TRUTH WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH

[barney]

TRUTH WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH

 

Radio Sai Listener's Journal, Volume II, Issue 5

March 1st, 2004

 

http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/05March01/03_Spiritual_Blossoms/02_Reflection/reflection.htm

 

From time to time, many listeners and readers write to us and

say: "There is so much negative propaganda about Swami. Why don't

you use the Radio, H2H etc., to rebut this nonsense?" The latest

occasion for such remarks happens to be a TV program that has

apparently been aired in Australia, which, not unexpectedly, made

many devotees there extremely agitated, to say the least. I would

now like to break our silence and comment on why we refuse to waste

our time on pointless rebuttals.

 

Perhaps you would understand our attitude better if I were to start

by telling you that our attitude to such matters is always

conditioned by what Swami has said and continues to say. To give you

a better idea of what I mean, let me take you way back to the year

1947. I wonder how many of the present devotees were born then. In

that year, Swami wrote a letter, to be precise on 25th May. That

letter is a landmark and we reproduce it below, but before

presenting the letter, I must give you some background.

 

You will recall that it was in 1940 that Swami truly revealed

Himself. Till then, He was just Sathya Narayana Raju, son of Pedda

Venkama Raju and Easwaramma and the grandson of Kondama Raju. But on

20th October, 1940, the world realised that Raju was none other than

the reincarnation of Shirdi Baba, and thereafter, He came to be

known as Sri Sathya Sai Baba. As many would know, this happened in

the small town of Uravakonda. Shortly after that Swami returned to

Puttaparthi to make it His permanent home. In those days, He stayed

in a tin shed, now known as Paatha Mandiram. The Mandiram still

exists, though in a different form.

 

You may be surprised and even shocked to know that in those days,

there was no direct road to Puttaparthi, as there is now. One had to

first come to Bukkapatnam, and from there travel by bullock cart to

Karnataka Nagepalli, a small village on the eastern side of

Chitravathi. Thereafter, one had to cross the river on foot before

reaching Puttaparthi. Altogether, it was an arduous trip but believe

it or not, many came in spite of the hassle involved. How come?

Well, that is what Divine Magnetism is all about! By the way, though

a road of sorts came into existence a few years later, as late as

1968, Puttaparthi continued to remain quite backward. In fact

Hollywood Director Schulman who came to Puttaparthi in 1968

wrote: "Puttaparthi is 160 km from Bangalore and ten minutes past

the Stone Age!"

 

Be that as it may, people began to come to Baba in increasing

numbers, and that included many Princes and their families. For

example, the Maharani of Mysore used to come to have Baba's Darshan.

She was a Maharani but she too had to get down from her car in

Karnataka Nagepalli and walk the rest of the distance. But such was

the hunger of devotees that they started coming, first from nearby

places and soon from much greater distance. That is what Spiritual

hunger does to the true seeker, making him or her forget all the

problems.

 

Now in those far-off days, not many accepted Swami as an incarnation

and understandably, there was a lot of bad-mouthing as they say.

This happened in Bukkapatnam, and indeed even in Puttaparthi itself,

as some of you would recall from one of my Musings Talk, in which I

described an extra-ordinary incident once reported by the Rajah of

Venkatagiri. But I shall not go into all that here. What I want to

say is that the Press too started to make unfavourable noises, and

that really hurt the elder brother of Swami's body, namely, Seshama

Raju. At that time, Seshama was not yet quite able to appreciate

Swami's true Avataric nature, and in a purely brotherly fashion,

wrote a letter of advice, warning "young" Sai Baba of the cunning

ways of the world on the one hand, and his various deep concerns on

the other. In brief, Seshsma was worried about the impact of the

attention that his younger brother was receiving. Would this

adoration go to the head of young Sathya? Would He fall a victim to

various temptations? Such were the thoughts expressed by Seshama

Raju.

 

On 25th May, 1947, Baba wrote a reply. Though Baba's letter was

intended for Seshama Raju, it was in fact addressed to `all who are

devoted to Me'. That letter is a powerful declaration of the purpose

of the Sai Avatar. In that letter, Baba wrote:

 

My dear One!

