Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - The Light

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humanity. They have belonged to the class of liberated and enlightened souls

whose earthly sojourn has not been for paying any karmic debt, but for teaching

the less fortunate souls and offering them the recipe for better and more

fruitful, moral codes of living. In the words of Vivekananda, Higher and

higher than all ordinary ones are another set of teachers, the Avatars of

Ishwar, They are Teachers of all teachers the highest manifestations of God.

The concept of Incarnation is integral with Hindu religious thought and with

Mahayan Buddhism. Even in Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth is believed to be the

one and only manifestation of divine power, the Son of God, the Holy Ghost who

trod the dust of Palestine and subsequently emerged as the supreme principle of

divinity. One has only to study the Holy Bible to garner information about the

power, splendour and glory of Jesus Christ. His teachings, based on love,

faith,

hope and charity and his commandments, specially the ones delivered to his

disciples in his Sermon on the Mount speak volumes about his wisdom. The chief

and unique power of an Avatar consists in his power to change the very spirit

of the age and to bring about a wholesale transformation of the minds and

hearts of men. All the Avatars have displayed this power in abundance. Since

the light has come from above, it is just in its nature to illuminate the dark

corners of the world as well as the dark recesses of the human heart. Talking

about the Avatars Annie Besant, the great theosophist thinker, has stated that

the treasure trove of perennial philosophy and wisdom of sanatan dharma is

buried in India; but in the modern age of science and easy communication, the

entire wisdom has been properly disseminated and has even become the spiritual

heritage of all mankind, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or nationality.

No wonder that

the Vedas, Upanishads, the shastras, purans and Bhagwad Gita, not to speak of

the vast Sai literature are works within the reach of the entire humanity which

aspires to explore the realm of spirit. The very fact that Bhagwan Sri Sathya

Sai is now not only a familiar name in the West and all over the continents of

Australia, Europe. America, Africa, but millions worship him as their personal

God. It may be noted that never before in the long history of Avatars, such a

phenomenon had been witnessed. When Rama and Krishna started their great

avataric mission, very few people realized the import of their work or cared to

follow their teachings. It was only in the case of Lord Buddha that a

substantial part of the world accepted him as a great teacher. But at the

present moment of mass communication, global travel in the jet age and

international channels of printing, time and space have ceased to matter and a

large number of seekers pay their obeisance at

the lotus feet of Sai Baba and experience his divinity at first hand and without

any shadow of doubt. It is in this sense that I have given the caption 'The

Light that never was on land and sea' to this chapter. Many devotees living

thousands of miles away from Baba have direct experience of miracles, visions,

directions in dreams, accumulation of vibhuti on pictures in their worship

room, and they are drawn to the Avatar as files of iron are drawn towards a

very powerful magnet. Containing the translucent beams of light, Baba manifests

that light wherever he pleases and the result is universal adoration of his

power and mystery as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God. Indeed, he

truly represents that light which never was on land and sea. In the age of

Romantic revival, the poets longed to see this light, but the waves of

industrialism and scientific materialism obscured their vision, and they

thought if there was no God they would

invent one and found in Nature a substitute for divinity, a light that never was

on land or sea. The primacy of spirit over matter and the transcendence of

consciousness over reality permeates the thought of the nineteenth century

German philosophers and of the British poet and thinker, Samuel Taylor

Coleridge. One notices a close proximity between these thoughts and the ancient

perennial wisdom of the Indian scriptures. When the Ray Supreme chooses to

penetrate the universe, there is illumination and only illumination. It is not

that a cosmic firework is witnessed. All that happens is that no area of human

consciousness is left in the dark to languish in sempiternal gloom. A new and

altogether welcome synthesis between subject and object is established and the

distinction between being and becoming is obliterated. The light that engulfs

the universe may either appear as both personal and impersonal. It may either

take the form of a Krishna

or Sai Baba. In its impersonal aspect, the light may be universal light, the

naked majesty of the sun and the stars. In the eleventh chapter of Srimad

Bhagwat Gita the vision of the divine in its total beauty, splendour and terror

was bestowed to Arjuna. We are aware of the glimpse of the eternal and ultimate

reality vouchsafed by the avatar to the intimate and fortunate ones who were

held near and dear to the avatar. The child Krishna opened his mouth in order

to show Yashoda, his foster mother that he had not eaten the mud. And Yashoda,

on her part, saw both creation and dissolution going on in that flash of

vision, universes rolling within the narrow confines of the avatar's mouth.

