My Experiences of the Omnipresence of Sri Sathya Sai

Mr. Victor Kanu, J.P., M.A. (Oxfordshire) is former High Commissioner of Sierra Leone, Africa, to Great Britain, with further accreditations to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Being an avowed spiritual seeker, he became the first African to be elected as President of the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain; Magistrate in the Inner London Magistrate courts for nine years. He worked for the Education in Human Values program in the United Kingdom. He has authored “Sai Baba: God Incarnate Vol. I and II”. Victor Kanu is also the founder of the Sathya Sai School for Boys in Ndola, Zambia, Africa, which in 2005 received an International Gold Trophy in Paris for quality in terms of leadership, innovation, training, and excellence in education. He held several senior positions in the Sathya Sai International Organizations. He merged at the Lotus Feet on September 3, 2011.

Issa Vassyam Idam Sarvam. “All this is enveloped by God. All this is soaked in God, saturated by God. Everything is the substance of God.”

Some of the wonders and mysteries of the universe, this marvelous creation of God, were made known to me partly by parents and elders of my country of first domicile, Sierra Leone, and partly by my early teachers and missionaries. The instruction, as might be expected, was contained in legends and stories, music, dance, and folklore in oral transmission of a direct nature, and in quasi-secular and spiritual textbooks.

That Sierra Leone is rich both in traditional life and in matters of the spirit cannot be seriously disputed. Yet, despite this richness neither my experiences gained in traditionalism nor those in modernism, as exemplified by Christian education, ever taught me that all that our senses can or cannot perceive is “enveloped by God…. soaked in God…. saturated by God…. is the substance of God.”

It was [through] Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s coming into my life that I came to learn not only this indisputable and absolute truth but have also, by His Divine grace, become a living witness of the Omnipresence of God. Not even Oxford University where I studied Philosophy, could enlighten me on this all-important subject. Perhaps, it could be argued, though, that my statement is an over-exaggeration. For, surely, Philosophy as taught at Oxford must contain elements of God’s existence and Omnipresence. Even if one were to make a concession to this point, it would still be restrictive and circumscribed within the confines of a particular philosophical school of thought. So, by receiving spiritual enlightenment from Bhagavan Baba, the veil of ignorance and intellectual prejudice have, at the same time, been destroyed—never to return again.

Bhagavan Baba is in Africa, a continent that was once described the “dark continent”. How can Africa be dark when He who is Eternal Light has always been present there? Speaking to a section of our London group at an interview in July 1989, Bhagavan Baba pointing to Himself said: “Sai Baba is not this body. Sai Baba is a spirit, I am everywhere.” The evidence of His Omnipresence will not be based on what other people say or have said or what I have read from books on Bhagavan Baba, but rather on my own first-hand personal experiences at different levels of consciousness viz. the working, sleep, and dream states. Personal experiences cannot be underestimated, ridiculed, ignored, or thrown away in preference to teachings only.

Baba was present in the pub one evening in December 1974 where He watched me drinking without any limit. No sooner had I gone to bed late that night than He sent two angels to bring me to Prasanthi Nilayam for soul-cleaning. That night I dreamt I was floating in a deep blue and incredibly calm sky with the two young and amazingly handsome boys (angels), one on either side of me. We were floating in silence, eastwards, to a distant land. We began to descend as we approached our destination, until we finally passed through an arch, along a narrow village road where I was left at the Gopuram (above the main wooden entrance that leads to Bhagavan Baba’s Mandir at Prasanthi Nilayam).

Here all the nations of the world were assembled, and among them were my ancestors, who spoke to me in Temne (our tribal language). The assembly was solemnly engaged in healing and spiritual teaching. This dream resulted in a profound change in my social habits and mode of thinking.

I also became aware of His Omnipresence four years later, on 21st February 1978, in my room at another address. I prayed to God that morning for assistance in my newly acquired gift of spiritual healing, which involved the laying of hands on the sick. I wanted this gift to develop for two reasons: Firstly, for the glory of God, that He may be praised; secondly, for the benefit of mankind. Moments later Bhagavan Baba responded in an enthralling vision, the first vision ever in my life. I had neither prior knowledge of, nor contact with, Bhagavan Baba at that point in time.

