Swami’s Continuous Divine Grace
I had the grace of Bhagavan’s darshan [sighting of a holy man] three times in India in 1990, 1994, and 2010. Yet when Covid hit in 2020, I slipped into a deep depression, and it was as if I had acquired a total amnesia of all the many enchanting spiritual experiences I had encountered with Swami.
In 1986 one night, when I first attended Thursday evening Manhattan Center meetings, I happened to mention a disheartening work conflict to a long-time devotee. The next week she lovingly gave me a portrait of Krishna entering Arjuna’s chariot on the Dharmakshetra [the field of righteousness where the final battle between good and evil was won by Krishna]. I meditated in front of the scene often and the work situation calmly resolved, by Swami’s grace.
In 1988 I was struggling with a persistent mental and emotional fog. I was still able to go to work and attend Manhattan Center meetings, however I was very despondent. One evening I had a dream that I was in a beautiful garden courtyard with dusty tan soil. Two men in white uniforms were fighting. I was a few safe yards away, exhorting them to stop. A large ornately carved brown door opened near the men, and Sathya Sai Baba emerged with His hands up in Abhaya Hasta [blessing to remove fear]. The men immediately stopped fighting and walked quietly away. Then Swami sweetly smiled and beckoned me to follow him up a flight of stairs to His room. I henceforth increased chanting the Gayatri [the most sacred Hindu mantra] daily and was better in a month or so, by His grace.
In 1989 I had a very brief vision of Shiva in my meditation room in Brooklyn; a few months later my ailing beloved older brother Vincent silently merged into eternity, by Swami’s grace.
In 1997, for 3 glorious seconds I saw Krishna on Bay Ridge Avenue near where I reside in Brooklyn, New York; shortly afterward my gravely ill dear older sister Marie Joy blissfully left her body, by Swami’s grace.
Fast forward to 2020 and my anxiety and profound sadness during Covid was relentless. I spent three years on daily anti-depressants and in weekly psychotherapy sessions, both of which helped enormously. I remained devoid of any spiritual feelings or practices, however.
Last December I had a dream of the blessed Mother of Jesus who silently stood resplendent in front of me. I started to again recite the Hail Mary and Gayatri daily and earnestly, by Swami’s grace. After a short trip to Disneyland, I resolved to have fun sometimes as all the children around me were so enjoying the Disney Princess Parade!
What I have learned about Our Lord’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence is that He is always emanating prema [Divine love], and that we have but to just turn our suffering gaze toward Him to obtain relief. Swami has stated many times, “Take one step toward me and I will take a thousand toward you.”
Pranams at His Lotus Feet,
~Felicia R. Gironda, USA
