Author Archives: Author Richard F Holmes

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About Author Richard F Holmes

I was born in London in 1955 and have lived a very topsy turvey life. I left school at 15 with no qualifications, and had I not left voluntarily, I would have been asked to leave. I always felt that I didn't fit in anywhere, and as a result, by the time I reached the age of 17 I'd had 24 jobs. I joined the army in 1976 hoping that it would give me a purpose in life but instead I became even more disillusioned and turned to alcohol. I hated the army because I found it to be such a hypocritical organisation and as soon as I was eligible to do so, I bought myself out. Whilst in the military however, I did enjoy my experiences in Germany and in 1980 went back there to work, staying for six years. My heavy drinking continued during my time in Germany and by the time I returned to the UK in 1986 I was heading down into a deep depression. I managed to haul myself out of it in the mid-to-late 1990's but my life hit an all time low in 2000. In early 2001 I found my spiritual pathway and started to turn my life around. I now live in Gloucestershire in the UK and I'm a successful medium and healer. I'm also the author of ten spiritual publications and have produced five meditation and three chanting CDs. I'm a workshop facilitator in various spiritual topics and I also give profound interpretations of dreams. There are plans in 2014 for another book, provisionally entitled "An Idiots Guide To Spiritual Law" and a series of audio books in CD form. Connect with me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorrichardfholmes

Gary Speed 1969-2011 – A Tribute

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What is it that makes someone, seemingly in their prime and with everything going for them, take their own life at the young age of 42?  I suppose we will never really know just what was going through Gary Speed’s mind when he took that fateful decision on November 27 2011.  For the uninitiated, Welshman Gary was an English Premier League footballer who had retired from playing and was manager of the Welsh national team.  As a player he made a record number of appearances in the EPL with Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers.  He finished his playing career outside the Premier League with Sheffield United.  On Saturday 26 November 2011 Gary had appeared on the BBC’s football focus programme and was outwardly upbeat and positive about life in general and his job as manager of Wales.  Off camera he had spoken enthusiastically to the presenter about his kids and also told how he was looking forward to playing golf the following week.  A few hours later he was found hanging by his wife.

I am not writing this post because I am a fan of Gary or the club’s he played for, but rather to demonstrate once again the awesome power of the human spirit.  As stated I was not particularly a fan but as a follower of the EPL I was well aware of Gary’s achievements and his influence both on and off the field.  He was a real leader of men and a great motivator; so well respected in football circles far and wide.  This influence was demonstrated aptly by the way he transformed the fortunes of the Welsh national team, who as a small country were so often the whipping boys of the international arena.  But Gary Speed went in there and made those players believe in themselves.  They started punching well above their weight and began to give the big boys a run for their money.  I remember the recent European Championship qualifier between England and Wales at Wembley and how unbelievably lucky England were to escape with a 1-0 victory.

Yesterday (3 December 2011) just prior to kick-off at football grounds throughout the country, fans and players alike put aside their petty prejudices and rivalry and united as one in their appreciation of a man who gave so much to the game of football.  Grown men wept openly as Gary Speed’s spirit touched their soul.   The question “why” will no doubt resonate within the minds of those who were closest to Gary for some time to come, but I cannot help thinking that out of this tragic event there is a wonderful ray of light shining so brightly; namely the lasting influence of Gary Speed on the game of football.  Fans and players of all clubs have been deeply moved by his passing, and this is no mean feat even in death, because footballers and football fans in general can be the most fickle of people and you don’t get to be such an influence on their lives unless you are of exceptional character; and Gary Speed certainly was.

R.I.P Gary we hope you are now free from your torment.  You have left this Earth in the same way that you lived your life on it; by being a positive influence on others.  We are living in very difficult times but yesterday your memory helped people to put all their cares and worries to one side as they united as one, one heart, one voice.  What those people felt as they wept was the unifying power of the spirit.  What they experienced in that moment was love in all its glory; if only this could be understood and put into practice in all walks of life.  If it was, what a different place the world would be.

Just Another Day At The Office For The Birthday Boy

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It seems quite appropriate to be writing this article on this particular day; November 23, the 86th anniversary of Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s descent into flesh.  Devotees all over the world will be celebrating today but I’m going to tell you about an incident that occurred on Saturday 19 November in Cheltenham, when The Sai Organisation UK Region 7 held a regional birthday celebration in honour of our beloved Sai.  I must say that when I first heard it was to be held in Cheltenham this year I was a bit dubious to say the least.  I have never liked Cheltenham; it is a smallish town but very, very busy.  Traffic is quite often gridlocked and the town centre road network is not exactly driver friendly, especially if you don’t know where you are going.  Yes, I still have memories of being lost in Cheltenham on a number of occasions and driving around aimlessly getting more and more frustrated.  But I wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop me from paying my respects to Swami.

