The Sai Baba Society
| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon; ©1999 |
| The Sai Baba Society purports to unite mankind into a New Age of enlightenment; to provide individual enlightenment. |
The Sai Baba Society
Info at a Glance
Name: The Sai Baba Society, Sri Sathya Sai Publication and Education Foundation.
Purpose: To unite mankind into a New Age of enlightenment; to provide individual enlightenment.
Founder: Sai Baba.
Source of authority: Sai Baba’s writings and lectures.
Revealed teachings: Yes.
Claim: To be an avatar of Vishnu, the only incarnation of God on earth today.
Examples of occult potential: Spiritism, psychic abilities.
Examples of key literature: Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vols. 1-9.
Attitude toward Christianity: Rejecting.
Quotes:
“Swami can do anything he wishes. He is God” (Murphet, Sai Baba, p. 133)
“[You must achieve] elimination of the mind, which is the arch obstacle in the [spiritual] path” (Sai Baba interview in Samuel Sandweiss, Sai Baba: The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist (1975), p. 206.)
Note: A good friend of John Weldon, Tal Brooke, was perhaps the highest American disciple of Sai Baba for 18 months before converting to Christ. His valuable insights are contained in Riders of the Cosmic Circuit (Lion), a powerful critique of the Eastern gurus, and in Avatar of Night (Vikas House), a bestselling Indian critique of Sai Baba. Both offer valuable polemics against Indian spirituality in general. Brooke gained insights into Baba that few people ever have access to, in direct contrast to the glowing portraits painted by Baba’s biographers and disciples.
Doctrinal Summary
God: Brahman (Impersonal Being, Consciousness and Bliss).
Jesus: A Hindu Vedantist who learned wisdom in India.
The Christ: The higher (or “God”) consciousness in Jesus, the human way shower.
The Holy Spirit: Psychic energy.
Salvation: Achieving enlightenment or monistic consciousness by placing oneself along Baba’s spiritual path.
Man: Inwardly divine
Sin: Relative; ignorance.
Satan: A figurative term for temptation.
The Second Coming: Sai Baba constitutes the Second Coming of Christ.
The Fall: Into maya (illusion).
The Bible: A holy scripture correctly interpreted by Sai Baba.
Death: Ultimately beneficial.
Heaven and Hell: Positive or negative states of consciousness or temporary places.
