Sai Baba EXPOSED!

12 June 2006

Sai Baba's Moksha Boo-Boo

Dedicated to Lisa De Witt.

I thought it would be amusing to include the following quote from Sai Baba as part of my email signature:

"For [the] Lord, both abuse and praise have no meaning. However, in the world many persons secure liberation Moksha by abusing the Lord, many other achieve salvation by adoring God ... But wicked persons achieve liberation more easily than those who love the Divine. The wicked person achieves merger in the Divine very quickly." - Sathya Sai Baba, 9th September 1992.

I intended for it to annoy Sai Baba devotees and it did! What could raise up their hackles more than the idea that the Baba's critics have a much better chance of attaining liberation that his devotees? :-) However, this quote is more evidence that Sai Baba's knowledge of theology and Vedantic philosophy is not quite up to standard. This is a huge topic so I'll explain as simply and as concisely as I can:

Sai Baba teaches that there are four types of moksha (liberation from the unending cycle of birth, death and rebirth). In order of importance, these are:

  • Saalokya - Liberation of living in the same abode as God.
  • Saaroopya - Liberation of attaining a form similar to that of the Lord.
  • Sameepya - Liberation of attaining proximity to the Lord.
  • Saayujya - Liberation of attaining mergence in the Lord.

All very well and good, but the Bhagavata Purana mentions a fifth type of moksha; sarsti, the liberation of attaining the same opulence as the Lord. What's the reason for Sai Baba not including this category or informing his devotees about it? Perhaps he is envious of someone equalling or surpassing his position on the rich list? That would make more sense.

In any case, the issue of attaining moksha remains. A stalwart saint (Sri Rupa Gosvami) performed a momentous task when he composed an encyclopaedia of 'bhakti' (devotion) - Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu - that has been copied and plagiarised by other religious traditions including Sai Baba's. The text itself promotes the opinion that devotion is the surest way to attaining liberation, and it's concise definition of devotion is as follows:

"Devoid of other desires, uncovered by jnana, karma and so forth, and favourable in the constant service of Krishna, that is the highest kind of devotion." - BRS 1.1.10

Please note the highlight; one of the major and overriding characteristics of pure devotion is it's favourability towards the service of the Lord. In other words, constantly thinking of the Lord with an attitude of love is the royal road to liberation. In stark contrast, those who constantly think of the Lord in an unfavourable way, i.e. by means of hatred, envy, and so on, such people are not granted the same privileges as a loving devotee.

Why is this, and why is liberation selectively bestowed? Even where common sense is concerned, are you more inclined to be kinder to your enemies than to your friends? The same logic operates in matters of devotion; liberation is granted according to the quality and proportion of your absorption in the Lord.

At the risk of repeating things discussed earlier, Kamsa was notorious for his constant absorption in thoughts of the Lord which were marked by the unfavourable characteristics of fear and hatred. However, due to the Lord's munificence and magnanimity, Kamsa was granted the boon of merging into the Lord's 'Brahman' effulgence. Here's the kicker: Whereas Kamsa's ultimate fate may be something of a surprise, it is interesting to note that some traditions consider this to be a lesser goal compared to what else is available, namely the other four types of liberation. As indicated by the scriptural reference, favourable devotion brings much higher things.

The long and the short of it is that Sai Baba has made a most extraordinary boo-boo in regards to his position on moksha; it makes little difference whether wicked and abusive people attain liberation more "quickly" than the devotees when the wicked ones are not granted the privilege of a loving relationship with the Lord, but something decidedly inferior. Even so, it's nice to see the Baba's devotees continuing to be annoyed at the thought of his critics attaining liberation faster (according to his own words) than they will. :-)




Copyright © Sai Baba EXPOSED! 2005-2007. Discuss this post!

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3 Comments:

  • Whether Sai Baba is a true sannyasin or not is irrelevent, or should be irrelevent for you as you yourself are a renunciate. How can you expect to have progress in your sadhana if you do not have divine virtues such as mercy, love, forgiveness?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 25 June, 2006 09:04  

  • Dear anonymous,

    I am not a renunciate. See here for more information. The picture was created by a malicious critic to mock me, and I decided to use it to lampoon Sai Baba.

    As for sadhana, Sai Baba is a confirmed fraud, homosexual paedophile with involvement in murders and other scandalous affairs. It is the duty of the moral and righteous to stand up and loudly protest at his "behaviour". I do this out of my love for him. He has to pay for his crimes. If he apologises, I will forgive.

    By Blogger Swami Saiexposedananda, at 26 June, 2006 01:56  

  • You are absolutely wrong dear. You do not have a good knowledge of Vedhas. It seems you have no experiences in the field of oneness of spirituality.

    Reading books on spirituality and religions is not enough. You should have the 'eyes' to see their connections in society and in daily activities. Criticizing is bad when you do not have a sound knowledge about the subject.

    Sinners attain moksha easily because they repent the most and seek forgiveness the most from God. They are very sorry for past deeds and develop love gradually for God and society at large. They understands their helplessness, they surrender and they seek refuge from God or authorities or people they think are right and may help. Thus they seek inward peace and self-satisfaction, and they get liberated.

    Whereas Divine lovers may get attached to the forms of Divine that is everything material and its tricks. Note that divinity is everywhere(seen and not seen). True, it is good and in fact, a duty(a service) to appreciate and respect nature(the manifestation of Pure love/energy/God) but be cautious not get attached/entangled to it because when u r attached, you become a slave to it and suffer its separation. Note that material things are not permanent and attachment to them, without control, is sorrow guaranteed. Sai baba calls this process: to pluck roses for offerings to God while avoiding the thorns.

    Knowing that you are not the body, but indeed the soul,is the point in moksha. The soul(the real you) is unaffected in any circumstances and you embody a positive attitude. The body is an instrument/ the temple of divinity that should be taken care of without unnecessary attachment.

    That's why sai baba declared this statement. He knows the reasons of everything and how different situations have different solutions prescribed in holy scriptures. Not everyone will follow the same path to achieve self-realization of the soul.

    We are all one family, we should not develop hatred, jealousy or anger towards others because of one's success and fame. Bad action will have bad repulses to yourselves, perhaps not in short run but in the long run .

    Jealousy is the main reason for the rife false allegations on Sai Baba. But beware....! Virtues, spiritual justice and truth are timeless.

    God is Love, Live in Love.- Sai Baba

    By Anonymous vb, at 30 December, 2011 15:59  

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