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The African Odissey -
Swami's Visit to East Africa
From day one, devotees have always
been pleading with Bhagavan to visit their homes, towns, cities,
and countries. Swami has yielded many times to requests of the
first three types, but, with one notable exception, has
diplomatically avoided visits to other countries. One may wonder
why, especially since the whole world, nay the whole universe is
His.
Swami
has explained this puzzle. It is not that he is
per se against overseas visits.
However, in recent times, it has become a fashion for many of the
so-called spiritual leaders and self-styled gurus to constantly
jet across continents in the name of spreading some message or the
other. Obviously, Swami does not wish to be looked upon as yet
another member of this jet-set.
However, way back in
1968, Swami did go abroad, and that was to East Africa.
When overseas
devotees quote this example and pray that the lotus feet must
sanctify their soil also, Swami just smiles and says that he did
not go to Africa but to the house of a particular devotee. It so
happened that the devotee was in Africa, that is all!
When preparations
for the African safari were being made, divine mother Easwaramma
became rather anxious.
Not
much was known about Africa in those days, and she was deeply
concerned because she had heard that Africa was full of wild
animals and savages.
When someone
gently pointed out that this was not really true, and that even if
true, nothing would happen to Swami because he was God, Easwaramma
shot back, "I know swami is God, you know he is God, but do those
wild animals and savages know he is God?"
As in the case of
Yasoda, so too it was with Easwaramma. Baba was her son first and
then only God!
Let us now
turn to Kasturi, for a wonderful account of this extra-ordinary
exception, namely the only overseas trip to-date, of Bhagavan :
This was Baba's
first voyage beyond the confines of India……he was going to the
infant republics of a continent that was just emerging into the
dawn. He was to confer courage and consolation, to knit hearts and
quicken the circulation of love!
The citizens of
Bombay at a mammoth public meeting convened at Dharmakshetra bade
him farewell on the 29th of June. Later, at the airport on 30th
June, crowds spilled over the terrace, pushed through to the
tarmac area in thousands and used every atom of enthusiasm to
cheer Him as the plane took off!
Flying
at 590 miles per hour at altitudes of over 35,000 feet, Baba was
busy in the Boeing, granting the passengers, (many of whom had
boarded the flight on purpose) signs of his grace, such as
autographing a book or a photograph, materialising
vibhuti, or furnishing illuminating
answers to solve personal problems of every kind.
Bob Raymer of Los
Angeles, a member of the party, saw Baba keep both his feet
pressed on the slanting back of the empty seat just ahead of him;
and he did not miss the chance; he clicked twice and got two
pictures of the lotus feet that millions adore.
At this Baba pulled
out one of the cards from pocket behind his seat and wrote an
affectionate admonition, sending it to "Bob, Boeing 707!" Bob
responded with an apology cum adoration, through another picture
card:
The
sky is blue,
The ocean too;
Our wish has come true,
And we are flying with you!"
In fact, the sky was
not always blue. It was mostly murky, what with the huge concourse
of slow-moving monsoon clouds on their way to India. The sea
mirrored the sky; there was an occasional zig-zag of silver ripple
on its surface. One felt as if the plane hung in mid-air, while
sea and land were pulled away from underneath by an unseen hand.
Soon, gleaming
streaks of rocks and boulders and blotches of greenery were
visible as far as the eye could see. Mount Kenya was announced! We
saw only its jagged crown of blue, over the sea of milk.
In a moment, the sea
was over us! Below us, scintillating in, and reflecting the sun
was a quilt of red and brown roofs, Nairobi! The clock showed four
minutes to twelve, while our watches insisted it was already 2.24
p.m.
Baba at the doorway
was greeted, "Nandalala, Yadu Nandalala!"
spontaneously from the yearning hearts of thousands perched on all
available vantage points. While we of the party waded past the
counters and through the corridors, filling forms, and having
certificates stamped and signed, climbing over the routine
hurdles, Baba was whisked away in a floral automobile by
Dr.C.G.Patel into the gathering from which the
bhajan had emanated.
"It was a feast for
the eye and the ear- the scene where they showered flowers, and
waved lights, when they sang melodiously and from the depths of
their hearts," Baba said. "I was reminded of the days when
Jayadeva and Gauranga sang the glory," he wrote.
We had to proceed to
Kampala, the capital city of Uganda – the state known as the pearl
of Africa. The road was 407 miles long. The cars sped on,
encouraged by the fine unbending road through miles of delightful
scenery.
The motto of the
state of Kenya through which we passed until night enveloped us,
is "Marambee", meaning, let us pull together. This spirit was
evidenced all along the route in wheat fields, cattle farms,
plantations, and in groups of village folk on the wayside,
brimming with vitality. They were merrily dancing along with leafy
boughs in their grasp, which they shook vigorously at the sky.
The tedium of dreary
hours of travel was made less monotonous by the beautiful avenues
of trees through which we passed. Their restful green, together
with the coolness of air as we climbed higher and higher, was
comforting. The rains that come upon this land all months of the
year have mothered a succession of gurgling streams and
fresh-water lakes.
We
had a glimpse of the rift valley about which I had read while
teaching anthropology in my college in Mysore. Two thousand feet
below us it gaped, with sheer escarpment for its banks! We saw the
soda lake, Nakaru, and the town bearing its name. A sizeable
gathering of eager Africans and Indians awaited Baba there; they
were rewarded with darshan. Baba
moved among them blessed them, and created
vibhuti for a few that needed it.
From Malaba, on the
border of Uganda, an impressive pilot car preceded the car of
Baba, as a sign and symbol of his being welcomed by the rulers of
that state. The cars drove on to Jinja, where the Nile emerges out
of the womb of Lake Victoria, and, channelled through turbines,
flows on north to fulfil its vow of a 3500-mile pilgrimage to the
Mediterranean sea.
Kampala was reached
at 1.30 a.m., hardly the hour for a hearty welcome by a cheering
throng. But baba is in a category all by himself. Wildly waving
banners of silken welcome stretched across the streets; every few
yards a floral arch (someone in our party counted exactly 108)
beamed with lights as baba passed through.
Outside Dr. Patel's
bungalow, 2000 people continued the bhajan,
singing with unabated ardour in the hope that Baba would give them
the coveted darshan. and Baba did not
disappoint them. Alighting, He walked slowly amidst them, feasting
the eye and delighting the heart. Their restraint and reverence
were exemplary.
Never had Kampala
yearned so excruciatingly for daybreak as on that night! For the
city knew that Baba had arrived and would be granting
darshan when the sun rose. Baba came
out early next morning; he stood facing the unprecedented massive
gathering. He moved, lithe and lovely, along the passage between
the barricaded blocks of people, showering upon everyone his
supreme compassion. ….. he went up to the lines of standing
Africans on the margins of the assembly; He held many by the hand
and brought them himself into the shade among the others so that
they may sit in comfort, listening to the community singing of
bhajans.
"I have no need to
see places. I am everywhere, always!" Baba told us. "You may drive
around. I have my work, for which I have come." but dr. Patel
persuaded him to visit the Hindu temple, the Bahai house of
worship, and the television tower hill. While driving down, he
summoned the six-foot police constable acting as motor-cycle
escort, and created for him a charming locket with the picture of
Christ, to be worn around the neck. He knew the man was Christian.
During the
bhajans, he selected the sick and the
disabled, the deaf and the dumb, the blind and the maimed, and,
taking them into the bungalow, he spoke to each one with love and
tenderness. He spoke in Swahili, in English or Hindi, and gave
each a token of grace – vibhuti,
talismans, lockets with his own portrait or the picture of Christ
or some sacred design. Everyone who came out of the room had a
smile on the face, a twinkle in the eye, a ray of sunshine in the
heart, and firmness in the step.
A person who was
stone-deaf when he went in, came out wonder-struck at the amazing
world of sound. A polio-affected boy came prancing outside; a
patient who was wheeled into the ‘room of hope' walked out, his
hands on the shoulders of his companions, while a volunteer pushed
the empty wheel chair out of the gate.
Third day of July
was a memorable one. First, the flight to Ngorongoro crater. It is
the largest concentration of wild life in Africa. Reaching the
entebbe international air port by car, Baba, with some members of
the party boarded a twin-engined aircraft at 9 a.m., while three
of us having full faith in him, brushed aside the fears aroused by
overzealous friends who warned that a single-engine plane was not
the craft that one would choose to fly over a jungle teeming with
wild life!
