Читать книгу: «Prema Sai Baba. The Mystery of God. Part One», страница 6
24. Divine games in Goa
In the spring of 2022, my wife and I spent two weeks in Goa, where I continued to work on a new book and conducted online seminars on Kriya Yoga meditation. The state of Goa is perhaps one of the most unusual in India. Many associate Goa exclusively with a beach holiday, but actually this is a state with deep culture and history.
This is probably the most Christian territory in India. There are beautiful Portuguese-style churches everywhere. The magnificent nature is wonderfully combined with the most beautiful Catholic cathedrals. If you go a little inland, away from the beach, there are mountains covered with jungle.
The main Christian shrine in Goa is the incorrupt relics of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), who lived in the 16th century. Born in distant Spain, he became one of the founders of the Jesuit order and the chief disciple of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556).
Ignatius Loyola’s most important contribution to Christian mysticism was the writing of the book Spiritual Exercises, which became a method for many Christians in Europe and around the world on the path of divine transformation.
Francis Xavier was one of the first to apply the methods of spiritual self-improvement set forth in the book of Ignatius Loyola. Now, in the 21st century, some doubt the relevance of the methods described in the Spiritual Exercises. It’s hard to say as any path is always personal. In the distant 16th century, it was thanks to the practices learned in this book that Francis Xavier gained mystical experiences of the Holy Spirit. Feeling the call of his heart, he traveled to the East in order to preach Christianity.
Having gone to the East, he preached the Word of Christ in India, Japan, and China. After his death in China, they decided to transfer his body to India for burial. As a result of the reburial of the honest relics of the saint, it turned out that God showed them a miracle of incorruption.
When I visit Goa, I always make a pilgrimage to the relics of St. Francis Xavier to practice prayers and meditation there. Undoubtedly, this is one of my favorite places in India.
During our stay in Goa, we suddenly lost a small envelope with several SIM cards. It was clear to us that no one could steal it, since there were no strangers in our villa. Intuition suggested this was another miracle and a joke of Prema Sai Baba.
The loss of such an important item as a SIM card was very difficult, since many accounts on the Internet were tied to them. We dug through the whole house where we stayed, but the envelope was nowhere to be found.
On the same day, Svetlana’s sunglasses disappeared. She wasn’t exactly sure where or how she lost them. She knew she might have just dropped them on the street, or perhaps even in the ocean.
After Goa, we returned to Doddamallur, to the home of Prema Sai Baba. As soon as we entered our room, the boy Prema Sai Baba immediately materialized the same envelope with the SIM cards inside.
He smiled and asked us, “Is this envelope important to you?” It became clear to us that our intuition did not fail us; it was indeed a divine game by Prema Sai Baba.
Joyfully receiving the envelope with the SIM cards, Svetlana immediately asked Prema Sai Baba to return the sunglasses as well. To this, the divine boy replied he did not take the sunglasses, and that they were taken by the ocean. Some may ask, why did he do it? Why waste energy teleporting SIM cards?
Any miracle of Sai has a deep spiritual meaning – the meaning of which is revealed over time. By this miracle, he showed that he completely controls every moment of our life, everything is under the control of God and there is no need to worry, because everything is a game of his Consciousness.
25. Teleportation of the brother
At the end of November 2021, an amazing event happened in the house. It all started with the fact that Prema Sai Baba lit up fireworks and crackers right in front of the house.
Out of fear due to the loud noises, a small dog named Bruno suddenly ran out of the gate of the house. The dog quickly ran towards the highway, which is a kilometer from the house. Prema Sai Baba ran after the dog with a few devotees.
Prema Sai Baba’s older brother, Keshan, also ran with everyone, running after the group of devotees at the very end. I also went after the dog. It was clear there was no need to hurry, as the main group of devotees, along with Prema Sai Baba, quickly ran along the road ahead. Consequently, I walked in the same direction behind the whole group.