 

I received all the communication that you sent. I found in it the

surging floods of your devotion and affection, with the

undercurrents of doubts and anxiety. Let Me tell you that it is

impossible to plumb the hearts and discover the nature of Jnanis

[Wise men], Yogis, ascetics, saints, sages, and the like. People are

endowed with a variety of characteristics and mental attitudes; so,

each one judges according to his own angle, talks and argues in the

light of his own nature. But we have to stick to our own path, our

own wisdom, and our own resolution, without getting affected by

popular appraisal. As the proverb says, it is only the fruit-laden

tree that receives the shower of stone from the passers by. The good

always provoke the bad into calumny; the bad always provoke the good

into doing more good; this is the nature of the world. One must be

surprised if such things do not happen.

 

People too have to be pitied rather than condemned. They do not

know. They have no patience to judge right. They are too full of

lust, anger, and conceit to see clearly and know fully. So, they

write all sorts of things. If only they know, they would refrain

from writing or talking like that. We should not attach any value to

such comments and take them to heart, as you seem to do. Truth will

certainly triumph some day. Untruth can never win. Untruth might

appear to over-power Truth, but its victory would fade away and

Truth would establish itself.

 

It is not the way of the great to swell when people offer worship

and shrink when people cool off. As a matter of fact, no sacred text

lays down rules to regulate the lives of the great, prescribing

habits and attitudes they must adopt. They themselves know the path

they must take. Their wisdom regulates and makes their acts holy.

Self-reliance and beneficial activity – these two are their special

marks. They may also be engaged in the promotion of the welfare of

devotees and in giving them the fruits of their actions. Why should

you be affected by doubt and worry, so long as I am adhering to

these two? After all, praise and blame do not touch the Atma; they

can touch only the outer frame.

 

I have a Task: To foster all mankind, and ensure for all people

lives full of Ananda (Bliss).

 

I have a Vow: To lead all who stray away from the straight path,

again into goodness and save them.

 

I am attached to a `Work' that I love: To remove the suffering of

the poor and grant them what they lack.

 

I have a `reason to be proud': for, I rescue all who worship and

adore Me.

 

I have a definition of `devotion': I expect that those devoted to Me

treat joy and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude.

 

I will never give up those who attach themselves to Me. When I am

thus engaged in My beneficial task, how can My Name be ever

tarnished, as you apprehend? I would advise you not to heed to such

absurd talk. Mahatmas do not acquire greatness through someone

calling them so; they do not become small just because some calls

them small. Only those low ones who revel in opium but claim to be

unexcelled Yogis, only those who quote scriptural texts to justify

their gourmandary and pride, only those who are dry-as-dust scholars

exulting in their argumentative skill, are moved by praise and

blame.

 

You must have read the life-stories of Saints and Divine personages.

In those books, you must have read also of horrible falsehood and

heinous imputations cast against them. This is the lot of Mahatmas,

everywhere, and at all times. Why then do you take these things so

much to heart? Have you not heard of dogs that howl at the stars?

How long can they go on? Authenticity will soon win.

 

I will not give up My Mission nor My determination. I SHALL carry

them out. I treat with equanimity, the honour or dishonour that may

result. Internally, I am totally unconcerned. I act, but solely in

the outer world. If I talk and move about, it is entirely for the

sake of the outer world, and for making the people realise the

advent of Divinity. Other than this, I have no concern with

anything.

 

I do not belong to any place. I am not attached to any name. I have

no `Mine' or `Thine'. I respond to whatever name you might use. I go

wherever I am needed or called.

 

For Me, the world is something afar and apart. I act and move only

for the sake of Mankind.

 

No one can comprehend My Glory, whosoever it may be, whatever be the

method of enquiry, and no matter how long the attempt.

 

You will yourself see the full Glory unfolding in the coming years.

Devotees must have patience and forbearance.