Lord Krishna also showed his cosmic form at the time he admonished Prince

Arjuna to cure him of his feeling of wavering and disaffection and his recoil

from action in the battle­field. When we glance through the biography of Sai

Baba of Shirdi we find that as a

child, while playing with marble with a neighbour lad he won all the marble

counters. The neighbour boy brought the lingam from the shrine of his mother

and played with it and lost it to Babu, as Shirdi Babu was called. When the

mother of the neighbour boy came to know of it, she rushed to the spot where

the boys were playing and entreated Babu to return the marble lingam. Babu

denied having taken the lingam. On being asked to open his mouth, he did so.

The pious lady saw universes rolling in the mouth of Babu and lay prostrate at

his feet. She had the advantage of the divine vision. In the biography of Sri

Sathya Sai Baba, entitled Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram we read that Baba showed the

images of all the avatars to his mother Ishwaramma and some close devotees. It

is reported that the images were produced in reflections on water, and many of

the onlookers could not withstand the impact of that sight and even fainted. It

only proves the

point that humankind cannot bear very much reality. You will appreciate the

truth of the statement that the only difference between a full Avatar and the

omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God without form is that the Avatar has a

name and a form. These, while making him more readily available to mankind, do

not limit the amplitude of his divinity. Seeing him in the form of a man, the

human mind is inclined to question these three fundamental facets of Almighty

God. I have often heard him say that there is only one God and He is

omnipresent. Can this small man in red be omnipresent? Can he be everywhere at

once? The mind questions. Yes, he is everywhere in spirit, the Holy Spirit.

Many of his close devotees perceive him around them all the time, often as

Light. But, then, when he deems it necessary, that Light will suddenly take

subtle form of Sai Baba. This I know personally from experience. Furthermore,

Howard Murphet affirms the

supreme continence of his affirmation visthe divine principle manifested in Sai

Baba as Light. He records : Now, after many wonderful years of benign influence

of my shining star Sai Baba, I have no doubt whatever about his omnipresence,

his omniscience and its relation to his omnipotence ... I have no doubt that he

will call to himself, at the right time all those who are ready to take a step

forward into the Divine Light and become his helpers. Thus, in ways that we

cannot yet foresee, he will carry out his divine mission for the enlightenment

of the whole world, creating a new epoch for mankind. Yet, after the partial

insights into the mission of the Avatar I find that God remains a great

mystery. Answering to a question by John Hislop about pointed concentration on

the form of God, Sri Sathya Sai Baba says: The best sadhana is that every act

through the day be done as worship of God.

God is like the electric power. Heart is the light bulb. The wiring is the

discipline. The switch is the intelligence. Just turn the switch and there is

light. John Hislop describes how Sri Sathya Sai Baba answers to his question in

respect of the divinity and universal omnipresence of Swami. H. Swami, here

just now we actually witnessed a part of this amazing story. How can this all

be? Swami holds the entire universe in His Hand. He bears the responsibility

for the inconceivably immense entire universe. And how can he at the same time

give this detailed attention to the lives of individual devotees? Sai : It is

as you say. Swami holds the universe in His hand. But devotees learn of the

glory and majesty through Swami's attention to each one, personally. That Swami

holds the universe, yet at the same time fully cares for the lives of his

devotees even to the smallest detail is the measure of His glory

that the devotee can understand. That Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai is the translucent,

all-pervasive Light that never was on land or sea in recent times after the dawn

of kaliytiga nearly five thousand centuries ago cannot be called in question. We

have not only the concrete and irrefutable evidence of astrology, Sai Baba's

birth chart at the time of his nativity, the opinion of experts in reading the

aura surrounding the faces of eminent human personalities, but also the

personal testament of devotees. Most of these evidences have been discussed at

some length in the author's earlier volume, Sai Baba: The Rose-Fire of Heaven.

