example, he has stated that Hindu means 'one who is nonviolent' by the combination of hinsa (violence) and dur (distant)."
  27. ^ "Suicide, sex and the guru", Dominic Kennedy, The Times (UK), August 27, 2001
  28. ^ The Baker Pocket Guide to New Religions, by Nigel Scotland , 2006, ISBN 0-8010-6620-4
  29. ^ Babb, Lawrence A. (2000) . Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc. ISBN 1577661532. OCLC 45491795. LCCN 85-0 – 0.
  30. Brown Mick, The Spiritual Tourist, Ch: "The Miracle In North London", pp. 29-30, 1998 ISBN 1-58234-034-X
  31. Kent, Alexandra Divinity and Diversity: a Hindu revitalization movement in Malaysia, Copenhagen Nias Press, first published in 2005, ISBN 8791114403, page 125
  32. Eamon Hardy, Tanya Datta. Secret Swami (Documentary). BBC News. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  33. Cite error: The named reference seduced was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. Haraldsson, op. cit., pp. 295-301
  35. Haraldson, op. cit, pp 204-205
  36. Interview given by Sathya Sai Baba to R. K. Karanjia of Blitz News Magazine in September of 1976 Available online
  37. Haraldsson, pp 209
  38. Haraldsson, op. cit, pp. ??
  39. Haraldsson, op. cit, pp. 43
  40. Haraldsson, op. cit., pp 231, 239-241
  41. India Today, "A God Accused", 4 December 2000 Available online
  42. Cite error: The named reference bbca1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. Brown, Mick The Spiritual Tourist 1998 Bloomsbury publishing ISBN 1-58234-034-X Chapter In the House of God pp. 73 - 74
  44. Hislop, John S. My Baba and I 1985 published by Birth Day Publishing Company, San Diego, California ISBN 0-960-0958-8-8 chapter The Resurrection of Walter Cowan pages 28-31
  45. Brown, Mick The Spiritual Tourist 1998 Bloomsbury publishing ISBN 1-58234-034-X Chapter "In the House of God" pp. 73-74
  46. Brown Mick, The Spiritual Tourist, Ch: "The Miracle In North London", pp. 29-30, 1998 ISBN 1-58234-034-X See Miracles, Claims and Ashrams section.
  47. Brown, Mick. The Spiritual Tourist 1998 Bloomsbury publishing ISBN 1582340013 Chapter "In the House of God" pp. 73
  48. IANS (2007-10-04). "Sai Baba's 'moon miracle' fails". Indiatimes.Com. Retrieved 2007-12-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. ^ The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions: Second Edition, Editor, James R. Lewis, 2002, ISBN 1-57392-88-7
  50. Hummel, Reinhart "Guru, Miracle Worker, Religious Founder: Sathya Sai Baba" article in Update IX 3, September 1985, originally published in German in ;;Materialdienst der EZW;;, 47 Jahrgang, 1 February 1984 (retrieved 20 Feb. 2007)
  51. Express News Service, May 8, 2009,
  52. "Telangana activists upset with Sai Baba". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  53. "Spiritual guru criticised for opposing statehood for Telangana region". gulf-times.com. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  54. "Cong ignores Sai Baba's remarks". timesofindia.com. Retrieved 19 February 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  55. M. Seetha Shailaj (29 November 2000). "Sathya Sai Central Trust: grab as grab can". Tehelka.
  56. http://www.eaisai.com/baba/docs/d930703.html

See also

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