I set off nice and early to take into account that I was, in all likelihood, going to get lost.  Surprise, surprise I reached my destination without any hitch and I arrived at The Cheltenham Hindu Community Centre in plenty of time.  There is always food laid on at these events and it never fails to amaze me just how sumptuous it is.  All of Cheltenham Sai Group worked tremendously hard in organizing the event, but the ladies who prepared the food must take a special pat on the back.  As ever, it was basic vegetarian fayre, but unbelievably good.  The chick pea curry was mouth-watering and the Indian sweets were out of this world.  Lunch was actually the first thing on the agenda before the celebrations started at 2:00 p.m.

The event kicked off with a wonderful little play by the kids from Swindon Sathya Sai Education Group, and there followed a lovely video “Love In Action” that highlighted Swami’s fresh drinking water, hospital and educational projects (unfortunately, the video had to be cut short due to time restrictions).  As the devotional singing and the event in general was drawing to a close an elderly lady in a wheelchair had a cardiac arrest.  Fortunately, there was a couple of GP’s present and also a couple of nurses.  But I found what followed so surreal.

The lady was very quickly lifted from her wheelchair and placed on the floor, where she immediately received CPM from a male nurse.  He moved so fast it was quite unbelievable.  Whilst the doctors and nurses attended to the lady someone called for an ambulance.  A makeshift screen was then formed by a number of other ladies using sheets; this gave a degree of privacy to the patient and helped to maintain her dignity.  Almost simultaneously most of the people not involved started to chant the Gayatri mantra.  I always feel so completely and utterly helpless in these situations but joined in the chanting.  It must have taken the paramedics at least 15 minutes to arrive, and it must have been very strange for them as they entered the hall with so many people chanting whilst a patient was receiving life saving first aid on the floor.

I remember thinking to myself as the drama began to unfold “what a way to go”.  It seemed that Swami had decided to take her, bathed in his Omnipresence, in an environment that she loved amongst other devotees, having just finished celebrating her Lords glory; I was convinced she was gone.  However, after a short time had lapsed we received a signal that the lady was going to be alright, and all those engaged in the chanting instinctively brought it to a close.  The paramedics took the lady to hospital and one of the attending GP’s made an announcement.

The female GP told us that the lady had indeed suffered a cardiac arrest.  She also informed us that the lady had stopped breathing and that she had turned black.  So we can conclude that the elderly lady had indeed “died”.  My friend Satyan from Bath, knowing that I didn’t particularly like driving in Cheltenham, called me later that night to make sure I’d arrived home in one piece.  He’d had a lift from the male nurse who’d performed the CPM.  During the drive back the man told Satyan that the lady would not have survived had they waited for the paramedics, so it just goes to show that it was not the lady’s time to go and Baba, from his cosmic residence, had somehow engineered the whole event as if it was nothing more than a scene from a play.  I have been to many of these functions now and never experienced anything like it before, so the drive home was very strange indeed; with everything swimming around in my head.  Now, five days later, I am still trying to get my head around the events of last Saturday; events that I found very surreal indeed.

Surreal for me maybe, but it was just another day at the office for the birthday boy!

Sai Baba – Avatar & Human Being

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Dear loving Swami was known by devotees the world over for the multitude of miracles that he performed during his 85 years in physical form; miracles such as raising people from the dead (even when the corpse had started to rot), control over the elements and the ability to appear in a multitude of places simultaneously, to name but a few.  But what I personally found most heart warming about Baba was his human side.  Maybe not quite as spectacular in the eyes of the average devotee, but he had this way of showing his human-ness in the most simplistic of ways; ways that really touched the heart.   He always used to say that we should never try to comprehend him because he was quite simply beyond comprehension.  But he also used to say that the reason he walked among us, breathed the same air and ate and spoke just like any other normal human being was so we could relate to him.  So, I suppose it’s for this reason that there was also something incredibly human about Baba.

