Hemadpant's experience of Shirdi Sai Baba reading his mind, and responding suitably; My similar experiences of Sathya Sai
From Chapter 18 & 19 of Shirdi Sai Satcharita, http://www.saibaba.org/satcharitra/sai18_19.html :
When he [Hemadpant] heard Baba's words, he thought in his mind as follows - "What! Mr. Sathe read for a week only and got a reward; and I am reading it for forty years with no result! His seven days' stay here becomes fruitful while my seven years' stay (1910 to 1917) goes for nothing. Like a Chatak bird I am ever waiting for the Merciful Cloud (Baba) to pour its nectar on me; and bless me with His instructions." No sooner did this thought cross his mind, Baba knew it then and there. It was the experience of the Bhaktas that Baba read and understood all their thoughts, and that He suppressed the evil thoughts and encouraged the good ones. Reading Hemadpant's mind Baba at once asked him to get up, go to Shama (Madhavrao Deshpande), get from him Rs. 15/- as Dakshina, sit and chitchat with him for a while and then return. Mercy dawned in Baba's mind, and so he issued this order.
--- end extract from Sai Satcharita ---
Ravi: Many Sathya Sai devotees including me have experienced Sathya Sai Baba having the same mind reading power. Sathya Sai would simply know what's going on in my mind (and what I have done earlier) when he would look at me during Darshan, and on quite a few occasions reacted via gestures to my thoughts. This has been my experience. Further, so far in my life, I know of only Sathya Sai having read my mind and having responded to my thoughts. Perhaps some other people too that I came across in my life did have the mind reading ability but that was not demonstrated to me in a way that registered with me. With Sathya Sai, he made it crystal clear to me right in Jan. 2003 during my first darshan as staff of Sai university (sitting in Teachers block in Sai Kulwant Hall) that he could read my mind. And he demonstrated that to me quite a few times in later eye contact and gesture interactions that I was blessed to have with him.
So I have no doubt whatsoever about Hemadpant's (Hemadpant refers to the author of Shirdi Sai Satcharita, Shri Govind Raghunath Dabholkar) experience mentioned above. The above extract of Shirdi Sai Satcharita has the sentence, "It was the experience of the Bhaktas that Baba read and understood all their thoughts, and that He suppressed the evil thoughts and encouraged the good ones." This tallies very well with my experience of Sathya Sai, with a slight difference that if I had bad thoughts in my mind, his facial gestures unmistakably showed that he did not like it. It was then upto me to ensure that I did not entertain such thoughts in my mind, especially at Darshan time, if I wanted to avoid a repeat of Bhagavan showing his disapproval. And, of course, I tried hard to do it and when I succeeded in keeping off bad thoughts and having good & noble thoughts instead, I was rewarded with a smile, an Abhaya Hasta gesture once and "Very Happy" words from Bhagavan to me on another occasion. But sometimes, I have to confess, I failed. Bhagavan (Sathya Sai), showed his disapproval, but in his mercy, gave me the time and space to keep working on myself and improve.
What an extraordinary period I had from Jan. 2003 to Mar. 2011 as staff in Sai university, where Bhagavan's mind reading ability and his responses, approval or disapproval, during Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall (or elsewhere in Prasanthi Nilayam/Puttaparthi) was disciplining me away from bad and guiding me towards the good and the noble!!! Mind-control it was but for my spiritual uplift. Bhagavan ONLY DESIRED MY GOOD! Never ever did he ask any material thing of me. He only wanted me to serve, to be loving, and to be pure. What a Sadguru! How I miss those days of Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall, especially the days when He made eye contact with me and either just looked at me peacefully or gestured approval or even disapproval!! Now, in my limited circle of contacts, there is NOBODY I can turn to, at human body level, for such Sadguru guidance!
But then my memories of Bhagavan including his gesture interactions with me are my treasure. And then there are His teachings which he endeavoured so much to explain to anybody who was interested. So Bhagavan surely has left enough for me to continue my spiritual journey. Nonetheless I do miss so much, those darshans where Bhagavan would demonstrate his ability to not only read my mind but also know what I have done earlier.
