Sri Sathya Sai: My Constant Companion
Amar Vivek was a student from 1986-1988 in the Department of Management Studies at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus. Currently, he is an Advocate in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
The Vedas declared centuries ago that God is beyond the reach of words, beyond the reach of the mind, and that he who says he has known Him does not know even his own self! Bhagavan says, “Even if humanity endeavors for thousands of years to unravel His mystery, they will still not succeed.” Still, I can’t restrain my little self from sharing a few of my very personal experiences with our most beloved Divine mother Sai, as His grace encourages me.
After completing my degree in law at Chandigarh, I developed a yearning to join the Sri Sathya Sai Institute, and Bhagavan ‘created’ a way for me by starting the MBA program. Needless to say, a lot of sadhana [spiritual effort] was required to get admission into Sai ‘s University. However, with His grace I joined the Institute in 1986. The ‘legal’ background initially proved to be a hurdle in the way of my completely grasping the mission and teachings of Bhagavan. I did not easily understand that ‘faith’, based in experience, and ‘logic’, resulting in doubt, are poles apart, like Customary Law [based upon practices and beliefs] and Coded Law [as enacted by the Legislature].
The few appealing things during my initial days at the Sai Institute were so superficial that my narrow mind accepted the ‘finer and deeper aspects’ of Sri Sathya Sai Education only at face value, for example, the free education facility, perfect discipline, harmony, and co-operation among students and staff, and the integrated personality development approach at the Sai University. In addition, there was a unique communal amity and national integration at the campus. But very soon, I slowly began to notice the ‘hidden thread’ behind all the deeper things that existed at the campus was that Sai had started this unique educational program not merely to bestow a decent living upon the pupils, but to bestow upon them a wonderful gift of ‘life’ itself.
One of my seniors at the hostel once told me that I would be merely wasting my time if I did not make genuine efforts to build an internal kingdom of love with Sai. It was from then onward that Bhagavan in all His mercy and love started drawing me internally toward Him. He wanted us to be careful and caring in life because according to Him, ‘Action is Perfection’.
Once a very senior Air Force Officer was sitting by His side. Bhagavan asked the students if they would do anything at His command. All, including the Officer, raised their hands enthusiastically. Bhagavan looked quizzically into the eyes of the Officer and asked Him, “Resign from Air Force, now!” The Officer immediately borrowed a paper from one of the students and addressed a resignation letter to the President of India. Bhagavan accepted the letter and said, “Your resignation has been accepted. Now onward you will work in Air Force as an instrument of the Lord!” Bhagavan then asked the officer, “Have you ever thought the work in Air Force to be God’s work?” The Officer’s answer was in the negative as he treated only service to humanity as God’s work till that day. “Spirituality is not a uniform to be worn on certain days and occasions. Rather, every task should be done on behalf of the Lord and offered unto Him,” was Bhagavan’s command.
In another instance He demonstrated that He is with us at all times, provided we allow the echo of His words to ring in our ears. After graduating from the Institute, I applied for a job in the corporate sector in Chandigarh. As a fresh recruit, I was pitted against about 40 well-experienced candidates for the post. The interview went on quite well for a good 35 minutes, and all the time the Managing Director (MD) asked me details about the teaching pattern of the Sathya Sai University. Thereafter, arrived a bombshell. The MD passed a curt remark at me when he said that my learning at the Sai University might be ideally suited for a life to be spent in temples, forests, or monasteries, but not for the corporate sector, because there was no place for ‘values’ in business dealings. I was totally shaken by his observation, and prayed to Sai to help me.
Bhagavan took over at that very instant. I began my counter offensive with a question posed to the MD, “Sir, if you were a manufacturer of tires, where would you test the roadworthiness of the product? On smooth roads or on bumpy roads which are full of potholes?” The MD replied, “On bumpy roads, of course.” I immediately told him, that he had himself answered his query put to me and that we were also Bhagavan’s tires, and were to be tested in the tough situations of the corporate sector and not in the calmness of monasteries and temples.
After I had completed my MBA program, Bhagavan blessed me with work in rural areas, setting up a hospital, a vocational training center, and a school among other projects. As per His divine guidance, I began working, but the progress was quite slow. Once I came to Bhagavan and informed Him that until we could acquire some land, we would not be in a position to commence the project, and that acquiring land was very expensive in North India. Bhagavan, however, told me that it was not the land that would help us, but ‘His hand.’
As I was returning to Chandigarh, a few devotees told me that a piece of land could be arranged in a village in Yamuna Nagar, and within the next few days the villagers donated a 27-acre piece of land for this project. That day happened to be Guru Pournima. The name of the village where the land was donated was Darwa. This word has the same meaning as the word ‘Puttaparthi’, a place infested with snake holes. Likewise, He also arranged a doctor couple who had returned from U.K. to manage the hospital wing. Slowly but steadily, a school, a hospital, and a vocational wing have sprung up in a remote village in Haryana on the lines of Bhagavan’s teachings.
Once on January 1, 1997, the doctor-in-charge of the hospital came to me at Chandigarh and said that the patients visiting our hospital wanted vibhuti [blessed ash], instead of medicine. The stocks of vibhuti were virtually depleted. He asked me to procure about 100 packets weighing 200 grams each. I told him that such a large quantity of vibhuti could be arranged only from Parthi, and that we would request someone going to Parthi to fetch it for us. Thereafter, I left for the court, and as I was parking my car outside the court complex, I noticed some mustard yellow paper packets—appearing like vibhuti packets—spread beside the road. I parked my car and was walking to the court in uniform, when abruptly I looked back on the road again. The packets were looking exactly like vibhuti packets. I quickly went there and was wonderstruck to notice that vibhuti packets weighing 200 grams were spread over the turf in large quantities. One of the packets was open. I tasted its contents. It was definitely vibhuti! I now began collecting them in full public gaze—a lawyer picking up something from the ground. The packets were exactly one hundred, but one had been opened, just to strengthen my faith further. I quickly drove back home, rang up the doctor-in-charge and handed over the vibhuti packets to him. Of course, I retained a few of them as divine prasadam [sacred offering].
How they came to be on the roadside remained a mystery that took quite some days to unravel. An ardent devotee of Bhagavan was returning from Parthi and on his way to Shimla he changed his bus at Chandigarh. He was carrying a carton containing 100 vibhuti packets for his Samiti [association]. According to him, someone ‘stole’ the carton. But this ‘thief’ not only opened the carton after stealing it, but he even spread the 100 packets outside the court complex at just the same spot where I was to park my car! Who else could the ‘miscreant’ possibly be? Undoubtedly, He was Bhagavan, who answered the prayers of the poor villagers by providing them His vibhuti.
Sai is the most wonderful experience that could ever dawn in our lives. Bhagavan has been demonstrating for the past 80 years that, “His life is His message.” But the time is now ripe when we should respond to the call of our beloved Divine Master and make our lives His message! Only then can we be true Sai students.
Source: Students with Sai Experiences
