Lessons Learnt at His Lotus Feet

Ravi Mariwala, a Bal Vikas student from then Bombay, spoke many times in front of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and thus developed the desire to be a student at His University. In 1982 Mariwala joined Bhagavan’s college and studied there for nine years. He was in the speaker’s group and travelled with Swami to Kodaikanal and Tamilnadu. He is a recipient of three gold medals from Swami. Swami handpicked him to serve in the Super Specialty Hospital, where he served for 14 years. Ravi lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.

With deep humility and heartfelt pranams at Bhagavan’s lotus feet I would like to share with you the deep and significant learnings of my stay with Him. That time is imprinted in my memory and cannot be replaced. These are true, sincere, and touching learnings and are not bookish or conceptual.

Why is our own experience important? While we may be inspired by other people’s learnings, eventually we have to develop our own. The true impact of your contact with the master can only be visible when you open yourself to Him so that He can guide you on a path. We are very blessed that in this Kali [Iron] Age, we are here when the Avatar was here in form.

I am sharing the teachings with love in my heart, but you have to open your hearts to imbibe His teachings. I was very blessed that I joined Bhagavan’s college in 1982 and passed out from it in 1991. I had completed nine years at His lotus feet. But then at that very opportune time, instead of letting me go out into the wide world to build a career for myself, Bhagavan pulled me and rescued me from a mundane life by taking me into His fold as an employee of His own hospital, which at that time was only a concept.

My first meaningful interaction with Bhagavan was when I had the chance to speak in His presence. I was a typical Mumbai boy, and clearly the company I kept at school would not align with Swami’s expectations. When I joined Bal Vikas (Swami’s values education classes), I was able to see this need for change more clearly. Inspired by my ideal Bal Vikas teachers, I took a vow to mend my ways and walk the path that would please Swami.

The first time I saw Swami was in Dharmakshetra in Mumbai, where I had gone very disinterestedly, and literally I was the last person sitting in a hall with the capacity of 15-20 thousand people. A very young and vibrant Swami came out and started walking down the aisle to where I was and looked at me. He stood there and gently waved His hands. As I gazed at Him I was deeply affected and transported to a peace that I sensed within me. At that moment I knew that this was the beginning of a very different direction for my life.

Very soon thereafter, I got the opportunity to speak in front of Bhagavan. Swami lovingly accepted my garland and kept on looking at me as I spoke. After my talk, He materialized vibhuti [sacred ash] and made me sit down to the left of His throne and kept rubbing my back. I interpret this as though He was getting rid of the Mumbai-related tendencies and thoughts and was preparing me to join His college. As the program continued, Swami kept talking with me on the stage, virtually granting me a private interview during the public function. He also gave me permission to join His college after I completed school.

I joined Swami’s college in 1982 and finished my studies with two postgraduate courses, MSc. and MBA. By Swami’s grace I got three gold medals from His own hands. After that I served in the Super Specialty Hospital for 14 years.

Lesson 1—Obedience is Key

My first learning is about the importance of obedience in our lives. The acronym I use is OIK—Obedience Is Key”. After I joined Swami’s college, I discovered new meanings of the word obedience, and a new depth of obedience was required if I wanted to walk this path sincerely.

One day in 1990, Swami called me to the interview room, where there were seven or eight of us. Swami started admonishing me and showed His irritation. Clearly, He was angry. However, I couldn’t understand what I had done to incur this anger. Then Swami pointed to my hair and said, “You have such long hair! Don’t you know that you are a Sai student and I expect Sai students to observe three disciplines: I want you to wear white clothes, be clean-shaven, and have trim hair”. Now, internally I was truly perplexed. I couldn’t understand why Swami was saying this because I had had a haircut only two days back. Out of deep reverence for Bhagavan, however, I kept quiet. By then I had learnt not to question Bhagavan but to listen to what He was saying and absorb it. Soon after, fortunately, Swami changed the topic and talked about other things. After the interview, my only mission in life was to get to a barber and have a haircut because in less than 24 hours I would be back in the Mandir [temple].

Early the next morning, I went to the hostel barber and asked him to cut my hair. The barber was surprised and he said, “Sir, you had a haircut a few days back.” I, however, insisted. Not just that, I asked him to cut my hair short and deep. I went to college, and in the evening I went to the Mandir. Swami was sitting inside and when he heard the boys thundering into the Mandir to grab the best place, He came out. I was sitting in my place and He beckoned me to come into the interview room. I was alone with Bhagavan in the room wondering what was to come. As Swami says, “Love My uncertainty.” Very sweetly Swami said, “Very good, very good! I’m very happy with you, Mari (He would call me Mari, short name for Mariwalla). Do you really think I wanted you to have a second haircut? No, no, not at all! I am that Master who will never tell you the next step that you have to take in your journey until I am fully satisfied with the first step that I have asked you to take.”

