My experiences with Bhagavan Baba
V.P.Singh, Canada
We are so very fortunate to be born on the planet earth at the
same time as the Avatar, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. We are
especially blessed to be among those who are not only living at
the same time as He, but are aware of His coming. He has blessed
us with the knowledge of His Mission, and is giving us the
wonderful opportunity to vist and observe His as He walks among
us.
I have had the rare god fortune of getting over 100 interviews in
30 years. Since I have enjoyed this closeness with that Avatar of
the Age, it is therefore incumbent upon me to share with you the
blessing that He has showered on me by reporting to you the
delectable incidents in which He reveals, in so many ways, His
love for us all. Following are a few incidents that I'm sure you
would be interested in hearing about.
My Journey to God
One day, a friend of mine named Govind Sitaram, son of Mr. S.
Sitaram of London, U.K., lent me a book entitled "Sathyam Shivam
Sundaram", Part II. After reading a few pages, I told Govind that
I found the book interesting and I wanted to know more about
Bhagavan Baba. He immediately gave me the telephone number of his
father who was in charge of the Sai Organisation in the U.K. When
I phoned Mr. Sitaram in London, he advised me that my wife should
visit Puttaparthi to receive the blessings of Bhagavan Baba. That
same night, my wife had a dream of Bhagavan Baba who asked her to
come to Puttaparthi. She was intrigued and made all arrangments to
go. On the day she left home, all the lights of our house suddenly
went on. This was our first experience of the 'presence' of
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
My wife reached Puttaparthi by bus from Bangalore. Swami gave her
an interview the very next day and blessed her. He told her to
wait in Puttaparthi while He travelled to Goa, because He would
give her another interview with her husband upon His return. My
wife replied that her husband did not believe that Swami is God
incarnated on earth, and would not come to India. Swami told her
not to worry and He would ask her husband to come. Swami then
asked Prof. N. Kasturi to write me a letter about Him.
Prof. Kasturi wrote: "Your wife reached safely. Swami gave her an
interview and blessed her. I understand that you want to know
about Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. This small piece of paper is
not enough to write about the glory of Bhagavan. You come and
experience Him for yourself. Yours, N. Kasturi."
When I reached the letter, I showed it to Mr. Dan Bryan, the
president of my company. He said, "You never know, may be God has
come." He suggested that I visit India to see my wife, then come
back after two months. I responded, "I couldn't take two months
time, may be four weeks at the most." I left for India a week
before Christmas, 1970. The night before my departure, all the
lights of our house went on again, as if someone had suddenly put
on the master switch. I found this strange. And so I started my
journey to God.
When I reached Mumbai, I saw a newspaper report that Bhagavan Baba
was arriving in Mumbai that day at 5.00 p.m. by a special plane
from Goa. So, I hired a taxi at 4 p.m. and went to Dharmakshetra
to see Swami. At 5 p.m., Swami came out for Darshan. I could not
see Him too well as I was quite far in the back and there were
thousands of people gathered for His Darshan.
Swami stayed at Dharmakshetra for over six weeks. This was most
unusual, since he had never stayed anywhere outside Puttaparthi
and Brindavan for such a long time. Now I thought, I should talk
to some people and try to meet Swami. Luckily, I was able to send
my request to Swami for interview. One day, I was informed that
Swami would give me an interview that afternoon. I was asked to go
to His residence.
I went and stood under a tree outside Swami's room. Swami came out
from His room for Darshan and glanced at me. I saw a halo around
His face and head; it was so bright that it dazzled my eyes. He
asked me if I came from Delhi. I told Him that I had come from
Canada. He then said, "You stay. I will see you after Darshan." I
stayed on. At 9 p.m. a messenger from Bhagavan told me that Swami
would see me the next day at 9 a.m., and that I should go home.
Disappointed, I left for my residence in Mumbai.
When I reached my friend's house where I was staying in Mumbai, I
was surprised to see my wife who had just arrived from Bangalore
thought I had not informed her that I was coming to India. She
told me that she came because Swami told her in a dream that her
husband had arrived in Mumbai, and she should meet him there.
Swami also told her that He had left Rs 500 under her pillow for
train fare from Bangalore to Mumbai, as she did not have any
money. I was amazed and astounded by the grace of Swami.
I told my wife that we should go to Darshan early because the
crowd at Dharmakshetra was very large. So the next morning, we
left the house quite early. Swami came out for Darshan at 8.30
a.m., and straightaway went to my wife and told her that He would
send a car to take her up the hill to His residence for an
interview.
In the interview, Swami told us all about my past and present
life, and the death of our three children, my spiritual status and
finally said, "You have come because I have called you. You can go
home to Canada with My blessings." We were very happy.
A Fracture Cured Without Medical Treatment
The following day, I went to Delhi to convey a message to the
relations of a friend from Windsor (Canada). That day, my wife
went to Dharmakshetra for Darshan by train, not by taxi. A
pickpocket on the train tried to snatch her purse, causing my wife
to fall on the platform and injure her arm severely. When I
arrived from Delhi that evening, I insisted that we go to a doctor
for X-ray to check for a possible fracture. My wife said that her
doctor was Swami, and no one else, and that she would not go to
see another doctor. I argued persistently, but she would not
deviate from her faith in Swami. "Tomorrow, Swami will give me
Vibhuti", she said, "and I will be all right."
Now I was anxious to leave for Canada. My wife told me that she
would stay back and come to Canada later. A week later after I
left, my wife got very sick. Swami wrote a letter to Dr.
Jayalakshmi of Puttaparthi General Hospital and asked her to look
after my wife, but not to give her any medicine. She went to
Puttaparthi where Dr. Jayalakshmi was very happy to serve her.
Swami told my wife that He would supply food and money if she
needed any, and not to inform me about her illness. My wife
remained in Puttaparthi for six months and Swami took full care of
her.
After six months, Swami sent her to Canada, making all the
arrangements for her travel. When she came home, my first question
I asked was, "How is your arm?" "It's okay", she replied. "Just a
little bit of pain." I became very much concerned about the
continuing pain. My mother was especially concerned about the
inconvenience because it was her right arm. I took her to a doctor
who told me that she had a fracture which had not healed. She
would have to take aspirin all her life to relieve the pain.
I felt very sorry for my wife and I started telling her that if
she had listened to me she would have been all right. Now the
fracture could not heal as it was seven months old. It was too
bad. My mother went on to say that if she had not gone to
Puttaparthi she would not have fallen and broken her arm.
That very night, Bhagavan came in my wife's dream and manifested
Vibhuti which He rubbed onto her arm. He told here, "You will be
all right from tomorrow." When we got up the next morning, she
told me about the dream and reported that her arm was completely
healed and without any pain. I did not believe this and asked her
to use the vacuum cleaner to show me that she could use her arm
normally without any pain. So she did. Now it is 30 years since
that incident and her injured arm continues to be stronger that
the other one.
After experiencing Swami's Divinity in the last 30 years, I have
come to realise that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the
embodiment of all gods - Lord Vishnu, Lord Siva, Lord Ganesha and
Lord Rama.
If the Bhakta has dedicated his all, body, mind and existence, to
the Lord, He will Himself look after everything, for He will
always be with him. Under such conditions, there is no need for
prayer.
- Baba
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