Book Review of the week - A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Baba

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Book Review of the week

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

 

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A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Baba

by Don Mario Mazzoleni

Leela Press; April 1, 1994 (November 2000)

285 pages - ISBN: 0962983519

 

Table of Contents

 

Foreword

The Search Begins

>From the Paranormal to the Supernatural

In Search of Saints and Masters

The First Steps Toward the Avatar

Another Religion or a Single Faith? Sai Baba and Jesus

The Work of Sai Baba

Man is God

The First and Final Reality

Religion: Devotion to the One God

Schools and Education

Doubt and Inquiry

Anguish and Ecstasy

Epilogue

Afterword

Bibliography

 

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Foreword

 

Many of my friends were alarmed when they learned of my intention to

write a book about Sai Baba. They were aware of my convictions about

this being who is human only in body. With brotherly concern, they

variously advised, begged or beseeched me to publish it under

pseudonym, imagining the unhappy consequences I might encounter from

the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

 

I asked myself that I should have no fear in saying what my own eyes

have seen. Why should I be afraid to make known what this poor heart

of mine experiences before an extraordinary presence? Should I feel

guilty for what I have discovered during these years, and be afraid

to announce it? Certainly not! On the contrary, I feel quite

fortunate. Necessitas enim mihi incumbit: it is not possible to

resist the impulse of Truth, and woe to me if I should remain

silent!

 

I write this book dedicating it above all to the Church preciously

because I could not let pass, without pointing out to Her who is my

Mother, a piece of news which can no longer remain unknown, hidden

by indifference, fear, or by general confusion. This work is an

undertaking which has made use of me, I would say, only as hired

manual labour: I consider its contents the work of Another. It has

been written above all for my bishop, Pope; and then for all my

fellow bretheren, for my superiors, and for all those who throughout

the centuries try to work in the services of, and in the search for,

Truth.

 

Contrary to what those friends of mine fear, I hope - and my heart

is certain of it - that these reflections will sound like a call and

a warning for a greater spiritual re-awakening.

 

This era - the era of Sathya, the era of truth - is, in my opinion,

a unique moment, which will change the historical and religious

order of nations. Certainly the most extraordinary characteristics

of this study, in an age in which there is so much talk about sects

and religious factions, is that in all the things I have discovered

these years, I have found nothing which would prompt an aversion to

our religion, nothing which would obstruct our faith. On the

contrary! Everything I have meditated on has brought me that much

closer to the mysteries I had been celebrating, often without

knowing them thoroughly. And it is precisely to Sathya Sai Baba that

I owe the renewal of my life as a priest!

 

In short, my hope is this: that the same thing might happen for many

of my fellow bretheren, whom I have found tired, strained and

disappointed.

 

I am grateful to all those who have offered me precious suggestions,

in particular to Professor Pierantonio Di Coste, who encouraged and

supported the drafting of this book.

 

I place this book at the feet of Him who inspired it - the only

begotten son of yesterday, of today, and of always, the immutable

Truth - in the hope that this fruit which He alone has the right to

gather will be pleasing to Him and that He will accept it as an

offering for His greater glory.

 

November 23, 1990

 

Don Mario Mazzoleni

 

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http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/netnews/bookstore/mazzoleni.html

 

«Why on earth would a priest, who has been taught so many well-

packaged and inviolable truths, need to be a seeker? Are there any

existential questions which a priest has not answered? and - you

might ask - what does a man of the church, who should already have

perfected his education and knowledge, still need to investigate?...

Well, then, yes!

 

In nature, everything undergoes change, and our reason is part of

nature. The fundamental truth might not change, but the human

approach to these truths does, and this amounts to admitting that it

is necessary to review and correct the way sacred truths have been

formulated in the past. The level of consciousness of a people

gradually expands, and a formulation which seemed right centuries

ago today appears honestly outdated. It is not the underlying truth

which goes out of date, but the way in which it is expressed. The

clothes change, but not the body dressed in them.»

 

- Don Mario Mazzoleni, page 2

 

«One of the quotations, which has made Sathya Sai Baba's mission

famous throughout the world is the following:

 

There is only one religion: the religion of love.

There is only one language: the language of the heart.

There is only one caste: the caste of humanity.

There is only one God, and He is omnipresent.

 

Some detractors think that this slogan implies a desire to unite all

religions into one, making just one religion... Sai Baba has

absolutely no intention of founding a new religion. He himself has

said that there are plenty of religions already, indeed too many.

The sacred task He has assumed is to lead all religions back to the

one Truth which is God and Love. Any religion that fights or

dismisses other religions in order to defend itself is not a true

religion, because it is against Love, which is to be against God!»

 

- Don Mario Mazzoleni, pages 177, 178

 

This era - the era of Sathya, the era of Truth - is, in my opinion,

a unique moment, which will change the historical and religious

order of nations. Certainly the most extraordinary characteristic of

this study, in an age in which there is so much talk about sects and

religious factions, is that in all the things I have discovered in

these years, I have found nothing which would prompt an aversion to

our religion, nothing which would obstruct our faith. On the

contrary! Everything I have meditated on has brought me that much

closer to the mysteries I had been celebrating, often without

knowing them thoroughly.»

 

- Don Mario Mazzoleni, Introduction

 

Don Mario Mazzoleni has a degree in Moral Theology from the Higher

Institute of Theological Sciences of the Alphonsian Academy in Rome.

In the 1970's he was associated with the Vatican Radio and the

newspaper L'Avvenire. He was particularly concerned with the

relationship of the mass media to spiritual instruction.

 

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http://www.newvision-psychic.com/bookshelf/priestsai.html

 

Synopsis:

 

The publisher , 06/10/96:

What does a Catholic priest do when he encounters a man who can

create anything at will, who heals the sick, and who raises the

dead? What does a Catholic priest do when he discovers that God is

alive in India? Don Mario uses his theological training to examine

Sai Baba's miracles and teachings. His doubts dissolve as he learns

how Sai Baba's teachings mirror those of his divine master, Jesus

Christ. When the Church demands that Don Mario recant for saying

that God is alive or be excommunicated, the author

said, "Institutions do not accompany anyone beyond the grave, the

only reality that one can present to God is one's conscience. The

Lord who examines our hearts is the Judge!" Don Mario Mazzoleni was

excommunicated Sept. 24, 1992.

 

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The book is available at:

 

Netnews Bookstore

http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/netnews/bookstore/index.html

 

Sri Sathya Sai Book and Information Center, Toronto Cananda

http://www.saibooks.org

 

Sathya Sai Book Centre, London UK

http://www.srisathyasaibooks.org.uk/