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aannsswweerrss ttoo tthhee mmeeaanniinngg ooff lliiffee..

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................... i

The Significance of 108 Pearls of Wisdom .................................................... iii

The Mystery of God ................................................................................................. iv

108 Pearls Listed Alphabetically with Page Locations ............................... v

Part I: Who is Sai Baba? ..................................................................................... 1

Part II: Advent of the Avatar ........................................................................ 21

Part III: From the Lips of Sai Baba .............................................................. 38

Part IV: The Path to Surrender .................................................................. 47

Part V: 108 Pearls Listed Alphabetically with Page Locations ......... 54

12.14.15

Lia

This book presents a spiritual porthole into the life, teachings

and miracles of Avatar Sathya Sai Baba.

Unlike any book every written, this book gives you answers to

the meaning of life. This is a true story beyond the belief of most

people living in the world, seeking pleasure for their happiness.

Who is this person called Sathya Sai Baba? Sathya means truth,

and the ancient wisdom of India teaches that if you do not live the

truth and speak the truth, you cannot find God who is the soul of

truth. Sai means saint and Baba means father. In the words of Sai

Baba, “I do not enter into your mind to discover all that lies hidden

there and reveal it to you. I am ever there; I am the motivator of all

minds…you cannot see me in one place and not another, for I fill all

space.”

These words may seem beyond belief, but before you deny

without knowledge what you have just read, let Sai Baba explain to

you what an Avatar is: “The Avatar is always one and the same.

Having plunged into the ocean of life, the One God rises up at one

point and is known as Krishna, and when after another plunge he

rises up at another point he is known as Christ. A Divine Incarnation

is difficult to comprehend. It is the play of the Infinite on the

limited.”

INTRODUCTION

ii

In the words of Lord Krishna, who lived in India in about 3100

B.C., “In every age, I come back to deliver the holy, to destroy the sin

of the sinner, and to establish righteousness on a firm footing. Fools

pass blindly by this place of My dwelling, here in the human form,

and of My magesty, they know nothing at all, who am the Lord, their

soul… There is no limit to My Divine manifestations, nor can they be

numbered…”

Whether it be Lord Krishna, Sai Baba or Jesus, the Avatar is All-

Knowing and All-Present, a concept most human beings are quick to

disbelieve. But who are we to challenge what we can’t comprehend

when we don’t even know our own selves. To understand ourselves

begin by opening our eyes and hearts to One Hundred and Eight

Pearls of Wisdom.

Again, in the words of Sai Baba, “If you accept Me and say yes, I

too respond and say yes, yes, yes. If you deny and say no, I also echo

no. Come, examine, experience and have faith, that is the method of

utilizing Me.”

I assure each and every sincere seeker who reads this book that

you will never forget what you have learned, as it will change your life

forever. This, I promise you.

May God be with you,

Geoffrey Honneus

iii

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 108 PEARLS

In the ancient wisdom of India, in the language of

Sanskrit, rosary beads are called Japamala and consist of 108

beads, used in the repetition of prayers, or mantras, similar to

the rosary beads of Christianity.

The significance of that number of beads is that each

represents one of the 108 books of the Upanishads, whose

central teaching is that the self or soul of each human being is

an indivisible reflection of God in the flesh. Therefore, each of

the beads symbolically represents the 108 names of God, with

its greater meaning encompassing all names as belonging to

God.

The recitation of the Lord’s Name is an instrument of

thought – known as a mantra – and when offered to God

from the depth of the heart, in God’s time, transports the

spirit of the seeker to become united in Cosmic Consciousness

with God.

Sai Baba has declared, “When the fruit is ripe it will fall

off the branch of its own accord. Similarly, when detachment

saturates your heart, of its own accord, you will lose contact

with the world and slip into the lap of the Lord.”

G.R. Honneus

iv

TTThhheee MMMyyysssttteeerrryyy ooofff GGGoooddd

o not sit on the bank of the river and

cast judgments on the depth of the

water. Step down and examine for

yourself, that is the sign of sincere seeker of

truth.

he Lord can be understood only if you

approach Him, develop attachment for

Him, have faith in Him, and maintain

unswerving loyalty toward Him. He is

understood only when you feel that you are

but the instrument and that He Wills every

little movement everywhere.