Suddenly, Keshan physically disappeared and appeared three hundred meters ahead of everyone. Keshan instantly grabbed the runaway dog and returned the dog to Prema Sai Baba.
This great miracle was seen by several devotees who were present. On the same day, we decided to ask Prema Sai Baba and his brother about the miracle that had happened.
The older brother said he did not know anything and did not understand what we were asking him. Prema Sai Baba laughed. It became clear to everyone that he teleported his brother in front of everyone in order to return the runaway dog.
Again, the question arises about the meaning of everything that happened. The chain of events was very strange. In the beginning, cheerful explosions of fireworks, then the dog escape, and then the brother’s teleportation. Why did he do it? As always, this is a great mystery.
Everything in the universe is subject to the providence of God. Our ignorance causes us to perceive the physical world as real and unchanging, while everything is in a flux of constant impermanence. The most important thing is that these changes are subject to the Creator.
A couple of weeks after the story with his older brother, Keshan, Prema Sai Baba materialized a small medallion with the image of the goddess, Durga. Goddess Durga is a symbol of transformative spiritual energy, and she is also famous for her functions as a protector from potential negative influences.
It happened when Prema Sai Baba and I were sitting on the sofa in front of his house. Suddenly, he pointed to an empty space of the sofa between me and him, after which a small medallion appeared out of thin air on the sofa between us.
On the other side of the medallion was a symbol called the Sri Yantra. This is a symbol of the Sahasrara chakra, an energy point located at the top of the head. Meditation on the Sahasrara chakra grants enlightenment and leads to the realization of the original identity of the soul with God.
Sathya Sai Baba used numerous methods of materialization, which are now being used by Prema Sai Baba. One of these methods is the appearance of an object directly from the air in front of the person for whom this materialization is being performed. Such items are amulets that protect energetically and transmit special vibrations that help us on the spiritual path.
26. Prema Sai Baba in two bodies
There are several cases when Prema Sai Baba teleported his body or created his body double. The first of these cases involved Sharvani, a young woman from Kolkata who moved with her parents to the village of Doddamallur.
The story of this wonderful family is worthy of a separate book. Here, I will only mention they moved from their hometown of Calcutta to Doddamallur because Sai came to them several times in a dream and reported he had already been born as Prema Sai Baba.
Sharvani often helps the divine boy with his homework and prepares him for his exams at the end of each semester, offering a truly amazing service. One day, Sharvani came to the second floor of Prema Sai's house and was looking for the divine boy.
She looked cautiously into my room where I was sitting with my wife on a mat very close to Prema Sai Baba, who was sleeping on the bed. Sharvani excused herself and then closed the door.
She then looked toward the stairs leading to the roof. Much to her surprise the young woman saw the boy Prema Sai Baba calmly descending the stairs from the roof. At that time Prema Sai was nine years old.
Another incident happened when Prema Sai Baba was ten years old. In those days, about twenty devotees from Russia were staying at his house. One evening the divine boy played with the devotees on the large balcony on the second floor.
That evening he did the first tea ceremony for everyone, and we enjoyed Chinese tea prepared by Prema Sai himself. He did the ceremony so competently and professionally that it seemed he was an experienced master of tea ceremonies with many years of experience.
After finishing the tea ceremony, Prema Sai went to the first floor with several people following after him wanting to escort him to his room located there. He entered the room and said goodbye until tomorrow, as it was already late in the evening.
The group of devotees said goodbye and then went back up to the second floor. Much to their surprise, they saw the divine boy sitting quietly on the floor in the living room on the second floor.
For some of those present, it was such a big shock that a couple of people simply sat on chairs and fell into a long silence. As with the other teleportation incident, I was also a direct participant in this event and can testify to these astounding occurrences.
27. Watch hidden behind a pillow
When we visited Bangkok with the holy family at the beginning of 2020, another important incident happened to me. Prema Sai was then seven and a half years old. In order to understand the deep meaning of this event, I first need to tell the story that happened in the room of Sathya Sai Baba in the late ‘90s, when I was his interpreter for Russian-speaking devotees.
