Article of the week - Evidences for Baba's Avatarhood

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EVIDENCES FOR BABA'S AVATARHOOD

 

THESE ARE THE FACTS:

 

Some of them are well documented but some others are not. This is

because those who observed the facts regarded them as special

incidents in their personal life to be shared with others near

them - not as social or historical observations to be recorded for

scientific scrutiny by future generations.

 

1) Sri Aurobindo, the master of Integral Yoga, wanted to " lift

humanity out of the painful chaos it was in". But he soon realised

that it was impossible to do so unless the consciousness of Humanity

expanded and rose above the material and mental levels. However this

was a tall order for any human being and possible only for God i.e.,

unless the Godhead descended to the level of humanity and lifted it

up to a higher level of consciousness, the expansion of

consciousness will continue to be an ideal or a dream.

 

So, Sri Aurobindo devoted all his energies to intense Tapas or

austerities with a Sky-high flame of selfless aspiration, to bring

down the Divine to the level of Humanity as the first and essential

step to divinise or supramentalise human consciousness.

 

For about sixteen years his efforts continued (from 1910 to 1926)

and at last, on 24th November 1926, he announced that "KRISHNA" (the

ninth and the most influential Avatar of God according to the Hindu

tradition) had "descended into the physical". "This would mean the

coming down of the overmind Godhead, preparing for the descent of

the supermind and ananda" i.e., the expansion of collective

consciousness of Humanity to a level at which it can envelop the

Earth as a whole and not be ego-centered, family-centered, community-

centered etc. and thereby enjoy true and ever lasting happiness and

peace. This day is still celebrated as the Victory Day (Siddhi Day)

in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry in South India.

 

The term "overmind Godhead" may be unusual and abstract but the

name "Krishna" used synonymously with that term is not so. It refers

to the Avatar or God-come-in-human-form who walked on earth about

7000 years ago, and who is well known to millions of Indians and

others in the world.

 

The announcement that "Krishna has descended into the physical" can

be easily understood as referring to the latest Avatar of God. Did

Sri Aurobindo explicitly say so? No. Indeed great masters and gods

are fond of telling things indirectly ("Paroksa Priya Deva" says the

Upanishad): Jesus talked in parables; the "revelations" in the Bible

are symbolic and indirect rather than explicit. But the fact that

Sri Aurobindo went into seclusion soon afterwards and the fact that

Sri Sathya Sai Baba's physical appearance or birth, as

Sathyanarayana Raju, took place on 23rd November 1926 and consequent

events, do justify sufficiently, the inference that Sri Aurobindo's

announcement heralded the Sathya Sai Avathar only.

 

It is easy to argue that the meaning of Sri Aurobindo's words were

far from what is inferred above. But that will be an argument at the

level of the intellect or narrow reason, not from the depths of

intuitive perception. Can saints and Spiritual Masters be understood

fully by the use of intellect only?

 

Once it is, at least, accepted that Sri Aurobindo was referring to

an Avatar, who else other than Sri Sathya Sai Baba has shown Avatar-

worthy love to humanity, Avatar-worthy divine powers and influence,

and, has done Avatar-worthy deeds designed to unify the diverse

faiths, communities and races of the world of to-day? Who else?

 

An ardent Follower of Sri Aurobindo like V.K.Gokak (former Vice-

Chancellor of Bangalore University; ex-Director of Institute for

Advanced studies set up by Govt. of India at Simla; winner of the

prestigious Jnanpith award for contributions to Indian Literature;

poet, critic and professor of English) had a different kind of

doubt: He believed that Sri Aurobindo himself was the Avatar! So. it

was difficult for him to accept Sri Sathya Sai Baba also an Avatar!

He felt that both seemed to be fulfilling the expectations arising

out of the term Avatar but could not reconcile the felt perception

with his rational thought. So, he asked Sri Baba himself to solve

the problem. In a trice, Baba clarified the paradox, saying: "I am

Loka-Avatar (i.e., the Avatar come to uplift the world as a whole)

Sri Aurobindo was Vyakti - Avatar (i.e, the Avatar come to uplift

certain highly [spiritually] qualified individuals)". Perhaps Sri

Aurobindo was like St. John and Sri Baba is like Jesus !

