From the Poison of Materialism to the Experience of God Within Kishore Y Madhamshettiwar was a student from 1987-1989 and from 1989-2003 he became a faculty member of Management and Commerce, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning at Prasanthi Nilayam Campus Iwas brought up in a society that believes in God. My parents took a keen interest in my overall development to be a good man. I was dependent on them to the age of 20 and started earning at the age of 21. Only then did I understand how difficult it is to make a living. At every difficult moment it seemed that God, in the photographs and at the altars, responded to my prayers. By age 27 He answered my prayers and showered all the professional and material bounties. A day came when I thought that I could do everything on my own. However, that thought could not materialize. In an extremely perplexed condition, I ran to the temples of the holy cities of Banaras and Tirupati. During this time I came across a book entitled ‘Vision of the Divine’ written by Dr. Fanibunda. It actually opened my vision to an entirely different world. The following quotations in this book brought two significant truths to my rapt attention: In January 1987, I packed my bags and moved from ashanti [my work and the state of my mind] to Prasanthi [Prasanthi Nilayam and my present state of mind—a rare gift of Bhagavan Baba]. Just at the first sight I was fully convinced that no outside agency was needed to say that Baba is God—my inner motivator, my lost identity, and my goal. On the very first day, I could be at His lotus feet and reach out to and touch them while He waited very patiently. He also found a gap between the devotee’s hands and blessed my vibhuti [holy ash] packet. I felt ‘Yes’. I can rely on Him for everything in my life. I would hold His photograph in my hand and try to match the attributes of God in my heart and mind with those present in His photograph. As time passed by, an inner familiarity developed. Though I was facing many problems in my life and was very restless, something subtly reassured me that this sweet Lord would lift me to the heights of realization. Three years ago, I was scared to mention my feelings openly as I thought people would laugh at me. I am now convinced that He was definitely taking me away from my senses. I continued to pray to Bhagavan to accept me as His student in the MBA course. He granted my prayer. During the initial six months, it seemed as if I was in a workshop. I was stripped of my executive ego and made to put up in the simple but vibrant way of living in His Hostel. I prayed to the loving God to give me strength to hold on to His feet. I felt miserable when I knew God was showering all His mercy but I did not possess even a little bit of good in me. There was only one thing to pray for, even under these circumstances, and that was ‘to raise me to my divine nature.’ Bhagavan’s Institute has a word ‘higher’. It means that by staying with Him and receiving education in His Institute, if one desires one will be equipped with all that is needed to inquire into Atma [universal spirit] and become ‘That’. This was the meaning I derived as a student of His Institute. Now I was determined to face anything and follow the discipline as mentioned by Bhagavan for a student. God saves those who follow Him. I would like to share two experiences to highlight how Lord Sai saved me. He not only made me to continue my journey in this body but moved me nearer to my immortal Self. It was December 1988, I was studying till midnight. Because of the strain and change in weather, I was suffering from a cough. That night at 2 a.m. I got up with a shock for it was very hard to breathe due to severe chest congestion. I was restless. Somehow I managed to get near Bhagavan’s photograph in my cupboard and held it in my hands. Mentally I prayed to Bhagavan, ‘Baba, if you want I should live for Your cause, then let me live properly and if You want I should die, then give me a good death. At that moment I had no desire except death. I remembered that Bhagavan’s vibhuti can grant immortality. I somehow managed to put a pinch of it on my tongue. As soon as I took the vibhuti I felt that someone made me sit in perfect padmasana [lotus pose]. I again prayed to Bhagavan, ‘Baba, please stop all these confusing thoughts.’ Next moment, my body became like a stone and I felt waves and waves of energy going all around and there was a gentle fragrance, too. Very soon after taking vibhuti, my chest cleared up. I could experience that my body, the life force, and the mind were separate. It was a very clear experience of ‘you are none of these, you are truly a silent witness.’ I was sweating profusely, the body started breathing properly, and it was no more like a statue. I slept after this exhilarating experience. I got up for Suprabhatam [verses recited early morning to awaken the deity] at 5 a.m. and felt very fresh and light. I also felt that my outlook had changed, the mind had undergone a great transformation, and my feelings toward my brothers in the hostel also changed. That morning when I went for darshan [sight of a sacred being], Bhagavan came near me and gently pressed my hands with assurance and promised me, ‘Do not worry, Bangaru [endearing term used by Bhagavan], I will always be with you.’ He also said: “I never confuse, I can only save.” I prayed sincerely to Bhagavan to help me and take me to divine heights. My life was full of

