Over the past years we got many letters of concern regarding Sathya Sai Baba, containing allegations like "he is a cheat", "he does not have mastery over the elements", "he misuses people sexually" and so forth.
Most of the writers wanted us to comment on specific issues or verify what they had heard from friends or read in the media. About 80% of the correspondence we received originated from western countries and nearly all alleged issues were said to have taken place since 1995.

I would first like to clarify:

• Netnews Association is a content distributor. As such we are not engaged in any form of investigative journalism, do not run our own investigations and usually do not comment on alleged issues.
• On a personal level several of our staff members have regularly visited the Ashram of Sathya Sai Baba in Prashanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India as well as Institutions like schools and hospitals run by the Sathya Sai Central or Medical Trust. Our staff could thus talk on a personal level to people associated with Sathya Sai Baba since many decades. Allegations were discussed and our staff members came to their own conclusions.

What can you do, if you are full of doubts?

• Enquire what the doubts trigger in you, what they really mean to you.
• Experience Sathya Sai Baba yourself, visit his Ashram - if this makes sense to you - and come to your own conclusions.
• Try hard to reduce all kinds of fears in your character disposition, as fear makes you vulnerable and allows negative energies to penetrate easily and disturb your peace of mind.
• Go forward with a sense of self-confidence and strength, knowing that the power of your own soul, the spark of the divine, can ever be relied upon, e.g. don't get elated when people treat you as their "morning star" one day, and don't get too much disheartened when they treat you as their "garbage can" the other day.
• Concentrate your major effort upon self-transformation, the work you want to see accomplished. Others will remark the positive changes in your character long before you do.
• Have in mind always that you can create a line of light between yourself and all circumstances and problems. As every problem is in reality a vital thought-form, the line of established light can often dispel the problem or act as a transmitter of positive energies.
• Ask your own soul and the Lord for strength, love and a clear vision to escape deception.
• Realise that purity on all levels is the prime essential to protect yourself from the rough tides of the world. If you are bothered by doubts, it shows that you have some weak spot. Remember that the door whereby a negative force can enter your life is always opened by yourself.
• Stand firm and unmoved, no matter what occurs. Your feet may be bathed in the mud of earth, but your head may already perceive the silver lining in the clouds. Recognise that the filth of earth does not involve any contamination of your core being. You are the eternal, undying Atma.
• Make use of common sense and apply it to the matter in hand. Relax and try to achieve inner calm with a method fitting your disposition like meditation, nature walks or music. Do nothing to overtire your physical body and give it good (vegetarian) food. Keep your feelings and thoughts along the proper lines of truth and love.
• Accept that whatever happens to you is the right thing at the right time. It's your learning experience that counts and not the event itself.
• Formulate your very own daily prayer for the happiness of all beings, like the old Indian one, "Let all the beings in all the worlds be happy!"

 
Mussoorie, 4 March 2002

Edwin Bosshard, President
Netnews Association