The late professor Gokak who was very close to Swami for a number of years recalled the time when he accompanied Baba on a trip.  The professor spoke of how Baba had forgotten his razor, saying “so I just gave him mine”.  He also spoke of how easy it was to forget just who Baba really was because sometimes “we would laugh and joke together and in those moments he was simply my friend.”  But one of the most amusing stories I ever heard was when Swami was much younger and he took a party to the Himalayas.  He played snowballs with the group and also enjoyed himself on a sledge.   But during the same trip he visited a cave-dwelling sage and gave him the ultimate blessing by showing him his cosmic form.

I was once blessed with experiencing Swami’s human-ness first hand whilst sitting in darshan during my first trip to Prasanthi Nilayam.  I’d managed to get myself a prime spot directly opposite where Swami used to make his entrance; I couldn’t believe my luck, and what happened next was absolutely amazing.

Sitting just along from me, to my right, was a man.  Behind him was a younger man holding a child.  She was a beautiful little girl and they were obviously all connected.  At one point the younger man passed the little girl to the man in front and he had her on his lap fanning her.  Immediately two Seva Dals approached and told the man that the child would have to be passed back.  This made the Seva Dals look particularly mean, but I didn’t realise it at the time that children were not allowed in the front row.  Apparently there had been various incidents over the years and eventually the ruling was made that children were no longer allowed to sit in the front row.  The man protested long and hard but in the end he had to relent and pass the child back to the younger man.  I also felt for the Seva Dals because on the whole they do a fantastic job, they are all volunteers and it was not the fault of the two Seva Dals in question.  The beautiful thing about this though, is that I was one of only a handful of people who actually saw this story unfold in its entirety, and I feel privileged that Swami engineered this so that I could witness it.

As Baba approached one of the men gave the little girl a letter and they stood her up so that Baba could see.  He has a way of letting his attendants know when to stop and when to start and which direction to wheel him in etc.  The child held the letter out to Baba and he halted and motioned for her to come forward.  He took the letter and she bent down and touched his feet.  He then blessed her and a cheeky grin broke out on his face.  As it did so a huge cheer went up and the section of the crowd that had seen this wonderful event in detail applauded.

It was Swami’s way of letting us know that he knew what had happened with regard to the child not being allowed to sit in the front row; and there is simply no way that he could have seen the earlier incident as he was still in his quarters at the time.  The face of the child’s father was an absolute picture and it was a truly wonderful gesture by Baba.  The unfortunate thing is that because the hall was so packed only those near the front were a party to this amazing event, and only a handful saw the whole event from start to finish.  I am truly privileged to be one of that handful.

Baba must have been about ten feet or so away from me when he called the child forward.  It was fantastic for me seeing Swami face on, and what I found striking was that as he approached he looked absolutely beautiful.  I never thought I would ever describe a man as being beautiful, but Baba was not of this earth.  He looked so tiny in his wheelchair but the power he gave off was absolutely awesome.

It’s now seven months since dear Swami discarded his physical form, and it would be ridiculous to say that his form is not missed by devotees everywhere.  But everyone I speak to says the same thing; since Swami left his body it seems as though he is even more Omnipresent than ever.  His love seems to be even more prominent than it was; if that is at all possible.  I, for example, have lost count of the times since April 24 that he has made his presence felt within my heart and my eyes have filled with tears of joy.  There’s definately something bubbling under, and I can’t wait for it to surface.

 

 

The Astral Adventure Of A Lifetime

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Just when I thought my days of incredible astral adventures were over I’m blessed with the mother of all out-of-body experiences; if ever anything was worth waiting for, this most certainly was.

As in most cases it started as a dream, and not a very nice one, although not a
nightmare.  The dream seemed to be centred on “basements”; and dark ones at that.  At one point I found myself trying to clamber through a ground level window in order to get into a basement.  The window was very narrow in height so I couldn’t struggle through, but width-wise it was more than long enough for my body.  The reason I needed to clamber through was because a bomb was about to go off, although I didn’t see this bomb at any point.  As dreams do, this one shifted, and I found myself in a dark basement where someone had stuck a pin in me.  I think I pulled this pin out, but there was someone else whom I couldn’t see in the darkness who was not only trying to stick more pins in me, but also inject me.  I was trying to keep this person at arm’s length and we seemed to take a tumble in the darkness.  At this point I woke up but kept my eyes closed.

