Sai Baba and the Cosmic Christ, by Ron Laing

[Guest guest]

struck a note in the core of my being. He crystallised virtually everything I

had come to believe in 65 years of search. I had come home. What also

impacted me increasingly was the extraordinary similarity in the life,

teachings, miracles, and personality of Sai Baba and Jesus of Nazareth. They

even seemed to express themselves in the same phraseology. Of course it is true

that all world teachers basically assert the same truths, but there is an

extraordinary identity between Sai Baba and Jesus which is quite unique. In

1968 Albert Eckhart wrote, 'The difference between Sai Baba and Jesus Christ

is that the first is living and his miracles are confirmed by men, whereas the

miracles of Jesus are

reported in the Bible only. Nevertheless, the behaviour and the deeds of both

are nearly and often the same.' The teachings of Jesus spread across half the

globe. Sai Baba, in a little over 40 years, is said to have 50 million devotees

and there are Centres in 64 countries of the world. (This article was written in

1984. Now there are Sai Centres in about 180 countries and correspondingly a

much larger number of followers - H2H Team). Puttaparthi is rapidly becoming

the Vatican of the East. At the Birthday celebration in 1980 there were 350,000

people accommodated on a campus of 100 acres. On Swami's 50th birthday

Dr Diwaker, an Indian scholar and statesman, said this: 'Once Swami was a

village urchin, uncared for, untutored, unloved. Now on his 50th birthday we

assemble from the four quarters of the globe and what do we find? Philosophers

and politicians, educators and legislators, scientists and technologists, the

learned as well as the ignorant, the rich as well as the poor, and from all

nations and from all religions, if this is not a marvel and a living

miracle I would like to know what is! Sai and Jesus...Same Love Jesus went

about loving people and healing the sick. Sai Baba, too, does just that —

loving people and healing the sick, serving mankind 24 hours a day. Both

interpret the purpose of human life in exactly the same way. The symbolic

meaning of the Cross is the eradication of the ego — the vertical stroke

represents the T with which we are born, and the horizontal stroke the erasure

of the ego. Baba's interpretation is identical. 'The sole purpose of your

incarnation is the crucifixion of the ego on the altar of compassion.' Both

have made stupendous statements.

Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. I and my father are one.'

Baba has made even more incredible statements, 'My power is immeasurable. My

truth is inexplicable, unfathomable. I am beyond the reach of the most

intensive enquiry and the most meticulous measurement. There is nothing I do

not see, nowhere I do not know the way, no problem I cannot solve. My

sufficiency is unconditional. I am the totality — all of it' Both proclaim

the brotherhood of man and the universality of the message. 'Go ye therefore,

and teach all nations,' said the Christ. 'My mission is for all mankind,'

says Baba, 'I have not come to collect disciples for any particular sect, creed

or religion, such as the Hindu religion. I have come to light the lamp of love

in the hearts of all humanity.' Sai and Jesus - Same Teaching and

Message The teaching of both is exoteric and esoteric. Christ taught the

masses in simple parables, yet astounded the scholars and theologians with the

scope and

insight of his knowledge. Baba also teaches the masses in parables, yet was

explaining the most abstruse passages in the Vedas to India's pundits at the

age of ten. Both come over as men of the people, intensely human and lovable,

albeit divine, rather than as cloistered holy men. One might say 'divinely

human and humanly divine'. One feels this about Jesus, at one and the same time

a friend and a god-man. So too with Baba — at one moment borrowing a razor from

Dr Gokak when travelling, and then suddenly performing some stupendous miracle

(like 'cancelling' the cancer of a devotee). We are told that Jesus commanded

an audience of thousands, and was acclaimed by virtually the entire city on his

entry into Jerusalem. Baba commands an audience of tens of thousands on a

whirlwind visit to a big city. Both started their mission when children. Christ

taught

in the temple at the age of 12. Baba was performing miracles at 6 and started

his mission at the age of 13. The teaching on karma and reincarnation is

common to both, although most of Christ's teaching on these truths were

expunged from the four Gospels which were kept, at the Council of

Constantinople in 553 A.D. They are, however, still intact in the Aquarian

Gospel and others. 'A man reaps what he sows,' says Jesus. 'Whatsoever acts a

man does, good or bad, follow him,' says Baba. 'The Kingdom of heaven is within

you,' said Jesus. 'We make our worlds ourselves,' says Baba. 'God is your best

Guru, and He resides in your heart.' Christ upheld the role of women and

tried to raise their status above the level of mere chattels. He was often

surrounded by women. Swami, too, reveres women, and elevates them in their

vital role of motherhood as being the custodians of future generations. 'The

mother is the child's first guru,' He says. Three of His first six colleges are

for women only (and every year November 19th is celebrated as Ladies Day in

Prashanthi Nilayam and all Sai Centres). Christ preached joy

and the life abundant. 'I am come that they might have life, and that they

might have it more abundantly.' Joy is the very essence of Baba's personality

and teaching. Listen to those who know Him intimately — Howard Murphet, author

of three books on Baba: 'We who

struggle on through sorrow and passing joy, see in Baba the embodiment of

perfect joy.' Or to Dr Sandweiss, author of The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist,

