brag

Originally Posted by brag

The concept of God remains a mystery for many, and it may be so because there are many different concepts of God floating around, and many more added each day. The concept of a formless God, beyond complete description, is well known in Islam, Hinduism and Judaism. In Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity, though, God may also take human form as a Savior, Messiah or a person who can be described and who walks among men with a specific mission. In Islam, it remains doubtful whether God will ever take human form as the Mehdi/Mahdi, but most Muslims will argue against such a concept of God.

By his works, God is known in Christianity, and by his miracles, He is even more known, also in Christianity and Hinduism. But miracles can be both mind boggling and suspect as manipulations or delusions of the mind at the same time, even when just waking up every day is a miracle in itself. So the real question remains who or what is really God, the perennial, lingering, unanswered question that begins in childhood with the usual question who made God? Hindus scriptures point to ways of truly knowing when man's latent divinity is manifested, and they rely on personal expereinces to know God.

Hindus probably have the broadest definition for God. God is know as holy spirit, love, consciousness, truth, right conduct, peace, non-violence, scriptures, sound or ether, wind, fire, water, earth, bliss, mother, father, guru/teacher, guest, monkey, elephant, snake, trees, stone, temple, everything manifest and non-manifest, the whole works, etc. So how can Hindus ever go wrong in defining God? So for most Hindus, the divine is inherent in everything, and the Cosmos is the manifesion of God and is regarded as the greatest teacher or Guru.

The question about God becomes more complex when one is claiming to be God, such as Sathya Sai Baba. So some say by His works and extra-ordinary feats and powers, they know Him to be God. They come in all races, colors, religions, etc., and claim to know Baba as God when others of the exact same background also claim that He cannot be God, because His works do not conform to their understanding of the works of Jesus who promised that by His works they shall know when Jesus returns as the only form of God.

Atheists have no problems with the question of God, they say, as God is a figment of the imagination and a concept made up by man for a variety of reasons; yet they believe in the power of love which they will not call God as most Hindus would. They say there is no such thing as God, and go on to ridicule and deride the idea of God, while millions continue to believe that God exists as a single entity of being-awareness-biss, a functioning with millions of manifestations, sometimes called demi-gods or simply gods. Millions more believe that God is a being in Heaven and Paradise.

So as long as there is a need to know who God is when He is on earth, the question of His legitimacy and identity as God, remains to be answered, and there lies the crux of the issue for mllions. When do we truly know who God truly is when He comes on earth as a human being, and on whose authority it is decided?

For those who want to know if Sathya Sai Baba is truly God, I can only offer my experience of Him as God as my proofs. I know I cannot influence anyone into believing that Sathya Sai Baba is the embodiment of God on earth today. I am often disappointed, though, that I am not doing much more to share with others more of that un-ending joy I first felt some twenty five years ago when I experienced Sai Baba as God.

I can, also, only offer my own mystical transformation as proof of Baba as God, as in the Hindu traditon, personal experiences of God confirm the presence of God. Baba's overflow of pure expressions of love in His works are also more proofs. That is all I can offer, and no more. I also know that what may be joy for one can be sorrow for another, as each has his own cross to bear. I guess that it is not very different from how most people experienced Jesus in His own time. Like all other God-men on earth, they are generally recognized more convincingly after they have left the earth plane through other miracles.

I gather it is not for me to influence anyone, but only to live Baba's message, and let that joy which I feel speak for itself. That is enough, is the message I keep getting, and I now try to let my life be His message to the extent that I can continue doing so without reservation.

It is a fact that a cross section of the people on the face of the earth recognizes Sai Baba as God. Another cross section of global institutions from East to West and North to South, people of every race, religion, socio-economic status, scientists, theologians, Presidents and Prime Ministers of several countries, etc., also recognize the Divinity of Sathya Sai Baba. The logical question is why so many others fail to recognize His Divinity.

I came to the conclusion that more people are not willing to open their minds, for fear of being wrong with information that do not conform to scriptural truths and beliefs. Unlike many who took risks, and found out for themselves, many more also will not take the same risks in finding out for themselves. Many more, by their doubts often leave unhappy and disappointed with their experiences and findings.

Baba says you take one step towards Him and He takes a hundred towards you. He also says that there can be no one between him and his devotees. He communicates directly with all, as they know Him in His different names and forms with which they are most familiar. He confirms that He is God and so is everyone else in accord with Hindu scriptures. He says that He knows He is God, but others do not know they, too, are God.

Baba's mission is to teach that man and everything else is Divine. He accepts all religions as legitimate pathways to God, and assures everyone that He did not come to found a new religion, but to ensure that the Hindu becomes a better Hindu, the Chrstian a better Christian, the Muslim a better Muslim and all others greater depth in their understanding and worship of the concept of God.

It is well demonstrated from discussions with devotees that Baba decides for Himself when it is timely to draw others closer to His present name and form, and when to separate the sheep from the goats.

How very similar it is that two thousand plus years later, that it should be logical for many to reject Sathya Sai Baba as God. They rejected Him in the form of Jesus, and even went so far as to abuse and crucify Him. They also believed that He was only human, and that He blasphemed against God, and deserved the death He received.

Baba emphasizes that quality is more important than quantity, and so He is not concerned about membership in the organization, but that the lives and examples of his devotees shall continue to be His message.

While many seem to believe that Baba is the Guru of the New Age, that is a grave mistake, as Baba teaches the ancient knowledge, contained in the purity of the Vedas and all other scriptures. He is believed to be an embodiment of the all scriptures. He never studied the Vedas, but knows the Vedas exactly as written and more, not even having stuied the Vedas or any other scriptures.

Baba preaches and teaches nothing new at all, but only the ancient truths contained in all scriptures. In the process, what comes across as new information are generally new interpretations, elaborations, repetitions, emphases and new understandings of scriptures, as never understood before.

For those who are not familiar with the Vedas and Hindu philosophies, Baba appears to be teaching new information, and breaking all the traditional concepts about God, religion and spirituality, but He is not. His mission will end in about ten or eleven more years to begin another cycle of avatarhood as Prema Sai Baba, eight years after is His passing. It will be the last in the triple incarnations of God in this Kali Yuga or age of wickedness. His previous avatarhood was in the form of Shirdi Sai Baba whose advent lasted from about 1838 to 1918.