This story took place in the very east of India, in the state of Orissa. I came for a month to one teacher of Kriya Yoga. The small ashram was located in the dense jungle and there were only a few small villages in the vicinity. Many wild animals lived in these forests, so I preferred to spend all my time in the ashram.
Accompanied by a couple of local Indians, I still sometimes went outside the ashram. The locals were surprisingly friendly. Walking around the neighborhood, it seemed to me that I was in the stone age. Time seemed to stop in this jungle. Life in the villages was surprisingly simple. With curiosity, I looked at the primitive clay houses and fences made of huge, crooked logs.
People and livestock lived practically in the same room. The border between the world of people and animals was very conditional. This is probably what the primitive idyll of the coexistence of people and domestic animals looked like in ancient times.
In this area lived a queen, a very thin hundred-year-old grandmother. Since she was well acquainted with the Guru, whose ashram I came to, I managed to get to know her. It turned out she was a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba. In her small, clean mansion, there was a separate shrine room with a huge number of portraits of Sathya Sai Baba. Every day she performed meditation and mantra practices in this room, as well as traditional Vedic rituals – Pujas.
One time, together with several friends, I visited the elderly queen. We were invited to dinner, which was supposed to start in half an hour. While waiting, I sat down in one of the rooms, took a book out of my backpack and began to read. At that time, I was rereading The Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov with enthusiasm.
Sitting comfortably, I began to read the story of how one day several nuns were walking through the winter forest and met Reverend Seraphim. The elder gave them a twig with several apples. The nuns were very surprised and asked where these apples on a branch with green leaves came from. It was strange to see this as it was winter and there were severe frosts.
The Monk Seraphim explained that a few minutes before that moment, angels appeared in front of him and gave him these apples, which were not ordinary, but from the Gardens of Eden.
After reading this story, I put the book down and reverently thought about what I had read. Just a few moments later, the queen entered the room. She had just finished worshipping at the altar of Sathya Sai Baba. She carried in her hands a plate of consecrated food. She came up to me and gave me a twig with a few apples. In a low voice she said it was a gift from Sathya Sai Baba.
I was shocked and could hardly believe what was really happening – it seemed too wonderful of a dream. Just a minute before that, I finished reading the amazing story of how Reverend Seraphim gave Paradise apples to nuns in the winter Russian forest, and now, sitting in the Indian hot jungle, I receive the same apples on a small branch as a gift.
The fact is that apples were not grown in this area. This common fruit for us was a rarity for the inhabitants of the jungle in eastern India. The fact that the elderly queen of the jungle gave me a sprig of apples was a clear continuation of the story from the book that I had read a moment before.
Most importantly, I felt the amazing and clear presence of Sathya Sai Baba and his blessing vibrations of love. A couple of years before, he blessed me to go to this teacher of Kriya Yoga, and now he sent me his divine message in such an unusual way.
Once, Sathya Sai Baba, while talking to devotees in his room, showed his hand. He asked, “what do you see in this palm?” Some of those present replied that it was empty. Sathya Sai Baba smiled and said that his hand was really empty, but he was holding everything in it. After these simple words, silence reigned in the room – our souls were filled with great peace.
68. Great secret
Everyone who came to the ashram wanted to get the treasured opportunity of personal communication with Sathya Sai Baba. As I have repeatedly said, it was impossible to sign up for such an audience because each time Sathya Sai Baba personally chose who to invite for a conversation.
I remember in the nineties we noticed a kind of "secret" as to how to get an interview. Some groups used this divine "secret" and some did not, although they knew everything.
Groups came to the ashram, usually for three to five weeks. Naturally, people wanted to get interviews and talk to Sathya Sai Baba. Those who came to the ashram had a question: what needs to be done to get to a personal meeting? Naturally, there were no rational answers and methods.
It seemed to some that Sathya Sai Baba invited only “advanced” people to personal meetings, while it seemed to some that only “weaklings” were given interviews. Both of these views were very naive because the divine plan is much more subtle.
When the first devotees from Russia started coming to the ashram, they interacted a lot with the American and European devotees, who by that time had been coming to Sathya Sai Baba for many years. One of the Americans in his communication with the Russians mentioned that Sathya Sai Baba highly appreciates the Gayatri Mantra. He said that Sathya Sai Baba could feel the vibrations from a distance and knew exactly which group was practicing this ancient mantra, after which he immediately invited them to a personal conversation.
Having heard that Sathya Sai Baba feels very subtly when the Gayatri Mantra is practiced, one Russian group tried it, and then another and a third. I remember being inspired by this information too because I love this unique mantra so much. It was important that the whole group practiced the Gayatri Mantra together; only then the "secret" would work.
What is a group? In the ashram it was customary for people to live in small groups. Most often these groups consisted of fifteen or twenty people. Usually, they were people from the same city or people who came to the ashram together.
Sometimes devotees from different cities or even from different countries could form groups. Sathya Sai Baba almost always invited people for interviews in groups; very rarely he invited one person alone, although there were such cases.
69. Language of ancient culture – Sanskrit
Sanskrit, the most ancient language that came from the depths of millennia, was spoken by the ancient Aryans and all the Vedic texts were written in this language. Sanskrit has survived to this day thanks to the two upper castes of Hindu society: the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. It was the Brahmins and Kshatriyas who carried Sanskrit through the millennia, and for which we should all be grateful for. However, it is important to understand that Sanskrit is the property of all mankind.
The essence of education in Vedic schools for children from the caste of Brahmins and Kshatriyas is the study of Sanskrit. Children from an early age learn Sanskrit grammar, which allows them to learn all the other Vedic sciences: philosophy, astrology, medicine and much more. All ancient texts are written in Sanskrit, so knowledge of this unique language is key to understanding Vedic wisdom.
In the universities and colleges founded by Sathya Sai Baba, all students also studied Sanskrit in parallel with other subjects. College and university students received quite secular education (for example law and economics), but also studied the history of Vedic culture, yoga, philosophy, and meditation.
Sanskrit is not a secret language. Now, all over the world many people study Sanskrit, and there are wonderful teachers, good programs, and textbooks. In order to practice mantras, it is not necessary to know the sacred language at a professional level, but a basic understanding of Sanskrit is very useful. By understanding Sanskrit a little, you can become more aware of the contents of the mantras and the richest philosophical terminology.
Another important reason for learning Sanskrit is its purest divine vibrations. A huge number of people in all countries of the world listen to Sanskrit mantras, sometimes without even understanding their content. The strongest cleansing vibration of Sanskrit affects the intellect and energy structure.