in different esoteric schools. For me, Swami is a title that is not significant enough for Sathya Sai Baba.
Swami is the word for any man on the spiritual path, especially if he is a monk of one of the traditional Vedic monastic orders. Bhagavan in Sanskrit is a title that is only used to address the supreme divine teacher. Bhagavan is one who is an Avatar and the embodiment of absolute truth.
After I learned about Sathya Sai Baba, I was able to go to him almost immediately. My trips were not by decision or choice and I did not make any effort; they just seemed to unfold before me – everything happened easily and naturally. Events simply turned out so that I was suddenly able to go to India. My first trip happened so spontaneously I did not have even the slightest illusion of free choice; the same could be said about all other trips.
I lived for a long time in all three ashrams of Sathya Sai Baba – in Puttaparthi, Whitefield, and Kodaikanal. Sathya Sai Baba spent most of his time at Puttaparthi, which is the main ashram located in his home village. During the hot season, April and May, he moved to two additional ashrams, Whitefield and Kodaikanal.
It's funny to think about it now, but during the ‘90s it seemed, to us, Sathya Sai Baba already had too many people in the ashram. Sometimes he would say, "you don't understand, the time will soon come when there will be so many people here I will turn into a small orange dot for you."
This is what happened at the beginning of the 2000s, the number of visitors increased dramatically. People could hardly fit in the main temple. Due to the huge influx of people, Sathya Sai Baba became very inaccessible.
In the ‘90s, it was effortless to have direct contact with Sathya Sai Baba, or so it seemed to us. When we came to the program, it was not difficult to find a position in the front rows allowing us to see Sathya Sai Baba up close every day.
In those years, Sathya Sai Baba quite often invited me for personal conversations; this time is now remembered with joy. He interacted especially with Russian-speaking groups. People in the ‘90s believed with enviable confidence that if they came to the ashram, they would definitely have the opportunity to personally communicate with Sathya Sai Baba. These were truly golden years!
Quite often, groups visiting for just a month would get several face-to-face meetings with Sathya Sai Baba. These conversations were called interviews.
When I arrived in India, I already knew English; most Russians did not speak English, which is why I began to translate during personal meetings between Sathya Sai Baba and Russian-speaking devotees. In addition to me, there were several other people who also translated during personal meetings.
10. Frequent personal contact with Sathya Sai Baba
When I was given the opportunity to be Sathya Sai Baba's interpreter for the first time, I was happy and could hardly believe it. A couple of weeks later, when the next interview took place, I was also a translator. After this, such chances began to present themselves more and more often. It was a divine and unique opportunity for close and direct communication. My prayer to Sathya Sai Baba was that he would allow me to communicate with him personally as much as possible, and he fully satisfied my desire.
As an interpreter for Sathya Sai Baba, I often had the opportunity to communicate with him closely. In addition, during the audiences, as a translator, I always had the opportunity to sit very close to him, next to his chair, from where I would enjoy his vibrations of love and universal harmony.
Frequent communication with Sathya Sai Baba allowed me to witness many interesting situations. People came with a variety of questions and problems. Sometimes they were questions related to difficult life situations, and sometimes high philosophical topics were discussed.
It was very interesting to see how people asked their questions and how Sathya Sai Baba reacted to them. Sometimes he could give completely different, even opposing answers, to very similar questions. Each time, his reaction and answers depended on the spiritual level at which the person who asked the question was located. Sometimes, he refused to answer questions at all. These questions were usually not sincerely asked or were simply far-fetched.
From watching Sathya Sai Baba communicate with different people, I was able to accumulate great and valuable spiritual information. When he gave amazing lectures to an audience of thousands, he knew those present were at various levels of spiritual development and had different life interests. His lectures were varied and designed for the vast levels of understanding across the audience.
After the large gatherings, conversations were usually held with a small group in a private, intimate room. These meetings were deeply personal. That is why Sathya Sai Baba could individually respond to people's questions and behavior, wisely consider their situations, and give them detailed and personal instruction.
During communication, Sathya Sai Baba could be quite tough on those who tried to be smart and make a good impression. Some visitors tried to ask difficult spiritual questions, but Sathya Sai Baba's reaction to such visitors was very harsh. This happened if the person was not sincere. Sathya Sai Baba always saw through such people who aimed to show their alleged spirituality and instead pointed out the hidden vices to the clever men.
In his presence, people fell into the purest divine vibrations of love and goodness, and their spiritual transformation took place instantly. Sathya Sai Baba's stern and, at the same time, loving gaze was enough to turn a person from pretension to instantly realizing his ignorance and modestly falling silent in the bliss of God's closeness.
11. Manifestation of great love
People often ask questions about items materialized by Sathya Sai Baba such as rings, rosaries, amulets, earrings, watches and more. Why did he do it? Why did he give rings and rosaries to some, and not to
