The draught for my latest book is coming along nicely. I’m currently working on Chapter Nineteen; I estimate that there will be another three or four. I thought it would be a good idea to give you a sneak peek, so here is an extract from Chapter Eighteen:

There was one little incident of note that is worth sharing with you here. The business of “surrender” is something that I know a lot of people struggle with.  In an ideal world, we would all love to surrender unconditionally to the Divine, and just lay back and bask in all the rewards.  But in practise, it’s quite difficult.  However, during my visit to Sai in 2010, I experienced first hand that when you surrender to God, nothing can harm you.  Every day after darshan, devotees, if they wish, can pass through the Mandir.  It’s one of those things about Prashanthi that can be quite frustrating, because on one hand, it is an amazing experience to behold the interior of the temple.  But on the other hand, you are ushered through so quickly by the seva dals that you don’t even have time to blink.  The knack is to understand that all is just Swami’s play, and as grand as the inner temple is, it is only matter and will one day exist in a different form; also, it helps to remind ourselves that all frustrations are simply egoic and the result of thwarted desires.

So, the protocol is that after darshan, those wishing to file through the temple form an “orderly” queue starting from the front of the dais.  At some point the seva dals give the signal to move, and devotees step up onto the dais and file through the temple and out again. On this particular day the crowds were so vast that I didn’t even think about trying to get close to Swami, I just sat somewhere towards the back of the hall where I could be as comfortable as possible.  After darshan I continued to sit and soak up the God-man’s vibrations. As I did so the queue for the temple had grown so long due to the hoards, that it was now continuing to form where I was sitting and further on towards the back.  I just sat there with my eyes closed basking in Swami’s love as chaos ensued around me. I was then aware of people falling on top of me.

I felt that basking in Swami’s love was more important than avoiding being crushed, and decided that I would just surrender myself to him.  At that point I felt myself sliding along the concrete floor.  I opened my eyes to see an Indian man with a look of horror on his face as he held my arm.  He’d seen the people falling on me and dragged me away.  He’d leapt into action; rather like Superman, the only difference was that he wasn’t wearing his underpants outside his trousers.  I smiled and thanked him; it was a very smooth ride.

A typical darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall