Talk:Upasani Maharaj

message: Where does the spelling of 'Upasni' come from? In every Shirdi Sai Baba book I've read, the spelling has always been 'Upasani'. Ekantik talk 19:36, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It is spelled either way. A google search reveals a few more as Upasni Maharaj (1,971 hits) than Upasani Maharaj (731 hits). I went ahead and placed a redirect from Upasani Maharaj so it can be found now under either spelling. Here are some Sai sights that use the "Upasni" spelling. If you do a page search you'll find him spelled that way.   Also some books on him have the shorter spelling:  AguireTS 01:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is no longer true. 'Upasani' is used far more often, in sources and on google. Harold the Sheep (talk) 01:33, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Upasni or Upasani?

message: It is extremely unlikely that there will any academically reviewed or other English-language sources on this subject beyond those associated directly with the subject, or by followers of Meher Baba or Sai Baba of Shirdi. That said, however, the sources cited do appear to satisfy the essential criteria referencing found here. I'm specifically mindful of these elements, which apply to self-published sources:
# the material used is relevant to the notability of the subject of the article;
# it is not unduly self-serving;
# it does not involve claims about third parties;
# it does not involve claims about events not directly related to the subject;
# there is no reason to doubt its authenticity
So I'm removing the "reliable sources" tag, as it suggests that this article is somehow unreliable or dubious. It's about a notable subject, well known in India, interesting to a fairly rarefied bunch of Westerners, and unlikely ever to have more information unless and until WP provides an outlet for Original Research. --nemonoman (talk) 13:54, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reliable sources 

message: The name of Upasani Baba Maharaj is widely spelled as "Upasani" and not as "Upasni". Even the official Upasani Baba Maharaj Sthan spells his name as "Upasani" . All the books I have read also spell his name as "Upasani". WikiUserTalk 05:44, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: It appears the redirect issue has already been discussed and it was decided that "Upasni Maharaj" is the spelling of choice. WikiUserTalk 14:40, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Redirect to Upasani Maharaj proposed 

message: I deleted the section added by Danice thrall that was copied and pasted from Perfect Master (Meher Baba)#The Five Perfect Masters, an article on the teachings of Meher Baba. This is a teaching by Meher Baba, and does not belong in the Wikipedia article about Upasni Maharaj. Upasni Maharaj had very different teachings, contained in Discourses of Upasni Maharaj, available in India. Dazedbythebell (talk) 22:11, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Danice, I see you have chosen to put it back here, and on three other articles. This is useful information about what Meher Baba taught. And it is in the correct place in its own page on that subject. However to put Baba's teaching on the pages of other masters, with their own disciples, of different traditions, with different teachings, is simply to proselytize. It will not last in those articles, which are meant to be on the lives and teachings of those particular masters. So "spreading Baba's message" on other articles is not going to hold up on Wikipedia. Dazedbythebell (talk) 19:02, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Took out material not on topic.  SaintAviator lets talk 02:44, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for writing both of you, it was little bit off topic. Bladesmulti (talk) 03:50, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Blade I think that entire new section is off topic. What do you think?  SaintAviator lets talk 05:43, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Of course it is, they are the teachings of Meher Baba, not Upasni Maharaj. Bladesmulti (talk) 06:11, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Im gunna delete it. I respect Upasni too much SaintAviator lets talk 09:45, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section on "Five Perfect Masters" 

message: Substituted at 09:42, 30 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment

message: It is significant that there are no citations of Kevin Shepherd's books in this article. In the 2010 discussion of Shepherd, DGG described his existing books as being in an ‘intermediate’ category, neither academic nor popular, but ‘considerably more acceptable than many of the other sources in the article’. Since that time, Sterling have published three books by Shepherd, two of which have chapters on Upasni Maharaj, and the third having several references to him. These are, in order of publication:
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=hLJlngEACAAJ (references on pages 26,59, 92)
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=edZkjwEACAAJ (Chapter 78)
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=OwaPuQEACAAJ (Chapter 38)
The chapter in Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Biographical Investigation is brief, but includes the following paragraph:
'Fortunately, there are sufficient sources on Upasani to determine the nature of various events. However, this is a complex undertaking in itself, and necessitates a separate work on the subject. A preliminary attempt of mine in this direction was Shepherd 1986b:83-142. A more detailed version was Shepherd 2005: Part 2. Another book is in preparation.'
Regarding Shepherd's standing as a source, with reference to academic citations, see the discussion here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Meher_Baba/GA3#Academic_citations_of_Kevin_Shepherd
Simon Kidd (talk) 16:40, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Kevin R D Shepherd as a source (2019) 

message: There is another source that does a brief biography of Upasni Maharaj's life here:  at pages 40–42. It is based on Shepherd's account, but this author seemed not to have an issue with that. Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 05:22, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Just to add that while I understand the hesitation about conflicts of interest, or potential non-notability, in my view it does not make sense to exclude Shepherd as a source if his writing has been used by other academics in serious publications. There is of course the matter of undue weight, but this is as much a feature of a dearth of avenues for publication at that time. This should not mean that all sources for that time are automatically discounted, merely that we should be careful not to treat presumptions over their reliability as conclusive. Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 05:30, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another source 

message: Is there any particular objection to removing the notability, third party and unbalanced tags at the top of the page? Technically, the notability guideline might not be met, but on the other hand there isn't much doubt that Upasani Maharaj is notable in the ordinary sense of the word. He is well-known and revered in India, and often mentioned in relation to Shirdi Sai Baba, Meher Baba and others. Although because of the scarcity of independent sources there is a risk of neutrality or balance problems, the article in its current form seems to provide a rather modest and non-controversial account of his life and teaching. The tags seem unnecessary. Harold the Sheep (talk) 05:51, 25 May 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Since there has been no response, I'm going to go ahead and remove them. Harold the Sheep (talk) 05:04, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Maintenance templates