Clever camouflage
Dear Ms Stephanie X,
I am writing this after seeing your report about a proposed Sathya Sai school in Hartford, that appeared in The Hartford Courant.
My name is Hari Sampath , I am a 34 year old male Indian National working as a software engineer in Chicago. The Indian guru called Sathya Sai Baba who is the founder and leader of the so called spiritual organization , is personally known to me. I was one of his several millions of followers and had in fact served in a voluntary capacity as a member of the intelligence and security staff at the headquarters of Sai Baba's organization in Puttaparthi, India, for 3 years between 1992 and 1995.
Sathya Sai Baba , as you had mentioned in your report, declared at the age of 14, in 1940, that he was an incarnation of God, and the "father of Jesus Christ". In Indian and Hindu religious terms , this is called an "Avatar" or Messiah . He declared at that time, and has been doing so for the last 60 years , his alleged ability to perform miracles like producing things out of thin air, cure the sick, multiply food, simultaneously be present physically in several places, know the past , present and future of all the people, and even raise the dead. In short, he claimed, and still does so, that he is the God of all Gods, and is walking the earth for the benefit of mankind.
Since that day in 1940, he started attracting a large number of followers, largely due to his supposedly divine powers and miracles, and today his organization Sathya Sai Organizations has registered centers in 157 countries, and his followers are reputed to be in the range of 40-50 millions worldwide. This includes the past and present Prime Ministers of India, ministers and members of the central cabinet in India, supreme court judges, military officials, and high ranking buerocrats , movie stars, international sportsmen , public figures etc.
His central theme is outwardly very attractive with the "love all, serve all" slogan, and he basically teaches a combination of major world religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism etc. The teachings he mouths are nothing new, and can be seen in all religions and are very good and true by their own merits. He constantly claims that he has not come to attract followers, but says in the same vein that he encompasses all forms of God known to mankind in all religions, and encourages all his followers to worship him as God.
He has in the last twenty years, started a couple of schools, colleges, hospitals, and does some welfare work for the public in India too. His followers are often found to be inspired and dedicated men and women from all countries, who enthusiastically put into action all he says. Outwardly, he does not seem to ask anyone for any money, but his organization accepts voluntary donations and enjoys tax exempt status in almost all countries.
So , what is wrong with all this ? In fact, it appears too good to be true, what with free medicare, free education, drinking water and blood donation projects for the poor, spiritual teachings, a call for love peace and non violence, religious unity in the world, and millions of followers, and the Golden Age promised.....In fact The Almighty God Himself in our midst as a Human being !!!! AND HE HIMSELF SAY SO TOO !!! Could it possibly be true ???
This is the question several millions of people had asked and the quest had led them to the door of Sai Baba for the last 5 decades from all over the world. There have been several hundreds of books written about him and a number of websites are there that tell you all about him. His official website is www.sathyasai.org and one can learn all one is allowed to learn about him there.
While there are no shortage of Gurus in India, and a lot of them are sincere and genuine, the One and Only reason why Sai Baba has such a large following is his claim of being God and his ability to perform "miracles" , some of them astonishing and apparently transcending the laws of science. Sai Baba , when confronted by skeptics about his claim to divinity, would very cleverly camouflage his claim to disbelievers by saying "I am God, you are also God, but I am aware of it while you are not" , this is an age old Indian spiritual belief that EVERYTHING IS DIVINE . But Sai Baba says that he is the Almighty himself.
A word about his Ashram (spiritual retreat) and Organization. He has got a luxurious residence, has a fleet of Mercedes , BMW and other luxury cars, and lives like a king with millions of people including Prime ministers, and Governors falling at his feet routinely. His organization is worth approximately $ 15 Billions by way of assets and estates donated by devotees worldwide, and he has hundreds of properties distributed all over the world.
Ms Reitz, I only want to say that all this is a huge stage managed show, and that Sathya Sai Baba is a TOTAL FRAUD. I have several reasons for saying so, two of the most important reasons being he has been reported to be indulging in cheap acts of trickery that he passes off as "miracles" , and that he is a child molestor. He has been sexually abusing young men and boys from his schools and colleges for nearly 30 years now. There are several accounts by many people that he almost forced them to have sex with him . In the past year , hundreds of accounts of Sai Baba's sexual misdeeds towards young men and boys have surfaced. Apparently boldened by the number of people willing to talk about all this, more young men are coming forward all over the world , and giving graphic accounts of how he had acted with them similarly. These are NOT frivolous claims or mud slinging, but very serious allegations, and the pattern is very clear over a period of 3 or 4 decades.
Moreover, There are several eye witness accounts of people having seen him take out small pieces of jewelry like rings, gold chains, watches etc.from under his chair cushions, under his hands, or elsewhere and pretends to wave his hand to "materialize" the objects. There are also available quite a good amount of video footage that shows him to be cheating. It is very clear that he has been doing it all the time, but has been caught doing so sometimes. I had personally known many of his college students who had spent several months in his rooms and they all say the same things about him. He is a cheap cheat , has no "divine" powers , and forces his college boys or brainwashes them into having sex with him.
A lot of his devotees from Western countries too have experienced this, and recently many of them have joined together to expose this fraud godman to the whole world and bring him to justice. A document called "The Findings" compiled by David and Faye Bailey, a couple who were at one time followers and very close to him , is available and it details all the things they discovered by them about Sai Baba and how they were disillusioned. It also includes all the accounts of personal experiences of Sai Baba's devotees who were sexually molested by Sai Baba.
Largely due to these facts coming out about Sai Baba, and also due to the fact that some boys from the Sai Baba school in Sweden were sexually molested by Sai Baba, the Swedish school was closed down recently , with all the parents withdrawing their kids. Sai Baba is currently under investigation by several international investigative agencies and there are several reports of money laundering, organ thefts and transplants and all kinds of underhand criminal activities he is said to orchestrate around the world. It is very clear that all the "spiritual movement" and character education, and welfare activities like schools, hospitals etc are all just fronts and Sai Baba spends less than a small fraction of what he has accumulated for these activities. The involvement of high level politicians from India is indicated, and also perhaps he is being protected by them.
Television programs in Australia and Europe had at different times called him the "biggest hoax in the God business" and a shyster. The big picture is there for all to see, BUT HIS MISGUIDED DEVOTEES CONTINUE TO DEFEND HIM UNDER SOME PRETEXT OR OTHER.
In light of this situation, I ask you to take into account the fundamental principle of Audi Alterum Partem before certifying Sai Baba as a holy man , as you had done in your report, and PLEASE KNOW THE OTHER SIDE and come to your own conclusion. You may decide for yourself what to do about this International Godman and his huge fraud of several decades, and his ill gotten empire and power.
The Sathya Sai school is the entry door through which this virus called Sai Baba is attempting to enter USA. If you decide to and succeed in highlighting the facts about Sai Baba , so that the whole world would see it, we would all be grateful to you. Moreover millions of other people all over the world would be saved from continuing to rest their faiths in him.
I am in active touch with a group of former followers of Sai Baba who are working overtime to expose him worldwide. One of our recent successes was to inform the UNESCO which was scheduled to hold a conference at Sai Baba's college, and get UNESCO to listen to us. As a result of their own invesigations and also with some input from the French govt, the UNESCO headquarters in Paris has called off their participation as has Flinder's University ,Australia.
I would be very happy to assist you in any further research and can facilitate contact with actual victims of sexual molestation by Sai Baba here in the USA and elsewhere. I am sure you will be receiving many e-mails about Sai Baba, I request you to take notice and act, and do the right thing.
I look forward to hearing from you about this .
Thanks and Regards,
Hari Sampath.