- Sai Baba

D

T

v

vi

1

Part I

WWhhoo iiss SSaaii BBaabbaa??

Sai Baba lived in India during the eighteen hundreds. In 1872, he

settled in the village of Shirdi, north of Bombay.

A gentleman from Australia, Howard Murphet, and his wife, were

introduced to Sathya Sai Baba in 1966. In his book Sai Baba, Man of

Miracles, published in 1971, Murphet wrote about Shirdi Sai Baba before

introducing Sathya Sai Baba.

2

“A dilapidated Moslem mosque, having only three walls, became his home.

Hindus would not approach him as he was in a mosque, and Moslems would not

enter because Sai Baba performed Hindu forms of worship. In his mosque, Shirdi

Sai Baba kept a fire burning constantly, and oil lamps lit the interior throughout the

night. This was according to the view, common to both Hindus and Moslems that

places of worship should be lit up at night.

“There was no greater peculiarity than his way of sleeping. For a large part

of his life he slept on a plank, five feet long by one foot, three inches broad,

suspended from the roof by flimsy strips of old cloth. It was about six feet above

the ground where a number of lamps were placed loosely upon it.

“Levitation must have been necessary, not only to get onto it, but to stay on

it without breaking the supports, or falling. Without doubt, there could have been

no normal sleep. This would mean that Sai Baba was not asleep but in a state of

levitation and, most likely, also in the all-knowing state of samadhi.

3

“A few people recognized Sai Baba’s divine qualities and came to pay him

homage, but most of the villagers regarded him as a mad fakir, and of no account.

In the tradition of holy men of India, he depended on charity for food and other

material needs. These were few, but he did need oil for his earthen lamps. One

evening the shopkeeper who supplied Sai Baba with oil, gratis, told him

untruthfully that he had no supplies. Perhaps this was a joke to amuse the village

loiterers. Anyway, a group of them, together with the oil-monger, followed the

mad young fakir back to his mosque to see what he would do without his religious

light and maybe to have a good laugh at his expense.

“Water jars are kept in mosques for people to wash their feet before entering

the sacred precincts. In the dust, the villagers saw Sai Baba take water from the

jars and pour it into his lamps. Then he lit the lamps and they burned. They

continued to burn, and the watchers realized that the fakir had turned the water into

oil...

“This was the first miracle Sai Baba performed before the public, and it was

the match that lit the fire which became a beacon drawing thousands of men to him

4

from afar. Many became his devotees. He used his miraculous powers to cure

their ailments, to help them in their day-to-day problems, to protect them from

danger wherever they happened to be, and to draw them towards a spiritual way of

life.

“A great many found their sense of values changing. Some surrendered

themselves entirely to the divine will, which they saw in Sai Baba, gave up their

worldly lives, and came to live at Shirdi as close disciples. Sai Baba taught them

according to their needs and capacities. Learned pundits who thought him illiterate

found that he could discourse on spiritual philosophy and interpret the sacred

writings of India more profoundly and clearly than anyone else they had ever

known. But always he led his disciples along the Bhakti marga, the radiant

pathway of divine love, self-surrender and devotion.

“Many quaint, amusing and illuminating stories are told about him in the

volumes on his life and teachings. But for our purposes there are just a few points

we might note. One object of the fire he kept burning always at the mosque was to

provide a ready supply of ash. This he called udhi, and used it for many kinds of

5

miraculous purposes, particularly for curing ailments. The miracles he performed

cover the full range of siddhis, or supernormal powers, as expressed in such

spiritual and yogic classics as the Srimad Bhagavatam and Patanjali’s Yoga

Sutras. Many times he proved to his devotees that he knew what they were

thinking and saying and doing when hundreds of miles away from him.

Frequently in crises he appeared wherever he was needed, either in his own form

or apparently in some other body – a beggar, a hermit, a workman, a dog, a cat or

something else. There was abundant evidence that he could project himself

through space and take any material form he chose. Those who were in the best

position to know, his nearest disciples, had no doubts whatever on this point.

“Sai Baba gave visions to people, for instance, a visiting high Brahmin

who was dubious about going into a Moslem mosque. From outside the mosque

the Brahmin saw Sai Baba as the God-form he worshipped, which was Rama.

So convincing was this vision of Rama that he rushed in and fell at Sai Baba’s

feet...

