Facts & Truth

Indian spritiual guru Satya Sai Baba is greeted by Tendulkar during his 80th birthday celebrations at Puttaparthi.

by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam

(April 26, Melboune, Sri Lanka Guardian) I respond to the article ‘The Departure of Satya Sai Baba’ by Farzana Versey, published in Sri Lanka Guardian.

To me it is no coincidence that during this morning’s meditation I was thinking about how people miss out on the real by focusing excessively on the apparent. To me, Columnist Farzana Versey is an extreme example of someone driven by the ‘seen and the heard’, towards a quick credit. As I keep stressing in relation to the UN Report – what happened and Truth are not the same. What happened needs to be owned as a natural part of us, for it to qualify as Truth. Those who are hasty for outcomes that seem beneficial to themselves would tend to manipulate what happened, to their advantage.

As I said recently to an Australian Tamil in relation to marriage arrangement back in Sri Lanka which seemed to happen through me - by practicing the deep values of marriage and family, I believe, I carry some real credits. Hence when I participate, the gap between the real and the apparent narrows and the arrangements seem to ‘happen’. I believe we all have this through our respective strengths. This in essence is message we have learnt from Swami Sathya Sai Baba’s life – that we are all Divinity within.

It is important to note that Ms Versey has said nothing about the celebrations during Easter – which is about Jesus having resurrected Himself after His passing away on Good Friday. To me, passing of Jesus Christ on Good Friday was ‘fact’ / what happened at the physical level. Easter Sunday is real/Truth – which cannot be physically proven but only experienced by the faithful. If we are honoring and celebrating the two more than 2000 years after the event is alleged to have happened – to me, there is some power that carries it through beyond the body. Jesus was only 32 when He left His body. That was His mission and this is Sai Baba’s mission.

Ms Versey says ‘Baba died on the morning of April 24, 2011. According to his own spiritual calculations, he was scheduled to depart earth in 2022.’

The correction I seek to make here is that it was ‘reported’ that Baba passed away on the morning of April 24 , 2011, Neither Ms Versey nor I observed it happen nor did we verify through our own direct tests that Swami’s body ceased to function at that particular point. I recall my mother passing away, aged 84, on 02 November 2009. I had not physically seen my mother since 2004 even though my mother was hospitalized after that. My mother herself said – she was ok. Instead, I went many times to Sri Lanka to help many mothers there. When I met the President of Sri Lanka in 2005 and had the endorsement of the highest office, of my Tsunami Reconstruction work, I felt that my mother was much happier than if I had gone to be with her. When I went to the war zone of Sri Lanka in May 2009, my mother was concerned but did not stop me nor did she ask me to come and be with her instead. But later in September 2009, I felt my mother needed me to complete her journey. I went and made it easier for my mother in hospital. I was able to because to me the hospital system is also a ‘home’ system. I believe that it was my real commitment to my mother that took me to her during her moment of real need. When Swami Sai Baba was reported to have been taken to hospital I took it as Swami going to His own home. From then on, we are better prepared ourselves to go in our old age - into hospital / nursing care we have invested in.

In terms of Swami, when I gave form to my belief in Higher Powers, through Swami – I usually prayed to Swami to not leave this world in this form – before me. I felt it would be very difficult for me to believe in that ‘Higher Power’ without knowing that Swami was there physically – just like we feel with our loved ones. To me that was a ‘habitual’ way – as I feel it is to many devotees who are mourning now. As with my mother, I did not want Swami as a human to suffer pain. To me, Jesus could have saved Himself from being killed. But then He would not have been Jesus Christ but an average human. Likewise, to me, Swami could have saved His body and would have made the effort if He were an average human being. Neither could be proven objectively. Both could be felt through our own faith in Divinity. It does not matter whether the form is Jesus or Sai Baba or even other personalities in our environments. They are all different forms of our own inner feelings and beliefs.

I also read about the year 2022 being the year Swami was going to leave His physical body. I did not hear any such information from the Swami within me. The more I talked to Swami within me, the less important these ‘facts’ and information became. I myself am sometimes accused of saying one thing and then doing something else. But a deeper examination would reveal that they are both true. The environments which I am a part of require different forms of expression of the same value.