However, a brief resume may be given here for the sake of coherence and

continuity. The first evidence is that of the ancient Jyotish Shastra

enumerating the principles of astrology. The position of the ascendant in the

lagna, the nakshatras and other major planets or constellations at the nativity

time of the subject is supposed to be very crucial and significant in

determining the life and character of the subject. The study of the birth chart

of Sri Sathya Sai Baba reveals the nature and quality of his divine descent.

Born in Akshaya Kartik when as many as four powerful planets were staying in

conjunction in the ascendant. The combination of Sun, Saturn, Venus and Mercury

indicated beyond any shadow of doubt the advent of a Maha Purush, a great being

or an avatar was born as the very quintessence of Light and Love in order to

herald a golden era for humanity. The advent of the Sai Avatar had been

prophesied thousands of years ago in the Upanishads as also in Bhrigu Samhita,

Nadi documents scribbled on palm leaves by ancient sages and seers and in

Satcharitragrantham, the repository of ancient wisdom. These priceless records

describe the divine attributes of Sai Baba whose principal task is dharma

paripalan, paropkar

and bhakta samrakshan. He has laghima, anima and mahimas, the power to shower

grace and splendour. He is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It is also

predicted that his powers would increase tenfold at the time of pralaya,

calamity and dissolution. He will show himself at many places as column of

light and perform many divine manifestations like keeping an airplane airborne

without petrol. Finally, it is mentioned that he will unfurl a dharma dhwaza

after the completion of his avataric mission at Whitefield, Bangalore. It is

difficult for us to disbelieve all these predictions. From the recorded

evidence of so many miraculous manifestations of the omnipresence and

omniscience of Baba and his Christ-like power of resurrecting the dead,

multiplying the quantity of food etc., one is inclined to believe in the divine

advent of Sai Baba. However, the greatest achievement of Sai Baba is to turn

people Godward and

plant in the human hearts the seed of faith and impregnate those hearts with the

elixir of pure, selfless love and thus bring about the transformation of hearts.

Another strong evidence of Baba's divinity comes from an entirely different

source, Frank Varoneshky, a professor at the University of Arizona, U.S.A.,

who has earned the distinction of being an undisputed expert in the study of

the halo or aura that surrounds the faces of individuals. He has the privilege

of studying the aura on the faces of eminent individuals in all walks of life.

According to him, the attendant aura speaks volumes about the character and

personality of the subject. Whereas the aura round the faces of ordinary

mortals is, more or less, non­descript, null and void, the aura encircling the

face of a superhuman person or an avatar is expansive and its lustre extends up

to the sky which is limitless. Professor Varoneshky was bewildered and

enthralled to see the aura

round the face of Sai Baba. According to him, it was a white and pink aura of

the colour of love. This aura became golden like sun and turned into blue

colour, which is the colour of love when the Majans were being sung. Professor

Varoneshky suggests that this aura signified the boundless energy of love and

he has no hesitation in saying that aura wise Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai was God,

the diamond like brilliance of his eyes expressing the unfathomable depth of

his love. The personal experiences of many a devotee richly substantiate this

aspect of Sai Baba, the dramatic operative principle of his divinity manifested

as a Ray from the Supreme. The present author himself experienced the surge of

waves and waves of unearthly light emanating from the eyes of Sri Sathya Sai

Baba on that fateful day of summer, 1973 as he stood face to face with Baba in

an attic room by the side of the interview room. It was not only ecstasy, but

also sublimity that

filled the vessel of his being. The author still recapitulates that moment of

epiphany, akin to the intersection time when one is very near illumination and

experiences the process of being burnt out. An American devotee Jack Scher

records his intimate experience of his first encounter with Sai Baba in images

of poetry. He says: One personal leela was my discovery that during bhajans I

could close my eyes and suddenly the whole scene I had been watching turned

into beautiful shades of intense rose, pink, mauve and orange. At first I

thought it was an after image but the scene kept changing. The audience would

fade and I'd see huge palaces with gigantic walls and turrets. When Baba came

outside, I could close my eyes and the whole scene would turn into a soft and

yet vivid pink. He lit the sky with his presence. We are aware that in some of

the materializations, specially photographs and cards, there is the imprint of

three words :

T.P.S. -Howard Murphet records in one of his books, Sai Baba: Avatara. Baba

answered his query and explained the fact that T.P.S. was his trade mark. It

meant Tara Parthi Sai. We can conjecture that it also might mean Tara Patri Sai

and Tara Prema Sai. The direct apocalyptic experience of Pauline Kirby is

strange and unique as she visualizes the descent of a star on the Good Friday

day of 1977 that transformed her life and left an indelible imprint on her

mind. That is how she describes the descending of the Holy Spirit from the Sky

as Sri Sathya Sai Baba: After spending a very lovely evening in attunement

.... with God and Nature, I retired to my room. It just so happened that this

particular room had a skylight so I could look up and gaze at the star-lit sky

.... I looked up at the skylight; and suddenly a star started coming down from

the heavens. It streaked across the sky getting brighter and brighter and

continued right on

through the window, entering directly into my room. It was awesome. I was

utterly stunned and amazed ... Almost instantaneously my room shone with a very

strong light. Everything seemed so clear and beautiful. It was totally

overpowering. I was in a complete state of awe and wonderment. I remember

saying, 'Is this happening to me? Is this a dream? Am I asleep but I was

totally awake and my mind was perfectly clear. Yes, it was really happening ...

The star then began to flash various streams of light, and all these flashed

before my eyes, I heard a very loving voice giving me clear directions about my

life. The messages were very simple, and there was no doubt in my mind that this

was guidance from above ... The voice also told me to become a vegetarian,

become celibate, and begin to worship God. Later when I came to Sai Baba, I

realized that these were his exact teachings ... The star stayed with me for

quite some time. The flashes of light and the voice all happened in a

very synchronized pattern, like an orchestra playing a symphony around the

cosmic dance of life ... yes, I realized there is really a God, and he is

directing every move of my life ... Sometime during the star's presence, I

remember feeling very afraid, and immediately the image of climbing up and

downstairs came into my mind. To me, go down meant to descend into darkness and

the unknown, while to go up meant to follow the light and to know what the real

Truth is. I now realize how similar this insight was to Asatoma prayer of Sai

devotees: Lead me from the unreal to the real; lead me from darkness to light;

lead me from death to immortality. Even then, Baba was imparting one of his

essential teachings. Soon I started reading about Sathya Sai Baba and the very

first book, Vision of the Divine, disclosed Swami's trademark, T.P.S. It means

Tara (Star), Puttaparthi in the form of Sathya. Then I realized it was he who

had come as that wonderful star; it was he

who had descended into my world on Good Friday night; it was he who

hadcompletely changed my life. Thus, it is clear from the vivid and authentic

experience of Pauline Kirby that she, like William Wordsworth, had the

intimations of immortality on the night of Good Friday, which transformed her

life and brought her into the orbit of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and nearly made her

an apostle of Christ. She may not be Paul, but her name has the implicit

suggestion of its derivation from the name of the great apostle. The star

symbol is extremely relevant in this context. It encloses within it the power,

majesty and brilliance of that perpetual star which God is. It may also be

noted that the account of Pauline Kirby, describing the descent of the Holy

Spirit, is essentially poetic. Verily it is through poetic perception and

imagination that such a tenuous experience as the vision of the divine can be

grasped and communicated. In this connection, one is

tempted to quote the poem of Professor V.K. Gokak a noted Karmad and Indian

English poet in which he envisions Sai Baba as 'a lawn of blue light'. Baba

is a lawn of blue light With a May flower on top of his hair And a golden lily

on his cranium. He is the healer of a world in pain, The blue-throated God

That drinks the poison of its suffering To make it happy and whole. This

blue-throated God is also the Sun-crystal as described in V.K. Gokak's another

beautiful poem: He sits in the sun in the meridian hour of exceeding glory.