 

I am not concerned, nor am I anxious that these facts should be made

known. I have no need to write these words. I wrote them because I

felt that you would be pained if I do not reply.

 

Thus, yours, Baba.

 

Please read the above letter carefully. Note two things: The good

will carry on with their work regardless of obstacles, and

AUTHENTICITY WILL WIN. Swami gives the analogy of the tree and in

fact, He has expanded on this many a time in His Divine Discourses.

He says, man throws stones at a tree but comes to the same tree for

shelter when the Sun is scorching at mid day. Not only that; in the

end, the tree gives its entire self up as wood, to be used by man.

 

Well, if that be Swami's Kshama [forbearance], then how can we use

the facilities He has given us for spreading His Message, for taking

on all and sundry who have no better work than to raise muck? By the

way, I was told that in the TV program shown in Australia recently,

many of the people who made allegations about Swami had their backs

turned to the camera! Imagine that!! These people want to throw mud

but do not have the guts to show their face! Do we dignify such

people by condescending to "reply" to them?

 

Perhaps I should also mention this. Once a devotee

complained: "Swami, how can we really keep quiet when so much abuse

is being hurled at You? Why don't You understand the pain we feel?"

You know what Bhagavan replied? He said: "Bangaru, the man who is

flinging abuse is in the gutter. If you want to fight him, you too

have to get into the gutter? Do you think Your Mother would like to

see Her dear child get into the gutter?"

 

It is these facts that made us to withhold from impulsive and

intemperate responses to irresponsible utterances by foolish people.

At the same time, when there is misstatement in high quarters, we do

make a quiet effort to set the record straight. Let me give two

examples. A couple of years ago, the London Times wrote something

nasty about Swami. Now the Times is not only the leading newspaper

in Britain but one of the leading newspapers of the world, that is

held in high esteem everywhere. Clearly if it writes or publishes

something incorrect and inappropriate, we have a duty to place the

correct facts before it so that its readers do not get wrong ideas.

In fact, this is the right of reply that the Press is supposed to

offer. So many of us wrote letters to the Times but believe it or

not, the Times simply refused to publish any one of our letters. In

fact, Air Chief Marshall [Retd.] Nirmal Suri, an ardent devotee, was

in London at that time and he personally went to the office of the

Times and tried to talk to them; but they did not even bother to

meet him. So much for a decent and free press!

 

Another event and that really is what I wanted to write about – all

the above is just a long preamble so that you would get the

background. Some years ago there was a big conference in Prashanti

Nilayam on Educare. It was an international meet with delegates from

many countries and started off as a joint venture with UNESCO

[united Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organisation].

I remember the event very well. And do you know what happened on the

morning of that conference? The newspapers reported that the UNESCO

Office in Delhi had issued a statement withdrawing from the

conference because of allegations about the Sai Organisation! The

muck-rakers had managed to poison the mind of the powers that be in

the UNESCO, and the Head Office in Paris immediately sent a message

to its Delhi branch to withdraw and issue a press release.

 

We were all shocked. How could a responsible body like the UNESCO

pull out just like that and that too without bothering to verify? If

they wanted they could have pulled out in a polite fashion but the

statement issued was far from polite. And that too from Delhi!

 

In the years that followed, I tried in vain to tell the brass that

came regularly from Delhi for Swami's Darshan, "Listen! You all know

how much Swami has done and is continuing to do for the people of

India in a thousand different ways. You also know how false and

malicious the content of this statement is. Is not Swami respected

all over the country? Is not an insult to Swami a slap on the face

of the country? India is a member of the UNESCO. Why don't you

officially write and take objection? You have every right to and

also the authority to. Can you keep quiet when a UN body is casting

aspersions on one of the most respected citizens of the country, one

who has and is doing so much for the people?"

 

My passionate appeal did not work. I was totally disappointed but

then God works in His own silent way and according to His own

timetable. Recently, an Official of UN Habitat was here for Darshan

and he complained how his initiative on Human Values in Water

Education programme based on Swami's Principles, was being thwarted

by trouble makers, who were trying to influence the UN Secretary

General, quoting the UNESCO Press Release, which was still on the

UNESCO website. By the way, the programme that UN Habitat was

working on is a sequel to Kanu's successful project on Human Values

in Water education in Africa, based of course on Swami's teachings.