We followed Baba in
a frail super-wagon, piloted by a veteran Britisher who oozed
confidence all the time. For an hour and a half we flew over an
immense inland sea of fresh water – Lake Victoria – which the Nile
attempts in vain to drain.
We could see
hundreds of gazelles, zebras, and wild beasts while our vehicle
flew slowly over the Serengeti national park. The crater is a huge
circular plain, over 127 square miles of grassland, bush and
forest, sheltering large masses of wild life. A few farms stocked
with fat cattle were to be found in this fantastic milieu.
As we drove from the
airstrip to the crater lodge, a family of wild elephants received
us with the gentle flapping of broad ears and an array of ivory
tusks gleaming in the pre-noon sun.
Landrovers took us
into thick shoals of wild buffaloes, zebras, and gnus. Soon we
entered the haunt of the Simba (lion). From the safety of the cars
we admired a heavy-weight male yawning on a mound, and very nearly
ran over a pair of fat females having their siesta amid the grass!
We came upon more such families, and soon they endeared themselves
to us. Baba had come to bless them, we felt.
Rising
up almost from nowhere, a stately dowager lioness walked
majestically towards a group of sleek giraffes. This onset of
danger was communicated to the long-necked fraternity by some
birds, and they in their turn, alerted the buffalo, zebra and gnu!
In a few seconds they disappeared into the distance and the
distinguished lady stood sniffing the empty air!
Baba drew our
attention to this demonstration of mutual service. He said that
man is highlighting the advantages of competition and the struggle
for survival, but the beast is teaching him co-operation and
service as the ideal means for survival.
We took off from the
crater at four o'clock in the afternoon, and when we neared Lake
Natron, the planes flew perilously over a newly formed volcano,
emitting incense to the god of fire! Our ‘mini' wagon hovered for
a while, awaiting signal from the Nairobi national park giving us
a bird's eye-view of the giraffes and the ostriches, before
landing at Entebbe.
Baba's
car crawled through the crowded roads of Nairobi to the park where
he was to address his first public meeting in Africa. ….Baba then
returned to his residence and blessed the enormous gathering that
surged around it.
Later, he sat before
the television set which some members of his party were seeing for
the first time. The programme being shown then led to a discourse
by Baba on the evil sown by that medium. Baba said that it blunted
the higher impulses and activated the lower. "The aim of the
sponsors is to bring more and more people before the receivers; so
standards get more and more vulgarised and this valuable
instrument of education is reduced into
televisham (telepoison!)," he said.
Nairobi is the
only city in the world that has a suburb owned and inhabited by
lions! It awakens everyday to the full and free roar of these
regal cats.
On
the 5th of July, early in the day, we went into the national park
and went to the hippo pool. There was a busy school of these
monsters, and also a few crocodiles basking quite near. This led
baba to point out to us how the beast is wiser than man in the art
of living. "We slaughter our own kind, for the greater glory of
ourselves!" he said.
While driving back
from the pool, we saw two magnificently maned lions, and three
well-groomed lionesses basking indolently in the sun. They did not
wince at all, when a dozen cameras clicked. Instead, they preened
themselves like stars surrounded by fans! We also watched many
ostriches, and giraffes hurrying in uncouth haste to some
mysterious rendezvous.
After lunch, Dr.
Patel took Baba and party in cars to Nanyuki, 6400 feet above sea
level, a town where, if you have poetry in you, you can experience
the thrill of having one foot in the southern hemisphere, and the
other in the northern, for the equator passes through the place!
In fact, a hotel here boasts that the line passes through its
veranda.
The road to Nanyuki
showed us coffee and sisal plantations; thatched huts of kikuyu
peeped furtively at our cars. In secret valley, we stayed at ‘tree
tops', built on stilts, from where at night, under an artificial
moon, we could see leopard mauling meat, bisons licking salt, and
elephants, gazelles and other beasts showing themselves off, and
generally enjoying themselves.
It was Thursday; so
Baba turned us away from elephantine fantasies, and the antics of
animals. He took us instead, into the jungles of our own minds and
described how the wild beasts sheltering there could be trapped.
…..suddenly with a gesture, he created a jewel with an imprint of
his own portrait, and placed it in the hands of the person sitting
by his side. "Here! Wear it!! For many years you have longed for
this." Then turning to us he said, "Oh, each of you wants
something, don't you?" and the hand waved again. There was a
golden vessel in his hand now. When he unscrewed the lid, it was
full to the brim – divine ambrosia! Fragrant beyond imagination –
thick, sweet, liquid grace!
Next
morning, on the road back to Nairobi, Baba alighted at Nanyuki and
many other towns and villages, where crowds were waiting for him.
He wondered, "Who has informed these people that I would be
passing this way?"
About noon, Baba and
the others boarded the waiting aircraft, and flying over the rift
valley, the famous Kenya highlands, and the inland port of Kisumu
on lake Victoria, reached Entebbe.
On the 7th, Baba
addressed the first public meeting at Kampala. He told the
multi-racial, multi-religious gathering, "Just as the same
bloodstream circulates in all the limbs of the one body, the one
divine principle activates the entire universe. …" This was a
heartening message, and it was received with enthusiastic approval
by Muslims, Christians, Bahais, Hindus, and Parsis alike.
On the 8th of July,
Baba addressed another vast gathering at Kampala. He said, "Here
in Kampala, I shall pinpoint the basic requisites for a good,
contented and happy life…..love is power; love is bliss; love is
light; love is God."
These
discourses bound Baba close to the hearts of the Africans. People
recognised in him a friend, a guide, a leader, and a light. But
word had spread that Baba was leaving for India on the 10th, since
that day was Guru Poornima. So that evening when Baba moved among
the thousands seated in the Pandal, rows of Africans knelt,
handing notes and letters to him, some with tearful pleas. Looking
through a window of Dr. Patel's bungalow at the faces filled with
adoration, I could not suppress my tears. I was overcome by a
delightful sense of gratitude for the opportunity that Baba gave
me to witness this spontaneous surge of devotion in a new
continent. I was awakened from my reverie by alight tap on my back
from Baba who enquired, "Why the tears?" The notes and letters
filled with sorrow, for the Africans had learnt that Baba planned
to leave for Bombay on the 10th. "Father, do not leave us so
soon!" was the plaint in every prayer. India was informed by cable
that the return was postponed!
The full moon day,
when spiritual aspirants dedicate themselves anew at the feet of
the master, was on the 10th. Baba had told Bombay that he would
reach the city by plane by 9.45 p.m., leaving Kampala at 11 a.m.,
so that both Africa and Asia would have the thrill of his
darshan on the same day! But,
yielding to the yearning of the Africans, he decided to spend the
whole day at Kampala, granting devotees in other continents other
evidence of his omnipresence.
More than 25,000
persons gathered that morning for the bhajan.
The Africans joined the chorus led by a Tanzanian, Mr. Zoodoo. For
over two hours, Baba walked slowly among the lines lonely,
love-seeking eager hearts, giving each person a handful of sweets
and a packet of vibhuti. To the
amazement of the recipients, most of them discovered inside the
packet, lying ensconced in the midst of the holy ash, enamel or
metal portraits of Christ, the Cross, Krishna, or Sai Baba
himself.
The
Uganda Argus published an article,
announcing that Baba had brought the message of unity and service
to the peoples of that continent. Baba's discourses as well as
activities were also televised and broadcast, so that the entire
population could share the inspiration of the gospel.
On the evening of
the tenth of July, Baba talked to about 200 young men and women,
who served as volunteers at the bhajan
gatherings and at public meetings. The constables on duty as well
as the chauffeur of the pilot car were also rewarded by His grace.
……
On the 11th, besides
the bhajan sessions, for which, as
days passed, more and more people from far and near flowed into
the capital, Baba met groups of active workers in service
organisations, from the far-flung states of Kenya, Tanzania, and
Uganda. Later, Baba visited Dr. Patel's clinic and also the
residences of many ardent devotees. Wherever he went, throngs of
people, eager to win one more glimpse of the radiance, rushed in
and stood at the gates or on the pavements for hours.
On the 12th, Baba
proceeded to the Murchison falls national park, one of the most
beautiful and fauna-stocked regions of East Africa. The straight
road, leaping over the shoulders of a series of hills, tempted the
person who was at the wheel of our car to race and overtake every
car that moved in front. We were catapulting so fast, that a
sudden turn of the road found the car rolling madly over and over,
finally coming to rest on its jammed wheels in agonised silence.
Baba's car had gone
beyond Masindi which was some 30miles distant. He said to the
people in his car, "The second car has trouble. They will resume
their journey in a taxi!"
We four were thrown
against the roof and the floor, receiving knocks, bumps, hits and
cuts, we knew not where! The man at the wheel fell out; the friend
at his left struggled to open the stuck door with his uninjured
left arm. The cushion from the back seat was on my head, wedged
between it and the caved-in top! I found myself sitting astride on
the chest of my companion, with blood trickling on his shirt from
along the gash in my forehead……the third car came up in utter
bewilderment, and friends gently pulled us out. ……
We packed
ourselves in this third car and reached Masindi. From there, we
hired a taxi and moved on towards Baba. When we reached the park,
we saw the welcome poster: "Elephants have the right of way." It
meant that we could see some herds during the day.
We
found a gigantic pair of bisons eyeing us rather wickedly,
munching roadside grass. Our cars were ferried across the wide
green Nile, and passing between two live tembos (Swahili for
elephant) with sharp white tusks about five feet long, we rushed
into the Pra safari lodge. Baba came forward to pat us and pet us,
while listening to our description of the accident of which he
already knew. …..
Within minutes we
went for a motor-boat ride up the Nile for over fifteen miles,
towards the Murchison falls, and back. The boat passed through
‘schools' of hippos lying close to each other, showing just their
eyes, ear tips, and occasionally their noses, above the water!
Some of them were on the land, with red, barrel-like hippolets
behind them peeping through the thick papyrus weeds. There were
crocodiles too, with open jaws, but the vicious tail and the
voracious jaw did not frighten the hippos in the least. …..
Returning to Pra
safari, and re-crossing the Nile, our cars took us through
elephant-land to the Nile above the falls. Herds of thirty or
forty elephants looked from a distance like flocks of sheep
grazing on the downs, but when we neared them, the sight filled us
with awe and amazement. A bull stood a few yards away from the car
wherein Baba was, and to give him good
darshan, Baba stood on the foot-board! It appeared that the
elephant was highly grateful for he stood there gazing for a few
minutes, filling his little eyes with loveliness; then, turning
back, he quietly joined his herd……
The Murchison falls
are furious and fascinating. The Nile comes foaming and rapid,
down a continuous stairway until the bed contracts suddenly into a
gap in the rock, barely six yards wide; through this strangling
portal the tremendous river is shot in one single jet, down a
depth of 160 feet, into a stream of terror and beauty. Baba was
happy that we could see this sublime scene.
Bob Raymer got a
series of lovely pictures of Baba before these waters. Returning
to Masindi through a road rendered slushy with a thick shower of
rain, we had to slacken speed to avoid skidding. Elephants
crossing the highway were another cause for delay.
From Masindi we
proceeded to Kkondo, 80 miles away, where a
bhajan mandir, in authentic afro-architectural style built
by a devotee, was to be inaugurated. It was a large estate,
growing paddy, sugarcane and bananas. The
mandir was full of squatting African labourers, who
venerated Baba as the god-man from the east. Baba sat on a special
seat arranged for him, but soon he was among the farmers, creating
and distributing sweets and curatives.
He told the
gathering of Africans and Indians that man alone among the beings
strayed form his allotted tasks; the rest stuck to their
respective dharmas, whatever the
obstacle. The tiger will never stoop to eating grass; the elephant
can never be tempted have a meal of fish or flesh. But man, the
crown of creation, is grovelling in the mire of bestiality and,
withal, proud of it!
Kampala was reached
at 1 a.m. The lateness of the hour only whetted the appetite for
darshan of the thousands who were
waiting there all day, busy singing bhajans.
Baba gave them the much-coveted gift, walking among them and
standing on the decorated dais long enough to satisfy them.
The 13th of July was
a day of growing gloom. ….from Mazwa, Dar-es-salam, Mombassa, and
Eldoret, people came to persuade Baba to visit their places. The
mayor of Kampala pleaded for a short extension of the stay.
Baba is always
everywhere. He reveals his presence to all who call on him, or
even to many who are unaware that God is amidst them for their
sake. For Baba, there is no coming or going, no arriving or
leaving. Still, the physical presence wins such indelible loyalty
that one feels an orphan without it.
On the 14th, hours
before dawn, half of Kampala was at Dr. Patel's door. Streams of
cars and planes brought people from Jjinja, Mbale, Kakira, Kabale,
Ikaye, and Kapila, where Sathya Sai Seva Samithis and
bhajan mandalis were active. "I have
no desire to stun or shock people into submission or adulation; I
have come to install truth and love in human hearts," baba
declared.
When Baba got into
the car, even the hefty constables on duty, keeping back surging
rows of citizens, wiped tears streaming from their eyes! Baba
patted their backs, but that only sharpened the pang!
The road to Entebbe
was choked with cars, trucks, scooters, and cycles. The East
African airways plane that was to take Baba to Nairobi (where the
Air India international Boeing was waiting) developed small
trouble while moving on the runway; so Kampala got the bonus of
two more hours with Baba on its soil! …..
Nairobi was reached
at 2.30 p.m., and the thousands who acclaimed the plane were
rewarded by a quick darshan, since
the delay prompted the airport officers to set the Boeing on its
way immediately.
We flew over
Ethiopia and Somaliland, ferried across the Red Sea at a height of
over two miles and a half, and landed at Aden at 5.15 p.m. Bombay
was 1910 miles away and two hours and forty minutes ahead!
Though Baba did not
disembark, and though the date of the flight had been postponed
while at Kampala, we were surprised to find a long line of
devotees and admirers (Indians and Arabs) filing into the aircraft
and touching the lotus feet. Baba spoke to them with sweet
affection; he created vibhuti for
their sake.
At 12.45 a.m.,
Indian standard time, the plane, which had the unique fortune of
carrying the most precious cargo that the world offers in this
age, touched ground at Santa Cruz, starting off a chorus of jais
from over ten thousand quickly pounding hearts.
That then is an
account of Swami's only overseas trip thus far.
Since then, Bhagavan
has been invited any number of times by overseas devotees to visit
and bless their countries. Usually, Swami just smiles in reply and
leaves it at that.
At other times, he
says, "I will come." When devotees press and ask, "When Swami? We
want to charter planes and start making preparations," Baba says
enigmatically, "Wait!"
When people press
and ask, "Swami, you have told so and so you will visit his
country. When exactly would you do so?" He smiles and says, "Do I
have to go only by plane?"
So the
million-dollar question, as they say, remains! Will he or won't
he, in physical form that is? No one knows.
Devotees know only
one thing: Bhagavan is capable of extra-ordinarily surprising
decisions, taken most suddenly.
Meanwhile, anxious
devotees abroad wait breathlessly! Swami says, "Love my
uncertainty." That is what these devotees are all trying to do,
but a tough job it is!
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, June 15, 2004
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/12June15/02_Cover_Story/cover_story.htm
Swami's Visit to Africa
Excerpts
from Sathyam Shivam Sundaram
Baba's Message to Africa
Baba's trip to Africa is the only one He has made outside India
to date. His reception throughout the two weeks He spent there
is detailed by Sri Kasturi in Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram. Before
turning to that acount, we hear Baba looking back on the trip
twenty-two years later. He repeats the themes He stressed there.
Serve all, love all. Serve selflessly, He says. This is the best
and most pleasant way to God. Serve man with all your heart as
the visible God. The prescription to love is the same in all
religions. May this continent achieve the goal of man's
pilgrimage -- the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
The Awakening Continent
In the pages of Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, Vol. III, Sri N.
Kasturi takes us on tour with Baba through Africa. "I have no
need to see places. I am everywhere, always!" Baba declared,
but, in keeping with His first vow in His letter to His brother,
Baba allowed Himself not only to be driven and flown through the
countries of Northeast Africa, but also agreed to extend His
visit to allow Africans His darshan. He told the residents of
Nairobi that the body of flesh and bone housed the One,
Indivisible, All- pervading God. He materialized vibhuthi and
miniature portraits and answered questions on spirituality. On
the return to India, Baba's plane stopped at Aden where a long
line of devotees and admirers filed into the aircraft to touch
His Lotus Feet.
