A Child Shall Lead Them Howard Murphet and his wife Iris met the Harrison family in 1976 and through them could see the unfolding of ‘a great Australian miracle’. For a detailed account of this incident, over to Howard Murphet: Early in 1976 in Australia my wife and I became acquainted with Pearl Harrison, a retired secretary of the medical faculty of a university in Sydney. At first we thought this seemed to be just a chance meeting, but later we wondered. At that time the manuscript of my book ‘Sai Baba Avatar’, after much rewriting, was ready for the final, publisher’s draft. Pearl, although busy with volunteer welfare work, expressed a desire to type the manuscript. Why she should have this desire she did not understand, but she does now. Anyway, arrangements were made for her to do the typing, and thus she was introduced to the miracles of Sathya Sai Baba. One of her two grand daughters, eight-year-old Mayan Waynberg would, at times, help Pearl by reading aloud the material to be typed. While the grandmother felt sceptical about the miracles, the granddaughter accepted them without question. To the child they seemed quite natural. The typing of the first few chapters had been completed when Mayan, who had lately been looking very pale and had been bruising too easily, was taken to a doctor for a blood test. The doctor was appalled at the results. He phoned Mayan’s mother, Helen Waynberg, and strongly advised that the child should be collected from her school and taken home to rest without delay. He also made immediate arrangements for her to be given a bone-marrow test at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. At this stage the family became very worried indeed. Pearl told me about it when I called to find out how the typing was progressing. I could see she was afraid, very afraid, that her little granddaughter might have some drastic, killer disease, like leukemia. It proved not to be leukemia, but something equally lethal – aplastic anaemia, in which the bone-marrow fails to produce the vital blood components in sufficient quantity to maintain health and life. Her blood picture at that time showed the haemoglobin count at less than half normality, the white components of the blood about a third the normal level and the platelets way down to one-fifteenth of the normal count. Mayan was put under the care of a specialist who told her mother that the only treatment was the use of certain drugs, one a male hormone named Prednisolone and another, Fluoxymesterone. From both of these, distressing side effects could be expected, such as stunting the child’s growth, causing puffiness and obesity, hair growth on the face while causing baldness on the head. The patient would need to have constant blood and bone marrow tests to monitor her condition. As Mayan had a deep phobia about needles piercing her skin and blood vessels, this was a frightful ordeal for her and everyone else concerned. But the most tragic part of the situation was that, after going through this treatment and suffering its side effects, she would still not be cured. The best that could be expected was a few more years of life, with very limited activity. The drug therapy was not a cure, the elders were told; all it could do was to delay the inevitable for a time. No one could say how long that period would be. In this sad situation Pearl thought about the Sai miracles she had been typing. She writes: “I must admit to complete lack of faith in religion, considering myself a Jewess by tradition but not by observance. I had typed about many miracles that Sai Baba had performed, and had thought how interesting it all sounded intellectually, but had not this dreadful illness occurred to my own granddaughter, I might have let it go at that. Then it was as if my mind suddenly opened with a jerk, and I began to think that perhaps there was something real in all I had typed. Howard and Iris Murphet were most concerned when I told, them about Mayan. They said they would bring some Vibhuti over and Mayan could start taking it immediately.” It has often been said and written that Sai Baba is specially interested in anyone in whom his devotees are interested. So the link was there. Yet, I remembered him saying emphatically that two necessary ingredients of divine healing are faith and surrender. Could we find such ingredients in this Sydney suburban home, where no one seemed to have religious or spiritual interests, and Sai Baba was a remote, almost fictional, figure in a far-off foreign country?

The Manifest visits the Unmanifest In June-July 1961, Baba toured North India and visited many holy shrines in Haridwar, Srinagar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Nainital. The purpose of the visit, in Baba’s own words, was to “charge the exhausted spiritual batteries of the temples”. Prof. N. Kasturi who was among the fortunate few who accompanied Baba on this trip recounts the astounding events that took place when they visited the shrine at Badrinath: ‘The visit to Badrinath was first mooted by Baba in 1958, at a Bhajan session held on the sands of the Chithravathi. He said then that He would take the Bhakthas (devotees) to the place where He was doing Tapas (penance) and everyone present there was wonder struck, for that was the first time they had ever heard of Tapas, associated with His earthly career. Every one until then was convinced that Baba indulged in no Tapas, here or anywhere, corporeally or extra-corporeally! But by the time the tour ended they had understood the actual import of Swami’s statement and the great significance veiled in it. Once the visit became a certainty, plans were ready and the party fixed, before the end of May. Since the pilgrimage to Badrinath involved a week long journey by train and bus and an exhausting climb of about 20 miles, Baba chose only a minute fraction of the hundreds of devotees who prayed to be given the chance to join Him. Baba greeted the fortunate few with His Darshan at the Ethiraja Kalyana Mantapam, Alwarpet, Madras (now Chennai) on the 7th day of June, 1957 and sent them by train to Delhi, where He promised to bless them personally, since He proposed to fly to the Capital, the very next day. The train reached Delhi about six hours late and when the hungry, tired and distracted devotees arrived at last, they found Baba shedding cool comfort and consolation and strength by His Smile and His Motherly attention. The next day, at Hardwar, the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Dr. B. Ramakrishna Rao, joined Baba, for he too had planned a visit to Badrinath. On 11th June, Baba and His Excellency attended the evening Arati to Gangamatha at the Brahmakund; the vast assemblage of pilgrims got the Darshan of Baba at that holy spot; Baba blessed the priests and Archaks with the Vibhuti that He materialised and He sprinkled the sacred waters of the Ganges on those around Him. That night, Baba called together the devotees who were to accompany Him to Badri and reminded them of the rare privilege that they had won. “You have the good fortune of proceeding with the Manifested Form to the Unmanifested Form whereas usually, people pray to the Unmanifested Form, immanent in the idol, to manifest itself before their eye, so that they might win the fruit of their Sadhana.” He declared. The chosen few were thrilled with joy at the revelation. He then described in great detail the sacred shrine to which He was leading them, as if He knew every nook and corner of the holy area. When He disclosed that Narayana was there depicted as in Tapomudra, as doing penance, and explained that it was called Badarikasram on account of this, the devotees began to see light, and the doubt that assailed them on the Chitravati sands three years ago about Sathya Sai Baba and Tapas melted away in a blaze of joy. Baba spoke also of the subsidiary shrines in and around Badrinath and also of certain unknown aspects of its sacredness. For example, no guidebook has published the information that Sankaracharya brought from Kailash five Lingams and that he installed one each at Badri, Puri, Sringeri, Dwaraka and Chidambaram, but Baba revealed this fact that night. Baba planted in every heart the pilgrim mood of prayer of brotherhood and loving service.’ Prof. Kasturi in “Sathyam Shivam Sundaram” explains day-wise details of their journey from the 7th of June. But now, let’s go to the heart of the story, the 17th of June: ‘The 17th was in fact the day of days, the day selected by Baba for re-infusing spiritual efficacy, for charging the run-down battery. During the morning Abhishekam at the shrine, Baba who was sitting facing the idol materialised a beautiful four-armed Narayana Idol, with Sankha Chakra Gada and Padma (conch, wheel, mace and lotus), and idol of supreme craftsmanship. Then, in a trice, He created a Golden Lotus, a thousand petalled one, beautiful beyond all imagination. We all wondered why the Lotus appeared; but, before our wonder could find expression in a gasp, Baba waved His hand again. This time there was a Lingam in His palm, evidently the same that Sankaracharya had planted in the stone cavity over which the Narayana idol was placed inside the Badri Shrine. This last He placed in the centre of the Lotus and both the Lotus and Idol placed on a silver plate appeared to have been made for each other. There were large groups of pilgrims pressing to enter the tiny hall before the shrine. In order that they might have access, Baba proposed to ‘charge the battery’ (revitalise the Lingam with spiritual energy) at the Gujarat Dharmasala where the party stayed. There Baba directed bhajans to be done and while the praise of Narayana was being sung, He rose from the floor, saying, “Now we shall consecrate this Lingam again“.