In my wakened state I was aware of the familiar feeling of being enfolded in a spirit presence.  I was kind of hoping that I would now be taken on a journey, but I wasn’t holding my breath, given the length of time since my last significant experience.  But I suddenly felt myself being carried off, and as is the norm when this happens, I sent out my thoughts to my companion expressing my gratitude.  The journey seemed to go on for a while and when I was eventually dropped off I initially felt a bit disappointed.  The journey had been so smooth but it seemed that I had been taken for a ride only to arrive straight back in my body.  But I very quickly became pleasantly surprised.  What made me think that I was straight back in my body was the continued darkness.  But through this darkness I could just about make out someone coming towards me and I knew then that I had been taken to a specific destination.  I could not make out this person’s face but they took my hand and led me into the darkness; and I followed in child-like innocence.

We arrived at what looked like the entrance to a classroom.  There was a lot of activity; people milling around and comings and goings etc.  What happened next was truly wonderful.

People seemed to be greeting each other with short hugs and kisses on the cheek.  A young white male soul passed by on his way into the classroom and insisted (not in an aggressive way) that I kiss him on the cheek.  I did this and noticed that although he was extremely active and energetic, there did not appear to be any warmth or emotion; it was almost mechanical.  However, a fair-skinned black lady; very slender and beautiful, appeared from nowhere, came straight up to me and greeted me (calling me by name), she gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek saying how great it was to see me.  I felt a very deep spiritual connection to her as if I’d known her forever, but it happened so fast and she disappeared into the classroom.  I was then engaged in conversation with another darker black lady, and after we exchanged pleasantries, I said to her something like “you do realise I haven’t got a clue what’s going on here don’t you”.  She acknowledged this, and even though we were communicating via telepathy, she opened her mouth to reveal the strangest looking teeth I’ve ever seen.

Another black lady who seemed to know me appeared.  We greeted and I remember telling her how good she looked.  She said I was looking good as well, radiating many different colours.  Even in my out-of-body state this made me think, because even though I could see and touch all other souls present, I could not see my own astral form.  I can’t remember exactly what I said to her next, but after she told me I was radiating many colours I told her that I had some sort of defect or dis-ease going on at the moment.  I got the impression that she was a kind of therapist because in a really matter-of-fact way she said we could carry out some sort of healing process to correct it.  Now I can’t remember her exact words but I think she said something like “that’s ok we can carry out a criminal treatment if you want” and she was nodding in the affirmative as she said it. Now the use of the word “criminal” here (if indeed that is what she said) is not in the same context as we would use it within the Earth dimension.  It refers to something that can be likened to a “spiritual bug” that finds its way into us and causes reactions that are not in line with our soul purpose or spiritual pathway.  Oh by the way, whatever it is I’ve got, I take full responsibility and acknowledge that somewhere along the way I’ve done it to myself.

I felt a great closeness with the souls in the classroom, especially the two black ladies who obviously knew me very well.  But the feelings I had for these two very beautiful ladies were not of a sexual nature.  They were feelings of a great depth and love of spirit that you only get when you have known someone for eternity; and they both seemed to know me inside out.  But I felt a great affinity with everyone; it was as though this was a regular gathering, and I soon realised exactly what the purpose of the class was.

I noticed that all the greetings that had been going on, between everyone, not just myself, seemed to be rather gushing and over-the-top (with the exception of the light-skinned black lady who hugged and kissed me on the cheek).  I also noticed whilst engaging with the other black lady, the therapist, that I was feeling a very definite emotion.  Now in the past during out-of-body experiences I’ve never been aware of any defined emotion apart from the pure love of spirit.  What I mean by defined emotion is this.  Normally as we go about life we are quite oblivious to a lot of our emotions because we are so wrapped up in the earthly state of illusion.  So, unless we are feeling particularly elated or sad we won’t necessarily be aware of our emotions; and in most cases will be oblivious when we are feeling emotions such as resentment, jealousy, greed etc. because they just blend in with our other thoughts and feelings.  But I was aware of a definite feeling of pride; the pride that is very much ego attached and not the justified sense of pride you get for yourself or a loved one that comes with having achieved something worthwhile, for example.

Yes, it occurred to me that I was part of a class that taught freedom of ego, and what everyone was doing was unloading their earthbound ego within the astral realms where it could cause no harm.  It all makes perfect sense; everyone present seemed to have a great sense of purpose, even the young white male who wanted me to kiss him on the cheek.  We were all students having one of our regular get-togethers.  That would explain the great feeling of togetherness.

Just as I was really enjoying myself I felt that all too familiar, and disappointing,
feeling of returning to my body.  I just lay there in bed for a while pondering my wonderful experience with amazing friends and thinking how truly blessed I am.
Oh thank you my loving God for a wonderful life.

Living Without Fear

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Do not be afraid of anything.  Even when tossing on a wave in a storm, you are still on the bosom of the ocean.  Always hold on to the consciousness of God’s underlying presence, be of even mind, and say:  “I am fearless; I am made of the substance of God.  I am a spark of the Fire of Spirit.  I am an atom of the cosmic flame.  I am a cell of the vast universal body of the Father.  ‘I and my Father are One’.”

Paramahansa Yogananda

Sometimes God Needs Coaxing

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The Omnipresent ever-loving God does actually answer every single prayer, although it may not be apparent.  Thankfully many prayers that go up are answered with a resounding “no”!  What then is a prayer?  A prayer is a series of thoughts that go out to God in the hope that some kind of result will ensue.  Some prayers take the form of a shopping list; sent up as a last resort with the emphasis on “me”.  This is generally when God pops up as a kind of afterthought when all else has failed, and these are the prayers that usually get the big “no”!

What many don’t realise is that God has to be moved (coaxed) and this happens according to the sincerity of the one engaged in prayer.  You see we forget that literally everything is God and God permeates every single cell of matter in this dimension, and indeed semi-matter and light in the dimensions beyond.  We already know that our thoughts are creative, everything is driven by thoughts,  and this is the same when it comes to prayer.  Prayer is communion with God and when we pray from the heart with deep sincerity, not giving a thought for ourselves, then the Omnipresent God is moved into action; things happen.  Insincere payers are like blind faith; completely useless.

The secret of successful prayer is to detach from the outcome.  If you think about this it’s more than logical.  When someone complains that God has not answered their prayers, it implies that they were expecting some kind of reward and therefore the prayer was not entirely selfless.  To detach is to place everything in the hands of God knowing that he will act in accordance with the Divine plan and our highest good and not necessarily in the way we expect.

Now if you’ll just excuse me I’ve got to pray for my Christmas wish list.

It’s All A Matter Of Perspective

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It’s an amazing thing, perspective; it’s all to do with how we perceive things as individuals.  One man’s success is another man’s failure and what may seem fantastic to one person may be run-of-the-mill to another.  I would like to share with you a personal experience that I believe illustrates this very aptly.

In October 2009 when I went to the ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of the Highest Peace), of Sri Sathya Sai Baba for the first time, I met an Australian man named Dave.  ”Aussie Dave” as I called him, was just one of many wonderful characters that I encountered during my two-week stay.  I first spoke to Dave after darshan one evening.  I can’t remember the circumstances, but I do remember having seen him around the ashram and in darshan before then.  He was a big man, but when you spoke to him you realised he had a heart of gold.  After our encounter in the darshan hall I bumped into him a couple more times before he went back to Australia.  There was one particular conversation I had with him that I found both interesting and surprising.  I should point out here that whenever devotees of Baba cross paths it is always, without exception, because Baba has engineered it; and there is always a reason.

I was in awe of many of the people I spoke to during my stay, and Dave was no exception,  because Baba had only come into my life in 2001 and this was the first time I’d received the call.  Dave had been a devotee for many years and had experiences with Swami that I could only ever dream about.  He showed me a ring he was wearing that Baba had materialised for him; he also said that this was his eighth visit to Prasanthi (sometimes he brought his wife but on this occasion he’d travelled alone) and not only had he been granted interviews with Baba as part of a group, but he’d also had a personal interview as well.  I was green with envy, but not in a bad way; I was very happy for him that Swami had showered him with so much grace, but at the same time I was thinking ”I wish I’d had those experiences too”.  He also told me what I thought was quite an amusing story.

On the occasion in question he’d travelled to Prasanthi alone and was lucky enough to have been summoned with some other devotees for a group interview.  He told how Baba had been speaking to him and suddenly left and went into an adjoining room.  Dave said that Swami seemed to take an age before he came back and there had also been crashing sounds coming from the other room; as if filing cabinets were being opened and closed.  He went on to say that Baba suddenly appeared again, threw one of his robes at him and said ”here, give that to your wife”!

