Professor S. P. Ruhela's
Charmed View
Posted: August 11, 2004
Author: Barry Pittard
Professor Satya Pal Ruhela, an Indian
sociologist, has been a tireless propagandist of Sathya Sai Baba
down the years, and for a few years, as he told me in my editing
days at Sai Towers, had been banned from the Puttaparthi and
Whitefield ashrams. His story was credible, because the number of
those who the ashram authorities have evicted because they did not
spout the precise official line is legion. Dr Ruhela struck me as a
man utterly devoted to his guru, and a hard-working scholar.
I share the excerpt below because it is typical
of the attempts of many learned men and women to rationalise - to a
point of unconscious absurdity - their faith in Sathya Sai Baba. How
many absurdities do you count in even so short an excerpt? E.g., has
Ruhela been constantly on the scene to observe the activities of
SSB's secretaries (he is normally in New Delhi!)?
Dr Ruhela refers to former Indian Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao. This
is but one of a series of Indian Prime Ministers who have sunk in
public view at SSB's feet - and been publicly flattered by SSB. He
was jailed on corruption charges.
The footage of SSB faking the
materialisation occurred at Secunderabad (a city extension
to Hyderabad), in August 1992. It was shot by India's national
television broadcaster, Doordarshan, and rapidly suppressed
(apparently on Narasimha Rao's order) after a furore in the Indian
press. SSB appears to manifest a gold chain for R. Chakrapani, the
architect of the Kalyana
Mandapam. You can see the television footage at:
ex-baba/engels/movies.html
Dr S. P. Ruhela's Charmed View
"As regards the so-called miracle that failed - the creation of gold
chain at Hyderabad on 29.8.1993, we really cannot believe the press
reports. When Baba has been daily performing thousands of miracles
including creation of gold chains, diamond rings, etc, since his
birth in 1926, it is unbelievable that at Hyderabad he could not
create the chain and his secretary or some one else handed it over
to him. Never has his secretary or any associate from behind been
heard to be there to pass on any object secretly. It is likely that
either some divine angel might have handed over the chain to Baba.
(The existence of divine angels has been proved by scholars) or may
be that the tape in question was the work of some manipulator. It is
also likely that since Baba had praised the Prime Minister Narasimha
Rao unequivocally and appealed to all people to support him, this
might have offended some leaders of other political parties and the
original tape might have been tampered with to defame Baba."
Source: Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Press, S.P. Ruhela, Umang
Paperbacks, New Delhi, 1997, pp171-210.
http://www.saiavatar.de/download/In_Defence_of_SSSB.doc.
Updating Filmed Evidence of Sai Fakery
For recent (February 2004) evidence of SSB
faking miraculous manifestation, all except UK television
viewers of BBC2 This World on June 17, 2004 (and those who have
received complementary copies) are privileged, and will have to
await worldwide distribution of the one-hour documentary 'The
Secret Swami.' However, for footage of the event as presented by
devotees, see:
http://www.kingdomofsai.org/2004/NEWS/NEWS20040218v.html.
It too will convince only the charmed.
The Puttaparthi authorities gave the BBC
unique permission to film within Prashanti Nilayam around last
Mahasivaratri. However, the moment the BBC started asking about
the allegations, the BBC team was evicted from Puttaparthi.
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