[I thank saibaba.org, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
When he [Hemadpant] heard Baba's words, he thought in his mind as follows - "What! Mr. Sathe read for a week only and got a reward; and I am reading it for forty years with no result! His seven days' stay here becomes fruitful while my seven years' stay (1910 to 1917) goes for nothing. Like a Chatak bird I am ever waiting for the Merciful Cloud (Baba) to pour its nectar on me; and bless me with His instructions." No sooner did this thought cross his mind, Baba knew it then and there. It was the experience of the Bhaktas that Baba read and understood all their thoughts, and that He suppressed the evil thoughts and encouraged the good ones. Reading Hemadpant's mind Baba at once asked him to get up, go to Shama (Madhavrao Deshpande), get from him Rs. 15/- as Dakshina, sit and chitchat with him for a while and then return. Mercy dawned in Baba's mind, and so he issued this order.
--- end extract from Sai Satcharita ---
Ravi: Many Sathya Sai devotees including me have experienced Sathya Sai Baba having the same mind reading power. Sathya Sai would simply know what's going on in my mind (and what I have done earlier) when he would look at me during Darshan, and on quite a few occasions reacted via gestures to my thoughts. This has been my experience. Further, so far in my life, I know of only Sathya Sai having read my mind and having responded to my thoughts. Perhaps some other people too that I came across in my life did have the mind reading ability but that was not demonstrated to me in a way that registered with me. With Sathya Sai, he made it crystal clear to me right in Jan. 2003 during my first darshan as staff of Sai university (sitting in Teachers block in Sai Kulwant Hall) that he could read my mind. And he demonstrated that to me quite a few times in later eye contact and gesture interactions that I was blessed to have with him.
So I have no doubt whatsoever about Hemadpant's (Hemadpant refers to the author of Shirdi Sai Satcharita, Shri Govind Raghunath Dabholkar) experience mentioned above. The above extract of Shirdi Sai Satcharita has the sentence, "It was the experience of the Bhaktas that Baba read and understood all their thoughts, and that He suppressed the evil thoughts and encouraged the good ones." This tallies very well with my experience of Sathya Sai, with a slight difference that if I had bad thoughts in my mind, his facial gestures unmistakably showed that he did not like it. It was then upto me to ensure that I did not entertain such thoughts in my mind, especially at Darshan time, if I wanted to avoid a repeat of Bhagavan showing his disapproval. And, of course, I tried hard to do it and when I succeeded in keeping off bad thoughts and having good & noble thoughts instead, I was rewarded with a smile, an Abhaya Hasta gesture once and "Very Happy" words from Bhagavan to me on another occasion. But sometimes, I have to confess, I failed. Bhagavan (Sathya Sai), showed his disapproval, but in his mercy, gave me the time and space to keep working on myself and improve.
What an extraordinary period I had from Jan. 2003 to Mar. 2011 as staff in Sai university, where Bhagavan's mind reading ability and his responses, approval or disapproval, during Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall (or elsewhere in Prasanthi Nilayam/Puttaparthi) was disciplining me away from bad and guiding me towards the good and the noble!!! Mind-control it was but for my spiritual uplift. Bhagavan ONLY DESIRED MY GOOD! Never ever did he ask any material thing of me. He only wanted me to serve, to be loving, and to be pure. What a Sadguru! How I miss those days of Darshan in Sai Kulwant Hall, especially the days when He made eye contact with me and either just looked at me peacefully or gestured approval or even disapproval!! Now, in my limited circle of contacts, there is NOBODY I can turn to, at human body level, for such Sadguru guidance!
But then my memories of Bhagavan including his gesture interactions with me are my treasure. And then there are His teachings which he endeavoured so much to explain to anybody who was interested. So Bhagavan surely has left enough for me to continue my spiritual journey. Nonetheless I do miss so much, those darshans where Bhagavan would demonstrate his ability to not only read my mind but also know what I have done earlier.
[I thank saibaba.org, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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