6

“Like Jesus, Sai Baba was able to cast out evil spirits from those obsessed

and cure the most terrible diseases, such as blindness, palsy and leprosy. In one

case, he allowed Bagoji, a man with advanced leprosy, to come and shampoo his

legs. People were afraid that Sai Baba would himself be infected, but on the

contrary Bagoji was completely cured of his leprosy, only scars and marks

remained.

“By the end of the 18th century, in spite of India’s primitive communications

at that time, Sai Baba’s fame was progressively snowballing. The high peak was

reached by about 1910 when an endless stream of visitors began to flow in from

Bombay and other places. Pomp and ceremony were thrust upon the rugged,

unsophisticated old saint. Loaded down with jewelry, seated in a silver chariot

with fine horses and elephants, he was taken in grand and colorful procession

through the streets.

“Sai Baba, it is said, disliked all this show, but he submitted to it to please the

people. Yet despite the royal treatment and the riches offered him, he continued to

beg his food as of old; perhaps this was to show that humility is more than ever

7

necessary when wealth and pomp and power are striving to seduce the soul of man.

When in 1918 Sai Baba died at Shirdi, he had just enough money to pay for his

burial, and no more.”

Before his death in 1918, he assured a number of close devotees that he

would be born again in eight years. Eight years later Shirdi Sai Baba’s prophecy

was fulfilled.

In Man of Miracles, Howard Murphet continues, speaking about the birth of

Sathya Sai Baba. “The year 1926 was known as Akshaya, meaning the ‘Never-

declining, Ever-full’ year, and November 23rd

is always, according to the old

calendar, a day to be devoted to the worship of the Godhead of great blessings,

called Shiva (one of the three Hindu trinity – Brahma, the Creator – Vishnu, the

preserver – and Shiva, the destroyer or dissolver of what is created). Moreover, in

this year a certain juxtaposition of the stars made the day even more auspicious for

Shiva worship. So the villagers were already out chanting the names of Shiva

when the rising sun outlined the purple rocky hills beyond the yellow sands of the

Chitravati river. And it was just at that moment as the sun showed its face above

8

the horizon that the child Satyanarayana was born. He was given this name

because the mother’s pujas and prayers had been to that particular form and name

of God.

“Actually Narayana is another appellation for Vishnu, the second in the

Hindu Trinity, while satya is Sanskrit for truth, or reality; so ‘Satyanarayana’ can

be taken to mean the ‘true all-pervading God’. There is nothing odd or profane in

the Indian custom of naming a child in this way; most Indians, men and women,

bear one or more of the thousand names of God.

“Soon after his birth the baby was placed on some bedclothes on the floor.

Presently the women in the room saw the clothes moving up and down in a

peculiar way as if there were something alive underneath. It turned out to be a

cobra, although the snake did not harm the child.

“Whatever the people present may have thought at the time, this appearance

of a cobra in the lying-in room is now regarded by many of Sai Baba’s devotees as

very significant, the cobra being one of the symbols of Shiva. Also, Sai Baba of

9

Shirdi had, it was said, on several occasions, appeared to his followers in the form

of a cobra.

“From the beginning the baby was the pet of the village, loved for his

beauty, ready smile and sweet nature. When Sathya began to run about the dusty

street and adventure across the mud of the paddy fields and the barren hills

beyond, there were certain characteristics that made him stand out from his young

companions. Unlike most boys, he had a tender heart for all creatures, human or

otherwise. He could not bear to cause or to see suffering. This made him a natural

vegetarian from an early age among the meat-eaters around him.

“Said Mr. Kasturi, ‘He kept away from places where pigs or sheep, cattle or

fowl were killed or tortured, or where fish were trapped or caught; he avoided

kitchens and vessels used for cooking flesh or fowl. When a bird was selected and

talked about by someone in connection with dinner Satyanarayana, the little boy,

would run towards it and clasp it to his bosom, and fondle it as if the extra love he

poured on it would induce the elders to relent and spare the fowl...’”

10

“Sathya would have nothing to do with sports involving ill-treatment of

animals... He began his formal education at the village school where he showed

himself bright and quick in learning... He was even writing songs for the village

opera at the age of eight. At about that age he went on to the higher elementary

school... Sathya often used to come a little early to school, collect the children

around him and conduct worship using a holy image or picture and some flowers

he had gathered for the purpose... From an empty bag he would take sweets and

fruits... If someone was sick, he would bring out herbs from the Himalayas and

give these as cure. When the children asked him how he performed such

wonderful magical feats he would say that a certain village spirit obeyed his will

and gave him whatever he wanted... So when Sathya went on to the high school at

Uravakonda, he found that his fame had spread there before him...