How Many Friends Do You Have?” Before joining the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning by the grace of our Lord, I had received a few chances of experiencing minute drops of His Divine leela [play]. Here, I wish to share with you one such drop that had a profound impact on me. The event took place, this year, when Swami was in Madras [Chennai]. Swami went straight to a young boy and asked him, “How many brothers have you?” The boy said, “Swami, I do not have brothers and I am the only son.” Immediately, Swami pointed to the people who were present there, asked the boy, “Are they not your brothers?” Swami went and asked another boy the same question and the reply Swami got was the same. The innate imitativeness in me made me think that if Swami comes and asks me I should say that all are my brothers. The next day the Lord came near me. His nearness made me completely forget myself, and I was inches above the ground. The omniscient Lord in His sweet voice asked, “Where is your brother studying?” “He is studying in Swami’s college,” I said. Then Swami asked, “How many brothers do you have?” Quick came the reply, “One, Swami.” With a mischievous smile Swami asked, “Are the people who are standing here not your brothers?” Completely flabbergasted, I had nothing to say except nodding my head. To prick my imitative bubble a little more, Swami went a few steps, then turned back and asked, “How many friends do you have?” My foolish mind equated at lightning speed that if all are to be my brothers why not all be my friends, and I blurted out, “Swami, all are my friends.” The Lord looked directly into my eyes inquiringly and asked, “What! All are your friends?” Before I could answer Swami continued, “What do your so-called friends do when you are in trouble? They will be with you until they see no money in your pockets. The moment they come to know that you are penniless, they quietly vanish, like the frogs going away from a dried up pond. But Sai is not like that. Whatever may be the trouble, Sai will not forsake you. He is always for you, with you and in you. Your one and only friend must be Sai.” Overwhelmed completely, I could do nothing, but watch the Lord moving slowly away and away from me. Let us ponder for a while. What a revelation! Arjuna had Krishna as his one and only friend. The Lord Himself asks us to keep Him as our one and only friend. But, what a pity that we out of our ignorance, add on to the unending list of friends, leaving the Lord all alone without any friends. ~C.N. KshetrajnaSource: Sai Nandana 1985 (60th Birthday Issue)

Sai—My Everything Srinivas is currently a Doctoral Research Scholar in the Faculty of Business Management & Commerce at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus. It is beyond my ability to write about Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, since words fail miserably to portray His glory. Sai, the name itself fills our heart with immense joy, confidence, and happiness. Surrendering my ego and knowledge at His Lotus Feet, let me pen down the story of my journey to Sai. It was in the year 1998 that I came to know about Shirdi Sai Baba when we were staying in Sambalpur, a town in the western part of Odisha. On every Thursday, my mother used to make prasadam [food offering] at home and she would ask me to offer it in a Sai Baba temple that was two kilometers away from my house. With great difficulty, managing the prasadam box on one side of the cycle’s handle and pushing the cycle pedal I used to go on a road full of pits and stones. It continued for years. Something in the temple made me happy and comfortable. A few years later we shifted our house near that temple, and on every other day I used to go and spend my time there, while my classmates would be playing outside in the fields and on the playground. I read Shri Sai Satcharitra in the year 2007 during my under graduation, when I was staying at a hostel in Visakhapatnam. Whenever I read it, I was filled with sadness and grief. I used to consider myself unlucky in comparison with those people who moved and lived with Sai Baba of Shirdi at Dwarakamayi. Meanwhile my parents shifted to Visakhapatnam. One day my sister told me about a satsang [company of seekers of truth] near our house where Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba used to show His presence by performing many leelas [Divine plays]. I went there to see the leelas of Bhagavan. I was told that we could keep prasadam or anything for blessings there. I was preparing for my chartered accountancy examinations at that time. I went with my admission card and placed it at the altar for blessings. Vibhuti [sacred ash] appeared on my card and the devotees told me that Swami had blessed it. I felt good about it and came back. I thought that since Swami had blessed it, I would pass the examination in flying colors. But the reverse happened. So this center to me was just another place for bhajans [devotional singing] and service activities. My mother was a regular participant in bhajans and service activities there. Every morning she used to wake me up singing some bhajan that irritated me a lot. But I would keep quiet and never said anything to her. I had a big gang of friends in the year 2009. We used to go to every movie in the city and roam around. Since my parents were very particular about timings, I used to do all this during my college time, i.e. from 8.00 am to 2.00 pm. It was in the very same year I secured top marks in the university accountancy examination. I still wonder today at this. My so-called best friends doubted that I had manipulated something in the examination and obtained high marks. I started keeping distance from them, because differences of opinion made them doubt me even more. It was during that period after finishing my under-graduation final examinations, I used to participate in satsang and Narayan Seva [feeding service] conducted in a Sai center there. I felt very happy and thought of continuing these Seva activities. One day I felt deeply disgusted with the scandals propagated by my friends. So I went to attend the satsang conducted in the Sai Center and prayed to Swami that He should help me. I also prayed to Bhagavan to keep me away from my friends. I further prayed that Swami should become my only friend. The very next day, I got calls from my friends one after another telling me that they did not want to continue their friendship with me. I wonder even to this day what had made my friends discontinue their friendship with me overnight. From that day till today, Swami has been helping me in many ways, day-in and day-out. I slowly