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Encounter with Sai Baba
An Argentinean Journalist's Experience
Claudio Maria Dominguez with Sri
Sathya Sai Baba
Photo courtesy:
http://www.claudiomdominguez.com.ar/
In my early
childhood I participated in a quiz show and won the first prize by
answering questions on Greek mythology. That event opened many
doors for me, and I began to work in television. By the time I was
20 I had travelled all over the world and interviewed
personalities such as the Pope, President Carter, Jane Fonda, and
Woody Allen. Still, I found that my life was rather empty. I was
sad. I had everything, but something was missing. That something
was spirituality.
Starvation and
social injustice in Latin America and Africa overwhelmed me. I was
not an active person and I was just letting life pass me by. When
I reached the deepest point of depression I thought I would rather
die. But I decided to live. I had a wonderful wife and two sons
who gave me the motivation to live. I decided to get involved in
life and show people things that were helpful so that they could
become better persons. You have to be a good person, for good
thoughts bring good things and bad thoughts bring bad things.
Things (in this day and age) are happening very fast, and while
there are terrible things happening, there are also wonderful
things happening. This is not just the end of a century but the
end of a millennium. Today we are able to speak freely of things
which just a few years ago we would not have dared to say in
public. Swami says, “If you don't believe in God, believe in
yourself.” Your life has a reason so don't waste it.
Twenty five
years old, I decided to seek spiritual phenomenon. The good thing
about Swami is that when you look to Him, He comes and shows you
the path. When analysed, all religious books speak of the same
path and the same truth – be a good person and do good. I read
many books and found this.
On television I
first showed a controversial documentary on healing. I wanted to
shake people out of their shell and awaken a few to start thinking
about the more wonderful and mysterious things that are part of
this world. Of course there would be a few critics, but then the
good goes with the bad.
At 17, when I
first visited India, somebody gave me a book on Sai Baba as the
spiritual teacher. The spirituality I felt in India I have never
felt anywhere in the world. But it took me 17 years to go back to
India and visit Sai Baba. The first thought I had when I saw the
picture on the book was, why is He so ugly? Then I said to myself
that He must be a very good and wonderful person because millions
believe in His message. When I read His book, the first message
that stuck in my mind was, there is only one religion, the
religion of love. He says that whether you are a Catholic, a
Moslem or anything else, be the best man, person and human being
in that religion. The night I read that passage I was so moved
that I prayed for Him, saying, “God Bless you.” At the same time I
asked Jesus for forgiveness because I believed Baba's message and
wanted to meet Him. I remember reading that Swami said, “When the
time is perfect and you desire it, you will come and visit Me.”
After a while I forgot about Him until I met Leonardo, the
coordinator of Sai Centres in Spanish-speaking countries. When I
asked Leo if I could interview Sai Baba, he said that Swami had
rejected "60 Minutes", so why would He give me permission to film
Him? I replied that we were a highly underdeveloped country and we
needed help and guidance. Leo explained to me that no private
network had been allowed to film Baba without restrictions.
Anyway, he said that he would make inquires. Three days later, he
called and asked me if I would like to go to Prashanti and said
that I was allowed to film in Prashanti. They had allowed
Argentina and Japan to film, Swami.
“EVERY DAY A MIRACLE”
So we went to
India. Everyday was a miracle. I needed to test Him and He
provided me with many more opportunities than I had even requested
of Him in my mind. I can only be grateful to Him. The moment you
step into His city it is different-the air, the atmosphere, the
smell, the singing of the birds. The people in the city look into
your eyes. I thought, This is definitely a City of Love.
The simplicity
of the temple contrasts with the overpowering wealth of the
Vatican. I love the simplicity. At my first darshan, just seeing
Him float majestically through the people, and the love the people
had in their eyes, was magical. I thought that if a human being
could bring about such feelings in thousands, millions, of people
present here and around the world, then He must be a holy person.
The moment I set my eyes on Him, I started to cry. I could not
understand my feelings because I did not love Him so much. I
thought that it must be the aura and the energy. I closed my eyes
and thought, if it is true that you read people's minds, please
come to me and say something nice to me so that I can believe in
you. I opened my eyes and said to myself I was being stupid-out of
so many people who love Him, who believe in Him, why should He
come to me. When He came very near, I closed my eyes and said, now
or never, say something to me. I opened my eyes and saw Him come
directly towards me but without looking at me. He talked to the
Argentinean sitting next to me and totally ignored me. Then he
spoke with the person on my other side and I thought, Good. Now He
will talk to me for it is my turn. Bit He just turned and started
to walk away. I thought to myself, this is a lesson for me in
humility, and I said, God bless you for you are certainly
something for these people. Just as I finished thinking this, He
turned abruptly and looking at me said, “Those are nice thoughts.”
I looked at Him and He came towards me and laughed and said, “Of
course you are going to learn things here. Open your heart, open
your heart.” I was dazed and wondered if I had imagined it all. To
make a long story short, every day I had a test for Him and He
gave me how I could do this. Could I not believe in the energy of
a holy being just by being there? But I had to do it; it is my
nature.
We were allowed
to film in Prashanti without any restrictions except that we could
not film the
verandah where the VIPs and the people who have been with Him all
these years sit. The reason given was that their ego and vanity
would be fanned. We spoke with Dr. Goldstein, Phyllis Krystal,
artists and people from different countries. One day, Baba made us
stop. I asked, “Have we done something wrong?” and Baba answered,
“Eat something, keep your energy up!” and He gave us bread. Other
times He gave us prasad (blessed food) and wonderful gifts. His
presence and love were magical. The messages I was receiving from
Him in my mind were so real. For example, Be the master of your
life, open your heart and close your mind and personality and let
life flow trough you.