He was again present at my new address at 50 Longley Road, London SW17, on 3rd February 1980, when after offering ourselves (my wife and I) to Him in prayer as His devotees, and asking Him to give me a sign if He accepted us, He appeared in my dream that night and confirmed His acceptance. He woke me up in a loud clear voice on 15th March 1980 and said: “United Worship”. That command thereafter removed my slothfulness and led me to the habit of rising early for morning prayers.

Events leading to our first visit to Bhagavan Baba were other occasions when He demonstrated His Omnipresence. My wife and I could not raise the necessary funds to visit Bhagavan Baba (both fares cost 700 pounds sterling). Reluctantly, we had to withdraw our names when the time for payment was due in mid-May 1980. However, on the first Monday of June, the postman delivered two letters addressed to me at our home: One of these contained a cheque of 500 pounds sterling made out to me by someone I had met only once, without disclosing to him our financial predicament. In his covering letter he entreated me to use the funds for my passage to Sai Baba. Two days later, the postman delivered another letter addressed to my wife. It contained 200 pounds sterling made out in her name with pleadings to use this amount to buy saree when she arrived in India. Thus, the full cost of the fares was provided by Bhagavan Baba who was (is) present in our hearts and at our home while we discussed our finances.

Baba’s Omnipresence is beyond human comprehension, yet simple in its execution. Whenever either my thoughts are going astray—toward the path of evil—or when I am in the process of undertaking an action that is contrary to His teachings, or when He simply wants to advise and protect, I would hear a sound from an unidentifiable source—a knock, a tap, or footstep; or I would see an object move or fall; perhaps the fragrance of Vibhuti [sacred ash] would manifest itself; or animals would behave differently. Here are two instances.

In the first instance, I had organized a seminar in 1987 at Froebel Institute College in London on how the Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Program could be used to help drug abusers and aids sufferers. For this purpose, I had invited Dr. William Harvey, a Sai devotee, and one who for over 20 years had successfully run a clinic for young black drug abusers in the U.S.A. Bill was to stay with us and I was to meet him at Heathrow airport on an early morning Pan American Flight from New York.

That night I slept in a separate room to avoid disturbing Genoveva’s sleep. Just as I was about to wake up, Bhagavan Baba came to my dream and said sternly but sweetly, “Talk to your woman.” Before leaving for the airport, I decided to wake her and tell her my dream which, honestly, I did not understand. “Darling”, I said to her, “Swami came to my dream this morning and uttered one sentence only: “Talk to your woman.” “What do you think He meant?” She exploded. Yes, I am sick and tired of you. For a couple of months now you entertain no conversation at home other than Human Values. First thing in the morning, in our lounge, at table, and last thing at night it’s all about Human Values. You have no time for me, so I have spent the whole night complaining about you to Swami.” It is clear that our beloved Bhagavan Baba is Omnipresent, is in us and around us, is everywhere and looks after our well-being.

The second instance happened in Ndola, Zambia, where a Sri Sathya Sai School for Boys (Primary and Secondary) is being built. The plot is 13.85 acres that requires a certain measure of security, such as the presence of a watchman. I accordingly employed Siami, a Zambian ex-prison warden to keep watch over the piece of land where vandalism was rampant. Siami had a gun, and after a week he requested me to provide him with live ammunition so that, as he puts it, he could teach the vandals a lesson. I remained indifferent to his request despite his persistent reminders. Consequently, Siami began to show signs of disinterestedness in his night duties.

So one day, I took Bhagavan’s pocket size photograph to the site, called Lungu, the civil engineer responsible for the construction work, and gave Siami, Bhagavan’s photograph as ammunition. Siami’s bewilderment quickly resulted in anger. “I asked for ammunition and you give a picture. What is this”? he enquired. I explained who Baba is—the Godhead in human form, His powers, His Omnipresence, etc. The more I explained the more Siami ridiculed. In the end I was able to persuade him to keep the photograph on him and to invoke the name Bhagavan Baba whenever he was in difficulty. Four days later, he asked for a larger photograph of Bhagavan, this time not to keep on his body but to put it in his home. He said to me. “Mr. Kanu, this man Sai Baba is wonderful. You know from the day I took His picture the dogs who used to bark at me now come quietly and play with me. The whole place is very quiet.” Siami now collects Bhagavan’s photographs and distributes them to his friends.

What greater proof do I need to assert that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is Omnipresent, is truly God-Incarnate? None whatsoever.

Source: Sai Vandana 1990