"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." -1st John 2:22
This is just another of Satan's New
Age religions teaching that there are many paths to God. But the Word
of God teaches that there is ONLY one way, and that is through Jesus Christ,
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me" -John 14:6. As you will see in this
article, Sai Baba is just another Satanic deception designed by the Devil to
kill, steal and destroy your life (John 10:10).
Who was Sai Baba?
According to their official website at www.saibaba.org,
"Chandbhai, the headman of a village called Dhoopkhede (in Aurangabad, India), once lost his horse and was looking for it. Suddenly he heard a voice say "You look tired. Come here and rest a while". He turned around and saw a young Fakir (Baba). The fakir smiled at him and said "What are you looking for in this jungle, Chandbhai". This surprised Chandbhai and he wondered how the fakir knew his name.
Note: "Fakir" is a Muslim or Hindu mendicant monk who is regarded as a holy man.
Slowly, he said "I have lost my horse. I have looked for it everywhere, but cannot seem to find it". The fakir told him to look behind a clump of trees. Chandbhai was pleasantly surprised to find his horse grazing peacefully behind those trees. He thanked the fakir and asked his name. The fakir said "some people call me Sai Baba."
Sai Baba then invited Chandbhai to have a smoke with him. He got the pipe ready, but there was no fire to light it with. Sai Baba thrust a pair of tongs into the ground and brought out a burning coal. Chandbhai was wonderstruck. He thought "this is no ordinary person" and invited Baba to come to his house and be his guest for a few days.
Next day Baba went to Chandbhai's house and found everybody in a very joyful mood and festivities going on all around. He found that Chandbhai's wife's nephew was getting married. The bride was from Shirdi and the marriage party was going to Shirdi. Chandbhai invited Baba to accompany the marriage party to Shirdi. At Shirdi they camped in a field next to Khandoba's temple.
After the wedding, Sai Baba stayed on at Shirdi. At first he lived under a neem tree and begged for food whenever he needed it. He then went to Khandoba's temple, intending to stay there, but the temple priest met him at the entrance and told him to go to the mosque. That is how Baba, started staying at the Mosque which was later called Dwarkamayi.
Baba preached at Shirdi all his life and performed numerous miracles to convince people that God exists. He healed people's diseases, provided moral and material comfort to his Devotees. Baba helped bring Unity and Harmony between all communities. He said that God is one, but called by different names. He said follow your own religion and seek the truth.
(Emphasis added. Clearly, this is just another one of the Devil's New Age religion's.)One day a rich millionaire named Booty came to Sai Baba and said he was going to construct a stone building for Shri Krishna. Baba helped him plan the building. Before the building was completed Baba fell very ill. On the 15th of October 1918, he breathed his last. His last wish was to be buried in Booty's building.
Booty's stone building came to be known as Samadhi Mandir. Shri Sai Baba was buried here and a beautiful shrine was built over it. To this day, people flock to Shirdi to pay homage to Shri Sai Baba. "
False promises made to devotees of Sai Baba:
- No harm shall befall him who sets his foot on the soil of Shirdi.
- He who cometh to My Samadhi, his sorrow and suffering shall cease.
- Though I be no more in flesh and blood, I shall ever protect My devotees.
- Trust in Me and your prayer shall be answered.
- Know that My Spirit is immortal. Know this for yourself.
- Show unto Me he who sought refuge and been turned away.
- In whatever faith men worship Me, even so do I render to them.
- Not in vain is My Promise that I shall ever lighten your burden.
- Knock, and the door shall open. Ask and ye shall be granted.
- To him who surrenders unto Me totally I shall be ever indebted.
- Blessed is he who has become one with Me.
"Originally written in Marathi by Shri Mohaniraj Pandit and later translated into English. Source: Publications of the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan.
The 11 promises made by Sai Baba above are all lies. Only God
Himself can answer prayers. Only God is worthy of worship. Only
God can remedy sorrow and suffering. Sai Baba CANNOT be God because he
is NOT Jesus Christ, and Jesus is Almighty God! Please don't be misled
friend, Sai Baba is another Satanic scam designed by the Devil to keep lost
sinners away from the Truth of God's Word. You need the Truth, but Sai
Baba speaks great boastful lies.
