Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

IT WAS THE 25TH OF DECEMBER, 1971. The taxi lumbered along the streets of Madras (Chennai today). It was a quiet residential neighborhood with large houses surrounded by high compound walls. Occasionally, we would pass a cow or two grazing alongside the road. Inside the taxi, there was an electric air of excitement. We were going to see Sathya Sai Baba.

Michelle Kaplowitz, an ardent devotee of Swami from the USA, was prodding the driver along as she looked keenly out the window, trying to recognize the house Swami was visiting. She had been there the year before, so she was confident she could find it. I was anxious. I was to fly back to the USA at 6 PM, and this would be my last chance to get the coveted interview I desperately wanted.

He looked at all of us and then began to tell us about how He had just resurrected Walter Cowan from the dead that morning.

Five years had passed since my first experience with LSD (a potent psychedelic drug) in San Francisco, and four of those years were spent in India, with visits to Nepal and Sri Lanka. The last two years were spent with Sathya Sai Baba, who I now believe to be God incarnated on earth.

Finding Sai Baba

My mind raced along. I thought of the many wonderful experiences I had had with Sai Baba during the past two years. He was everything to me: my mother, father, Guru, guide, confidant, and friend. I was going back to the USA after nearly four years in India. I closed my eyes for a minute and prayed for Sai Baba to give me a talisman to “protect me in America.” Suddenly, Michelle cried out, “There it is! That’s the house.” Everyone in the taxi became excited. My heart started fluttering, and I took a deep breath. We got out of the taxi and went onto the verandah of the house. Several Indian people were waiting there.

As if out of nowhere, without warning, Sai Baba appeared. He moved gracefully and swiftly across the verandah toward us. He greeted Michelle with a big, loving smile. “How are you, Sir?” He asked her as she melted away. Then He turned toward me with a more serious look and said, “I’m going to the hospital to see Walter Cowan. I’ll be back in one hour. You wait here.” He had told me the very same thing early in the morning and then disappeared, only to turn up at this house in the late afternoon. It took skilled detective work, a sixth sense, and a keen memory on the part of Michelle to find Him. In those days, she always found out where Sai Baba was going and when. Even if nobody else knew His whereabouts, she would find Him. It was a gift He gave her because of her intense love and devotion toward Him.

The Divine Dance

It was a very long hour, to say the least, but this time He did return. After about twenty minutes, He called all the “foreigners” into a separate room. We gathered in a semicircle around Him. He looked at all of us and then began to tell us about how He had just resurrected Walter Cowan from the dead that morning. After He finished His narration, Leela, a dear friend and travel companion of mine, spoke up.

“Swami,” she said, her voice choking, “my mother had her leg amputated due to diabetes.” “Yes, Yes, I know,” was Sai Baba’s gentle, comforting reply. Then He looked at her arm. It had been injured due to an accident at her birth. “Now,” Sai Baba began in a mischievous tone, “she has one leg, you have one arm, you can do a dance.” Leela, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, said, “But Swami, I have you.”

“Yes,” He replied, “you can use my arms and legs, I’m always ready.” He waved his hand and materialized a small silver coin out of nowhere. “Here, this is for your mother,” He said as He handed it to Leela.

Interview–Inner View

Then He turned and looked at me. I had watched Him make the coin for Leela’s mother with a tinge of jealousy. “You have dirty thoughts and doubts,” He said to me, with a look that combined disapproval, love, and compassion. He moved His hand in a circular motion, and in a flash, a small silver coin materialized. He walked over to me and put it in my shirt pocket. “Carry this with you in America,” He said lovingly as He patted my chest.

He made some remarks and responded to questions from others assembled in the room. Then, He called us individually to a smaller room for the private interviews. Finally, it was my turn. I stood face to face, all alone with Him at last. “You thought Swamiji was going to disappoint you,” He said lovingly. “But I never disappoint.”

I discussed with Swami about my relationship with my parents. I asked Him if my parents would ever come to Him. His reply was, “Your parents don’t know anything about Swamiji. You go tell them something and see. Between you and your father, no connection. Between mother and son, there is only some natural connection.” He patted me lovingly on the head and added, “Don’t do marriage; lead a free, unattached life.” It was true I had never really connected with my father.

Then, I talked to Swami about my visa problem and my spiritual practices. He patted me on the head and said, “Don’t worry, I’m giving some help.” He told me regarding my visa, “When you come back, register in Anantapur. They’re all my devotees now. If you always give my address, you’ll never have any difficulties.”

“But Swami,” I said, “If I give your address, they’ll want a letter from You…”

“I’ll give.” was His reply.

“But last time I asked You, You said ‘No,’” I reminded Him. He held both my hands and reassuringly said, “I’ll give. I’ll give.”

I bent down to the floor and kissed His feet. He helped me get up and gently but swiftly led me to the outer room where the others were waiting. It’s hard to describe how I felt. It was as if I had been opened and filled with love from head to toe.

In the taxi on the way back to the hotel, I took the small silver coin out of my pocket. On one side, it had an image of Shirdi Sai Baba. On the reverse side was a hand in the position of blessing or protection. Around the hand was inscribed the message, “Why fear when I am here” in Tamil. (Tamil and Telugu are two of the languages spoken in South India.) It was the talisman I had prayed for in the taxi on the way there!

Excerpted from the book “Heart to Heart” (1997)

Mr. Howard Levin was an interior designer in New York and San Francisco who took on the life of a hippie, hitchhiking his way to India, where he met Sai Baba. He is one of the original “Sai Hippies,” a group of young people who visited the ashram and had the privilege of spending precious time with Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the 1970s. On the second day after meeting Him at Whitefield, Bangalore, Swami invited him to stay at His residence. He was also involved in setting up the planetarium at Puttaparthi. Mr. Levin is the author of two books on Sri Sathya Sai Baba: “Heart to Heart” and “Good Chances.” He has been the manager at the Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana, USA, for more than 20 years.

References:
First published in Eternal Companion Vol. 3, Iss. 5