Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

Some time ago, I found myself facing what seemed to be an impossible dilemma. Both choices open to me were equally repugnant. Not only were they disastrous for my finances and my relationships, but both were contradictory to the teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, whom
I wholeheartedly embraced as my preceptor. There seemed to be no way to avoid acting on one of the choices, yet both seemed so wrong that I found myself indecisive. For several days and nights, my mind ruminated on the alternatives and the various possible outcomes of either choice.

Then, I became increasingly agitated. Finally, in great distress and emotionally, I prayed to Baba to clearly guide me on the proper action. The desire to be free of the problem and the unhappiness I felt was so great that it mattered little which way I chose as long as I had done the best I could under the circumstances.

One evening, I repeatedly asked Baba for an answer until I fell asleep. I woke up in the morning with the same old dilemma, and pleaded aloud, “Oh, please, Baba, please tell me what to do.” The thought that came to me vividly at that moment was completely unexpected. It was, “Just repeat the Name.” I sat down in disbelief and continued speaking aloud to Baba, retorting vehemently, “That’s no answer!”

Opening page of Ms. Joy Thomas’ first book, Life is a Game, Play it, blessed by Swami.

I waited expectantly, hoping for a solution that was a little more down-to-earth. “After all,” I reasoned, “I could repeat the name of God nonstop for twenty-four hours, or even twenty-four days, and even then, I would still be faced with this problem.” But no further direction came. Somewhat resigned that I must proceed without Baba’s intervention, I thought, “Oh, well, if I do as instructed, at least I can postpone taking action for a little longer.” So, I began to repeat the name I love, “Sathya Sai, Sathya Sai....” All day, I kept on repeating His name. When my mind kept recalling the problem, I responded by repeating Swami’s name out loud for a while. When bedtime arrived, I fell asleep easily and the beloved name echoed peacefully in my dreams.

On waking up the following morning, I was still repeating the name, but, at another level, I looked inward for an answer to my predicament. My mind began to search for the two alternatives it was trying to decide between, and a feeling of strangeness overcame me. There was no change in external circumstances, yet all sense of urgency left me. From a firm conviction that I must decide and act immediately, I now felt there was no need for me to do anything. As I repeated His name throughout that day, the problem did surface a few times in my mind, but instead of becoming fearsome, it now seemed more like a dream that had come to pass.

In a very short time, even the memory of the dream disappeared. No decision was made, no action was taken, and no miraculous solution appeared. Yet, the problem simply dissolved miraculously, and I cannot even recall it now!

When this article began to take form, I petitioned Baba again for His help. “Where did the problem go?” I asked. Waiting quietly this time, my expectant heart received a gentle response, “When you removed the problem from the mind, you eliminated it from the only place that it existed.”

I recalled several discussions that I was privileged to have with Baba in His interview room at Prasanthi Nilayam. During one interview, I asked for His help with a relationship. I had been estranged from my only son due to a philosophical difference, and there was nothing I could do about it. Baba expressed compassion and told me, “Put all your attention on your Center activities.” After two years, during which I served as president of a Sri Sathya Sai Center, focusing on the Center’s activities, a letter arrived from my son affirming his love for me and stating that he felt that the bond between us could never be broken. The letter arrived on the last day of my term of office and came as a complete surprise since I did nothing to bring it about. Nothing, that is, except remove attention from the pain of separation and place it on our oneness with Baba. The memory of those gentle words comes to mind again: “When you removed the problem from the mind, you eliminated it from the only place that it existed.”

Continuing to recall conversations with Baba, I remembered asking Him what to do about my chronic health condition. He smiled lovingly and answered, “Forget it!” This was certainly not the answer. I had expected or one I could easily understand. The physical condition certainly was not imaginary. It could be weighed and measured. It had persisted for over fifty years. It caused emotional and physical pain. It inhibited movement. It affected almost everything I had to do. How could I possibly forget it?

Repetition of the name (japa) had been effective when dealing with financial and relationship problems, but it could not possibly mitigate a physical problem of these proportions. Actually, instead of forgetting the problem, I almost forgot the advice until recently I happened to see a television interview with Herbert Benson, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the hospital’s Division of Behavioral Medicine and Hypertension Section. Dr. Benson has authored two successful books, The Relaxation Response and Mind/Body Effect, outlining the benefits to the body of stress reduction through meditation. In this interview, however, he said that he had recently discovered a remarkable new technique which, when combined with meditation, measurably and dramatically improves health. “This technique,” he said in the interview, “is the repetition of the name of God--whatever name you love.” He went on to say that he had, under carefully controlled conditions, documented the strengthening of the healing effect when the “Faith Factor” (repetition of the name) was added to the “Relaxation Response” (meditation) and that it did not matter which name of God was used as long as it was one in which the person had faith. I recalled the numerous occasions on which Baba had said, “Call Me by any name; all names are Mine.”

Dr. Benson has now written a new book, Beyond the Relaxation Response, published by Times Books, in which he relates how he came to recognize the benefits of repeating God’s name, or a meaningful prayer, and the results that have been witnessed when this “new technique” is added to standard meditation. He outlines the resultant sequence of events which he has observed in his practice as follows:

• There is less concern about the symptoms or the illness; in other words, the anxiety cycle is broken.
• The symptoms become less severe.
• The symptoms are present less of the time, and short periods of complete relief are noted.
• The periods of relief become longer.
• The symptoms are completely gone or remain in a fashion that no longer interferes with everyday activities. In fact, I have found that many patients have difficulty remembering their original symptoms.

“The time duration for a person to experience these full benefits is quite variable. For some, it can be as short as one to two weeks. For others, up to a year is required. Most people can expect improvement to occur in approximately four to six weeks.”

Repetition of the name erases the thought of the symptoms from the mind, and when they no longer exist in the mind, they no longer persist in the body. Baba’s instruction to “Forget it!” was His instruction to me, and His advice to someone else might be different. Nevertheless, those words could have meaning for others as they follow His injunction to repeat the name of God. Baba has promised that all illusions will be dispelled and that His mission will be accomplished. A Course in Miracles echoes this promise by urging students to “Repeat God’s Name, and all the world responds by laying down illusions.”

Now, in addition to repeating the name, I have a little daydream in which I indulge frequently. I imagine myself saying, “You know, I used to live in some sort of form which took me from place to place. I needed it almost all the time. As a matter of fact, there was virtually nothing that I could do without it. It seemed paramount to my existence then, but now I can’t remember what it was.”

Ms. Joy Thomas
USA

Ms. Joy Thomas and her husband, Mr. Raye Thomas, ventured to India in 1983 in search of a living Master. Their search led them to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and they were blessed with many miracles. Ms. Thomas is best known for her series of 5 books based on the lines in a popular quote by Swami, “Life is a Game, Play it. Life is a Challenge, Meet it.  Life is a Dream, Realize it. Life is Love, Enjoy it.” In addition, she wrote two more books entitled Life is Awareness and Life is a Journey from the Self to the Self.  She served the Sathya Sai Organization sincerely and was the President of the Cherry Valley Sathya Sai Center in Southern California. She remained deeply committed to the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba till her demise on April 17, 1999. 

References:
First published in Eternal Companion Vol. 3, Iss. 8