Sathya Sai Baba on omnipresence

When Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left his body on April 23, 2012, I was at his Prasanthi Nilayam ashram, in Puttaparthi.

Many of his devotees there were terribly distraught. Some went into shock. Others reacted stoically. Several admittedly longed for him to rise from the dead.

Some still hold to that notion, unable to accept their inability to view him. Still hundreds of others continue to flock to Sai Kulwant Hall to touch the cool white marble of his Samadhi there, unwilling to relinquish their desire to be near him. But for years, the Poorna Avatar had taught that God is a formless presence. Sai Baba, our Guru, had wanted us to recognise God in everything everywhere.

He said, “God is omnipresent. So do not act differently when you are away from My Presence. Be always and everywhere conscious of the presence. Be vigilant, even while engaged in little tasks. Maintain silence in the recesses of the heart, as well as outside. The Gita says, God’s hands and feet are everywhere.

You can hear His footfall only when no other sound hinders. God, out of His Infinite Grace, assumes the form that the devotee yearns for. He is purity. He is the supreme wisdom. He is ever free, ever-merciful. Develop the awareness of God, see him and serve him in every living being.”

I have to confess, there are days when my eyes are wet with tears remembering the charming and endearing ways of Sri Sai, ways I could witness in daily darshans and other events where he was present. It is honestly difficult for me to project his countenance into the various living beings I come in contact with each day. Yet, I must work on it. That is what he taught us to do. That was his mission, to instill in us the truth that God is all in all. There is but one doer—that is God.

Swami’s words were full of meaning. He pointed out, “Old people think of the past; the young ones think of the future, and both of them forget the present. This is the reason for all the sorrows and difficulties that man is faced with. This is not an ordinary present: this is omnipresent. Why? The reason is that what you are now going through is the result of what you have done in the past, and what you are going to have to do in the future will be the result of what you do now.

The seed you planted some time ago is what you are today.  You are the crop of the seed you planted in the past. Your future will depend upon the way you spend your present. Past and future, therefore, are only reactions, echoes and reflections.”

The programmes at Prasanthi Nilayam are just as they were when Swami was alive. People go to darshan, twice a day.  What each one sees in the heart, only he or she knows. Nevertheless, though God in totality has always been formless, the omnipresence of Sai is felt more now,  perhaps, than before.