Another New Age Religion
Sai Baba said in the paragraph above, "God is one, but called by different names. He said follow your own religion and seek the truth." Follow your own religion and seek the truth? Is this what the Word of God teaches...follow your own religion? On the contrary, we read in Galatians 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED." The Apostle Paul outlines the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ for us in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; BY WHICH YE ARE SAVED, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED for our sins according to the scriptures; And that HE (Christ) WAS BURIED, and that HE ROSE AGAIN the third day according to the scriptures." The gospel of the Word of God teaches that Jesus Christ, Who is Almighty God, died, was buried, and then rose again for our justification. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Jesus shed His blood to pay for our sins. Thus, the ONLY way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ, because He is the only One Who died for your sins, and the only One Who could have died for your sins. Jesus was the sinless Lamb of God Who became as sin so that we, who are sinful, could be made the righteousness of God in Christ. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 reads, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Galatians 1:8 declares that anyone who teaches or preaches a different gospel is CURSED!
The
New Age movement is CURSED of God because they teach that Jesus Christ is
not the only way to Heaven. In fact, New Agers deny Christ's deity (that
He is God). Oprah Winfrey has woefully promoted the New Age movement and
has blatantly
denied that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Increasingly popular
religions such as the Baha'i faith also teach that there are MANY paths to the
light, to God. Tragically, even our President,
George W.
Bush, has bought into Satan's big lie. The tragic truth of the
matter is that "the light" they are following is Satan, "And no marvel; for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Satan is the
light of the New Age Movement, and of all the occult groups. All of the
various names for the different gods of New Age are simply smokescreens for
the Devil, ole Lucifer the dragon himself, who appears "AS" (but isn't) the
light. The True Light is Jesus Christ, "Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Jesus is the
Light, NOT Sai Baba. Shri Sai Baba is an imposter, a fake, a phony!!!
You need to follow Jesus Christ, for He alone is the True Light.
There is Only One God and ONLY One Way to God, through Jesus Christ!
Look again at the preceding list of promises made by Sai Baba. Promise # 7 reads, "In whatever faith men worship Me, even so do I render to them." Worship? Are we supposed to worship anyone other than God? The Ten Commandments forbid mankind from worshipping ANYONE other than the God of the Bible (Exodus 20:1-5). We read in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." God is a jealous God and will NOT share the praises and glory that are rightfully His with anyone else. The erroneous belief that there are many different paths to the light is unbiblical. The Word of God plainly teaches that there is ONLY ONE GOD, "I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" -Isaiah 43:10. Deuteronomy 6:4 proclaims, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." New Age is a lie. The Word of God teaches that the Godhead came to this world incarnate, in the fleshly body of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9). Jesus Christ is Almighty God (John 1:1-3,14; John 10:33, 1st Timothy 3:16; Revelation 1:8). There is No other God than the God of the Bible. If you deny this, then you blatantly deny the Bible and the deity of Jesus Christ. You are antichrist (1st John 2:22).
"Shri Sai Baba's life and teachings are well documented in Sai Satcharitra by Shri Hemadpant in Marathi which was personally blessed by Shri Sai Baba. Shri Hemadpant got Shri Sai Baba's blessings in 1910 to write this work. Said Shri Sai Baba "Let him make a collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos; I will help him. He is only an outward instrument." Subsequently Sai Satcharitra has been translated into a number of different languages. The one in English is called Shri Sai Satcharitra by Shri Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji." -SOURCE
The following is a quote from chapter 3 of the Shri Sai Satcharitra...
