18th December 2008 - Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

As Swami had moved towards Yajur Mandir yesterday, He had said not once but almost 5 times, "I will give photos tomorrow." Every word that the Lord speaks itself is the Truth it is said. What then to speak of His promises? The morning seemed to be a test of Shraddha and Saburi , as Shirdi Baba would put it, for the devotees from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In the evening, at about 5 pm, Swami came out in the chair.

 

As He moved through the ladies side and then through the students, He seemed so full of anticipative energy. The Lord is pure reaction, reflection and resound. If the devotee exhibits great excitement and anticipation to meet Him, He too mirrors those feelings. There was a huge block of blue scarved devotees from MP and Chhattisgarh waiting in great eagerness for this would be their last darshan as a group. Swami halted in front of them and spoke to their group leader and then, all of a sudden, made a decision. He decided to move through the devotees and bless them.

The devotees' joy knew no bounds as the tried in haste to make some sort of a space for Swami to move through. The packing was such and their longing to touch Him was so intense that Swami resembled a little saffron boat on a rough blue sea! Swami moved through them and everyone tumbled towards and onto Him. Swami had only smiles and His hands went up often in blessings. Swami, while "recovering" from the fall a few years back, had said,"This body is not mine; it is yours. It has come for you and will work and perish for you. It is upto you to take care of it." From that moment on, Swami seems to be absolutely detached from His body. No matter what happens, only a smile dances on His effulgent space. His body is a great treasure that He has gifted to all his dear devotees and it is upto us to care for and tend to it.
 

Wading through them, Swami went about collecting letters and speaking to some here and there. At one point, He waved His hand and materialised vibhuti. That He distributed to at least 10 people. There was hardly any space to move but He said that He wanted to move through them. And thus it was that for about ten minutes, Swami moved through them showering Love and Grace. Every face was beaming with the joy of seeing Him and touching Him and at the same time of being seen and "touched" by Him. Having completed that, when all assumed that Swami would proceed along with the remaining darshan rounds, Swami called the head and told him to pull out all the participants of yesterday's drama. He said He would give them the promised group photos! There was a surge of thrill that swept through all the blue scarves.

In the meanwhile Swami interacted with yesterday's singer - Abhas. He spoke to him and his brother and materialised vibhuti for them. He also applied vibhuti to the singer's throat and there were smiles everywhere. It is no surprise that Swami seems to have a special corner in His heart for the singers. If they have pure feelings, they sprout Love for God in many hearts. There have been a few instances where Swami has materialised honey and used it as an ink to write on people's tongues. Those people fill devotion in millions of hearts even today with their honeyed voices. Being blessed with the "honeying" touch, Abhas seemed to be in "ninth heaven" if that exists!

Once the participants had been separated, they could not arrange themselves where they were seated. So the students vacated an area in the centre of Sai Kulwant Hall and the photo session got scheduled there. Swami sat sweetly amidst the participants and told them all to look towards the camera. After the men, Swami called Abhas and gifted him with a personal picture. Then Swami told the photographer there that if the gents moved, the ladies too could sit arrayed around Him in the same place. According to that wish, soon in the same place were the ladies. The smiles and joy were however the same. Swami then moved through the students into the interview room.

He came out soon with clothes for the two protagonists of the drama. Gifting them the clothes, He added to their joy by giving them prints of the photos taken minutes before! With the Lord, when it rains, it showers! Moving to the Bhajan Hall where the Bhajans were going on, Swami moved down the aisle in His chair and gave sarees to a lady and three of the bhajan singers to give them as gifts of Love to their mothers! After bhajans, He received Aarthi at 6 pm.