You will never be abandoned

Bhagavan narrated this experience which happened 30 years ago. A devotee from East Godavari had come to Bhagavan and prayed to Him to come for a house warming ceremony. Swami consented to his prayer and fixed a date when He would be there. He even said, “I will be there on that day at 9:00 a.m.”

Given this Divine assurance, the devotee made all preparations for Bhagavan to visit his home in East Godavari. As usual, the yearly rains came and played havoc with the lives of the people. And that year too a cyclone hit East Godavari. As the Godavari River began to swell, so too did the hearts of the devotees with prayer. But God had given them His word and assured them that He will be there.

Swami says: “There may be people who suffer because they do not have Faith, but there is no one who will be let down if he has Faith..” Based on this assurance, they made ready to receive SWAMI in East Godavari.

Nature continued to pour down relentlessly on East Godavari and the only connection East Godavari had with the rest of the world was the old bridge at Rajahmundry. For obvious reasons, the district officials closed the bridge and no transportation was now possible across the river.But SWAMI had said He would go. And so, on the due date, He set forth with a few dignitaries to East Godavari. When they approached the river it was in full spate.

The district officials tried to dissuade the party from attempting to cross the bridge.They insisted that Swami had to give a declaration that He is taking the journey at His own risk. Consider the irony of the situation where God had to assure them of what He does!!!

Bhagavan wrote there: “Nothing will happen to anyone who is with me!”

Who else can give such an assurance except the POORNA AVATAR? And so, a small boat was arranged to ferry Bhagavan across to the other side. And it was in such a position that it had to go under the bridge to reach the shore.

The devotees gathered on either side of the river to see what would happen. By now the water level had risen so high that when the boat reached the bridge it was lashing the roof and there was absolutely no space for the boat to pass beneath it. The people waited eagerly and anxiously wondering what would happen.

Bhagavan instructed the people in the boat, “Close your eyes. Do not watch what will happen.” Then, in a fraction of a second, the boat suddenly disappeared and appeared on the other side!

Imagine the roar of the devotees on both sides drowning out the roar of the river. And as promised, Bhagavan reached the home at exactly 9:00 a.m.

During a public meeting SWAMI said, “When I came as Rama, the ocean gave way; it had to give! When I came as Krishna, Yamuna gave way! When I came as Sai, what is Godavari? This Lord of Puttaparthi will never give you up – He will never forsake you. This ocean of mercy will take you by His hand and guide you across. You will never be abandoned.”

Always believe in Truth at all times

I always say that everyone should speak the Truth and believe in it.

Thirty years ago, I traveled the length and breadth of the country to propagate My message. I would visit Bombay four times a year. Now, Bombay has changed a lot. Sai Institutions have multiplied. In every nook and comer Sai's name is heard.

During one of those days, the headlines of some leading newspapers carried an open challenge by a Hatha yogi. He dared to challenge Sathya Sai Baba to perform some absurd feats like swallowing a living fish, eating glass pieces, drinking acid and walking on water. He claimed that he would perform the above-mentioned feats with ease. This angered and pained the Sai devotees all over. The devotees requested Swami to give a fitting reply to the challenge. I answered, "Foolish fellows! It is not mandatory to reply to his challenge. In fact, replying only shows one's weakness." The devotees said, "Swami, if you don't reply, we shall do it." Ramana Rao was on his toes to reply.

I went to Madras from Bombay. At Madras, the Maharajah of Venkatagiri was fuming. The furious Raja asked me, "Swami, who is this wicked fellow? For earning his livelihood he is tarnishing the image of Swami. I shall reply to him." I said, "Raja, do not react to it."

A week later the Raja convened a huge gathering. The meeting was attended by many sanyasins from Ramakrishna Mutt and Sivananda Ashram. The sanyasins discussed this matter. They were convinced that only people jealous of others' fame and name would indulge in such cheap activities. The Raja considered Swami to be the very breath of his life and loved Swami very much. I tried to pacify him, but he would not stop. When one of the sanyasins asked me, I replied, "Friendship or fight should be between equals. He should be my equal to challenge me. I do not accept challenges from any person roaming on the street. My dear son, the cow eats grass, the pig eats excreta and man eats rice. It makes sense when a man challenges another to eat as much rice as he can. If a pig challenges a man to eat excreta, should he respond? Therefore, I will not respond to the challenge." This reply delighted the gathering.

A week later, the Hatha Yogi came to Bangalore. At that time I was at Nandanvanam, in Ooty. He wanted to meet Me and seek pardon. I sent word to him that he need not beg pardon or repent. I also advised him to tread the path of Truth. He had announced that he would walk on water on a particular day. People flocked to buy tickets for this show. The people of Bombay have too much of money. I told them, "Misuse of money is evil. Do not waste your money." On the scheduled day lots of people thronged the venue. Our Sai devotees too waited near the gate with sticks. Were he to fail, they were ready to even kill him. Immediately, I sent a telegram telling them not to involve themselves in this matter.

