Svyatoslav Dubyanskiy
Sathya Sai Baba. Supernatural Experiences and Divine Transformation. Book One

Memories and Experiences of a Russian Devotee

Author's Preface

The Life and Teachings of Sathya Sai Baba

Before you is a book of memoirs about the greatest Indian mystic and miracle worker Sathya Sai Baba. He was born in the very south of India in 1926 and left his body in 2011 at the age of eighty-four. He was known as a philosopher, humanist, spiritual teacher, and the most significant miracle worker of our time.

Sathya Sai Baba preached the unity of all religions, taught meditation practices, and spiritually transformed people with his blessings. With the help of his supernatural abilities, he healed people from diseases and changed the destinies of his followers. The life and teachings of Sathya Sai Baba have caused heated debates and discussions for many years, even now these disputes do not subside.

Some spiritual leaders of India and the West treated him with the deepest reverence and considered him the most divine teacher of mankind. Among the followers and disciples of Sathya Sai Baba were the most prominent politicians and businessmen from around the world.

Sathya Sai Baba’s translator

I was fortunate to be Sathya Sai Baba's interpreter from 1993 to 1999. I translated conversations from English into Russian during Sathya Sai Baba's personal meetings with Russian-speaking groups from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and Kazakhstan. I watched how Sathya Sai Baba communicated directly with followers and visitors, gave spiritual instructions, answered urgent questions, healed people from illnesses, and changed people's lives.

For me, Sathya Sai Baba is a divine teacher who helped people at all levels of being, from the highest levels of spiritual enlightenment to the most acute problems related to health, family life, and business. For Sathya Sai Baba, there were no unimportant questions. Everything that worried people was important for him. He communicated with each person according to their needs and his level of perception.

The birth of this book

After Sathya Sai Baba passed away in 2011, many people asked me to write about the amazing stories I witnessed. Feeling the need to share my memories with a wide range of readers, I sat down to work, inspired. I remembered how Sathya Sai Baba was during his informal meetings, including his amazing sense of humor and deep insight, while reflecting on the significance of his spiritual heritage.

This book is not just a fascinating story about the life of Sathya Sai Baba and his many miracles; it can also be used as a practical guide on the path of life. The book contains a lot of Sathya Sai Baba's advice on working with the subconscious, meditation techniques and self-healing practices, as well as important recommendations on how to consciously work with the circumstances of life.

The book deals with many interesting and important topics: the relationship between man and God, the harmony of the spiritual path and social success, the right balance between religious practices and financial well-being, meditation practices, and a happy family life.

Creativity of the Author as an Artist

Many years of communication with Sathya Sai Baba completely transformed my soul. His blessings touched literally every aspect of my life. As a professional artist, I am grateful to Sathya Sai Baba for helping me realize that fine art is one of the greatest methods of spiritual self-knowledge and self-improvement.

I studied professional painting skills at an art college and institute, but I draw inspiration and ideas for my paintings from the infinite energy of Divine Love. My task as an artist is to use bright color combinations and unusual compositional solutions to create paintings that help the viewer experience a state of harmony, joy, and happiness. When I paint, I often feel the presence of Sathya Sai Baba, who blessed me in the work of the artist, for which I am eternally grateful to him.

Unity of the Spiritual and the Material

Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar incarnated in our era; he is the eternal Divine Spirit, who is beyond time and space. Reason and logic are powerless to comprehend the infinity of Sathya Sai Baba's Consciousness. At the same time, Sathya Sai Baba was born in the human world, he lived a wonderful and perfect human life. His life is the greatest example of the manifestation of the infinite creative potential that resides in the heart of every human being.

This book will be of interest to both those who are already familiar with Sathya Sai Baba and to readers beginning to acquaint themselves with his life and teachings. The book shows Sathya Sai Baba as a universal teacher who combines the wisdom of all human civilization and guides everyone on the path of harmonious development of Spirit and Matter.

Gratitude

I express my deepest gratitude to all my friends and relatives who took an active part in the work on this book. Thank you all for your kind and helpful advice, valuable information, technical, and financial support.

Special thanks to my wife Svetlana Dubyanskaya, as well as to my parents Igor Grigoryevich and Tamara Alekseevna.

Special thanks to Anupriya Wijayaweera for arranging the publication of this book. Thanks go to Alexander Bukreev for the cover design.

1. Dreams come true, I went to India and met Sathya Sai Baba

I first learned about Sathya Sai Baba at the very beginning of the ‘90s. At that time, I made several friends who had already been able to visit the Sai Baba's ashram. One of them was a successful Moscow businessman, who had been interested in yoga for many years, and at the very beginning of the ‘90s, was one of the first Russians who went to India to see Sathya Sai Baba.

In addition, I met two Hindu medical students who also told me about Sathya Sai Baba. They said he was an amazing teacher from India who preaches deep philosophy and performs amazing miracles. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, open yoga groups and meditation centers began to be organized in Russia. At the same time, as information about various esoteric traditions and directions appeared openly, it became possible to freely travel abroad, including to India. Among the great flow of new information, information about Sathya Sai Baba was especially attractive. I felt his amazing spiritual power and began to feel his invisible presence in my life. With eyes closed in meditation, I felt he was the one to hear all my thoughts and know all my feelings.

My first trip to India took place in 1993. This trip was completely spontaneous. At that time, I had been studying yoga, meditation, and Vedic philosophy for more than ten years. I could not even imagine that one could easily go to India and meet Sathya Sai Baba; it all seemed too fantastic.

Suddenly, circumstances literally spun around me. Several of my acquaintances, unexpectedly, decided to go to India and two weeks before their departure they invited me to join them. I first came to this fabulous country for six months. At the beginning of the journey, we visited the ashram of Yogi Ramaiah, a unique teacher of Kriya Yoga, who lived in the very south of India. After living there for some time, I moved to Sathya Sai Baba's ashram.

2. "I am a mirror"

There are a lot of spiritual teachers, yogis, miracle workers, gurus, and mystics in India. Sathya Sai Baba is the most famous and, at the same time, the most mysterious Indian guru of the twentieth century. Who is this Sai Baba? This is a very difficult question to answer as many people have many opinions. I’ve noticed people sometimes like to attribute the qualities and properties that they want to see or can hold with their intellectual understanding.

Sathya Sai Baba often said: "I am a mirror that reflects your inner world." Such excellent and perfect words. Some saw him as God, and some as a cunning magician; each one saw only what he or she was ready to understand and accept. I do not wish to fantasize about this complex topic, instead, let everyone follow their own intuitive feeling; let everyone find their own answer, for themselves, to the question: who is Sathya Sai Baba? It is hardly possible to understand this with the mind, for this you need to go into the depths of your spiritual heart and gain understanding there.

It is not so important for me who Sathya Sai Baba is, but what I can learn from him. There is a famous saying of Sathya Sai Baba’s, which is written in his books, and I was lucky, several times, to directly hear these wise words from his mouth: “Yes, I am God, but you are also Gods, the difference is that I remember that I am God, and you forgot. Every person is God, the difference is only in the degree to which you realize your true, divine nature.” These words of Sathya Sai Baba most exhaustively clarify how he perceived himself and all people.

There is an ancient Japanese proverb which says: "Buddha is not like a rice cake in a picture, but Buddha is like a real cake that can satisfy your hunger." I think this wisdom is perfectly applicable to the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba. What is important is not outward worship of him as a great philosopher and miracle worker, but a careful study of his life, which contains a magnificent message that can change the life of each of us.

His life is a great example of the manifestation of the infinite creative potential that resides in the heart of everyone. God is the totality of all individual souls; we are all one in God. Each person carries a great potential for divine creativity. It is this truth that Sathya Sai Baba perfectly embodied in his own life.

3. Who is the "one" who asks the question? Who is the "one" who wants the answer?

After Sathya Sai Baba left his body in 2011, I felt compelled to share some of the stories, which I’d been fortunate enough to witness, as well as recall the many manifestations of his miraculous power, which I’ve experienced first-hand.

Sathya Sai Baba once told me: “Now you are sitting in my room, but the time will come when this room will be inside your heart, and you will tell other people about our communication.”

Sathya Sai Baba is a world teacher outside of any traditions, schools, and trends. His teachings unite all world religions and philosophical systems. He established his ashram in southern India, and today the ashram remains a unique spiritual space of unity and love. This is a place where people of different worldviews can come. All visitors feel completely comfortable, like they would at home.

I think it's hard to even imagine any other ashram in which divine love, openness and universality would be manifested to such a clear degree. In the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba, the unity of all mankind, the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people is especially felt.

The essence of Sai Baba's philosophy is the study of the richest spiritual world of the soul. The only obvious thing is that the "I" exists, the deep sense of self-existence is a completely obvious and universal experience for everyone.

Self-existence does not require any evidence or beliefs, it is an experience that is fully inherent in everyone, regardless of gender, age, nationality, ethnic culture, social status, level of education or religiosity.

