Theos-Talk Archives (January 1998 Message tt00404)

Visanu Sirichote wrote:

> How could you and your skeptical group in New York see him in his
> true light without neither coming to him nor taking seriously the
> *positive* accounts of numerous sincere reliable seekers who has
> been privileged to live close around him? How can you as a researcher
> refuse to enter into the situation to really understand your subject?
> And what constitute *proof* of genuineness of his phenomenon for you?
> Unlikely to be the number of witnesses because millions are not enough.
> If it is quality of witnesses then what are the qualifications? But if
> *control condition* is a major prerequisite then you may have to
> wait forever since he, like any true adept, will never permit it.

    I once saw, on a fundamentalist Christian television program, an
analysis of tabloid psychics. The thesis was rather interesting, and totally
logical within the context of fundamentalist Christian belief. The basis of
the argument is that there are two sources of the supernatural, God and
Satan. Looking at the predictions of the tabloid psychics, are they
predictions that would enable people to avoid disaster? No, they tend to be
predictions about celebrities. Now, given the predictions, from which source
would you say the predictions come?

    Now, of course, Theosophical doctrine does not even accept the concept
of the supernatural, and the concept of a good God vs. an evil Satan is
generally not held as true. But the core of the analysis is: Look at how the
powers are being used, and from that determine the intent of their source.
Also note that in many holy books, and in Theosophical literature, there are
warnings against using siddhis to prove spiritual advancement, or accepting
siddhis as proof of spiritual advancement. A particularly good example of
this is the temptation of Jesus in the desert by Satan, which is really the
temptation that all spiritual leaders must go through.

    Now, even if you believe that Sai Baba's siddhi's are real, see how he
is using them, and make your own judgment.

    Bart Lidofsky