And the sun is mellow to his eyes and limbs, The scion of the sun becomes a

sun crystal. He receives the quintessential ray and concentrates it on the

world that it may be purged of its dross. And in the moment of Apocalypse,

that sun-crystal Melts into the sun. One can

say, in conclusion, that Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the perpetual star that becomes

multifoliate rose so as to make humanity aware of his divine reality. He

appears as light or the single flame that burns continually to take the entire

humanity, upward to the path of illumination making us aware of the God who

resides within us. Baba's divine power is the power of spirit ,and his light is

the sempiternal light that shines everywhere. In the words of Professor Gokak,

Baba's power is something that descends from the thousand petalled lotus, the

elemental exercise of a will that is omniscient and omnipresent. It is the will

that sees and acts simultaneously. What it wills fills and fulfils itself in

space and time. But it bides its time, unwarped by slushy sentiments, unbiased

by impatient hurry. And when it strikes, it is for all to see, like a column of

light that unites the earth and sky. Professor Gokak describes some of the

external, breath-taking and almost

unbelievable phenomena that go by the name of miracles, signs and wonders: It is

the cascade of vibuthi or holy ash, endless, exhaustless. It is the

crystallization of lingam after lingam, spheroids of alabaster or jade from the

silk soft leaves in the abdomen. It is the ceaseless oozing of honey from the

heart of granite itself. It is the descent of a succession of golden images of

gods and goddesses‑from nowhere. it is the transformation of stray

particles of sand on a sea shore into the divine image of Sri Krishna, the

reconstitution of water into petrol. It is the profuse in pouring of vibuthi

and the massing in of kumkum behind the glass framed on the photograph, the

foot­prints in holy ashes leading to the worship room in a house or out of it.

