We have assembled all our resources, plus nearly 20 years of visiting Sathya Sai Baba at Prashanthi Nilayam, and compiled our resources into a book to guide new visitors to the Prashanthi Nilayam Ashram.

Our book is called Guide to Visiting Sai Baba

Guide to Visiting Sai Baba

This is an E-book, and has sections on

• Air travel to India, Airline Meals, keeping healthy
• New Bangalore Airport, immigration, customs and travel to Prashanthi Nilayam
• Ashram and Puttaparthi Township Accommodation
• Ashram Facilities
• Daily Activities
• What to wear
• Food, Canteens and keeping healthy
• Things to see and do
• Banks and other faciliities in Puttaparthi Township
• What to do with begging
• Sathya Sai Baba’s Love and Grace
• Going home
• Plus three Appendices, Taxi Operators, How to wear a Sari, and Accommodation in Puttaparthi Township

Our purpose in writing this book is to provide a comprehensive guide to the first-time visitor, (or going first time alone) to the main ashram of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Highest Peace.

We hope that the information in this book (illustrated) will help those to begin to experience that peace on their journey, during their stay at Prashanthi Nilayam, and when they return home. The last section of this E-book has a short guide on what to do when you get home.

As with all books we have edited and written, we offer this to Sathya Sai Baba, and hope it is of benefit to all its readers.

The book is in Adobe PDF format, so requires Adobe Reader, any version from Adobe 5 and upwards. If you do not have Adobe Reader, then you may download this for free from the Adobe Website, www.adobe.com

The price is $US9.95

If you would like to purchase this book, then here is how:

I have been reading a book …

The book

And we find that there is a very large coverage of this phenomenon on the internet. Many sorts of issues get caught up on this phenomenon, and I’d like to look at this from a spiritual point of view, and try if I can, to apply Swami’s dictum, first, common sense, then spiritual sense.

There are calendars, and then calendars. The Gregorian Calendar ( the one in common use by humanity) gets a good scrutiny, then the various Mayan Calendars are examined.  I must say, if you persevere with the Mayan stuff, after a few chapters, you begin to see just how much mathematical accuracy there is with the Mayan Calendars, even though they go back a long, long, way.

To understand that, you need to understand that the Mayan civilisation had their own way of saying “Everything is Brahman”.   They called it K’ul .

The calendars essentially had a spiritual function, as did the entire culture, which used astrology to determine times when grids of energy were full of K’ul, and the times were propitious for accessing K’ul and undertaking certain tasks. Does this sound familiar?

There  are some cogent claims for the year 2012 and the future of humanity undergoing change.  The exact form and nature of that change is of course, under furious debate, with many conflicting assertions which can be found all over the internet. This book does point to changes, and concludes that they might also be changes to consciousness, as well has changes to nature itself.

Therein is the key. Changes to consciousness.  Sathya Sai Baba has taken form for the people and undertaken a clearly avowed mission of restoring righteousness to the earth, restoring the Vedas, and the Vedic scholars. Vedas, of course, are not Hinduism, nor is the practice of chanting Veda a sort of Hindu practice of a particular kind. The Vedas are for all humanity, and contain the highest essences and guides for true humanness.

While all this 2012 material looks to the future of humanity, I find it curious that very little of the 2012 material looks to the past of humanity.  We have very little record of life on this planet,  more than 10,000 years ago. Yes, there is some archaeological material, but what of written records? I think there is only one continuous record, and that is the Ramayana. The Ramayana occurred over 20,000 years ago. Only one other religion goes back beyond the flood, Zoroastrianism (which Sathya Sai Baba has told is the oldest continuing religion outside of India) and their records were destroyed when Alexander the Great burned the Library of Alexandra. Many Gathas and Avestas were lost in that fire.

So what happened at the ‘flood’?  The planet nearly died, according to some sources.  Atlanta sank under the sea. Atlanta, Atlantis… Lanka, the home of Ravanna, the place of the war in the Ramayana.  Lanka was in the region of the Equator, as told by Sathya Sai Baba. It was not the Sri Lanka of this modern era.

I think, also, if we look to one festival in Hinduism, Diawali, Deepavali, there is another explanation given for the genesis of this festival; Lord Krishna raised his hand and stopped a heavenly body from colliding with the earth. The resultant explosion of light debris is celebrated to this day as Diwali.

So there is a tension between the future of humanity and the past of humanity. What is it we need to learn, what do we need to know and understand, how do we approach that which is coming? We’ll take a look at this in another post.

Grey skies, puddles along the road, and sporadic rain during the night. Devotees scurry to the ashram with brolly, raincoat, shawls. Villagers wear jerseys, vests, balaclavas, and wrap scarves around their head (in that unusual manner that I have only ever seen in India). Lady with a decorated cow passes by. Waiting for the Lord. I think I sing more bhajans in my head than what they sing inside in the mandir.