'He appears to be in a state of constant bliss. His face and body are lit with

an aura of energy which I have never observed in a human being.' Of course

the cornerstone of the teaching of these two god-men can be summed up in the

one word - love. No newcomer to the Gospels, unconditioned by theology, could

possibly read them without gaining the over-whelming impression that the

paramount message contained therein is one of love. "Thou shalt love the Lord

thy God . . .' and 'Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two

commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' Sai

Baba, too, is the embodiment of love. It is the essence of all His teaching, the

golden thread which runs through everything He says and does, the criterion by

which He judges everything. There is the same similarity in the detailed

teaching. 'Avoid killing, theft, adultery, greed, sensuality, anger,

impatience, hatred, egotism, pride.' Are not these exhortations an appeal to

the Christian values? In the ten volumes of Baba's Discourses can be found

every precept of the Sermon on the Mount. I give here a few of the sayings of

both. The Sermon on the Mount Jesus : 'Blessed are the pure in heart:

for they shall see God.' Sai : 'The pure heart becomes inspired; it sees

beyond intellect and reason.' Jesus : 'Search not for the mote in your

neighbour's eye but look for the beam in your own.' Sai : 'Instead of seeing

faults in others, search for those in yourself.' Jesus : 'Judge not, that ye

be not judged.' Swami: 'Do not judge others, for when another is judged you

are yourself condemned.' Jesus : 'Cast not pearls before swine.' Sai

: 'Do not discuss devotion with those who have none; it will lessen your own.'

Jesus : 'Love your enemies.' Sai : 'Carry on even if you are hated.' Jesus :

'Not everyone who sayeth 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he

that doeth the will of the Father.' Sai : 'The secret of liberation lies not

in mystic formulas and rosaries, but in stepping out into action.' (Love and

Service) Jesus : 'For as much as you do injury to one of these, you do it to

me.' Sai : 'Do not slander or injure anyone, for you are slandering Me who is

in him.' Jesus

: 'For Thine is the power and the glory.' Sai : ' No man can claim

achievement, for all are but instruments in the hands of the Lord..' Jesus :

'Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.'

Sai : 'Bring Me the depths of your minds, no matter how grotesque, no matter

how ravaged by doubts or disappointments. I will not reject you. I am your

Mother.' Sai and Jesus - The Same Divine Charisma As with

the teachings, so with the personalities and miracles. It is clear that Christ

had a radiant transparency, a divine charisma, with no trace of affectation,

pride or ego; that he was motivated solely by love which radiated from him. The

impact of meeting him must have been soul-shattering. How else could a man walk

up to a small group of illiterate fishermen, talk to them for an hour, and then

say, 'Follow me,' and have them do just that, abandoning all? Sai Baba has a

similar effect. The sight of Him changes men and women. Often souls are

instantly transformed. Dr Sandweiss was an example. When Swami first looked at

him he wrote: 'What was communicated in that brief moment? The world! Something

broke inside me. Some of Baba's love and joy penetrated my soul and I found

myself laughing like a child ... I felt somehow transformed in one dazzling,

incredible minute. I was left with my mouth hanging open.' The Christ is

said to have had an aura that reached out for a mile, so that 'sensitives' who

came within it were psychically aware of his presence and were uplifted. Sai

Baba's aura has been described by Dr Baranowski, a clairvoyant and Kirlian

photography expert from Arizona University, as almost limitless. 'The white

(energy) filled the entire room, the pink (intense universal love) went beyond

the

walls of the building and beyond this were bands of gold and silver reaching to

the horizon.' The Christ had X-ray eyes, instantly knowing thought and

character. Baba has said, 'I see into the mind and heart. I see who has an

urgent problem and needs the help of an interview.' He sees the past, present

and future of everyone he meets. His omniscience regarding the past and present

is constantly proved. One gets the impression that Christ preferred simple

people with a good heart. He mainly chose simple men as his disciples. Baba

often rails at the scholars and pedants, with their 'desire for disputation and

the laurels of victory over those preening themselves as learned'. 'Be simple

and sincere,' Baba tells His devotees. Both show their dislike of the Pharisee

type. Christ called them 'whited sepulchres'. Swami calls them 'dry as dust

scholars exulting in their casuistry and argumentative skills.' Both have

clearly shown their love of children. Jesus rebuked the disciples who wanted to

keep the children away. 'Suffer little children to come unto me' . Baba shares

this love. When a large group of children from the Wellingborough Centre (UK)

