Sai - Thy Kingdom Come; Thy Will Be Done

The "Understanding-after-the-event"
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left His physical frame on the 24th of April 2011. When that happened, there was widespread disbelief among the devotees. According to various instances and references, Baba had said that He would be in His physical frame till 92, 94 and 96 years of age with the 96-years concept being the most popular version. How then, could He leave at 85? Thus, came the theories of a second coming, a return to the physical. And then came the masterpiece compilation - Sai, Thy Kingdom Come - by S.Narayan which brought together all the different things Bhagawan had said about the length of His life. It also presented evidence from the various scriptures, Nadis and the like while proposing a second coming. It felt really wonderful reading the same. However, whenever I read, heard or came to know about different accounts regarding His second coming, a voice from within kept speaking to me in a single statement. That statement too is Swamis. It is very poignant and profound. One could meditate for long on it. This was the statement of Baba that my heart kept telling me, When you cannot understand my silence, how will you understand my words? There is the story of a sage undertaking a penance for centuries in an attempt to understand the Vedas. At the end of it, he realizes that if the Vedas were the four mountains, his understanding has been equivalent to a grain of sand! These are metaphorical stories to indicate that when it comes to divinity, the intellect and the mind and grossly inadequate in imparting an understanding. That understanding lies in the realms of the heart which is beyond the mind and intellect. Gods words are never false. In fact, a Vedic scholar was once asked, Swami keeps telling various things about what is in the Vedas. Are those things really present in the Vedic texts? The scholar, Sri Kamavadhani, replied emphatically, Fool, Swamis word is the Veda! According to him, Swamis word defined the Vedic word. It was not the case of checking whether what Swami spoke was the truth for whatever He spoke became the Truth. His first name, Sathya, means Truth and His words were the definition of Truth!

So the debate here is not about what Bhagawan said, but of our understanding. My experiences have shown me that dreams about Swami are true. Swami Himself has said that it is His will that He appears in a persons dream. On the 11th of February 2010, I had a dream in which, among the other things, I saw Swami on an operating table with a doctor explaining so many things to Him. I grasped a few things - something about cutting and slicing something out from His body, doing something to support His back and planting an inflatable thing within Him. The other part of th dream was clear to me but I did not understand the hospital part. That is, till Baba was implanted with an inflatable thing - Babas lungs were inflated; and something was done to support His back - continuous dialysis (the kidneys are located at the back). Though Swami had indicated what was to happen more than an year in advance, I understood its import only when the right time came. I could neither interpret what was to happen, nor take precautionary steps in any way in the February of 2010. This understanding-after-the-event is a commonality that I have seen even in the Nadi scripts, the prophecies of Nostradamus or any other future-predicting science. If people accepted what the Nadi said or what Mehdi Moud said about the advent of Baba on earth, why then did they not believe in Him till He Himself established His divinity beyond doubt? It was only after being convinced of His divinity that people understood and accepted what the scriptures said. It was more a case of Swami lending credibility to the Nadi and other scriptures rather than the other way around!

Another Dream...
Again, here is another dream that I had on the 17th of January, 2011. Among the other things that happened in the dream, Swami said that He would leave and go up (meaning give up the body). He seemed quite sad and so I told Him that He should not feel so bad or sad. Then Swami asked, But who will give ______ to me?

I am not able to remember what He asked for but in my dream it was like something that I did not have a lot of and I wondered as to how the little I had would help Swami. But I told Him, Swami dont worry. I will give. Its not about the future, even now I shall give. All that is mine is yours. You know that. Swami knew that I was speaking very honestly, and He seemed slightly better. Then He said, But still....the time is coming. I have to go. Then I said, Swami truly speaking, I too feel very bad when I think that you are going. But since you are feeling bad, I am not showing my emotions. It is not good for two people to feel sad simultaneously At this point, Swami sat closing His eyes. I thought of asking, Swami even after you are gone, I will be in touch with you right? So I say, Swami.......Swami........Swami.......Swami..... But Swami is lost and I do not elicit anything of Him. The previous night to this, I had a stomach upset. In the morning, though I noted down the dream because it was very vivid and real, I convinced myself that it was an indigestion dream! Once again, though the Truth was revealed, it was not understood before the right time - the 24th of April 2011 in this case. What I am trying to say is that though there is no doubt that Swami has always spoken the Truth, I cannot understand what He says till the right time for that comes. What then about the second coming? I too had a significant dream. But frankly, the right time has not come to understanding it I feel. Here is the dream anyway. This was on the 4th of March, 2012. I had been called for an interview along with another lad. We were waiting for Swami to call us into the interview room. We stood at the the ladies side end of the mandir where the ladies would usually wait for interviews. A large mirror had been placed at the backside of the Ganesha statue and in it, I could see the reflection of the interview room door. Swami was bustling with activity, going in and out of the interview room. I wondered and said to my partner, I just hope that He remembers our interview due! Even as I said that, Swami looked straight at me through the mirror. He beckoned to us. I went and as I turned towards the interview room, I saw that a cot had been placed next to the door. Swami was now lying on it and a student was holding Swamis right elbow with his right hand and his left hand was behind Swamis back. Swami asked for one more person to support Him similarly on His left. My partner felt overwhelmed with this asking and just sat down in the portico. I went ahead thinking that if Swami wants anything done, He would also give the strength to complete the same. I eagerly told Swami that I would help. I sat next to Swami and held Him the same way as the other student. Then, we were making Swami do sit-ups! Even as that was on, I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. Swami looked at me and asked me the reason for the expression. I said, Swami when you did so many miracles, some people believed you while others found faults in the miracles. But now, the whole world saw your burial on national television. And after that, you are sitting here! What greater miracle could one ask for... Swami too had a tear in His eye. The dream ended there. I know that my Lord has not left me. He is always there. I know that He is working a miracle in manner in which none of us can even imagine, let alone trying to understand. My job is to simply wait - give Him

the Shraddha (faith) and Saburi(perseverance) that He asked for in the Shirdi form. Except for me missing the physical form now and then, nothing has changed. He still guides, counsels, jokes and speaks to me in ways that I never thought possible. Just yesterday, something amazing happened. Something had upset my wife quite badly. Naturally, it affected me too. We decided to offer everything to Him. Thus it was, that we decided to read the Prayer of Surrender. I dont know the source of this text. But it is so comforting and powerful that I have framed it in my altar and I read it frequently. (click on that term above to see that Prayer of Surrender). Here is what happened. I pulled out this framed prayer of surrender from the altar and began to read it out to my wife. At the same time, my father entered the room with silver lamps to be kept in the altar. It was hardly 25-35 seconds when he called out to me. When I turned back to face the altar, there was bright red kumkum (sindhoor actually) in exactly the same spot where the prayer of surrender had been plucked out from!

Yes! He is with us always. I was reading the story of Jesus Christ and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. You know something startling?
When Jesus Christ resurrected, not everyone saw him!!! It is only those that had faith who could see him. Those that did not have faith in him, did not see him. So, though Jesus could be seen and approached by everyone during his sojourn on earth, after resurrection, only a few saw him. The others thought that those few people were mad. And a few continue to see him to this day! This is what I mean by saying that though I know my Lord is very much here, I do not know how He will actually come. The term Thy Kingdom Come is taken from a famous Christian prayer. You know what is the next line of the same prayer?

Thy Will Be Done ! I shall not try to understand. I shall only strengthen my faith and wait... for eternity if need be. In the meanwhile, I might as well enjoy His divine drama as I wait! :)