Sathya sai international organisation

Criticisms of Sathya Sai Baba and His organisation

Sathya Sai Baba and His teachings are only 'primary school'?

Madhusudan Naidu has made claims that the life and teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba constitute a kind of spiritual primary school and that the physical Swami at Puttaparthi only taught people that God exists. He then claims that he will now teach everyone that God is within them:

In Puttaparthi, God was outside.

Madhusudan Naidu, Muddenahalli, April 24, 2015

While in Puttaparthi, for those who did not believe there is God, I taught them that God exists. Many amongst you who are seated here were so-called atheists. Many of you did not believe in the existence of God. After coming in the proximity of Bhagawan, you learned the truth that God exists. However, you thought God exists outside as Sathya Sai Baba, or as Jesus Christ, or Buddha, or as described in other religions. Now I am teaching you that God does not exist outside, He exists within.

Madhusudan Naidu, Italy, April 16, 2015

The body only came to make you understand that God exists. You thought that God is in Puttaparthi. You had to go to Puttaparthi to be with Swami. Now, when there is no body, I am teaching you that I am within you.

Madhusudan Naidu, Italy, April 17, 2015

You have all come and studied in the Primary School in Puttaparthi. You have all understood that God exists. Now, in this High School, you must understand that God is within, not without. Furthermore, in the University of Prema Sai, you must know that all are One.

Madhusudan Naidu, Italy, April 17, 2015

In Puttaparthi, I taught those who do not know that God exists, that God does exist. Now I am teaching that God exists in everyone.

Madhusudan Naidu, quoted in Visit to Ebe, Nigeria 14th–17th July 2015, p.29

Primary school was when I came as a physical Avatar. All kinds of devotees came to Me – some interested in God, some interested in the world; some believing God exists, some believing He does not exist; some believing Swami is God, some believing Swami is not; but just like little children who don’t know the truth, who are yet to be educated, everyone was admitted into My primary school. That was Puttaparthi.

Madhusudan Naidu, Italy, April 20, 2015

Soldiers, before they are sent to battle, are given training in their own town. Puttaparthi was a training ground for all of you, where Swami taught you to fight your own negativity with the weapons of love and service, and to look for Swami, not outside, but inside each one of you. Since it was a practice ground, you were protected and it was easy, but today you are in the real world.

Madhusudan Naidu, Italy, April 19, 2015

"God exists". That was primary school. “God is not outside; God is inside.” This is high school. The third is the university where you realise, “I am God. God is me.” I have come here with the purpose of teaching you this lesson. I am teaching you these high school lessons.

Talk by Madhusudan Naidu, Encinitas California, June 20, 2015
Swami has indeed said that we need to pass through different school stages, but that this refers to the stages of the spiritual path through which all aspirants must pass, not the physical location people attend, such as Puttaparthi or Muddenahalli:

No boy can join college, the moment he steps into school. Several stages have to be reached and got over - the Primary, the Middle, the Secondary, the Higher Secondary, and the Intermediate; so too, we have in the spiritual path, the stages of Work, Worship, Wisdom and finally, Sacrifice. Sacrifice is when the ripe fruit falls from the tree, sacrificing its affection and attachment, weaning itself away from its support and sustenance. Work is for the physical level; worship for the mental and wisdom for spiritual. You have to pass through the three stages, each one of you.

SSS 11.35: December 23, 1971, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume11/sss11-35.pdf
Swami revealed in 1976 that the mission of the Sathya Sai Avathar is to teach that God is in everyone:

The mission of the present Avatar is to make everybody realise that since the same God or divinity resides in everyone, people should respect, love and help each other irrespective of caste, colour or creed. Thus all work can become an act of worship.

God Lives in India, p.7
Madhusudan says that Swami only taught a primary school level spirituality but that he will now teach the high school level, however Swami has said in 1987 that He has already taken us through primary and high school and into the college level:

I have resolved preaching Advaita Tatwa (non duality) as a spiritual path from the 60th year. We have crossed the stage of worship. We must enter the path of Wisdom now. We have crossed the primary and higher secondary levels. We have to enter college.

Divine Discourse November 24, 1987, Advaita through Seva p.14
At the 2007 World Youth Conference, Swami said almost the exact same thing:

I alone am present in each one of you. You are not different from Me. Do not entertain any doubts or differences of opinion in this regard.

You are not merely a human being. You are God, verily. You think that you are God and you will become God. Yad bhavam tad bhavathi (as are the feelings, so is the result)… God is present in this lady as well as the other lady. Both are embodiments of Divinity. The one God is present in all bodies. We must love every human being. Love all Serve all, since God is present in all human beings. There is no place in this universe where God is not present. God is present in the sky, in the water, in the sound and in the light. Thus, everything in this universe is the embodiment of Divinity.

SSS 40.13: 28 July 2007, http://www.sssbpt.org/pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/ssswyc2007valedictoryaddress.html
Again in the interview with R K Karanjia in 1976, Swami said:

As I repeatedly say, we all belong to the same divine principle. The godliness which is present in everybody in the form of a little spark exists in Me as the full flame, and it is My mission to develop every little spark of God in everyone to the fullness of the divine flame.

The first imperative of this development is that the receiver of the grace also provides from his or her side the devotion necessary to the consummation. Those who carry the presence of Baba in their hearts like an in-dwelling God belong to these kinds of devotees. They come to Me, see Me and hear Me, experience My love for them and receive it with devotion. Thus, they become part of Me and My divinity.

God lives in India, p.15

When you go back to your respective countries, your conduct must be such that your countrymen have high regard for you. They should recognise the transformation wrought in you by your visit to Prashanthi Nilayam and seek to follow your example. When you constantly remind yourselves, "I am God", you develop Godly behaviour. Listen to your Inner Voice---- the Voice of Conscience. Your conduct will then be spontaneously Godly.

SSS 22.4: February 17, 1989, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume22/sss22-04.pdf

There is only one royal road for the spiritual journey---Love, love for all being, as manifestation of the same Divinity that is the very core of oneself.

SSS 10.1: January 13, 1970, http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume10/sss10-01.pdf

SUMMARY 1. Madhusudan Naidu says Sathya Sai Baba, while in the body at Puttaparthi, only taught a primary school level of spirituality. 2. Sri Sathya Sai Baba says just as we have the primary, middle and secondary stages of school, so too on the spiritual path we have the stages of Work, Worship and Wisdom. 3. Madhusudan Naidu claims Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Puttaparthi only taught that God exists, but now at Muddenahalli 'Sukshma Baba' will take devotees to the next level so that they know that God is within them. 4. Sri Sathya Sai Baba taught that God is in all from the beginning of His mission and said that His mission is "to make everybody realise that, since the same God or divinity resides in everyone, people should respect, love and help each other irrespective of color or creed. Thus all work can become an act of worship". 5. Sathya Sai Baba also taught the highest Truth, that we are God and God is everything (advaita). QUESTIONS 1. Looking at the life and teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, can we really believe Madhusudan Naidu’s claim that Puttaparthi is just a primary school where Swami only taught that God exists? 2. Why are Madhusudan Naidu's words so disparaging of what Sri Sathya Sai Baba taught and achieved? 3. Why does he belittle Puttaparthi and the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba as a primary school? 4. Why is it that he claims Swami only taught that God exists while he will teach that God is within, when Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings clearly show that Swami taught not only that God is within us, but that we are God?