What more could the group have asked for? But
the all-giving Swami
wanted to give them more: a group Interview! From an initial
320 devotees, the group was merely a 70 or so during the last
group darshan on the afternoon of July 5th. As usual, Swami
waited until the last possible minute to grant their wish and
called the group for an interview. Once the group was seated,
Swami lovingly asked the ladies in the group “What do you
want?” “We want You, Swami …only You,” some women called out.
Swami smiled.
“Where is God?” He asked the group. Various
responses came forth - “with us”, “in us”, etc. Swami smiled
and nodded!
After a while, with the love and compassion of
a thousand mothers, He looked around and said, “Many people
have gone from the group….there will be disappointed….you must
make them understand that God is in you, with you, in front of
you, around you….tell them….My Blessings are with them
always!”
Someone asked, “Swami what message can we take
back with us to the USA ?” Swami repeated, “God is in you. He
is not separate. I am with you, in you, around you!” The man
added, “Swami, I know that I am God, but I do not feel it”.
Swami replied, “That is your imagination. You are thinking
with your head, not your heart. You are not the body, you are
not the mind. You are the atma. The one you think you are is
the body. The one that others think you are is the mind. The
one you really are is the atma.”
After a couple of moments, Swami looked at one
of the Spanish women, and asked “How is your leg?” He
continued “Pain, in your leg?” In fact, this woman had severe
pain in her hip and had recently undergone hip surgery. “OK,
Swami,” she replied. Swami later gave her vibhuti and told her
to rub it on her hip and her pain will be gone.
“What is your name?” He asked a lucky lady in
the group. “Gabriella”, she answered. “Husband?” He asked.
“Swami, David is my husband,” she said. Swami asked Gabriella
and David to come up and sit beside Him. Swami looked at her
and asked, “What do you want?” “I just want You, Swami”, she
answered. He asked her again “What do you want?” She said,
“Just You, Swami. I want Your love”. “You have My love”, Swami
confirmed.
After asking them several personal questions,
Swami raised His hand and started waving it around in the air.
Through the fingers of His hands the group could see a chain
materializing. Swami pulled out a beautiful chain, with a huge
pendant encrusted with stones. At first, the chain was short,
but Swami pulled it and it got longer, though the thickness
remained the same. As the devotees peered at it, Swami saw
them looking, smiled and held it up and said to all of them,
“Can you see?” He looked at the woman and said softly, “Sai
Geetha on both sides… It has everything there for you.” He
told David to put it on her neck. Then He put His hand on each
of their heads, and said a mantra. What appeared to be
unfolding in the mandir was a divine marriage being performed
by the Lord of the Universe, Himself! “Are you happy?” Swami
asked them, smiling lovingly. “Yes, Swami. Padnamaskar?” They
asked. “Yes,” He said. “Both together,” He indicated, and then
both husband and wife took padnamaskar together. Swami then
gave each of them vibhuti packets and said, “Keep it for
yourself, don’t share it”. He then asked the couple to return
to their seats.
Next Swami indicated for the men to come one by
one to take padnamaskar. When each person approached Swami, He
would sometimes ask them personal questions and enquire about
their profession. He waited patiently for each person to offer
pranams. To the young boys, Swami would sometimes smile and
say, “Come on, boy!” He would also ask them their names, how
old they were, and what standard they were in. After the men
were done, Swami asked the women to come up one at a time,
sometimes talking to them about personal matters, and giving
them vibhuti packets. When all the women were done, Swami
blessed a couple of large bowls full of prasadam (strawberry
flavored wafers) which were then distributed by a couple of
volunteers on the men and women’s side.
Swami then turned to the crowd and said “Are
you happy?”, “Yes, Swami, Yes!”, “We love You”, “Thank You,
Swami”, the devotees called out! Swami held up His hands,
smiled and said “Very happy.”
For the pilgrims from the Southeast region of
USA , it was perhaps the culmination of prayers of life times.
The lord had blessed them beyond their imagination and filled
them with boundless bliss.
July 8, 2007 –
SSSIHL Programme: ''Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye''