http://sai_maa108.tripod.com/interview/charlene.htm
Om Sai Ram!
This was sent to me and I found it very interesting.....
yours,
lalita
Here is an email from the woman (Charlene) who wrote "The
Compendum"
of Swami's comments on various topics. She returned from a visit
to
the ashram recently and describes her time there and her
interview. The Colusa center (to which she refers) is the one in
California where all the vibhuti has been manifesting for several
years now.
Love,
April
PS: Charlene has a website where you can purchase books, CD's,
Cassettes, Videos and photos of Swami at
http://jaisairambooks.com
----- Original Message -----
From: charlene
To: List
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 8:05 AM
Subject: India & Colusa
Sai Ram!
I'm home now (from the 7 week trip to India) - since the 16th, but
have still not recovered from jetlag. Haven't been able to get my
sleep patterns in sync, and I'm only getting about 2-3 hours sleep
each night, with little or no napping during the day. I just lay
there in a fog. Anyway, this is why I haven't been answering
emails or keeping in touch.
The highlight of my trip was the interview which came when there
were only three of us left in the group. Re the interview - we
were
very fortunate, because Swami only gave about 6 interviews to
Westerner groups the whole time I was there. He never goes to the
men's side during the afternoons anymore - just passes through the
ladies side very quickly. In the mornings He whizzes through the
ladies side in 2-5 minutes, then spends about 15-20 minutes in the
men's side, so they do get more than their fair share of Darshan
time with Him. There were many Darshans that He never gave any
interviews, and when He did, it was usually people from the
Veranda
and their families, most of which seemed to be prearranged. So,
Yes - we were verrrrry lucky to get the interview.
Swami did give me a lot of attention again this year, speaking to
me
several times during Darshan, and promising "I will see you!".
When
the day came that I asked Him, "Three ladies Swami, will you see
us
now?" He said, "Three ladies only? GO!!!". My heart and mind
went into ecstacy and stayed there for a long time. There were the
three in our group left, one from France, one from New Zealand and
Me. Also in the interview room were three from an Argentine
family, five Russian ladies, an Indian family of 3 or 4 and an
Oriental lady from the VIP section. Baba materialized a beautiful
gold watch with diamonds for the Indian boy, a gold Laxmi pendant
dripping with diamonds on gold chain for the Indian lady, a gold
Baba pendant/chain for a Russian lady, and a gold Cross/chain for
another Russian lady.
Swami asked me if I was a Christian. I said no. He asked, "What is
your religion?" I said "Hinjew - I'm Jewish and I practice
Hinduism - Your teachings, Swami". He moved on to two other ladies
in our group and asked if they were Christian. They said no. Then
He asked a Russian lady, and she said Yes, so He materialized the
cross. The three of us in our group agreed we would never have
been comfortable wearing the gold cross He would have given us.
But
of course, it was all His leela, because He already knew our
beliefs.
In the private interview room, He asked me "When are you leaving?".
This was Dec 27th, and I knew what was coming when I had to answer
Him - "January 13th". He said, "Good, I will see you again
later!". He told me the same thing in our last interview nearly 5
years previous, and this was the first time I was back in the
Interview Room. But, I was able to give Him a picture of my
daughter/granddaughter and told Him about her cancer and asked if
He
would bless them. He held the picture in His hand, and after
staring at it for awhile, He put His other hand over it and we
could
see He was saying something and squeezing His hands together over
the picture.
Then I asked Him to sign my manuscript of the 2nd edition of the
Compendium. Now I must tell you that ever since the bombing of the
Sai Baba temple in Hyderabad just before my trip to India, they
announced we can no longer take any pens, pencils, books, papers,
manuscripts of any kind into the Darshan area. Only a very small
purse, just big enough to hold a passport and a few Rupees, and
letters to Baba in your hand. So, in order to get my Compendium
endorsed by Swami, I took only 2 pages of the book and put them in
an envelope as if they were a letter for Baba, and this is how I
was able to get Him to sign it. When I handed Him the papers, He
asked me for a pen. I told Him about the new ruling and He threw
His hands up in the air and said "What? No pens?", and He kind of
laughed, as if to say, what next? Then He said He would sign it
outside in the other room. He spoke awhile to my groupmates and
then said to me, "No more time, I will see you privately later."