"If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes, increase his devotion. And if he sings earnestly My life and My deeds, him I shall beset in front and back and on all sides. Those devotees, who are attached to Me, heart and soul, will naturally feel happiness, when they hear these stories. Believe Me that if anybody sings My Leelas, I will give him infinite joy and everlasting contentment. It is My special characteristic to free any person, who surrenders completely to Me, and who does worship Me faithfully, and who remembers Me, and meditates on Me constantly. How can they be conscious of worldly objects and sensations, who utter My name, who worship Me..." (Emphasis added)
Blasphemy!!! Sai Baba claims to be able to give "everlasting contentment" and to "free any person." The Word of God proclaims that unless a man is BORN AGAIN, he CANNOT enter into the kingdom of Heaven, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." If you don't get born again by the Spirit of Christ, then you will go to Hell when you die. Sai Baba is NOT the God of the Bible. Sai Baba is a false god who fronts for Satan, just as Baphomet, the false god of Freemasonry. There are many false prophets and false gods who make all kinds of promises, but you must keep in mind that Satan is the father of all liars, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" -John 8:44. What do you want to believe, Sai Baba's writings or the inspired Word of God? The Word of God has stood the test of time and has a remarkable history. In fact, the possibility of such a book being written by 40 different writers over 1,500 years, and yet all perfectly interconnecting is virtually impossible. God is the only answer my friend.
Isaiah 44:17 reads, "...he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth
down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me;
for thou art my god." Whether a graven image or a false god, it is
idolatry to WORSHIP anyone other than the God of the Bible. Sai Baba
asks you to worship him, but did He love you enough to die upon the cross for
your sins? No! Is Sai Baba able to save you? Let's see what
the Bible says in Acts 4:10-12, "Be it known unto you all, and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you
builders, which is become the head of the corner. NEITHER IS THERE
SALVATION IN ANY OTHER." Clearly, the Word of God teaches that
eternal salvation can ONLY be found in the Person of Jesus Christ. If
you follow and worship Sai Baba, then you will one day burn in the fires of
Hell for rejecting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Please don't
allow Satan to continue blinding you (2nd Corinthians 4:4).
What's Wrong with This Picture?
In all the writings and promises of Sai Baba, there is NO mention of sin.
This is typical of the New Age crowd, they teach that there is no right or
wrong, only energy (which is exactly what is taught in the evil Harry Potter
series). This is also the mentality of Wiccan witches and many other
godless groups. The Word of God teaches that all men and women are
SINNERS (Romans 3:10,23). The Bible teaches that there is a penalty for
that sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). The Bible also mentions a
"second death" (Revelation 20:11-15). Anyone who's name is not found
written in the Lamb's (Jesus') Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire
(Revelation 20:15). New Age religions such as Baha'i and Sai Baba don't
address the issue of sin because it would make it more difficult to deceive
people. Teaching people that they are sinners brings them much too close
to the Truth for Satan's comfort. If we are sinners, then there must be
a sacrifice for sin. Since Jesus died upon the cross for our sins and is
the Saviour, Satan strives to blind people from their sinfulness. Satan
loves when people follow New Age religions that blind them from their
wickedness and need for a Saviour to atone for those sins. Jesus Christ
shed His blood upon the cross to pay for our wicked sins. The entire
matter of Biblical salvation concerns our sins and our need to have them
forgiven or else face eternal death in Hell. Only Christ Jesus can save
us because only He made atonement for our sins. New Age religions DON'T
address this. Any wrong doing is NOT recognized as "sin," but rather as
a weak area in one's life. The FACT that Sai Baba doesn't speak of sin,
redemption, or forgiveness is reason enough in itself to reject him. Any
legitimate religion MUST take into account the reality of sin.
Jesus Christ Created Humanity, NOT Sai Baba
On their website, they promote their false god, Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, with the words "He has no beginning...He has no end...All beings arise from him, and into him they return." But what does the inspired Word of God teach? The Word of God teaches that God created ALL things, NOT Sai Baba! All beings did NOT arise from Sai Baba. It was Jesus Who created ALL things (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:14-16). Isaiah 45:18 proclaims, "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else." The Bible teaches that ONLY God created the universe, and Jesus Christ is God Almighty (John 1:1-3,14; John 10:33; Colossians 2:9; 1st Timothy 3:16; revelation 1:8). Sai Baba is an imposter!!! The religion of Sai Baba claims that it was Sai Baba who created humanity, but the Word of God teaches that it was Jesus Christ.
Immaculate Conception?
