When Mr. Subba Rao told me this story, I asked if the photograph had survived. I did not want to offend my interlocutor with distrust, but I still wanted to get confirmation of the wonderful story. Mr. Subba Rao silently got up from his chair, went to the closet, took out a photograph and showed it to me. I carefully held the priceless photograph in my hands. Outwardly, it was an ordinary photo in which there were thousands of children on the stage with Sathya Sai Baba as if he were actually there in person. This shot was something special. Joy shone in my heart as I carefully peered at the photo, which was a manifestation of the love and omnipresence of the Avatar.
A similar incident happened in the mid ‘90s in Moscow in the home of some devotees. One day about fifteen devotees gathered together. They’d practiced mantras all evening and after that merrily drank tea and ate cakes. Some of those present took some pictures. After the pictures were printed, everyone saw that Sathya Sai Baba appeared in several pictures standing between the people.
23. Born from the Light
Sathya Sai Baba was born from an immaculate conception. This was told many years later by his mother, Easwaramma. A luminous ball descended on her and entered her stomach. Easwaramma lost consciousness, but it was not an ordinary swoon – it was the highest divine trance. She then realized that she was pregnant.
No one knew about this for a long time and it was only in the ‘60s when Sathya Sai Baba allowed his elderly mother to tell the residents of the ashram that he was born as a result of the descent of divine energy.
The miracle of the Immaculate Conception in Christianity is attributed exclusively to Jesus Christ. In fact, a number of high teachers were incarnated through an immaculate conception, because they did not have the karma of birth in the human world. This is how Krishna and Buddha incarnated.
This is a very complex topic beyond human understanding. Avatars come in different levels. The complexity of the theme of Avatars lies in the fact we look at the physical body of a divine teacher and see in front of us, it would seem, an ordinary person.
The physical body of the Avatar creates a colossal illusion that it is an ordinary person, just like you and me. The physical form of Sathya Sai Baba created a huge delusion. At times, it was difficult to understand that a cosmic creature was embodied in this human body.
Most people who came to Sathya Sai Baba felt the most powerful energies, but there were also those who came, looked at him, and disappointedly said, “so what? he walks, communicates with people, we don’t feel anything!”
There were cases when people were given the unique opportunity to personally communicate with Sathya Sai Baba, and after an hour of talking with him, left the room and asked me, “what is so special about it? We talked to him for an hour, and we didn’t feel anything.” Alas, there have been situations like this.
One must be completely insensitive in order not to feel the great and purest energies. One does not need to have special psychic abilities in order to feel the radiance of divine love in the presence of Sathya Sai Baba.
It is impossible to prove or disprove that Sathya Sai Baba is the highest divine incarnation. Logic and reason are powerless to determine the infinite inner nature of God. All attempts by people to argue, prove or disprove the divinity of Sathya Sai Baba are completely meaningless.
There are devotees and followers who sincerely try to prove to their friends that Sathya Sai Baba is the Avatar. However, their arguments are completely unconvincing, because against any argument there is always a counterargument.
There are people who consider Sathya Sai Baba to be a cunning swindler and deceiver, and they also try to prove their point. Their arguments are also completely helpless.
Only intuition and subtle inner spiritual experience can reveal the deep realities of the Avatar. That is why any discussion is useless. In this chapter, we recalled one of the greatest miracles of Sathya Sai Baba, which is that he was born as a result of an immaculate conception. How can we prove or disprove this fact? Of course, it is logically or scientifically impossible to do so.
What we have as information is the testimony of Sathya Sai Baba's mother. He who wants to doubt will always find a reason to doubt. The very life of Sathya Sai Baba proves he is the greatest teacher of mankind. Even now, many thousands of years after Krishna, Buddha and Jesus Christ lived, there are people who doubt the authenticity of the spiritual message of these divine teachers.
There are even people who generally doubt that Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ lived on this planet. Some people try to claim that Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ are just fictional characters.
In this book, we recall amazing events, some of which I have personally witnessed. Some of the stories I tell in this book I have learned from other devotees. How can you trust my stories? How can one trust the stories of other people who personally knew Sathya Sai Baba and witnessed his divine play? Only your intuitive feeling and inner spiritual experience can give an exhaustive answer to all questions.
24. Blessings and trials, the story of Vasudevan
People asked Sathya Sai Baba for blessings and help in solving all sorts of life problems, but sometimes exactly the opposite result turned out when, temporarily, the situation worsened or became more aggravated. How to relate to this – why did this sometimes happen?
The true blessing of the Avatar does not mean the instant fulfillment of your momentary whims. The task of the Avatar is to guide you on the path of spiritual growth. It is the quality of spiritual evolution that is the most important criterion, even if one has to go through some difficulties, trials, and crises.
Sometimes, it may seem to people the Avatar, allegedly, did not help in some situations. When you come to a healer or psychic, you expect mandatory help in solving your problems, especially since most often you pay the healer for his services. People often try to shift their problems onto a healer or psychologist, expecting them to solve all their problems for them.
Any healer or psychologist, any yogi or psychic is within certain limitations. The forces, knowledge and energy capabilities of each person are limited, but the wisdom and energy of the Avatar are unlimited. It may seem to you that the Avatar has helped someone but not someone else; this is only your limited understanding. The Avatar helps everyone, only in different ways.
Let's remember another story that Mr. Subba Rao told me. In the city of Chennai, in southern India, there lived a man named Vasudevan. He worked as a manager in a large company. When he was in his early 20s, his health began to deteriorate rapidly. The main problem was the deterioration of kidney function.
Vasudevan went to the doctors, but the medicines did not help. Vasudevan's mother-in-law was a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba. She advised the young man to pray to Sathya Sai Baba and ask him for healing.
Vasudevan came to the house of his mother-in-law, who had a large home altar, in the center of which hung a large and beautiful portrait of Sathya Sai Baba. At the same time, several relatives were going on a trip to the ashram. The young man took advantage of this opportunity and gave a letter to Sathya Sai Baba asking for healing.
Despite all the requests to Sathya Sai Baba, the young man's condition worsened. Friends and business partners began to laugh at Vasudevan and advise the young man to stop being involved in such nonsense and try to find real doctors who could help him recover from the disease.
The young man was in a difficult situation. Some of his relatives advised him to pray more intensely to Sathya Sai Baba, while his friends ridiculed him for his naive belief in the strange miracle worker.