Sathya Sai baba: laid to Rest

Godman Sathya Sai Baba, whose message of universal love and brotherhood attracted millions of followers across the globe, was on Wednesday interred at the very spot from where he used to meet and address his disciples for years.

The mortal remains of the 85-year-old spiritual leader, whose clout spread far and wide among both the commoners and the high mighty, were buried after the last rites were performed by his nephew RJ Ratnakar in accordance with vedic customs following full police honours.

Watched by a galaxy of political personalities including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka chief ministers N Kiran Kumar Reddy and BS Yeddyurappa, governors ESL Narasimhan and Shivraj V Patil, BJP leaders LK Advani, M Venkiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, former AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and hundreds of his followers, Sai Baba's body was buried amidst chanting of "Sai" mantras.

Once the last rites were performed by vedic pandits, red curtains were drawn around 9:45 am and the process started for laying the body in a pit created at the spot in Sai Kulwant where the spiritual leader used to make his preachings for his followers for a number of years. It lasted about 25 minutes.

The spot where he was buried is now expected to become an eternal memorial for Sai Baba, who at the age of 14 announced himself as a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. He made his mark initially with miracles but later founded institutions of excellence in education and medical facilities besides undertaking development work and philanthropy.

Sai Baba died on Sunday morning after fighting illness for nearly a month caused by multi-organ failure.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, political leaders from various parties, chief ministers and personalities from various fields including cricket and films had visited Puttaparthi in the last two days to pay their homage.

An estimated five lakh people from various parts of the country and abroad had filed past the body to have a final glimpse of their spiritual guru.

The curtains were removed after 40 minutes for the people to have a glimpse of the 'samadhi' where the body was laid to rest in line with the practice adopted for Hindu spirital leaders. Normally, Hindus cremate their bodies.

Governor Narasimhan, chief minister Reddy, Advani, Chandra Babu Naidu and other leaders went to the samadhi had a word with Ratnakar and sprinkled sacred ash at the spot.

Earlier, a little before 9 am, the glass casket in which Sai Baba's body was lying in state from Sunday night was removed and the body was wrapped in national tri colour for a brief while.

Men of the Andhra Pradesh Armed Police sounded the last post and fired 21 shots in the air as a mark of respect.

Then the tri colour was removed and verses from Hindu, Christian, Islamic, Sikh, Judaism and Buddhist scriptures were read out by leaders from these sects. Later, they joined in sprinkling the sacred ash at the samadhi spot as 'mangal aarti' was performed.

With Sai Baba's body draped in his favourite saffron robe, the last rites were performed by Ratnakar, who wept inconsolably, while priests recited vedic chants.

Ratnakar is a member of the powerful Sathya Sai Central Trust, estimated to be possession of wealth to the tune of Rs.40,000 crore, and is believed to be a contender in the race to head the trust.

Water from sacred rivers from all over the country were sprinkled on Sai Baba's body along with cow urine. Cow, honey, ghee and silk were given as gifts to priests.

After the ceremony was over, people gathered at the hall rushed to have a look at the samadhi, which was open for public viewing after 11.45 am.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith http://ping.fm/1jmS4

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith

Sathya Sai Baba was the unquestionable master of their faith, a belief that no controversy or rational disquisition could shake. While rationalists were obsessed with his miracles, his followers saw beyond them and adopted him as the guiding light of their life

