Let's take a brief
look again at the supposed 'wisdom' of the self-acclaimed 'universal
world teacher and avatar'. SSB talks of envy and hatred as robber
twins, insect pests and characterises them as evil (Golden Age 1980,
p. vii), and characterises these as more tremendous sins than anything
else (One immediately asks, but what of cunning lies, power madness,
premeditated murder, violent torture, genocide, abusive sex?). No, he
simply loses all sense of proportion when he is riding his
hobby-horse. For example:-
This
last is typical Sathya Sai Baba... a sheer parody of psychological
insight... it is sheer black-white kindergarten mentality. This is
odious cult belief material par excellence! There are no
remedies at all... but we must get rid of these 'demonic qualities'
nonetheless. What sheer patronising twaddle is this? I just do not
experience envy from every other because I am happy, or attempts to
"ruin my peace of mind" (excluding certain 'Sai devotees' who have
posted against me, though in vain). All the SSB sermonising above is
wild exaggeration and, moreover, is a destructive way of thinking
altogether. Shame on you, Sathya Sai, you ought to know better!
SSB preaches constantly on a considerable number
of different sins. His various lists of deadly sins include anything
from one or two up to an including dozens. Remarkably, each sin is
presented in a self-defeating and authoritarian way by him as being
the greatest, most heinous or most damning of all sins! These include,
as one would expect 'hatred', 'violence', 'anger', 'untruth', 'gossip'
etc.. Yet less convincing is the mortal sin of 'lack of faith'
(especially in him as the one pure and perfect avatar); 'back-biting'
(especially about him, one soon realises), 'ingratitude', (esp.
towards him, God in person); 'egoism' (which includes any kind
of self-interest whatever); 'impeding the divine purpose' (i.e.
stating negative facts about him), criticising others (especially him,
who criticises literally everyone), 'desire and lust' (esp. when
attributed to him, no doubt) and so on as per usual! (especially, he
often implies by the context, of those who SSB likes and attends to).
Except that he never ever calls himself a sinner, admittedly!
So SSB's "universal" preaching lists all the
traditional sins of fundamentalist religionists! Contradictorily, he
has also has said that it is a "direct sin to call oneself a sinner" (Sathya
Sai Speaks, Vol 2, Ch. 22, p. 116). I am not, or course,
advocating hate, jealousy or envy (as I know that some witless Sai
devotees believe)... but just pointing out the rabid nature of SSB's
proclamations.
Anyone who so much as questions his many
questionable words and deeds, is regarded as a sinner by his
followers, at best as a poor deluded soul condemned to terrible
rebirths and retroactive karma etc. Such persons are automatically
excluded (compassionately?) from his organisations and ashrams, for
his teaching is implemented throughout the authoritarian and top-down
social institutions, which disempower those who join them. This is
what makes the Sathya Sai movement a genuine exclusive and
self-defensive cult.
The Sathya Sai Organisation even requires that
one signs up to a regime which formally and explicitly grants no
priviliges of any kind to its members... and this is practised too,
for one has not even the privilege of being heard nor being able to
question openlyand frankly anything whatever that is decided from
above, however irrelevant, senseless or contrary to genuine human
values it turns out to be (i.e. covering up facts and spreading
untruths). To join the SSO is to agree to accept very strict
limitations on what one can do or say altogether... and these
limitations are not made clear from the outset, they become evident
only as time goes on and one meets the brick wall of being ignored or
rejected. Intelligent people are soon reduced to parroting the most
inane moralisms...
The moralistic and sin-oriented part of SSB's
teaching is as strict and restrictive as any religious sect and it
gives a classical recipe for repression of individuality. The lack of
understanding of the many concomitant causes and personal reasons for
whatever he chooses to condemn as bad and evil is really quite
remarkable. In fact, anyone who examines the discourses closely and
thoroughly - and critically investigates the available facts about the
actual behaviour plus the hidden life of SSB - finds inalienable proof
that SSB himself commits all these 'heinous sins' himself! What a
'Divine example'!