25. Sathya Sai Baba helped a young man overcome time and space
This is a story about a young man from Sri Lanka who was a Christian by birth, but since childhood felt close to the Hindu Goddess, Kali, and was also deeply interested in Vedic philosophy. He went to study in India at a Christian college, but began to frequent various ashrams, and eventually became a Hindu monk.
When he returned home to Sri Lanka for the holidays, his family was very upset to see him in the orange traditional robes of a Hindu monk. He returned to India, and after some time came for the first time to the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba. He was in disarray and did not know what to do next and how to live – the conflict with his relatives greatly upset him, because his life’s quest was spiritual, and he did not want to upset his relatives.
The young man managed to get the opportunity of personal communication with Sathya Sai Baba. During this conversation, he sincerely told Sathya Sai Baba that he would like to spend many years as a hermit in the forest, practicing meditation, and he also wanted to receive a mystical vision of his beloved Goddess, Kali.
Sathya Sai Baba was always very attentive to such requests. Sometimes people, wanting to seem spiritual, pretended to speak out about their alleged desire for austerities.
Feeling the sincerity of the young man, Sathya Sai Baba touched his head sending him instantly into a trance, which lasted about an hour. However, in the sensation, several years passed, during which the young man went to the jungle and lived as a hermit in a distant ashram. At the end of this mystical experience, he was able to meet the Goddess Kali, herself.
Seeing the majestic Goddess, he shouted loudly and joyfully, which frightened the people sitting in the next room. The young man’s cries were loud and continued for several minutes. The people sitting outside the doors of Sathya Sai Baba’s room did not dare to enter the room, but they waited with tension for the denouement. Soon after, the door opened, and the young man came out of the room – his face was joyful, and his eyes shone with bliss.
At the end of this communication, Sathya Sai Baba brought the young man out of the trance and gave instructions that it was not necessary for him to go into the forest and become a hermit, instead he should practice meditation daily and work in his specialty of helping people around him, by his example.
I remember how this event was vividly discussed in the ashram. Many people wondered how Sathya Sai Baba was able to push the boundaries of time and space. Sathya Sai Baba also told this young man about his previous incarnations. Since this is a personal topic, I prefer to remain silent about it.