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Om Sai Ram!
This was sent to me and I found it very interesting.....
yours,
lalita
Here is an email from the woman (Charlene) who wrote “The Compendum” of Swami’s
comments on various topics. She returned from a visit to the ashram
recently and describes her time there and her interview. The Colusa center (to
which she refers) is the one in California where all the vibhuti has been
manifesting for several years now.
Love,
April
PS: Charlene has a website where you can purchase books, CD's, Cassettes,
Videos and photos of Swami at
http://jaisairambooks.com
----- Original Message -----
From: charlene
To: List
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 8:05 AM
Subject: India & Colusa
Sai Ram!
I'm home now (from the 7 week trip to India) - since the 16th, but have
still not recovered from jetlag. Haven't been able to get my sleep patterns
in sync, and I'm only getting about 2-3 hours sleep each night, with little
or no napping during the day. I just lay there in a fog. Anyway, this is
why I haven't been answering emails or keeping in touch.
The highlight of my trip was the interview which came when there were only three
of us left in the group. Re the interview - we were very fortunate, because
Swami only gave about 6 interviews to Westerner groups the whole time I was
there. He never goes to the men's side during the afternoons anymore - just
passes through the ladies side very quickly. In the mornings He whizzes through
the ladies side in 2-5 minutes, then spends about 15-20 minutes in the men's
side, so they do get more than their fair share of Darshan time with Him. There
were many Darshans that He never gave any interviews, and when He did, it was
usually people from the Veranda and their families, most of which seemed to be
prearranged. So, Yes - we were verrrrry lucky to get the interview.
Swami did give me a lot of attention again this year, speaking to me several
times during Darshan, and promising "I will see you!". When the day came that I
asked Him, "Three ladies Swami, will you see us now?" He said, "Three ladies
only? GO!!!". My heart and mind went into ecstacy and stayed there for
a long time. There were the three in our group left, one from France, one
from New Zealand and Me. Also in the interview room were three from an
Argentine family, five Russian ladies, an Indian family of 3 or 4 and an
Oriental lady from the VIP section. Baba materialized a beautiful gold
watch with diamonds for the Indian boy, a gold Laxmi pendant dripping with
diamonds on gold chain for the Indian lady, a gold Baba pendant/chain for a
Russian lady, and a gold Cross/chain for another Russian lady.
Swami asked me if I was a Christian. I said no. He asked, "What is your
religion?" I said "Hinjew - I'm Jewish and I practice Hinduism - Your
teachings, Swami". He moved on to two other ladies in our group and asked if
they were Christian. They said no. Then He asked a Russian lady, and she said
Yes, so He materialized the cross. The three of us in our group agreed we
would never have been comfortable wearing the gold cross He would have given
us. But of course, it was all His leela, because He already knew our beliefs.
In the private interview room, He asked me "When are you leaving?". This was
Dec 27th, and I knew what was coming when I had to answer Him - "January
13th". He said, "Good, I will see you again later!". He told me the same thing
in our last interview nearly 5 years previous, and this was the first time I was
back in the Interview Room. But, I was able to give Him a picture of my
daughter/granddaughter and told Him about her cancer and asked if He would bless
them. He held the picture in His hand, and after staring at it for awhile, He
put His other hand over it and we could see He was saying something and
squeezing His hands together over the picture.
Then I asked Him to sign my manuscript of the 2nd edition of the Compendium. Now
I must tell you that ever since the bombing of the Sai Baba temple in Hyderabad
just before my trip to India, they announced we can no longer take any pens,
pencils, books, papers, manuscripts of any kind into the Darshan area. Only a
very small purse, just big enough to hold a passport and a few Rupees, and
letters to Baba in your hand. So, in order to get my Compendium endorsed by
Swami, I took only 2 pages of the book and put them in an envelope as if
they were a letter for Baba, and this is how I was able to get Him to sign
it. When I handed Him the papers, He asked me for a pen. I told Him about the
new ruling and He threw His hands up in the air and said "What? No
pens?", and He kind of laughed, as if to say, what next? Then He said He would
sign it outside in the other room. He spoke awhile to my groupmates and then
said to me, "No more time, I will see you privately later." And, we were back
in the other room.
