The people whose experiences have been given in the foregoing chapters are highly-respected citizens, many of them holding important positions in the life of modern India.

But the truth which they come forward to attest is difficult of acceptance to the modern mind, particularly in the western world. It is not merely that their attestations reveal more things in heaven and earth than are known to the widely-embraced materialistic philosophy, but that these things frequently seem to contradict the laws of science and common experience as we understand them. More specifically, it is that there is a man living in India today who can take objects, and many types of objects, out of "nowhere"; not just seem to take them, like a conjuror on the stage, but actually take them; and that he is doing this kind of thing daily, wherever he happens to be. They further attest that this man can read minds, not only when you are near him, but that he can be with you wherever you are, knowing what you are thinking and doing and planning to do; that he can either be invisibly nearby, or take some appropriate form in order to be there to guide and protect and teach. Furthermore, their testimony states that he can see into the future, perform surgical operations with "materialised" instruments, cure many deadly diseases by miraculous means and - far above all else - lead his devotees towards the spiritual goal of life.

Millions of men believe, or perhaps half-believe, such things about Christ and Krishna. "But then," the reader may say, "that was all long ago. This is the age of science, not of miracles. You ask me to believe that a living man is doing such things now, and has been doing them constantly for the past twenty-five years?"

My witnesses do not ask anyone to believe anything; they merely state what they have seen and known. And I, who was myself conditioned by the modern sceptical mental climate, certainly do not expect or hope that any blown-in-the-glass doubter will accept such things, unless like Saint Thomas, he sees and hears and feels for himself.

Nevertheless, there are millions who will never have the good fortune to sit physically at Sai Baba's feet, either at Prasanti Nilayam or wherever else in the world he may go in the years ahead. Therefore, for the sake of the many among them who can believe even though they have not seen, and whose faith and hope and understanding may benefit thereby, I bring further witnesses to the stand. Among those whose stories are given in the next few chapters are leading men of science, business, statecraft. They are a few of the many devotees well-known to large sections of the public in and beyond India. Into their lives has come the same miraculous Sai power, but for each its manifestation is different, unique.



One afternoon my wife and I were sitting in a room in Madras talking to a woman who had come down from the north of India and was on her way to Prasanti Nilayam to attend the festival of Sivaratri. She has known Sai Baba since the late 1940s, and is one of his truest, purest and most sincere bhaktas, or devotees. She has not given me permission to use her name, so I will call her Mrs. B. Among others in the room that day was Dr. C.T.K. Chari, who is Professor of Philosophy at Madras Christian College, a member of the London Society for Psychical Research, and a well-known name in parapsychology circles throughout the world. Mrs. B-- was persuaded to tell us a number of her miraculous experiences with Sai Baba, and I relate two or three of them here.

She said that in 1952 her son, Jawahar, who was then about five years old, contracted some disease, with a high fever and delirium. Her husband is a medical man but was absent at the time, and she called in another doctor. At first he thought it was malaria and was treating the child for that. But on the sixth day of high fever the doctor decided that he had been wrong in his diagnosis. He now thought it was typhoid; the next day he would do a blood test to make sure.

Mrs. B-- had then been a follower of Sai Baba for several years. She had seen him perform miracles, but although she often prayed to him as her Sadguru, she was still not sure of the extent of his powers, and was inclined to "test" him. Now, very worried about her son's health, she began to pray earnestly to Baba, asking his help.

After a while, noting that Jawahar looked somewhat better, she took his temperature and found that it had dropped several degrees. Moreover, he was no longer delirious. Was her prayer being answered or was this just happening naturally? She longed to know - but could she? Then feeling sure that Baba would help her in her doubts and questions she thought of a way to test the matter. Mentally she spoke to Baba: "If his temperature is exactly 98.4 degrees tomorrow morning, I will believe that it is your work." Next morning she took the temperature and found it exactly 98.4 degrees. When the doctor came later in the morning, he declared that the boy was quite all right and that there was no need to do the blood test he had planned.