went to the ashram they were too excited to sleep on the first night. Baba came

to

their quarters and asked them if they would go to sleep if He, too, went to

sleep? Whereupon He lay down on the floor and pretended to sleep. Soon the only

sound was blissful breathing — and Baba crept out on tiptoe. Both demonstrate

a capacity for vehement 'righteous indignation' when necessary for a purpose,

as, for example, when Jesus drove out the money-changers from the temple with a

leather lash because he opposed the buying of animals for sacrifice. A friend of

mine who is a close devotee told me how one day a man with a very wealthy

father, who was dying, actually came to Swami to seek financial advice about

his coming inheritance! Swami thundered at him, with an emotion which

astonished my friend, for thinking of money when his sick father needed his

care, and dismissed him — only to revert to His normal loving self in a second.

The 'anger' was just a necessary 'act'. As

He says, 'Sometimes I have to make a noise!' Jesus

and Sai - The Same Personality, the Same Miracles Both also show a combination

of deep humility and commanding authority. Jesus is often referred to as 'one

who spoke with authority' - one envisages a tall, commanding figure. Yet he

knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples. Swami might often play and

joke, but should anyone take undue advantage of it, in the twinkling of an eye

He resumes His authority. Once, when a devotee enquired if he might ask a

favour, Baba replied, 'Of course. I am yours. I have no rights.' At one time a

servant of mankind, at another the Lord. Both, of course, have been maligned

and persecuted. 'Calumny is the lot of all great souls

everywhere, at any time. It would be unnatural if it were not so,' says Baba. He

is oblivious to praise or blame. Christ was accused of being a wine-bibber, of

mixing with publicans and sinners. Baba has been criticised for allowing

'sinners' to use the ashram. Their replies were similar: 'I came not to call

the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' Baba has said, 'Sinners have more

need of me than you have.' Christ was accused of healing by the powers of Satan

(Beelzebub). Baba has been called a black magician. There is also a

remarkable similarity in the miracles. Christ healed the sick. Baba heals the

sick daily. Christ raised Lazarus from the dead when

his body is said to have been in a state of decomposition. Baba has raised the

dead on at least two occasions. The body of Mr V. Radhakrishna was also in a

state of decomposition. (In fact, there are many occasions, when Swami has

given the Gift of Life to chosen devotees, please go here to read our cover

story on Resurrections - H2H Team). Both multiplied food — Christ at the

feeding of the five thousand, and Baba on many occasions when the food has run

out. Christ changed water into wine. Baba has changed water into petrol and

fuel oil. Christ could control the elements and calm the seas; likewise Baba

has made a rainbow appear, and made

floods recede. Christ could levitate and walk on the waters. Baba was levitating

as a child to the top of the rocky hill at Puttaparthi. The Divine Assurance

of Sai Christmas is a major festival at the ashram and celebrated with much

more fervour than in the West where it has become so grossly commercialised.

Baba often gives talks to small groups of Christians and points out the

excisions and interpolations in the Gospels. To those who feel a sense of

disloyalty to Jesus He has on more than one occasion manifested a figure

of Jesus above His head, thus identifying the two. There are also accounts of

people praying before a statue of Christ and seeing it transform into an image

of Sai Baba. Finally, on Christmas Day 1972 Swami was talking to a group of

Christians. He referred to a statement of Jesus which He said had been excised

from the Bible. One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'He who sent me will come

again. His name will be Truth. He will wear a red robe. He will be short, and

have a crown (of hair).' Of course this description exactly fits Sathya Sai.

When I read about this it completely fascinated me, for I had already come to

believe that Sai Baba was the great Celestial Being who had overshadowed

Jesus - the One whom Jesus referred to, and prayed to, as 'the Father'. Well,

in January 1980 I plucked up courage during a private interview with only my

wife present, and referred to Baba's statement on Christmas Day 1972. I said,

'Swami, does this omission in the Bible mean that it was You who sent Jesus of

Nazareth into incarnation?' 'Yes,' He replied. Then came the question which

lay at the very core of my soul, 'In that case, are you what Western Christians

call the Cosmic Christ?' 'Yes,' He said

again. It is impossible to convey in words the tone, the quiet

assurance in which He affirmed these two questions. Gently, lovingly, with

total conviction, with a sort of ineffable simplicity, and perhaps most of all,

with a total lack of self-consciousness

impossible in a human being. He looked straight into my eyes, which were no more

than twelve inches from His, and just said, 'Yes'. I only know that it was

impossible not to believe Him. - From Sathya Sai Baba Magazine - Spring 1984.

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, December 2005

Issuehttp://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_03/12DEC01/baba-and-christ.htm