He asked the Indian man for a pen, and everybody told Him in unison, "Swami, no
pens, no pencils, no books, no papers.....allowed in Darshan!" The Oriental
lady added with hand movements and disgust, "Yes Swami, and they feel you up and
down and all over your private areas too!". Swami said, "What no pens?" and
smiled as He reached for a pen of His own and signed my manuscript. (I later
learned that Sai Towers still has a fair amount of books in their inventory, so
it will be months before the first printing of the second edition happens. So,
I brought the soft copy of the manuscript back home and will continue to update
it till the last minute when we are ready to go to print.)
Baba spoke to a Russian lady sitting at His feet and asked her what she
wanted. She grabbed His robe and pulled on it. He said "You want a robe?" She
nodded yes. Another lady asked for a robe for her center, and I said "One
for the Colusa Center, Swami?" So Swami brought out 3 robes and threw one to
each of the three of us. Mine landed perfectly folded in my arms from where He
threw it 10 feet away. I held it close to my heart until I returned to my room
and put it in a Ziploc bag to keep it clean and people from handling it. As
Swami ushered us out the door, He repeated to me "I will see you again!" Of
course, the second interview never materialized. More crowds arrived for New
Years Day, then Sports Day and Sankranti Day, and all the possible front row
positions for token lines were given to VIP's and students for the last 10 days
I was there. Kulwant Hall was full to the brim nearly every day, except the
first two weeks in December.
Saturday night, I took the Robe to the Colusa Nilayam and presented it to Ami,
the owner. He was absolutely thrilled, and for the first time in months, was
smiling from ear to ear. It's been a rough time for him lately. He asked me
if I would say a few words later to the crowd about the interview and how Baba
gave me the robe. I agreed. Just before Aarti, I saw Ami go get the robe and
take it through the crowd of 100's to place it at Swami's feet on the throne
they have up there on the altar, which is completely covered with vibhuti. For
some reason, the box kept falling down, so Ami just left it where it fell and we
finished chanting the Aarti, the Gayatri, and the Food Prayer. Then He called
upon me to say a few words, which I did. He told me to go up to the Altar and
get the robe and show it to everybody. When I picked it up, it was still in the
sealed Ziploc bag which he had placed in a box. Inside the bag, I could see
that the robe was covered with vibhuti, which Baba had apparently materialized
as we chanted. He had me take it out of the bag, and there was even more
vibhuti inside the robe. Amazingly, the vibhuti clung to the robe, with only a
few grains falling to the floor as I held it up in the air. I tasted what got
on my hands and told everybody it tasted like the vibhuti that Swami gives us
when He materializes for us. There were people rushing to my feet to scrape up
the little that fell on the carpet.
What a joyous evening it was for everybody - the energy was extremely high all
evening. Fortunately, a lovely devotee from Grass Valley picked me up and drove
me to and from Colusa. Since it was only my 3rd day home, I was heavily into
jetlag and unable to get behind the wheel.
Since the interview, Swami has given me three 'Baba' dreams - the first one
while I was still in Puttaparthi. I dreamed I fell asleep during Darshan and
awoke when I felt somebody washing my hands with a cool damp cloth. (This was
the hottest December/January in Puttaparthi in my memory.) I looked down and
saw these little brown hands on mine, and then up to see Swami smiling at
me. He said to me, "Come with Me!, Come with Me!" and pulled me up. He then
reached down and picked up my seatback/cushion and off we went to the interview
room and the dream ended. The other two dreams have come since I returned
home. I have to tell you that it has been a long many months of dream draught
with Swami in them, and this is possibly what He meant by "I will see you
again!"
Goldie Hawn was there with her
son on her 3rd trip to Baba, and I was told that the Queen of Belgium was also
there, although I did not personally see her.
Love and Blessings,
Charlene
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