The World is a Reflection of You  Baba told this story at Kodaikanal. Once a man fainted on the side of the road and was unconscious for a long time. An alcoholic saw the man lying on the side of the road, and thought, “Well, I am lucky, to know what amount of alcohol to consume. That fellow must have consumed too much of liquor.” A little later, a person suffering from fits happened to see the man. He thought, “Well, I am lucky. I have my fits at my work place or at home. Unfortunately this man had an attack here.” Sometime later, two thieves came along and said, “Well, we are lucky, it was raining last night and this thief must have slipped on the road and fallen and hurt himself. What bad luck!” Later, a holy man happened to pass that way. He raised his two hands and said, “Well, what a lucky man! This man must be a great sage to go into samadhi on the side of the road. I will not go away from here without getting his blessings. I will massage his feet till he comes out of samadhi.” So, he sat on the side of the road and began massaging his feet. The point that Baba made clear here is that each one of us relates to the world in terms of what we are. If we are good, we will see the world as good. If we are bad, we will see the world as bad. Nothing is wrong with the world.

Puja Pain This story was narrated by Bhagavan during the Summer Course in ’79. It relates to the folly of worshipping a guru but not following his teachings. Once there was a noble guru who had a disciple. One afternoon the guru had gone somewhere and returned home in the hot sun. The disciple was performing the worship of the guru by reciting the 108 names and offering flowers at the feet of his guru’s picture. The guru, returned in the blazing heat of the sun, his bare feet being scorched by the hot earth, asked the disciple to open the door. But the disciple would not open the door until he had finished the puja [worship]. The poor guru had to stand in the hot sun until he had completed his worship to this same guru! What is the use of such worship that causes pain to the real form of the guru standing outside? There are many devotees who do this type of worship without caring for the teachings of the Lord.

Fun With Sai Gift Plot One day, Baba told a story about a King of Nepal who was well known for granting free gifts of land. One greedy man wanted to get a gift of land from the king. The condition for the grant was as follows: “You walk in four directions, north, south, east and west, for one hour to mark the area of the land that would be granted to You.” Some people walked slowly so they got a small piece of land. Others walked faster and got a bigger piece of land. Many people ran and got an extensive piece of land. The greedy man ran as fast as he could and as soon as he came back to his starting point he collapsed and died. Baba concluded, “The King granted him the gift of land, not the area that he covered, but just a 6 feet x 6 feet plot for his funeral—that is all he got!” Prize Vegetable This story was told by Baba to the Students at Kodaikanal. Once all the vegetables on Mother Earth got together wanting to know which vegetable rated first in the order of merit. All the vegetables prayed to the Creator Himself to do the judging. So, Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh descended on Earth and examined all the vegetables and came to the unanimous conclusion that one particular vegetable should be the first in the order of merit. That was the onion! While all the other Vegetables had good qualities, the onion had one extra quality of maintaining the same smell throughout its life. Like the onion, we, too, must be constant in our devotion to God, whether we are happy or not. All the vegetables accepted the decision and gave a hearty applause. Lord Brahma placed His hands on His beard and said, “I bless you. As long as you are on earth, you will always have a beard like mine.” If anyone has not seen the beard of an onion, carefully look at it and you will find one! Then Brahma left. Lord Vishnu blessed the onion and said, “Whenever you are cut longitudinally, the conch will be seen. Whenever you are cut across horizontally, then the spinning wheel will be seen. If anyone has not seen this as yet, take an onion and cut it and you will see them! Lord Mahesh said, “Onion, I bless you. Whenever someone hurts you, that person will have to cry and not you.”

Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing Once there were two brothers. By an unwritten agreement, the younger brother had to work on the farm and the elder brother in town, and after six months they had to swap. After six months the younger brother arrived at the business premises of the elder brother, expecting him to pack up and go to the farm. But the elder brother said, “Look, it took me time to build up this business in the town and human relationship is very important to conduct the business. Therefore, I suggest that you observe for three weeks how I manage my business, and then I will go to the farm. The younger brother said, “That is not in the contract, please pack up and go; human relationship is also required with the laborers at the farm.” However, he reluctantly agreed to observe for a week. The next day, the first client entered and he burst out crying. The elder brother walked up to him and put his arm around him and asked what the matter was. The client said, “My grandmother passed away.” To pacify him, the elder brother said, “Your grandmother was my grandmother and everyone’s grandmother in this town. So your loss is my loss and, therefore, everyone’s loss in this town.” The client was happy at the thought that his grandmother was a highly respected lady and he felt consoled. In the meantime, the younger brother wrote everything down, even the words spoken by his brother. The following day, another client came and the moment he entered the business premises, he started crying. The elder brother went and put his arm around him and asked, “What’s the matter?” The client said, “My Uncle has passed away.” The elder brother pacified him by saying, “Your Uncle was my uncle and everyone’s Uncle in this town. So your loss is my loss and is everyone’s loss.” The client felt happy at the thought that everyone in the town loved his Uncle. The younger brother wrote down everything, all the words spoken by the client and brother and he told his brother, “Look this is enough of your human relationship; the farm is being neglected, pack up and go, I can manage.” Very reluctantly the elder brother left. The next morning, the younger brother was waiting for the first client and in the meantime, he learned all the words that his brother had spoken and he wished to adapt that according to the customer. Then a client came into the business premises and burst out crying. The younger brother looked at the notes quickly and hugged the client and asked him, “What’s the matter?” He said, “My wife has passed away.” The younger brother looked at his notes and said, “Your wife was my wife and was everyone’s wife in this town, so your loss is my loss and is everyone’s loss.”

The Greatest Devotee At Kodaikanal, Baba spoke about Arjuna’s ego, to show that even great people in a moment of ignorance can make mistakes. One day, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna, “My dear Lord, do You have a devotee who is as close to You as I am?” Lord Krishna was standing on top of a hill and He said, “Do you see the man working in the field there? Go to him and he will give you the answer.” Arjuna found the man busily consuming dried grass, though he was working in a green vegetable garden. Arjuna wondered why Krishna had sent him to a mad man. Anyway, he asked him, “Dear sir, will you tell me what you are doing?” The man turned around and said “Can’t you see? I am enjoying my lunch.” Then Arjuna asked him “There are many green vegetables over here. Why are you eating the dried grass?” The man said, “God has created the plants, animals, and human beings. Human beings have human life, animals have animal life, and plants have plant life. I do not want to destroy any more life and create karma which I will have to pay back. Lord Krishna is here and I want to merge in this life with God. Therefore, I am consuming this dried grass. It has the nutrition to keep me alive.” Arjuna was amazed at his devotion. Then he found that the man carried a sword, so he asked him what that was for. The man quickly drew his sword out and said, “Oh, I am just waiting to kill those four people.” Arjuna was shocked at this; he could not understand all this. “Here is a man who did not want to consume green vegetables, yet he is carrying a sword to kill four people. What kind of devotion is this?” Arjuna wondered. Then he asked him, “Please, tell me who is the first person you want to kill?” He said, “I want to kill Narada.” Arjuna was shocked because Narada was a very great devotee, a messenger of God who traveled from one plane to another. So Arjuna asked him, “Why are you eagerly waiting to kill Narada?” He said, “Narada doesn’t give the Lord a moment of peace. He keeps on chanting ‘Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.’ My poor Lord doesn’t have a few minutes rest as a result of this.” Then Arjuna asked him, “Who is the second person you want to kill?” He said, “I want to kill Prahlada.” Arjuna said, “What, you want to kill a little boy, what for?” He said, “Prahlada humiliated my Lord. He made Him take the form of half lion and half human and go into a pillar.” Arjuna asked, “Who is the third person?” He replied, “Oh, that lady, Draupadi.” Arjuna was shocked, “What, you want to kill such a great lady, so close to Lord Krishna?” The man replied, “One day, my Lord took a handful of food, brought it to His mouth, but, instead of putting it into the mouth, He had to take the food and put it back on to the plate and rush off to help Draupadi when she was stripped of her sari. So, for worrying my Lord at a time when He sat down to have His meal, I will kill her. My poor Lord cannot even enjoy His meal.” Arjuna then asked the next question, “Who is the fourth person you want to kill?” The man said, “Oh, he is the person that I hate the most. Do you see this sword, I will cut him into pieces for the way he worried my Lord. I have not seen him as yet but let someone show me who he is and see what I will do to him. Arjuna asked, “Who is that person?” He said, “That person is Arjuna.” A cold shiver ran down Arjuna’s spine and he asked, “Why do you want to kill Arjuna?” The man replied “For eighteen long days, he humiliated my Lord. He made my Lord his charioteer. My Lord had to go on His knees and he would place his foot on my Lord’s shoulder and get on to the chariot. Then, with his foot, he would press on to the Lord’s shoulder and say—turn right, turn left, stop, go faster, and so on. For abusing my Lord like that, I hate him most and I will kill him the moment I see him”. Arjuna realized that there were very great devotees of Lord Krishna who may not be close to Him physically. He went up the hill to Lord Krishna and he put his head down and said, ‘Thank you, my Lord. Now I know that you have very great devotees.” Lord Krishna told him, “Arjuna, no man has a yardstick to measure the devotion of any human being. I only have that yardstick.”

