Sathya Sai Baba on Mediums, Intermediaries and Channeling

We all know that Swami has warned us in many of His past discourses about the fraudulent activities carried out by many unscrupulous people claiming to be a medium, intermediary or channeling Swami’s message. When I researched a bit more on this, I found this interesting quote of Swami on Page 79 listed right under the ‘Channeling‘ category published in the book “A Compendium of the Teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba” compiled by Charlene Leslie Chaden.

sai-teachings

A Compendium of the Teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“Bhagavan Baba Himself has on many occasions urged devotees not to be taken up by mediums and others. However, after my experiences and research, I decided to ask Him about it. On one occasion when I had the opportunity I raised this subject and made specific reference to the experiences I had undergone and He replied: ‘Yes! These are true – but the reason why Swami discourages is because for every truth there are a hundred false!’.” – J. Jagadeesan, Journey To God Part III P 152 Source: http://goo.gl/nz84Ce For those who do not know, J. Jagadeesan or bro. Jaga (as he is popularly known in Sai circles) is an inspiring public speaker and a long time devotee of Swami from Malaysia. He has written many books on Swami including ‘fourth dimension‘, Part 4 in the Journey to God Series where he discusses the issue of mediums and channels in depth based on his many interviews with Swami and his own personal experiences in Malaysia. While this particular quote from Swami does not necessarily prove that Swami is speaking through Madhusudhan Rao Naidu, it does explain why Swami was so concerned about not endorsing any such claims openly. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Once you let the channeling genie out of the bottle, it is very hard to get it back. So the question remains. How to validate such claims? I guess, the proof of pudding is in the eating. Instead of instantly believing each and every claim made by all and sundry about being a medium, intermediary or channeling Swami’s message, we should carefully examine who is making such claims, their background, their character and integrity, their motives and most importantly the message itself. In my humble opinion, people associated with the Subtle Form in Muddenahalli are well known in the Sai community for selflessly serving Swami for a very long time during His physical presence. Some of them have sacrificed their whole lives to serve Swami’s mission. Sri Narasimha Murthy narrated this incident in one of his talks. When Krishna rescued Draupadi from being disrobed and humiliated in front of everyone by the wicked Dushasana, no one saw Him. Swami mentioned that most movies and TV serials depict this scene with a smiling Krishna watching from the sky with his hand raised, churning out limitless supply of Saris to protect Draupadi’s honour. In reality no one actually saw Krishna, not even Draupadi. What everyone witnessed and marvelled at was endless supply of Saris for Draupadi in response to her prayers by the unseen Krishna in the subtle form. Since Maha Samadhi, one super speciality Hospital has come up in Raipur in record time (less than 10 months) along with six new educational institutes in various parts of Karnataka. Swami mentioned in numerous discourses that He is going to live till He turns 96. He also declared in 2009 that he will be going on a world tour. He even mentioned the names of the countries, he was going to visit. He also mentioned that he was going to live on a hilltop abode during his last years. Many times in His discourses he mentioned that he is not limited to the 5 foot 3 inch physical frame that we see but His true nature is inscrutable and beyond comprehension for the human mind. Swami mentioned that in His Ati Sookshma Shareera (the higher subtle body), He enters into people’s dreams and meditations. Watch the following video to understand how Swami communicated with bro. Jaga in his meditation giving him specific instructions about conducting a Yagna to invoke rains during a severe drought situation in Malaysia.

Here is another example of channeling. In this video Dr. PV Shankar shared his amazing experience of receiving this beautiful message (Sai Upanishad) from Swami. While wondering about the meaning of Asatoma Sadgamaya (an ancient Vedic hymn from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad), Swami guided him to an entirely new version. Dwaitoma Adwaitomaya Gamaya Lead me from duality to non-dual (oneness of God in you) Drishotoma Adrishtomaya Gamaya Lead me from seen to unseen (reality behind the seen) Srishtoma Premam Gamaya Lead me to you through the path of love (by loving everyone in this creation)

It is not uncommon to receive such great insights about complex things in life. We all know how the law of gravity was discovered by Isaac Newton while he was sitting under a tree, watching an apple fall from the tree. Ramanujan said that the Hindu goddess Namagiri would appear in his dreams, showing him mathematical proofs, which he would write down when he awoke. There are many such amazing discoveries made by Scientists who have been able to channel through their subconscious mind. The Vedas (universal eternal truths) contain the collective wisdom of seers and sages of the yore who in their deep meditation were able to receive the higher knowledge about the creation and the creator which was later compiled and passed on from one generation to another in the form of Shrutis (that which is heard) and Smritis (that which is remembered). Sage Kaushika discovered the Gayatri Mantra in his deep meditation and shared the secrets and potency of this Mantra for self illumination most selflessly with the rest of humanity, earning him the title VishwaMitra (friend of the world). A very famous example of Channeling comes from the great Indian epic Mahabharata. King Dhritarashtra’s charioteer Sanjaya was able to see and hear the Kurukshetra Battle and narrate it to the King verbatim,what was happening miles away in real time. When Krishna showed his Virata Swaroopa (Para Sookshma Shareera – the omnipresent super subtle body) to Arjuna, He granted Divya Drishti (divine vision) to Arjuna and Sanjaya temporarily to envision that form as they were not able to see Him through their physical eyes.

You have to look at this objective world with Jnana Chakshu (the eye of wisdom), not with the Charma Chakshu (physical eye). – Baba

Just as there are physical laws (relating to Gravity, Motion, Energy) that govern this gross universe, there are many subtle spiritual laws (relating to Dharma, Karma, Morality) that govern our lives. These cosmic laws are immutable and universally applicable irrespective of time and place. Whether we are aware of them or believe in them is inconsequential. For example, you may not believe in gravity and argue long and hard that it does not exist. However if you try to jump off from a cliff to make your point, in all probability it would be your last attempt. Some of these cosmic laws are yet to be discovered or understood fully by mankind. Science with its usual fascination with the gross physical world (seen) is slowly waking up to the immense potential of the subtle inner world (unseen reality behind the seen). See this video Jeff Lieberman, an MIT-trained artist, scientist and engineer, makes a scientific argument for mystical experience.

Sathya Sai Baba says, “We are trying to discover GOD, searching for Him throughout the Universe. But we omit to investigate His existence within ourselves as the very core and keystone of our Being. When you discover yourself – your Self – all wailing ceases and you attain supreme happiness. This is real self-knowledge.”

Hope you enjoyed this article. Please subscribe to the blog to receive email notification of new blog post. Please feel free to post your comments on the facebook page associated with the blog.  Om Sri Sairam.