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

Sai Memories and Experiences.

Sathya Sai Baba about Jesus Christ's and Krishna's Life and Message.

Author's Preface

Sathya Sai Baba – the miracle of a blessed life

In this book, I want to share with you my memories of the greatest spiritual teacher, philosopher and miracle worker of our era, Sathya Sai Baba (1926 – 2011). He has been a mentor to tens of millions of spiritual seekers. His love and wisdom was boundless, the miracles he performed were beyond human capabilities.

People from all over the world came to his ashram feeling at home. Sathya Sai Baba was surrounded by an atmosphere of love and joy, happiness and creativity. He taught ancient meditation techniques and mantras, commented on traditional Vedic and Biblical texts. With the help of his supernatural abilities, Sathya Sai Baba healed serious illnesses and changed destinies, helping people to embark on the path of spiritual exploration of the eternal essence of their souls.

Between 1993 and 1999, I translated from English into Russian during personal meetings of Sathya Sai Baba with Russian speaking groups. During such meetings, I had the opportunity to observe how Sathya Sai Baba communicated with followers and visitors, gave spiritual instructions, answered questions, and performed amazing miracles.

After Sathya Sai Baba passed away in 2011, I was asked by friends to write about the amazing events I had witnessed. This is how my books were born.

Sathya Sai Baba was a divine teacher who helped at all levels of human life, from the very heights of spiritual self-realization, to simple and everyday problems related to family life and children. A special role in his communication with students was occupied by the questions of finding and realizing their destiny in life.

Sathya Sai Baba guided every person to explore the nature of the eternal soul. He proclaimed the divinity of every person, this was the essence of his spiritual message. Sathya Sai Baba helped to open the infinite space of the Spirit and make his dream come true.

Sathya Sai Baba was the messenger of a blessed life. He poured out Divine Grace on everyone who has opened his heart, and blessed him to the successful realization of his destiny in life.

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.

The events described in this book took place in the ‘90s, more than 20 years ago. For a long time, I deliberated over whether or not to share about the mystical and spiritual experiences that happened to me over the years.

In various spiritual traditions, such as yoga, Buddhism, and Christianity, it is considered highly undesirable to talk about your inner spiritual experiences and encounters, because this can lead to a loss of the new and precious energy. When something amazing and divine happens within you, it is better to keep the memories of such experiences a secret for the purpose of storing the resulting energy received from the mystical experiences.

When people thoughtlessly talk about their mystical encounters too soon after experiencing them it can lead to a loss of the energy. After such stories are shared it can sometimes take a long time to restore one's harmonious state back to the peace and calm of the experience. Divine energies need time to take root in the inner world and become an integral part of your life.

Later, when the energies and awareness have taken root, then you can share your spiritual experiences, divine encounters and new awareness, but only if you clearly understand and feel into how, when, and to who you will tell about the amazing events that happened. That’s when sharing about them becomes spiritual service.

Service happens at different levels: helping an elderly stranger cross the road, helping friends move furniture during a move, helping a neighbor with their garden. However, the highest level of service is associated with the manifestation of your genius and the embodiment of your destiny. Having found spiritual treasures in your heart, you must share them with other people. Service is the highest point of the spiritual path and it also manifests in telling people about your spiritual discoveries and insights.

Sathya Sai Baba said that Satsang, spiritual communication, is one of the most important elements of the spiritual path. When a person tells about their innermost experiences to friends, divine vibrations are transmitted because the word has great power.

Consequently, I have decided to share with you some of the mystical experiences that took place during my communication with Sathya Sai Baba. I wish not to impose my vision of Sathya Sai Baba but believe that every person should find his or her own Sai in their hearts and build their own image and understanding of this great and mysterious world teacher. For me, I feel the need to share his love and wisdom and the miracles I have been fortunate enough to witness. This book, then, is the story of my personal experiences.

I learned about Sathya Sai Baba at the very beginning of the ‘90s, when I was twenty years old. Almost immediately after that, I arrived at his ashram in southern India. This meeting was preceded by a long spiritual journey. About ten years earlier, I became very interested in meditation and yoga. I learned about Sathya Sai Baba from one of my acquaintances, and then I met a few more people who also told me unusual stories about an Indian philosopher and miracle worker.

One of my friends went to the USA and met several American devotees of Sathya Sai Baba there. Returning from America to Moscow, my friend told me with great enthusiasm about an amazing Indian saint, Sathya Sai Baba. At some point, information about Sathya Sai Baba began to filter into my life literally from all sides.