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba How Sathya Sai Baba blessed His Devotee In Her Last Moments Throughout the 1940s, and for most of the 1950s, Baba often went into a trance during his out-of-the-body journeys. Suddenly and unexpectedly he would become unconscious, and those near him would know that he was away, probably with some devotee at a distant place. On returning, he might or might not tell those around him something of what happened. On occasions there would be reciprocal effects on Baba’s physical body indicative of what he was doing. Sometimes, for instance, a few words of what he was saying at the distant place would issue from his physical lips. At other times vibhuti would emanate from his body. This latter was usually when he had gone to be present at the death of a devotee. Mr. Kasturi says, “On such occasions, symbolic of death, destruction and the end of the temporary and the evanescent, sacred vibhuti issues from the mouth of the body that Baba leaves behind in order to proceed to the death-bed.” Kasturi then gives an example. At about 5.20 p.m. on November 15th 1958 Baba was reading a letter aloud to some people around him, when suddenly he exclaimed, “Ha!” and fell to the floor. The body was quiet for ten minutes, then it appeared to cough. Puffs of vibhuti were coming from the mouth, shooting out, Kasturi says, “to a distance of more than a foot and a half”. At 5.35 pm., having been unconscious for fifteen minutes, he resumed the reading where he had left off, quite naturally and showing no signs of exhaustion. When requested, he told the devotees where he had been – Dehra Dun in the Himalayas. There he said the mother of a doctor, well-known in the ashram, had just passed away. Baba had gone to give her help at the time of transition, which was 5.30 p.m. He also remarked that the doctor, her son, was present at the woman’s death in Dehra Dun, and that people were singing bhajan songs in the room there. He further described how the old lady had at the end announced to everybody: “This is my last breath”, and then expired. Two days later, on November 17th, a letter came to Baba from the doctor whose mother had died. He wrote, “My mother drew her last breath on Saturday, at 5.30 p.m. We were doing bhajan during her last hours as per her wish. She was remembering you constantly.”

The Supreme Blessing Swami Purushottamananda is granted the Divine Vision “On the way back Baba stopped the bus at a place, where a thin little iron rod carried a half-distinct nameplate, “Vasishta Guha.” He proceeded to descend the rather precipitous incline to the river bank, as if He had been there often before and as if He had become aware of an engagement with the occupant of the cave. The Ganga takes a wide curve near the cave; nearby a small rivulet pours her offerings into the Ganges, and so the scenery is doubly attractive. The Vasishta Guha bears a hallowed name; it has been sanctified by the austerities performed therein by many great recluses and monks in the past. Swami Purushottamananda, a disciple of Swami Brahmananda of the Ramakrishna order, initiated into Sanyas by Mahapurushji, another direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, had been living in the cave since 30 years and welcomed Baba as if he too was expecting Him! More than seventy years old, he had spent the major part of his life in asceticism of a most rigorous kind and in the study of scriptures. His face has the genuine glow of spiritual joy and the slightest mention of the glory of Godhead would send him into Samadhi (spiritual ecstasy). When he was still a young man, Swami Brahmananda had read his palm at Kanyakumari and predicted that he would enter a cave and go on meditating and meditating! Baba reminded him of the travails he endured when he first came into the cave, leopards and cobras and the three-day trek to Rishikesh and the desperate struggle for salt and matchboxes! He spoke of the succour that came to him through sheer Divine intervention! Baba repeated the visit the next evening in spite of a rumbling sky and the grumbling of some persons who accompanied Him. But, the rumbling ceased and the grumblers were humbled; by Baba’s Grace, the sky became clear and the rain held back. Baba himself sang a number of songs that day in the Vasishta Guha and when one of the Swamis attending on Swami Purushottamananda requested