The Message I Bring (4 July 1968)
Baba told a large crowd in Nairobi, Kenya, that their Reality
was the Self, a wave of the Overself. The one object of human
existence is to visualize that Reality. All other activities are
trivial, shared with bird and beast. Man has uniquely clambered
through all the steps in the ladder of evolution to inherit this
high destiny. Man's unique faculty of reasoning should be used
to discover the Truth of everyone and everything: God. The same
God shines through everybody. Those who see differences are
deluded. Love is how the Self Principle expresses itself in Man.
The practice of Love regulated by Truth will win for Man his
ultimate prize. The human body is a gift from God to be used as
a raft on which to cross the sea of change. Launch the raft
soon, before you are overpowered by illness. Establish yourself
in unruffled peace. I have come to light the Lamp of Love in
your hearts. I have come to tell you of this universal unitary
faith, this Path of Love. All hearts are motivated by God; all
faiths glorify the One and Only God; adore Him with love.
Cultivate Oneness between all men. Foster Love, Live in Love,
spread Love and Love will grow in you.
Baba's Message to Africa
Some twenty-two years ago, I was in Africa for two weeks. My
"Message of Love" and "Mission of Peace" were delivered during
My discourses.
The duty of man is to share with other children of God the
infinite boundless Love that God showers on him. Serve all, love
all. Serve selflessly, being ever grateful for the opportunity.
This is the best way, the most pleasant way to earn the Grace of
God.
Love links the various creeds and cultures in all continents.
Love is the motive that draws celestial bodies together and
keeps them in orbits. This is the reason why man is told, "Love
thy neighbour as thyself." For the neighbour is no other than
thyself.
Serve man with all your heart, for he is the visible God. That
is the highest and most fruitful spiritual exercise.
Religions are paths laid down by messengers from God for the
pilgrimage to the One All Merciful Omnipresent God. The
languages through which people express their thirst is the same
in all lands. To quench this thirst the surest remedy, Love,
prescribed in all religions, is the same.
May this Continent attain the goal of man's age-long pilgrimage
-- the realisation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood
of Man. I bless that you may achieve the glorious consummation
of human endeavour.
(AFSB, 3.)
The Awakening Continent"I have resolved to enfold the
people of the world in the fostering care of Universal Love as
laid down in the Vedas. For the world is My mansion and the
Continents are the halls therein. I have come to inscribe a
golden chapter in the history of humanity, wherein falsehood
will fail, truth will triumph, and virtue will reign. Character
will confer power then, not knowledge or inventive skill or
wealth. Wisdom will be enthroned in the Councils of Nations."
"Do not be misled. It is not my purpose to strike men dumb by
the display of miraculous might! I have come to confer the boon
of blessedness, the benediction of bliss, as the reward for
genuine spiritual endeavour, and to lead mankind into Liberty,
Light and Love."
With those words, Baba concluded His revelation of Himself
and His Mission on Earth, which thrilled the 1700 delegates
privileged to listen to Him.
On the last day of June, barely fifty days after this
announcement, Baba emplaned the Boeing leaving for East Africa
from Bombay. This was His first voyage beyond the confines of
India, that is to say, accomplished physically, announced in
advance, and undertaken with members of His entourage.
He was going to the infant Republics of a Continent that was
just emerging into the dawn. He was to confer courage and
consolation, to knit hearts and quicken the circulation of Love!
Baba always rushes to where aspiration calls, or anxiety gasps.
The citizens of Bombay at a mammoth Public Meeting convened
at Dharmakshetra bade Him farewell on the 29th of June. Later,
at the Airport, crowds spilled over the terrace, pushed through
to the tarmac area in thousands and used every atom of
enthusiasm to cheer Him as the plane took off!
Flying at 590 miles an hour at altitudes of over 35,000 feet,
Baba was busy in the Boeing, granting the passengers, (many of
whom had boarded the flight on purpose) signs of Grace, such as
autographing a book or photograph, materialising a handful of
curative ash, or furnishing illuminating answers to solve
personal problems of every kind.
Bob Raymer of Los Angeles, a member of the party, saw Baba
keep both His feet pressed on the slanting back of the empty
seat just ahead of Him; he did not miss the chance; he clicked
twice and got two pictures of the Lotus Feet, which millions
adore. At this Baba pulled out one of the cards from the pocket
behind His seat and wrote an affectionate admonition, sending it
to "Bob, Boeing 707!" Bob responded with apology cum adoration,
through another picture card; "The sky is blue, the ocean too;
our wish has come true, we are flying with You!"
In fact, the sky was not always blue. It was mostly murky,
what with the huge concourse of slow-moving monsoon clouds on
their way to India. The sea mirrored the sky; there was an
occasional zigzag of silver ripple upon its surface. One felt as
if the plane hung in mid-air, while sea and land were pulled
away from underneath by an unseen hand. Soon, gleaming streaks
of rocks and boulders and blotches of greenery were visible as
far as the eye could see. But fluffs of cloud soon hid the
ground. Mount Kenya was announced! We saw only its jagged crown
of blue, over the sea of milk.
In a moment, that sea was over us! Below us, scintillating
in, and reflecting the sun, was a quilt of red and brown roofs,
Nairobi! The clock showed four minutes to twelve, while our
watches insisted it was already 2.24 p.m.
Baba at the door was greeted - "Nandalala! Yadu Nandalala!"
spontaneously from the yearning hearts of thousands perched on
all available vantage points. While we of the party waded past
the counters and through the corridors, filling forms, and
having certificates stamped and signed, climbing over the
routine hurdles, Baba was whisked away in floral automobile by
Dr. C. G. Patel into the gathering from which the welcoming
Bhajan had emanated.
"It was a feast for the eye and ear - the scene where they
showered flowers, and waved lights, when they sang melodiously
and from the depths of their hearts," Baba said, "I was reminded
of the days when Jayadeva and Gouranga sang the Glory," He
wrote.
We had to proceed to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda -
the State known as the 'Pearl of Africa.' The road was 407 miles
long. The cars sped on, encouraged by the fine unbending road
through miles of delightful scenery.
The motto of the State of Kenya (through which we passed
until night enveloped us), is 'Marambee': "Let's pull together,"
and this spirit was evidenced all along the route in
wheat-fields, cattle plantations and groups of village-folk on
the way side, brimming with vitality. They were merrily dancing
along with leafy boughs in their grasp, which they shook
vigorously at the sky.
The tedium of dreary hours of travel was made less monotonous
by the beautiful avenues of trees through which we passed. Their
restful green together with the coolness of air as we climbed
higher and higher, was comforting. The rains that come upon this
land all the months of the year have mothered a succession of
gurgling streams and fresh water lakes.
We had a glimpse of the Rift Valley about which I had read
when teaching Anthropology in my college at Mysore. Two thousand
feet below us it gaped, with sheer escarpments for its banks! We
saw the soda lake, Nakuru, and the town bearing its name. A
sizeable gathering of eager Africans and Indians awaited Baba
there; they were rewarded with Darsan. Baba moved among them,
and discovering a few who needed Vibhuti, He created in and
blessed them.
From Malaba, on the border of Uganda, an impressive pilot car
preceded the car of Baba, as a sign and symbol of His being
welcomed by the rulers of that State. The cars drove on to
Jinja, where the Nile emerges out of the womb of Lake Victoria,
and, channelled through turbines, flows on the North to fulfil
its vow of a 3500-mile pilgrimage to the Mediterranean Sea.
Kampala was reached at 1-30 a.m., hardly the hour for a
hearty welcome by a cheering throng. But Baba is a category by
Himself. Wildly waving banners of silken welcome stretched
across the streets; every few yards a floral arch (someone of
the party counted exactly 108) beamed with lights as Baba passed
through. Outside Dr. Patel's bungalow, 2000 people continued
their Bhajan, singing with unabated ardour in the hope that Baba
would give them the coveted Darsan. And Baba did not disappoint
them. Alighting, He walked slowly amidst them, feasting the eye
and delighting the heart. Their restraint and reverence were
exemplary.
Never had Kampala yearned so excruciatingly for daybreak as
on that night! For the city knew that Baba had arrived and would
be granting Darsan when the sun rose. Baba came out early next
morning; He stood facing the unprecedented massive gathering. He
moved, lithe and lovely, along the passage between the
barricaded blocks of people, showering upon everyone His supreme
Compassion.
