Filling the Emptiness


"Actually His miracles that are really wonderful are the ones He performs in the consciousness and lives of His devotees. He changes you so gently and gradually that you do not even realise that anything is happening until one morning you really take a good look at yourself and see that you have changed. This is the real miracle. One day you realise that you much happier than usual and you have lost some of your bad habits and gained a few good ones," writes Dorris Babb, Secretary of Sri Sathya Sai Book Centre of America, Tustin, California.

Swami Karunyanandaji is the founder President of a vast organisation for Seva that has grown on the banks of the Godavari at Rajahmundry. This Organisation, established 45 years back, has set up a Leprosy Hospital and a Home for the destitute and the disabled.

One morning the Swami came out of his residence and found a young woman in extreme distress; she had been escorted by an unknown sympathiser from Palasa by train. She had a two-year-old daughter in her arms. He got her admitted into hospital and took the child to the hostel entrusting its care to the women inmates. Her condition improved rapidly for she was due to give birth to a child within a week. There was a portrait of Baba hung on the wall of the hospital, in which He is playfully leaning against a coconut tree. In this picture Baba appears more as Sakthi. This pose was known as the Sadhuvamma Pose, meaning Saintly Woman. It was perhaps just the right picture for the patient, whose recovery and her impending confinement were being looked after by Baba from that picture.

One evening, those in charge of the clinic went to see a movie, and when they returned they found that the woman had given birth to a son. The baby was washed and wrapped in white towels and kept in a cradle. The mother had received due attention. They were filled with surprise and on asking her who had come, she replied pointing to the picture, "She had taken care of me at the critical moment. She has gone to attend to another patient and will be back soon." That is the measure of His love. To help the helpless is the only way to please, follow and reach Him.

In February, 1969, four tribal leaders from the villages, of Rumgong, Panya, Disi and Jining, in NEFA, along with Sri Boken Ette, Political Assistant, an Architect, and a Deputy Secretary of NEFA came to Prasanthi Nilayam. Later in the afternoon they were selected for an interview along with some foreigners and some persons from Goa. The party remained with Baba for about two hours. Baba spoke to them on spiritual matters and thereafter each one was granted a private interview through which they found solace, and were encouraged to replan their future lives. The Deputy Secretary writes, "As we sat on the floor, Baba Himself sat amongst us, and not on the chair kept for Him. The room was hot because the fan did not work due to the failure of electricity. When the wife of the Chief Secretary of Goa attempted to fan Him with her folding fan, He said that it was not right to do so when others were suffering that heat. The room was too small to accommodate 22 persons. So Baba drew us nearer and we found the atmosphere conducive and homely. In the August presence of Baba, language is not a barrier in understanding the international language which flows from the loving heart of Baba. His spiritual declarations were grasped by each one of us directly and personally, corresponding to the colour of our minds. When an English lady said that she was unable to concentrate, Baba promptly materialised a red heartshaped article by a wave of His hand saying, "This represents your heart, it will help you to concentrate." He also created a diamond ring for the wife of the Chief Secretary saying that she would be able to see Him in it. He said, "This is die-mind (!) not diamond. Meditation on God results in the elimination of the desires that now make up the mind and its sport." This was fine spiritual Upadesh indeed! He created a talisman to cure the illness of another woman from Goa, and a handful of sweet Prasad for all of us. He poured the sacred ash, which He created, into the palm of a tribal leader and asked him to apply it on the foreheads of everyone of us. Another wave produced 8 pictures of Him which He gave to each one of us.
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