It is flower moving marvelously from the top of a photograph to its base, or

whole garlands aflutter ... It is the rain that suddenly stops raining or the

electric bulb that blazes

with light when the whole area is plunged in darkness. It is the shaft of light

that hits you in the eye from a photograph. That Sri Sathya Sai Baba is

divinity incarnate, the logos, the word or the supreme Brahman is no longer

debated or doubted. As time passes, the absolute certainty and authenticity of

his incarnation or avatarhood is becoming as clear as daylight. Even those who

consider Sri Sathya Sai Baba merely as a holy man and saint par excellence are

veering round to the view that he may be representing the absolute and ultimate

reality, the still centre which is the source and spring of all light and

knowledge. Howard Murphet in his book, Where the Road Ends, makes a mention of

the prophecy of Sri Aurobindo about the victory day: The noble work of Sri

Aurobindo did, however, have its Victory day. This day still celebrated in his

ashram was on the 24th November, 1926. His followers believed that

Sri Aurobindo had been working for years to bring about what he called Krishna

consciousness on earth. On that day he announced that his goal had been

achieved. Krishna consciousness had come on earth and so this was his Victory

day. On the day before this announcement, that is, on the 23rd November, 1926,

Avatar Sai Baba was born. A large number of his followers including myself see

him as Avatar Krishna born again. Dr. Samuel Sandweiss, a renowned American

psychiatrist, was drawn towards Sri Sathya Sai Baba and delved deep into the

reality of the avatar and he was able to apprehend the ultimate reality of

Baba. He records : Good news about the presence of Sai Baba among us will

spread quickly throughout the world, I am sure even though as he says, it will

take a while for us to comprehend his full significance or the meaning of his

message. It has been my good fortune to draw close to him at a time when it is

still

possible to become friendly with him on a personal level and see the clear signs

of his greatness in a close and intimate way. Yet I feel that soon Baba will

become but an orange speck on the horizon, surrounded by millions of eager

faces. And like the people in his village who were once blessed to know the

sweetness of his being from daily personal contact with him, I too will one day

be saddened by having to view him only from a distance. But it is enough to know

that Sai Baba exists at all. I feel deeply fortunate to be able to play a part,

in some small measure, through this book in an evolutionary phenomenon moving

inexorably towards realization: world consciousness awakening to its own

glorious potential, and to the presence of a being who may indeed be ushering

in a golden age. The experience of Swami Abhedananda, a close devotee of Sri

Raman Mharshi, who achieved a high level of spiritual development through

sadhana and longed to see the

divine in human form, is very revealing. One morning at 4 A.M. he had a vision

of both. Raman Mharshi and Sai Baba. The figure of Sai Baba underwent a

metamorphosis and it seemed to Swami Abbedananda that Sri Krishna was standing

before him in his tangible concrete presence. Even John Hislop in his wonderful

book, My Baba and I, has related his experience of a drive with Baba on his car

.... when he was amazed and wonder struck to see the attractive shades of deep

blue on the face of Baba. He could not help asking Baba: 'what did that colour

actually meant Baba was quick to respond: 'It was the colour and complexion of

Krishna.' It may be interesting to sort out the revealing experiences of

devotees, specially their initial and final perceptions of and insights into

the nature of the Avatar. The most common thing is that the hearts and souls of

persons ready to receive spiritual initiation are instantly lit up by the light

of Baba's divine presence. Sri Sathya Sai Baba is a cosmic visitor; an avatar

of Light and Love and his glory and splendour cannot be diminished by censure

or criticism by cynics, ignorant and hollow men without faith. Baba simply

brushes aside or ignores such criticism by saying that he feels sorry for those

persons who hardly know either him or themselves. In his famous interview

granted to Mr. R.K. Karanjia of Blitz Magazine he has answered all his queries

and convinced Mr. Karanjia of his divinity. Mr, R.K. Karanjia, a progressive

thinker and committed Marxist, has beautifully summed up his overall impression

of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and his misson. He has pit it record and has become an

ardent devotee of Baba: What finally is the sum of Sathya Sai Baba's mission?

God realization through self-realization, he answered. In his series of

interviews Baba has shown the Godward path to the realization of

sat‑chit‑ananda, that is, experience, knowledge

and bliss absolute. According to Baba, this highest state of consciousness or

enlightenment is possible for every man and woman to achieve once he or she is

liberated from the ego­bondage of body and mind to realize the true self that

is jivatma. Jivatma is the abode of the indwelling God in man. It is the

embodied essence of parmatma, the Cosmic Spirit. The Avatar's mission,

according to Baba, is to help mankind dissolve the barrier of the ego and the

mind with it so that the embodied jivatma can merge and fuse with the universal

Parmatma, the mighty ocean of nectar divine as he describes it, to raise mankind

to a race of good men and good women. Baba seeks to resolve the universal

problem of man's alienation from man, God and nature with the Sai philosophy of

pure spiritual love. Sathya Sai Baba provides the desired formula for escape

from the terror of existence. Only evolution to a higher plane of consciousness

can save man from

this terror, this darkness and cold, this frozen spiritual misery. Mr. Janardan

Thakur, another important journalist and feature writer of Sunday, has also

published his interview with Baba. He had gone there in a critical and

sceptical frame of mind, harbouring doubts about not only Baba's power but also

his gown, his hair. Baba was generous and compassionate enough to allow him to

examine the gown and the hair and he reports that there could not be a wig; it

was a head full of hairs. Similarly, when reputed para psychologists and a

bunch of psychiatrists visited Prashanthi Nilayam Baba accepted them with grace

and removed all their doubts. This author also remembers the time when Baba

passed along the line of the teaching staff and mumbled sadly, 'You all are

doubting Thomases.' Baba has said on many occasions, 'If you say yes, I also

say yes, yes, yes. If you say 'no', I also say no, no, no.' what is of crucial

importance is the attitude of total

affirmation, faith and unswerving belief in the existence of God. Since the

individual atma is basically an ansha or part of the paramatma according to

Vedanta, the eternal Absolute having created the universe at its own pleasure,

the One having become many, there is hardly any separation. 'Thou art that' is

the basic and central truth. That is what Sri Sathya Sai Baba means when he

says that God realization is self-realization. Verily, Sri Sathya Sai Baba is

the unique and incomparable source of Light, a regal and imperial Lighthouse,

the blazing fire in the midst of a black pall to point the way to the pilgrims

assailed by fancy lights and enchantments. To change the metaphor, he may also

be described as that sempiternal erosionless rock in the bosom of the sea, the

ocean of sansar. In the dark and stormy weather it is merely a sea-mark,

helping the mariner to cruise safely on to his destination; but in calm and

tranquil weather,

it is what it always was, the symbol of permanence. Waves wash over it, the

sunlight caresses it and the sea wind blows over it, but it is always firm and

erosion less. In this world of constant flux Sai Baba is the only unchanging

Absolute who sheds his light on each and every fragment of the phenomenal

world, the Light that never was on land or sea. He is at the spring and the

source, the root and the foliage of every sentient thing, especially mankind,

for it is man who has the privilege of evolving to higher and still higher

states of consciousness. Howard Murphet in the last chapter of his book, Where

the Road Ends, speaks of life's journey as a pilgrimage and a search and goes

on to highlight the nature of the quest. Finding the right kind of analogy of

the medieval quest romances, he believes that the final destination of the

questing hero is the place of everlasting happiness and eternal, absolute

bliss. As T.S. Eliot says in the last

movement of Little Gidding, We shall never cease from exploration And the end

of our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for

the first time. Howard Murphet quotes from The Secret of the Golden Flower:

Wandering in Heaven one eats the spirit of energy of the Receptive and the

still deeper secret within the secret the land that is nowhere that is the true

home. The place is none other than the Grail castle, the destination of Sir

Percival, Sir Galhad and other valiant knights. When the seeker comes finally

to the chapel perilous, he has to encounter the grail girl who asks him

questions. It is only when he has the gift of grace that he is able to give the

right answers and has glimpses of the Holy Grail. The Grail king is none other

than God himself who lives in the inner chambers of the heart of the questor,

the inner spirit, and the

true self. Mr. Murphet significantly says: 'My own Grail castle was my star in

the East, Sai Baba.' Similar has been the experience of many close devotees of

Sri Sathya Sai Baba who have bathed in the white radiance of the divine Light

and have had glimpses of the Grail, the innermost meaning and purpose of life.

When Sai Baba unequivocally declares. .. the fact that the worship of the

Lord in any form, in any name is the worship of Sai or that it is he who grants

the boons irrespective of the God to whom you make your prayer, supplication.

What is meant is that the power that operates in and through Sai form is

identical to the power to which you pray. This is clearly an unmistakable and

authentic manifestation of Satchidananda who has a human form, feet and hands

and is engaged in purposeful activity of listening to the prayers of the world

in pain and misery and is entirely capable of liberating all

souls in the universe. That is why God is described as uttam Purush, the source

of Light, Love and Bliss. It is the universal omniscience, omnipresence,

power, glory and splendour of the highest magnitude that give credence to the

belief that Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the manifestation of the divine principle

and is the crowned knot of fire and the beacon light by which we know of the

glory of God Almighty. As Mr. S.P. Ruhela says : Sai Baba has served, inspired

and instructed unnumbered thousands of devotees, sceptics, critics and

curiosity seekers through the years with profound spiritual powers. One of

these is his widely reported capacity to heal the diseases and infirmities of

people by blessing them ... Another important area of his power is the ability

to respond immediately to prayers or cries for help from devotees often

hundreds or thousands of miles away by appearing at the site and taking action

by materializing gifts

of vibhuti or other things in their houses by causing message to appear for

them, and so on. This divine television and teleprinter has surprised and

baffled physical scientists in India and abroad who have seen their laws of

Physics fall before Baba's miracles. And furthermore, he describes the

universal charisma of the Avatar by testifying to his acceptance as a symbol of

divinity by the world at large. He says: Devoted Christians have testified that

they find in Sai Baba glimpses of their Christ. The Hindus find in him the

living images of Shiva, Shakti, Krishna, Rama, or their family deities. The

Muslims call him Allah and people of other religions find in him their own

conception of God. He is secular, casteless, classless, country less, religion

less, fearless and full of the love of a thousand mothers. Sri Sathya Sai Baba

has declared : My power is immeasurable. My truth

is inexplicable. I am announcing this about me as the need has arisen ... Let me

tell you that emphatic declarations of the truth of avatars were made so clearly

and so unmistakably only by Krishna. Finally, to write about the principle of

divinity emergent in a full Avatar like Sai Baba, is a difficult and precarious

business because one cannot enclose the sun in a little room and say with

certainty he is this and that. So it would be fair to close this chapter by

quoting the words of Howard Murphet : If we were asked to list the attributes

in our concept of God, the spiritual parent, most of us would name these:

compassionate concern for our welfare, the knowledge of what that welfare truly

is, the stern strength to make us take the nasty medicine when necessary, the

power to help and guide us along the narrow way to our spiritual home, the

forgiveness and mercy of the father who welcomes with joy the prodigal, the

power to

bring essential innovations to the human drama which he himself has created, and

a love that is equal towards all his human children. These are the salient

qualities in man's mental image of God. And these qualities­ all of them those

who have eyes to see have seen in Sai Baba.

 

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