67. Beyond all traditions
Sathya Sai Baba is the one who stands above all traditions. His approach is always personal and it is very difficult to quote Sathya Sai Baba. It must always be remembered that he gave spiritual instructions on the basis of what would be good for the person to whom he is currently giving instructions.
If Sathya Sai Baba saw it was more correct for a person to concentrate exclusively on him, he clearly said, “do not go anywhere else, stay only here.” However, there were cases when the same Sathya Sai Baba recommended people to go and study with other Gurus.
I know that some people left for training in other ashrams and traditions, but after a few years they still returned to Puttaparthi. There were people who left for training in other ashrams and did not return to Sathya Sai Baba, and this was also normal, because the purpose of the Avatar was to enrich the spiritual world of people and not to gain more followers.
If Sathya Sai Baba saw that it would be better for a person’s spiritual development to concentrate on another Guru, he would bless and guide the person along the spiritual path beneficial for that person.
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.