 

2) THE SECOND FACT that points to Bhagavan Baba as the Avatar is to

be found in the predictions of divinely inspired seers who foresaw

the advent of a Divine person. Their Descriptions of the

Characteristics of such a person tally very well with what we know

of Baba. For example,

 

a) Nostradamus, the famous French psychic and astrologer who lived

in the 16th century A.D., and predicted the coming together of

U.S.A. and Russia, the Gulf Wars and the destruction of Hiroshima by

Atom Bomb, prophesied that "He who has been awaited for such a long

time - will appear in Asia - will choose Thursday as his Holy Day -

his voice, reign and power will rise across land and sea - from all

parts of the world they will come to honour him".

 

b) Prophet Mohammed is alleged to have said certain things regarding

the Master of the world or the Great Teacher in vol.13 of the

Book, "Ocean of Light" ("Mehedi Moud" in Arabic)

 

The Prophet seems to have been asked whether he was the master of

the world. He denied it and seems to have said that "the Great

Teacher or Guide" or " Master of the World" or God speaking and

advising or "A Great part of God on the Ground" would come with the

following characteristics:

 

"His hair will be profuse: His front teeth will be spaced apart; He

will be clean shaven; His clothing will be like a flame; His face

will be sometimes like copper, sometimes like gold and sometimes

very dark; His body will be small in size; He will give gifts that

are light in weight; He will live for 95 or 96 years; He will bring

things out of His body, through His mouth".

 

These predictions tally so well with the observed characteristics of

Baba that there can be no doubt about the identity of the Great

Teacher or Master of the world!

 

c) In India, palm leaf books known as "Nadis" are available in many

states in which fantastic predictions in great detail can be found

regarding many persons. For example, this author's name, his

parents' names, his wife's name, his place of birth, his place of

work, his date of birth etc. have been predicted hundreds of years

ago in palm leaves by some great seer!

 

In one such "Nadi", the predictions regarding Satyanarayana Raju

(the childhood name of Baba) mention his being an "Avatar amongst

the Avatars" and about his "starting of schools and hospitals".

 

Another Nadi mentions about his capacity to take on the illnesses

of beings to save them from the curse and ill-will of others. One

more nadi seems to have described Baba as the "Krishna of this Kali-

Age".

 

Reference can be made to Suka Nadi, Dr.Herbert B Puryear - Director

of Assn.for research and Enlightenment, Virginia Beach, Virginia,US,

Mother Mary's revelations in Yugoslavia etc.

 

Indeed scholarly persons are studying these Nadis and in some

future year their findings are likely to be astounding and confirm

the identity of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba as the Avatar.

 

3) THE THIRD FACT that points to Bhagavan Baba as the avatar is the

set of published accounts of sincere seekers born in different parts

of the world who craved for the vision of God in human form from the

depth of their hearts. They began their search entirely

independently and reached their goal when they identified or

recognised the Avatar. The seekers about whom information is

available to the Author include (i) Chinnaiya Raju of Tamilnadu

State in India; (ii) Ms. Anne Marie of Germany; (iii) Dr. John

Hislop of U.S.A.; (iv) Ms. Occah Seapaul of West Indies. Details of

these seekers are available in (i) Miracles and Spirituality by

Sarojini Palanivelu (1989); (ii) And the Greatest is Love by A.M.

(1985); (iii) My Baba and I by Hislop (1985); and (iv) SAI the

Word Made Flesh by Occah Seapaul.

 

Chinnaiya Raju was an atheist, and lived in the village of

Kumaramangalam near the famous town of Chidambaram in Tamilnadu. It

so happened that in 1957 he came across a book containing the

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. As he was skipping through

it, a passage in page 258 struck him; It read: "God takes human form

in every age to teach humanity about the Rules for the proper

conduct of life and to induce Devotion". Somehow this passage

provoked his thoughts and he wondered if God did exist, whether he

was available to be seen, heard and to guide and bestow grace. For

hours he was immersed in such thoughts and after lunch he went to

sleep and had a dream. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa appeared and behind

him was seen a short person. He woke up. The same dream recurred the

next day also in the afternoon nap! And on the third day the dream

was different! The short person alone appeared and seemed to be

pushed towards Chinnaiya Raju by a flood of light! Chinnaiya did not

understand anything from the dream but he evidently continued in his

inner search for the Avatar. After one month, the dream recurred but

this time the short person said: "You search for the Avatar and find

him yourself! The name is Sai Baba and the place is near Penukonda

and Mudiguppa in Andhra State!"