At that moment, the significance of a seemingly trivial event became so clear in my mind. It was clear to me that when and if I want to go ahead in life, I have to pause and think if I have obeyed Swami’s commands to His satisfaction. Bhagavan is waiting to promote us to the next grade and give us the next lesson or challenge, but He (not we) needs to be completely satisfied that we have obeyed Him totally. More importantly, later in life it became a practice, because I had learnt that however trivial or seemingly illogical His command may seem, if I really accept Bhagavan as my guru, I should follow that command and not put myself before it or interpret it in my own way. We cannot see the way our lives will unfold. Bhagavan is constantly preparing us for what has to come.

Very soon, about a year later, the next command came, and Bhagavan was waiting to see if I would obey Him. I had always wanted to be near Bhagavan and to serve Him, but around the time when I was finishing my MBA I was starting to feel attracted by the world—Swami calls it Vishaya Vasana (craving for worldly desires). I wanted to go out into the world and become a big manager, build a career, etc. Now, one day Swami said to me, “I’m starting a new hospital, are you interested in joining it? I would like you to be a staff member at My hospital.” I who was always wanting to live in Puttaparthi dedicating my life to Swami suddenly found that I was not sure. Swami noticed my hesitation.

Swami used to say that right around the candle, there is a dark zone. The candle sheds light around it but immediately under the candle there is darkness. Also, very often He said, “You are all frogs in the well. Look at the devotees; they are like the bees coming to the flowers for they realize the value of the nectar they seek—the nectar in this flower (pointing to Himself)”.

To connect back to the acronym OIK, after He taught me that first lesson about the double haircut and He saw that I was hesitating to accept the opportunity to serve in His hospital, He called me into the interview room. There was I, alone with Bhagavan. I was standing shivering as I was unsure about what Swami was going to ask of me. But Swami simply said, “Work in My hospital, that is My aagya [command], and that is good for you, good for your family, good for the country. Do you accept My aagya?” I could not hold back my tears as I realized the mistake I was making by hesitating to accept the offer. So I dived at Bhagavan’s lotus feet and I said, “Swami, nothing is greater for me than to accept Your aagya.”

Having obtained a great Sadguru and having developed firm faith in Him, even if our vision becomes momentarily unclear or our wayward mind deludes us, if we obey His command without a moment’s hesitation, our progress toward Him will be speedy!

Lesson Two—Believe in Bhagavan’s protection

Now let’s explore the second lesson that I learnt. The acronym for this is BTCCC—Bhagavan Takes Care Constantly & Continuously”. The image that flashes in my mind is that of Swami holding a small rabbit by the ears with one hand, while He places His other hand below the rabbit as though He is going to release it and catch it as well. When He releases us He also saves us. What He is demonstrating is that I am always with you, in you, and around you; I’m going to guard you and guide you.

My father, who was just 54 years old, had a heart attack when I was doing my Master’s course in Parthi in the year 1988. In those days [I thought] that Swami would not recognize me as He did not even know my name. So with much trepidation I went and sat in the front line with a letter and with the hope that Swami would take my letter, accept my prayers to bless my father. That day Swami came up to me, took my letter, opened it and read it then and there. He said, “Don’t worry, call your father. I will see him.”

A few days later, my father and mother came, and Swami called us for an interview. He took my parents and sister into the private interview room. He materialized vibhuti and rubbed it on my father’s chest very lovingly. We felt very relieved and reassured. Swami spoke to us for some time and then He brought us to the main interview room, where other devotees were sitting.

Now, all of a sudden Swami looked at my mother and said, “I have rubbed vibhuti and when you go to Mumbai go to cardiologist and get an angiogram done.” I was sitting on the gent’s side, hoping that my mother wouldn’t make the mistake of saying “yes” to Swami, and she was so perplexed that she didn’t. My thought was that once Swami has showered His grace, we don’t need any confirmation or external validation. Then Swami gave us prasad[consecrated food] and [pada] namaskar [touching His Feet], and we all came out of the interview room. I came and sat amongst the students on the Mandir verandah when Swami came up to me and He shook His finger at me and said, “Dare you go to a doctor!” At that moment, while others thought Swami was admonishing me, I felt so blissful because I had aligned myself to Him, and the external world didn’t matter as long as I had His grace, guidance, and guardianship. This happened in 1988. Today my father is 84, and by Swami’s grace has had no untoward event with respect to his heart health.

In 2002 he had a major gastrointestinal event and was admitted in the hospital. We went to Brindavan. Swami sought him out in the Brindavan crowd, and He materialized vibhuti for seven consecutive days and healed him completely. We should remember that Bhagavan’s actions are not incomplete and short-lived. They are not one-day wonders, for He wants to be in our life continuously, constantly. But that is possible only if we align with Him and show Him that we depend on Him for everything good or bad.

After I moved away from the ashram and came to the US, and after I got married and had a family, I could still see how much Swami was continuing to guard, guide, and protect us.

Lesson Three—Invest in deepening the inner connection

So now let’s move to the third learning: DIC—Deepen the Inner Connection. Why do we talk about the inner connection? Let me explain. One day Swami went to Brindavan and He came back in a week; that was very strange because Swami would go to Brindavan for longer durations. In those days, I had many interactions with Swami and felt very close to Him as I was chanting His name, reading good books, and participating in the hostel bhajan. While Swami was away, I had had three dreams of Bhagavan. Swami returned to Prasanthi Nilayam and sat for the bhajan on His throne in the bhajan hall.

