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A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Baba
A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Don Mario A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Leela FIRST First Edition Thus, First Printing. Not price-clipped. Published by Leela Press, 1994. Octavo. Paperback. Book is like new. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.Seller 311577 Philosophy & Psychology We Buy Books! Collections - Libraries - Estates - Individual Titles. Message us if you have books to sell!
284 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 3, 2016
This book is a journey of the inner conscience. Don Mario Mazzoleni's sincere quest for the Divine is revealed in a thoroughly sincere account of his discovery of Baba, his life and his teachings. It's a journey from faith to faith, albeit colored by a different path and a different context, yet in the end revealing the 'sameness' in the teachings of both Jesus and Baba. The attitudes of the Church and the painful consequences of ex-communication just for believing in the presence of a Divine Being becomes irrelevant when the reader gets absorbed in the author's quest for God. In sum, Don Mario's quest is everyman's quest for the Divine.
September 16, 2024
A CATHOLIC PRIEST BECOMES CONVINCED OF SAI BABA'S MIRACLES, ETC.
Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011) was an Indian guru who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi (d. 1918), and was considered by his followers to be an avatar and miracle worker. He was reported by his followers to regularly perform miracles (most often "materialisations" of "holy ash," but also small objects such as rings; also healings, etc.), although he was considered by skeptics to have been a fraud, and to have been "caught in the act" more than once. His Sathya Sai Organisation performs a wide variety of charitable works.
At the time this book was published in 1991, Don Mario Mazzoleni was "48 years old... In the 1970s he was associated with the Vatican Radio... He was particularly concerned with the relationship of the mass media to spiritual instruction. He has been studying the miracle that is Sai Baba for twelve years, and has made eight trips to His ashram."
He wrote in the Foreword, "Many of my friends were alarmed when they learned of my intention to write a book about Sai Baba. They were aware of my convictions about this Being, who is human only in body. With brotherly concern, they variously advised, begged, or beseeched me to publish it under a pseudonym, imagining the unhappy consequences I might encounter from the ecclesiastical hierarchy... Should I feel guilty for what I have discovered during these years, and be afraid to announce it? Certainly not!... woe to me if I should remain silent! I write this book dedicating it above all to the Church because I could not let pass... a piece of news which can no longer remain unknown... I consider its contents the work of Another."
After he was diagnosed with membranous glomerule nephritis, "It was essential to stop my activity immediately because the disease was in an acute phase. There is no specific medicine for this infirmity... it became necessary to plan a life of absolute rest... the sickness really turned up at the right moment... I continue to be grateful to the Lord for having programmed it at the right moment, and I consider my having gotten sick as one of the greatest blessings of my life." (Pg. 11-12)
Later, he explains, "I hope no one who reads my words believes that my relationship with the Catholic Church has developed cracks, or thinks that I am biting the hand that feeds me... with this book I intend to reaffirm my love for the Church, whom I consider my mother, even if sometimes a difficult one." (Pg. 35) He adds, "there is another Church... and it comprises all those people who are thirsty for justice and truth... in the ranks of this enormous and invisible community, I have often met people tested by events and free from all hypocrisy. This is the true Church." (Pg. 36)
He suggests, "the doctrine of karma propounded by Eastern religions does not differ at all from biblical thought." (Pg. 14) He asks, "What on earth happened in humans to change this equilibrium, which could make our planet an authentic earthly paradise? To say that it was original sin, even if that corresponds to the truth... does not at all clarify the question. When you abandon intellectual acrobatics to try to find explanations ... and enter instead into your own heart... you discover a reality different from the one written in so many volumes..." (Pg. 18)
He states, "as far as the 'miracles' went, no objection. It might seem rather strange, but I was not particularly astounded by them. If there are people who bend teaspoons or produce ectoplasm from their mouths or light matches by looking at them, why on earth should it stun me or put me off to know that someone exists who can produce from his hand whatever comes into his head?" (Pg. 48) He adds, "Although Sai Baba complies with even a skeptical scientific curiosity, my 'study' was not really a challenge to His greatness, but rather an investigation to learn more about Him." (Pg. 58)
He admits, "Certainly, the doubt can always arise that a small object like a ring or medallion could easily be concealed in the sleeves or at the wrists of a magician. However, it remains difficult explain how you could hide objects as big as solid gold statues, sometimes more than a foot high, like the ones Sai Baba often materialized in earlier days..." (Pg. 87)
After Baba broke a thigh bone in 1988, "The faith of many people was shaken by this 'accident' of Swami's. They did not understand that this was a test and also a lesson through which Baba demonstrated how we should behave when we are in pain." (Pg. 115)
This book will be of keen interest to those looking for a very "positive" presentation of Sai Baba.
Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011) was an Indian guru who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi (d. 1918), and was considered by his followers to be an avatar and miracle worker. He was reported by his followers to regularly perform miracles (most often "materialisations" of "holy ash," but also small objects such as rings; also healings, etc.), although he was considered by skeptics to have been a fraud, and to have been "caught in the act" more than once. His Sathya Sai Organisation performs a wide variety of charitable works.
At the time this book was published in 1991, Don Mario Mazzoleni was "48 years old... In the 1970s he was associated with the Vatican Radio... He was particularly concerned with the relationship of the mass media to spiritual instruction. He has been studying the miracle that is Sai Baba for twelve years, and has made eight trips to His ashram."
He wrote in the Foreword, "Many of my friends were alarmed when they learned of my intention to write a book about Sai Baba. They were aware of my convictions about this Being, who is human only in body. With brotherly concern, they variously advised, begged, or beseeched me to publish it under a pseudonym, imagining the unhappy consequences I might encounter from the ecclesiastical hierarchy... Should I feel guilty for what I have discovered during these years, and be afraid to announce it? Certainly not!... woe to me if I should remain silent! I write this book dedicating it above all to the Church because I could not let pass... a piece of news which can no longer remain unknown... I consider its contents the work of Another."
After he was diagnosed with membranous glomerule nephritis, "It was essential to stop my activity immediately because the disease was in an acute phase. There is no specific medicine for this infirmity... it became necessary to plan a life of absolute rest... the sickness really turned up at the right moment... I continue to be grateful to the Lord for having programmed it at the right moment, and I consider my having gotten sick as one of the greatest blessings of my life." (Pg. 11-12)
Later, he explains, "I hope no one who reads my words believes that my relationship with the Catholic Church has developed cracks, or thinks that I am biting the hand that feeds me... with this book I intend to reaffirm my love for the Church, whom I consider my mother, even if sometimes a difficult one." (Pg. 35) He adds, "there is another Church... and it comprises all those people who are thirsty for justice and truth... in the ranks of this enormous and invisible community, I have often met people tested by events and free from all hypocrisy. This is the true Church." (Pg. 36)
He suggests, "the doctrine of karma propounded by Eastern religions does not differ at all from biblical thought." (Pg. 14) He asks, "What on earth happened in humans to change this equilibrium, which could make our planet an authentic earthly paradise? To say that it was original sin, even if that corresponds to the truth... does not at all clarify the question. When you abandon intellectual acrobatics to try to find explanations ... and enter instead into your own heart... you discover a reality different from the one written in so many volumes..." (Pg. 18)
He states, "as far as the 'miracles' went, no objection. It might seem rather strange, but I was not particularly astounded by them. If there are people who bend teaspoons or produce ectoplasm from their mouths or light matches by looking at them, why on earth should it stun me or put me off to know that someone exists who can produce from his hand whatever comes into his head?" (Pg. 48) He adds, "Although Sai Baba complies with even a skeptical scientific curiosity, my 'study' was not really a challenge to His greatness, but rather an investigation to learn more about Him." (Pg. 58)
He admits, "Certainly, the doubt can always arise that a small object like a ring or medallion could easily be concealed in the sleeves or at the wrists of a magician. However, it remains difficult explain how you could hide objects as big as solid gold statues, sometimes more than a foot high, like the ones Sai Baba often materialized in earlier days..." (Pg. 87)
After Baba broke a thigh bone in 1988, "The faith of many people was shaken by this 'accident' of Swami's. They did not understand that this was a test and also a lesson through which Baba demonstrated how we should behave when we are in pain." (Pg. 115)
This book will be of keen interest to those looking for a very "positive" presentation of Sai Baba.
March 6, 2024
Written by a former Roman Catholic priest and theologian, I found this be an excellent book for Catholics (and Christians) to read with regards to the thought and teachings of Sai Baba. It addresses important questions such as reincarnation and the divinity of Man.
October 12, 2014
The book treads the spiritual journey of Don Mario Mazzoleni a Catholic priest and his encounters with Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi. It is a very personal journey dotted with quotes from the Bible which Mazzoleni emphasis is very much the same that Baba's teachings embodies, advocates and practices through his various charitable organisations.
Excommunicated from the Church for his deviant ways Mazzoleni firmly comes to believe that reaching God has many ways and religions are essentially those ways.
Skeptics will have problem believing in the miracle episodes, but Mazzoleni's story certainly stands firm in the face of oppositions and hypocrisy of the Church that he once dearly loved and believed in.
Excommunicated from the Church for his deviant ways Mazzoleni firmly comes to believe that reaching God has many ways and religions are essentially those ways.
Skeptics will have problem believing in the miracle episodes, but Mazzoleni's story certainly stands firm in the face of oppositions and hypocrisy of the Church that he once dearly loved and believed in.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews