A Chatolic Priest Meets Sai Baba

Many of my friends were alarmed when they learned of my intention to write a book about Sai Baba. They were aware of my convictions about this being who is human only in body. With brotherly concern, they variously advised, begged or beseeched me to publish it under pseudonym, imagining the unhappy consequences I might encounter from the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

I asked myself that I should have no fear in saying what my own eyes have seen. Why should I be afraid to make known what this poor heart of mine experiences before an extraordinary presence? Should I feel guilty for what I have discovered during these years, and be afraid to announce it? Certainly not! On the contrary, I feel quite fortunate. Necessitas enim mihi incumbit: it is not possible to resist the impulse of Truth, and woe to me if I should remain silent!

I write this book dedicating it above all to the Church preciously because I could not let pass, without pointing out to Her who is my Mother, a piece of news which can no longer remain unknown, hidden by indifference, fear, or by general confusion. This work is an undertaking which has made use of me, I would say, only as hired manual labour: I consider its contents the work of Another. It has been written above all for my bishop, Pope; and then for all my fellow bretheren, for my superiors, and for all those who throughout the centuries try to work in the services of, and in the search for, Truth.

Contrary to what those friends of mine fear, I hope – and my heart is certain of it – that these reflections will sound like a call and a warning for a greater spiritual re-awakening.

This era – the era of Sathya, the era of truth – is, in my opinion, a unique moment, which will change the historical and religious order of nations. Certainly the most extraordinary characteristics of this study, in an age in which there is so much talk about sects and religious factions, is that in all the things I have discovered these years, I have found nothing which would prompt an aversion to our religion, nothing which would obstruct our faith. On the contrary! Everything I have meditated on has brought me that much closer to the mysteries I had been celebrating, often without knowing them thoroughly. And it is precisely to Sathya Sai Baba that I owe the renewal of my life as a priest!

In short, my hope is this: that the same thing might happen for many of my fellow bretheren, whom I have found tired, strained and disappointed.

I am grateful to all those who have offered me precious suggestions, in particular to Professor Pierantonio Di Coste, who encouraged and supported the drafting of this book.

I place this book at the feet of Him who inspired it – the only begotten son of yesterday, of today, and of always, the immutable Truth – in the hope that this fruit which He alone has the right to gather will be pleasing to Him and that He will accept it as an offering for His greater glory.

November 23, 1990

Don Mario Mazzoleni

The author would now like to narrate some of the incidents from the book :

Don Mario writes in his book: “It happened a few months after my return to the area Bergamo. It was 1980. An acquaintance told me that a great Guru by the name of Sai Baba was coming to Italy. With the hunger I had for masters, that seemed like a golden opportunity.

Sai Baba : Who was that? The name meant nothing to me, but I managed right away to get my hands on a little book which was supposed to be the brief biography of this personage. It was a book written by an American, a certain Shulman, who was recounting his personal experiences of being close to Sai Baba in India. I read it lazily at first, then ever more avidly. The things I was reading were so unheard of that it made me think that perhaps the writer had just dreamed up this wild fantasy just to reawaken the appetite in the reader who were tired of being astonished.

Not long after, I discovered that there was another book in the market by another author, Howard Murphet, that dealt with the same subject. It was called ‘Sai Baba, Man of Miracles’. I bought it and read it with the same voracity as before – except that this time, I could no longer doubt the authenticity of this individual, for it was highly unlike that two authors, one Australian and the other an American, could be coming up with the same lies or inventions. In addition, all of the phenomena and explanations they discussed were amply supported by the studies I have been pursuing.

I read many more books and was looking for a sign from Him or a call from Him. The moment my eyes rested on His words, I felt an instant thrill which transported me mysteriously into a divine atmosphere.

“I am yours, whether you like it or not; you are Mine, even if you hate Me. I am in you, you are in Me. There is no distance and no distinction. You have come home. This is your house. My house is your heart. Why fear, when I am here? Put all your faith in me. I shall guide and guard you.”

Forgetting that I was sick, I rushed to a travel agency to book a flight to India. Final destination; Puttaparthi, the place where even now Sai Baba spends most of the year.

If what I had understood was true, I could not afford to reach the end of my life without having seen at least in the flesh. ‘Him who called Himself’ the mother and father of the whole human race.

The moment of the close counter was drawing near, I was full of misgivings because I had read that it is not easy to meet Him, and some times even to see Him. The books I was reading said that often, when seekers get there He is some place else and seems to elude them.

No. This could not happen. It was not I who was going to see Him: it was He coming to me to draw me to Himself.

“You did not choose Me, No, I chose you.”

The best thing to do, after discovering Sai Baba, is to study Him. Nothing in my life has given me as much joy and filled me with so much bliss as studying this person. This in itself is extraordinary. When in school I was forced to study such personages as Napoleon, Cavour, Mazzini, the emperors of ancient Rome, or the Popes throughout history. All I got out of it was an overwhelming boredom and a fervent desire for the end of class. But when I devote myself to the study of Sai Baba, His work, and His teaching, I never get tired of it, even when studying things that I already know (or think I know). In fact I always benefit from it: it is always uplifting and refreshing.

For me, to study Sai Baba meant, first of all to see Him, then to investigate His activities and third to understand His thought, His message. Although I expected to take these steps one at a time, I soon discovered that they are not separable. Sai Baba began to be a message from the moment I first saw Him. Because of this, someone who sees Him has already an enormous gift. I don’t say this rhetorically, because the things you understand upon meeting Him may be enough to revolutionize your life, but they still are only an infinitesimal part of what you did not understand at that time and will gradually discover in the course of subsequent events.