Now, Prema Sai Baba is 11 years old (2023), and he has already been abroad three times: in Thailand and Sri Lanka (beginning of 2020), as well as in Dubai (autumn 2022). In 2020, he was issued a Russian visa, but the trip was postponed due to the pandemic. The trip to the south of Sri Lanka was especially significant because it was organized jointly by devotees from Russia and Ukraine.
In India, Prema Sai Baba visited the sacred mountain, Arunachala, in 2021, which is one of the most important places of power of Lord Shiva. We will talk about this trip in more detail a little later. Another important pilgrimage was a trip to the ancient city of Rameshwaram.
This place is located in the very south of India and is associated with the legends of Rama Avatar. The trip to Rameshwaram in April 2022 was wonderful and I was fortunate to join Prema Sai Baba on this pilgrimage.
Prema Sai Baba spent about a week in Rameshwaram with his family and several Russian devotees. He visited the main temple of the god, Shiva, where there is an ancient Lingam installed according to legend by Rama Avatar.
Prema Sai Baba bathed inside the temple in twenty-one wells of holy water. Among the places of power, he honored with his presence in Rameshwaram was the ancient temple of the sage, Agastya, which is located on the very spot where the ashram of the sage, Agastya, was in ancient times.
Prema Sai Baba visited the stone footprints of Rama Avatar, located on the top of a picturesque hill, overlooking the surrounding fields and jungle. We also visited Dattatreya Tirtha together, the sacred pond where the sage, Datta, bathed in past ages. The boy Prema Sai Baba also bathed in this pond.
23. My trip to Nepal, miracles with Shaligram
In 2021, my wife, Svetlana, and I once again visited Jaya Lakshmi Amma. On that day, Sathya Sai Baba, through Jaya Lakshmi Amma, materialized a small stone called Shaligram (a symbol of the god Vishnu) for Svetlana.
A year later, in March 2022, we went on a trip to Nepal. This journey was blessed by Prema Sai Baba. We felt his invisible presence literally at every stage of our journey. Many interesting adventures, miracles and meetings happened to us in Nepal.
Since we were flying to Nepal for the first time, we did not know how to get a visa on arrival and were a little worried. The miracles of the manifestation of divine grace began right at the Airport.
As soon as we got off the plane, a man, an airport worker, approached us and asked if we needed a visa on arrival. We answered in the affirmative. He escorted us to the computer desk, helped us fill out the questionnaires, printed them out himself, and quietly disappeared from view. We didn't even get to thank him. We noticed that all other passengers applied for visas on their own.
The second time we unexpectedly saw the same employee at the exit from the Airport. He asked if we had forgotten our luggage. At that moment, my wife and I had in our hands a small suitcase for hand luggage. We really did forget our luggage. How could this stranger know about this? All this was a manifestation of Sai's love, care, and blessings.
Throughout our journey through Nepal, we were constantly accompanied by the love and miracles of Sai. Someone always appeared at the right time and solved the issues that arose during the trip in the best possible way.
One day we went to the mountains by bus. Ten minutes before the final stop, the driver stopped the bus and said we should get off, as we had to go a little in the other direction to get to our hotel.
The bus stopped in the middle of the road and the driver opened the front door. A huge Nepalese man appeared right in front of the bus and helped us unload our suitcases. The stranger then asked where we should go.
There was a sports field nearby but there were no buildings around, so the unexpected appearance of the stranger was especially eerie. I was very surprised about why he was there and how he suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.
We were very tired from many hours of travel on mountain roads and did not really analyze what was happening. We thought the man just wanted to make money. We raised our hand to flag down a passing car, but no one stopped.
The Nepalese stranger instead stopped a passing car for us. He was being genuinely kind, but we were naturally suspicious of him. When we asked how much we owed him for help, he smiled and said the amount we should pay the driver. The stranger refused to take money for helping us unload our things, find a taxi, and show us the right way to the hotel.
While we were packing our luggage into the taxi, the stranger disappeared as if he had never been there. The open space was an empty straight highway and he would not have gone far so quickly.
In the mountain hotel we had a beautiful view from the window, of the mountains and the lake. One morning Svetlana held in her hands the sacred Shaligram materialized by Sathya Sai Baba through Jaya Lakshmi Amma. Suddenly, the sacred stone disappeared right in her hands (dematerialized). It was clear that for some reason, Sathya Sai Baba had taken away the wonderful Shaligram.
Svetlana immediately called Jaya Lakshmi Amma on the phone. As soon as Svetlana told her about the dematerialization of Shaligram Jaya Lakshmi Amma entered into meditation to seek advice from Sathya Sai Baba on a subtle plane.
Jaya Lakshmi Amma almost immediately announced that God would return the Shaligram to Svetlana and there was no need to worry. After a couple of hours, we went to the top of the mountain, where the ancient temple of the god Shiva is located.
On the way we stopped for a cup of tea in a mountain roadside cafe. Suddenly, the same Shaligram jumped out (materialized) right from Svetlana's navel.
Svetlana was very happy to have the sacred artifact back, which was now doubly valuable. We immediately called Jaya Lakshmi Amma, who said that all this time she’d been praying to Sathya Sai Baba that he miraculously returns the Shaligram.
It is difficult to say why Sathya Sai Baba took away the Shaligram for a while, and then returned it again in such an unusual way. In such situations, there can be many reasons. During the whole story with the disappearance and further appearance of the Shaligram, the boy Prema Sai Baba closely followed the situation.
Naturally, Svetlana called him both after the dematerialization and after the materialization of the sacred stone. He seemed to be idly watching the unfolding events constantly giving hints that he knew exactly how the story would end.
There were some great meetings in Kathmandu. We met Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, who was staying at our hotel. A group of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims introduced us to a high lama from the Nyingma school, from whom we received initiation.
Several times we visited the abbot of the Goraknath temple, whose temple is located on the top of the mountain of the Pashupatinath temple complex.
Another interesting situation showing the care of Sai Baba happened to us at the airport already on the flight from Nepal. In the morning, after leaving the hotel, we did not have breakfast, because it was still too early. Arriving at the airport, we realized it was impossible to eat, because the check-in area was being renovated.
We went into the waiting hall and were offered to relax in the business lounge, but we refused and decided to go through passport control and look for some kind of snack in the landing area. After passing through passport control and checking in our luggage, we realized we would remain hungry because the waiting room was also being renovated.
My wife Svetlana said she would try to negotiate with the officers to go to the business hall area in order to buy something there. Turning to the officer, she realized all requests were useless, and sadly went back to the waiting room.
After walking ten meters, she met a senior officer who strangely asked her if she was hungry. She answered in the affirmative. After that, the senior officer helped her back through the control zone. Then Svetlana went to the business hall where she was not asked for money for entry. Inside the business lounge, she bought food and water.