started developing a bond with Swami. Since I had no friends, Bhagavan became everything for me. His name was always in my heart, mind, and on my lips. He would also respond and reciprocate in numerous ways. Whenever I thought of Him, a big picture of His would appear on a hoarding, or on an auto-rickshaw. At times I would feel His touch on my shoulder while riding the bike. At times I would see Him on a branch of a tree, and He would suddenly disappear. For some time, I thought that I was imagining or hallucinating. Either way I was happy. On introspection, I learnt many things about Swami. Swami says, “Test is My taste.” Initially, He encourages us to get closer to Him and tests us. We learn many things during this period and thus become wiser. We can pass Bhagavan’s test if we cultivate the spirit of surrender. The feeling of anyatha sharanam nasthi [other than You there is no refuge] is a source of immense strength and peace. Renouncing the feeling of the doer-ship and resigning oneself to His Will cements our bond with Him. What I have learned being with Swami is to never question Him. When we do not know what is going to happen in the next moment, how can we question the One who knows the past, the present, and the future of everyone and everything? We can ask but not question. Acceptance of His sankalpa [Divine will] and abiding by it is a source of infinite strength. He is not interested in our failure or success. He is not interested in what failure or success does to us. He is interested in our progress. His love for us is unique. I always pray to Him that till the last breath

Being in the Presence of Sai Rajdeep Singh is a student (1989-1992) from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He was formerly with The Indian Navy and is currently a Pilot with Indigo Airlines. Was it a pleasant coincidence, a miracle, or a fruit of my past karmas [actions] or was it just His infinite grace? It is all beyond my comprehension, but whatever it was, my gratitude toward that unknown phenomenon would remain perpetual. My beloved Lord Sai took me under His protective umbrella to make a man out of me, a man who will be worthy of His Name. Before the memorable event, when He took me in His Institute, I was just a lump of clay, of no use to anyone. He came and made a lamp out of me, filled me with the oil of bhakti [devotion] and the wick of self-sacrifice. He lighted the fire of service to the wick, so that it may burn and burn to give light around by serving others. It is my prayer from the core of my heart to Bhagavan that the oil and wick of this lamp remain for ever and ever and the fire of service continue for all time to come. Earlier I was in darkness, but now by His Divine love and grace I am coming out of it slowly, but steadily. And it gives me great joy that being in the presence of our Sai Mother, a change for the better is coming with the passing of each day. Bhagavan came into my parents’ life way back in 1976, and since then His infinite grace has been flowing ceaselessly to our family. It all started in June 1975. My father, who is in the Army, was then posted in North-Eastern Area. He developed pain and swelling on his left hip/thigh. The army doctors diagnosed it as a recurrence of old athletic injuries and treated him, but without any relief. There was no relief even though he had been treated at the best Army hospitals. Homeopathy treatment also was of no avail. During childhood, my father was religious and used to say his prayers regularly. But as he grew, he had stopped prayers altogether. Bhagavan’s Will was unknowingly and silently at work; seeing no relief from his ailment, my father turned to God and began reading selected Sikh prayers, and it became a daily routine to do so. His faith in God began. Due to his illness and a lot of hospitalization, his promotion though overdue could not be given. And it is now that Bhagavan’s Will began working. A Colonel’s wife, who had not met my parents but had only heard of father’s illness, came to see him. She talked at length about Bhagavan and His miracles of healing, but these had had no effect on father. The lady offered to my father the book—Sathyam Sivam Sundaram (Part 3). He reluctantly took the book with no intention to read it, but in his curiosity he turned to some pages and began to read it. He felt in tune with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and Guru Nanak. The more he read, the intensity of having Lord’s Darshan was increasing. And my mother, too, began reading the God’s given gift in the shape of Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. A few days later, father noticed fragrance coming from the book—Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. On a Sunday, when the Colonel and his wife visited father, he narrated the incident of fragrance. They, too, smelled the book and were overjoyed. It was the fragrance of Vibhuti [sacred ash], and actually it was the omnipresence of Bhagavan to make the ailing person feel that everything will be all right soon. And the first miracle was that since the day father started reading this book, his health started improving. He could now sit for longer periods of time and had less difficulty in walking and standing. His faith in Bhagavan’s Infinite Love and Grace deepened. In the latter half of July 1976, by His Will, my parents and two elder sisters came to Puttaparthi. As I was young then, they left me with my grandparents at home. On arrival at Prasanthi Nilayam, my father had expected that Bhagavan would call them soon for interview. It was, however, several days later that the interview was granted by Bhagavan. During the interview, Bhagavan materialized Vibhuti and gave it to mother. He then jokingly reminded her of her cribs against Him. Touching father’s left hip, He said, “How is your leg and back?” This surprised father, for, although most people knew about the leg, he had not mentioned the accompanying pain in the back to anyone, not even to mother. Continuing, Bhagavan said, “Don’t worry, it will be okay