Fun With Sai Baba’s Car Gets the Pranams One day in the mountains of Kodaikanal, Baba’s red Mercedes came down to the main road. Devotees were across the lake about a kilometer away. As soon as Baba’s car came on to the main road, the people stood up and held their hands together as a mark of respect to Baba in the red Mercedes. As the car passed, they realized that Baba was not in the car. He was in the bus with the students. In the bus Baba said, “See, the car is getting all the pranams [salutations]. The reason is that the car kept company of God and today though the car is going alone, all the devotees are offering their pranams to the car, i.e. you are judged by the company you keep. But I am missing all the pranams because I am with you.” God’s Labor! Once there was a man who had a plot of land that was neglected for many years. He suddenly decided to cultivate the land and worked hard continuously for six months. Soon the land became a beautiful vegetable garden. A priest happened to walk past daily and he saw the changes that were taking place. One day the priest said, “I congratulate you. God and you have done wonders to the land. Together you have changed this barren land into a beautiful vegetable garden.” The man replied, “You should have seen this place six months ago when God had been working on it Himself!” Divine Consultant One day two doctors, husband and wife, were in the interview room. Baba looked at them and said, “This man here is a doctor. This is his wife, who is also a doctor. They are very good doctors, but do you know why they have come here? They have got health problems!”

Fun With Sai Enveloped with Love Swami sometimes manifests a gift for a devotee to take home to a sick relative, and on those occasions He will sometimes put it in a suitable envelope from His latest pile of letters. On one of these occasions, during a group interview, He manifested a lingam for a devotee’s grandchild, and rummaged in His letter tray for an envelope for it, taking the letter out first. Then He manifested a bracelet for the child, searched for a second suitable envelope, and when He’d found it, smiled whimsically and said, “Look, same address.” Degree of Commitment A young man was asking Swami whether he should continue his studies with an MSc. “Not MSC, MRS” said Swami. “But Swami there isn’t a degree called Mrs” the young man started to say, before he realized Swami was advising him to get married! Happy Event “One Heart, Two Bodies” Swami said to an overweight devotee. On another occasion He called the same devotee over sternly, looked pointedly at his stomach, and then smiled and said, “And how many months?” Sai Garage  My very first pilgrimage to Puttaparthi was in Oct-Nov, 1993. By Swami’s grace, I was fortunate to have been one of the U.K. group who was granted an interview quite unexpectedly. We had faced several unforeseen setbacks and were all tensed up. Needless to say, Swami was well aware of it, and as we settled down in the inner sanctum, He turned to our group leader (G.L.) and asked: Swami: “Why have you come?” G.L.: “Because we love you, Swami!” Swami: (repeated) “Why have you come?” G.L.: “To recharge our batteries, Swami” Swami: “Recharge your batteries? Why? Is Swami a workshop?” We burst out laughing. Swami looked round at all of us and our tension vanished into thin air! What better way could one have for recharging spiritual batteries than being in the divine workshop? We were truly blessed! Merry Memories One day, in the interview room at Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba looked at a doctor from Boston and then materialized a ring for him. Then Baba told him, “Wife is life, wife is life.” The doctor said, “Yes, wife is life.” Then Baba looked at his wife and said, “You see what he says; wife is life, wife is life. First year, wife is life. Second year, Korean war.”

