An Open Letter to the Followers of Sathya Sai Baba

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An Open Letter to the Followers of Sathya Sai Baba

Frank Morales, M.A.

International Sanatana Dharma Society

www.dharmacentral.com

The one-billion strong global Hindu and Yoga community has been receiving

a series of collective shocks for the last several months as it has

become increasingly clear that one of its most popular figures is guilty

of massive abuse of his followers. Sathya Sai Baba, the famous

"guru" known for such supposed miracles as producing

Rolex watches out of thin air as gifts for some of his more prosperous

admirers, is currently embroiled in potentially one of the most horrific

scandals in the history of the Hindu/Yoga community. Accused now by

scores of his former and current male disciples of systematically

committing both sexual and psychological abuse, Sathya Sai Baba now finds

himself exposed as yet one more of a string of false teachers who have

plagued Hinduism in more recent decades. With purportedly as many

as 40 million followers, many observers are now predicting a mass exodus

of these followers from the "avatar". For those

who have highlighted the ludicrous nature of Sai Baba's claims to be a

miracle-worker and avatara for many years previous to these recent

revelations, now is not a time to gloat about having been right. It

is now a time for compassion towards Sai Baba's many sincere and

dedicated devotees. For those who have previously been - or who

still may continue to be - sincere followers of Sai Baba, now is not the

time to falter on the spiritual path. For such followers, this is a

time for deep and patient reflection, self-introspection and an

open-minded assessment of precisely what it means to be a sincere

aspirant after Truth.

Sanatana Dharma

While

the specific claims to divinity previously made by Sai Baba have been

clearly deceptive and false, the spiritual antecedents of the ancient

path he claimed to teach are not. The philosophical background of

this path is known in the sacred Sanskrit language as Sanatana Dharma and

represents the most ancient continuously practiced spiritual tradition

known to humanity. Sometimes referred to as "Hinduism"

for the sake of convenience, Sanatana Dharma is a world-view that fosters

the qualities of compassion, morality, non-violence and truthfulness in

its adherents. It is an eternal and natural path that seeks the

harmonization of both individual and social interests with those of the

greater eternal natural law that is inherent in the very structural

constitution of our cosmos. It is a path the goal of which is

nothing less than self-realization (atma-jnana) and knowledge of

God (Brahma-vidya), along with the joy, fulfillment and happiness

that is attendant upon such realization.

Shastra, Acharya, Viveka

The

primary concern of philosophical importance that must be answered in any

valid spiritual path is that of the ultimate derivation of spiritual

authority. Followers of Sanatana Dharma have historically been

cautioned to not be swayed by "miraculous" tricks, guided by

charismatic charlatans, or to derive their knowledge of the Absolute from

"gurus" who are not representing a clear succession

(parampara) of authentic teachers that is clearly valid in

origin. Followers of Sanatana Dharma derive their knowledge of

Truth from, as well as live their lives in accordance with, the divine

knowledge revealed in the form of the Veda.

For the followers of Sanatana Dharma, all personal ethical decisions, all

philosophical judgements and all spiritual practices (sadhana)

must be in accord with three specific criteria. These three are: 1)

Shastra: The divine scriptures of Sanatana Dharma (including the

Vedas, Upanisads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, etc.); 2) Acharya:

Authentic spiritual preceptors who teach the truths of Sanatana Dharma

with uncompromising honesty, in accord with an authentic Vaidika

understanding, and who wholly personify what they teach. Such

authentic spiritual preceptors in the past have included such truly great

acharyas as Ramanuja, Madhva and Shankara; 3) Viveka:

One's own inherent capacity for intelligent discernment of truth versus

untruth, reality versus illusion. It is only by deriving knowledge

of the Absolute in accordance with these three epistemic mechanisms that

we avoid being cheated by either our own internal tendencies toward

self-delusion, or by external false teachers.

Avataras

The

term "avatara" very specifically denotes a divine

manifestation of the Absolute in finite form. The express purpose

of such avataras is to reestablish the principles of Dharma at

such times in human history when these principles cannot be reestablished

by mere mortals alone. Being direct incarnations of God, the

activities of such avataras are naturally considered to be divine

and transcendental in nature. They are thus called lila, or

the divine play of the Absolute. Such divine lila, however,

has at no time ever included sexual abuse, manipulation of sincere

followers and systematic deception. Anyone who would attempt to

excuse the criminal behavior of false teachers as merely being a

manifestation of their "lila" is just as guilty of abuse

as are the false teachers themselves. Moreover, they will

necessarily share the very same negative karmic effect that is due to

these false teachers.

According to the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, such avataras do

not appear in a haphazard and random manner, but only when these very

same scriptures indicate that they shall descend. The last

avatara to appear in our world according to the Vedic scriptures

was Bhagavan Sri Krishna (c. 3100 BCE). By the account of these

very same scriptures, the next avatara to come will be Bhagavan

Sri Kalki, who will not become manifest for over 400,000 more

years. There are no hidden avataras. Any human

claiming to be such an avatara previous to Kalki is, according to

the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, clearly deceiving his followers.

