All the great teachers of mankind proclaimed the path of direct communication between man and God. Krishna, Buddha, Abraham, Christ, Mohammed, and Sai Baba spoke about this. At a higher level of development, a person who thinks about God, worships God, and meditates on God begins to realize his original oneness with God.

The great truth about the essence of human existence was proclaimed by Jesus, when he said: "I and my Father in heaven are one." God is the Heavenly Father of every person, and every person is a Child of God.

Self and God are originally one. This fundamental truth is proclaimed by the Vedas. In an ancient text called the Narayana Upanishad, it is said that one who knows Vishnu becomes Vishnu. Vishnu is the symbol of Absolute Consciousness. We are all one in Consciousness, and we are all Consciousness from the very beginning – we just temporarily forget about our true infinite nature.

The spiritual path is gradual and long and there is no need to wait for the result the next day. One of the greatest obstacles on the spiritual path is expecting results too quickly. Nowadays, many people want solutions to their problems instantly. There are a huge number of announcements and advertisements heralding seminars that promise to solve all your problems instantaneously.

I remember how, while walking around the outskirts of Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas, I repeatedly saw advertisements for classes that claimed to help you heal from all diseases in “just three days” and to help you attain enlightenment in “just 30 days.” It sounds ridiculous, but such offers exist in large numbers, and they’re in demand. There is no such suffering or problem that you cannot be freed from as everything can be prayed for, but healing does take time.

You can talk about the unity of your "I" and God as much as you like, but only meditation practices give an actual mystical experience of higher reality. Meditation techniques help to gradually awaken latent spiritual and intellectual possibilities. You are what you think about most of the time. Man, constantly thinking about God, discovers unity with God.

The spiritual path consists of many paradoxes. In fact, it is not possible to gain unity with God because we are all originally united in God. What is actually happening is an epiphany of what is happening and always has been. "I AM God" is not an achievement, but a discovery.

39. Sathya Sai Baba visited America in a subtle body

Here is another story told to me by Subba Rao. This one is about an American, John Sinclair, who was a man of unique destiny. He was a successful businessman with a huge fortune. However, his success in business did not bring him happiness in life; in fact, the more successful his businesses became, the more he felt depressed and meaningless in his existence. One day he began to pray intensely. His prayer seemed like a spontaneous and free conversation with God.

He began to talk to God and share about his problems, internal conflicts, and spiritual doubts. He did not know who God was or what he looked like, but he clearly felt his presence. There was a clear feeling that some unknown cosmic force was attentively and silently listening to the cry for help from the depths of his heart.

John Sinclair communicated with the "unknown God" for several evenings. A week later, he felt his life changing in a strange way, as if some invisible hand was protecting and guiding him at every step. One night he heard strange footsteps in the living room of his house. Without turning on the light, he cautiously walked through the darkness to see who was walking there. He could feel the presence of someone in the living room, but no one was visible. The strangest thing was that Sinclair had no feelings of fear. On the contrary, he experienced a surge of joy and bliss.

For most, the feeling that some invisible person is walking around in your house would most likely give rise to horror and panic, but Sinclair felt the complete opposite. The next night the strange experience was repeated. Sinclair tried to visit several spiritual centers to discover who exactly could’ve visited him.

In one of the spiritual centers of New York, Sinclair met a man who suggested that, most likely, it was Sathya Sai Baba, a great spiritual teacher from India. Gradually, Sinclair felt a deep spiritual connection with Sathya Sai Baba and wanted to meet him personally. For a long time, this did not happen due to employment and affairs that constantly prevented Sinclair from going to India. After some time, he finally managed to go and meet with Sathya Sai Baba. During their personal communication, Sathya Sai Baba told Sinclair how he visited his house several times at night. With this confirmation, Sinclair was happy. Sathya Sai Baba told Sinclair how he protected him from many dangers and sent blessings. Sinclair felt and understood this was true because he experienced all of this in his own experience.

After that, Sathya Sai Baba said he had a request to ask of Sinclair. Sinclair was very grateful to Sathya Sai Baba for his help and blessings, so he was ready to donate any amount of money, but Sathya Sai Baba did not mean money. Looking closely at Sinclair, Sathya Sai Baba asked Sinclair to always be happy. These words of Sathya Sai Baba shocked the American and instantly he felt the deepest love and sincerity coming from Sathya Sai Baba.

In the early ‘90s, Sinclair once said he was raised in the Christian tradition and since childhood had worried about being born two thousand years after Jesus lived. He always dreamed of meeting a divine teacher and when he saw Sathya Sai Baba, he realized his dream had come true.

40. "I Am I"

The physical heart is on the left side and the spiritual heart is on the right side.

(Sathya Sai Baba – “Lectures at Kodaikanal”, 1996)

Of all the quotes I have chosen from Sathya Sai Baba's books, this one is perhaps the most important and practically necessary for meditation. The True Self is the original source from which everything arises.

In this book, we discuss in several chapters the most important topic of the Spiritual Heart, which is located on the right side of the body. It may seem strange to repeat the same thing several times, but Sathya Sai Baba, during his long life, regularly spoke in lectures, as well as during personal meetings, that the Spiritual Heart is on the right side. Therefore, correct meditation should be directed precisely at this mysterious point.

In Kriya Yoga Meditation tradition, we use affirmation to help us concentrate on truth about our Supreme Self.

"I Am" in everything and everything is in Me.

The Self is outside of time and space, Self is the source of time and space, "I Am" at every moment of time and at every point in space.

"I Am" is here and now, "I Am" is always in the beginningless past, and "I Am" is always in the eternal future.

Self is embodied in the temple of the physical body.

"I was" before the appearance of the physical body and "I Am" after the disappearance of the physical body.

"I Am" in wakefulness, in dreams and in deep sleep, in dying, in reincarnation and in eternity.

"I Am” unborn and immortal, primordial and eternal.

The Absolute Self corresponds to the Spiritual Heart, which is located on the right side of the body. In Sanskrit, the Spiritual Heart is called Hrideyam. Over and over, we ruminate on this most important point in the body. It is in the Spiritual Heart that the actual mystical experience of "I Am I" takes place.

In the great Vedic formula of "I Am I" there is a double "I" to indicate the simultaneous existence of the absolute and individual reality of "I". At every moment of time, "I" am both the Absolute "I" and the individual "I". At every moment of time, "I" am simultaneously God and man.

41. Sathya Sai Baba may use force to help the devotees

In the south of India lives a man named, Anantappa. He has been a follower of Sathya Sai Baba for many years. Anantappa's devotion and love for Sathya Sai Baba is surprisingly deep and sincere. Every day, he practices mantras, prayers, and meditations, and constantly feels the invisible presence of his Sathya Sai Baba.

One day Sathya Sai Baba gave Anantappa his photograph. Anantappa placed the photo on the home altar, and after a while, sacred ash began to materialize from it. Sacred ash in Sanskrit is called "Vibhuti", it is a symbol of the eternity of the spirit and a reminder of the impermanence of all material things.

The word "Vibhuti" also means "revelation", because "Vibhuti" is not just ashes, but something special that carries a philosophical message. Sacred ash has the power to heal people from disease and protect them from negative energy influences. It can even help people to achieve their goals and plans.

Usually, sacred ashes are kept in small boxes on the home altar or carried in a pocket in a bag. I know many stories of people receiving healing through using sacred ash. If health problems arise, it is smeared like an ointment on that part of the body where there is disease. Sacred ash can be diluted with water and drunk, and there are many cases of people receiving solutions to their problems after regularly drinking a solution of sacred ash.

Ordinary ashes are prepared by burning various ingredients, but Sathya Sai Baba's ashes are especially famous because they are not man-made. Sathya Sai Baba materialized sacred ash during personal communication and gave it to people as a token of blessing; there are also cases today still when sacred ash materializes from his photographs. This amazing miracle is happening in the homes of devotees in different parts of the world, not only in India, but also in Europe, America, and Russia. When such a miracle happens, people go to the blessed home to see the miracle of divine revelation.

According to tradition, the hosts must necessarily distribute part of the sacred ashes to all who visit. Such a miracle blesses not only the family living in the house, but also their friends. People began to visit Anantappa's house in order to receive blessings and some sacred ash.

Anantappa had a problem with his daughter's husband. He was a rude and suspicious man who constantly suspected his wife of infidelity. It got to the point that he just locked her in a room. It was impossible to live in such conditions, so the unfortunate woman declared they should go to Sathya Sai Baba so that he could confirm her devotion to her husband, and if not, she promised to commit suicide right in the ashram.