At that time, I had little information about the life and teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, and so everything I learned about him was fascinating and powerful, alluring and enchanting. I received photographs and the first videos, as well as amazing stories about his fabulous life, incredible miracles, and the deepest philosophical teachings.

One of the stories I remember hearing happened to Sathya Sai Baba when he was a teenager. I learned this amazing story from a Hindu who came to Russia as part of an Indian trade delegation, his name was Kumarji. He was seriously interested in yoga and knew quite a lot about Vedic philosophy. During the conversation, I discovered he was a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba.

One day, a Sai boy went with a teacher from the school and other students on a trip to the ancient city of Hampi to visit the famous temple of Lord Shiva, called Virupaksha. The whole group entered the ancient temple, but the Sai boy, unexpectedly, decided to stay near the entrance. He pleaded that he had an upset stomach. When the clergy in the temple were finishing the service, all those present saw the Sai boy sitting in the center of the altar instead of the deity. The teacher was angry because he did not expect the boy to behave in this way.

The teacher furiously left the temple, but then was suddenly surprised to see the Sai boy standing calmly in the shadows at the entrance. He was puzzled. It was strange to see the boy standing under the tree as he had clearly seen him in the center of the altar just a moment ago. Astonished, he left a few students next to Sai, while he himself went inside the temple to see if he could grasp what was going on.

Upon entering the temple, he saw the Sai boy once again sitting in the center of the altar. The teacher couldn't believe his eyes. He went back and forth several times. Finally, he realized the Sai boy was not an ordinary boy because he could manifest physically in two places at the same time. This happened years before Sai even announced he was a divine incarnation.

Subsequently, I read this story in several books describing the childhood miracles of Sathya Sai Baba, but at that time I heard it from the mouth of a person who knew the direct participants in those events. After hearing this amazing story, I didn't know how to react. My mind was highly doubtful, but my intuition was clear that this was a true story. My inner world was split in two and I was torn with doubt and curiosity.

After listening to the story of the Sai boy told to me by Kumarji, I could hardly believe it. At first, I treated this story as an ordinary Indian fairy tale. I did not want to upset my new Indian friend and decided not to tell him that I strongly doubted the reality of his story. However, the events that took place just a few days later completely changed my attitude to such stories. The next time I met Kumarji was at the subway. It is difficult to say, but perhaps he sensed my distrust of his amazing story about the Sai boy, because I was about to encounter my first miracle. These events are imprinted on my memory in every detail.

I met with Kumarji in the center of the Moscow metro station and we headed toward the exit. Going up the escalator, his friend looked into my eyes and took out a small photograph of Sathya Sai Baba from his pocket. It was the most common calendar, and I later discovered that such calendars with photographs of Sathya Sai Baba are often carried by many devotees.

Kumarji showed me this photograph, and said, “all photographs of Sathya Sai Baba are absolutely extraordinary. They are literally alive.”

After that, Kumarji silently chanted a simple mantra. His voice was soft and gentle. Quietly, he said, "Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram, Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram, Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram."

Immediately, in the very center of the Moscow metro, I noticed sacred ash materialize from this small photo of Sathya Sai Baba and a fragrant aroma appeared around it.

I already knew several stories about the materialization of sacred ash, but this miracle was now unfolding right in front of me. I couldn’t believe that I was watching the miracle of the materialization of sacred ashes. I couldn’t comprehend it. I was surprised, too, that the appearance of the sacred ash came accompanied by fantastic divine smells.

Sacred ash in Sanskrit is called "vibhuti," this word is translated as "revelation." It is very interesting that seemingly ordinary ashes symbolize divine revelation. Sacred ash is used in almost all the temples of India. It is applied to the middle of the forehead and sometimes diluted with water and drunk in order for a person to be healed of illnesses or receive a blessing.

Sacred ash is a symbol of the impermanence of this world and the eternity of the Divine Consciousness. In the Vedic tradition, it is customary to cremate the body after a person dies. In ancient times, sacred ashes were obtained from cremation. Of course, in our time, ashes are prepared by burning various ingredients but its symbolic meaning remains the same.

Ash symbolizes the illusory nature of the body and the entire physical world. On a deeper level, sacred ash also signifies the impermanence of the entire universe. Sacred ash is a deeply positive symbol of the eternal reality of divine consciousness. By applying sacred ash to your forehead, you remind yourself of the eternal divine essence of your soul.