in life is already booked for you!"
At Sathya Sai Baba's ashram, the morning program began around nine in the morning, and the evening program around four in the evening. Naturally, everyone wanted to sit as close as possible to the aisle along which Sathya Sai Baba was walking.
In order to take a seat in the first or second row, you had to come early. For two or three hours, people lined up to be among the first to enter the temple and sit in better places. Most often, I also preferred to arrive three hours before the start of the program, but sometimes I arrived as little as five minutes.
Once I arrived just a few minutes before the start of the program and saw there was an empty seat in the front row. Imagine my surprise to see the whole temple densely filled with people, and there is an empty seat in the front row. I asked the minister, “is this place occupied?” He replied it was completely free. Surprised, I took the seat in the front row.
The next day, this story repeated itself. I came to the temple right before the start of the program, but again there was one empty seat in the front row. I asked the attendant again if I could sit in this seat. He replied that the place was free. I was surprised and realized something strange was going on.
I came literally a minute before the start of the program, but the seat in the front row was always free just for me. The people who came and occupied all the best seats miraculously did not notice this one empty seat. This strange miracle took place over several weeks. It seemed that some unknown force reserved a seat in the front row especially for me.
Sometime later, Sathya Sai Baba invited my group for an interview. During this meeting, he talked a lot with the Indian family who came from Chinnaya. He specifically spoke not in Hindi, but in English so that I could understand what they were talking about.
Some phrases he uttered while turning to me. In particular, he said, “God has already determined the fate of every person. The place in the sun that is meant for you can only be occupied by you. You may come sooner or later, but your place in the divine plan can only be yours. And what you have to do in life, you will definitely do. Where you need to be, you will definitely be. What should happen to you will definitely happen.”
Sathya Sai Baba spoke these words and looked at me with a sly look. I understood that he was talking about the strange experience that had been happening to me for several weeks. Human destiny is completely in the hands of God, everything that happens is subject to the divine plan; this, in particular, you begin to feel and realize next to the Avatar.
62. The ancient Indian emperor Janaka is a perfect example for modern man
Sathya Sai Baba often said that the ideal example of a harmonious life for modern man is the ancient Indian emperor, Janaka. In accordance with traditional Indian ideas, Emperor Janaka lived five thousand years before the new era, yet, according to another version, he lived about twenty thousand years ago. Historical science finds it difficult to accurately determine the dates of Emperor Janaka’s life.
He lived in the north of India and was famous for several reasons at once. His daughter's name was Sita. Princess Sita was the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and the consort of Rama Avatar.
Emperor Janaka was a sage and enlightened yogi who studied philosophy and practiced meditation. Janaka entered the history of India as the "enlightened emperor." Since ancient times, there has been a wonderful tradition in India, according to which, a person occupying a high social position should also develop spiritually. By the example of his life, Emperor Janaka shows the path of integral development of the personality. Meditation practices and spiritual self-knowledge in no way conflict with a happy and successful social life.
Janaka was a physically strong and perfectly healthy man. He was happy in his family life and gave a decent education to his children. He was fabulously rich, lived in a large palace and his robes were decorated with precious stones. He ruled his city beautifully and fairly. At the same time, he was the greatest mystic and philosopher of ancient India.
The positive image of Emperor Janaka, which Indian history gives us, shows that a person who practices meditation and reflects on the eternal issues of being can at the same time be harmonious and successful in material life.
Emperor Janaka is an excellent example of the "Alchemical Wedding," the essence of which is the unity of Spirit and Mother. A yogi is not one who avoids family life and is afraid to touch money, naively assuming to achieve holiness through austerity.
A yogi is one who has realized the True Self, loves himself and the whole world, he is in harmony with himself, and celebrates the celebration of life in the awareness of absolute unity.
63. Avatar is the ultimate human being
Sathya Sai Baba was the clearest example of an ideal life. It is quite obvious to me that Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar who embodies the absolute fullness of divine consciousness. However, he was born in the human world, he incarnated in a human body and lived a wonderful human life. His life is the greatest example for each of us.
Sathya Sai Baba left his physical body at the age of eighty-four. For the last three or four years of his life, he was seriously ill. He was even driven in a wheelchair. According to independent researchers, by the end of his life he had about fifty million followers in various countries across the world.
Since Sathya Sai Baba energetically helped so many people, naturally his physical body began to fail, so at the end of his life there were big problems with his health.