 

For the next three days, Chinnaiya went on enquiring about Sai Baba

and Penukonda almost madly! No one seemed to know or able to guide

him. So, he decided to do the search for himself; after repeated

enquiries, he came to know about the location of Penukonda and by

train he reached it and then travelled on to Mudiguppa. It was mid-

night in that village when he reached it! And at that time, a

cartman called him and asked whether he wanted to be taken to

Puttaparthi! Chinnaiya said that he was not interested in going

there but was interested in seeing Sai Baba wherever he was! The

cartman laughed and said that Sai Baba was in Puttaparthi only and

that he would take him there.

 

In the early morning, Chinnaiya had his first darsan of Sai Baba and

was surprised when he realised that the Baba was identical with the

short person who appeared and guided him in his dreams! He was not

sure whether the AVATAR could be so simple! And then Baba came to

him and asked him "Was the journey in the cart comfortable?! Your

wife is pregnant, is she not?!"

 

These questions were enough for Chinnaiya and he realised that his

search for the Avatar had come to an end. He was a regular visitor

thereafter to Puttaparthi and about three days before his death, he

shouted aloud in the very early hours of the morning and to those

who ran to him he said that he had Visvarupa darsan of Baba i.e.,

the perception of omnipresence of the lord. And he told his

relatives that the call had come from the lord and others can be

informed about his fast ensuing end!

 

Annie Marie of Germany in her eighteenth year (around 1950) read an

inspiring Book, The Lives and Teachings of the Masters of the far

East by Baird Spalding and she prayed from the bottom of her

heart: "Oh! God, if I can be closer to you in India, then Please let

me go there". By an extraordinary turn of events, she went to

England and married an Indian there, with whom she came to settle

down in India!

 

In India for twelve years her search for the Lord took her to

various Gurus and involved a lot of study and disciplines. And at

last, in her forty-sixth year, she saw him! And she realised his

Avatarhood, that he was verily the Divine Krishna come again! After

that, she writes: "When I came home, my daughter asked me: Mummy,

what is the matter with you? You are Glowing! The joy persisted..

This joy has not left me since".

 

Dr. John Hislop in his sixteenth year (around 1922), suddenly felt

that "These church people do not know what they are saying. In some

place in the world there must be someone who knows the TRUTH and is

able to directly say from that Truth". He went in search of Truth.

On the way he met J.Krishnamurthi, Swami Yogananda, Swami

Vishnudevananda, the Yoga teacher Iyengar, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,

Dalai Lama and U Ba Khin of Burma and went through many a discipline

meant or recommended for spiritual progress and the realisation of

the Self or the Truth. In 1968 at last, he met Baba and with his

spiritual training, "knew at once, without doubt" that Baba was the

source of Wisdom and Love - and was God indeed in human form!

 

Ms. Occah Seapaul, the Govt. Lawyer at Trinidad, used to pray

fervently: O Heavenly father! if thou art incarnating on earth, draw

me to thee and lift me to a consciousness of oneness with thee". And

in 1976 when she had darsan of Baba in physical form in India,

she "knew that he was indeed the heavenly father" to whom she had

prayed.

 

She began to share her joy and experiences with more and more

people; one of those who heard her was the mother (Head) of a

church. The result was the invitation to Ms. Seapaul to unveil a

picture of Baba in the Shrine of the Sisters of St. Catherine! And

lo! thick streams of Amrit (Honey - like - liquid that manifests

itself by Baba's loving power) began to flow from the pictures of

Baba, Jesus and Mary!

 

WHAT ARE THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR PEOPLE NOT RECOGNISING THE

AVATARHOOD OF BABA?

 

People of this Age, in general, are slaves to the desires related to

Body and Mind so much, that they are not really interested in

knowing and recognising God or His Avatar. For many, worship of God

is a ritual or part of a festival when they can indulge in eating,

dressing etc. So, some concept of god or some form of god, caters to

their superficial or formal needs to have a core of apparent purpose

around which they can weave their whims and fancies.

 

They are like children playing with balls or dolls and lost in their

games as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said: They don't remember their

mothers or bothers to answer their calls. But when hunger gnaws

their stomachs or some limbs are wounded, they cry out "ma!" and

come running into the house!

 

When people face losses of health, money, or relatives, when people

are afraid of their future or death they run in search of God! When

people are badly in need of "God" i.e., in need of solace and

comfort and reassurance of the rightness of their ways and goals,

any concept or person who provides these, acts as god-Substitute.

Only those who need God and God alone get to know Him, fully enough

and recognise His Avatar.

 

To understand any subject fully, one is forced to study a lot and

deeply. To know about God who is the biggest, deepest or subtlest of

all "subjects", a lot of deep study is required. Many are not ready

for that. This is the MAIN REASON that prevents people from

recognising the Avatarhood of Baba and which prevented people from

recognising Sri Krishna, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed in their

times.