One group from Russia received an interview, a personal communication with Sathya Sai Baba. As usual, I went to the meeting room in order to translate during communication. As we know, only Sathya Sai Baba himself decided who and when people would get the opportunity to communicate with him personally.
People did not know in advance who and when Sathya Sai Baba would invite to the cherished room in order to talk to him personally. Naturally, these were unique experiences of direct communication and the opportunity to ask your personal questions, as well as receive individual instructions on spiritual practices.
At that interview, as usual, we were sitting in the room on the floor, and Sathya Sai Baba was in his chair. There was a conversation, and people asked questions and listened carefully to the precious answers while I translated. Suddenly, Sathya Sai Baba got up abruptly from his chair, turned the chair in my direction, and then went into the next room. To my surprise, I saw there was a watch on the chair behind the pillow, part of which was hidden behind the pillow and part visible.
After a couple of minutes, Sathya Sai Baba returned from the next room and sat down on the chair again. I knew something special was going on. Among the objects that Sathya Sai Baba materialized there were not only rings and rosaries, but also watches. I thought that most likely he would now materialize those same items for someone present.
For me there was no doubt this was Sai's amazing humor, a kind of provocation for the mind. Some in my place might doubt that Sathya Sai Baba is perhaps just a magician. Of course, I knew Sathya Sai Baba too well and understood that all this was just, "jokes of Sai".
A moment later, Sathya Sai Baba called one of the meeting participants to him. As soon as the man came closer, Sathya Sai began characteristic movements with his right hand and materialized the very watch. I remember this case because it was very unusual, one might even say it was a kind of a test of my awareness and understanding.
I told you this strange story because there is an even more unusual sequel involving Prema Sai Baba. At the very beginning of 2020, we went to Bangkok with the holy family for a couple of weeks. Once we visited a large shopping center. Teja Mani, Prema Sai's mother, and Svetlana went shopping for relatives, while the divine boy and I sat on a sofa and waited for the shopping to be completed.
Prema Sai Baba asked me for my watch, so I immediately took it off and handed it to him. There were small pillows on the sofa we sat on. He took my watch and placed it behind a pillow next to him. He laid this watch in exactly the same way it had laid during the interview with Sathya Sai Baba. After the boy placed the timepiece in this way, he slyly looked at me and asked if I remember how in a past life, he also showed me the watch behind the pillow on his chair.
At that moment he was seven and a half years old. Such stories are amazing because Sai is able not only to perform miracles, but to build multi-level chains of miracles that reveal deep meanings and transform human consciousness. Sometimes, he performs the beginning of a miracle in one life and completes this miracle in the next.
28. The older brother, Keshan
A special question is the mission of Prema Sai Baba's elder brother, Keshan (born in 2008). Already, quite a few devotees believe that Keshan is a partial Avatar. Some say he is the embodiment of the cosmic divine serpent Adi-Shesha, who lives in heaven. It is on this cosmic serpent that the supreme Lord Maha-Vishnu reclines.
According to Vedic legends, God, almost always, does not incarnate alone, but with his celestial team, which includes Adi-Shesha, who incarnates as the brother of the Avatar.
Some Avatars of the past had brothers who played an important role in their mission. Krishna had an older brother, Balarama, who, according to the sacred texts, was a partial incarnation of the god, Vishnu, and was born along with Krishna in order to help him in his spiritual mission on Earth.
Rama Avatar had several brothers who played an important role in his mission. One of them was Lakshmana, who devotedly followed his divine brother and assisted in his work of delivering the goddess, Sita.
Lakshmana spent many years together with Rama Avatar in the foothills of the Himalayas where they visited the ashrams of the sages together and received spiritual instructions and practiced austerities. Lakshmana, together with his divine brother, took part in the battles with the demon Ravana and his army.
Another brother of Rama Avatar who played an important role in his mission was Bharata. It was Bharata who began the tradition of honoring the sandals of the Lord (Paduka), which became one of the most important plots in the Ramayana epic.
Jesus Christ also had a brother, most likely an older one, whose name was Jacob. After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, it was his brother, James, who led the first community of Christians, which was historically called the Jerusalem Church.
Usually, we are accustomed to think that the apostle Peter is the main disciple of Jesus Christ. It is very strange that there is little mention of James, the brother of Jesus, in the New Testament.
Immediately after the ascension of Jesus Christ, it was his brother James who became the leader of the first Christians, which is described in the Acts of the Apostles.
We also have to admit that not all Avatars had significant brothers. For example, the Buddha did not have brothers who were known for their special role in history.
We know about Sathya Sai Baba's relatives, but none of them have had a tradition of special reverence. Sathya Sai Baba took great care of his relatives, including his brother, but strictly forbade the creation of any special worship cults for his relatives.
After the departure of his parents, a tomb was built where many devotees could practice meditation and prayer. Honoring the parents of Sathya Sai Baba is quite natural, but during their lifetime they did not play an important role in the spiritual life of the ashram.
It is difficult to say what kind of cult of veneration for the parents of Sathya Sai Baba may develop in a few centuries. For example, during the life of Jesus Christ, there was no hint of the veneration of his mother, but several centuries later a great tradition of veneration of the Virgin Mary appeared in Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christianity.
Let's get back to discussing the personality of Keshan, the elder brother of Prema Sai Baba. This is a very difficult question at the moment, because Prema Sai Baba is only eleven years old at the time of writing this book, and his elder brother, Keshan, is fourteen.
We already know Keshan is a unique person. When his mother, Taja Mani, was pregnant and about to give birth to her first child, Keshan, she had a mystical dream. In this dream, she realized she would give birth not to a simple child, but to the next incarnation of Balarama (Krishna's elder brother).
By this logic, if the first son was Balarama, then naturally the mother was not surprised when the second son was recognized as Krishna (Prema Sai Baba). From a very early age, Keshan constantly performed traditional Vedic worship of the gods, especially goddesses such as Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali.
Little Keshan sometimes does not have time to do his homework, because he constantly does Vedic worship ceremonies for goddesses, all day long. Instead of playing with the neighborhood boys, he is busy decorating the statues on the home altar.
If you look closely at some of the children's games of the divine brothers, you can see that Keshan treats his brother, Prema Sai Baba, as a goddess. There were many cases where Keshan called and even prayed to his brother, calling him "Amma", which means "mother goddess".
Quite a few devotees notice that Keshan performs traditional goddess worship (pujas) from morning to evening with amazing inspiration. His rituals last literally for hours, and he regularly does not have time to do school homework, because he is constantly busy worshiping goddesses.
The rituals performed by Keshan have miraculous powers, so some devotees ask him to perform prayers for them. Prema Sai Baba follows this closely and encourages his brother's practice.
29. Pilgrimage to Mount Arunachala
Sathya Sai Baba predicted that one of the signs that his next incarnation as Prema Sai Baba was gaining strength would be the flooding of the Chitrawati River which flows in the village of Puttaparthi.
A couple of years before Sathya Sai Baba passed away, and as he predicted, the Chitrawati River dried up completely. People knew this was an indirect sign of the imminent departure of Sathya Sai Baba, but no one wanted to think about sad things, so people drove away such thoughts.
In 2012, when Prema Sai Baba was born, a tiny stream appeared in the dry riverbed, which gradually became a full-flowing river again. In 2021, unexpectedly for everyone, the river was filled with much water, which led to a large flood. Luckily no one was hurt, but for some time life was difficult near the main ashram in Puttaparthi.
The water in some parts of Puttaparthi was waist deep. It happened on the 96th birthday celebration of Sathya Sai Baba. Thus, God showed that Prema Sai Baba is already actively entering into the fullness of his global divine mission. Many Sai devotees were reverently looking forward to Sathya Sai Baba's 96th birthday.