All of a sudden, He came out from the bhajan hall and came to where I was sitting and singing with eyes closed. Tapping my forehead He asked me to get up. He said, “How many times did you have Swami’s dream?” I said, “Three dreams, Swami.” He said, “No, you had My dream four times. Very good communication!” Suddenly I recollected that I had had a fourth dream, but I was not counting it as He had just given His namaskar. He came to remind me that to dream about Him was a very significant event, as only by His Will can you dream of Him. He was also encouraging me to continue deepening that connection with the inner Sai, by acknowledging that effort and saying, “Good communication”. He showed me that He is indeed the in-dweller and that He is not outside of us. Throughout our life, we have to deepen our inner connection (communicate) with that inner Bhagavan.

In 1990, my parents visited Brindavan (Whitefield, Bangalore). I was also there with Swami. That day it was pouring rain, and somehow my father lost his wallet, but wasn’t sure where he had dropped it. When I went to the room, I saw that he was upset, and he told me about his loss along with the credit cards. I quickly went to the canteen and asked the manager whether they had found the missing wallet. His reply was negative. The roads in Whitefield were all dug up due to construction work. In addition, there was thunder and lightning with heavy rain. Soaking wet and disappointed, I was walking back to the room. I said in my mind, “Swami we are Your devotees and You have to help us—please help me now.” You will not believe me when I narrate to you that after I prayed thus, when my foot landed on the ground, it landed on my father’s wallet. I just picked up the wallet and ran to the room. These are small but meaningful experiences, where Swami responds to our prayers. When we connect with Him, He is there with us in a split second.

The next opportunity presented during the time I served in the hospital. There was a 67-year-old man who came in for an aortic valve replacement. After the surgery was complete, we could not “wean” him off the heart-lung machine. We had tried inotropic drugs, defibrillated the heart, but the heart continued to be flaccid and would not start beating. I was running the heart-lung machine and was in the operating theatre since 9 a.m. My colleague came to me and offered to relieve me at 3:30 p.m. so I could grab lunch.

As I came out of the operating room, I thought that this is Swami’s hospital and He has visited that operating room countless times, so why don’t I call on Swami in this hour of need. Thinking thus, before doing anything else, I stepped into a support area room where the sterilizers were kept and prayed very fervently, “Swami this patient has come for surgery to Your hospital, please cure him.” After a few minutes in prayer, I finished my lunch and went back to the operating room. I was shocked to see that everybody there including the anesthesiologist, anesthesia technician, cardiac surgeon, assistant nurse, and assistant surgeon were very relaxed and casual. Not sure what was happening, I looked up at the cardiac monitor and I saw that the blood pressure was 140 / 85, the arterial trace was fantastic. Then I looked past the sterile screen covering the patient to peep at the heart and I saw that the heart was beating very well. I asked Dr. Neelam Desai, “What happened, madam?” She said, “I don’t know; we didn’t try anything new but all of a sudden the heart just started beating so well that we are now closing him up. We’re done!” I just took a step back and silently thanked Swami for the grace that had made that thought arise in my mind.

Soon the patient recovered and went home. On Sunday when I went to the Mandir, Swami came after the interviews and sought me out. He stood in front of me and materialized vibhuti and while giving it to me, He pressed my hand and he said, “This is for that patient You prayed for.” I was blown away! This reaffirmed for me how perfect Swami’s timing is and also how He was validating our direct experience of calling on Him.

What are Swami’s own guidelines about when to pray for ourselves and others. One day in 2003, two of us were sitting at Swami’s feet and massaging them when we asked Him, “Swami, is it a good idea to pray to God and to ask him for things?” He said, “Oh, it’s very good to pray to God, but you should only pray and not ask for anything.” So it is best to pray to connect, to deepen that inner connection, and not ask for trivial things like promotions, bigger house, or better bank balance, etc. With this simple response, Swami opened up yet another dimension about prayer without motive and demand, prayer to get absorbed in our Lord and to feel the connection.

Consider the example of Kuchela, also known as Sudama. He offered Krishna puffed rice; he was tongue-tied and could not ask anything Him for anything. Meanwhile, back home, silently the Lord was at work, and his hut was transformed into a palace, his wife was adorned with ornaments, and he received more than his needs.

The Master can come only when you open yourself so much that you allow Him to guide you in this world. We are very blessed that in this age when the Lord was amidst us, we knew of His presence, in fact, He made us aware of His presence. How many people in the world know about Him?

In short, the three important lessons are OIK—Obedience is the Key. Once you start obeying His command and you hold on to His feet, only after that can you come to truly appreciate and experience for yourself that BTCCC—Bhagawan will Take Care Constantly and Continuously. Let us not question when, how, or where Bhagavan will take care. Just follow Him and have faith in Him. Finally, with Bhagavan guiding and protecting us, what is our duty? We should focus on DIC—Deepen the Inner Connection. This we can do by evolving ourselves, so even though we have access to this powerful Lord, we don’t pray for anything but just pray and deepen our devotion, holding onto Swami with deep Love, without any demands.

Thank you and Jai Sai Ram!