Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 3/31

On Wednesday, July 14th I awakened remembering the tail end of a very vivid dream in which I found myself in a group of people waiting to be tested by judges, but I did not know the nature of the test.

Finally, my turn came, and they said with surprise, that this one, meaning me, was able to breathe the full breath.

Apparently, this was the test, and I remember being very surprised, as I do not practise Pranayama, and had not been aware of breathing differently from usual.

Shortly after waking, my husband Sidney and I started our usual morning routine of Tai Chi Chih physical exercises followed by the meditation according to Baba's suggestions and guidelines.

A few minutes after starting the Tai Chi I was very strongly aware of Baba standing in front of me, only a short distance away, and I was most impressed with the fact that although I did not actually see Him, I knew the space He occupied in the room, and His size and height compared to my own.

Then I noticed that He was literally pouring into my solar plexus what felt like energy, and I was amazed at how very easy it was to relax and breathe it in; and wondered why it had never seemed so easy before, and hoped that I could continue to be so open to receive from Him.

I didn't connect this with the dream until later.

I had awakened with a headache, so I thought that Baba must be helping me with that, and thanked Him.

This awareness of Baba continued throughout the exercises and on into the meditation, until I began to feel that Baba was inside of me and that His energy was circulating all through my body with a tingling sensation.

I did not mention this to Sidney at the time, as it was such a subjective experience.

After breakfast I took a shower in the bathroom which Sidney always uses instead of the one I usually use, which is being repainted.

As I stepped out of the shower Sidney stepped in, and the next second I heard him crash as he slipped on the tile and fell on his back on the tile steps.

He could neither breathe nor speak, only groan, as he lay inert.

As Baba's presence was still so strongly with me, it was easy and natural for me to call on Him for help.

Somehow I was able to move Sidney out of the shower and onto a mat on his stomach, and was horrified to see that his rib cage on the right side was caved in, and there were two red marks across the back, and black and blue bruises beginning to appear on the upper back.

I quickly got Vibhuti and the mangalasutra which Baba had materialized at the spiritual marriage last year; putting them on his back I started rubbing gently with the Vibhuti, massaging his back, as I talked out loud to Baba, asking for help.

I was profoundly moved as I watched the ribs move up under my hand and the upper back resume the normal shape, at which point he gasped in and was able to breathe again and speak.

As I continued to rub the Vibhuti into the injured area, the black and blue bruises began to fade as if they were being washed away.

I could feel the broken ribs move under my hand, and could hear the broken ends rub against one another, and later, the X-ray pictures showed that he broke three ribs.

The amazing part is that there was no puncture of the lung; the broken ends were close together so that it was not necessary to operate to pull them into place; and there were no bruises visible.

I feel certain that Baba must have known that this was about to happen, but as He has said He will not interfere with our karma, He prepared me ahead of time (without my knowing the reason) so that I would be alerted to call on Him for help immediately, and already be filled with His energy so that it could pour into Sidney, and so prevent the accident from being more serious than it is.

The chief reason for me to share this is that so many devotees think that as soon as they come to Baba they will live happily ever after, free from problems, as we were taught in the fairy stories we heard as children; and are deeply disappointed and disillusioned, and often begin to doubt Baba, when the exact opposite often takes place, and they appear to be under an attack, with barely enough time to recover from dealing with one problem before new ones loom up.

However, Baba has told us that He often accelerates our karma when we come to Him, and as He will not erase it, He helps us handle it if we call on Him, knowing we cannot deal with it alone.

In the experience, I have just shared, not only did He fill me with His presence, but He led me, (without my knowledge) to be right there, only inches away when Sidney fell.

If I had been anywhere else in the house he might not have survived, as his condition made it impossible to call me, and I could not have heard the fall with the bathroom door closed.

For me, it is much more realistic to know that Baba is always available to help us with our problems, than to expect Him to wave a magic wand and avert them, and in so doing take away the chance to learn the necessary lesson through handling them with His help.

I am filled with awe as I look back and realize the loving care with which He came ahead of the accident to prepare the way to lessen the severity of it.

Sai Spiritual Showers - Issue 3/30

I was hastening home from hospital, tired and hungry, after a long spell of duty. Suddenly, at a turn of the road, two Muslim girls ran towards me and gasped, "Nursamma! Bade bahan ki thabiyath achchee nahi hai; jaldee aayiye!" ("Nurse! Our elder sister is ill; her condition is bad; come with us, quick.") They dragged me by the hand, towards their house. Evidently, something serious!

The scene in that gloomy house increased my fears. Around a wooden cot, about a dozen women were weeping and wailing; the kids were running helpless, hither and thither. The master of the family had gone to town to fetch a taxi. The patient, "the bade bahan," was in great agony and struggling for breath. She was shouting in great pain, "O I am dying."

That was, it seems, her sixth pregnancy; ten months had been completed, but there were no signs of the infant in the womb. Doctors, big and small, general practitioners and specialists, some whom I knew, and some whose names were strange to me, had examined her and pronounced judgement. Their verdict was that it was a case of malignant tumour which will yield only to surgery. But, Sarambibi trembled at the thought of the operation; she preferred drugs and injections; they showed me the list of medicines, administered in despair, allopathic, unani, ayurvedic, homeopathic. They had tried sorcerers, astrologers, magicians and quacks. But, the situation only got worse and worse; her husband proposed to take her before dawn to the huge big hospital at Coimbatore.

It was at this juncture that I walked in. As soon as she saw me, Sarambibi sat up and fell on my neck, shouting in distress, "O! my Baabaa." I cleared the room of all the relatives and friends and examined the patient. Yes! The 'tumour' was hard as stone, there was no heartbeat recognisable; no movement of the foetal limbs could be traced. I was non-plussed; what could I do? I knew only one remedy—the Vibhuti of Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba, a packet of which I always have with me. I move out every morning to the hospital only after worshipping Him. I had His Darshan at Ooty when He carne there and I had read the Tamil `Sathyam Sivam Sundaram" more than half a dozen times. Baba must help this woman now, I thought.

I opened the packet and, praying, "Sai Mata! Save your daughter," I drew with it a big Om on her abdomen and put a small quantity on her tongue. "Do not fear, you are with child; it will be born soon," I announced, to my own surprise! Sarambibi was filled with joy; she quietened and breathed normally; she went into deep sleep. They did not allow me to go home, but, insisted on my remaining there.

It must be midnight. Sarambibi woke with a start. She called me, "Nursarrmma! Come and see! The child is moving." I ran to the cot and with trembling hands felt her abdomen. I examined her. No tumour, no hardness at all.... It was the child, heart beat and movement clear and convincing! The pains too started soon and at 2 am, a girl was born! (7½-8 lbs!!)

The taxi which Amir Jan brought to take her to Coimbtore dropped me at my place, at 4 am.

ANNUAL FELLOWSHIP DINNER & NEW YEAR PRAYERS

As the year comes to a close on 31 December 2011, our members got together in an annual fellowship potluck dinner at 7.30pm.  There was a wide variety of vegetarian dishes, snacks, nyonya cakes and desserts.  After dinner, there was a video presentation on two interviews with Dr Sunder Iyer, a former personal attendant to Swami.

Prayers began at 11.00pm with Vedam chanting, Naamvalli, Bhajans and Gayatri chanting x 108.  All members had the opportunity to offer arathi to Swami at the end of the session.

Happy New Year!