Anyway, I digress, back to perspective and the point of this article.  There I was in awe of this man’s experiences with my wonderful Swami, he’d visited the ashram eight times, had group and personal interviews, had a ring that Swami materialised for him and he also had one of Baba’s coveted robes back home in Australia.  It all made my experiences seem so trivial.  After all, apart from the astral experience I had with Baba in December 2006, my encounters with my loving Guru consisted mainly of visitations during dream state.  But, when I shared with Dave my humble exploits with the ”God Man” I was dumbfounded to hear him say ”I’ve never experienced anything like that”.  He was genuinely amazed when I shared my experiences with him.

I’ve always heard devotees say that Baba knows us all inside out and he only ever gives us exactly what we need for our long-term spiritual growth and well-being.  He also only connects with us in ways that we can best relate to him; and I would agree with that 100%.  I often think of that conversation I had with Aussie Dave and still try to get my head around why, a man who’d had such incredible first hand experiences with The Avatar of the age, would be so amazed at mine, which seemed so trivial compared to his.  Having said that, I remain the only person I know who has had an astral experience with Baba.

I know there was a special lesson for me contained within that conversation.  I know also that I am ever so grateful for the experiences that I’ve had with Sri Sathya Sai Baba, even if they don’t seem as spectacular as some other people’s.

But I suppose it’s all just a matter of perspective!

Sai Humour 6

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The Sai Humour series wouldn’t be  complete without mentioning Professor N. Kasturi.  Kasturi was a wonderful man who was close to Baba for many years and was well into his 90’s when he left this Earth.  Kasturi was the editor of the ashram magazine, Sarathana Sarathi, and some-time translator for Swami when he gave discourses; he was also a lecturer in many spiritual topics and I’m going to share with you a few of the great professor’s experiences at the hands of Baba’s sense of humour.

Kasturi once accompanied Baba to Coorge where he was to translate a discourse from Swami’s Telugu dialect into Kannada, which was the regional language.     Coorge is an area that has the highest levels of rainfall in Southern India.  Baba asked Kasturi to address the crowd of around 10,000 people before he gave his discourse.  The good professor, noticing the build-up of rain clouds in the distance, decided to relate a story from The Bhagavad Gita which told how Lord Krishna protected his devotees from torrential rain after Indra, the rain God, retaliated after perceiving that Krishna had insulted him.  Kasturi went on to reassure the crowd that Swami had control over the elements and would not allow them to get soaked.

As Baba was giving his discourse the rain clouds got closer and closer and Kasturi was panicking that the crowd would get wet and that it would make both him and Baba look stupid.  Throughout the discourse he sent out prayers to Baba apologising for being so presumptuous and pleading with him to stop the rain.  All the time the clouds got closer and closer and Kasturi felt more and more awful; not only that, Baba’s discourse went over time which really had poor Kasturi in a panic.  Baba eventually finished by addressing the crowd  thus.  ”This Kasturi, though he gave the story of the rain, does not have faith.  All the time he worried in his mind whether I will be able to stop the rain.  The rain will come now; it will be here in 15 minutes so all of you get home.”

Years ago Kasturi accompanied Baba on a trip to Benares.  He had a desire to receive a mantra from Baba and mentioned this to him.  He then went and bathed in the Ganges and fasted for the remainder of the morning in expectation of having his request granted.  As the day moved into afternoon the mantra was not forthcoming, and Kasturi was so upset at this that he shed tears.  At lunch he found himself seated next to Baba who asked him ”why aren’t you eating”?  Holding back the tears Kasturi said ”the mantra”.  Baba then asked him ”what is the purpose of a mantra?”  ”To get closer to the Lord” Kasturi replied.  Baba looked down at the professor’s arm and then at his own; they were almost touching.  He then smiled sweetly and in his very down to earth way said to Kasturi ”how much closer do you want to get”?

I will end by sharing with you the very amusing story of one of Baba’s pranks.  One evening in 1959 he sent someone to tell Kasturi to report to his room at the mandir.  When the professor arrived at Baba’s quarters Baba said that he needed to take a photo of him because the editor  of a major Hyderabad daily had been in touch wanting to write an article on Kasturi and the ashram magazine.  Baba told Kasturi he had promised this editor a photo of him and that he wanted to take it right away.  He also said that he had acquired a very special camera specifically for this purpose so he should go and get himself ready.  Kasturi rushed back to his quarters, got showered, shaved and put his best clothes on, he then rushed back over to Baba; arriving back in the presence with a huge grin on his face.

