Satya Sai Baba: Guru or magician?

Exactly one year before (in 2011) on this day Satya Sai Baba died  (April 24^th) and as expected news of his death made headlines in almost all Indian national newspapers and websites. Even foreign news channels took notice of his death they called him a Hindu Godman. 

Satya Sai Baba was a unique personality according to me, a man with noble intentions, but trapped in his own image. One can find many people, especially in India who believe that he was god, the incarnation of Shirdi wale Sai Baba, they believe his magic tricks were real, and at the same time may people criticize him for fooling innocent people by showing cheap tricks and taking advantage of their devotion (I am one of them). I don’t believe in his magic tricks and also criticized him for using those tricks to gain popularity. Recently when I listened to his speeches and some of his interviews, I realized that whatever message he wanted to give to his followers was really sensible and useful. He never preached any religion or started any society rather he encouraged his devotees to keep their original faiths, he told about the importance of love and how love is the ultimate thing, not to hurt anybody, and many things like that. Many of his teachings are really wonderful and relevant in today’s world where we see hatred and jealousy as major problems. Even many people who follow him don’t seem to be interested in the real meaning of his messages. I think they were overwhelmed by his personality and were amazed because of his tricks. They felt happy that they saw God’s avatar and felt relieved to share their grievances with him. They also believed that he would solve all their problems with his divine power. After all, who else can solve all human problems if God himself can't. They thought his magic tricks were possible because of his divine power. In this entire process, the real message given by him got lost and what remained was his magic and God-like personality for his devotees. 

Satya Sai Trust established by him has done some philanthropic work by setting up many educational institutes and medical centers for poor people. I think because of his devotees and fear of losing them continued with his magic tricks. Tricks like producing ash, diamond rings, expensive Rolex watches, and gold ornaments from thin air became part of his identity. Whenever people attended his gathering/satsang they expected some trick from him and I think he was very well aware of that and had to live up to his image and satisfy his devotees' expectations. This happens with many famous personalities, they get trapped in some public image and people (their devotees or fans) always want to see them in that role, doing the same thing over and over again. People don’t allow them to break that mold. 

Hopefully, people will move away from the argument about whether Satya Sai Baba’s magic tricks were genuine or not (they weren't)? Whether he was an incarnation of Sai Baba or not (he wasn't)? I think all know the real answers to these questions. People will remember his message and teaching which are definitely more important than any of his tricks.

Thanks for reading and please share your comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)