My
sister-in-law had given me a letter for Baba, but my ego did not
permit me to be in the darshan line with a letter. I was thinking,
if He knows everything, why does He need a letter? Nevertheless, I
decided to bring the letter so as not to deprive her of the
opportunity of being blessed. And just in case it was good to
write to Him, I quickly added to the letter. Well, when Baba came
close to where I was, I quickly hid the letter behind my back,
ashamed to have it with me. But Baba stood quietly and then said,
“Give it to me”, and I had no choice but to hand it to Him.
Of the three
weeks that I spent there, the first week was heavenly for He
granted me whatever I wished for. The second week was hell because
I fell very sick and thought I was dying. But the last day, when
we were to take our leave of Him, was paradise. When I fell sick,
I started discovering things about myself - who I was and why I
was here. I was alone in the room and delirious with fever when I
saw Swami come into the room. He looked at me very deeply and
calmly, and went away. That night I dreamt of Him. He was outside
the temple and He was beckoning me to come to Him. I ran to Him
and asked Him if I could hold and hug and kiss Him. He said,
“Yes.” Then I asked Him a very personal question, and He gave a
precise answer. When I woke up it took me a while to realise that
it was a dream, for it was so real.
The only thing
missing for the moment was an interview with Baba. I wanted to be
a
journalist for
my country, and to ask Him if He was really God. I was silly and
vain. We had just two days left before we were to leave and we
still did not have our interview. So when I was sitting in the
darshan line, I closed my eyes and said, Please, please, can't-you
understand I really need an interview. When I opened my eyes, He
was there and very seriously He said, “You will have to be
patient.” He gives a lesson at every step. I thought to myself,
what difference will it make, having an interview?
Will I become a
better person or will I just become more egoistic? 1 love him so
much already and it is just my ego to show off to people that I
want an interview. All these thoughts made me cry, for I realize
my shortcomings. So in my mind I said to Him, Don't let me film
the interview but just let me be with you and touch you like in my
dream. Even if you don’t give me the interview, I love You so much
and I am very grateful to You and I will always remember You. But
still, if you can, please give me an interview. Just after this
thought a boy came running to me and said “Swami says that what
you just thought is wonderful.” After a while, Dr. Goldstein came
and said, “Come on, the interview with Baba is now!” I was deeply
moved.
We went inside
(the interview room) with a group of Greeks. This, to me, was a
sign of Swami's humour, because it was Greek mythology that had
first given me the opportunity of being given an interview with
the Greeks! He first spoke to them and then asked us Argentineans
to come forward. He took my hand and I don't know what happened to
me. I just jumped over Him and started kissing till somebody said,
“Don't kiss Swami so much”. The first part of my dream had come
true. Throughout the interview He held my hand and asked me
questions and gave me precise answers. He materialised a ring and
gave it to me. He took us into the inner room and sang to us and
mentioned some personal things which have come true in the past
year or so. He told me to be prudent about what I show (on TV) for
there are two kinds of people in the world: some will love what I
show and will open their hearts to it but others will not find it
easy to understand the idea of universal love. He said that I
should go ahead and that He would be with me throughout. I asked
if it would be too difficult for me, as I was a little scared. But
He said “No, no. It will be easy, and I will be by your side.” I
asked Him for permission to write the book. I also asked Him if I
could return soon. And He said I would be returning very soon for
His birthday. I had wanted to ask Him if the dream was true but
felt a little shy, so He asked me to ask Him about the dream. He
assured me that the dream was true and described it. Then He
pointed to the space around-the world-and said, “This is a dream.”
I asked Him why do we experience this illusion and how can we
penetrate that veil and see the truth, and He said, “You have to
deserve it.”
I came for His
birthday in a very unexpected way. When I returned to Argentina I
was very sad because I missed being with Swami. A week before
Swami's birthday, I was cordially invited to go to Puttaparthi to
attend the Birthday celebrations if I wanted to. During this
visit, I had a dream that I was dialing Mother Teresa's number and
that she herself answered the call. She also said that she was
waiting for me. I woke up feeling sad that this was just a dream
but I went to the phone and called the number at 6:30 A.M. and
surprise of surprises Mother Teresa herself answered and gave me
an appointment! So He enabled me to interview Mother Teresa, whom
I had been trying to interview for the past several years. I was
able to live with her, interview her and film her charitable acts
for a week.
(During this
visit), I was also allowed to sit in the Verandah. When Swami came
for darshan He looked at me in a funny way and I closed my eyes
and said, Please tell me if what happened in my last visit was an
illusion or reality. When I spend my eyes, He was standing in
front of me. He assured me by nodding, and then he walked away.
In my country,
80 percent of the people now know who Sai Baba is. Many of them
really like and even love Him. We have a show called A Better
World in which we share Swami's message. I have also showed
footage comparing the exact words of Jesus and Swami, to show how
they are alike and how their message is the same. The reactions
have been wonderful-exactly the way He had predicted them. For
every negative reaction, I have had a thousand positive ones.
Claudio Maria Dominguez, Argentina
Excerpts from a talk given in New York
in March 1997
Article
published in Sanathana Sarathi, June 1997, pag. 161-164
Claudio Maria Dominguez with
Mother Teresa
Photo courtesy:
http://www.claudiomdominguez.com.ar/ |