Understanding the Sathya Sai Phenomenon

Dato Jagadeesan was the Director of Industrial Promotion for the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority in Kuala Lumpur. He authored the books, ‘Journey to God: The Malaysian Experience with Sai Baba’, ‘Journey to God II: Sai Baba and the World,’ ‘Unity of Faiths and The Mission’, and ‘The Message: Some Often Asked Questions About Bhagavan Baba.’ He has also served as President of Sathya Sai Central Council for Malaysia.

Jagadeesan, an agnostic until the age of 32, asked the question, ‘Did God create man or man created God?’ I thought I was an atheist at heart until Bhagavan Baba Himself called me an agnostic. As a graduate at 21, I travelled around the world several times in my official capacity in government service, successful, with wife, children, house, and a carwho needed God?

Baba came into my life at the age of 32, only to be faced with an anti-Sai tirade that I launched on all devotees who came within the radii of my relationship. It was on June 8, 1976 in Kuala Lumpur that Lord Sai appeared. I asked Him mentally, “If you are truly what you are, show me a sign!” The sudden materialization of the vibhuti [holy ash] on His picture, the stunning revelation, the realization that “Oh God! There is truly a power beyond science and this power can reach into my world even in a physical form,” that was the moment of my transformation, that began my journey to God.

Subsequently, my life changed and my travels around the world both on behalf of the government and on behalf of the Sai Education in Human Values [EHV] program have made me come in contact with a great number of beautiful people, Sai devotees, sometimes in very strange places. Though many devotees know of the Sai groups and centers in the USA, South America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Fiji, very few maybe are aware that Sai devotional groups exist in East Berlin (even before the fall of the Berlin wall), Seoul in South Korea, and Beijing in China. The world that forever has been and will be the mansion of the cosmic divine principle is rapidly becoming the mansion for the “manifested Divine principle.”

What about this omnipresent, Divinity principle? Well! Bhagavan is introducing His “calling cards” everywhere. In my travels around the world, I have seen for myself and shared miraculous experiences with others regarding His omnipresence. Manifestation of holy ash, amrit (divine nectar) from statues and photographs are happening not only in India, Malaysia, Fiji, the USA, Europe, and Africa, but most recently I was thrilled to see a photograph of vibhuti manifestations in the home of a Japanese devotee in Japan. The picture was covered with holy ash and there was a huge vibhuti ‘OM’ (in Sanskrit) and what appeared like gold flakes over His palm. We can but only stand in awe when we see the miracles that take place in homes of devotees thousands of miles away, in different continents, within different cultural heritages, with only but one universal bond, the bond of love. This perhaps is the greatest divinity principle that Baba displays.

But other than the manifestations of ash and amrit, what about the water that flowed for two days from the knees of a figure of Christ on a cross in the home of a Sai devotee in Fiji, what about the strange Indian man in orange robe and afro hair-do who got into a cab of a Chinese taxi driver in Malaysia, who only a week later realized it was Baba; what about the shower of bangles, the materialization of dates, pendants, small statues and the like that appear on altars of devotees in Malaysia and around the world; what about the lady in an African village who was comforted by a strange, bearded man, only to recognize Him a week later as Shirdi Sai Baba (as was the case of one of the first Chinese devotees in Malaysia); what about the miraculous cures that occur not even by consuming vibhuti but by just calling out Baba’s name from the depth of one’s heart as was the case of an African lady in Zimbabwe who went to hospital to undergo heart surgery, who on the way called to Baba to manifest His love and was sent back home the same day by the hospital saying “there appears to be nothing wrong now.” Greater than all these physical manifestations, the cures, the physical manifestations of Sai Himself, greater than all these miracles is the miracle of the transformation of man.

Agnostics, drunkards, drug addicts, gamblers, businessman, and politicians, who had made money and power their God have now turned to the God of spirituality and have started the process of transformation, of self-improvement, to make themselves useful to themselves, their families, and society. One cannot guess the number of tearful wives and mothers raising their hands in thankful prayer to Bhagavan Baba for the transformation that He has wrought in their husbands or children.

But over and above all the manifestations and miracles, over and above all this transformation of man, is there any other proof of the Divinity principle that Bhagavan Baba manifests?

Where is God? What is God? For every individual, according to his religion and cultural background, the word God creates conditioned reflexes, reciprocating ingrained mental images. For a Hindu, the word God conjures in the mind’s eye the beautiful form of Krishna or Rama, the powerful face of Shiva, or the gentle aspect of the ‘divine mother.’ For the Christian, God would conjure the picture of Christ, the Good Shepherd, or Christ on the cross; for the Buddhist, though “God” may not be in the context of their worship, the closest image would be the meditating Buddha; for Muslims it would be the formless Allah…. and so it goes on. Though no spiritual or religious text in the world describes God by His physical features, all do describe the characteristics of God, i.e. He is Omnipresent, Omniscient, He can create, preserve, dissolve, He can grant boons, He can cure and save, He is love, glory, and beauty; this all religions will agree.

There is yet another way that the divinity principle can be examined. If tomorrow the sky was to open up and from the heavens above a divine voice thundered to mankind, what would the voice say? Surely words to the following effect:

1) Belief in God: Truly believe that He exists and is able to listen and respond if the call is from the genuine love of devotees.

2) Follow your religion but do not be a hypocrite: study and understand the teachings of your religion and put these into practice in daily life, not merely the rituals and prayers. Every thought, word, and deed in daily life is the true manifestation of your religion.

3) Respect all religions: All religions have been motivated by the one divine principle.

No religion urges negative behavior in life; all religions exhort man to see well, speak good; think, act, and hear good. All religions try to move man from the state of animal behavior, through human to Divine.

4) Perform selfless service to the sick, the poor, and needy.  As you would visit your own sick blood brother in the hospital to give him comfort, spend some time serving your other brothers as all are children of God. This service should not seek fruits, recognition, name or even gratitude; instead serve and thank God that He gives you the opportunity of strength, love, and grace to serve.

5) Uphold in life and thus promote the five great human values of truth, right conduct, peace, love, and non-violence. From these five values all other values emanate, and they enrich every part of the human personality, ultimately transforming all those who pursue this path into divine incarnations.

The above summarizes also the principal pillars of Bhagavan Baba’s teachings, the voice of the invincible God, manifesting through the love of Sai. Bhagavan Baba started His great program of Dharmasthapana [the establishment of righteousness] at the age of 14 with bhajans [sacred hymns] and the chanting of God’s name as a foundation. As His mission grew He introduced seva [community service] and study circles for adults. Subsequently, to foster children He introduced the Bal Vikas (called Sai Spiritual Education in the West) program for children of Sai devotees. Once that had taken root, He urged the transplanting of these divine ideals from the nursery of Sai centers into the field of society and thus started the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values program. Finally, on His 60th Birthday, Baba unveiled 10 principles that he enjoined all to uphold and with this He called for “Integration of the World Community,” through respect for laws, cultural practices, and unity of religions, urging all to practice their respective religions and to build bridges of love between religions.

Thus has been the Sai phenomenon. The world is indeed His mansion, every country a room, every yearning heart a light, as the world watches in awe, respect, and reverence. He is moving at His own pace, according to His own plan. We can only pray that all of us are given a role in this divine drama.

Source: Sai Vandana 1990 (65th Birthday Offering)