Chapter 4 speaks of the "Immaculate Conception of Sai Baba and His First Advent in Shirdi." Shirdi is located approximately 296 Kilometers from Mumbai (Bombay) City in India. The Word of God proclaims that ALL men have sinned and come of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Just as there is NO such thing as the Immaculate Conception of Mary, neither is there an Immaculate Conception for Sai Baba or anyone else. Only Jesus Christ was born without a sin-nature, born of a virgin mother, with NO earthly father. It is sinful to teach that anyone could be born without a sin-nature other than the Son of God Himself. Jesus never sinned, not even once (2nd Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15). Mary was a sinner. Sai Baba was a sinner. The Apostles were sinners. Only Jesus was without sin, which is why He was acceptable as a sacrifice for our sins. Sai Baba is a fraud.
Sai Baba Incarnate?
This religion gets weirder by the moment. Followers of Sai Baba believe that the guy pictured below is Sai Baba incarnate. He claims to be Sai Baba and has millions of followers worldwide. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible which even HINTS to reincarnation. Wiccan witches believe in reincarnation, as do all New Age cults.
"WHO IS SATHYA SAI BABA?
Born
on the 23rd of November 1926 in the little village of Puttaparthi in Andhra
Pradesh, Baba’s life has been a consistent manifestation of HIS DIVINITY. His
advent was heralded by mysterious omens in and around the village. The tambura
(stringed instrument) and the madaala (a drum) in the family home would
sometimes play sweetly on their own in the middle of the night. His father,
Pedda Venkappa Raju, consulted a learned pandit about this phenomenon and was
told that such music presaged an immensely auspicious event.
Soon after He was born, a miracle took place. A cobra under the sheets gently
rocked the baby and the baby smiled serenely as the air filled with the sweet
scent of jasmine blossom. Astrologers tell us that the events that surrounded
His birth correspond to the event that precede the advent of an incarnation of
God (Avatar).
Even as a young child, Baba identified himself with all living beings. He
refused to eat meat and hated the killing of animals and birds for food. He
displayed infinite compassion and was generous in giving charity. He could not
stand the suffering of others.
By the age of eight He organised groups of His age to sing the glory of the
Lord with Bhajans that he had composed Himself. Sathya composed songs about
Krishna’s life and He and his group would enact the stories in song and dance.
He danced well and played difficult parts with effortless ease.
Sathya was a good and lovable boy. He attended school at Puttaparthi and the
neighbouring village of Bukkapatnam where He would delight his friends with
displays of His remarkable, miraculous powers, manifesting sweets and other
gifts from empty bags or producing, apparently from nowhere, prasad for the
Bhajan singers.
Fearing that he was possessed by some evil spirit, His family tried to
exorcise the spirit by various means involving bodily torture, all of which He
suffered with serenity. During the course of these events He declared that He
was Sai Baba - a reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi - a tiny village that
lies 1000 kms to the Northwest of Puttaparthi.
On 20th October 1940, Baba announced that he did not belong to His family and
that the illusion (Maya) that He had assumed had been discarded. He was going
to go to His devotees who were calling Him to launch his divine mission.
As His devotees started increasing a series of miracles emanated from him for
the pleasure and well-being of His devotees. These included plucking a variety
of fruits from a Tamarind tree near the Chitravathi River, curing devotees of
incurable diseases and materialising objects for them as symbols of His Grace
and Love. Miracles of this kind are continuing to this day, not only in India
but also in many other parts of the world where people searching for God are
finding in Him the object and fulfilment of their search.
'I am the Lord of the universe. Have implicit faith in Me for I am you and you
are Me. I am with you now, with you always, inside you, outside you,
everywhere. I am your sunshine and your shadow. So blend with Me, harmonise
with Me, the Divine giver of life, the very Omnipresence that you often talk
about. That is what I am. You can deny Me, but I will always be with you for I
am within your heart... Maintain the harmony when you live and work together
for harmony in the whole world. Look for Me everywhere. Feel My presence now,
in this very room. Just pause and know that I am here. I will help you, all of
you, for each one of you is helping My mission in one way or another. Never
doubt or have any fear.'
Baba" -SOURCE
END
Notice the Illuminati Pyramid Above
Notice the Illuminati all seeing eye at the top in this Russian Orthodox Church.
