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When I wrote an article about the
fruits of action in three parts, I got a few responses that stated this
sentiment in spirit, “Wow! This experience shows that Swami in dreams is as
‘real’ as Swami in ‘reality’.” That triggered off so many thoughts and memories
in me. Two episodes in particular, stood out by their uniqueness and
‘bizarreness’ if I could say so. To relive one of them, we move down memory lane
to the 18th of September, 2008.
It was a day like any other at Prashanti Nilayam. Thousands had arrived from the
Northern states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in India. It had, by now,
become a kind of timetable schedule with devotees from the different places
arriving in such a way that their pilgrimage dates do not clash. Thus all were
assured of the precious proximity to Swami. Any group that was visiting
Prashanti Nilayam would come prepared with a programme and seek Swami’s approval
to put it up. At times, it would be late in the afternoon when the group would
get to know that they would have to put up their programme in the evening on the
same day.
That put me on a high alert. Being a photographer, I would have to be ready for
programmes on any day, at any time. I also had a set of ‘informers’ who would
sound me in case of any ‘rumors’ of a programme. With this background, we can
now ease into the actual happenings of the day.
I returned to the studio after a heavy lunch and was feeling very drowsy. I do
not even remember when I dozed off. As I slept, I had a dream. I reproduce the
diary entry for the dream that day.
“When I slept at 2:50pm , I had a dream. Swami was seated on a sofa and He
seemed to be very pleased with two people who had done well in a drama. He was
calling them from over my head and I saw that He was about to materialize
something. I had my camera with me but I decided that I would watch the creation
about to happen and study the process. So I kept the camera aside. I felt that
Swami was going to create two chains at the same time. I was watching when I was
suddenly woken up. The time was 3:10pm.”
In the 20 minutes I had slept, I had Swami’s dream. I had been woken up by a
phone call. It was my colleague who was on his way to the studio. He was one of
my ‘informers’ that I mentioned in the beginning and he told me that he saw a
backdrop being shifted into the Sai Kulwant hall and guessed that there might be
a programme. I got up and got my camera equipment ready for the evening’s
programme.
The drama was by the devotees from Uttaranchal and Uttarakhand and was based on
the secret behind the Sai Avatars. It was entitled "Sai Avataran Rahasya". It
showed a modern youth very disturbed, coming up to his saintly uncle with
doubts. The uncle offers him sage counsel along with the teachings of Sathya Sai
Baba. The main part of the drama was the story of sage Bharadwaja that Swami
narrated in His epochal 1963 Guru Purnima discourse.
As the drama was on, I felt that it was not a good presentation. I fell victim
to the weakness of judging! And I also saw that it was not only I who was
indulging in it. Most of the members of the audience seemed to be laughing
silently at what seemed like a below average programme. For instance, the Shiva-Parvati
dance is often depicted with great awe and wonder. When the divine couple danced
in the drama, it looked bad. But one glance at Swami, and He was engrossed in
the presentation. Immediately, I felt like kicking myself. How could I be so
naive and egoistic? The programme happening in front of me was one that was
being watched by the divine. That fact alone was enough to say that the
presentation was very special. At that moment of repentance, something flashed
in me - the dream that I had a few hours ago!
I turned to my right and saw my physics teacher sitting there. I said, “Sir,
though people are laughing at the drama, Swami is very happy. In fact, after the
programme, He will manifest two gold chains for the participants!” My teacher
looked at me with curiosity and I wondered as to what made me blurt out
something like that.
Soon, the drama concluded and Swami asked so sweetly, "Drama over?" He makes
such a perfect audience. He always asks, "Is it over already?" because He is so
engrossed in the programme.
Many times, we humans do not enjoy things because we have expectations and we
keep judging the performance. As someone beautifully put it, "if you judge, you
just do not have time to Love." We can also safely add the corollary that when
you Love, there is not a moment free where you can judge. Swami is always so
engrossed because He sees the sincerity and effort. And that is the vital
difference between God and man. God sees only the efforts and so whether its a
fantastic performance or an average one, they are the same for Him as long as
the efforts have been put in. Not so for humans. We judge everything by results
forgetting the fact that many things that we ourselves have learnt in our lives
are because of the encouragement and support that our efforts (and not our
results) received!
And then, it happened.
Two chains created simultaneously for the "sage Bharadwaja" and "Goddess Parvati".
Source: radiosai.org
Swami called over the dancers and began encircling His right palm. In a flash,
there were two gold chains! I exchanged glances with my teacher and I began to
get goosebumps. This was exactly what I had seen in the dream ( or was about to
see had not the call woken me!) I remembered that in the dream I put down my
camera to witness the creation. I was wondering whether that was what I was
supposed to do. I had not even completed my thought when Swami called me. I went
to Him and He says, “Take pictures! I shall also come down with the children
there and pose with them. Take pictures of that also.”
I actually had a video camera in my hand. But I was totally lost in the magic of
that moment. He not only had shown me the whole sequence of events in my dream,
He was here also confirming it by advising me not to stop shooting ( as I had
done in the dream).
It was a very poignant and important day for me. I learnt two important lessons.
1. Swami’s dreams do not happen without His will. His dreams are as true as
reality.
2. Never be a judge. It is very hard to do that but abstaining from doing so
helps us take baby steps towards realizing our divinity.
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