Customer Reviews

Avatar of Night, Special Millennial Edition

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It is not surprising that the first review of this book was overwhelmingly negative. Sai Baba, after all, has millions of disciples, and this book stands alone as the only comprehensive and credible, dissenting account of Baba's claims to be God.

The story is cinematic. The narrative is evocative and immersive, and is begging to make the transition to feature film. The book, written by a child of the sixties, tells a tale common to the era - a search for spiritual truth - but an uncommon tale in that the author went on a road less traveled, journeying to India and ending up as an intimate disciple of the country's most popular and charismatic guru, whose devotees include members of the Indian government.

But it is more serious than that. Baba is more than a guru. Baba claims to be God. The God. Your God and my God. That he can appear to back up this claim by performing dramatic miracles - materializing solid objects from thin air is one example - and having some undeniable level of revelatory knowledge into people's thoughts, makes him a very dangerous person if his claims are false.

To call this book 'one-sided' is completely missing the point. The book, if anything, tells two sides of the story in its answering the question about Baba's divinity.

The first half of the book is an account by an intimate disciple convinced of Baba's divinity. The second half recounts in great detail the gradual process of revelation of another side to Baba - a 'spiritual detective story', if you like - ultimately leading up to a powerful and dramatic conclusion.

When people set themselves up with any kind of power over us, whether politicians or spiritual leaders, it is important that their lives and their beliefs that influence and affect us are transparent and open for examination. In other words: if God gave us minds, presumably he would want us to use them.

The fact is that this book is the only chance that most worshipers of Baba around the world are going to get to hear an informed, alternative opinion of Baba's claims. And that the opinion is offered by one of the few people who can claim to have known him closely for two years requires them to pay attention.

I first read this book ten years ago, when it was available in the West as 'Lord of the Air'. It is one of the few books that I have read many, many times - no small praise from an English graduate and journalist.

The literary quality of the account, the intense and gripping story, the integrity of the investigation Brooke undertakes, and the personal suffering Brooke later underwent to get the text published in the West after the Indian government banned it, make this one of the few books that you absolutely have to read. Whether you have any interest in Baba, or just enjoy a good real-life adventure story, this book is highly recommended.

The last thing you can say about this book is that it is boring. Tal Brooke has a lively style, and an imagination to match. In fact, for the first few dozen pages, I was afraid I had purchased something like a tour guide to India by a Christian Archie Bunker suffering the after-effects of too many trips on LSD. The book begins with Brooke's arrival in India, and he doesn't have a kind word to say about anyone or anything that catches his hyperactive glance. But apparently these semi-psychodelic rages are his way of describing jet lag and culture shock. When he arrives at Sai Baba's compound, the book finds a more even keel as an imaginative and insightful narrative of his experiences with Sai Baba and those around him. He still may let his imagination get away from him at times, but it's a very good read from then on.

As for the debate about Sai Baba, it doesn't seem hard to me figure out. A devote below claims that "Readers who have never seen Baba" might be deceived by Brooke's slanders. Well, pictures and videos of Baba are abundant, in this book and elsewhere. Compare the photo of the straight-talking missionaries on page 261 who brought Brooke to Jesus, with one of Baba. Pictures can be worth a thousand words. Tell me honestly: would you buy a used car from this man?

The reviewer below who makes allowance for Brooke and "understands" his diatribes against Baba and his lapse back into "fundamentalism," seems to me to be taking a more peculiar position than the devotee who simply called him a liar. If the bare facts Tal Brooke relates in this book are true, no matter about his sometimes bizarre speculations, then Sai Baba is a pervert who deceives and abuses his followers.

How does the picture Tal Brooke paints of Sai Baba relate to mainstream Hinduism or Buddhism? In some ways, Baba is a fair representative of the esoteric occult tradition of these two religions. Certainly it does not follow that all Hindu or Buddhist teachers are abusive as he is. I think Christians need to be careful about finding the devil behind every bush -- much of this stuff may indeed be explained in terms of general principles of psychology and trickery. But of course, the definition of the devil is "the deceiver," so that only means he may be carrying out his deception on various levels. In my new book, Jesus and the Religions of Man, relying on my own research of Buddhist sects and other Asian religions, I argue that the relationship between magic and miracles is very much what the Bible says it is; more complex that Brooke describes, but certainly a dualistic contest between the holy and the unholy, rather than a monistic merging of all faiths. What Brooke says about Sai Baba fits into the overall pattern pretty well, so I don't find his suspicions misplaced. I only suggest that Christian readers read the book with caution, and make a clear separation between what Brooke observes and what he supposes. Of course for non-Christian readers, an open mind and a heart that is searching for truth will also be helpful.

d.marshall@sun.ac.jp

Tal Brooke's revealing of his experiences with the famed Indian holy man, Sai Baba, is fascinating and revealing. Certain to infuriate Sai Baba devotees, the book is well written and addresses the man behind the "God" mask. It is certain to make the reader think about the pursuit of Eastern gurus, who, in many cases, are ultimately unmasked for the frail human businessmen that they really are. Brooke undoubtedly has taken quite a bashing for his outspoken book; however, with the ever burgeoning television and newspaper articles which confirm his original findings, he can finally be appreciated for the effort he made to get the truth out to an often hostile audiance.