 

THE SECOND REASON is that people have presumptions about God and

Avatar. When an actual Avatar does not conform to their presumptions

and expectations, they do not accept Him. This happens in science

also. A new phenomenon is not accepted easily if it is in conflict

with known Theories.

 

It is not the common man only who has this tendency. According to a

legend, Anjaneya who was the greatest Devotee of God in Rama Avatar

and Jambavan who lived during that time failed to recognise the

Divine Avatarhood of Krishna. Anjaneya insisted that Krishna should

appear as Rama! Jambavan took a long time in fighting with Krishna

before recognising Him. Jesus Christ was not recognised as the

Messiah by the Jews immediately. Prophet Mohammed was mocked

because "he did not even have a donkey to travel on"! One man

said, " If you are the prophet indeed, I am not fit to stand before

you and talk! If you are not and are lying, you are not fit to stand

before me and talk!".

 

There was a time when Baba was regarded only as a saint with some

supernatural powers rather than an Avatar; at such a time a party of

visitors from Coimbatore District went to Prasanthinilayam; they

were tired after a strenuous journey by train and bus. So, Bhagavan

beckoned from the Balcony to them and invited them to come upstairs

to his room! And you know what they said in reply? One of them on

their behalf said, "we are already tired! So why not you come down

to receive us instead of asking us to come up?" (This was related to

me by Doraiswamy Naidu of Udumalpet about 15 Years ago!) And the

Beloved Lord said, "Oh! I have `comedown' from the Heavens just to

lift you all up (to a higher level of consciousness). So it is with

pleasure I'll come down to the ground floor to receive you!". He

came down and said: "I'm so happy to see you all! You ask for

anything and I will grant that to you!". And Doraiswamy Naidu with

tears in his eyes told me, " you know, Vidyakar, what we asked for?

we asked for sweets, fruits that were not available in that season,

blessing for a happy ceremonial celebration of the completion of 60

years and the like. We did not realise that he was an Avatar and

really capable of granting anything that we could ask for! Had we

realised that, we could have asked for liberation (from the bonds of

body centered life) or Jnana (the ultimate wisdom).

 

THE THIRD REASON is that people do not expect the infinite God-the

Absolute, the defect-and-limitation-free God to assume the Human

form with definite taste, mode of speaking etc. I've been often

asked, "How can you worship a man as god?".

 

I asked such people whether they believe that Rama, Krishna and

Jesus, are Gods. They said "Yes", because they were not atheists and

supposed to be religious enough! I pointed out to them that Rama,

Krishna and Jesus were men who walked on earth, ate, spoke and

smiled (and fumed - when occasion demanded!). Are such people of the

opinion that God is omnipotent but for his inability to assume a

human form with certain limitations and preferences? Surely, He can

assume different forms, manners and living modes.

 

The problem arises because God is seen as someone outside us and not

as the one who is within all of us and simultaneously beyond our

limited selves and bodies. Once God's immanent aspect is understood

together with his transcendental aspect, once the Lord's essential

formlessness with infinite capacity to assume forms and limitations

for play or display of his potentials and, once the essential

qualitative identity of "God" and one's highest, deepest and truest

self are grasped or perceived, these objectors will realise the

untenability of their view.

 

THE FOURTH REASON is simply the will of God! Baba has often said

that only those whom he wills to come to him, will come to him - not

others. (On another occasion, he has said that the time - table of

events follows his own dynamic will and He like the Engine Driver of

a train who waits for all the compartments to be joined together

before he starts the Engine, waits for all those who can accept Him

before He launches on world-wide plans for expanding the

consciousness of humanity).

 

In this context, it is worth remembering Al Qur-on 10:99: "If it had

been thy Lord's will, they would have believed — All who are on

earth! Wilt thou compel mankind against their will to believe!".

 

THE FIFTH REASON is that people do not expect an Avatar to be so

easily seen by them or available to them and especially to be

proclaiming Himself to be an Avatar!

 

In this context, I am reminded of an anecdote regarding Charles

Dawes who was the Vice -President of USA in 1920's. He was

travelling and stopped at a village store to get some soft

drinks. "I need a bottle opener, But I'll bring it back", he said.

The proprietress of the store asked him, "Where are you from? You

look a stranger!".

 

"I am from Washington D.C and am the Vice-President of USA", Dawes

replied simply. "Boy!" said the woman to a young man, "You go along

with this man, and make sure you bring back the bottle opener!".

 

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