Baba got hold of Kasturi’s shoulders and manoeuvred him into the required position.  He then stepped back the appropriate distance and looked through the camera lens.  After complementing Kasturi on his photogenic face Baba shouted ”steady” followed immediately by ”ready”.  Baba then clicked and Kasturi shrieked and jumped back into the corner of the room as a black blotch with a tail shot out of the camera and bounced off his neck.  It turned out to be a trick camera that fired a cotton mouse.  Baba burst out laughing (and so did Kasturi, but only to relieve the tension).

As we know, The Avatar does not play these pranks just for the sake of it; there is always a spiritual lesson to be learned.  He gently reprimanded Kasturi for allowing his ego to be inflated by the story he’d invented about the newspaper editor; saying that the fact he was editor of the ashram magazine was not the kind of news the world was interested in.  Lasting fame is not to be sought through newspapers that turn into waste paper the very next morning, but through service to God.  Kasturi remarked some time later that he left the room a much wiser man.

Sai Humour 5

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I would like to share with you three more amusing littles stories from the Sai Humour series of articles.

In the interview room once Sai Baba asked a devotee ”how do you spell wife”?  Before the man could answer Baba said  ”W.I.F.E, Worry Invited For Ever”.  Then seeing the look of disappointment on the face of the man’s wife he corrected himself and very sweetly said ”Wisdom Invited For Ever”.

A young man with long hair was amongst a number of devotees who had been called for a group interview one day.  After teasing the man for looking like a woman Baba told him to get a haircut.  The man said ”will you cut the first lock Swami”.  Shaking his head in mock horror Baba said ”I am Baba not barber”!

The American Dr John Hislop was blessed with having spent a lot of time with Swami before he left this Earth in 1996.  One day Hislop was invited along with Baba and other devotees to the house of a very well meaning devotee for lunch.  On seeing that there was not going to be enough food to go round Baba said to Hislop ”go to the car and bring the food”.  Hislop, knowing that there was no food in the car went anyway, expecting Baba to have performed one of his miracles.  But even he did not expect the sight that greeted him.  He was astounded to see two angels, complete with wings, standing by the car holding trays of food.  He took the trays and went back in the house with his mouth wide open in amazement.  On seeing the look on his face Baba said ”shut your mouth Hislop, they are always there, it’s just that you do not see them”!

Being Looked After

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I’ve been thinking lately how unbelievably lucky I am.  Having said that, I’m sure it’s true to say that I’ve earned my luck over many lifetimes, but I can’t help thinking how unbelievably lucky I am that the Divine looks after me in the way that he/she does.  Indeed, I am living proof that the phrase ”somebody up there must have been looking down on me” is very apt.  In the earlier stages of this life I got myself into some sticky situations because of my naivety and desperation to ”belong” and later as a soldier stationed in Germany my choice of haunts left something to be desired; but miraculously I always seemed to avoid trouble.  More recently my ignorance of certain matters has left me in extremely vulnerable situations, but again, I remain unscathed.

At the age of 14 I’d got in with the wrong crowd.  I’d had very difficult relationships with my parents (for different reasons) and got sucked into friendships simply out of a desire to be accepted and to belong.  I didn’t understand back then that to simply be me was the only identity I would ever need and went from living one lie to the other.  These friends came and went because they were not true friends, but by the time I was 16 I was hanging out in the West End of London a few nights a week, specifically the soho area.  I had been introduced to the area by one of these friends who was a couple of years older than me and much more worldly-wise.  I took to hanging out in seedy clubs, sometimes not heading back to North London until after 07.00 a.m. or even later.  These clubs were frequented by prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, thieves and muggers, but somehow I never encountered any serious trouble.  Whenever trouble was brewing something always happened that kept me out of danger.

By the time I joined the army and got stationed in Dortmund in the then West Germany my only true friend was alcohol.  I became like a split personality; on one hand I kept people entertained with my impressions and wit; but that was just a front for my other self, who was quite depressed and withdrawn.  I didn’t like the army because of the hypocrisy and I didn’t like the squaddie mentality of wanting to beat people up after a few drinks; I was a happy drunk (when I wasn’t being depressed).  I was attracted, for some reason, to the seedy side of Dortmund which was ”under the bridge”.  It was a standing joke amongst the lads; and sometimes before descending on ”Der Stadt” we would say to each other ”whatever happens tonight I’m not going under the bridge”.  The bridge in question was a railway bridge in Dortmund City Centre.  All the nice respectable places were before the bridge, but once you went under the bridge it was a real den of iniquity.  The standing joke was that even as we were saying it we knew that after a skin-full of beer we would always end up there.  Quite often I would go down town on my own and go to the pubs under the bridge.  Looking back it was a very dangerous thing to do; British squaddies, after all, were not the most popular species in Dortmund City Centre.  I would go to some real holes on my own, but not once did I ever encounter any trouble.  I could relate several more stories from my teenage and army years as examples of being looked after but it would make this post too long, however, in more recent years there are other examples of how I have constantly been protected and I’d like to finish by sharing two of them with you.  Both of these examples involve cars.