And, we were back in the other room.
He asked the Indian man for a pen, and everybody told Him in
unison, "Swami, no pens, no pencils, no books, no papers.....allowed
in Darshan!" The Oriental lady added with hand movements and
disgust, "Yes Swami, and they feel you up and down and all over
your
private areas too!". Swami said, "What no pens?" and smiled as He
reached for a pen of His own and signed my manuscript. (I later
learned that Sai Towers still has a fair amount of books in their
inventory, so it will be months before the first printing of the
second edition happens. So, I brought the soft copy of the
manuscript back home and will continue to update it till the last
minute when we are ready to go to print.)
Baba spoke to a Russian lady sitting at His feet and asked her
what
she wanted. She grabbed His robe and pulled on it. He said "You
want a robe?" She nodded yes. Another lady asked for a robe for
her center, and I said "One for the Colusa Center, Swami?" So
Swami brought out 3 robes and threw one to each of the three of us.
Mine landed perfectly folded in my arms from where He threw it 10
feet away. I held it close to my heart until I returned to my room
and put it in a Ziploc bag to keep it clean and people from
handling
it. As Swami ushered us out the door, He repeated to me "I will
see
you again!" Of course, the second interview never materialized.
More crowds arrived for New Years Day, then Sports Day and
Sankranti
Day, and all the possible front row positions for token lines were
given to VIP's and students for the last 10 days I was there.
Kulwant Hall was full to the brim nearly every day, except the
first
two weeks in December.
Saturday night, I took the Robe to the Colusa Nilayam and
presented
it to Ami, the owner. He was absolutely thrilled, and for the
first
time in months, was smiling from ear to ear. It's been a rough
time
for him lately. He asked me if I would say a few words later to
the crowd about the interview and how Baba gave me the robe. I
agreed. Just before Aarti, I saw Ami go get the robe and take it
through the crowd of 100's to place it at Swami's feet on the
throne
they have up there on the altar, which is completely covered with
vibhuti. For some reason, the box kept falling down, so Ami just
left it where it fell and we finished chanting the Aarti, the
Gayatri, and the Food Prayer. Then He called upon me to say a few
words, which I did. He told me to go up to the Altar and get the
robe and show it to everybody. When I picked it up, it was still
in
the sealed Ziploc bag which he had placed in a box. Inside the
bag,
I could see that the robe was covered with vibhuti, which Baba had
apparently materialized as we chanted. He had me take it out of
the
bag, and there was even more vibhuti inside the robe. Amazingly,
the vibhuti clung to the robe, with only a few grains falling to
the
floor as I held it up in the air. I tasted what got on my hands
and
told everybody it tasted like the vibhuti that Swami gives us when
He materializes for us. There were people rushing to my feet to
scrape up the little that fell on the carpet.
What a joyous evening it was for everybody - the energy was
extremely high all evening. Fortunately, a lovely devotee from
Grass Valley picked me up and drove me to and from Colusa. Since
it
was only my 3rd day home, I was heavily into jetlag and unable to
get behind the wheel.
Since the interview, Swami has given me three 'Baba' dreams - the
first one while I was still in Puttaparthi. I dreamed I fell
asleep
during Darshan and awoke when I felt somebody washing my hands
with
a cool damp cloth. (This was the hottest December/January in
Puttaparthi in my memory.) I looked down and saw these little
brown
hands on mine, and then up to see Swami smiling at me. He said to
me, "Come with Me!, Come with Me!" and pulled me up. He then
reached down and picked up my seatback/cushion and off we went to
the interview room and the dream ended. The other two dreams have
come since I returned home. I have to tell you that it has been a
long many months of dream draught with Swami in them, and this is
possibly what He meant by "I will see you again!"
Goldie Hawn was there with her son on her 3rd trip to Baba, and I
was told that the Queen of Belgium was also there, although I did
not personally see her.
Love and Blessings,
Charlene