“On the morning of May 23rd, 1940, Sathya called around him the members

of the household, except his father who was busy at his produce store. With a

wave of his hand the boy took from the air sugar candy and flowers and distributed

them among those present. Soon the neighbors began to crowd in. Sathya, in a

jovial mood, produced more candy and flowers, and also a ball of rice cooked in

11

milk for each person. The news that his son was performing apparent siddhis (yogi

powers) before a crowd of people reached Pedda, his father...

“Standing before his 13 year old son and waving a cane threateningly, he

shouted, ‘This is too much! It must stop! What are you? Tell me – a ghost, or a

god, or a madcap?’

“Sathya said calmly and firmly, ‘I am Sai Baba.’ There were a few people in

the district who had heard of a great wonder-working fakir named Sai Baba. Some

thought he was still alive, while others declared that he had been dead for years.

Some said that he was a Muslim, others that he was a Hindu saint with a great

following. But in any case he seemed very remote from the Raju family and the

village of Puttaparthi.

“Thursday is regarded as guru’s day in India, and on each Thursday some

people gathered around their new guru, young Sathyanarayana Raju. Once

someone at a Thursday meeting voiced the desire that was in many minds. ‘If you

are really Sai Baba, show us a sign.’

12

“Sathya saw the need of this. ‘Bring me those jasmine flowers,’ he said,

pointing to a large bouquet in the room. The flowers were placed in his hands, and

with a quick gesture he threw them on the floor. All present looked in awe: the

flowers had fallen to form the name ‘Sai Baba’ in Telugu script, the language

spoken in the village.

“Thursdays soon became big events at Uravakonda. For the people gathered

around him, Sathya Sai would, with a wave of his small hand, produce items which

linked him with the deceased Shirdi saint... Perhaps the most interesting

phenomenon was his regular production of ash. Shirdi Sai Baba had always kept a

fire burning to have a ready supply of holy ash, which he called udhi. Now young

Sathya Sai took it as if from an invisible fire in a hidden dimension of space. This

was a miracle that he had not performed until after the announcement of his

identity as Sai Baba...

“High school was not really the place for a boy who, like Jesus in the temple,

could teach the teachers: in fact several of them, including the head master, used to

13

bow before him, and seeing through the illusion of his youthful body would listen

to his inspiring words.

“The final break from schooldays came on October 20th, 1940. That

morning, at his brother’s house where he was residing, Sathya threw away his

books and announced that he was leaving. ‘My devotees are calling me. I have

my work,’ he said. His sister-in-law says that when she heard these words she saw

a halo around the boy’s head, which almost blinded her.

“As news spread of a boy in the village of Puttaparthi claiming to be Sai Baba

of Shirdi reborn, devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba came from afar. They would usually

sit quietly among the gathering surrounding young Sai. To each, one way or

another, Sai Baba demonstrated that he not only recognized them, but often

reminded them when they last visited him in Shirdi.

The ash he used from the lanterns at Shirdi he now materializes with a ‘wave

of the hand’ from nowhere. It is freely given to devotees as a talisman. The holy

ash is also used by both Sai Baba and devotees as a healing catalyst. Around the

14

world this vibhuti (holy ash) appears on the pictures of Sai Baba used by devotees

for worship. In addition to vibhuti, by the ‘wave of the hand’ Sai Baba takes from

the air statuettes of Hindu deities, crucifixions of Christ, rudrakaha prayer beads,

holy rings and pendants as gifts for devotees to inspire faith in the Divine.

“Sai Baba has appeared to devotees at great distances in his own form, the

form of his Shirdi body or in any form he wills. As in his Shirdi life, he has

transformed scenes before the very eyes of devotees. One day he tied a rope to a

tree branch making a swing. He began swinging while his devotees were seated on

the ground. Suddenly he asked the devotees to have a better look at him, and lo,

what great delight! Before their eyes was no longer Sai Baba, but the charming

cowherd boy, Lord Krishna of Brindavan, sitting on a magnificently decorated

flower bedecked cradle. Most of the devotees lost consciousness. When Sai Baba

revived them, they were dazed and weeping with joy.