Congratulations to the author, who courageously risks vilification and misunderstanding for the sake of the Truth.

It isn't easy to be the one who says "...but the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes!" When a Christian says it about pseudogods and gurus (including those pseudogods Christians tend to create and worship), he will surely become a pariah in some circles.

Thanks, Mr. Brooke, for telling your story. You are an honest man.

This book was a page-turner for me. Tal Brooke is a captivating writer who draws you into the web of Eastern Enlightenment with compelling narrative, only to slam the lid shut on the spider of deception with equally compelling intelligence. The amazing thing about it is that he lived and experienced these things first person, while those reviewers who criticize the book tend to do so from third person removed ignorance. Who is the truly narrow-minded one? Anyway, in terms of storytelling and the craft of writing, I couldn't put it down because he has the ability to breathe life and understanding into the simplest moments of existence or experience. So even if you just like a good story that keeps you hooked from beginning to end, this book is one of them! Another really cool thing that cannot be ignored is that he has photographs related to his experience throughout the book's text. This is very unusual in book publishing, but it is tremendously interesting and helpful to the narrative. In this sense, he is also ahead of his time in the publishing world.

Tal Brooke takes on the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba revered by many as an avatar. Though a bit egocentric in tone, Brooke is the first to write of the darker side of Sai Baba, a story now echoed and confirmed by many around the world. Well worth reading whether the reader agrees with Tal's return to fundamentalism or not.

I've read several books by Tal Brooke, including Avatar of Night, and can honestly say he is one of the most engaging writers I've read. His metaphors, his turns of phrase, even his choice of adjectives, will delight anyone who loves the English language and good writing.

This skill he applies to telling true stories of high adventure of places he's been, things he's done, and people he's known. He is honest enough to describe his own shortcomings and failures with surgical detail, and he carries that honesty into his examination of larger than life figures - like Sai Baba - that he has known personally and up-close.

Even if you've never heard of Sai Baba, the book gives a fascinating look into how so many westerners (including Brooke) went head over heels for Indian gurus, and lost all common sense in the process.

I think this is a great book, but I doubt if people who believe Sai Baba is God will be very happy to see the inner workings of his enormous and powerful organization exposed. In a sense, Brooke is like the little boy who proclaimed that the Emperor has no clothes.

He does this proclaiming with compelling skill, and I believe he's right in his announcement, even if the courtiers may not want to hear it.

This is a good read.

I couldn't wait to read this book because I was really seeking answers on who Sai Baba is. As a former hindu, I really needed to know, because my parents continue to believe in him. He proclaims himself to be god, but Brooke's book reveals his true nature: the modern antichrist. "The Lord of the Air", also by Brooke, is an older version of this book, but the millenial edition has more pictures and makes the reading more interesting.

No doubt New Agers and followers of Eastern mysticism (especially Sai Baba devotees) will dismiss this book out of hand. However I wonder how many of them have the same experience of the Eastern path that Tal Brooke has? My only quibble is that I'd have liked to read more of what happened to Mr Brooke after he left India. Also some parts in the middle are slightly boring but then I guess they were necessary to give the reader a real "feel" of day to day life in an ashram. This book should be a real eye-opener to anyone who reads it with an open mind.

Avatar of Night is a completely engrossing spiritual odyssey, the account of Tal Brooke's personal quest for "enlightenment," embodying a generation's spiritual lostness, the search into the mysterious east with its beguiling symbology and sometimes paranormal manifestations. Highly readable, compassionate, radically honest, witty, it offers a stark portrayal of the ways human consciousness can be deceived by mystical phenomena. This is a very important book for several reasons, not least of which is the exposure of the deceptions and corruption at the heart of the Indian avatar Sai Baba, who calls himself God. The enormous world-wide personality cult surrounding him surely needed unmasking. However, the book is a crucial study on other levels. In the end it witnesses to Jesus Christ's victory over the "powers and principalities" of darkness--a darkness that masquerades as light. It is a warning about how vulnerable we are to manipulation, a warning also about the times we live in, with its proliferating false messiahs. Brooke shows that beneath their varying styles and cosmologies, there is an underlying common methodology of manipulation and deception, behind which is the realm of the diabolical. This is not an outsider's blanket condemnation but rather the urgent warning of a man who was an intimate of Sai Baba. The book also addresses the larger context of our age, the increasing flood of pseudo spiritualities that offer many rewarding experiences and sometimes "miracles"-- at a very high price. Our times, he believes, are the beginning phases of the ultimate tribulation for mankind, and the ultimate persecution against those who follow the one true God and His son Jesus: in short, the times of Anti-Christ. Referring to scriptural prophecies, including the words of Jesus in the Gospels, he points out that Satan in the last days will flood the world with numerous false prophets, some claiming to be the Christ of the new age, spinning strong delusions created by evil spirits, "working signs and wonders" so as to deceive even the elect.

Michael D. O'Brien