Him to sing a song of Thyagaraja, He very graciously asked him which of Thyagaraja’s Krithis (compositions) he most liked to hear. Swami Kalikananda said that he was longing to hear “Sri Raghuvara Sugunalaya”! Baba sang it, just to make him happy. No one had heard Him sing that song before and so it was an unexpected piece of good luck for which we thanked Swami Kalikananda. Hearing that Swami Kalikananda was suffering from chronic stomachache since many years, He took some ‘candy’ from nowhere and gave it to him, with instruction about diet etc. He also gave Purushottamananda, a Japamala of shining Sphatika beads, which ‘manifested’ itself in His Hand. But, more mysterious and significant was the Vision that He vouchsafed to Swami Purushottamananda that evening. After sending every one outside the Cave, Baba and the Sage went into the inner room. Sri Subbaramiah, President of the Divine Life Society, Venkatagiri, describes what he was able to see from outside the cave, thus: “Even now that picture is imprinted in my memory. I was standing near the entrance of the cave. I could see what was happening. Baba placed His Head on the lap of Swami Purushottamananda and, laid Himself down! Suddenly, His entire body was bathed in divine brilliance. His Head and Face appeared to me to have increased very much in size. Rays of splendour emanated from His face. I was overwhelmed with a strange inexplicable Joy. The time was about 10 p.m.” When pressed later to divulge the vision, Baba informed us that it was a Vision of Jyothir-Padmanabha! (Lord Vishnu as the Flame of Love-Wisdom) What supreme Karuna! (compassion) What immeasurable Good Fortune! Swami Purushottamananda passed away on Shivarathri Night, 1961, four years later, during the Lingodbhava Muhurtham – the time Baba manifested the Lingam that Shivaratri.”

Turning Inward “Love, Love, Love! Become what you truly are – the embodiments of Love. No matter how others treat you or what they think of you, do not worry. Follow Jesus Christ. Love for your own evolution and not for what others say. Do not imitate others. Cultivate your own life. You have your own heart, your own opinions, your own ideas, your own will. Why then imitate? Follow your chosen path. Let your own experience of God be your guide and master.”– Sathya Sai Baba It was in 1975, while attending a workshop, that my wife and I first heard of Sathya Sai Baba. During a discourse on the subject of reality, the leader stated that an Indian Baba had materialized a gold ring for a friend of his. The gold ring was said to have been created from nothing. This first brief and only mention of Baba was a seed, which unknown to us at the time, was later to sprout and grow into the most meaningful quest of our lives. In 1978, just four months after my wife first saw Sai Baba’s picture on a book cover, she was with him in India. My mind didn’t know what to make of it all. Although my relationship with Judy called for my total support of her need to be with Swami, still I was frightened, skeptical, jealous and confused. I harbored scary thoughts of losing her to Baba himself… to illness… to another man… and to the unknown in general. Having read Man of Miracles as well as The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist and having heard numerous Baba stories from Judy and others, my curiosity and skepticism, not to mention Swami’s invisible tug, pulled me to his ashram in southern India in the winter of 1980. I’d never spent so many hours in an airplane; it seemed to take forever. Although the flight was smooth and uneventful – except for seeing two shooting stars as we entered Indian airspace – I was super-grumpy as we deplaned. Approaching the customs area, we were greeted by a customs official. Looking past him, I saw what looked like total chaos as hundreds of people stood by sheepishly while the customs agents seemed to be carefully searching all their luggage. “How was your flight?” asked the customs official. “Okay,” I said, “but I’m really tired; I have a backache and I’m in a very grouchy mood.” He then apologized – although I don’t know why – and sent us, luggage and all, right past the luggage examination area. All we had to do was show our passports; not a single bag was opened. “What luck!” I thought. (Or was it, really?) After an overnight stay at a hotel in Bangalore, we journeyed by taxi to Prashanti Nilayam, Sai Baba’s ashram, adjacent to the village of Puttaparthi. I couldn’t believe that the trip from the USA would be worthwhile, especially after seeing the settling into the room that we had been given to use during our visit. Something wonderful would have to happen to me, just as compensation for my learning to adjust to our Indian-style toilet. My first sight of Sai Baba was unremarkable. He looked like a nice enough man, but a “man