Sai Baba never was an avatara, but was quite obviously a very

severely flawed human being.

The Culture of Victimization

Whether

we speak of such religiously corrupt individuals as "Osho"

(a.k.a., Rajneesh), "Da Avabhasa" (a.k.a., Franklin Jones), or

the many various fallen ISKCON "gurus", Sai Baba is

certainly not the first false teacher to abuse his unsuspecting

disciples. Indeed, one of the most common pit-falls that every

spiritual aspirant has always had to be wary of has been that of the

false sage. This has always been true both historically, as well as

among all spiritual traditions - whether Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or

Islamic. Despite this universal prevalence of false teachers,

however, quite often, disillusioned followers of a false teacher will

wish to insist that their own individual experience of betrayal is

singularly unique. While such horrible experiences of betrayal may

seem to be unique, however, in actuality they are not. In the world

in which we live, tragically, everyone is going to experience being

cheated at one time or another, at the hands of someone or another. At

this confusing time in the lives of so many millions of former and

current Sai Baba followers, it is crucial to remember this: The fact that

we have been cheated by one false teacher or another is not what

distinguishes us from the bulk of humanity. Everyone has been

cheated. Rather, what truly distinguishes us is what we then chose

to do with our disappointing experience.

Once we discover that the person whom we trusted with our spiritual fate

is in actuality a spiritual abuser, there are then only two options open

to us. We can either: a) chose to allow our negative experience to

overwhelm us, and thus use this experience as a convenient excuse to then

fall away from the spiritual path altogether. Or b) we can refuse

to see ourselves as victims and instead to allow our negative experience

to help us continue on the path in a much more discerning way. The

choice, of course, is always ours to make. Rather than unthinkingly

rejecting the whole of what Sanatana Dharma has to offer due to what is

beyond doubt a very legitimate crisis of faith, I urge all followers of

Sai Baba to instead use this terrible experience to inspire you to

explore to a much deeper degree the profound teachings of authentic

Sanatana Dharma. The existence of a fake diamond does not negate

the reality and worth of real diamonds. In the same way, the

existence of a fake "guru" does not ever negate the

life-affirming reality of Sanatana Dharma.

Resilience

There

are many spiritual qualities that the Yogi, or serious follower of

Sanatana Dharma, must possess in order to ensure her or his continued

progress on the path toward the Divine. Among these many personal

qualities are included: constant practice (abhyasa), detachment

(vairagya), compassion (daya), as well as the yamas

and niyamas of the classical ashtanga yoga system. In

addition to these, one of the most important personal spiritual qualities

that the Yogi needs to develop is known as sthiti-sthapaka, or a

deep sense of resilience. Like the strong and mighty tree that can

patiently bend in the wind, endure the ferocity of the elements and

remain steadfast in the face of all changes around it, the followers of

Sai Baba too must now reestablish their profound commitment to the

eternal truths of the path of Sanatana Dharma - even in the face of this

most painful of all challenges.

You Are Not Alone: An Invitation to Sanatana Dharma

Sanatana

Dharma is, by its very definition, a way of living that is eternal in

nature. It is a path that offers the most rational, systematically

comprehensive and joyous means of attaining liberation from the illusion

of what we are not, as well as knowledge of what we truly are in our

essential Self. More, it is also a loving family one-billion

strong. I urge all followers of Sai Baba at this time of confusion,

pain and disillusionment to please remain a part of the family of

Sanatana Dharma. It is your family. I urge you to use this

terrible experience with a clearly false teacher to strengthen your

resolve to understand the Truth in an even more authentic and meaningful

way. Resolve to turn to the ancient spiritual roots of what you

have sincerely practiced up till now. Learn the authentic teachings

of the acharyas by reading the works of Ramanuja, Madhva and

Shankara. At this time of doubt, study the pristine teachings of

the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Ramayana and Mahabharata and

discover the incomparable wisdom that they contain. I invite you to

explore the authentic teachings of Sanatana Dharma. Though a cloud

will periodically obscure the brilliance of the sun, the light is only

temporarily hidden from our sight. Though Truth sometimes eludes

us, it does in time make Itself known to those who persevere in its

service. Please know, you are not alone.

Satyam Eva Jayate ("Truth alone prevails"),

Frank Morales, M.A.

Satya Dhama Ashrama (Abode of Truth Sanctuary)

International Sanatana Dharma Society

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

December 25, 2000

For further information:

International Sanatana Dharma Society

P.O. Box 46003

Madison, WI, USA 53744-6003

(608) 288-0266

fmorales (AT) dharmacentral (DOT) com

www.dharmacentral.com