Om Sri Sai Ram SAI BABA - THE LIFE BREATH OF EVERY SOUL -I By Chandur D. Mirchandani PROLOGUE Volumes of literature have been written by various authors to sing the glory of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and to prove His Avatarhood, and to make people understand the purpose of His mission for taking this human form. I am only trying to add a few drops in the infinite ocean of His love and pray to Him right from the bottom of my heart to accept this humble offering as a token of my deep dedication and yearning for the touch of His Lotus Feet, and to bless me with an inner view, so that I am able to understand and put into practice His teachings and His commandments. Baba is an avatar of love. He has graciously taken this human form, for the sake of the seekers of the truth. Year after Year, and from one Yuga to another Yuga, the saints and sages had been earnestly praying to the Almighty God to descend from His heavenly abode and take a human form. In answer to their prayers and for the sake of the yearning of His devotees and to bring Dharma back to its prime position, the God out of His love and compassion has obliged. How fortunate we all human beings are, to be alive and living at the time when the Avatar Himself is moving in a human body while we can keep a personal rapport with Him and receive the benefit of His Darshan (Glimpse), Sparshan (Touch) and Sambashan (Speech). Baba has openly declared, “I separated Myself from Myself so that I may love Myself”. He further declares, “My life is my message”, and He strictly and rigidly lives up to it - a complete synchronization of thought, word and deed. He further proclaims that He is an Avatar of all the Avatars. I am one of the most fortunate devotees to be in the constant touch and under the protection of Bhagawan Baba. My previous book “Thy Will Be Done” which I was able to write through His grace and blessings, and published in 1991 and reprinted in 1997, is the true confession of my association with Baba and the blessings which He has been showering upon me. Now this sudden desire to write another book “Baba: The Life Breath Of Every Soul” is piercing me from inside. Swami, I need your guidance and help and, if You so desire, please bless me, inspire me and motivate me, so that I am able to write this book. This would be one more rose, humbly offered at Your Lotus Feet by this devotee of Yours, who has totally surrendered unto You and is ready to use the remaining span of his humble life in the service of humanity. Please bless me, oh! The Avatar of Love and Compassion. The entire articles on Bhagawan Baba has been contributed by Chandur D Mirchandani which has been extracted from his book This book is dedicated, to The Lotus Feet of, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, without whose Blessings this devotee would not have found God’s love Divine. The hand is mine, the guidance is His, The pen is mine, the writing is His, The mind is mine, the motivation is His, In fact, nothing is mine, but everything is His. GOD IN HUMAN FORM People cannot stand the Lord in superhuman form. It is only when the Lord comes in the human body that people are able to approach Him and learn to love Him even a little bit. But one should not make the mistake of thinking that is all there is to the Lord. For instance, the airplane flying high in the sky descends to the airport. But one should not think that the plane is the ground machine because one sees it on the ground. Once it has taken on its load of passengers, it can zoom up high in the sky. In like fashion, although the Lord has made a landing here on the Earth, so to speak, He is not limited by His human form. BABA: THE LIFE BREATH OF EVERY SOUL Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba says, “God is the Life Breath of Every Soul”. But the author proclaims, “BABA IS THE LIFE BREATH OF EVERY SOUL” which is basis for the title of this book. Has the author declared this out of his own imagination? Or has he done this, for the sake of his love, adoration and devotion for Bhagawan Baba? Or is he announcing this to enhance the name, fame and glory of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba? No, the author is fully convinced about the advent of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, as the POORNA AVATAR, descended from heaven and taking this human form for the sake of protecting DHARMA. He is the Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God. The author never needed any further corroboration in this regard, having himself realised and experienced the above truth. He is now eager to convince others - through this book. Hence the above title - the most appropriate for this book. The proof of the pudding lies in its eating. The truth often in spiritual matters is beyond proof through sensory perception but can certainly be realised and experienced. Although butter is always present in milk, we cannot see it and need a certain churning process for it to appear. My sole purpose of writing this book is not only to make people realise and experience this truth, but to also make them see with their own eyes, that God is truly amongst us to talk, love, console, care and act, like any other human being on Earth. Swami please bless me, so that Your own declaration that, “God lives in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India”, can be conveyed to the people of the entire world through this book, which You have motivated me to write. I am only an instrument, playing this small role, as assigned to me by Your Will, in this great grand drama of life. Swami, ‘Thy Will Be Done’. I will now move step by step to prove and convince the readers about the Divinity of Bhagawan Baba and the purpose of His Incarnation. First of all to start with, let me quote what Bhagawan Baba has been saying about Himself, in His various discourses, rendered at various places:- “There are four types of persons : the ‘dead’, who deny the Lord and declare that they alone exist, independent and self-directed : the ‘sick’, who call upon the Lord when some calamity befalls them or when they feel temporarily deserted by the unusual source of succor : the ‘dull’, who know that God is the eternal companion and watchman, but who remember it only off and on when the idea is potent and powerful : and lastly the ‘healthy’, who have steady belief in the Lord and who live in His Comforting Creative Presence always”. (Prashanthi Nilayam, Vijayadasami, 1953) “Note this also. In this Avatar, the wicked will not be destroyed, they will be corrected, reformed and educated and led back to the path from which they have strayed. The white ant infested tree will not be cut : it will be saved. Again this Avatar will not select some place other than the place where the nativity took place for the centre of Its Leelas, Mahimas, and Upadesh. This tree shall not be transplanted: it will grow where it rose from the Earth. Another specialty is this: the Avatar has no affinity or attachments in Its Career to members of the family wherein It appeared. Unlike the appearance as Rama, Krishna etc., where the life was played out mostly among and for the family members, this Avatar is for the Bhaktas, the Aspirants, the Sadhus and Sadhaks only. It has no Japa, Dhyana or Yoga: It knows no worship: It will not pray to anything, for It is the Highest. It only teaches you to worship and pray. To a worldly man, a God-intoxicated person will appear mad and he will laugh at him, but to the God-intoxicated man, the worldly appear insane, foolish, misled, and blind. Of all the insanities that harass man, God-madness is the least harmful, the most beneficial. The world has suffered untold damage due to its “mad” guides: but nothing but harmony, peace, brotherliness and love has come out of the ‘God-madness’ of man.” (Prashanthi Nilayam, Maha Shivarathri, 1955) “The Lord too has to come in human form and moves about among men, so that He could be listened to, contacted, loved, revered and obeyed. He has to speak the language of men and behave like human beings, as the member of the species. Otherwise, He would be either negated and neglected or feared and avoided”. (Peddapuram, 03/09/1958) “Until about an hour ago, the organizers of this function were nervous that I may not come. They had reconciled themselves to the disappointment in store and they were feverishly engaged in making alternative arrangements, for they had heard that the Godavari was in high floods and that I was at Rajahmundry. So they feared that I may not be able to cross the floods and come south in time for this engagement. From the fact that I had permitted them to announce My arrival for the function, they could well have inferred that the floods would subside and that I would be in their midst, for, once My word goes forth, it must happen accordingly. Do not doubt it. The furious waves calmed before Rama, the floods went down in time for Me.