To a non-believer such as Ms Versey, even the current details released by the hospital should not be ‘fact’. It is her faith in the officials that makes her accept it without dispute/protest. How does Ms Versey know that the body being shown is that of Sai Baba ?

Many Tamils still believe that LTTE Leader Prabakaran is still alive. Some of them are highly educated folks.

I have also read Swami saying that women should primarily take care of the home. This has taken different forms and some young mothers give that as the reason why they do not want to go back to work after childbirth. I hear all of them. But to me, Swami came when I was in deep need in relation to my work – at the University of NSW. Hence that is right for those who identify with that side of Swami and this is right for those of us who identify with this side of Swami. Basically, it is about taking responsibility as per our allocated positions. Unless Ms Versey is therefore seeking to publish a scientific report – these trivial details would not be important. By focusing on them Ms Versey is revealing her own guna/quality and the level of respect she gives her own work.

Ms. Versey says ‘Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is god, and Sachin was not going to celebrate his birthday because he wanted to pray for Satya Sai Baba's recovery.’

These are ways through which our culture pays Homage. My brother cried and cried at our mother’s funeral. It’s not as if he was anxious that he would not be able to live without her. He would and he knew it. But not with anxiety. Tears that come with anxiety for example tears of young widows and orphans are different to tears of Honor. Tears of Honor are Prayers. I did not shed tears when my mother passed away. I felt sad because intuitively I knew that I would not have someone taking my side unconditionally and comforting me in private – as my mother had done. I say intuitively, because I did not know it then. I just felt sad. But later, as we lived our lives, my husband often said when I lamented about dissent ‘Your mother would have supported you’. Swami’s devotees would express these feelings in different ways. One who is looking to understand is taken as trying to reduce the status of that Homage being paid to Swami. It’s a pity that Ms Versey does not identify with the cultural expressions of her own nation. Too much worldly influence?

Ms Versey says ‘At 85, he did lead a full life. He was known for his miracles, more magical than any magician's. Unfortunately, his own bodily organs failed and no doctors could revive them. Strangely enough, even the prayers of the devotees could not nor his own divine powers.’

Each one identifies with various sides of Swami’s life. It’s largely as per our needs. Swami’s physical body ceased to function naturally. Doctors who were part of the Institutional Structure, trying to revive the body, were doing their duty and beyond – paying Homage in the best possible way they can – through their Professional Services. I myself kept going with my professional services. Some physically close to Swami would have felt anxious – especially if they had ‘predicted’ some other outcome. That was largely a desire to have more of the physical pleasantness. There is nothing ‘unfortunate’ about it – just as much as there was nothing fortunate about Swami being healthy until then. That was the way of Nature.

Ms Versey talks about her own physical presence at Swami’s ashram Whitefield and says ‘As I recollect, it was only Whites, a phenomenon that is noticeable in most such ashrams. You rarely see Blacks or other races, although there is considerable Japanese presence at the Osho ashram, because he had this thing about Zen’

This alone demotes Ms Versey to the lowest ranking as a journalist/reporter. Good research would have informed Ms Versey that majority devotees who physically seek to see Swami are Indians. I believe that we see as per our own seeking. Ms Versey must have seen only the part that must have seemed attractive to her - ‘Whites’. When I stayed in Puttaparthi I was able to help the White Devotees who shared the room with me and also the Indian ladies who ‘expected’ more than their investment in that structure at that time. One young mother came with her newborn, believing Swami would name her baby. This young mother was in the ordinary queue with us. My Austrian roommate started talking to her (with my help to translate) and I helped that young lady by saying to focus on her need to name her baby and she would ‘hear’ the name in her mind. Even as I said it I heard the name ‘Murali’ in my mind but I did not say anything expressly. After Dharshan, we saw the young mother again and when we asked her she said she did not hear. I then said ‘I heard the name Murali’. The young lady’s mother said ‘Muralitharan’. The young mother was very very happy. Her mother and I became Swami. That to me is how we are god to each other – returning each other’s investments in common system through true belief.

We all realize our returns through our own-selves. Those of us who go with deep faith – experience Swami and Puttaparthi. Others see and conclude. To those of us who have experienced Swami and Puttaparthi, Ms Versey’s article is for primarily level tabloid readers. There is room for them too in Swami. Faith makes the world Wholesome.