Sathya Sai Baba was a mirror. He reflected what was in the hearts and minds of people. When people came to meet me who wanted to ask some provocative questions or just be smart, then in such interviews he appeared stricter and sometimes even closed off. If people tried to communicate with him more formally, he instantly became formal as well.
When people came to the meeting with an open heart, he opened up completely and beamed with love and blessings. I remember such interviews with tears of joy in my eyes. It was these meetings that were the highest experiences because they showed unattainable heights of devotion and love.
During such meetings, I entered into spiritual states. It was unique to observe the fabulous and incomprehensible communication of the Avatar and pure devotees. I often say that I learned a lot not only from Sathya Sai Baba, but also from his great devotees. Such great devotees were sometimes hardly noticeable to others. They did not work miracles and lived a rather quiet and modest life.
Sathya Sai Baba attracted many unique people and their uniqueness was hardly noticeable to others. I think, when we come into contact with the life of the Avatar, it is necessary to pay attention to those people surrounding him who are part of his mission as participants in his divine game.
60. The mystical light was so bright that it was difficult to sleep
In the Vedic tradition of India there is a rather strange custom, which is to touch the feet of the teacher. In Sanskrit this is called Pada Namaskar. In India there is also a tradition of touching the feet of an older relative or respected person, but in particular people try to touch the feet of great saints.
From the point of view of Western culture, it looks quite strange to touch the feet of another person. This can be perceived as a humiliation and a cult of personality. For most Western people, it looks very strange if someone touches the feet of another person as if you seem to belittle your dignity and humiliate yourself.
In the East, bowing down at the feet of an elder or a saint has a completely different meaning. First of all, you need to understand that people in the East, of course, do not bow at the feet of everyone. Respectful worship on the feet occurs if the person is wise and respected. Foot worship is important, especially when it comes to saints and spiritual teachers.
On the feet of a spiritual teacher, there are important energy points through which the strongest divine energy is transmitted. Of course, the energy is divine if the person himself is divine, but if the person is not, then touching the feet can be useless or even negative.
If you touch the feet of a spiritual master who is at a high level of vibration, you thereby gain tremendous spiritual blessings. Touching the feet of Sathya Sai Baba was a great spiritual act and brought down the greatest blessings.
Sathya Sai Baba rarely allowed his feet to be touched because not everyone could withstand the strength of his energy. As soon as a person touched his feet, great energy descended and the deepest insights and mystical experiences occurred.
One day Sathya Sai Baba invited a Russian group for a talk. As translator, I sat on the floor next to Sathya Sai Baba, as usual. Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to touch his feet. Sathya Sai Baba allowed me to do this, after which he continued to communicate with people.
A minute later, I again felt I wanted to touch his feet. I translated what he said and every two or three minutes I touched his divine feet. Afterwards, people who were present told me I touched his feet more than thirty times. I left the room in a state of bliss and joy. Great Divine Grace descended upon me. For several days after this meeting I experienced vivid mystical experiences. I saw the whole world around me as a bright, golden, divine light. All buildings and people were flooded with pure light.
With my eyes open, I saw that the entire space around me was shining with golden light and the presence of the Holy Spirit was felt everywhere, in everything, and in everyone. When I went to bed, the mystical light was so bright it was almost impossible to sleep. I immersed myself in subtle realms of lucid dreaming, which looked like dreams, but were more like journeys into subtle worlds of pure light.
I know several people who have experienced similar states after touching Sathya Sai Baba's feet. After people touched the divine feet of the Avatar, they were sometimes in a state of cosmic consciousness for several months, such was the power of the energy of Sathya Sai Baba.
61. Golden chain
One of my acquaintances from the Ural (Russia), Alexander, received a beautiful gold chain as a gift from Sathya Sai Baba. Sathya Sai Baba materialized the chain during a personal meeting, and joyfully put it around the neck of my friend, saying this chain would protect him from all dangers. A week later Alexander went home happy.
A few months later, my friend went on a business trip to Kazan city. It was a hot summer and he decided to swim in the cool and rapid river Volga. After diving several times, he came ashore and relaxed on the sand. After a couple of minutes, he noticed the chain around his neck was gone.
Alexander was shocked as he was quite sure that when he entered the water the chain was around his neck. He distinctly remembered correcting it before diving in. Terrified, he didn't know what to do. After standing for a few moments in a daze, he took to the stormy river again but this time to find his lost chain under the water.
It was clear it was simply not possible to find the chain in the fast waters of the huge river. Sad, he went back to the hotel and a few days later returned to his hometown.
The mysterious loss of the chain shocked my friend so much he went into despondency for a long time and almost did not communicate with anyone. Relatives and friends understood that something strange was happening, but he sparingly answered all questions with a request to be left alone.
In fact, it is the most common story: man dives into a river and his chain, perhaps, unfastens or simply flies off under the pressure of a strong current. Stories like this happen quite often. However, in this case, the loss of the chain meant much more because it was not an ordinary gold chain, but a gift from Sathya Sai Baba.
When Alexander later told me about his experiences of that time, he admitted that for a long time he could not tell his friends and relatives about it, because he blamed himself for his carelessness.
However, these events were only the beginning of the story. The miracles of Sathya Sai Baba are the subtlest, multi-step, divine game. This story has an amazing sequel.
62. The golden chain that saved a life – continuation of the story
After a couple of years, Alexander again came to the ashram and Sathya Sai Baba invited him to a personal meeting. My acquaintance was overjoyed at the opportunity of another personal contact with Sathya Sai Baba, but he was very ashamed he did not still have his precious gift, the chain.
As usual, Sathya Sai Baba was sitting in his chair looking at my friend when all of a sudden, he began to laugh. We looked at each other not understanding what was going on. By that time, Alexander had already told me the secret of how he lost the precious chain in the river.
When Sathya Sai Baba looked at my friend and laughed, I intuitively thought that perhaps the reason for his amusement was the loss of the chain. Of course, Sathya Sai Baba knew perfectly well the chain had disappeared in the turbulent waters of the great Volga. Subsequent events confirmed my feeling.