From: http://ping.fm/02369

Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith

Sathya Sai Baba was the unquestionable master of their faith, a belief that no controversy or rational disquisition could shake. While rationalists were obsessed with his miracles, his followers saw beyond them and adopted him as the guiding light of their life.Born on Nov 23, 1926 to Eswaramma and Peddavenkama Raju Ratnakaram in a family of humble means, Sai Baba rose to command the devotion of millions of common devotees. As happens with men of the spirit, he following included prime ministers, presidents, statemen, generals, business captains. The protocol of potentates falling at his feet was often questioned, but such is faith.From his childhood, Baba was keenly involved in divine pursuits. In 1936, At 10, he started organising a group of children to sing hymns, at which he was very good. His spiritual inclination and contemplative nature set him apart from the other children. Sai lore has it that the boy with a soulful voice was transformed into a veritable spiritual guru as the result of a scorpion sting. The boy lost consciousness for several hours and woke up reciting slokas in Sanskrit, a language he had never learned. Moreover, he declared himself an incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, the 19th century seer venerated by Hindus and Muslims alike.The boy wonder’s popularity began to spread and a small temple was built to him. He began to reign from a seat he called Prashanthi Nilayam, which today is the centrepiece of a spiritual empire. But even in those early days, Sai Baba’s vision had a secular dimension. In 1954, he began to get his flock involved in service activities by building a humble free general hospital, which today has grown into the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, where he died on Sunday.A soft-spoken man, always dressed in flowing robes of saffron or white, his popularity extended to the poorest of the poor. He often declared, “I have not come to disturb or destroy any faith, but to confirm each in his own faith, so that a Christian becomes a better Christian, a Muslim a better Muslim and a Hindu a better Hindu.”His formula to lead a meaningful life was a five-fold path of satya (truth), dharma (righteousness), shanti (peace), prema (love) and ahimsa (non-violence). Love for god, fear of sin and morality in society were his prescriptions for the world at large. But controversy has always dogged the Sai Baba, the most startling of them happening in June 1993. The stillness of Prashanthi Nilayam was shattered when an attempt on his life was made by associates, six of whom were killed.Observers say Satya Sai Baba’s following, especially foreign devotees, dwindled in recent years as a result of such controversies. But at the same time, the focus of discourse ceased to be centred around his miracles, which left him to do his work unhindered.  His followers have stayed unflinching in their devotion, gaze fixed on his message rather than his miracles.

Adolf Hitler: Most hated Man in History

Yesterday, 20th April was the birthday of great dictator.On this occasion a lets have a brief biography of this most hated man in history.

Adolf Hitler was leader of Germany during the Third Reich (1933 – 1945) and the primary instigator of both the Second World War in Europe and the mass execution of millions of people deemed to be "enemies" or inferior to the Aryan ideal. Born: April 20, 1889, died: April 30, 1945.

Adolf Hitler’s Childhood:

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20th 1889 to Alois Hitler (who, as an illegitimate child, had previously used his mother’s name of Schickelgruber) and Klara Poelzl. A moody child, he grew hostile towards his father, especially once the latter had retired and the family had moved to Linz. Alois died in 1903 but left money to take care of the family. Hitler was close to his mother, who was highly indulgent of Hitler, and he was deeply affected when she died in 1908. He left school at 16 in 1905, intending to become a painter.

Adolf Hitler in Vienna:

Hitler moved to Vienna in 1907 where he applied to the Viennese Academy of Fine arts, but was twice turned down. This experience further embittered the increasingly angry Hitler, and he remained in Vienna living off his small family inheritance and what he could make from selling his art, moving from hostel to hostel, a lonely, vagabond figure. During this period Hitler appears to have developed the world view that would characterise his whole life: a hatred for Jews and Marxists. Hitler was well placed to be influenced by the demagogy of Karl Lueger, Vienna’s deeply anti-Semitic mayor.

Adolf Hitler and the First World War:

Hitler moved to Munich in 1913 and avoided Austrian military service in early 1914 by virtue of being unfit. However, when the First World War broke out in 1914 he joined the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, serving throughout the war. He proved to be an able and brave soldier as a dispatch runner, winning the Iron Cross (First Class) on two occasions. He was also wounded twice, and four weeks before the war ended suffered a gas attack which temporarily blinded and hospitalised him. It was here he learnt of Germany’s surrender, which he took as a betrayal. He especially hated the Treaty of Versailles.