Anantappa went to Sathya Sai Baba with his daughter and son-in-law. During a personal meeting, Sathya Sai Baba confirmed that the woman was honest with her husband, but the husband did not believe him and even began to speak rudely and disrespectfully to him. Sathya Sai Baba ordered him out of the room and promised Anantappa and his daughter that everything would be fine in the future.

Anantappa stayed at the ashram with his daughter and son-in-law for a few days. During that time, the conflict within the family grew as the son-in-law continued to swear and now accuse Sathya Sai Baba of being a cheat. Anantappa was annoyed, and so when they boarded the train home, Anantappa decided he and his daughter would ride in the same compartment, while the son-in-law would ride in one nearby.

Not long into the journey, Anantappa heard the loud, panicked cries of his son-in-law. Quickly, Anantappa ran into the compartment along with the conductor. They saw a frightened son-in-law lying on the floor, alive, but badly beaten. Who could’ve attacked his son-in-law in the closed compartment? When the son-in-law calmed down and came to his senses, he said that Sathya Sai Baba appeared out of thin air in his compartment and beat him hard on the cheeks and then scolded him for not respecting his wife and not trusting her fidelity. Of course, no one could doubt the words of the son-in-law because he was physically quite beaten. After this incident, the son-in-law immediately believed in the divine powers of Sathya Sai Baba and completely changed his attitude toward his wife.

If simple persuasion fails, the Avatar can use force to change the situation. Such incidents have happened many times in the history of mankind. In ancient times, divine teachers such as Rama Avatar and Krishna could quite physically bring down their wrath on the demons. Jesus also physically drove out the merchants from the temple in Jerusalem. An ordinary person's anger is a manifestation of weakness and ignorance. However, the justified anger of divine teachers, such as Sathya Sai Baba, is a manifestation of love and compassion, and it is a great blessing. Sathya Sai Baba is the embodiment of divine love and great compassion, therefore, any of his actions are based on wisdom and love.

It may seem to us that if Sathya Sai Baba helps only “good” people and punishes “evil” ones, then this is right and just. But who are the “good” and the “evil”? Who determines whether a person is "good" or "bad"? The True Self of each person is divine and in the True Self we are all in unity. It is easy to accept that the True Self of Saint Mother Teresa and Saint Seraphim of Sarov is divine but are you ready to accept that the True Self of Adolf Hitler and Leon Trotsky is also divine, although crushed by ignorance and selfishness.

The Avatar comes to this world not only to help spiritual seekers, but also to put demons on the spiritual path. By the way, the mission of the Avatar also includes blessing not only people, but also animals. For example, in the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba there was a small zoo in which deer and an elephant lived. Sathya Sai Baba regularly visited his zoo to bless the animals.

When Sathya Sai Baba left his house, a huge number of birds intuitively flocked to see him. When Sathya Sai Baba moved from one part of the ashram to another, the birds also flew after him. I observed this phenomenon many times. It was interesting to see how not only the people felt the presence of Sathya Sai Baba and tried to be as close to him as possible, but also the creatures.

42. Gratitude is completion

Everything in this world was created by God. If everything came from God, what can you offer him? The only thing you can offer to God is your love, that is the only thing he expects from you.

(Sathya Sai Baba – Sathya Sai Gita Chapter 1)

In one of his personal meetings, Sathya Sai Baba said that because of love, the True Self was divided into an infinite number of individual beings. All beings living in this world have arisen from love and in love they pass the way of spiritual evolution. To see and realize this is to see what is. Love is the only thing the soul can offer to God; it is the only true and eternal gift from God to man and from man to God.

Everything is Absolute Consciousness; everything is God. Every human being has a divine desire to know the Absolute Truth. Truth can be sought at different levels through the methods of religion, science, and art. The highest level of the search for Truth is self-exploration and self-knowledge.

Quite a lot of people confuse love with lust, instincts, attachment and even greed. Genuine love is pure and altruistic; in true love, one feels unity. One who is in the vibration of love naturally loves himself and everyone around him. A person who is in the flow of love looks into the eyes of another person and sees his True Self there.

Divine love is always shown along with gratitude. Gratitude is a great power. When you are grateful for something, it is already happening. Gratitude is completion. If you feel perfect gratitude for the events of the past, then this means you have gone through all the lessons that life has set for you. If you do not feel sincere gratitude for the events of the past, then this means that the lessons have not yet been completed.