When He saw a sad face, or heard a groan of distress, He
stood for a moment, waved His hand gently, and created for the
person the Divine Cure. He went up to the lines of standing
Africans on the margins of the assembly; He held many by the
hand and brought them Himself into the shade among the others so
that they may sit in comfort, listening to the community singing
of the Bhajans. We felt that those were the devotees who
prevailed upon Baba to fly across the sea and give health and
happiness by personal ministration.
"I have no need to see places. I am everywhere, always!" Baba
told us. "You may drive around. I have my work, work for which I
have come." But Dr. Patel persuaded Him to visit the Hindu
temple, the Bahai House of Worship and the Television Tower
Hill. While driving down, He summoned the six-foot Police
Constable acting as motorcycle escort, and created for him a
charming locket with the picture of Christ, to be worn around
the neck. He knew the man was a Christian.
Baba has come to fulfil, not to destroy or to disturb, man's
faith in God. His love brooks no barriers, no boundaries, no
walls separating 'ism from ism.' During the Bhajans, He selected
the sick and the disabled, the deaf and the dumb, the blind and
the maimed, and, taking them into the bungalow, He spoke to each
one with love and tenderness. He spoke in Swahili, in English or
Hindi, and gave each some token of Grace - holy ash, talismans,
lockets with His own portrait or the picture of Christ or some
sacred design. Everyone who came out of the room had a smile on
the face, a twinkle in the eye, a ray of sunshine in the heart,
and firmness in the step. A person who was stone deaf when he
went in, came out wonder-struck at the amazing world of sound. A
polio-affected boy came prancing outside; a patient who was
wheeled into the 'Room of Hope' walked out, his hands on the
shoulders of his companions, while a volunteer pushed the empty
chair out of the gate.
The third day of July was a memorable one. First, the flight
to Ngorongoro Crater. It is the largest concentration of wild
life in Africa. Reaching the Entebbe International Airport by
car, Baba, with some members of the party boarded a twin-engined
aircraft at 9 a.m., while three of us having full faith in Him,
brushed aside the fear aroused by overzealous friends who warned
that a single engine plane was not the craft that one would
choose to fly over a jungle, teeming with wild life!
We followed Baba in that frail super-wagon, piloted by a
veteran Britisher who oozed confidence all the time. For an hour
and a half we flew over the immense inland sea of fresh water -
Lake Victoria - which the Nile attempts in vain to drain. We
could see hundreds of gazelles, zebras, and wild beasts while
our vehicle flew slowly over the Serengeti National Park. The
Crater is a huge circular plain, over 127 square miles of
grassland, bush and forest, sheltering large masses of wild
life. A few Masai Manyattas, stock full of fat cattle were to be
found in this fantastic milieu.
As we drove from the airstrip, to the Crater Lodge, a family
of wild elephants received us with the gentle flapping of broad
ears and an array of ivory tusks gleaming in the pre-noon sun.
Landrovers took us into thick shoals of wild buffaloes, zebras
and gnus. Soon we entered the haunts of the Simba (lion). From
within the safety of the cars we admired a heavyweight male
yawning on a mound, and very nearly ran over a pair of fat
females having their siesta amidst the grass! We came upon more
such families, and soon they endeared themselves to us. Baba had
come to bless them, we felt. Rising up almost from nowhere, a
stately dowager lioness walked majestically towards a group of
sleek giraffes. This onset of danger was communicated to the
long-necked fraternity by some birds, and they, in their turn,
alerted the buffalo, zebra and gnu! In a few seconds, they
disappeared into the distance and the distinguished lady stood,
sniffing the empty air!
Baba drew our attention to this demonstration of mutual
service. He said man is highlighting the advantages of
competition and the struggle for survival, but the beast is
teaching him co-operation and service as the ideal means for
survival.
We took off from the Crater at four o'clock in the afternoon,
and when we neared Lake Natron, the planes flew perilously over
a newly formed volcano, emitting incense to the God of Fire! Our
'mini' wagon hovered a while, awaiting a signal from the airport
over the Nairobi National Park giving us a bird's eye-view of
giraffes and ostriches, before landing at Embakasi.
Baba's car crawled through the crowded roads of Nairobi to
the park where He was to address His first public meeting in
Africa. The rush of listeners was without parallel in the annals
of Kenya, for no visitor until now had such universal appeal.
People loyal to a single faith, or to all faiths, sceptics and
Sadhaks, scientists and spiritualists, men, and women from all
walks of life were there, filled with eagerness to see Him and
hear Him, and if possible, to be accepted by Him. Baba builds
His shrine in every heart with the brick of Truth and the mortar
of Love.
His discourse stressed that each human being, in fact each
being, was "a spark of the Divine Effulgence, a wave of the
Divine Glory." He advised all to see beneath the skin, within
the physical, mental, and even intellectual encasements. "This
habitation of flesh and bone, of fear and feeling, of doubt and
desire, is the residence of the One Indivisible, All-pervading
God." Baba knows that this vision is the strongest basis and the
surest means for ensuring racial and regional harmony.
Baba returned to His residence and blessed the enormous
gathering that surged around it. Later, He sat before the
Television set which some members of His Party were seeing for
the first time. The programme that was then on led to a
discourse by Baba on the evil sown by that medium. Baba said
that it blunted the higher impulses and activated the lower.
"The aim of the sponsors is to bring more and more people before
the receivers; so standards get more and more vulgarised and
this valuable instrument of education is reduced into televisham
(tele-poison!)," He said. Baba is a relentless opponent of
films, comic strips, and horror serials that sow the seeds of
sensualism, anarchy, greed and bloodthirstiness in virgin minds.
Nairobi is the only City in the world which has a suburb
owned and inhabited by Lions! It awakens every day to the full
and free roar of these regal cats. On the 5th of July, early in
the day, we went into the National Park and proceeded to the
Hippo Pool. There was a busy school of these monsters, and also
a few crocodiles basking quite near. This led Baba to point out
to us how the beast is wiser than man in the art of living. "We
slaughter our own kind, for the greater glory of ourselves!" He
said.
While driving back from the Pool, we saw two magnificently
maned lions, and three well-groomed lionesses basking indolently
in the sun. They did not wince at all when a dozen cameras
clicked. Instead, they preened themselves like stars surrounded
by fans! We also watched many ostriches, and giraffes hurrying
in uncouth haste to some mysterious rendezvous.
After lunch, Dr. Patel took Baba and the party in cars to
Nanyuki, 6400 feet above sea level - a town where, if you have
the poetry in you, you can experience the thrill of having one
foot in the Southern Hemisphere, and the other in the Northern,
for the Equator passes through the place! In fact, a hotel here
boasts that the Line passes through its veranda.
The road to Nanyuki showed us coffee and sisal plantations;
thatched huts of the Kikuyu peeped furtively at our cars. In
Secret Valley, we stayed at 'Tree Tops,' built on high stilts,
from where at night, under an artificial moon, we could see
leopards mauling meat, bisons licking salt, and elephants,
gazelles and other beasts showing themselves off and generally
enjoying themselves.
It was Thursday; so, Baba turned us away from elephantine
fantasies, and the antics of animals. He took us, instead, into
the jungle of our own minds and described how the wild beasts
sheltering there could be trapped. He told us about the
discipline that can quieten and domesticate them. Suddenly, with
a circular gesture, He created a jewel with the imprint of His
portrait, and placed it in the hands of the person sitting by
His side. Here! Wear it! For many years you have longed for
this. Then turning to us He said, "Oh, each of you wants
something, don't you?" And the hand waved again. There was a
golden vessel in His Hand now. When He unscrewed the lid, it was
full to the brim - Divine Ambrosia! Fragrant beyond imagination
- thick, sweet liquid Grace!
Next morning, on the road back to Nairobi, Baba alighted at
Nanyuki and many other towns and villages, where crowds were
waiting for Him. He wondered, "Who has informed these people
that I would be passing this way?" They must have sensed it
through His compassion; that was the only explanation we could
offer. About noon, Baba and others boarded the waiting aircraft,
and flying over the Rift Valley, the famous Kenya Highlands, and
the inland Port of Kisumu on Lake Victoria, reached Entebbe.
Baba's Presence at Kampala was utilised by many for receiving
Blessings and Counsel. The High Commissioner of India, Shri
K.P.R. Singh, the Chief of Staff of the Uganda Army, General Idi
Amin, the Minister of Defence, Mr. Onama, the Minister for
Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Ojira, the Minister of
Internal Affairs, Mr. Bataringaya, the Inspector of Police, Mr.
