WE OFTEN THINK THAT WE ARE SEARCHING FOR THE GURU (teacher) and God, but actually, it is God, the supreme Guru, who is constantly searching for a true devotee and a genuine disciple. The events in our lives are all connected with our search for the divine, the life journey from bondage and death to ultimate liberation.
When I was about 27 years old, my sister-in-law showed me two old books that she had saved from a fire that destroyed her apartment. The books were from the library of Mr. Caesar Kaljo, my paternal grandfather. One of them, ‘Kriya Yoga,’ had a thick black cover and was written in German, which I could not read. The second book in blue buckram binding, ‘Agni Yoga,’ was written in Russian, and I was well-versed in it! I spent many happy hours with the book. It opened new vistas and dimensions of the spiritual world. The book was so complex and rich that it often left me in deep thought, not allowing me to complete it in one sitting.
One day, I read a passage that said the Golden Age of humanity–Sathya Yuga or the Age of Truth–would come again. I was elated without realizing that all this would happen so quickly! The same book also mentions that the ‘teacher’ is never dormant; He comes when the student is ready. My preparation to meet my Master was undoubtedly starting.
In 1989, during summer, I was with my fiancée on the second largest island of Estonia, Muhu, working on the renovation of wooden artifacts. Being an artist and a painter, such travel was part of my profession. There, I came across a magazine called ‘AUM’ in Russian, which contained an extract from the book Sai Baba Man of Miracles by Howard Murphet. When I read it, lightning seemed to strike the very core of my being! “This is it!” I told myself, “Sathya Sai is the one to usher in the Sathya Yuga!”
On one occasion, I happened to go to the first floor of the Vedic Cultural Society publishing house. There He was! I saw a beautiful altar for Sathya Sai Baba flanked by photos of Buddha and Jesus. Candles and flowers adorned the altar, and I felt Swami had truly arrived in Russia
Miraculous Travel to Thailand and the First Sathya Sai Group in Estonia
The same summer, a couple who were our friends introduced me to a man from the University town of Tartu. He was my age and was the first person from Estonia to visit Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram in Prasanthi Nilayam. He gave me a booklet about a human values conference that was scheduled in November 1991 in Thailand. Later, he also sent us a film on a VHS cassette, Aura of Divinity, by Richard Bock, which was the first video I saw on Sathya Sai Baba.
After seeing the film multiple times, I filled out the registration form and wrote a letter seeking financial assistance to travel to Thailand. After a few weeks, we received a letter from Dr. Art-Ong Jumsai from Thailand. He replied that they could not help us financially, but they prayed that we could find sponsors in our own country.
Within a week, in the capital city of Tallinn, a young man wanted to purchase a painting from me. He asked me to name any price I wanted! Feeling that this was divine grace, I named a price that was exactly the cost of the plane tickets to Thailand. The sale was quickly completed, and I bought the tickets to Thailand!
In the interim, we found out that my wife was expecting to deliver a baby soon! The delivery was due at the exact time we would be attending the EHV conference in Thailand! So, we could not travel, but what about the tickets we bought already? Swami’s master plan then unfolded when we received a phone call from a friend, a Buddhist lady, who wanted two tickets to travel to Thailand. We gladly sold our tickets to her and suggested that she and her friend also participate in the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) Conference in Thailand, and she agreed!
Thus, two Estonian Buddhist ladies had a chance to participate in the First SSEHV Conference in Thailand. When they returned, they brought back many books, bhajan tapes, and conference materials. How happy we were to welcome all these materials with love along with our newly born son!
We also started learning bhajans and singing at home. Soon, more young people joined our group, and thus began the first Sathya Sai Group in Estonia, which was officially affiliated with the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO) in April 1992.
SSSIO Enters My Life As I Enter SSSIO
Before the official affiliation of the first Sai Group, I regularly traveled to St. Petersburg in Russia. There, I would visit the Vedic Cultural Society in search of spiritual books. I was excited when I found books on Sathya Sai Baba. I began to purchase those books for distributing them to many bookstores in the country. On one occasion, I happened to go to the first floor of the Vedic Cultural Society publishing house. There He was! I saw a beautiful altar for Sathya Sai Baba flanked by photos of Buddha and Jesus. Candles and flowers adorned the altar, and I felt Swami had truly arrived in Russia.