We hear the bells go for Arathi. Gee-whiz, what does this mean? People look to one another, and I see two army fellows in jungle greens duck off for a spot of chai. Close my eyes and concentrate, on the inner level. “Wait.”

Sure enough, about three minutes later, Seva Dals spill out onto the road, and the Police Escort car comes out and parks directly in front of the Gopuram. Very quickly, the Lord’s car emerges, and people push everywhere. I give that the flick and run up the road a bit.

Car comes around the corner, people in white, Seva Dals run towards me carrying ropes; I snap off a picture and I have no idea if it is any good, so much movement and so many people running towards me. So take a look:

Watch that sun on the front bonnet of the car. Its gonna be news, later on.

I have been feeling an impression to move to the other end of Swami’s travels, so this day, I decided to follow Swami. The first thing was that the School Bus was caught on Main Road as Swami was coming, you know those huge red and silver APSTC buses? Well, there was one, it was chockers, full of children in blue uniforms, and it moved to the side of the road. Well! Swami decided all these children needed Darshan, and they got it; I saw a bit of a lurch or lean-to on the bus as Swami’s car went past, and the children, well, I could hear Jaikars and Sai Rams! coming from the bus. As I ran past the bus, the children were all gleeful, smiles and singing the Sarva Dharma Prayer! What a way to go to school!

Onwards, down main road, the eager crowd follows Swami and I see what must have been the contents of a whole bucket of Red roses fly through the air and land on Swami’s car and bounce off … people ran onto the road immediately to get a Rose!

Some people stop and smile, you know, that unique smile which portrays bliss? Love explodes out of people when they are like that, the eyes and the smile tell it all! The eager crowd runs after Swami’s entourage, and we follow with the camera in the air…

The Seva Dal opened the Ganesh Gate after Swami passed by, and the road is nigh impassable. I thread my way through the crowd and stand on tip-toe, Swami is up there past the Bus Station, nearly at the top of the Hill. I ain’t gonna catch Him, I thought to myself. I take a few photos at the Ganesh Gate:

There is a magnificent Billboard with Swami right at the Bus Station. As you go under the arch and crest the hill and get your first glance of Prashanti Nilayam Township, this is what you see:

I thought I’d take a photo of the Bus Station frontage, whilst I was passing by:

I turned and took a few photos looking down Main Road, Prashanti Nilayam:

As I walk up over the crest, the Vidya Giri Arch is seen:

Vidya Giri, I think, means the place where the wealth of education lies, I emphasise the think. (My Sanskrit is not that sharp these days… )

Under the Arch and take a photo of the other side:

That’s the Sarva Dharma Archway, the entrance to Prashanti Nilayam Township. You’ll see a lot more of those angels in the Darshan Hall.

So walking down the slight grade towards the entryway to Chaitanya Jyothi Museum, I encounter a suprise, walking very quickly…

Sathya Gita was out for a morning walk. I run backwards a bit to get another photo; my, my, Sathya Gita is walking so quickly, I have to turn and run forwards for quite a bit to get my photo:

Well, well, well, what a surprise. I had seen Sai Gita many times, and had not expected to see Sathya Gita!

And, more! They turned at the archway, and came back!

Sweet little thing; some ladies walking in the other direction reached out and Gita swung a trunk to touch their hands!

Now then, where is the Lord? Well, the crowd said it all:

Somewhere behind that gate!!!

Wait, wait, wait, counsels the Lord.

We waited. And waited. Auto rickshaws came and went; coconut sellers did a roaring trade. Devotees roll up and join the crowd. Fellow selling puri’s interests the crowd.

I see Sara Pavan depart via the other gate in his car, and a light bulb goes off. Aha! Take cover off the camera and get ready. Sure enough, the gate opens and I spy in my viewfinder,

The crowd spill out onto the road, my photo opportunity is lost, and I have to run backwards to get a photo… running backwards, so excuse the camera shake …

Run backwards a bit more and the scudding clouds clear and the sun, the blessed sun comes out!!!

And that is the best I can do on the return journey of the Lord, back to the Ashram! Waaaaaaahhhh!!!!!

And the crowd run, run, run, after the Lord Sai Baba. I run, too. Run and hold the camera up…

Footslogging it, I notice the entourage has well and truly put on a bit of speed as they approach the arch, and nearly stop, for something, I did not see… and I put the camera up high in the air, only to take a photo of the road!!! Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! That’s the end of my chasing, I decided.

Pass the entrance to the General Hospital, there is a large crowd there, having taken the darshan of Sathya Sai:

And here, you can see the white roof of the lead car, its about level with the Ganesh Gate, and all those people are getting the darshan of the Lord, right there. Look at that crowd behind Swami’s escort cars …

Sai Ram from a sunny Prashanti Nilayam.

This morning I met with Chandrasekhar Rao. Bear with me as I explain.