Be thankful that you are who you already are, for you were perfect from the start. Be grateful for your life, for it is glorious and exciting. Thank God for perfect health and longevity, for the happiness of the family hearth, the wise heritage of the ancestors and the well-being of the descendants, for the enjoyment of material abundance and for the joy of free creativity in business, science, and art. If you are sincerely grateful for your happy life, all of this will happen; for what you are truly grateful for manifests itself at a rapid pace.

There is a famous American devotee of Sathya Sai Baba whose name is John, but people call him "John – thank you Sai" because he repeats only one prayer, no matter what happens to him, he prays: "thank you Sai, thank you Sai, thank you Sai.” He has had difficulties and trials in his life, like everyone else, but he always repeated his “thank you Sai” prayer.

By repeating this simple prayer, John transformed his life and helped to transform the lives of many who came to know about him. Sometimes John met with groups and talked about his life. He taught and transformed people by his example.

I started writing this book while living in Sathya Sai Baba's ashram, and it was great to meet John there, again. We joyfully recalled the past years when Sathya Sai Baba was among us, and we could enjoy daily communication with him.

Be grateful for everything that happens because there are lessons you need to learn in order to rise to higher levels of awareness. Give thanks for the unity of all that exists, and for the fact that everything in your life happens in Divine Grace. God is a mirror that reflects your thoughts and feelings, even those most secret, so let love and gratitude reign in the secret spaces of your heart.

Only those who have love can give love. A person who loves himself is able to give love to all people around and to present love to God. As soon as you love yourself, all the people around you will also love you because your vibrations will awaken only love in those around you.

When you arrive in love and happiness, all the people around you will experience happiness because you will shine with the energy of happiness. If you are in a state of peace and harmony, then all the people around, communicating with you, will feel peace and harmony.

43. Sathya Sai Baba stopped the Flood

The Chitravathi River flows near the ashram, and most of the time it is full flowing with a fast current of abundant water, but sometimes it can completely dry up for several years. During the whole life of Sathya Sai Baba, the river was full flowing, and toward the end of his life, the water began to leave. In the last years of Sathya Sai Baba's life, the river dried up completely.

Some took this as a sign that Sathya Sai Baba would soon leave this world, but most did not want to think about this sad topic and assumed the river dried up simply because there had been too little rain for too long.

The story we are going to remember now took place when Sathya Sai Baba was very young. That year, the Chitravathi River was so full of water that it flooded the surrounding fields. There was so much water that it began to approach the house where Sathya Sai Baba lived at that time. This place is called "old mandir", which means "old temple".

As a result of the flood, the "old mandir" turned into a small island around which the water raged. The devotees were afraid that the water would soon flood the premises. Some had already packed their things preparing to wade out of the village, while others were going to climb large trees and wait out the flood there. The situation gradually escalated, and of course, panic grew. The most devoted remained calm and waited for Sathya Sai Baba's instructions.

At the moment when the water came very close to the main entrance of the building, Sathya Sai Baba calmly left his room and, to everyone's surprise, spoke to the element of water, as if to a living being. He told the Chitravathi River that it was enough to flood the surrounding fields and villages.

He ordered the waters of the flooded river to return to its usual course. At the same moment, the water quickly began to decrease and soon returned to its normal flow. This shocked all the locals. That same day, they thanked Sathya Sai Baba for saving the village from the big flood.

Sathya Sai Baba is a great teacher who reincarnates in different eras – some of his incarnations are world famous and some are secret. His mission is to help unleash the potential of every person. Happiness and self-realization of people is the purpose of his embodiment. Sathya Sai Baba performed miracles throughout his life and poured out mercy and blessings on people as if from a cornucopia. Each person is the God of his own cosmos. If you are able to think about changing the events and circumstances of your life, then it is possible to achieve it.

A huge number of people live on this wonderful planet, but everyone lives in their own reality. The reality of one person is the joy of creativity, happiness, and abundance, while the reality of another is continuous problems, suffering and internal conflicts.

The realities of life are shaped by the thoughts and emotions that dominate your mind. A harmoniously and correctly thinking person builds his universe brick by brick as a space of happiness, joy, health, love, wisdom, and self-realization. According to the harmonious vibration of your thoughts and emotions, the divine reality of your life is manifested.