I soon found out that regular bhajans were conducted at the homes of devotees in Russia. Once a week, there was a big gathering at the Sai Centre hall. By the beginning of winter in 1991, the first Sathya Sai Center in Russia was inaugurated in St Petersburg. Mr. Bernhard Gruber from Germany, the Regional Coordinator of the SSSIO, delivered the inaugural address, followed by talks by others, including the first Center leader, Mr. Sergey Neapolitansky.
It was at this meeting that Mr. Bernhard Gruber asked me if I would like to be a contact person for devotees in Estonia. I gladly accepted the offer. That is how I came into Swami’s fold and became an integral part of the SSSIO, even before I saw Swami physically!
Lord! Make Me Thy Instrument
One day, I was blessed with a dream about Swami. I entered a dimly lit hall, and Swami invited me to the other side of the big room. He showed me some discarded clothes in a container and said, “You certainly did not come after this paltry thing!” I agreed mentally. I wanted Him and Him alone. Inviting me to the other side of the hall, where there were some wooden seats, He sat on one of them and invited me to sit by His side. Looking sternly into my eyes, He said, “I want a painting!” I wondered what painting He wanted. When I started to talk about one of my sea paintings, He said, “I know, it is quite a wet picture!” The dream ended there.
Soon, Swami began to show His presence at our home. We had a visitor at home, a lady seeking books on Swami. We gave her Samuel Sandweiss’ book, Sai Baba: The Holy Man and The Psychiatrist. The visitor’s husband, Mr. Roland Viru, met with me to discuss an idea he had been inspired by. He owned an old community center on the island of Abruka, built in the Soviet era to accommodate 150-200 people. He was renovating it, and he wanted a giant mural on the wall. Would I be willing to paint it? I excitedly narrated my dream to him, and we both were convinced that we were the instruments in Swami’s master plan.
I put all my mind, heart, and soul into creating the painting. The ideas flowed by His grace, and I felt like a mere brush doing the work of my Master. I started with a small-sized drawing on paper and then transferred that inspiration to the wall. That was my sadhana for weeks. My whole being was immersed in it. Barely 30 people lived on the island, but still, many times, devotees would come to see the painting coming to life. We also had a summer camp with Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) children and conducted bhajans in the hall.
The hall was formally inaugurated on October 10, 1995, with devotional singing, chanting of auspicious mantras, and ceremonial cake cutting. I felt fulfilled and blissful.
The First Darshan and…
By 1995, Swami’s mission in Estonia started blossoming. We already had four Sathya Sai Centers in Estonia–in my hometown, Kuressaare; in Tartu; in the capital city, Tallinn; and there was a Sai Group in the town of Paide. Many devotees visited Prasanthi Nilayam often, and Swami blessed some of them with interviews. These were events of enormous magnitude for the devotees of Estonia to receive Swami’s love and blessings. Everyone began dreaming about an interview with Sathya Sai Baba.
A major international conference of the SSSIO had been planned, coinciding with Swami’s 70th Birthday celebrations. That was my first trip to see Swami in India with the Estonian group, although I often felt His presence in Estonia even before this pilgrimage. It was a miracle that we found accommodation and had a comfortable stay in Puttaparthi despite the surging crowds. But the most significant experience for me, needless to say, was my first darshan of my beloved Lord!
We were seated in the Sai Kulwant Hall when the darshan music started. It was not the Indian classical music that I had expected, but it was music composed by a modern Japanese composer, Kitaro! It was from the album Kojiki, a tape I had back home and which I would listen to for long hours. The familiar tunes pressed deep emotional buttons within me, and my eyes welled up with tears. I could not control them. At this time, Swami came near me. I looked at Him with gratitude as my heart wanted to jump out and embrace Him. Right then and there, it was as if I was reborn by the grace of His darshan.
Even now, as I close my eyes, I can see Him in that beautiful form wherever I am. That one darshan is miracle enough. Life has never been the same ever since.
Mr. Enn Kaljo was born and grew up on Estonia’s largest island, Saaremaa. He started drawing pictures in early childhood. He has worked as a freelance painter, artist, nature conservation planning expert, and translator of spiritual books. He owns a small business dealing with organic food products and cosmetics. After coming to Swami, Mr. Enn Kaljo has served for over thirty years in the SSSIO and held various positions in the past, including center president, educational coordinator, National Council president, and Public Outreach Coordinator for SSSIO, Zone 7 (Northern Europe).
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First published in Eternal Companion Vol. 3, Iss. 6