Who is the "one" who thinks? Who is the "one" who speaks? Who is the "one" who does the action? Who perceives the world around them? People talk about being happy or suffering, but they often forget to define who this mysterious “I” is that experiences happiness and suffering.

The question of who "I" am always precedes any other question. Who is the "one" who asks the question? Who is the "one" who wants the answer? Who is the "one" who wants to be free from suffering and find happiness? Who is the "one" who seeks to know the truth? People focus their attention on the goal they want to achieve, but often forget to find out who the “I” is that is wanting to achieve this or that goal.

Sathya Sai Baba taught meditation practices, he told amazing and instructive stories from the ancient Vedic scriptures, but all this was devoted to the main issue: a deep study of the nature of the soul and awareness of the primordial unity of the soul and God.

4. Everything we do and everything that happens to us are steps on the spiritual path

Sathya Sai Baba is one of the greatest miracle workers ever known. He was not just a philosopher who commented on the Bhagavad Gita and the New Testament, or talked about the teachings of Krishna, Christ, and Buddha. Sathya Sai Baba possessed tremendous superhuman strength. The scale of his energy was so great that people approaching the ashram, already forty kilometers away, could begin to feel his special energy.

A common feeling among new arrivals was that something unusual was beginning to happen, they could already feel their soul being filled with joy and peace. It was a truly unique experience reminisced by many. This divine vibration permeated through travelers, and people felt they were entering a special sacred place where thoughts calmed down and the whole space was filled with light.

The closer people came to the ashram, the more intense the feeling of joy and bliss became. Finally, when travelers arrived at Puttaparthi, itself, their sense of wonder reached its peak. The feeling seemed to be that this place is somewhere far away in heaven, so far it was hard to believe you were even on earth.

In India and elsewhere in the world, there are spiritual teachers who can work with hundreds and sometimes several thousands of students. As the energy power of Sathya Sai Baba is so enormous, he was able to help tens of millions of people, and in such a way that everyone felt a personal spiritual connection with him.

Sathya Sai Baba was able to change the most diverse situations and circumstances of people's lives with the help of his miraculous power. He transformed all levels of human existence. Being in close proximity with Sathya Sai Baba, people experienced subtle spiritual states. His blessings also manifested themselves quite physically: healing from serious illnesses, protection in dangerous situations, finding a happy family life, building successful business projects etc.

Sathya Sai Baba taught a person's spiritual quest must be in harmony with successful material circumstances. Very often people view the spiritual path only as a practice of prayer and meditation. In fact, everything that happens in life and everything we do are steps on the spiritual path. Good health, a happy family, taking care of one's parents and children, a successful career and business, scientific research and artistic creation are all integral parts of the spiritual evolution of man.

Unfortunately, some erroneously and artificially divide life into two separate means of existing: “spirituality” and “materiality.” Sathya Sai Baba perceived life in unity, therefore his blessings affected all levels and aspects of human existence, including, spiritual and intellectual development, as well as good health, family well-being, and financial abundance. This was also his uniqueness.

5. "My life is my message"

Sathya Sai Baba was born on November 23, 1926, in the south of India, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, in a small village called Puttaparthi. During his long life, he regularly visited various major cities in India, such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, but he preferred to spend most of his time in his native village.

Sathya Sai Baba often repeated the phrase: "My life is my message." Of course, what Sathya Sai Baba said to visitors during personal communication, or in his lectures, is very important, but the most important aspect to me is his life, itself. It is important to understand how Sathya Sai Baba lived his life and what we can learn from him by studying his long and bright life path.

His very birth in a tiny remote Indian village is a great lesson that he gives to the whole world and to each of us. Sathya Sai Baba was born in very unfavorable conditions, but by the power of his divine energy he was able to transform everything around. Thanks to Sathya Sai Baba, Puttaparthi, a small, impoverished village eventually turned into a beautiful oriental oasis. Puttaparthi in the twenties, at the time of Sathya Sai Baba's birth, was a tiny village with a few small streets and a small population. In order to buy the most necessary things, such as a jug for water or a cauldron for cooking, local residents had to walk several kilometers to a neighboring village, which was located on the other side of the stormy and full-flowing Chitravati River. In the neighboring village there was a market on Sundays and the locals waded across the river to buy the most basic things. At that time there was not even a bridge across the river.

The nature of Puttaparthi is famous for its magnificence. The village is surrounded by mountains of extraordinary beauty. The highest mountain in the area is called Sai Kailash, which has three peaks. Dense vegetation is everywhere, and the Chitravati River flows through the picturesque valley where there are many small reservoirs and springs. It is a truly fertile land.

