My most memorable impression of
Baba is that He is one of the freest and most spontaneous of human
beings I have ever come across! He is not an inaccessible distant and
forbiddingly solemn figure. The Divine has incarnated itself in Baba in
its most engaging and at the same time its most compassionate aspects.
These aspects of Baba were vouchsafed to me and members of my family and
a few close friends during an almost unexpected visit of Baba to my
residence.
It was
an unforgettable experience for all of us. To have Baba so close to us
in His beloved familiar form, full of laughter and fun, yet so
thoughtful, considerate and loving was at first a bewildering
experience. We were dazed for the first few minutes. But Baba soon put
us all at perfect ease, and our joy knew no bounds.
It was
ananda of the purest kind, overwhelming and indescribable, and we were
simply swept away by Baba’s grace, love and benediction. It was as if
some very dear friend and close relation was with us, intensely
interested in our welfare and supremely happy to see us and be with us.
With tender solicitude, He enquired about every one, advised us on a few
important problems that troubled us, joked and laughed with us, ate the
simple meal hastily got ready and left us, with our hearts full of
indescribable joy. Yet the void in our hearts, when He left us, was
painful, as if a dear one had left us on a long journey.
The
resplendent figure of Baba, in bright orange robes, with a merry twinkle
in His eyes, and a gracious enchanting smile on His face, His hands
raised in benediction, remains in our minds with indelible vividness,
and the sunset hour of that sacred day when He came to our home is still
remembered with joy by everyone who had the privilege to have His
darshan.
In Baba
the Divine and the human are so harmoniously blended. He is the perfect
Man, and yet an Incarnation of God. So, sometimes His inscrutability
baffles us. He acts on a plane so high that ordinary people can hardly
understand Him and His ways. Many people go to Puttaparthi hoping that
He will cure their physical ailments. Others look upon Him as a
fore-teller of the future. All this, people regard Him as simply a human
being who has somehow acquired great powers. Baba often says that His
cures miracles, and prophecies are part of His great mission to purify
and exalt mankind and bring them to God-realisation. But Baba is greater
than all that. To the true devotee, He is the Supreme Teacher and Guide
whose love can convert and bring them nearer to their great goal of
Self-realisation. Prasanthi Nilayam is a powerful spiritual center where
a mighty power of healing and inner peace works without cessation.
Indeed, Baba has charged
that place with some wonderful shakti of His own, and no one who goes
there can remain unaffected by this vast and powerful spiritual force.