Adolf Hitler Enters Politics:

After WW1 Hitler became convinced he was destined to save Germany. In 1919, working for an army unit, he was assigned to spy on a political party of roughly 40 idealists called the German Workers Party. Instead he joined it, swiftly rose to a position of dominance (he was chairman by 1921) and renamed it the Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). He gave the party the Swastika as a symbol and organised a personal army of ‘storm troopers’ (the SA or Brownshirts) and a bodyguard of black shirted men, the SS, to attack opponents. He also discovered, and used, his powerful ability for public speaking.

The Beer Hall Putsch:

In November 1923 Hitler organised Bavarian nationalists under a figurehead of General Ludendorff into a coup (or 'putsch'). They declared their new government in a beer hall in Munich and then 3000 marched through the streets, but they were met by police, who opened fire, killing 16. Hitler was arrested and tried in 1924, but was sentenced to only five years in prison, a sentence often taken as a sign of tacit agreement with his views. Hitler served only nine months in prison, during which he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), a book outlining his theories on race, Germany and Jews. It sold five million copies by 1939.

Adolf Hitler as Politician:

After the Beer-Hall Putsch Hitler resolved to seek power through subverting the Weimar government system, and he carefully rebuilt the NSDAP, or Nazi, party, allying with future key figures like Goering and propaganda mastermind Goebbels. Over time he expanded the party’s support, partly by exploiting fears of socialists and partly by appealing to everyone who felt their economic livelihood threatened by the depression of the 1930s, until he had the ears of big business, the press and the middle classes. Nazi votes jumped to 107 seats in the Reichstag in 1930.

Adolf Hitler as President and Führer:

In 1932 Hitler acquired German citizenship and ran for president, coming second to von Hindenburg. Later that year the Nazi party acquired 230 seats in the Reichstag, making them the largest party in Germany. Helped by support from conservative politicians believing they could control Hitler, he was appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30th 1933. Hitler moved with great speed to isolate and expel opponents from power, shutting trade unions, removing communists, conservatives and Jews.

Later that year Hitler perfectly exploited an act of arson on the Reichstag (which some believe the Nazis helped cause) to begin the creation of a totalitarian state, dominating the March 5th elections thanks to support from nationalist groups. Hitler soon took over the role of president when Hindenburg died and merged the role with that of Chancellor to become Führer (‘Leader’) of Germany.

Adolf Hitler in Power:

Hitler continued to move with speed in radically changing Germany, consolidating power, locking up “enemies” in camps, bending culture to his will, rebuilding the army and breaking the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles. He tried to change the social fabric of Germany by encouraging women to breed more and bringing in laws to secure racial purity; Jews were particularly targeted. Employment, high elsewhere in a time of depression, fell to zero in Germany. Hitler also made himself head of the army.

World War Two and the Failure of the Third Reich

Hitler engineered territorial expansion, uniting with Austria in an anschluss, and dismembering Czechoslovakia. It was in September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland, that other nations took a stand, declaring war. This was not unappealing to Hitler who believed Germany should make itself great through war, and invasions in 1940 went well. However, arguably his fatal mistake occurred in 1941 with the invasion of Russia, through which he wished to create lebensraum, or ‘living room’. After initial success, German forces were pushed back by Russia, and defeats in Africa and West Europe followed as Germany was slowly beaten. During this time Hitler became gradually more paranoid and divorced from the world, retreating to a bunker. As armies approached Berlin from two directions, Hitler married his mistress, Eva Braun, and on April 30th 1945 killed himself.

Hitler and History

Hitler will forever be remembered for starting the Second World War, the most costly conflict in world history, thanks to his desire to expand Germany’s borders through force. He will equally be remembered for his dreams of racial purity, which prompted him to order the execution of millions of people, perhaps as high as eleven million. Although every arm of German bureaucracy was turned to pursuing the executions, Hitler was the chief driving force.

Adolf Hitler: Mentally Ill?

In the decades since Hitler’s death many commentators have concluded that he must have been mentally ill, and that if he wasn’t when he started his rule the pressures of his failed wars must have driven him mad. Given that he ordered genocide and ranted and raved it is easy to see why people have come to this conclusion, but it’s important to state that there is no consensus among historians that he was insane, or what psychological problems he may have had.