The Illiminous Masonic Pyramid is seen on every U.S. dollar.
Satan's goal is to produce a one-world religion, where all paths lead to god (Satan). New Age will be the religion of the beast system, preparing people's minds to receive the beast. Christians, now more than ever, need to live in the Word of God: Read It, study It, memorize It, love It, obey It, and preach It.
The Man
Believers Think is God
Sai Baba, an Indian holy man, worshipped by
many prominent Canadians, is accused of being a sexual predator
The Ottawa Citizen/December 19, 2000
By Bob Harvey
Millions of devotees in Ottawa and in more than 100 countries around the world recently celebrated the 75th birthday of Sai Baba, an Indian spiritual leader they believe is God.
But a growing number of leaders of the movement in Canada, Sweden, the U.S. and other countries have quit: they say Sai Baba is a sexual predator.
UNESCO also recently cancelled its co-sponsorship of a conference in Sai Baba's home town of Puttaparthi, India, saying it was "deeply concerned about widely-reported allegations of sexual abuse involving youth and children that have been leveled at the leader of the movement."
Raj Midha, the president of Ottawa's brand new $2-million Sri Sathya Sai Spiritual Centre on Hunt Club, is a believer. Like many devotees, he wears a large ring given to him by the guru. "He materialized it from thin air," Mr. Midha says.
Television documentaries produced in Australia, India and other countries have used slow-motion to show that such "miracles" are really just clever sleight-of-hand by Sai Baba. But Mr. Midha shrugs off this and other allegations about Sai Baba. "With all big leaders, there have always been people who didn't like them. Even Jesus was crucified."
What Mr. Midha wants to do is tell how Sai Baba has changed his life and others. He shows off the 156,000-square-foot centre with pride, and points to Sai Baba teachings posted on the walls of the building. He says those teachings can be summarized in eight words: "Love All, Serve All", and "Help Ever, Hurt Never."
Mr. Midha, a telecommunications engineer, believes Sai Baba cured his wife's cancer, and he credits his own work with the Shepherds of Good Hope and other charities to Sai Baba's teachings. On the centre's second floor, he is reverent as he enters Sai Baba's bedroom, which comes complete with bathroom, and a balcony overlooking the worship area on the ground floor.
Sai Baba has taken only one trip out of India, and that was to Uganda. But Mr. Midha and other devotees firmly believe their leader can transport himself around the world at will. Mr. Midha says they know Sai Baba uses his Ottawa bedroom, because they leave a glass of water on his bedside table, and often the glass has been half-drained. About 200 devotees regularly worship at the centre, and some report having seen the holy man while they were praying.
Conny Larsson, a psychotherapist, and once a well-known actor and film star in his native Sweden, has a very different view of Sai Baba. He first met Sai Baba in 1978, built his own apartment near the guru's headquarters in Puttaparthi, and remained a devotee until last year. Mr. Larsson was the spiritual coordinator of the Sai Baba movement in Sweden, and says he brought tens of thousands of people to India to see Sai Baba by speaking at conferences, writing a book about Sai Baba, and speaking on radio.
"Now I feel very guilty," he says. For the first five years he knew Sai Baba, Mr. Larsson says the guru regularly practised oral sex on him, and asked that Mr. Larsson do the same for him. The guru's explanation, as it has been for many young men, is that he was correcting Mr. Larsson's Kundalini, or cosmic force.
"I was brainwashed," said Mr. Larsson in a telephone interview from Sweden. "As a child I was severely molested, and when he did this to me, he told me he was going to correct something. And in my mind, I thought God was healing me of this tragedy. This is the reason he could do what he liked. "Everyone told me I was very special. They puffed me up. For a person so molested and hurt as a child, it was a relief to be someone."
By 1986, Mr. Larsson had talked to many young male devotees, most of them attractive blond westerners, who told him they too had had sex with Sai Baba. He believes Sai Baba has had sex with many more reluctant male followers. Why do they do it? He says it's because "everyone believes he is divine. They want to believe because they have nothing else," he said.