What I know about cars can be written on the back of a postage stamp; to me cars are for driving and nothing else.  Sometimes I check my oil and water, but mainly I just drive my cars and hope for the best.  I bought a second-hand Toyota in 1999, it was a 1992 model with a genuine 28,000 miles on the clock.  I kept the car for nine years and never had one mechanical fault with it.  I only cleaned it a handful of times during that period as well because a car, to me, is simply a means of getting from A to B.  So, during the time I had the Toyota I only had to deal with natural wear and tear, such as buying new tyres occasionally, new wiper blades, a new battery (once) and just general servicing; renew spark plugs etc.

After I’d had the car roughly eight years, someone remarked one day about the good condition that it was apparently in.  I explained how long I’d had it and that I’d had no problems with it.  Then they said to me ”what about the cam belt”.  I didn’t know what the cam belt was and kind of just gave an indifferent reply.  Some time later I was having a similar conversation with a friend and she asked the same question about the cam belt, to which I gave a similar reply.  When she explained to me that the cam belt is very important and that if it snaps you might as well kiss your car goodbye, I thought that maybe I should look into it.  To cut a long story short, the car suddenly started to develop wear and tear problems that were quite major and in the space of a couple on months I had a lot of work done on it that cost a small fortune.  But the mechanic who carried out the repairs said he had never seen anything like it.  He was a nonreligious/spiritual person but even he said ”someone up there must have been looking down on you”.  Apparently you should change your cam belt about every 60,ooo miles.  When I eventually got it changed (it was the original belt from new) it had done over 166,000 miles.  The mechanic said it was a miracle it didn’t snap.  Also the radiator was completely rotten and the brake pads (also the original from new) were apparently right down to the metal.  Yet that car started first time every time, even throughout cold winters.  The brakes always worked perfectly, I never topped up the water once in the nine years I had it and it always ran like a dream.  Eventually, because it had started to cost me so much money I gave it away to the mechanic who had given me such good service over the previous couple of years.

The same mechanic sold me my next car, that I’m still driving; although I haven’t had the same good fortune with this one.  Well, having said that it would depend on your perspective.  It’s not relevant to mention various problems I had with the new car, but an incident in June 2009 is very relevant.  At the time I was working part-time on a site that housed adults with learning disabilities.  I drove onto the site and down to the unit where I was supposed to be working.  Because of the number of cars already taking up spaces I had to park up on a grass verge until staff on the earlier shift had gone home.  I went inside the unit and a few minutes later a colleague came in and asked if he could have a word with me.  He was quite embarrassed to have to tell me that he had reversed into my car with a works vehicle and put a dent in the front off-side wheel arch.  I could see that he felt awful about this, so I just said to him ”don’t worry it’s only a car”.  He promised me faithfully he would get it fixed no matter what and we just left it at that.

However, when I went to move the car into a proper parking space I was puzzled as to why it wouldn’t move.  Another colleague who was standing nearby was looking on and I could see he was trying to tell me something.  I got out of the car to find that both of my front wheels were pointing inwards, and my colleague informed me that it looked as though the front tracking rod had snapped.  This meant the car was undrivable.  It was also very strange because the colleague who reversed into my car was only travelling at about 5 MPH.  It soon became apparent to me why my car had been rendered unroadworthy in such strange circumstances.  My other colleague pointed out that if the tracking rod snapped at such low impact it must have been ready to go at any time.  The realisation then hit me that if it had snapped whilst I was on the motorway or even a major A road, then I would not be in a position to tell the tale.

It’s only since Sri Sathya Sai Baba came into my life in 2001 that I have really noticed that I am most definitely protected by the hand of grace.  I honestly don’t know why the good Lord protects me in this way; I can only assume that there are plans for me that do not involve me leaving this earthly life just yet.

Yes, its great being looked after and I’m so grateful for it.  The Divine certainly does have strange ways of protecting his children; but guess what?  I’m not complaining.