 

I had a long talk with this Official of UN Habitat, and he

subsequently went to Delhi where he managed to meet the Foreign

Minister directly. By the way, the Foreign Minister is a devotee and

has come here many times. In addition to this, I personally had a

long meeting with a top diplomat, another devotee of thirty years or

so. This other person had earlier been the Ambassador for India in

Paris and also India's representative in the UNESCO. Both the

Foreign Minister and this diplomat were terribly upset that nothing

had been done this far, and now, all of a sudden the wheel began to

crank.

 

First, the Indian Rep to the UNESCO wrote [in part]:

 

The media Advisory dated September 15th 2000 and viewable at the

address: www.unesco.org/education/highlights/media_advisory is

posted to explain UNESCO's inability to participate in a Conference

organised by the Institute of Sathya Sai Education [Thailand]. In

doing so, it attempts to gravely tarnish the reputation Sathya Sai

movement by casting aspersion on the personal integrity and

character of its leader, based on hearsay, and unconfirmed press

reports.

 

Shri Sathya Sai Baba is a highly respected spiritual leader and

publics figure in India and abroad. It is well known that the life

and message of Shri Sathya Sai Baba has been devoted to promoting

peace, non-violence social harmony and is a moving force behind

numerous philanthropic social projects. In this context, it is

pertinent to mention that the UN Human Settlements Project [uN-

HABITAT] launched a major education initiative three years ago,

using human values approach propounded by Shri Sathya Sai Baba, to

introduce a value-based water education programme through the

national curriculum in Africa.. The initiative has been widely

accepted at high political levels and among educationists in Africa

and is now being replicated by the UN-HABITAT and the Asian

Development Bank in Asia and the Pacific. You will agree that

issuance of a casual and negligent press release by UNESCO cannot

but do disservice to such valuable projects.

 

Government of India considers Shri Sathya Sai Baba and his movement

a national asset and takes strong exception to UNESCO press release,

which spreads wholly unfounded and unsubstantiated allegation

against Shri Sathya Sai Baba.

 

I would therefore request you to take immediate steps to remove the

objectionable press advisory from the UNESCO website. I would also

appreciate an expression of regret for the damage caused to one of

India's revered public figures, without first verifying the facts

and any consultation with Indian authorities.

 

Well, that is the letter from India's permanent representative to

the UNESCO. Strong letter, is it not? Naturally, the UNESCO hurried

to give a reply. Here it is, in part. The letter is from Assistant General of UNESCO.

 

I do appreciate this concern and wish to inform you that following

your personal intervention, the media advisory in question was

immediately withdrawn from the archives of the UNESCO's web site for

education.

 

I should also like to take this opportunity to say how much the

Organisation regrets this unfortunate incident and to reiterate to

you, on behalf of the Director General, that the Organisation

attaches the greatest importance to the varied forms of fruitful

collaboration that we have enjoyed with your country for many years.

 

I hope this letter will set your mind at rest and dispel any

misunderstanding.

 

So, there it is. As Swami said long ago, authenticity will always

win. I do hope you will share this expression of regret by an

important UN body with others whom you know and that slowly the word

would spread so that negative propaganda would be laid to rest once

and for all, as it indeed must be.

 

The moral of it all is that we must be patient, without giving up

our efforts to overwhelm negativity with positivity. That really is

the important point. We can never win by fighting slander with

counter slander. It is only the misguided who place their faith in

the "eye for an eye" philosophy. As a wise man once remarked, if we

followed that philosophy, then pretty soon the world would have only

blind people!

 

What do you think? Let us know, and all you have to do is to write

to: h2h@radiosai.org

 

All the best. Jai Sai Ram.

 

G.VENKATARAMAN

 

posted by ian at 4:04 PM