Think Before You Ask As Baba entered the premises of Dharmakshetra in Bombay,  He saw the drilling team who were going to drill for water. The person in charge of the team asked, “Swami, can we drill here?” Swami Said, “Yes, you can drill there.” They thanked Him and began the drilling, and Baba went into the building. They drilled away for several days, but there was no water. They drilled to a deeper level than usual without any success. Then the man in charge came to Swami and told Him, “We have been drilling there but there’s no water.” Swami then said, “Yes, I know that there is no water there, but you did not ask Me whether there was water there; you just asked Me whether you can drill there.” We must be careful as devotees as to what we ask Baba. He will grant what we ask for. So think before you ask.

Fun With Sai Once a few of us were sitting on the verandah at Whitefield in Bangalore, Swami very graciously joined the group and narrated the following story: There was a king who asked a Pandit as to which one of the following four he would prefer: Whether you will speak against the vedas.Whether you would eat non-vegetarian food.Whether you will take wine.Whether you would prefer to live with a woman who is not your wife. The Pandit said, “I am a brahmin; how can I speak against the vedas? It is a sin. Similarly, how can I take non-vegetarian food? I will become an outcast. And how can I think of another woman when I am married?” But he thought he could take a little wine and forget about it and no one else will know. Thus the pandit started taking wine. But when he got intoxicated, his mind and body went out of control, he began abusing the vedas, started taking non-vegetarian food and, so, all the rest of it. The moral that Bhagavan wanted to bring home to us was that a little wine that the pandit thought would not do any harm brought ruin to him as he acquired all the four vices because of it. Baba further said that, nowadays, religious people who know that all the four vices will accompany with wine, do not themselves take wine, but offer it to others in parties. “This is worse,” says Baba. “It is better to drink wine rather than serve it and make others to go on the bad path.” Somebody from amongst the group said, “Swami, in this world, these days, one has to give parties to his clients and customers and serve wine to them for the sake of business.” Baba immediately said, “It is all right, but those who are my devotees should have faith in divinity for their business to prosper rather in the efficacy of wine.” One of the industrialists on hearing the upadesha [discourse] from Bhagavan fell at the feet of the Lord and said, “Swami, I will not do it hereafter.” Divine grace flowed out to him in the form of a ring specially materialized, to assure him of Bhagavan’s protection.

Worry: Bhagavan’s Recipe In an interview in 1989, Swami told me, “Don’t worry. Always think of God, I am always with you. Have a happy and healthy life.” I am sure He tells this to thousands of people. Look at the words and how we often take them for granted. “Don’t worry” is one of the most commonly used phrases in English. We use it to console our friends, to respond to apologies, and more. Do we mean it when we say it? We often say it automatically, just for the sake of saying it. This is why we take Swami’s words for granted; our mind doesn’t take “don’t worry” seriously. I commit the same mistake, without realizing that these words are the highest teaching we can receive from God. “Tell me, what is the shape of worry?” asked Swami. He gave the answer, “Worry has no shape, and a single intense prayer to God can do away with it.” Instead,look at how ridiculous we are in the world; scientists and doctors have spent billions of pounds on research into tranquilizers. Swami once told me in another interview, “Don’t worry about the past. Past is past.” We worry about the past, present, future, and practically everything. Worry about the past is not going to change anything, neither is worry about the present or the future. Some people worry about not having anything to worry. The solution to worry lies in Baba’s next words, “Always think of God. I am always with you.” Someone asked Swami, “But, Swami, if that is so important, why don’t we do this all the time? Why do we forget? Why don’t we always think of God so that He will fill us with His love?” Here Baba smiled and said, “That is God’s grace; for you to think of God is God’s grace. It is His gift. It is His blessing. It is something He gives, the chance for you to think of God.”