Oryema, and other African leaders met Him at Dr. Patel's
residence and obtained a glimpse of the Glory of Baba. During
His stay He addressed gatherings of Lions and Rotarians,
Doctors, Businessmen, and members and workers of service
organisations. He replied with His natural gentleness, sweetness
and sense of humour, even intimate personal questions from those
who participated. Towards the close of each of the meetings, He
moved among the participants creating and distributing to those
around Him portraits in enamel or gold, of Christ for the
Christians, Guru Nanak for the Sikhs, Zarathustra for the
Parsis, and of Himself for those who yearned for them. He spoke
lovingly and for long to a group of students from Makrere
University and stood amidst them, when they wanted a photograph
with Him.
During the group meetings, a variety of questions were asked.
"If there is a God, why cannot we see Him?" Baba replied, "Why
should you seek to see God? You are God. There is nothing that
is not He. Experience Him that way." "How can we be happy
always?" Baba said, "Derive joy from within. You are the Atma,
the eternal spring of Ananda. Love all; no one will then hate
you or envy you." He said to the doctors: "Jealousy is the
professional disease of doctors and lawyers! Be glad when
another doctor earns a good reputation or remuneration; honour
the affirmations you made at the Convocation where you took you
degree."
On the 7th, Baba addressed the first public meeting at
Kampala. He told the multiracial, multi-credal gathering, "Just
as the same bloodstream circulates in all the limbs of the one
body, the One Divine Principle activates the entire Universe. Do
not get too involved in the turmoil of living and ignore the
kinship in God that you have with all beings around you. Do not
overemphasise individual variations, but fix your attention on
the universal kinship. Ignore the beads, contemplate upon the
unifying eternal ever-present thread." This was a heartening
message, and it was received with enthusiastic approval by
Muslims, Christians, Bahais, Hindus and Parsis alike.
On the 8th of July, Baba addressed another vast gathering at
Kampala. He said, "Here in Kampala, I shall pinpoint the basic
requisites for a good, contented and happy life." He elaborated
the discipline essential for it, like Dhyana and Prema,
meditation and love. "Love is Power; Love is Bliss; Love is
Light; Love is God," Baba said.
These discourses bound Baba close to the hearts of the
Africans. People recognised in Him a friend, a guide, a leader
and a light. But word had spread that Baba was leaving on the
10th for India, since that was the day of Guru Poornima. So that
evening when Baba moved among the thousands seated in the
Pandal, rows of Africans knelt, handing notes and letters to
Him, some with tearful pleas. Looking through a window of Dr.
Patel's bungalow at the faces filled with adoration, I could not
suppress my tears. I was overcome by a delightful sense of
gratitude for the opportunity Baba gave me to witness this
spontaneous surge of devotion in a new continent. I was awakened
from my reverie a by light tap on my back from Baba who
enquired, "Why the tears?" The notes and letters were filled
with sorrow, for the Africans had learnt that Baba planned to
leave for Bombay on the 10th. "Father, do not leave us so soon!"
was the plaint in every prayer.
India was informed by cable that the return was postponed.
The full moon day, when spiritual aspirants dedicate
themselves anew at the Feet of the Master, was on the 10th. Baba
had told Bombay that He would reach that City by plane at 9-45
p.m. leaving Kampala at 11 a.m., so that both Africa and Asia
would have the thrill of His Darsan on the same day! But,
yielding to the yearning of the Africans, He decided to spend
the whole day at Kampala, granting devotees in other Continents
other evidences of His Omnipresence.
More than 25,000 persons gathered that morning for the
Bhajan. The Africans joined the chorus led by a Tanzanian, Mr.
Zoodoo. For over two hours, Baba walked slowly among the lines
of lonely, love-seeking eager hearts, giving each person a
handful of sweets and a packet of Vibhuti. To the amazement of
the recipients, most of them discovered inside the packet, lying
ensconced in the midst of the holy ash, enamel or metal
portraits of Christ, the Cross, Krishna or Sai Baba Himself. The
"Uganda Argus" published an article, announcing that Baba had
brought the message of Unity and Service, to the peoples of that
Continent. Baba's discourses as well as activities were also
televised and broadcast, so that the entire population could
share the inspiration of the Gospel.
On the evening of the tenth day of July, Baba talked to about
200 young men and women, who served as volunteers at the Bhajan
gatherings and at Public Meetings. The constables on duty as
well as the chauffeur of the pilot car were also rewarded by His
Grace. Baba appreciated the spirit of service and the
intelligence of the youth of Kampala. He spoke about them later
at Bombay on His return. "They had no previous experience in
controlling and guiding such vast congregations; they had no
training; they were their own guides, but they behaved with
exemplary patience and alertness. They worked tirelessly, round
the clock, with smart team work," He said.
On the 11th, besides the Bhajan sessions, for which, as days
passed, more and more people from far and near flowed into the
Capital, Baba met groups of Sadhakas and active workers in
service organisations, from the far flung States of Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda. Later, Baba visited Dr. Patel's Clinic and
also the residences of many ardent devotees. Wherever he went,
throngs of people, eager to win one more glimpse of the
Radiance, rushed in and stood at the gates or on the pavements
for hours.
On the 12th, Baba proceeded to the Murchison Falls National
Park, one of the most beautiful and fauna-stocked regions of
East Africa. The straight road, leaping over the shoulders of a
series of hills, tempted the person who was at the wheel of our
car to race and overtake every car that moved in front. We were
catapulting so fast, that a sudden turn of the road found the
car rolling madly over and over, finally coming to rest on its
jammed wheels in agonised silence.
Baba's car had gone on beyond Masindi which was some 30 miles
distant. He said to the people in His car, "The second car has
trouble. They will resume their journey in a taxi!"
We four were thrown against roof and floor, receiving knocks,
bumps, hits and cuts, we did not know where! The man at the
wheel fell out; the friend on his left struggled to open the
stuck door with his uninjured left arm. The cushion from the
back seat was on my head, wedged between it and the caved-in
top! I found myself sitting astride on the chest of my
companion, with blood trickling on his shirt from a long gash
upon my forehead, caused by my glasses getting broken there when
I knocked myself against I do not know what!
The third car came up in utter bewilderment, and friends
gently pulled us out. There was a hospital right where the car
had presented us with this surprise item - "Kasturi Falls" - not
included in the original programme! I went in there on my own,
despite the bleeding gash, the black eye, the cut on the left
leg, the huge lump on the right! I was the man who was worst
hit, thank Baba! The entry, as made by the African doctor on the
hospital O. P. Form (which I still have, though it is clearly
printed thereon 'This Form is the property of the Hospital') is
dated 12-7-1968. Name: Kasturi. O.P. No. 11112/68. Diagnosis:
Minor cuts. (Baba's Grace!) Treatment: Surgical Toilet. Inj.
Anti-Toxoid 1500."
I lived to laugh at myself for so helplessly bouncing inside
a speed-intoxicated car, and landing on my neighbour's chest!
Speed goeth before a fall! Baba always advises, "Start early;
drive slowly; reach safely!"
The fatal corner in front of that hospital I shall remember
until memory lapses. The name of the place is as potent as a
charm; its charisma is remarkable. Repeating that name might
avert future automobile misadventures for me. Nakkasongola! That
is the word for the place. It is a thaumaturgical polysyllable!
I wish some day to plant a stone on that spot inscribed - "Here
four men called out Sairam! They were saved."
We packed ourselves thick in the third car and reached
Masindi. From there, we hired a taxi and moved on towards Baba.
When we neared the Park, we saw the welcome poster: "Elephants
have the right of way!" It meant that we could see some herds
during the day.
We found a pair of gigantic bisons eyeing us rather wickedly,
munching roadside grass. Our cars were ferried across the wide
green Nile, and passing between two live Tembos (Swahili, for
elephant) with sharp white tusks about five feet long, we rushed
into Pra Safari Lodge; Baba came forward to pat us and pet us,
while listening to our description of the accident of which He
already knew.
Oh! it was worth all the panic and pandemonium inside the
car! No mortal mother could have been more compassionate towards
her injured child. The curative Vibhuti was ready. He applied it
Himself on the cuts. He used His own handkerchief as a bandage
for my eyes. He created ointments and tablets out of nowhere. He
pressed, or rubbed the spots of pain gently. He drew us near
with affectionate consolation. He gave us the strength to
dismiss the picture from our minds. I thanked Nakkasongola and
the person who drove our car, for this unique gift of Divine
Tenderness.
Within minutes we went for a motorboat ride up the Nile, for
over fifteen miles, towards the Murchison Falls, and back. The
boat passed through 'schools' of hippos lying close together,
showing just their eyes, ear tips and occasionally their noses,
above the water! Some of them were on land, with red,
barrel-like hippolets behind them peeping through the thick
papyrus reeds. There were crocodiles too, with open jaws, but
the vicious tail and voracious jaw did not frighten the juicy
Hippos in the least.
We saw crocodiles in the water and hundreds on the shore,
perhaps even thousands, for the shore seemed alive with
crocodiles from one end to the other. Winston Churchill, who had
plodded, through these jungles and boated along this stretch of
the Nile in his youth, fired a shot from his gun at one of the
sleeping saurians. "At the sound of the shot," wrote Churchill,
"the whole of the bank of the river, which before was a long
brown line of mud, rushed madly into the Nile. At least a
thousand of these crocodiles had been awakened and astonished by
that single shot." Baba noticed may plovers hopping about the
crocodile area, a few daring even to perch inside the horrible
teethy traps! He said, "Look at the mutual service that bird and
beast are rendering to each other!" Yes, the plovers are the
only species of the birds that are tolerated and even welcomed
by the crocodiles; they eat the parasites off their scales and
pick the decaying bits of food from between those deadly teeth!
Returning to Pra Safari, and re-crossing the Nile, our cars
took us through elephant-land to the Nile above the falls. Herds
of thirty or forty elephants looked from a distance like flocks
of sheep grazing on the downs, but when we neared them, the
sight filled us with awe and amazement. A bull stood a few yards
away from the car wherein Baba was, and to give him a good
Darsan, Baba stood on the footboard! It appeared as if he was
highly grateful, for, he stood there gazing a few minutes,
filling his little eyes with the loveliness, then turning back,
quickly joined the herd.
We could hear the loud incessant hum of the Falls at many a
turn of the road; as we neared, it became a thunderous roar, and
suddenly - there were the Falls! Small groups of Africans were
dancing on the river bank in wild ecstasy. The Africans are
seldom still. They trip it as they go to the tune of some lilt.
The Murchison Falls are furious and fascinating. The Nile
comes foaming and rapid, down a continuous stairway until the
bed contracts suddenly into a gap in the rock, barely six yards
wide; through this strangling portal the tremendous river is
shot in one single jet, down a depth of 160 feet, into a chasm
of terror and beauty. Baba was happy that we could see the
sublime scene. Bob Raymer got a series of lovely pictures of
Baba before these waters. Returning to Masindi through a road
rendered slushy with a thick shower of rain, we had to slacken
speed to avoid skidding. Elephants crossing the highway were
another cause of delay.
From Masindi we proceeded to Kikondo, 80 miles away, where a
Bhajan Mandir, in authentic Afro-architectural style built by a
devotee, was to be inaugurated. It was a large estate, growing
paddy, sugarcane and bananas. The Mandir was full of squatting
African labourers, who venerated Baba as the God-man from the
East. Baba sat on the special seat arranged for Him, but soon He
was among the Kisans, creating and distributing sweets and
curatives.
He told the gathering of Africans and Indians that man alone
among the animals had strayed from his allotted tasks; the rest
struck to their Dharma, whatever the obstacle. The tiger will
never stoop to eating grass; the elephant can never be tempted
to have a meal of fish or flesh. But man, the crown of creation,
is grovelling in the mire of bestiality and, withal, proud of
it.
Kampala was reached at 1 p.m. The lateness of the hour only
whetted the appetite for Darsan of the thousands who were
waiting there, busy with Bhajans, Baba gave them the much
coveted gift, walking among them and standing on the decorated
dais long enough to satisfy them.
The 13th of July was a day of growing gloom, though everyone
had the chance of Darsan, Sparsan, Sambhashana (seeing, touching
the holy feet, and listening). From Mwaza, Daressalam, Mombasa
and Eldoret people came to persuade Baba to visit their places.
The Mayor of Kampala pleaded for a short extension of the stay.
Baba is always everywhere. He reveals His Presence to all who
call on Him, or even to many who are unaware that God is amidst
them for their sake. So, for Baba there is no going or coming,
no arriving or leaving. Still, the physical presence wins such
indelible loyalty that one feels an orphan without it.
On the 14th, hours before dawn, half of Kampala was at Dr.
Patel's door. Streams of cars and planes, brought people from
Jinja, Mbale, Kakira, Kabale, Ikaye, and Kapila where Sathya Sai
Seva Samithis and Bhajan Mandalis were active. "I have no desire
to stun or shock people into submission or adulation; I have
come to install Truth and Love in human hearts," Baba declared.
Therefore, thousands prayed that He should stay on, or if that
was not possible, at least come again very soon.
When He got into the car, even the hefty constables on duty,
keeping back the surging rows of citizens, wiped the tears
streaming from their eyes! Baba patted their backs, but that
only sharpened the pang! The road to Entebbe was choked with
cars, trucks, scooters and cycles. The East African Airways
Plane which was to take Baba to Nairobi (where the Air India
International Boeing was waiting) developed a small trouble
while moving on the runway; so Kampala got a bonus of two more
hours with Baba on its soil! The motto of the State of Uganda is
"For God, and my country." And Baba blessed the people who bore
it.
Nairobi was reached at 2.30 p.m. and the thousands who
acclaimed the plane were rewarded by a quick Darsan, since the
delay prompted the airport officers to set the Boeing on its way
immediately. We flew over Ethiopia and Somaliland, ferried
across the Red Sea at a height of over two miles and a half, and
landed at Aden at 5.15 p.m. Bombay was 1910 miles away and two
hours and forty minutes ahead!
Though Baba did not disembark and though the date of the
flight had been postponed while at Kampala, we were surprised to
find a long line of devotees and admirers (Indians and Arabs)
filing into the aircraft and touching the Lotus Feet. Baba spoke
to them with sweet affection; He created holy healing Ash for
their sake.
At 12.45 a.m., Indian Standard Time, the plane, which had the
unique good fortune of carrying the most precious cargo that the
world offers in this age, touched ground at Santa Cruz, starting
off a chorus of Jais from over ten thousand quickly pounding
hearts.
On the 15th, Baba addressed a mammoth gathering at
Dharmakshetra which was presided over by Dr. K.M. Munshi. Dr.
Munshi could not suppress his tears of joy and gratitude, when
he said, "I was pained to see around me the quick decline of
faith in God and earnestness in religion, and I was on the brink
of despair when I contemplated the future of this ancient land.
But, as I look upon Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and witness the
transformation He is effecting in the hearts of millions, I am
heartened and happy." Baba declared that racial conflicts and
animosities spring from sheer ignorance of the basic brotherhood
of man.
He related the heart-rending story of Karana, the eldest of
the Pandavas. His mother cast her first-born into the Ganges; it
floated downstream and was rescued by a charioteer who fostered
the child as his own. He took him to the court of the Kaurava
cousins, who had vowed eternal vengeance on the Pandavas. Karna
grew up as the very right hand of the Kaurava group. The
Pandavas hated him and fought him, determined to destroy him, no
matter what the cost. They succeeded at last. It was only then
that they learnt that Karana was their eldest brother born of
the same womb! O how they lamented, repented and cursed
themselves!
All men are brothers; they owe love, service and reverence to
one another; but they are not aware of this Truth, and so they
hate, they fight, they kill, they poison themselves by revenge.
"Triumph over another is only another name for
self-humiliation," Baba said.
"It was this Truth, this Unity, often misunderstood as
diversity when seen through ego glasses, that was propagated by
Me in East Africa," declared Baba. "The people whom I met there
and those who listened to my discourses and talks had a glimpse
of the Reality upon which the waves of joy and grief, of gain
and loss, of travail and triumph, alternately rise and fall."
"Many of them told me that the vision of the Indian Sages
alone can save them and fill the heart with Peace. The splendour
of the genuine culture of India will spread in this manner from
continent to continent, from country to country, from community
to community, continuously in the days to come. That is my Task.
That is my Will," He said.
