59. Sathya Sai Baba blessed human beings and gods
This is a story told to me by Padananda. It takes place during the time when there were not so many devotees around Sathya Sai Baba. I was lucky to communicate with people who lived in the ashram in those distant years, when Sathya Sai Baba was very young, and his ashram was just being built.
He told me this story so emotionally and in detail that it began to seem to me that he himself was one of the participants in everything that happened. When I tried to ask him directly about it, he waved his hands and said that all of this happened not to him, but to two of his friends. Who knows?
One day two devotees were sleeping on the veranda right under the windows of Sathya Sai Baba’s room. In later times, this was no longer possible due to the large number of visitors, but in those distant blessed times, devotees could fall asleep right at the door of their beloved teacher. On that day, everyone in the ashram fasted in honor of a special holiday.
The Vedic tradition also has its own fasting system called Ekadashi. This fast is observed for one day, falling on the eleventh day of the lunar calendar. In accordance with tradition, it is recommended to arrange fasting days for yourself on this day according to the lunar calendar, which favorably affects the health and emotional state of a person.
The most important post in the annual cycle is called Vaikuntha Ekadashi. The observance of this fast is considered especially important and auspicious. Vedic myths tell that Lord Vishnu listens especially carefully to the prayers of people and instantly blesses those who fast on this day.
So, the day we are now remembering was Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which is the most important post of the year. The two devotees were sleeping peacefully on the veranda under the night sky full of stars. They suddenly woke up after hearing a strange noise. Looking around, they saw a bright light shining from Sathya Sai Baba’s window.
The light was so strong and flickering that both devotees immediately realized it could not come from an ordinary light bulb. Frightened, they went to the room in order to check what was going on. Opening the door, they saw a strange sight that surprised them so much they were forced to stop at the entrance and could not enter the room even a single step.
Sathya Sai Baba was reclining on the bed. He seemed to be in a state of deep trance. Directly in front of him stood several luminous Gods and Demigods, who respectfully bowed to Sathya Sai Baba. Around the bed, seven large fires were burning right in the air. Both devotees watched this scene for a while and then respectfully left, carefully closing the door behind them. Almost all night the light shone from the windows of the room, and the two devotees reverently prayed sitting nearby.
The next morning, they approached Sathya Sai Baba and asked him to explain the meaning of what they saw the previous night. Sathya Sai Baba explained that the seven fires burning around his bed were in fact the Sapta Rishis, the seven ancient sages. They came to his room along with the Gods and Demigods.
Important festivals of the Vedic tradition were regularly held in the ashram. Vedic holidays were celebrated, and the most important holidays of world religions were also celebrated: Buddha’s birthday, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Jewish New Year. Sathya Sai Baba never suggested that people change their religion. He helped people to understand more deeply the teachings and practices of the tradition to which each one belonged.
Sathya Sai Baba blessed Hindus to study the Vedas and practice mantras, Christians to study the New Testament and practice prayers, and Muslims to study the Koran and pray. No matter what language you speak to God, ultimately all prayers reach the Highest Divinity, which is your True Self.
God is love, and because of love He incarnates in the world of people. Being among people, Sathya Sai Baba simultaneously blessed the heavenly Gods, who sometimes appeared visibly in his room. There were many such stories. In later years, I and a few of my friends saw how, on special days, luminous balls appeared in the sky above Sathya Sai Baba’s house and then flew rapidly toward his chambers.