8
8
4
4
2
2
.
.
S
S
T
T
U
U
D
D
I
I
E
E
S
S
O
O
F
F
S
S
A
A
T
T
H
H
Y
Y
A
A
S
S
A
A
I
I
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
A
2. S
TUDIES OF
S
ATHYA
S
AI
B
ABA
the Sai Power cannot be a subject for a university examination;
It is a subject for universal examination. Sai is limited only by His Own Will.
But when a near and dear relationship is established, one can delve a little deeper
into the Sai Mystery. That is the highest achievement possible.
1
As I have indicated, despite my having a few ‘near and dear’ encounters with
Sathya Sai Baba, my study will, of necessity, be literature-based. Whatever Sathya
Sai Baba may assert to the contrary—as in the passage quoted here—we have al-
ready seen, and will especially see in this chapter, that there are also some de-
tailed academic papers that delve into the background of, or offer theories to ac-
count for, his divine persona—still more that refer to this persona in passing. I
will proceed roughly chronologically in reviewing these studies, but will divide my
treatment into four broad categories according to themes that I have noted.
Aside from the works of Haraldsson (discussed earlier), the earliest studies of
Sathya Sai Baba seem to attempt to group him with other similar “saints” or reli-
gious leaders. Thus, Charles White (1972) characterizes Sathya Sai Baba as a “liv-
ing saint” and seeks to situate him in a “Sāī Bābā Movement”. Agehananda
Bharati (1970) makes a few glancing remarks about him as an exemplar of the
“Hindu Renaissance”, and, in a second work (1981), refers to him in his presenta-
tion of “the cognitive and the conative constituents of Hinduism today”. Marvin
Harper (1972) and Robert Elwood (1973) refer to him alongside other modern re-
ligious leaders who have become popular in America and H. Daniel Smith (1978)
makes reference to him in his ‘notes on a minor iconographic tradition’. These
studies, I will survey in the first section of this chapter.
One of the specific themes that emerges in this connection (and at which I have
already hinted) is that of the relationship between traditional ideas of advaita
(“non-dualism”) and Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings. I will thus refer also in this first
section to the recent M.A. thesis by Greg Gerson (1998)—mentioned above—
1
Sathya Sai Baba (1-8-1976) SSS10 53 NB Daniel Bassuk (1987b:89)—summarizing a devotee‘s
hagiographical account of Sathya Sai Baba—writes ‘Satya Sai Baba manifests what is known as ‘Sai
Power’. This power is physical, psychic and spiritual, and there are outward manifestations of each.
On the physical level he presents miracles... In the psychic realm Sai power produces telepathy,
clairvoyance, and psychokinesis... In the spiritual domain Satya... performs ‘spiritual’ surgery and
resurrects people from the dead’. What Bassuk’s source is here, I do not know (I suspect it might be
V.K.Gokak (1975), but I have not checked up on this). Sathya Sai Baba himself—in his published
speeches and writings at least—makes only two (other) references to ‘Sai Power’ or ‘Sai Shakthi’,
portraying it as more-or-less equivalent to “omnipotence” [(22-11-1970) S10 35:235-236]. NB On
Sathya Sai Baba’s general tendency to proclaim his incomprehensibility, see Section 1.3 above.
S
S
A
A
T
T
H
H
Y
Y
A
A
S
S
A
A
I
I
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
A
A
A
S
S
A
A
V
V
A
A
T
T
A
A
R
R
8
8
5
5
which focuses upon this (and another) theme in Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings. In
contrast to these works, Swallow and Babb (mentioned earlier) concentrate more
closely upon Sathya Sai Baba himself—investigating something of the reli-
gious/sectarian/mythological background of his claim to be “Sai Baba”—and it is
to their in-depth studies (along with some similarly focussed parts of works by
David Bowen (1985) and Smriti Srinivas (199b,2001), that I will devote most of
the second section of this chapter.
The focus of the majority of academic studies of Sathya Sai Baba, especially in
the last two decades, has been sociological—more upon his influence and follow-
ing than on his personae or teachings. Thus: Raymond Lee (1982), Susan Acker-
man and Lee (1988,1997), David Mearns (1995) and Alexandra Kent (1999,2000,
2004,2005) present studies of Sathya Sai Baba groups in Malaysia; Donald Taylor
(1984,1987), David Bowen (1985,1986), Frank Whaling (1987), and Bob Exon
(1995,1997) write on some of Sathya Sai Baba’s followers in the UK; Morton Klass
(1991) studies the Sathya Sai Baba movement in Trinidad; Jody Marshall (1998)
interviews a Canadian follower of Sathya Sai Baba; Lise McKean (1996), Smriti
Srinivas (1999b,2001), and Hugh Urban (2003a), consider the socio-economic sig-
nificance of Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings and movement in India; Leo Howe
(1999,2001) and Yadav Somvir (2004) investigate the movement in Bali; and Nor-
ris Palmer (2005) studies a Sathya Sai Baba Centre in California. I will review and
discuss these studies (with a few exceptions, to which I have already referred or
will refer elsewhere) in the third section of this chapter.