24. Oh my God! How to understand Sathya Sai Baba?
I was present at an interview when several people asked Sathya Sai Baba to instruct them in the practice of meditation. Sathya Sai Baba often gave instructions on the practices of Kriya Yoga without mentioning that it was Kriya Yoga. He sometimes taught yoga breathing exercises that improved health and harmonized the internal state, relieved stress, and gave more energy for an active and productive life.
In the interview, Sathya Sai Baba said that if you practice yoga breathing techniques, your health will improve, your emotional state will level out, you can feel a surge of energy and discover additional intellectual abilities. Sathya Sai Baba not only spoke about the benefits of yoga breathing practices, but also personally demonstrated how to perform these exercises correctly. I was happy to hear such detailed explanations of the basic techniques of Kriya Yoga, because at that time I practiced such exercises a lot.
Some time passed and I came with another group for the next interview, in which people asked Sathya Sai Baba a question about yoga breathing practices. He laughed and began to make fun, saying that all these exercises were completely useless and meaningless. Health from this would not be better, peace of mind could not be gained from these techniques, spirituality could not be increased. Then, after a pause, he began to parade comically, showing how some yogis do breathing exercises.
I left his room completely confused. What to do? How to understand Sathya Sai Baba? Why does he say completely opposite things? In an irritated state, I came to my room, not knowing what to do next.
I thought that if Sathya Sai Baba was really a spiritual teacher, then he should give clear and precise instructions to his students, but instead he only made things more confusing. Having calmed down, I decided to think more deeply about what Sathya Sai Baba said to try to understand why he said it. Once again, I had an amazing experience, which allowed me to see that Sathya Sai Baba was able to feel the audience and give an answer that was useful for the people who were listening to him at the moment.
Perhaps it was useful for someone to practice basic or advanced techniques of Kriya Yoga, but for someone else it was not. Sathya Sai Baba could also sometimes test the sincerity of a disciple who asked for guidance in spiritual practices. Is the person really interested in the practice of yoga and meditation? If the interest was sincere, then such people received detailed instructions.