of miracles”? I’d have to wait and see. After my first few days, the nicest and “highest” man I had encountered was the rice man in the ashram canteen. After several days I was still skeptical, homesick, and becoming increasingly moody. One beautiful morning, my darshan line was sent in first. I would be up close and maybe even get a chance to speak with Sai Baba. But what should I say? Should I ask for something? I realized that I was carrying a school ring on behalf of a patient of mine, in order to have it blessed if the opportunity should arise. Besides the ring, I had a new sandalwood japamala (prayer beads) which could also be offered for Baba’s blessing. My chance was at hand; Baba was about to pass directly in front of me. Now he was looking right at me as he approached. With the ring and the beads cupped in my outstretched palms, I spoke, “Baba, please bless these things.” Swami smiled, put his right had on top of mine and pressed firmly. He then sang – not spoke – the words: “I bless.” As Swami continued on his way, I was overcome by the strongest and deepest outpouring of emotion that I can recall. It didn’t make any sense to me. What was it that overwhelmed me? It is contrary to my nature and my imagined machismo to allow myself to collapse in tears, sobbing uncontrollably in front of other people. I knew that someone like John Wayne just wouldn’t behave this way. I was in shock. Still in tears when I met Judy back at our room, I started laughing when she remarked, “Well, it looks like he got you, too.” Apparently, Judy and other friends of mine noticed a visible difference in my appearance after this episode. It was Christmas Eve when Sai Baba called Judy and me in for my very first personal interview. Following the gestures of Baba’s volunteers, I made my way to the veranda to await his return from the throng of people who were receiving his darshan. I had a backache, was extremely nervous and my mind was racing. To calm my mind and center myself, I closed my eyes and began to use my japamala as I recited the divine names of God. After a little while, someone touched and shook my shoulder. As my eyes popped open, I saw Baba standing there beaming at me and saying, “You don’t have to do that now. I am here.” I was already feeling a lot better. Even my backache, caused by prolonged cross-legged sitting, had disappeared.

The Silken Bond of Affection Bhagawan’s abounding Love is indeed the cause and the effect is His creation, and there are myriad ways for Him to express His bounteous Love to His creation. Every word, every gesture, every look of His is suffused with His Love and compassion. Every devotee knows that He cannot endure the pain of suffering of others that He pours out His heart in sympathy with the distressed, the weak, the downtrodden and the afflicted and that, it is this overwhelming Love of His that binds all to Him, in silken bond of affection. It was Dasara at Puttaparthi, long ago, the fourth day, at about 9 P.M. Bhagawan sent word to a band of young men that they must assemble in the hall for some urgent work, and within a few minutes, there were double the number, eagerly awaiting His orders. Everyone wondered what that could be! Well, Baba came and explained that the buntings and flags with which the Nilayam and the garden were decorated since the first day of Dasara had faded slightly and become dull in colour and so they had to be replaced by fresh ones, to be prepared and fixed during the night! The work engaged everyone till the smaller hours of the night and Baba was with the party all the time, attending to every details. Some one dared asking Him the reason for the extra attention upon the 5th day of Dasara and the reply he got was this: “Don’t you know that tomorrow your Bandhus come for the feast?” and this everyone knew! For, the next day was the day the poor, the Daridranarayanas were coming to the Nilayam to receive Prasadam and Vastram (clothes) from His Hands! But, who could imagine that His Love was so great, so deep, so all embracing as to celebrate the arrival of the poor by this ‘de novo’ decoration? When some one told Him that the feeding of thousands of people and the distribution of hundreds of saris and dhotis should be published in the news papers, He turned towards him and asked “What! Do you publish in papers the news that your friends and relatives came to your house?”! We have, everyone of us, to learn the lesson of those flags. Verily, it has been truly sung, “Karuna (compassion) indeed is He; He is indeed Karuna”. In the Viveka Chudamani, the Guru is described as Ahethukadayasindhu; His Grace is showered on all without interruption and without cause! Such is our Master, our Beloved Bhagawan. Truly His Love is all conquering and His Grace is overwhelming that bind us in silken bond of affection.