I think any person who comes to Puttaparthi immediately notices the stunning beauty of this place. Half of the villagers were Muslims, and the other half were Hindus. In the middle of the village was a tiny square, which has survived to this day. There were also several tiny old Hindu temples in the square. In the Islamic part of the village there was a small mosque, which has also been preserved.

I met devotees of Sai Baba who came to Puttaparthi in the fifties. They told me about how this place looked in those distant times. Almost everyone mentioned that it was extremely difficult to get from the nearest city to Puttaparthi, the wagons drove slowly along narrow and broken roads.

It does not matter where and how we begin our life path, but it is important who we are in essence.

6. Where Sathya Sai Baba is born and lives, everything begins to flourish and grow in prosperity.

Sathya Sai Baba incarnates where he sees fit. I thought a lot about this. Why did he decide to be born in Puttaparthi, in a place so unfavorable for fulfilling his great world spiritual mission? At first glance, it would be much more correct to be born in any large city, in a rich and influential family, but Sathya Sai Baba chose a different path. His parents were outwardly quite ordinary people, but appearances can sometimes be deceiving.

Sathya Sai Baba's mother, whose name was Easwaramma, dreamed of having a son and, in accordance with the tradition of her family, took a vow to perform the daily practice of the ancient Vedic ritual called Sathya Narayana Vrata, the ancient worship of the god Vishnu and the goddess Lakshmi. She performed a ritual every day in order to beg the Lord for a blessing on the birth of her son.

Subsequently, Sathya Sai Baba said that when he considered his incarnation on earth, he decided to be born in the family of Easwaramma, only for the reason that Easwaramma practiced Sathya Narayana Vrata with the deepest devotion. He saw the greatest spiritual power of this woman and her devotion with which she performed worship, and so decided to incarnate in her family.

People perform various spiritual practices, such as meditation and prayer, which no one may know about, even neighbors and relatives. Higher teachers, on the subtle plane, know about all the prayers that people perform in the depths of their hearts. What can be hidden from human eyes is revealed to the Lord, for the human heart is like an open book to God. The story of the incarnation of Sathya Sai Baba is one such example.

Sathya Sai Baba gives us the most important lesson in the history of his birth in Puttaparthi. This village was one of the poorest and most inaccessible places on earth. Any person born in such a place would be doomed to poverty and oblivion. People who are born and live in such conditions live their whole lives without any prospect of getting a good education and achieving social success. In Puttaparthi there was nothing but the most beautiful nature. The maximum that a person born in this area could count on, if he was lucky, was to get an elementary education and work all his life in rice fields or in petty trade.

Sathya Sai Baba, only due to his great divine power, became a strong magnet and attracted a huge number of people, many spiritual seekers, and gigantic financial resources. All this made it possible to build in his village the largest ashram in India, the best Indian university, a huge stadium, a modern hospital, an international airport, as well as supply drinking water to all neighboring villages. Truly, where Sathya Sai Baba is born and lives, everything begins to flourish and to flourish and prosper.

7. Little Krishna who settled in a small Krishna temple

From childhood, Sathya Sai Baba began to work miracles. He materialized sweets for neighborhood children, cured diseases, and sometimes even levitated. At first, his parents could not understand what was happening to their little son. All relatives and neighbors thought some strange spirit had moved into him, and they even tried to treat the boy for this so-called illness. Gradually, however, it became clear to everyone around him that Sathya Sai Baba was not an ordinary boy, and they began to treat him like a child with unique abilities.

One of the first significant miracles he performed was saving his village. At that time, the entire area was in the grip of a serious epidemic. The people of Puttaparthi were very worried that one day trouble might come to their house. The boy Sathya Sai Baba blessed all the inhabitants so that the epidemic passed by, and indeed no one fell ill in Puttaparthi, although many people were ill in the surrounding villages. This miracle made a great impression on all the villagers.

As a teenager, Sathya Sai Baba announced to his parents that he was a divine teacher. He said he should leave his home and start preaching. Sathya Sai Baba founded the first ashram in the late forties in a small Krishna temple located in the very center of Puttaparthi. This is a very ancient temple, which has survived to this day. The antiquity of this temple can be determined because it is located far below the level of all other buildings on this street. In order to get to the territory of the temple you need to go down the stairs. The design of the columns and stone carvings also indicate the antiquity of the structure. The temple is very small. Even a person of average height cannot stand up fully and they would need to bend down a little.

This Krishna Temple during Sathya Sai Baba's childhood was abandoned. With his friends, Sathya Sai Baba completely restored the temple and settled in it. It was in the ancient temple of Krishna that he began to receive his first visitors, who soon flocked to him for spiritual advice and healing.

