then left everything and moved to the ashram. I was lucky to repeatedly communicate with this amazing person, mystic, and sage.
This story took place at a time when Sathya Sai Baba was still very young, and there were relatively few devotees around him, so people could invite him home for a family holiday. One Indian family wanted to perform the traditional worship of Goddess Gauri in the presence of Sathya Sai Baba. Hindus regularly perform many religious rituals in their homes to bless the family and protect the home.
Goddess Gauri is one of the many female deities who symbolize Mother Nature. In all ancient cultures, nature, mountains, fields, forests, rivers, and oceans were revered and deified. In Vedic culture since ancient times there has been an attitude towards nature as to the Mother Goddess. In the Vedic tradition there is no place for consumerism and cruelty toward the environment.
In India, everything is sacred: rivers and mountains, animals and birds. Of course, I am not inclined to idealize the attitude of modern Hindus toward environmental issues. Unfortunately, modern people sometimes forget the origins of their culture and begin to treat nature with dangerous and ignorant irresponsibility.
Sathya Sai Baba always encouraged and supported the tradition of worshipping the Vedic Gods and Goddesses. All these ancient rituals have a deep meaning. Those who carefully and seriously perform the ancient rites subconsciously change their attitude toward themselves and the world around them. The Vedic Gods and Goddesses are images and symbols that tune in to the awareness of the divinity of the entire universe.
So, this Indian family invited Sathya Sai Baba to visit their home in order to worship the Goddess in his presence. Sathya Sai Baba agreed to come on the appointed day. The head of the family carefully prepared for the complex Vedic ritual by collecting everything necessary: flower petals, incense sticks, ghee, new fabrics for the statue of the Deity, and much more. However, the man completely forgot about the special seeds, which were supposed to be presented during the solemn ceremony.
Sathya Sai Baba, as promised, came to the house of the devotees. He was reverently seated in a large chair and the ceremony began. The couple recited mantras and brought flower petals, incense, rice, milk, and more to the altar. Suddenly, several black ants crawled out of one flower.
Sathya Sai Baba smiled and joked that it was very unusual to worship the Goddess with the help of ants. Some of those present laughed merrily, while others, on the contrary, became nervous. The fact is the appearance of ants could be perceived as a violation of the strict requirements of the ceremony. The spouses were very worried, but before they had time to get scared, an amazing miracle happened instead – the ants turned into seeds. These were perfect and were just the seeds missing for the proper completion of the ceremony.
All those present were surprised by such a miracle. Sathya Sai Baba turned living beings, in this case, insects into seeds. There were cases where, on the contrary, he turned non-living objects into animals. We have already mentioned such a case in a previous chapter. The significance of such miracles is so great that it is difficult for most people to even imagine such a thing possible.
Sathya Sai Baba had a unique ability to materialize objects. A miracle I saw many times. Sathya Sai Baba materialized various items such as rings, rosaries, figurines of the Deities, and much more. All of these items were the most powerful amulets.
If Sathya Sai Baba saw that a person really needed protection or support, he gave materialized amulets. He did this in order to protect him from potential danger or to bless him for the successful completion of some business.
The question arises, how are the miracles of Sathya Sai Baba connected with the knowledge of the divinity of the soul? Why perform and demonstrate miracles at all? Miracles are different and they are performed for different purposes. Sathya Sai Baba beautifully explained several times that his miracles are "divine calling cards." All of his miracles and manifestations of the supernatural had the deepest spiritual meaning.
In this book, we have remembered many amazing stories, most of which are beyond the capabilities of the mind. Each of Sathya Sai Baba's miracles was a manifestation of his great compassion and divine love. With the help of his supernatural power, he saved people from problems and suffering, and most importantly, made it possible to realize there are no restrictions for you, because you are God.
Miracles are practical manifestations of the philosophical claim that the True Self is the original source of all things. The entire universe is a gigantic divine dream. During the dream experience, you can easily turn ants into seeds.
In a dream, you can fly and pass through walls. As soon as you wake up and fall into physical reality, you again begin to feel like a weak and limited human being. The question is, how do you become aware of yourself in both sleep and wakefulness? Do you realize that, in fact, sleep and wakefulness are one and the same? Are you aware that sleep and wakefulness are happening in your mind?
Those who misunderstand the essence of Sathya Sai Baba's mission accused him of wanting to show his superiority and special abilities with his miracles. In fact, all the miracles of Sathya Sai Baba were aimed at showing the dormant inner possibilities of each person.
He never believed that only he could perform amazing miracles. I was a witness when he said there is nothing special about what he does. He pointed out that everyone can perform all amazing miracles, because every person is essentially a magician.
Being in the state of the Cosmic Self, Sathya Sai Baba demonstrated amazing and transcendent miracles. He showed that everything is possible for one who has realized that Self and God are identical. His miracles had the deepest meaning, and they were a manifestation of the truth about the infinite