by October.” Bhagavan directed that the Vibhuti should be taken for three days, and it would be all right. Three days of Vibhuti healed a two-year-old illness. Father stopped all medicines and was healed as assured, and he was promoted also. Since that day, the left leg, which had always been weak, has never had any problems, not even minor ones. It is as though an unseen protective sheath has been guarding it. Soon father began to realize that Bhagavan was not just a saint. For had not Bhagavan been answering whenever he prayed to God in the Sikh traditions? Slowly but surely, he became a devotee of Bhagavan and has come to realize that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is none other than Waheguru, one of the names frequently used by the Sikhs for the one and the only God, the Lord of the entire Cosmos. What we have to realize is that the illness was a boon in disguise. Without it father would have remained immersed in his little world and missed the joy of spiritual life and faith in God. Bhagavan, who is the Principal Director in the drama of life, knows when and what to do. When my father’s faith in the world and also its doctors had begun to crumble, He grabbed the opportunity

Vibhuti Does it! It was summer. Some Sai devotees had assembled near the leprosy asylum for seva [service]. The bhajans [devotional hymns] started. Students of the Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School had also gathered there. After bhajan, fruits were distributed to the inmates. It was really a sad sight to see the patients in the asylum. I wondered what karmic law had brought on this dreaded disease to the afflicted persons. As I was thinking about these things, an elderly gentleman, a leader of the Seva Samiti [service association], came and said, “Why don’t you, being Swami’s students, come and talk to them?” I didn’t have enough courage to go in. I looked around and noted that even other friends were hesitant. We had to give in as the elders said, “Don’t worry, we won’t go into the interior. Just speak to them for some time.” A small boy came closer. The old gentleman told him: “See, they are Baba’s students.” His eyes glowed with admi­ration. We boys moved back a little. Suddenly, he said, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t touch you.” We were `touched’ by this statement. Then he started speak­ing in Marathi [dialect of Maharashtra state]. He was 12 years old and the disease was in its early stages. He said that he saw Baba in a dream and describ­ed how Baba comes out for darshan [sight of a holy person], the Prasanthi Mandir [temple], and the college buildings. He had never seen Baba! He said Baba often came in his dreams. He said, “You are so close to Swami, please pray for my healing.” This brought tears to our eyes. We said, “Surely we will pray for you.” Then suddenly the elderly devotee said, “If anybody has the vibhuti [sacred ash] given by Swami, why don’t you give it to him?” While going home for the vacation, Swami had given us vibhuti prasadam [a sanctified offering], so therefore some of us had vibhuti packets handy in our pockets. Immediately we gave the lad some packets. Back at Prasanthi Nilayam after the vacation, we resumed our studies. One day I received a letter from the Samiti leader saying that the boy whom we had met at the asylum had refused to take any medicine and was only applying the vibhuti given to him and praying to Swami. The hospital authorities were a bit appre­hensive about this and rather displeased with the Sai devotees for interfering with the treatment they were giving to the boy. After two weeks, when the doctors examin­ed the boy. There was no trace of leprosy. He was healed! ~Hari Prasanna, M. Sc., VidyagiriSource: Sanathana Sarathi, Jan. 1990

Sai Mere Praana Sakha Bhagavan Hirak Doshi, a Doctoral Research Scholar is in the Department of Mathematics & Computer Sciences at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam. The clarion call came from the Lord on the 19th of May 2011, when He offered me a seat in His hallowed institution. My joy knew no bounds. I had fervently prayed to Him for this opportunity and He responded. Thus began my journey with Sai, a journey full of bliss, a journey toward self-realization. Things started sinking in slowly as the days passed, for the Lord had started chiseling to sculpt out the shining diamond as He wanted. Let me narrate one of my experiences to validate this statement. It was in my second year in Brindavan (college) that I injured my leg while playing basketball barefoot. The injury was not that deep, but I was advised to take an anti-tetanus injection. Soon after that injection I contracted a high fever. For the next two days I was completely incapacitated. It was the Third Year Students’ Day (a day when third year college students are anointed with their batch name). While all of the students in the Hostel went for the program, I was alone in the room. After the program was over, my room leader came back to the room. He touched my forehead and remarked, “Hirak, you’re burning hot.” I was anxious because I had already taken two tablets and I did not want to take the third one. I then went back to my sole refuge, my chit box, picked up one chit and it read: ‘Your actions in the past are responsible for this, pray to Sai’. Immediately I started praying to Him to make things easier for me. I kept His photo in my pocket (one in which Swami was materializing the Hiranyagarbha Lingam [the golden symbol of God]). Believe it or not, the fever went down within 15 minutes, and by the night prayer I was almost normal. Can I ever understand His ways? Can I ever comprehend the depth of His love and concern?  I started experiencing Him more and more and started loving Him more and more.  Indeed, the lessons learnt in my Bal Vikas [Sai spiritual education for children] days paved the way for His love and concern for me. I had a long-standing desire that Swami should speak to me in Bengali. I know this is something weird, but the mind cannot be devoid of desires, and I forgot about it. One night, Swami appeared in my dream, and the dream was as follows: I was hurrying for a ‘Trayee [Brindavan, Swami’s abode in Bangalore] session’, and on reaching the Trayee gate I saw Swami pacing up and down the side room next to the main room. It was as if He was waiting for somebody. Later I realized that He was waiting for me. I hurriedly rushed to Him and without thinking anything asked, “Swami, Padanamaskar [the touching of Swami’s feet]?” Then came the Divine master stroke. Swami spoke in Bengali and told, “Nao”, which in Bengali means ‘take’. The dream ended there, and the next morning I woke up ecstatic and overwhelmed. I only had His darshan [seeing Him] in the physical domain, but through this dream He gave me sparshan (touch) as well as sambhashan (conversation). He is the one who fulfills even the smallest of the wishes if it emerges from a yearning heart. Can I ever thank Swami for anything? Can I ever reciprocate even an iota of love as a gift to Him for this selfless love? Well, I do not know. My stay in Brindavan for three years was a turning point in my life. The amount of learning that took place is inexplicable. Every day ushered in something new, every Trayee visit was a feast for the soul and the mind. I remember Sri Sanjay Sahni, the Director of the campus, addressing us thus in the Prayer Hall: “The nootan(present generation), in order to reach the sanathana (eternity), needs the help of puratan (scriptures, Vedas)”. Taking this as an inspiration from the very first day, I learnt Vedam, participated in Bhajans [sacred hymns], and tried to shorten my distance between me and Swami in every conceivable way. I remember once Sri Sanjay Sahni arranged for us an appointment with Dr. Mahesh, an adept at nadi vaidya (a natural and ayurvedic blend of healing technique just by touching the veins). I was not very comfortable with the climate at Brindavan and was prone to severe allergic sneezing. That day while treating me, Dr. Mahesh shared something very dramatic. Just the previous night, Swami came in His dream and told him, “Go to Brindavan, two boys are waiting for you.” That one statement from Swami made him drive 30 kilometers from Malleshwaram just to treat two unknown students free of cost, and that too at a time as early as 8.30 am. This meant that he had to start as early as 6.30 am in the morning. Dr. Mahesh, while sharing this incident, made a remark that still rings in my ears. He told me, “Do you see Swami’s concern for His children? The very fact that He had told me to come to Brindavan today is an indication that you have to do a lot of work for Swami in future. That is why He wants you to stay fit.” What greater fortune do I need than this? Can there be a greater blessing than being an instrument in His Divine mission? Many times I have tried to understand His ways only to end up being baffled and dumbfounded. It is not at all necessary to understand Him because we simply cannot understand Him. Let us all immerse ourselves in that nectarine sweetness of His Divine love. At this point I am reminded of one more incident. This happened very recently. During the last winter vacation, while returning home I had to board the connecting Jagannath Express from Bhubaneswar toward Kolkata. After boarding the train at 12 o’clock in the night and putting my luggage properly, I went to sleep. The

Lessons from the Ramayana Raghava Krishna is an alumnus of the Sri Sathya Sai Instituteof Higher Learning in Prasanthi Nilayam. The great Indian epic Ramayana has been divided into Kandas or parts. Each Kanda has a great specialty, but of these Sundara Kanda has been given much importance. This Kanda describes how Hanuman was successful in finding Mother Sita. This incident holds the basis for a very important analogy on the spiritual path. Before Hanuman leaves in search of Sita, he realizes the depth of Rama’s grief. Rama was facing grief due to separation from Sita. He knows Hanuman’s capabilities. So before Hanuman leaves in search of mother Sita, Sri Rama pours out all His grief. He not only wants Hanuman to find Sita but also asks him to tell Sita that He would come and rescue. When Hanuman reaches Lanka, he assures the same to Sita. Sita, too, pours out her grief and says, “Lanka has been definitely built of gold. It has all the pleasures of the three worlds; still there is no happiness. I am surrounded by rakshashis [female demons]. There is no clue as to when they will attack me. I can’t stay here any longer. S, please tell Sri Rama to come and save me as soon as possible.” The important analogy is that the relationship between Sri Rama, Hanuman, and Sita is similar to that of a relationship between the almighty God, a teacher, and the student. God Himself has created the world but is not happy at being separated from the student. So He sends the guru to the pupil to assure protection. The student is in the world filled with pleasures and is a prey to the rakshasas(demons in the form of evil temptations). So He asks the guru to inform the Lord of his grief and save him from the world. The guru in turn comes to the Lord and prays to Him on behalf of the pupil for protection. The Lord as promised saves the pupil. In the Ramayana, for Sita, Hanuman acted as the guru—to understand, to share, to guide, and to assure. For us we have the Lord Himself as the guru. We must therefore realize our good fortune. If we pray with sincerity and love, the Lord will save us. It is high time we speed up our journey toward the Lord with sincerity and love. Why to speed up? Every one of us realizes that once we lose an opportunity it cannot be regained easily. An incident from the Yuddha Kanda of Ramayana will prove my point. Sri Rama says to Lakshmana, “O Lakshmana, let us go and meet Ravana. He is on his deathbed.” Lakshmana and the others are taken aback. Where is the need for Sri Rama to meet Ravana? Sri Rama explains to Lakshmana, “Ravana is a great scholar and had immense valor. Today he is suffering on his deathbed. Let us know what mistake