Powerful Reminiscences of His Presence Isn’t it so uncanny that each one of the millions of Sai devotees has a personalised account of how Swami drew them to Him, like a bird with a string tied to the foot? What is even more extraordinary is that each of these experiences is special and unique, and includes the blissful recall of His constant guidance in the devotee’s life, in matters both spiritual and mundane. Going down the memory lane, I see my family’s experiences with Swami as a testimony to this fact, for He has been our omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent guardian angel, forever giving us proof of His love and concern. In early 1967, even before I was born, my father lived in Bangalore where he worked for a multinational firm. Despite the physical proximity to both Brindavan and Prasanthi Nilayam, my parents were not inclined to go and see Swami because they had read a negative media report about Him in a periodical. Finally, three and a half years later, in August 1970, the miraculous cure of my 13 year-old cousin peaked the curiosity of my parents to explore the phenomenon that is our Bhagavan. Miracle Cure Brings Family To Sai My father’s elder brother’s son in Mumbai used to suffer from an excruciating backache. My cousin was being treated by the late Dr. Choubal, a leading orthopedic surgeon of Mumbai. During Swami’s visit to that city in 1970, my cousin was taken to Dharmakshetra (Baba’s abode in Mumbai) and made to sit in the enclosure for sick persons. Being a 13-year-old, his mother was allowed to be beside him. During darshan, as Swami glided along serenely, without being told about his problem, He came near him and casually put His hand on my cousin’s spine, under his shirt, and lo and behold, in an instant, he was relieved of the excruciating pain of several months! A week later, when the boy was taken for the follow-up to the orthopedic surgeon, the doctor repeatedly looked at the latest x-ray taken after Swami blessed him at Dharmakshetra and compared it with the one taken about a month prior. Noticing the doctor’s predicament, my uncle asked whether there was anything wrong with the boy. The surgeon replied that there was absolutely nothing wrong; he was just baffled trying to understand from the two x–rays the incredibly rapid healing process which was nothing short of a miracle. My uncle narrated the happenings at Dharmakshetra to the doctor who then remarked that though he was not Swami’s devotee, he had to admit that the remarkable improvement in such a short span of four weeks was indeed inexplicable. My cousin’s experience in 1970 was my family’s passport to the sacred journey to Sai. Along with my two older brothers and I, my parents began to frequent Whitefield and Prasanthi Nilayam to be in His most auspicious presence. He Loosens Our Bonds It was sometime in October 1970, when I was about 13 months old and could barely walk, that we experienced Him as an active presence in our lives. My mother had to take care of three of us and my cousin who was barely four months old. For the most part, this was not at all a problem as we were staying in a large joint family along with my great-grand mother in a huge house. However, once it so happened that only my mother and I were at home Before going for her shower, my mother tied my legs to a piece of cloth which was tied at the other end to the window bar and around me were many toys – the idea was to make sure that I do not drag myself under the furniture or pull things which could injure me while she was busy in the bathroom. Therefore, on that particular day, leaving me in this fashion at one end of the house, my mother went to the restroom which was at the other end. When my mother finished her shower, she was astonished to see me standing near the bathroom door by leaning against the wall – at that time I had not even started talking. She was surprised all the more because to reach to that end of the house one had to pass through three rooms and two passages. She wondered how I could make it without straying into the other bedrooms, kitchen or the shrine room en route. When she took me near the window where I was tied, my mother asked me who untied me. I am told I had pointed at Swami’s photograph which was on our bedroom wall! On another occasion, during darshan at Whitefield, when Swami came and stood before my mother, she urged my brothers and me to seek His blessings by prostrating at His feet. For some reason, my second brother hesitated to touch Swami’s feet, and just sat looking down. Swami, on the other hand, waited patiently almost for nearly three minutes till my brother finally took padanamaskar. Finally, upon reaching home, we discovered the reason for my second brother’s hesitation. It turned out that my maternal uncle had warned my three-year-old brother not to go anywhere near Swami as there were “serpents in His hair”! While none of us had any clue about the reason behind my brother’s mental block, the all knowing Lord knew what had happened the previous night in our house. Thereafter my father advised my uncle to remain silent even if he did not have faith in Swami.