In the fifties, not far from the village, at a distance of about two to three kilometers, Sathya Sai Baba founded his main ashram, which is called Prasanthi Nilayam, which means in Sanskrit – the place of the highest peace. In those years, impassable bushes grew on this territory and villagers tried to bypass this jungle side. It was a dangerous place where cobras and scorpions lived.

The first devotees, who came to this deserted place, were very surprised when the very young Sathya Sai Baba told them this place will have a large temple (mandir), a canteen, a post office, a shop, and large houses where hundreds of thousands of people from different countries of the world will stay.

People shyly listened to Sathya Sai Baba as he spoke about the coming greatness of this wild place. They did not consider it possible to doubt the words of their teacher, but they did believe with some difficulty. However, over time, all the predictions of Sathya Sai Baba came true and became a reality. I was lucky to hear stories about the founding of the ashram from the lips of those people who were direct participants in these events.

8. Sathya Sai Baba forbade the cobras to crawl into the territory of the ashram, and they went to the neighboring mountain

One of the big problems that the first residents and visitors of the ashram came across was the large number of cobras that lived in the area. Once a large cobra crawled into the ashram, frightening everyone present with its large size and hissing. Immediately, Sathya Sai Baba left his room and went to the place where the cobra was. He addressed her as if he were talking to a man and asked that all cobras immediately leave this territory and not dare cross the line as he indicated it to them. After that, all the cobras left the territory of the ashram and still do not cross the indicated line, although they could still be found outside this line.

In subsequent years, a small path was laid along this line, which ran along the border of the ashram. Many times, I passed through it and saw how the cobras crawled only in the permitted area, but never crawled into the territory of the ashram.

Believe me, these are not very pleasant meetings. On hot Indian evenings, I often walked along this dimly lit path to get to my room. Sometimes a characteristic rustling in the bushes was heard. There were cases when cobras showed themselves, but, nevertheless, they never violated and still do not violate the boundaries assigned to them. Cobras live on the mountain and do not enter the territory of the ashram.

I first came to Puttaparthi in 1993. At that time, it was already a fairly large ashram, around which a university was built, one of the best in India, two modern hospitals, a huge stadium, a museum of all religions, and even an airport capable of receiving international class aircraft. In those days, a small town grew up around the ashram, and this place could no longer be called a small poor village.

I was lucky that I traveled to Puttaparthi for twenty years, and so I was able to watch this small one-story town around the ashram grow into a beautiful oasis with a huge number of multi-story buildings. Every year more and more people came to see and communicate with Sathya Sai Baba, so the population of Puttaparthi grew rapidly.

Puttaparthi became a beautiful oriental city, before our eyes, with many good hotels, restaurants of Indian and European cuisine, and with this more and more new Kashmiri and Tibetan jewelry shops opened, as well as shops with the best Indian silk.

9. What is Darshan?

The lifestyle in the ashram was surprisingly mild and very comfortable. People were settled in simple but comfortable rooms, with those who wished to settle in more comfortable conditions in hotels outside the ashram. I was always pleasantly surprised by the fact that everyone was settled, and no one concerned themselves with asking what tradition a person belonged to, or what religion he professed.

When a person came to Sathya Sai Baba, he was always welcome, and doors were always hospitably opened before him. In other Indian ashrams, there are quite strict rules for living. In almost all ashrams in India, only those who belong to the tradition are settled.

Usually, Sathya Sai Baba recommended for people to live in his ashram for no more than two months a year, and then they could return to their homeland. He recommended people to come to him every year, but for a rather limited time. This was due to the fact that his energy was so powerful, and so it was more beneficial for most people to be in close proximity to him for no more than a month or two. Of course, there were people he allowed to stay for a few months or even a few years.

The daily program was constant and never changed, except for the days of big religious festivals such as Shivaratri or Christmas. Everyday Sathya Sai Baba went out to his audience, which was called Darshan.

The word Darshan comes from the Sanskrit word darsh, meaning, to see. This is a unique phenomenon of the Vedic tradition, the analogues of which, however, can be found in different cultures. Seeing a divine teacher is a unique experience that results in great divine mercy and grace. People came from different parts of India, as well as from many countries of the world, in order to directly meet Sathya Sai Baba and feel the boundless energy of love.

To see a great teacher directly is a life-changing blessing. It is quite difficult to talk about Darshan. In order to understand it, you need to experience it on your own. When I returned from India to Russia, my friends asked me, “why did you go to India?” I tried to talk about Darshan, but it was very difficult to explain, almost impossible. I felt that my words were powerless.

Friends told me, “we have videos and photographs of Sathya Sai Baba and therefore we can see him without leaving home. What is the difference?”

This difference can only be felt if a person has experienced this amazing sensation in his own experience. When you are in close physical proximity to Sathya Sai Baba, you get the opportunity to touch the vibrations and energies of the highest level – this is the essence of Darshan.

Sathya Sai Baba went out to the people twice a day – in the morning and in the evening. Every day, tens of thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of people gathered to see him. The morning program ran from about 9 am to 11 am, and the evening program from 4 pm to 6 pm. The place where Sai Baba went out to the visitors is called the Mandir, which means temple in Sanskrit.

Those wishing to see Sathya Sai Baba usually arrived two or three hours before the start of the program and stood in line. Everyone wanted to sit closer to the path along which Sai Baba passed. The Mandir was divided into two equal parts – women sat on one half, and men sat on the other. In Indian tradition, such a division is considered natural and is not perceived in any way as a restriction on the rights of women. It is believed that feminine and masculine energies should not be mixed in the temple premises and people perceive this as something completely natural.

10. Letters addressed to God

Even when Sathya Sai Baba was very young, a tradition arose to give him letters and notes. This is a very interesting tradition, in my opinion, worthy of being told in more detail. Sometimes there was an opportunity to talk to him personally and ask questions, but a sufficiently large number of people did not have such an opportunity, since there were always a lot of visitors around Sathya Sai Baba. People wrote notes and tried to pass them directly into his hands the moment he passed by.

I think the tradition of giving letters to Sathya Sai Baba had a deep meaning. What did people write about? These letters thanked him for healing and support. Sometimes the letters contained very specific requests for help – people wrote about their problems and asked for blessings. The letters asked spiritual questions, they asked for healing, for solving family troubles, or problems related to work and business. Even though I sometimes had the opportunity to communicate personally with Sathya Sai Baba, I also wrote letters to him. Sathya Sai Baba took my letters, and solutions to my problems and answers to my questions always came.

People brought their letters every morning and every evening. When Sathya Sai Baba walked between the rows, the opportunity arose to pass the letters directly into his hands. Since Sathya Sai Baba was a clairvoyant, he read the information contained in the letters without even physically reading them. He never physically read the letters, and one look from him was enough to know everything that was written in them. Some letters he took, and some not. Sometimes a person would hold a bundle of letters, but Sathya Sai Baba would not take all of them, but only one. If he took a letter, then the problem or issue that was stated in the letter received his blessing and was eventually resolved.

Some carried their letter for many days and even for many weeks, but Sathya Sai Baba passed by and did not take their letters. People understood this to mean this question would remain unanswered. It is difficult to say why he did not take some letters, perhaps because the requests made in them were not correct or they were meaningless. Be that as it may, whether he took the letter or not it always gave food for thought.

11. Only Sathya Sai Baba determined who needed more to talk to him personally and provided such an opportunity

In addition to general meetings, there was the possibility of direct communication with Sathya Sai Baba in his room. These individual meetings were called interviews. I was fortunate to attend such meetings many times. Sometimes, Sathya Sai Baba invited me as part of a group, and sometimes alone. Sathya Sai Baba used to invite several people for interviews. Every year more and more people came to the ashram, and so the chance to get an individual meeting became less frequent.

In the ‘90s, groups who came for a month or two often had the unique opportunity to interact directly with Sathya Sai Baba. If he believed that a person really needed to talk to him, he would invite him or her to his room for an individual conversation, each time it was solely the decision of Sathya Sai Baba himself. It was impossible to "sign up" for an interview, only Sathya Sai Baba determined who he should talk to personally.

During the morning and evening programs, people sat on the floor of the large temple on rugs, while Sathya Sai Baba walked between the rows. Sometimes, he stopped and could talk to one of those present, and if he considered it necessary, he invited him to his room for a personal conversation. The invited people got up and walked to the entrance to his room.

Sathya Sai Baba invited groups of ten to twenty people and talked with people for about an hour, sometimes up to an hour and a half. Visitors from different countries came to him: Russians and Americans, Chinese and Japanese, Germans and French, Israelis and Iranians, Argentines and Mexicans.

He invited people from different countries for personal talks, and devotees who came from all over the world gathered in his room. The room for personal meetings was relatively small, and all the invitees sat on the floor. There was a beautiful chair in the corner where Sathya Sai Baba sat.

