50. The Power of the Holy Names of God
This is a story about an Indian women named Pedda Botu who lived in the ashram and was deeply devoted to Sathya Sai Baba. She was a very close devotee of his and everyone knew her well and loved her very much for her kindness and sincerity. One day she asked Sathya Sai Baba how to meditate. He replied that she did not need to meditate at all but should constantly chant aloud or, to herself, the Holy Names of God. In those distant times, few people lived in the ashram, so some devotees preferred to sleep on the street just under the windows of Sathya Sai Baba. Blessed people!
One night, Pedda Botu was sleeping on the grass under the windows of Sathya Sai Baba, covered with a light blanket. It was very comfortable for a hot Indian night, but suddenly it began to rain. Pedda Botu woke up to several large drops beginning to fall on her. The first thing she said softly was the mantra: “Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram.” Immediately, the door opened and Sathya Sai Baba came into the street pretending to be dissatisfied. He asked Pedda Botu why she did not let him sleep.
The frightened woman apologized and said she had not called him. However, Sathya Sai Baba insisted that she woke him up and called him. After that, Sathya Sai Baba explained that the power of the Holy Names of God is so great that one who constantly repeats them achieves the deepest intimacy with God. For such people, it is enough to say the mantra “Om Sri Sai Ram” only once and God immediately perceives this as a personal appeal and instantly comes.
The first time I heard this story was from Padananda, and then Sathya Sai Baba told about it in my presence.
One day I thought about how many times you need to repeat a mantra or a prayer in order to be heard? We all know the stories from the Gospels when, through the prayer of Jesus, amazing miracles took place, i.e., the resurrection of the deceased Lazarus, the materialization of fish and bread, healing from diseases, and much more. We remember the amazing stories about Saint Seraphim of Sarov – a prayer uttered by him only once could bring down the Holy Spirit.
In the ashram, people often discussed that it is not so important to say a lot, but it is important to pronounce mantras of high quality. But what does quality mean? Some suggest that if you say the mantra with perfect concentration once, then this is quite enough and you do not need to practice it millions of times. These are all complex and deep questions.
In the story I told in this chapter, Pedda Botu felt the beginning of rain and spontaneously uttered a mantra and received an instant response from Sathya Sai Baba. He felt her prayer and immediately left his room. It should be remembered that Pedda Botu lived in the ashram for many years and practiced various mantras millions of times.
Most importantly, she was deeply devoted to Sathya Sai Baba and her sincere love for her teacher was so endless that it is simply impossible to put it into words. It should not be thought that a single repetition of the mantra was enough. However, the mechanical repetition of the mantra is also meaningless.
Sathya Sai Baba jokingly said that if the mere amount of repetition of a mantra were sufficient, then the first person to achieve enlightenment would be a tape recorder. Great joke!