The Hatha Yogi placed his feet on water and he sank. The police fished him out and with great difficulty managed to get him home through the back door. For the sake of earning money, some people indulge in challenging well-known people. They think that they can attract the attention of the world by doing this.

That is why always believe in good things and always have love for your fellow Beings and above all Believe in God

- From Swami's Dasara Discourse on October 5th '2000

Faith - Our Divine Lord takes care of everything

A couple of incidents which showed me what kind of faith Swami expects. It was one Dasara day like this; I had just joined Brindavan College as a student of the pre-University class in the year 1974. One day before the Narayana Seva, normally the students know - we take out the bundles of dhotis which come in pairs and we cut them and pack them in bundles of twenty five or so.

A few of us were doing this upstairs in the Mandir here. Swami was walking around and talking to us. He came to me and asked, "Has your father come?"
I said, "No Swami."
He then asked, "Is your father coming?"
I said, "No Swami."
He said, "Ah! How can you say that?"
  I said, "Swami, he is scheduled to have an operation today in the morning; so I am sure he won't come." Swami said, "No, No. He is coming! And when he comes, ask him to stay with you in the hostel."
I am talking of the time when there were hardly any buildings; there was only one row of buildings here. When the work upstairs got done I came down. When I came he had reached Prashanti – my father was walking in with his luggage! I was stunned. I asked him, "How is it that you are here? What about your operation? Did you not have your operation?"
He said, "No, No. I had my operation today in the morning!" I asked, "Then how is it that you are here?" He said, "I couldn't miss the opportunity to have Swami's Darshan, so I got discharged and came straight from the hospital."
I was stunned and asked him, "Father, there is no accommodation here. Don't you think you will get infection?" He said, "Infection? Swami's Darshan will take care of everything! He will provide me accommodation." Then I remembered and I said, "Yes! He has provided you accommodation. He has told me that you were coming and He has told me to take you with me and make you stay in the hostel." When we have Faith in the Lord; the Lord is the most faithful. He takes care of us so much.

There was another instance which I remember – this happened in the year 1971 – even before I joined here. I was in the bal-vikas of a Samithi (centre) called Ulsoor Samithi and they wanted to have a drama in Swami's presence. So they had asked me to be a part of it and I was getting trained. One week before Dasara, when our half- yearly exams exams were announced, I noticed that all the exams were exactly during the Dasara time. So I told the Bal Vikas teachers, "I will not be able to come for the drama."
They were very shocked! When I went home and told this to my father, he said, "No! You are going for the drama!" I said, "Father! I have exams!" "Exams don't matter – they keep coming every year," my father said and continued, "But this chance to go near Swami comes rarely. Don't miss it – go ahead! This is the most important thing; have faith in Swami and do what He tells you."
We are a joint family and nobody else knew much about Swami at that time – many of them were teachers and they told my father, "No! You are spoiling his education." My father said, "No! This is the true education! The more closer you go to God; that is true education. I want him to go closer to God."
So we came to Prasanthi Nilayam. I would just like to tell you one instance of how things were in those halcyon days. When we landed at 2:30 pm in what was called the `pata-shala' block at that time, the bal-vikas teacher called me after a few minutes and said, "Go to the Mandir and find out what time is the Darshan."
When I opened the door; Swami was standing outside! Swami had come to see whether all the bal-vikas children were housed properly. I was so stunned! Swami came inside and sat and spoke to us for forty five minutes! So we finished our drama in Prashanti Nilayam; and Swami blessed us and sent us back.
When we returned home after Dasara, I went to one of my classmates and said, "Please tell me what exam we have today so that I can read and come." He said, "What do you mean exams? All exams have been cancelled! The government has sent an order that they want to have some Dasara sports – so all exams have been cancelled." – Not even postponed!

So this is the way God takes care of you. And when He takes care of you;

- From a Wonderful talk delivered by Dr. T. Ravi Kumar in the Divine Presence During Dasara Celebrations on October 1, 2006.

True spirituality

Once Swami had called us for an interview. One of the brothers said to Swami, "Swami, Please define Spirituality in one sentence."

Swami replied, "True spirituality is to love all and serve all"

Not Satisfied as everyone felt it was a Routine one. Then Swami said suddenly, "But, before loving others, You have to Love yourself. This means that you should not have any bad habits and bad thoughts about yourself & you should be very much self confident that you Love yourself to the fullest. For that, You should be perfect in everything. This is Sadhana.

Sadhana doesn't mean namasmarana, offering worships etc.. If You could love Yourself completely, You can love others also completely.This is so called Sadhana."

What an answer! Do we really love ourselves fully? Are we sure that there is no quality in us which we detest? Think about it! Let us all think about it.