12. I was a beginner interpreter of Sathya Sai Baba, and I was very worried, but soon I witnessed two interesting cases, after which I realized there was nothing to worry about, and so I relaxed

When a group of Hindus came to Sathya Sai Baba, he spoke with them in any one of the Indian languages, such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali. If the group consisted of foreigners, then the conversation was held in English. Most of the Russian-speaking people did not know English, so during personal meetings Sathya Sai Baba communicated through translators. I was fortunate enough to interpret many times at such meetings. The main advantage for an interpreter was the opportunity to have frequent personal contact with Sathya Sai Baba.

I often remember two interesting stories that happened in the early ‘90s, which were very instructive for me as a translator. At that time, I was just starting to translate for Sathya Sai Baba, and I was very excited during my first translation experiences, because I felt it was a tremendous responsibility. However, I soon witnessed two interesting cases, after which I realized there was nothing to worry about.

A woman from New York came to the ashram, who was an emigrant from Russia. At that time, she had lived in America for many years and knew English perfectly. One of the Russian groups invited this woman as an interpreter thinking she would be the most ideal translator. What could be better than a Russian woman who had lived in America for many years and who spoke both English and Russian, perfectly.

However, when she came to the interview, she was able to translate only a few phrases. It seemed that an eclipse had occurred in her mind, and she stopped understanding English, altogether. In her embarrassment, she fell silent, and the interview, in fact, was derailed.

Sathya Sai Baba continued to speak in English, but the interpreter could no longer translate anything. She stopped understanding English exactly at the time of the interview, and immediately after the meeting, her knowledge of the language returned to her. The translator apologized, saying she was very uncomfortable for letting people down.

At first, the whole group was offended, but then everyone realized that a miracle had happened. Sathya Sai Baba showed that it doesn't matter if you know English or not, if he wanted to turn off a person's knowledge of the language, he could easily do it.

Literally, two weeks later, another Russian-speaking group was interviewed. In this group, no one knew English, and only one woman from St. Petersburg knew just a few simple phrases. She was very worried, because she understood that her knowledge was not enough for a full translation. When she entered Sathya Sai Baba's room, something happened in her mind and during the meeting, which lasted about an hour, she suddenly acquired knowledge of English.

During this meeting, people asked Sathya Sai Baba a lot of rather difficult questions, and she translated everything perfectly. When this woman left the room, she caught herself and realized that a miracle had happened, for she practically did not know English. All the other members of the group were also very surprised, because they knew very well that this woman did not speak English. Subsequently, she never learned English, but at the time of the interview she knew it perfectly.

This is how Sathya Sai Baba showed he can influence a person's consciousness. These two cases were very instructive for me. It became clear to many of those present at the ashram that Sathya Sai Baba could turn on the abilities of any person, or, on the contrary, temporarily limit the possibilities of someone else.

13. Sathya Sai Baba was fluent in all the languages of the world

Sathya Sai Baba had the ability to freely understand and speak all the languages of the world. A similar ability is described in the New Testament, when the Apostles, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, spoke freely in all languages. This is not about the fact that a person is a genius of linguistics and can learn many foreign languages. In this case, we are talking about the supernatural ability to understand and speak absolutely all languages.

India has dozens of major languages and many dialects, each with its own unique script. Sathya Sai Baba's native language was Telugu, a very beautiful and melodic language. At school, Sathya Sai Baba studied his native Telugu and Hindi, as well as a basic level of English, however, throughout his life he repeatedly demonstrated the ability to speak perfectly in any language with perfect grammar and pronunciation.

When people from different parts of India came to Sathya Sai Baba, he spoke to everyone in his native dialect, but when he quoted the sacred Indian scriptures, he spoke fluently in ancient Sanskrit. Almost always Sathya Sai Baba spoke to foreign guests in English, but sometimes he could show his ability to speak in the native language of each visitor.

I had the opportunity of personal contact with Sathya Sai Baba from 1993 to 1999. I am often asked how many interviews I was lucky enough to receive in those years. At first, I wrote down the dates when personal meetings took place, and after their number exceeded one hundred, I stopped counting.

Sometimes, Sathya Sai Baba invited me to meetings as an interpreter to translate the conversation from English into Russian, and sometimes he invited me to meetings in order to communicate with me personally. Even when I went as an interpreter, I always had the opportunity to talk to him about my personal topics. As a translator, I always sat next to him, so it was often possible to take a moment to discuss my questions, but not at the expense of the group for which I was translating.

During the first interviews, I was very worried as I felt my role was such a great responsibility. I wondered if I would be able to understand exactly what Sathya Sai Baba was saying, and whether or not I would be able to accurately translate his words; after all, I was not a professional translator.

When I made a mistake and inaccurately translated a phrase, Sathya Sai Baba corrected me and did it in two ways. Sometimes he told me with a smile that I had not translated correctly and repeated the phrase in English again. Thus, showing me and everyone present that he understood how I translated into Russian.

Sometimes Sathya Sai Baba corrected me in a different way, saying a phrase in pure Russian! This was heard by all those present. Of course, it caused great surprise and delight. He spoke phrases in Russian with perfect grammar and pronunciation and could point out my mistake, exactly.

Why did Sathya Sai Baba use translators? I think that the number of miracles around Sathya Sai Baba was so great that even without the miracle of knowing all languages, they were quite enough. Communicating with him was a unique experience and if Sathya Sai Baba spoke to everyone in his own language, then people would focus too much on his ability to speak in all languages, and not on the essence of his wise words. In order not to distract the human mind from the essence of his spiritual instructions, he preferred to speak in English.

14. I have seen people who miraculously changed their destiny with the blessings of Sathya Sai Baba, but behind all those stories there was always the great spiritual effort of the person himself

During one interview, Sathya Sai Baba sat in his chair, which looked more like a throne, while everyone else sat on the carpeted floor right in front of him. Sathya Sai Baba was like a conductor for the interview. Someone came with spiritual and philosophical questions, and someone came with questions concerning the circumstances of life. Quite often people brought photographs of their relatives with them in order for Sathya Sai Baba to bless them.

Only Sathya Sai Baba himself decided how the meeting would go. If he wanted to give someone else a chance to speak, he gave that opportunity, but he could completely ignore someone else. He could turn to someone present and ask: “What questions do you have? What problems do you have? What do you want to say or ask?” Then the person got the right to talk to him and ask his questions.

When some tried to interrupt and ask their questions, Sathya Sai Baba made it very clear whom he wanted to communicate with at that exact moment. There were cases when large groups came, but Sathya Sai Baba could only talk to one person during the whole meeting, and the rest just sat and listened. There were interviews where he could talk to each person in turn. Every time, everything was unpredictable.

When people turned to Sathya Sai Baba with really important questions, he listened attentively and gave detailed answers. If people came who wanted to show off their intelligence and education, he interrupted such a farce. If he understood that a person was not sincere in his questions and asked them only to be smart, he could abruptly interrupt the clever man and point out his hidden vices and problems in front of everyone. Only those who were completely sincere in their questions received deep and comprehensive answers from Sathya Sai Baba.

Personal meetings took place in two rooms. In the first room there were more general discussions. In the second, Sathya Sai Baba invited guests for individual communication, face to face. This room was very small; it had a chair for Sathya Sai Baba, but it was very simple. This room accommodated a maximum of three or four people, and here Sathya Sai Baba became more at home and informal, more like a close friend.

In the large room, people sat at some distance and the communication was a little stricter, but in the small room, the distance seemed to disappear. As a rule, more personal matters were discussed in the small room. People sat very close to Sathya Sai Baba and there was direct and friendly communication with a unique feeling of family. Sathya Sai Baba was no longer perceived as a great and famous guru, instead he was perceived as a very close friend.

Almost everyone who personally talked with him at least once remembered this amazing feeling for the rest of their lives. People would leave his room and enter a special state of peace and bliss for several hours. Imagine the Avatar being completely focused on you for an hour looking into your eyes as you peer into the infinity of his gaze.

After such meetings, I preferred to remain in a deep silence which naturally set in my soul; this could go on for many days, and sometimes for several months. The experience of personal communication with Sathya Sai Baba had a tremendous transformative power.

Sathya Sai Baba took every question that people came to him with, seriously. If a person came with a question related to family life and health, then he would discuss these topics as seriously and attentively as he did questions relating to philosophy and meditation. For him, there were no unimportant topics. Every issue important to a person at that point in their life was significant.

People asked Sathya Sai Baba for advice on what to do in this or that situation, as well as for support and protection. At the same time, he often reminded them that one should remember each person is one hundred percent responsible for everything that happens in their life. Only you can live your life, and only you are personally responsible for your thoughts, your words, and your actions. Sathya Sai Baba cannot live life for you. Only you are able to change your life, for only you are the author of your happiness and your suffering.

There is no need to shift the responsibility for everything that happens in life to Sathya Sai Baba and expect him to solve all your problems, while you are just lazily inactive. Only you can walk the path of your spiritual evolution, and no one can do it for you. You cannot ask Sathya Sai Baba, Krishna, Buddha, or Jesus Christ to meditate for you; you can only meditate on your own.