Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

From transcript of 11th August 1998 Interview of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba by Mumbai Media, https://www.facebook.com/notes/visvesh-baabu/bhagavans-interview-with-the-press-in-1998-transcript-of-the-interview/1117918538239219 . Questioner: Who will lead the Sathya Sai movement after you? Swami: My devotees. God will continue to guide them. --- end extract --- Ravi: I think this is a very interesting quote from Bhagavan which assures us that Bhagavan will continue to guide his devotees to run his mission after him (his Mahasamadhi). Of course, how exactly that guidance will be given is not specified, and neither is there any mention of any so called communicator or so called subtle body coming into play.

An extract from Full Rush Transcript: Sen. Ted Cruz, CNN Milwaukee Republican Presidential Town Hall, March 29th 2016, http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2016/03/29/full-rush-transcript-sen-ted-cruz-cnn-milwaukee-republican-presidential-town-hall/ : QUESTION:  Hi, Senator Cruz. My question for you is, how and why does your religion play a part in your political decision-making?  Don't you think it should be more of a moral belief and not something that can interfere with your decision-making when you're making decisions for all religions in the United States? CRUZ:  Well, Thomas, thank you for that question. Listen, with Me, as with many people in America, my faith is an integral part of who I am.  I'm a Christian, and I'm not embarrassed to say that.  I'm not going to hide that and treat it like it's something you can't admit publicly and acknowledge.  It's an important part of who you are. But I also think those in politics have an obligatio

[Schwarzbaum is a 95 year old Auschwitz Holocaust survivor who lost 35 family members in the Holocaust. He now lives in Germany and is a state witness for the ongoing trial.] The Reuters article linked below quotes Schwarzbaum as follows: "I just hope they all talk eventually. I want to hear it out of their mouths, what they did and why. I want them to tell the truth" ... "I don't care about the punishment and this is not about revenge," .."But there has to be justice." http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-nazi-trial-victims-idUSKCN0WV235 , 30th March 2016, (from) Berlin. Ravi: I think the quest for justice and the quest for knowing the truth about what happened in tragedies, is such a human feeling/need. People want to know what really happened, why did the perpetrators do what they did, and want justice to be meted out to the perpetrators. That brings a sense of closure to the matter, even if the sadness persists. In some rough societies

I have given below a modified version of part of a comment I made recently on FB post, https://www.facebook.com/sathyanarayana.raju.9/posts/756610061142147 . I would like to add to what you said about your personal honour and integrity being at stake in your responses to the questions. Well, my personal reputation for integrity & honesty is also at stake in what I write on social media about these matters. And, it is much, much bigger than you and me and (others involved in the conversation). It is the legacy of, and the continuing work in the name of, our beloved Lord, Kali Yuga Avatar, Shiva-Shakti Swarupa, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Further, we have to be FAITHFUL to Bhagavan. I consider myself answerable to Bhagavan, my Guru and my Ishta Devata to whom I am deeply grateful, and I am sure you too consider yourself to be answerable to Bhagavan. As you and I both were in the Sai university as teachers, both you and I know that if we did something really wrong we would have t

Last updated on 7th April 2016 In response to a question about whether to be a Hindu, doesn't one have to be born a Hindu, on this FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1721424181407485 , I responded by a few comments, which I felt I should put down as a separate post (giving it more visibility), as it may be of interest to others too. Those comments are given below (slightly edited): Hinduism, as I have experienced it in the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century is not that organized a religion as Christianity or Islam. Further, there are perhaps thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of different sects and thousands of temples and/or gurus that Hindu families associate with. So I think it is possible for anybody from any religion, and whether of Indian nationality or foreign, to associate with many sects and to be accepted and viewed as Hindu, especially those sects that are associated with a Guru, provided the sect finds them acceptable in t

[This post is copy-pasted (on 26th March 2016 from a misc. blog of mine, http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.in/2016/03/why-am-i-politically-neutral-in-my.html .] [This post is largely based on my part of a mail conversation.] My first foray into blogger-activism was in the field of Indian Computer Science & Information Technology academic reform, http://eklavyasai.blogspot.in/ (started in Sept. 2011 after the Mahasamadhi chaos in the Sai university due to which I quit the Sai university in March 2012). In the course of time it became very clear to me that large part of Indian academia (barring elite institutions like IITs or IISc) was centrally managed and so very strongly influenced by the political leaders in power. Further, some top academic administrators were rumoured to have acquired their positions due to political influence rather than pure merit. I wanted to avoid any political colouring of my Indian Computer Science & Information Technology academic reform activis

"Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees Thursday, declaring them children of the same God, in a gesture of welcome and brotherhood at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment has spiked following the Brussels attacks." from http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pope-francis-washes-feet-of-muslim-migrants-says-we-are-brothers-1290416 , dated March 25th 2016. The Pope's remarks (translated to English) from http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-gestures-of-fraternity-defeat-hatred : Gestures speak louder than pictures and words. There are, in the Word of God we read, two gestures: Jesus serving, washing the feet ... He, who was the “head man”, washing the feet of others, of His own, even of the least; one gesture. The second gesture: Judas who goes to the enemies of Jesus, those who do not want peace with Jesus, to take the money that bought His betrayal; the 30 pieces of silver. Two gestures. Even today, here

Last updated on March 31st 2016 Minor update on 20th Nov. 2018 Given below is a recent comment of mine on Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/sathyanarayana.raju.9/posts/756610061142147 : My view about brother VijaySai B.S.'s (VSBS) experiences with Madhusudhan Rao Naidu (MRN) is that MRN seems to have demonstrated some paranormal powers/siddhis to VSBS. Further, MRN seems to have not asked VSBS to do anything ADHARMIC. So VSBS has developed great faith in MRN. MRN impersonates many aspects of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Swami), and claims to be a so called communicator of a so called subtle body of Swami, which VSBS, primarily due to his faith in MRN, believes to be true. For me, it was Swami's teachings & writings on Veda & Vedanta and about Hindu Avatars (Bhagavat Purana, Ramayana & Mahabharata), ALONG WITH DIRECT EXPERIENCES of Swami's paranormal powers, that made me take the view that everything that Swami says is true. So I can understand th

[After a little bit of mental debate, I decided to put this post in this spiritual blog instead of my other blogs, as I think the being paranoid to survive bit deals with a human and spiritual matter.] Intel’s Andy Grove Was Brilliant, Paranoid, and Prophetic. No Wonder Silicon Valley Reveres Him, http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/03/22/andy_grove_who_led_intel_has_died_he_was_brilliant_paranoid_and_prophetic.html , dated March 22nd, 2016. A small extract from it: Intel’s business practices sometimes went to the edge, and perhaps over the line, of fairness. Grove’s oft-repeated mantra, later expanded into his 1996 book, Only the Paranoid Survive, was fundamental to the corporate culture. --- end extract --- Ravi: I think almost everybody knows about how the personal computer (PC) revolution changed the face of computers and brought great changes in the lives of many people the world over. Most people view Microsoft as one of the great companies behind the success of th

Last updated on 21st April 2020 21st April 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. Given below is a comment I made recently on Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/sathyanarayana.raju.9/posts/756610061142147 . Bro. VijaySai B.S. I would like to draw your attention to your words in a comment above, "we the subtle form believers are not the one causing any division. It is the other way around." How do you say that subtle form believers have not caused division? This defeats logic and rational thinking. I do think you have got carried away by your emotional attachment to the so called subtle form belief, and have lost your rational judgement on this matter. It is UNDENIABLE to those who know about these matters that Shri Indulal Shah sir (IS) and Shri B.N Narasimhamurthy (BNN) were the driving force in the CRUCIAL period of a year or so after Mahasamadhi (end April 2011) when they ENCOURAGED their

"Sufis talked about brotherhood among the many faiths something that you will never hear an orthodox speak. The big threat to religion and religious ideas today is not from religion, but from a kind of modern secularism which sees all religions as retrograde. They see all religious sentiments as impediment to progress." - Prof. Walter Andersen in this interview article dated March 21st 2016, http://www.firstpost.com/politics/the-walter-andersen-interview-modi-has-a-sense-of-a-great-india-hes-an-ascetic-devoted-to-his-work-2687264.html . Ravi: I tend to agree with Prof. Andersen on the big threat to religion and religious ideas part of the above quote. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_K._Andersen : Walter K. Andersen is an American academic. He taught comparative politics at the College of Wooster before joining the United States State Department as a political analyst for South Asia specializing in India and Indian Ocean affairs. Additionally, he was an adjunc

From C. Rajagopalachari's concise version of the Mahabharata, page 31: Sage Vyasa's advice to mother Kunti: "No virtuous man is strong enough to live in virtue at all times, nor is any sinner bad enough to exist in one welter of sin. Life is a tangled web and there is no one in the world who has not done both good and evil. Each and everyone has to bear the consequence of his actions. Do not give way to sorrow."

The article, Sufism is the voice of peace, co-existence, compassion and equality; a call to universal brotherhood: PM Modi, http://www.narendramodi.in/pm-modi-at-the-world-islamic-sufi-conference-in-new-delhi-428276 , March 17, 2016 has the video link and transcript of PM Narendra Modi's speech at the World Sufi forum, a Global forum for PEACE, TOLERANCE and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. The transcript is also available on the Press Information Bureau of the Govt. of India website here: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=138124 . One terrific quote from PM Modi's speech that caught my eye, "... when we think of the 99 names of Allah, none stand for force and violence, and that the first two names denote compassionate and merciful. Allah is Rahman and Raheem." Ravi: I have always been attracted by the phrase bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, which is mentioned frequently by Muslim Imams (theologians) in their lectures. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basmala :