they were there at the time of the birth of this Lingam because they had reached the highest point of their development and were now freed from the cycle of birth and death.
I heard this amazing story from those who were directly present at this event. Think about it, people came to this Shivaratri festival with nothing foretold about such an unusual event about to happen only to become witnesses to Sathya Sai Baba materializing a wonderful Lingam from his mouth and being told they each had reached the highest point of their development upon seeing this great object of power and had now found liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
How to relate to these strange and mysterious words? Is it possible to just attend the Shivaratri festival and gain complete liberation? Such statements can only be made by Sathya Sai Baba, who is the highest divine incarnation. His words possess absolute divine power.
8. Mystery of the Cosmic Egg
In many parts of India there are temples of Shiva, in which Lingams of various shapes and sizes are placed on the altars, from the smallest that can fit in the palm of your hand to gigantic ones, the size of an entire house.
Lingam worship is one of the most mysterious aspects of Vedic mysticism. There are many speculations and misunderstandings around the symbolism of the Lingam. The Lingam outwardly looks like a golden egg. The egg is a symbol of the "cosmic source" from which the entire universe emerged.
Probably in the symbolism of the Lingam, we can see the simple and uncomplicated figurative thinking of those ancient people who first noticed how life appeared from a chicken, ostrich, or crocodile egg. Birds and reptiles produce offspring from the egg, so it is obvious that this reproductive form has become a prototype of the great cosmic source of vitality. The symbolism of the cosmic egg has manifested into the framework of many cultures of the world, including ancient Slavic legends and myths.
Over the years, Sathya Sai Baba has materialized many different Lingams for the Shivaratri festival, thereby proclaiming the significance of this tradition.
Quite often, after Sathya Sai Baba materialized another wonderful Lingam, he made a speech in which he explained the deep symbolic meaning of this greatest object of power.
The egg-shaped form of the Lingam is the absolute divine consciousness. Of course, God cannot be limited by form, but it is the perfect form of the Lingam that can serve as an image of absolute perfection.
Sathya Sai Baba performed all sorts of amazing miracles; the birth of Lingams was one of them. I so often saw the manifestation of his supernatural power that after a while, it began to seem that it was all completely natural. Having become accustomed to repeated miracles, a person gradually begins to think more about the essence of the spiritual path. Perhaps getting used to miracles was part of his divine plan.
The Lingam is a symbol of the divine source of all things in the universe. The Lingams materialized by Sathya Sai Baba were of different materials, and they appeared as gold or silver. It would be a big mistake to assume that these objects are metal in the usual sense of the word. These Lingams were not man-made, they appeared from the depths of the divine consciousness, therefore they could be made from materials not of earthly origin at all.
When I first saw a materialized object, I was extremely surprised. Subsequently, when I managed to see a huge number of such objects and a large number of times to witness the very process of materialization, I ceased to be surprised at this. I think it is necessary to keep the amazing miracles of Sathya Sai Baba in your memory, but first of all, you need to see in them their deep, symbolic meaning.
Let's ask ourselves why Sathya Sai Baba materialized various objects so much? What was their meaning? It is unlikely that anyone will be able to understand the Avatar's intent – we can only speculate. All the objects that Sathya Sai Baba materialized first appeared in his mind as thought forms.
Thought is primary and matter is secondary. Through his miracles, Sathya Sai Baba showed us the infinite power and potential of our consciousness. Sometimes he himself openly said that every person can perform the miracles that he performs. The only problem is that people mistakenly perceive themselves as limited and weak beings, therefore they cannot show the fullness of their energy potentials. He also said that every person can perform the same miracles that he can.
It is impossible to fully understand the process of the birth of the sacred Lingam. I tried to find out from some older devotees exactly how this happens. Interestingly, two people told me the same version, referring to the fact that they themselves learned this directly from Sathya Sai Baba himself. One of those who told me about the process of the birth of the Lingam was Padananda, and a little later, Subba Rao told me the same version.
According to these two, the Lingam originates in the stomach of Sathya Sai Baba as a powerful energy clot and then the energy flow rises through his body and acquires an ovoid shape once in his mouth. Then, the Lingam literally pops out of the mouth. Consequently, the people present see only the last stage of the birth of the cosmic Lingam.
9. The golden years
I prefer not to call Sathya Sai Baba, Swami, as many do, but Bhagavan. In my life I have traveled to different ashrams and studied in different esoteric schools. For me, Swami is a title that is not significant enough for Sathya Sai Baba.
Swami is the word for any man on the spiritual path, especially if he is a monk of one of the traditional Vedic monastic orders. Bhagavan in Sanskrit is a title that is only used to address the supreme divine teacher. Bhagavan is one who is an Avatar and the embodiment of absolute truth.
After I learned about Sathya Sai Baba, I was able to go to him almost immediately. My trips were not by decision or choice and I did not make any effort; they just seemed to unfold before me – everything happened easily and naturally. Events simply turned out so that I was suddenly able to go to India. My first trip happened so spontaneously I did not have even the slightest illusion of free choice; the same could be said about all other trips.
I lived for a long time in all three ashrams of Sathya Sai Baba – in Puttaparthi, Whitefield, and Kodaikanal. Sathya Sai Baba spent most of his time at Puttaparthi, which is the main ashram located in his home village. During the hot season, April and May, he moved to two additional ashrams, Whitefield and Kodaikanal.
It's funny to think about it now, but during the ‘90s it seemed, to us, Sathya Sai Baba already had too many people in the ashram. Sometimes he would say, "you don't understand, the time will soon come when there will be so many people here I will turn into a small orange dot for you."
This is what happened at the beginning of the 2000s, the number of visitors increased dramatically. People could hardly fit in the main temple. Due to the huge influx of people, Sathya Sai Baba became very inaccessible.
In the ‘90s, it was effortless to have direct contact with Sathya Sai Baba, or so it seemed to us. When we came to the program, it was not difficult to find a position in the front rows allowing us to see Sathya Sai Baba up close every day.
In those years, Sathya Sai Baba quite often invited me for personal conversations; this time is now remembered with joy. He interacted especially with Russian-speaking groups. People in the ‘90s believed with enviable confidence that if they came to the ashram, they would definitely have the opportunity to personally communicate with Sathya Sai Baba. These were truly golden years!
Quite often, groups visiting for just a month would get several face-to-face meetings with Sathya Sai Baba. These conversations were called interviews.
When I arrived in India, I already knew English; most Russians did not speak English, which is why I began to translate during personal meetings between Sathya Sai