“Among his Christ-like miracles are the curing of deadly diseases and the

multiplying of food. Sai Baba’s life and miracles have been recorded by Sri

Kasturi, a close disciple; his work is entitled, The Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya

15

Sai Baba. Sri Kasturi writes, ‘Sai Baba has declared that in his life the first

sixteen years will be marked mainly by Leela (sport or play), the next sixteen by

Miracles, and the subsequent years by Teaching. He has said that although Leela

would be the main note of the first period, it would continue to be part of every

stage of his life; so also with Miracles and Teaching.’

“True to this statement, Sai Baba performed various miracles before the

devotees who attended those evenings of chanting and worship on the sands by the

river. It was then that the Tamarind tree that grows solitarily at the crest of the hill

on the left bank of the Chitravathi River near its meeting place with the road got

the reputation of being a Wish-fulfilling Tree. For Sai Baba used to take the

devotees to the tree and pluck from it many different varieties of fruit – apple from

one branch, mango from another, orange from a third, pears and figs from fourth

and fifth. As Sai Baba says, he can make any tree at any time a Wish-fulfilling

Tree, for he is himself Wish-fulfilling.

“A number of very fortunate devotees of those days experience joy even now

when describing the miracles they were privileged to witness. Sai Baba would call

to them in a clear commanding voice from the top of the hill while standing by the

16

side of the Wish-fulfilling Tree, ‘Look up and see.’ And they saw a wheel of

circling light with Sai Baba’s head in the center, and a blinding jet of light

emanating from his forehead. Instances are related of a few devotees who fell

down in a faint at the sight of these strange phenomena.

“A college student, C. N. Padma, who was present one evening when Sai Baba

ascended the hill on which the Tamarind tree can still be seen writes, ‘The next day

Sai Baba took us again to the sands. In fact he went out every day, sometimes to a

cluster of trees near a tank on the other bank of the river where he delighted in

swimming and diving. After some little conversation he challenged a few young men

of his physical age – that is, some teenagers – to run a race with him up the rocky path

from the sands to the Tamarind tree. Off they went, but before one could close one’s

eyes and open them, Sai Baba was calling out in great glee from the very top! He

asked the others to stop where they were and he called out to everyone, be watching

me; I am giving you the Darshan (Blessing) of Flame, the Vision of Light. Suddenly

there was a great ball of fire, like the sun, piercing the new moon dust. It was

impossible to open the eyes and keep looking. About three or four of the devotees

fainted. The time was a little past seven p.m.’

17

“One day, while on the sands of

the seashore near Masulipatnam, Sai

Baba walked straight into the sea!

The devotees were sometime realizing

the situation. Then they heard a voice

and saw a Vision of the Lord on the

Serpent Sesha, reclining on the

waves! Within a moment Sai Baba

was by their side. They were struck

by the fact that his clothes were not

even wet.

“Another day he walked toward the sea up to the very edge and threw a

silver cup far into the waves. Everyone wondered why. In an instant the cup came

back and was deposited near them by a wave. Sai Baba lifted it up, along with the

salt water it contained. He poured the water onto the palms of the devotees, a few

drops for each to swallow religiously. Each one found it to be fragrant and sweet

beyond compare! The sea had offered him the Nectar of Immortality, just as years

18

later it placed around his feet a garland of pearls. The people who witnessed these

miracles and partook of the nectar are now at Prasanthi Nilayam, Sai Baba’s home

of Tranquil Peace at Puttaparthi. They are today ardent devotees of the Lord.”

Sai Baba accepts no money or gifts from devotees. His personal needs are

taken care of by a number of close disciples. His discourses and teachings have

been compiled into numerous books by close disciples and a monthly periodical,

“Sanathana Sarathi,” carries his message to the far corners of the world.

The heart of this message is emphasized by Sai Baba as follows: “Of what

benefit is it if you worship My Name and Form without attempting to cultivate the

equal love that I have for all, My unruffled equanimity, My love, My forbearance

and My perpetual state of Supreme Bliss? Many of you plead for a Message from

Me! Well, My Life is My Message. You will be adhering to My Message if you

so live that your lives become evidences of dispassion, courage, confidence,

revealing eagerness to serve those who are in distress.”