has brought him to this condition.” Lakshmana thought that Sri Rama was joking. Sita’s abduction brought Ravana to his deathbed. When Sri Rama put the same question to Ravana, he, too, was surprised, but, thought a while and replied, “O Rama! I have committed two great mistakes in my life. First one was postponing the good deed and the second one is performing in advance a bad one. I always wanted to build a path to heaven from Lanka so that all who die in Lanka may go to heaven. I postponed it and today I am dying, and I will not be able to go to heaven. I knew wholeheartedly that abducting Sita was wrong, still I did it in haste. I did not pay heed to Vibhishana’s words. Today it has brought about my end.” We must note the two mistakes so that we need not suffer afterwards. Let us not postpone doing good things. We say, “I will be good from tomorrow.” No, let us be good from now. Let us not make the mistake of losing this opportunity. I will now share a small experience of mine. Once in Brindavan, Swami was asking a particular question every day to the brothers working in the hospital. The question was: “How many operations have been completed?” There was no reply. One day, I said to myself, “If Swami asks me this question, what reply will I give?” I did not know the answer. Swami came and said, “It is not important to perform an operation, we have to perform an operation on ourselves, so that the bad in us is removed and the good increases.” He walked a few steps and asked, “How many did you do?” I did not answer. I pray to Swami that the next time when Swami asks the same question I have an answer. Source: Sai Nandana 2005 (80th Birthday Offering)

Divine Tutelage Under Sri Sathya Sai Our Loving God says that in the present, the past lives and the future gets shaped. I feel quite nostalgic while I go down memory lane. When I was eight years old, my parents showed me this wonderful Lord as my ‘Savior’. When I was eleven, my parents brought me to Parthi for His Divine darshan, sparshan, and sambhashan [sight, touch, and conversation], and for His Divine benediction in the course of the interview that He graciously granted the entire family. From then onward, all the members of our family have been drawn to His fold one after another, guarded, guided, and groomed to be instruments in His Divine mission. Way back in 1976, I was in my second year MA (Economics) class, preparing for my university examinations under the ‘watchful eye’ of my revered teacher, Prof. A N Rajamani. We had seven papers. The sixth one, Regional Economics, was the first optional paper, on a Saturday afternoon. The examination started at 2 p.m. and nowhere could I see any economics in that question paper. I was in the predicament of the legendary elephant-king, Gajendra! I was completely lost! Then I closed my question paper, surrendered to my Lord faithfully in my heart without a trace of ego and invited Him to write the examination through me. When I opened my question paper, lo and behold! The five questions out of ten that I had to answer were there, so simple and straight forward. The members of my family and I could realize the Divine play in it only when I was awarded the Justice P. Chandra Reddy Gold Medal by the University of Madras for having stood first in MA (Economics). This honor later fetched me, by choice, an Assistant Professorship in Economics at CBM College, Coimbatore, in the very same year. As a Seva Dal volunteer, I actively participated in the service activities of the Coimbatore Samiti (an organization), and in November 1978 I was one among the several groups posted on duty at a site where (the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of SSSIHL is housed now) our beloved Swami laid the foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai Arts, Science, and Commerce College (SSSASCC). I had an intuitive feeling that I would be drawn soon to serve in His glorious educational institution. Since I was in a permanent job then, there was no reason for me to think of any other alternatives very seriously. Then I stumbled upon the advertisement in a newspaper inviting applications for the post of a Lecturer in Economics at SSSASCC, Prasanthi Nilayam. I got a phone call informing me that our beloved Lord would visit Ooty the following day. Immediately, the devotees from Coimbatore made arrangements for a bus to go to Ooty for the Lord’s darshan and took me also along with them. When Swami approached the Coimbatore group, I gathered courage and prayed to Him to permit me to serve in Puttaparthi College. Swami replied in the affirmative: “Yes, yes, yes.” I consulted my parents and applied for the post. A formal interview was conducted at Brindavan and I was selected. The management of the CBM College, Coimbatore, was considerate enough to relieve me from my duties immediately. But the Principal of the CBM College, who had joined just then, directed me to get an extension of time from the authorities of SSSASCC. I rushed to Parthi and Swami lovingly conceded my prayer and graciously permitted me to join after I5 days. Fifteen days passed. The Principal of the CBM College did not keep his promise and directed me to approach the authorities of SSSASCC for yet another extension of 15 days. Now I was in a fix. A senior colleague of mine there challenged me by remarking, “Your Baba is known for miracles! Why couldn’t He do something in your case?” A voice from within came and I replied, “He does, and you will be the first to witness that!” The next day, I happened to go to the house of the former Principal of the CBM College, Prof. Narayanan, who got very annoyed on hearing about the way in which the issue had been handled. He took me straight to the Chairman of the CBM College, pleaded with him on my behalf and persuaded him to take the initiative in getting my relief. The following day, the Chairman came to the college and ordered the Principal to issue my ‘relieving order’ immediately. After obtaining my ‘relieving order’ from the Principal in just 15 minutes, the first person I met was the same colleague who had doubted the ever-encompassing love of Swami! The very next day, I joined my duty at SSSASCC and met Prof. N Kasturi with whom I maintained a close relationship for decades. Just a few days later during darshan, Swami inquired about me and christened me ‘Coimbatore’. Whenever occasion demanded, He called me ‘Coimbatore’ and I had a doubt for a long time whether Swami knew my name at all. The staff meeting of the college used to be in the Divine presence in the Divine interview room in the Mandir. Swami used to touch upon several issues in the course of His conversation and fill the hearts of everyone with confidence, missionary zeal, and love. On one such occasion, I was far away from Him. He spoke in mellifluous Telugu for over an hour and a half without any translation. After He concluded, without looking at my side, He lovingly enquired in Telugu, “Bhalachandran, did you understand what I spoke?” Though Telugu was not my mother-tongue, I followed His message. I replied quickly, “Yes, Swami.” He turned back and gave me a broad smile. On yet another occasion of this kind, Swami instilled in me the sense of belonging to the institution to which I was wedded now, by declaring, “You take care of My children; I will bear the entire burden of your family.” Swami stands by His promise completely. In the formative years of the Institute, during darshan Swami would certainly

Should I create something in order to show you a miracle?” Siddhanth Chandrashekar was a student in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus, from 2006-2010. Currently, he is a scientist at GE Global Research, Bangalore. We are always thrilled when we witness a miracle of Bhagavan or for that matter even hear about it. That is why whenever we talk about Bhagavan, the first thing that very often comes to our mind are His miracles. Miracles reveal His omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence and thrill us, fascinate us, and leave us amazed. These ‘visiting cards’ of His have been drawing so many people to Prasanthi Nilayam from all parts of the world. In fact, how we came to Bhagavan is quite miraculous [in itself]. Let me narrate to you how my father came into Bhagavan’s fold or rather how Bhagavan got him into His fold. It was way back in the year 1987 when my father came to know that there was a person by name Sathya Sai Baba. He knew nothing more and he never bothered to know anything more. One day, he was returning home in the train as usual after the day’s work. A stranger sitting opposite my father for no apparent reason suddenly took out a photo of Bhagavan and gave it to my father. My father did not understand but nevertheless he took the photograph. He asked my father, “Why don’t you attend bhajans [devotional singing]?” My father was taken aback because he had never attended any bhajans till then. The man told my father that there was a doctor in my father’s locality who was a devotee of Swami and advised my father to go there. When my father’s destination arrived, this man who was supposed to go further down got down with my father. Even though he was a chronic asthma patient himself (as he mentioned to my father) he took the trouble of taking my father to the doctor’s place and introduced him to the doctor. My father didn’t understand what exactly happened and he took it lightly. The following Sunday my father did not go for the bhajans. But the next Sunday, my father, out of curiosity, went for the bhajans. At first, he felt it quite strange that one person was leading, and everybody else was repeating, but nevertheless he liked it. From that day he started attending the bhajans regularly and developed more and more interest in Swami and soon became an ardent devotee of Bhagavan. The whole incident is so mysterious and miraculous even though it looks very normal. The slow transformation and the difference in the outlook were greatly influenced by Swami’s impact. After all everything is His will. Speaking of miracles, I am reminded of what Bhagavan once said to Dr. Osis, who had come to meet Bhagavan and to investigate into His miracles. Bhagavan said, “I do not perform miracles to procure certificates from anybody. So it is not possible for Me to do anything just for the purpose of your investigations. I perform the so-called ‘miracles’ only to show My love, protect My devotees in distress, and to reveal the extra-ordinary powers of the Supreme.” Many a time, we have seen our Lord creating material objects and presenting them to His devotees for their protection. But it does not necessarily mean that creation is necessary for protection. Let me tell you the experience of my mother in which the Lord proved to be her Savior in dire need. The experience shows how Bhagavan responds to every little prayer that emanates from a pure heart. My mother is a chronic asthma patient. It so happened that my grandmother, who stayed with us, wanted to meet a few relatives and was very adamant in visiting those relatives’ house. Now, she was dependent on my mother to take her to the their house. But it was impossible for my mother to take her out because it would be quite a long journey; my mother already had a slight wheezing problem and overexertion would make it severe. My mother had no choice but to take her. So my mother went and prayed in front of Bhagavan’s photo and totally surrendered at His feet. When she left home, she had slight wheezing that to her surprise stopped as she got down the stairs. She took my grandmother, left her in her relatives’ place and returned home after three hours. and believe it or not, for those three hours she had no wheezing at all! There are so many people around the world who seek the Lord’s help in their dire needs and He readily responds. His is a 24-hour ‘Help-Desk’; you can call up anytime and He is there to respond in a flash. Bhagavan moves among us, talks to us, and laughs with us in such a humanly manner that we tend to forget that He is the Supreme One. But sometimes in order to reveal His supreme power, the Lord performs miracles, which stun the people who watch them and even those who hear of them. In those good old days, Swami used to go to the banks of River Chitravati with His devotees. One day, Swami was seated on the riverbed with His devotees. The sun had set and the full moon in the sky had filled it with its cool radiance. Swami looked at it for some time and asked if the moon looked like His face? As He moved His fingers on the Earth, an extraordinary phenomenon took place in the sky. A halo appeared around the moon like Swami’s hair! That was not all. The pointed fingers of Swami wrote something on the dark dome. Then there appeared on that heavenly hairdo, a Shankha and a Chakra (Lord Vishnu’s conch and disc) streaked in lightning. With a further wave of His hand, the conch of lightning dived into Swami’s hand itself and converted itself into a conch shell as found on earth. Swami