For more than 50 years, Sai Baba has been India's most famous holy man. The number of his followers is estimated at somewhere between 10 million and 50 million, and they include India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vaijpayee; Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of the Hard Rock Restaurant chain; Simon de Jong, a former New Democrat MP from Saskatchewan; and Kris Singhal, founder of Ottawa's Richcraft Homes. Birendra, the king of Nepal, Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's former wife; and many other celebrities have also made pilgrimages to see the guru.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit Sai Baba's ashram, and what was once a small village now has an airstrip, a university, a hospital and enough hotels and apartment blocks to accommodate tens of thousands of people. "When you see all these important people moving around there, kings and queens moving around as if they were common people, you start to believe he (Sai Baba) has a divine plan for all mankind," said Mr. Larsson.
Twice a day, Sai Baba strolls among the thousands of devotees seated in the main temple and chooses people from the crowd for private interviews. Often those chosen for private interviews are young men like Mr. Larsson once was. What prompted him to quit the organization and start speaking out was the abuse suffered by a young Swedish man who asked for his help as a psychotherapist, after six interviews with Sai Baba.
"He told me about the same things that happened to me. The swami opened his trousers and started to masturbate him. He withdrew, but the swami insisted." Mr. Larsson then brought the man to a meeting of Swedish leaders of the Sai Baba movement, and told his own story as well. The majority of the leaders resigned, and Mr. Larsson, like many other ex-devotees, put his story on the Internet.
Mr. Larsson's story is one of many that appear in another Internet posting, The Findings, a 42-page document amassed by David and Faye Bailey, former devotees who once lived in Puttaparthi, and edited a magazine to propagate Sai Baba's teachings. Mr. Bailey is a British concert pianist and taught students at the Sathya Sai Baba College. When some of his students complained to him about being sexually molested by Sai Baba, he quit the organization and began documenting the stories of abuse.
Glen Meloy, a retired management consultant in California, is another former devotee who is using the Internet to warn others to keep their sons away from Sai Baba. After 26 years of following Sai Baba, he quit when he heard the story of a 15-year-old California boy who said he had been abused on multiple occasions. Mr. Meloy said this boy and others in families of devotees "were born with the idea that Baba is God. So they submit because they're afraid to displease their parents, let alone God himself, who's asking them to participate in these acts."
Mr. Meloy is now bombarding politicians, the White House, Indian newspapers, and the FBI with allegations of abuse by the Indian spiritual leader. He says he gets 50 to 100 e-mails and phone calls a day from former devotees, many of them looking for advice on what to do about the tales of abuse they have heard.
To date, only one former Canadian devotee is willing to go public with his story of being sexually touched. Marc-Andre St. Jean of Montreal said that when he visited Puttaparthi in 1992, Sai Baba took him into a private interview room, and asked him to drop his pants. Then he touched Mr. St. Jean's genitals. He said he had a kidney problem and at the time he thought Sai Baba was just trying to help him.
But Mr. St. Jean's story, and that of the son of a Quebec family of devotees, helped persuade seven coordinators of the Sai Baba movement in Quebec to hand in their resignations.
Alain Groven of Montreal's South Shore was the province's representative on the national Sai Baba council. He said he and other co-ordinators resigned after comparing the stories of Quebecers to those of Mr. Larsson and others who suffered more severe abuse.
Mr. Groven said that last year, the Canadian organization gave Sai Baba $90,000 as a birthday present, and the 70 centres across Canada probably donated even more this year, for the 75th birthday.
Helen Robitaille said she and the other Montreal-area co-ordinators who resigned wonder why so many others have remained devotees. "But when you believe he is God, and you have invested yourself in a spiritual community, it involves too much to suddenly decide he is not God. Your whole spiritual world falls apart. It's too hard to bear," she said.
V.P. Singh of Windsor has been president of the Canadian Sai Baba organization for the past 30 years. He said he does not care to read the allegations against Sai Baba, and like most other devotees, he obeys his guru's command not to use the Internet.
"I have known him for 30 years, and I have had a nice experience," he said. Mr. Singh said the Canadian and other leaders who have resigned from the organization around the world "can do whatever they want to do; it's their business."
