Sathya Sai Baba

skk

Quite OT, but after having seen it several times and STFU'd, I just _have_ to ask - was your avatar pic ( of Genuine Fake Watches) taken outside of Ephesus ( the ruins of a 600-400 BC city ), Turkey. I noticed you also have a picture of an above ground sarcophagus on your profile so it seems like know something about Turkey. So do I and I love it, while of course being aware of its past 110 years - they certainly managed to suppress this superstitious stuff from public life didn't they - when I got vaguely interested in religious stuff and tried to see real Sufism there - the dervishing and so on - it was quite hard in Istanbul - just some people, like the Morris dancers in England, trying to keep the traditions alive.

The authorities in India shouldn't of course adopt their authoritarian model in marginalizing this guru stuff - legal methods will do quite nicely - but they really should live up to the idea that it is a "secular" nation - that includes not allowing this guru stuff in official government life.

Yeah, one can dream. Heck this post WAS on topic after all.

-skk

Aupmanyav

Where? And what then? Is that 'Deeksha'?

Goran

not only oil rubbing and not above the age of consent

kullukid

I thought it was Dicksha!!! KK

rahulcal

Thanks for reminding about one very essential quality - one of his fundamentals teachings were that God is one - there is only one . Henece while some say he was a Muslim we have a temple where is worshipped as a god and people from all religions are equally welcome.

What his trustees and followers do - well he did not ask for it - just like all the other men in history - what their followers do in their name is something far away from what they taught. Jesus's followers took upon Crusades and more , Mohammed preached belief in god not Jihad .

Compared to some of these , Gold crowns et al seem small change. What he did promise was succor and hope - a much needed thing in the world of today where there is not much left to believe in . And what makes it more credible is that he is not around to enjoy them nor did he ask for any of it - he passsed away in the same ramshackle hut he lived in and had donated the last 9 rupees which he poessed to a devotee.

Compare that to some of the god men today ... I rest my case.


God or a very good human being ... each to his own .

rahulcal

Hi Skk,

Yes- it is from the same Epheseus - amazing how you recognised the place ...

I backpacked through it on my own last year - quite an experience. The Sarcoophagi is from a Istanbul Museum allegedly having a likeness of Alexander the great - it was made only a couple of centuries after his death.

I did attend a Dervish session there ( at least the touristy variety) at the Rlwy Station in Istanbul- honestly thought it was a bit put on .

However , having seen some bits of Quawwali and also Indian classical performances , where artists perform as a means of reaching god I could understand a little bit of the thought behind it.

I think in India rather than ignoring or promoting anything the Govt just lets it take its own natural course unless of course it gets to be a serious law and order issue :-)

Nick-H

Everything is steered and used for vote banks and powerbanks. The politicians ignore nothing.

Aupmanyav

So, one should become superstitious. What succor a dead man can provide? Did not he have the pretensions of being a God? Who is not? So, what is so special about him? Should we now believe that he appears on the walls of buildings, and that the garland on his photograph continues to grow longer and longer? I would say foolishness.

skk

Am I the man or am I the man mostly I feel a sense of synchronocity that somebody found that important enough to photograph - cos of course I took a pic( I asked too at that).I agree what you say about Quawallis they are great but its contentious stuff ( its Islamic ( unless YOU tell me different) of course and there's the theory that its all.. ) but never mind, TMI, lets go offline on that or you know of a forum where that's discussed in some depth ? I'm interested in that.

-skk

skk

You know, that's all I found, that's EXACTLY what I watched - expensive too,no ? I was looking quite hard that last vist in 2007 for vestiges of Sufism in Istanbul, that's all +I+ found.

But, its embarrassing really, don't you think, for a great tradition like Sufism to be dancing for pennies, well ok tens of USD, for the tourists; or as a freak show at that ? Where are their martyrs, who resisted the suppression ? Makes me think what value the original content had. I'll have to read up more.

Have you read the classic book -hmm I can't remember his name - he's clearly massively gay and all that but an astonishing writer and close observer of Turkey.

We are talking of Islam here and its probably best if you move over to private IM or to a Turkey forum ( wonder what _they_ say about Sufism ); I only know Turkish bridge players,mostly online - they are bloody good ( won the European XX,YY,ZZ ) ( probably in the military too ) but I would nevah talk religious stuff with them . C'mon, deal, they'll say.

But I'm curious about how timidly, passively, with no resistance that aspect of Islam just got squashed, in their own homeland - where were the guys with the balls I ask ? I'm damned if they get to India as top-dog though - haven yes of course, the tolerance tradition is there - top-dog no way.. extremely unlikely but you must know of all the theories that the Hindutva crowd push out - there's a move,not unreasonably, given those 26-29 Nov Mumbai attacks, to watch anybody in shipping who could be non-Indian-nationalistic in character.

What do you think ? I'm quite OK with switching out to IM and then email.


-skk

mantru

hi all ...interesting post...just wanted to know how many of you have actually experienced what is being discussed...is it the opinin from the feeds we have received in the net or otherwisw,word of mouth happenings with one of your family members or your real opinion the one you have experienced.It is very easy to defame people whoever they are,but i guess people should have opinions only if one has experienced the situation.Rest is all crap.Not taking anyones side or viewpoints.But opinions and experiences are two things.

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Mantru
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/m...0489&protype=1

http://mytravelpage.6te.net

Aupmanyav

You have love qawallis also in the films or otherwise, and they are beautiful and sometimes quite naughty. I hope you have heard that. They are known as 'ishqia qawallis'. "Aaj kyon hum se parda hai', a famous one.