In his early days, Swami had two foster mothers and spent much of his time in their home, particularly after his return from Uravakonda (where he declared his avatarhood). This was the Kannam’s house, Lakshminarayana Rao, who was the village “chieftain”, so to speak, what we would now call the village Mayor; he had two wives, Subbamma and Kamalamma. The story of Subbamma is quite well known, where Swami called her back to life, gave her a glass of tulsi water, and sent her on to the blessed loka. Kamalamma resided in the ashram in her later years and passed away last year. Meanwhile, back to the point, the Kannam had no issue, and adopted Gopal Rao, who was a playmate of Swami’s, and had little time for Swami and his divine phenomena. Gopal Rao married and had seven sons, one of whom is Chandrasekhar Rao, who now administers the estate.

The Kannam’s house adjoined the Siva Temple, which marks the spot of Swami’s birthplace. That house was the scene of many miracles and Swami was so small, Subbamma or Kamalamma used to pick him up and put him on the table so that people could have his darshan. People used to fill the foyer of the house, and sit out on the road for bhajans. This was an unsatisfactory state of affairs, so Subbamma reminded her husband of his promise to make a temple for God, and built one small hut for Swami on their land, nearby where the Sathyabhamma temple is, now. This hut, which preceeds Partha Mandir, is long gone.

Enough history, let us come to the present moment. Chandrasekhar Rao took me down to the site of the old house, which has been pulled down. All that remains is the front wall:

The house, which was a lime and brick mortar construction, had two storeys. Now, there is just open space, a lot of hay and two cows in a shed at the rear.

There is not much of a separation between this land and the Siva Temple. Do you recall that Kamalamma used to feed Sathyanarayana through a window?

A two storey structure will come, the ground floor being a museum with photographs and artefacts of Swami’s early days in His avatarhood. There will also be space for singing of bhajans in the Museum.

This will be directly adjacent to the Siva Temple.

Chandrasekhar Rao told me Swami has blessed the project, and it is scheduled for completion during Dassera of 2010, which is a most auspicious time, he advised me.

And lastly, here is an image of the old village of Puttaparthi. You can see mosque on the top right which Swami had constructed for the villagers.

I am dismayed at the number of times the Earth Changes comes up in conversations with people here. Some people (long-time devotees, too!) tell me that certain cities will be under water, and that 75% of the people on the Earth will be “cleared out” so to speak. Then they ask me what I think of that. Sometimes I feel that the people who tell me are being smug and condescending towards certain places in the Middle East when they tell me these theories about the Earth Changes, the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012 and things like that.

I don’t think very much of it at all.

I think that such talk defeats the purpose of being called to Swami as a devotee. (more…)

Christmas afternoon in Prashanti Nilayam; 

Hmm, I decided to enter the darshan hall by the top gate, and I was going to wander down to the back of the hall; an old Seva Dal pointed to me to go and sit somewhere at the front; I said, “No, I am going down the back” , and he said “No, you go and sit there only”.   (more…)

You know, after so many years of bhajans in Sanskrit here in Prashanti Nilayam, I never thought the day would come when I would hear “How Great Thou Art” being sung here in Prashanti Nilayam. It was magnificent. The Choir were excellent; they sang a lovely medley of songs ancient and new. As my eyes wandered over the choir, I had to laugh; you see, several days ago, for some mysterious reason, two deaf fellows, one from West Bengal and one from Lithuania, sat beside me in Morning Darshan. The Lithuanian fellow was totally deaf and had little, if any speech. I got some comments through to him in sign language, and the fellow from West Bengal, who had no English whatsoever, followed me perfectly!  Anyway, why did I laugh? That tall Lithuanian fellow was sitting in the choir! 

Mind you, many people asked me to join the choir, and I told them all that Swami has told me often, in many different ways, not to sing… so I turned down those requests to join the choir. Looking over to the ladies side, I could see dear Dot from Sathya Sai U-Turn, one of the senior ladies Seva Dal and coordinator, organising the choir. 

The students put on a play after the choir had sung; it was excellent.

We had not one, but TWO santa claus running around the darshan hall this morning!

Not one, but three communications cables have been cut somewhere; I found that out when I read the newspaper (The Hindu) this morning. Seems many Internet Providers all over India have been inconvenienced; and that is the reason for the absence in posting to this blog.  But the Divine has His reasons, and I have been kept busy with other, challenging work. (more…)

In 1947 Sathya Sai Baba wrote a letter to his brother, Seshama Raju. This was in response to a letter filled with doubts and anxiety at the criticisms directed at Sathya Sai Baba.

In the start of the letter Baba writes:

People are endowed with a variety of characteristics and mental attitudes so that each one judges according to his own angle, talks and argues in the light of his own nature.

People see what they think they see, and make assumptions and judgements on the basis of their own conclusions. This may be sensible and fair, but Swami is telling us that what they say and do reflects what is within them.

The surface image of this world is illusion. People take reality at face value for what they think it is. Do they inquire further, do they plumb the depths, do they undertake any self inquiry? (more…)