Months later, a Muganda teacher wrote from Africa, "Baba!
redeem me, deliver me from grief! One of my best friends was
fortunate to touch the hem of your robe, while you walked near
him. He directed me to pray to You and to save myself from
sorrow." An aspirant from Mukono wrote, "O Lord! Give me the
strength to forgive those who harm me; make me forget the injury
I receive from them." A Roman Catholic from Sierra Leone writes,
"Many of His sayings I have inscribed in a little notebook and I
often refer to it when I am in need of consolation or guidance.
Some day, if it is His will, I may have the good fortune to come
to Prasanthi Nilayam. Or perhaps it may never be - but I shall
continue, in my own way to try to cultivate an ever-increasing
awareness of God."
These are intimations of the wonderful transmutation of
urges, the sublimation of impulses, inclinations and attitudes,
the touch of His Robe, or the touching of His Feet - a chance
perusal of a book by Him, or about Him - a word or two from Him,
or the grateful acceptance of a glance from His Eye can bring
about in man.
May the Light of His Love illumine our hearts too, and may
the whole world shine in that eternal effulgence
(Sathyam Shivam Sundaram, III, 21-40.)
The Message I Bring - Divine Discourse
Your Reality is the Self, a wave of the Overself. The one object
of this human existence is to visualise that Reality, that Self,
that relationship between the wave and the Sea. All other
activities are trivial; you share them with birds and beasts,
but this is the unique privilege of Man. He has clambered
through all levels of animality, all the steps in the ladder of
evolution in order to inherit this high destiny. If all the
years between birth and death are frittered away in seeking food
and shelter, comfort and pleasure as animals do, man is
condemning himself to a further life-sentence.
Man is endowed with two special gifts: the faculty of reasoning
and the faculty of analysis and synthesis. Use these gifts for
discovering the truth of yourself, which is the Truth of every
one else, of everything else. All countries are borne and
sustained by this Earth; all are warmed by the same Sun; all
'bodies' are inspired by the same Divine Principle; all are
urged by the same inner motivator. The Vedas are the earliest
testaments of the victory of man over himself, his discovery of
the underlying Unity in all Creation and his pulsating contact
with the Truth that unifies. They declare: God is the inner
Reality of all beings all this is enveloped by God; all this is
God.
The Divine principle that is in every one is like the electric
current that illuminates the bulbs of different colours and
different candle powers. The same God shines in and through
everyone, whatever be the creed, colour, tribe or territory. The
current animates and activates all bulbs: the Divinity animates
and activates all. Those who see differences are deluded; they
are befogged by prejudice, egoism, hatred or malice. Love sees
all as one Divine Family.
How does this Self Principle express itself in Man? As Love.
Love is the basic nature of man that sustains him and
strengthens his resolve to march ahead. Without Love man is
blind; the World, for him, will be a dark and fearsome jungle.
Love is the light that guides the feet of man in the wilderness.
The Vedas laid down four goals before man; two pairs of goals,
rather; Morality -- Wealth; the earning of the wherewithal for
living through moral means and Desire -- Liberation: the
attainment of liberation from the twin experience of pain and
pleasure and the desire for that Liberation and for nothing less
than supreme treasure. All these goals are attainable through
the practice of Love regulated by Truth, Righteousness and
Equanimity. The Vedas teach that man must earn wealth through
the path of Righteousness; that is not taken to heart; wealth is
not to be accumulated anyhow! The Vedas teach that man should
have only one desire namely, for Liberation. This too is not
respected; man is drowning himself in the maelstrom of desire;
the fulfilment of that desire can never quench his deeper
thirsts. How can a prisoner have any desire other than
liberation? The wide spread anxiety, fear and unrest that is
evident all over the world are the consequences of this mistaken
course.
The human body, so filled with skills and capable of great
adventures, is a gift from God to each of you. It has to be used
as a raft on which you can cross this never-calm sea of Change
that lies between birth and death, bondage and liberation.
Awaken to this primal duty even when your physical and mental
faculties are keen; awaken even while your power of
discrimination is sharp. Do not postpone the launching of the
raft, for it may become unserviceable soon. It may be burdened
with illness so that all your attention will have to be spent on
its upkeep. Think of the incomparable joy that will surge within
you when you approach the shore of Liberation! Ride safe on the
raging waters of Change; be witness, do not crave for the fruit
of action, leave the consequence of all the good acts of yours
to God's Will. He is the doer; you are but the instrument.
Pursue nobler ends; have grander ideals. Sensory pleasures are
trinkets, trivialities. The sages have discovered the
disciplines that will keep you unaffected by defeat or victory,
loss or gain. Learn them, practise them; establish yourself in
unruffled peace.
In homes and schools, training of the minds of the young on
these lines has to be taken earnestly by teachers and parents.
Of course, they must equip themselves for this work by steady
practice in meditation and recital of the Name of God. In every
home, a certain period of time must be fixed every day, in the
morning as well as evening, for readings from spiritual books
and the recital of the names of God. In fact, all the time must
be dedicated to God. So, as the first step, a few minutes may be
devoted to the adoration of His Glory or the gauging of the
depth of that Glory. Gradually, when the sweetness of the habit
heartens you, you will devote more and more time and feel more
and more contented. 'The purpose of living is to achieve the
'living in God'; every one is entitled to that consecration and
consummation. You are the Truth; do not lose faith; do not
belittle yourselves. You are Divine -- though often you slide
from humanity to animality or lower.
Cultivate Love; share that love with all. How can you give one
person less and another more, when they are both same as you? If
you forget your basic Divinity, hatred sprouts; 'envy raises its
hood.' See the Self in all; Love sprouts; Peace descends like
dew. You are embodiments of Love. You have been sitting here
[for] hours, in the open, putting up with great discomfort,
awaiting Me, eager to hear Me and see Me. I am speaking to you
from this dais, only to satisfy that ardour. When I sense your
love I feel I must share it and allow you to share My Love; that
is the best of all communications and communions. The media of
words is then unnecessary.
I have come to light the Lamp of Love in your hearts, to see
that it shines day by day with added lustre. I have not come to
speak on behalf of any Righteousness like the Hindu
Righteousness. I have not come on any mission of publicity for
any sect or creed or cause; nor have I come to collect the
followers for any doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples
or devotees into My fold. I have come to tell you of this
universal unitary faith, this Inner Self principle, this Path of
Love, this Righteousness of Love, this Duty of Love, this
Obligation to Love.
All religions teach one basic discipline; the removal from the
mind of the blemish of egoism, of running after little joys.
Every religion teaches man to fill his being with the Glory of
God and evict the pettiness of conceit. It trains him in the
methods of detachment and discrimination, so that he may aim
high and attain liberation. Believe that all hearts are
motivated by the One and Only God; that all faiths glorify the
One and Only God; that all Names in all languages and all Forms
man can conceive, denote the One and Only God; His adoration is
best done by means of Love. Cultivate that attitude of Oneness
between men of all creeds, all countries and all continents.
That is the Message of Love, I bring. That is the Message I wish
you to take to heart.
Foster Love, Live in Love, spread Love -- that is the spiritual
exercise which will yield the maximum benefit. When you recite
the name of God, remembering the while His Majesty, His
Compassion, His Glory, His Splendour, His Presence -- Love will
grow within you, its roots will go deeper and deeper, its
branches will spread wider and wider, giving cool shelter to
friend and foe, to fellow nationals and foreigners. God has a
million names. Sages and Saints have seen Him in a million
Forms; they have seen Him with eyes closed and eyes open. They
have extolled Him in all the languages and dialects of man; yet
His Glory is not exhausted. Select any name of His, any name
that appeals to you, select any Form of His. Every day when you
awaken to the call of the brightening East, recite the Name,
meditate on the Form; have the Name and the Form as your
companion, guide and guardian throughout the toils of the waking
hours. When you retire for the night offer grateful homage to
God in that Form with that Name, for being with you, by you,
beside you, before you, behind you, all day long. If you stick
to this discipline you cannot falter or fail.
I must give you one more advice. Endeavour always to promote the
joy and happiness of your fellow countrymen in this continent;
be sharers in their happiness and joy. India is called Bharat
because the people of that country have great attachment to Bha
( Bhagawan; that is God). They are devoted to God and so to all
the children of God. They are afraid of sin; they are eager to
acquire Wisdom.
Resolve to carry on the quest of your own Reality. Resolve to
live in the inspiration of the constant remembrance of God.
Cultivate love and share love with all.
I bless that you achieve success in this endeavour and derive
great joy therefrom.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba -
Nairobi, Kenya,
4 July 1968
Sathya Sai Speaks, VI, 224-29 |