As you remember, Sathya Sai Baba predicted that he would live to be 96 years old, although in reality he left the body at the age of 84 years. There were quite a few expectations and strange predictions associated with this date, the 96th year of Sathya Sai Baba's birth. There were even speculations among some followers that he would be physically resurrected on his 96th birthday.
Let me remind you that according to Indian reckoning of age, a child is already born at the age of one. Namely, therefore, the 96th anniversary of the birth of Sathya Sai was celebrated in Indian style in 2021 (in Western style it is 2022).
The festival was canceled due to the raging elements. It was clear to everyone that this meant something. It was a clear message from God, but only those who already knew about the incarnation of Prema Sai Baba could understand it.
In the same year, 2021, a historic event took place, which was the first pilgrimage of Prema Sai Baba to the sacred mountain Arunachala. There are two mountains in the world that are associated with the god, Shiva – these are Kailash and Arunachala. Kailash is located high in the mountains of Tibet (China), and Arunachala is in the very south of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Arunachala Mount is famous for many as the place where Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) lived in the first half of the 20th century. There is also one of the world's largest temple complexes of the god, Shiva, which is called Arunachaleshvara. Prema Sai Baba visited this holy place on the day of a total solar eclipse. This day coincided with another special day called Shani Amavasya (Hindu festival associated with Saturn). This happened on December 3rd and 4th 2021.
The meaning of the solar eclipse and Shani Amavasya can be interpreted in different ways. In many ways, the significance of such astronomical events depends on your personal horoscope and level of spiritual development.
It would not be correct to say that such events are unambiguously favorable or negative. For example, the god, Shani (Saturn in Western astrology) is perceived by different people in very different ways.
There are many people in India who are terribly afraid of the god, Shani, because they believe he can destroy the fate of a person and bring many misfortunes.
Naturally, such a point of view is an ordinary prejudice based on a misunderstanding of the deep symbolism of the god, Shani. Each Vedic deity is an archetype and a symbol denoting the different aspects of consciousness, and different types of cosmic energy.
God Shani is the structure of life and systematic thinking. That is why this deity is credited with power over human destiny. Shani Amavasya is a day on which special spiritual opportunities arise in working on such qualities and abilities as a clear understanding of priorities, consistency, structure, and time management.
The same misunderstanding arises regarding the interpretation of solar or lunar eclipses. The sun in the Vedic tradition is associated with the god, Surya, who symbolizes leadership qualities, the embodiment of one's destiny, service, and many other wonderful qualities and potentials in a person. A solar eclipse can affect thinking and personality in many different ways, both positively and negatively.
We remember not only the very fact of Prema Sai Baba's visit to the sacred mountain of Arunachala, but also the importance of the days on which he made the pilgrimage. I was fortunate to accompany Prema Sai Baba on this trip.
It was quite obvious to me he not only enjoyed the journey like a child, but also carried out some important spiritual work on the subtle plane for the entire universe. During his pilgrimage, he made special prayers for the harmonization of the situation in all countries and for the well-being of all people.
Right at the foot of the mountain, he acquired a small stone statuette of Mahavatar Babaji, on which he performed the traditional ritual of worship. The divine boy, along with his older brother Keshan, brought flowers and milk, sacred ashes and incense to the statue of Mahavatar Babaji. They sang mantras dedicated to Lord Shiva and Mahavatar Babaji. It was amazing to watch Prema Sai Baba perform such worship.
Who can the Avatar worship? Everything was mysterious in this action, including the meaning and meanings of this sacred action. Returning home to his village, Prema Sai Baba performed several more worship ceremonies for Mahavatar Babaji.
During the pilgrimage, Prema Sai Baba visited the main temple of Lord Shiva at the foot of Mount Arunachala, which is called Arunachaleshvara. We also visited the tombs of three great sages who lived at the foot of the sacred mountain in the 20th century: Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), Sheshadri Swamigal (1870-1929) and Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918-2001).