Happiness is Union with God Marcello Sandri was a student from 1992-2001 at the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, Prasanthi Nilayam. Currently, he is a senior software engineer in Italy. After having been in the Divine fold for the last many years, after having observed Him, after having talked with Him many a time, the only thing of which I can be sure about Bhagavan is that He is love, love, and nothing other than love. The way He looks at everyone, the way He smiles at everyone, the way He moves, are all reflections of His inner being, of what He really is, and that is love alone. Often, we may feel that He is ‘angry’ with us, but we should never forget that He is the greatest actor in this drama of life. He acts so well that we fail to recognize the love. He acts ‘angry’ to correct us, for we do not change otherwise. So His main aim is our happiness. Isn’t that love? When He gives discourses, when He sings bhajans [holy songs], we are all exhilarated and feel overjoyed though we may be far away from Him. How does this happen? It is because His love is like a wildfire, which spreads out making everything and anything burn in the same fire. At that moment we really feel happy. The only problem is that we do not keep that fire alive, we let it die out and thus we return to our normal state. Our life as a student seems to be like in paradise, for we have everything that we need around us, and to top it all we have Bhagavan Himself who lives with us. But why is it that He then emphasizes the point: “Look within, start your inner journey.” A journey within! And where is the destination? First of all, what could we possibly find inside us that is not already outside us? I am reminded of a small poem, which answers all these questions beautifully. It goes like this: God wanted to hide, He said:“If I hide on top of the highest mountains, man will climb it and find Me,If I hide in the atom, He will split it and find Me,If I hide on the stars, He will spy me out with His telescopes.”So, God decided to hide in the place where man would never search,And that is in the depths of his heart. So God is there inside us, in our heart. That is what our Dear Lord means when He asks us to look within. He gives us a clue to this treasure hunt and the treasure is immense, immeasurable. It is up to us to find this treasure so well hidden. It is said that the best way to hide something from someone is to keep that object right under his nose! That’s exactly what Bhagavan has done. The biggest treasure of all is not under our nose, it is with us already, but we do not know it! How foolish is it of us to go around searching for what we actually have already? ‘God’, ‘Consciousness’, ‘Bhagavan’ and ‘Inner Being’ is all synonymous. Bhagavan is no different from us except that He knows that He is God while we do not. In the Bible, too, it is written: “God made man in His very form.” Does it mean physically? I don’t think so. Our soul is the same as His. We are just a part in His endless whole. How beautiful it is to think of this! We are God, God is we. So if we are God, we can achieve anything! We can do what others can’t. We can now do the things we were afraid of. This is great. All this would be true only and only if we really believe that we are God. Another poem springs up in my mind in this connection: A small boy looked up at a star and began to weep.And the star said, “Boy, why are you weeping?”The boy said, “You are too far away,I will never be able to touch you.”And the star answered, “My dear boy, if I weren’tAlready in your heart, you would not be able to see me.” When I read this poem for the first time, I was out of breath. I was really astonished. This poem clearly describes the way we are living today. We are like the small boy weeping for the worldly things around us knowing not that we have them already inside us. This is in accordance with what Bhagavan says, “Everything is a reflection of your inner being.” Everything we see around us, if at all we can see anything, it is already inside us. The worldly things we see are just reflections, and reflections are not real. This is what is called maya [illusion]. The whole world is maya; it is unreal. But we are very much attracted by it. You may ask me how it is possible to have everything inside. This is indeed possible because we have Bhagavan inside us. Then we have the whole universe and much more, too! It all comes back to the point that we have God inside us. Then how is it that we do not hear Him or why doesn’t He talk to us? It is because we do not try to listen, and we do not give Him the necessary time to talk. Once a student went to Socrates and asked him, “Master, how can I find God?” The great master then took him to a river. The boy obediently followed him into the river. Suddenly, Socrates pushed the boy into the water. The boy began struggling for breath but in vain. When the boy became blue in color, Socrates pulled him out. The student was very angry and abused him. Socrates then said, “Dear boy, when you were under the water, what did you want most?” The boy answered “air.” Then the great truth was revealed, “My