One day Sathya Sai Baba asked me, “what are you doing?” It seemed to be a very simple and elementary question. When I heard it, I immediately felt he was asking me about something very important, about the essence of my life. Asking this question, he stared straight into my eyes, inside me his soft voice echoed once again, what are you doing?
At that time, I traveled a lot in India and studied various systems of Indian and Tibetan yoga. Gathering my courage, I replied, “I practice yoga.” There was a pause, Sathya Sai Baba smiled slightly and said, “never tell me that you practice yoga, because you don’t even know what it is! Yoga is an endless journey!” After a pause, he added, «next time, never answer me like that.» His voice was calm, but very stern.
I felt a light sweat break through me, instinctively I looked at my watch and thought that our conversation would soon end for my salvation. The question was so energetically strong that it penetrated the very depths of my inner world. And really, what do I do in this life? What is my main business in life? After this conversation, I soon went home to Moscow.
Six months later I returned to Puttaparthi and Sathya Sai Baba again invited me for an interview. In less than a few minutes, he turned to me and carefully and intently looked into my eyes. It’s hard to say why, but inside me there was a feeling that he would ask “the same” question again. In an instant, I experienced horror from the fact that six months had passed, and I was still not able to understand the business of my life.
Sathya Sai Baba smiled a little before I heard his soft and melodious voice quietly ask me, “what are you doing?” In an instant, I realized that despite the fact that so much time had passed, I had not advanced a millimeter in understanding what exactly I was doing in life. There was a terrifying pause for me, I realized that the longer I was silent, the closer I was to fainting. Gathering all my strength, I whispered, «I don’t know… I don’t know what I’m doing in this life.» Sai Baba looked directly into my eyes, and I felt infinity shining from the depth of his.
A couple of months passed, I left for Moscow, and soon returned to Puttaparthi. Suddenly, I caught myself thinking that during personal communication, Sathya Sai Baba would surely ask me “this” question again. I understood that until I gave myself a clear answer, Sai Baba would not fall behind. There was a feeling of a student who did not learn his homework.
All the people around me dreamed of an interview, it was ridiculous for me to admit to myself that I would have gladly refused. Yes, it sounds silly now, but I didn’t even come to the morning programs on purpose a couple of times, in the hope that Sathya Sai Baba would invite my group, and I would miss the meeting. But what needs to happen always happens. The day came when Sathya Sai Baba invited me for an interview as part of a small group.
Before entering his room, we had to sit in front of the door for several minutes, waiting for him to complete his communication with some minister who had come from Delhi. Finally, we were invited into the room. Tension built inside me from anticipation of the denouement. Sathya Sai Baba turned to me and, as if not noticing my excitement, asked, “what are you doing?”
I did not have a pre-prepared answer, so I spontaneously answered, «I am an artist, I paint pictures.»
Sathya Sai Baba smiled and said, «yes, that is the correct answer.»
At that moment, my soul filled with a joyful sense of accomplishment. The creative energy of God is manifested in everything. Everything that a person does is creativity: Science and art, literature and pedagogy, finance and politics, sports and journalism. Since God is the Creator, a person reveals his divine potential precisely with the help of creativity.
Unfortunately, many people perceive the spiritual path in a rather narrow way – fasting and praying, living in the Himalayas, and studying philosophical texts. In fact, the spiritual path is the fullness of human life. Communicating with Sathya Sai Baba, I began to understand that the spiritual path is absolutely everything that happens to me, my every thought, my every word, my every action.