Mrs. B-- learned some time later that on the night when she was praying fervently to him, Sai Baba was staying at the Venkatagiri Palace. While sitting in a room there with a number of devotees, he suddenly went into a trance. After a while he returned to his body and told those present, among them the Kumaraja (Prince) of Venkatagiri, that a devotee (naming Mrs. B--) had been in trouble, her son being sick, and that he (Baba) had been to help her. "Now Jawahar is all right again," Baba remarked.

The Kumaraja was curious to see this boy whom Baba had "flown off' to help, and some weeks later when Mrs. B--, the boy Jawahar, and the Prince were all visiting Puttaparti at the same time, Baba was able to satisfy the latter's curiosity.

A couple of years later the same boy was the victim of an accident, was badly cut about, and contracted septic fever at an awkward period when Mrs. B--'s husband was again absent. It was difficult for her to obtain the medicaments urgently needed. Her prayers to Sai Baba seemed this time to work a miraculous charm over circumstances, enabling her to obtain what was required, and the boy soon recovered. Again she thought it might all be coincidence - until she heard from her sister, Lilli, in the south.

Mrs. B--, who was still living hundreds of miles away to the north, had not written to Lilli, or to anyone else, about the boy's accident. Yet not long after it happened, when Lilli was in Puttaparti she heard the story from the lips of Sai Baba himself. He told her all the details of the accident, saying that he had been there. His words to her suggested that it was Mrs. B--'s sincerity and earnest prayers that forged the link and brought the timely help. So although Mrs. B---'s mind used to doubt and question things, at deeper levels her faith and devotion were very strong indeed.

When Mrs. B-- had finished telling her stories, Dr. Chari remarked that he had heard her relate these supernormal events not long after they occurred, and several times later to various people. He has known her for many years. Her descriptions, he said, had not varied in detail since the first telling, no additions, no embroidery, which he, speaking as an experienced investigator of psychic phenomena, declared to be remarkable.

"She's a first-class witness," he assured me.

"Have you, yourself, witnessed Baba materialise anything?" I asked him.

"Yes, I have - vibhuti, on several occasions," he replied, and added "You're at liberty to use my name if it's of any value to you."

Whereupon an ironical gentleman in the company jested: "You'll be thrown out of the S.P.R. for that."



Dr. D. K. Banerjee is a doctor of science and Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. His wife is the daughter of a professor of Physics. Both are Bengalis, and both were brought up without any formal religion.

My wife and I called to see them one afternoon at their home in the pleasant grounds of the Institute and found them quite willing to talk about miraculous experiences with Sai Baba. In fact we talked of little else for some four hours, while tea came and went, the sun sank in the west, and darkness fell over the lawns and gardens.

Dr. Banerjee told me that he had been brought up on Vedanta philosophy. This does not make a religion of science, but it does take a scientific attitude towards religion. It certainly does not predispose the mind towards such things as miracles or the idea of divine incarnation. However the doctor admits that he did have one spiritual hero. That was his uncle, Soham Swami, who became famous as a holy man of mighty physical strength and used to wrestle with wild tigers. Later as a young man Banerjee read some of his uncle's spiritual books. Nevertheless, he was still very much of a Vedantist and a cautious scientist when he first heard of Sai Baba.

In November 1961, mainly out of curiosity, he paid a visit to Puttaparti. After all, when a scientist hears repeatedly of things that appear to spurn the laws of physics and chemistry he should make it his business to find out about them for himself. With Dr. Banerjee on that first occasion went Professor Iyer of the same department at the Institute, and an officer of the Indian Air Force who, incidentally, was a champion parachute jumper.

The inexplicable experiences which the doctor had then and in many subsequent contacts with Baba cover a number of different types of miraculous phenomena, such as visions, healing, the production of articles from an invisible dimension, and the conversion of one object into another before the eyes of the beholder. In relating some of his many experiences here I shall sort them out into groups, although they were to some extent intermixed.



The first of Dr. Banerjee's strange visions was to do with Lord Krishna. Although millions of Indians worship Krishna as a divine incarnation, Banerjee had always thought of him as a voluptuary, a playboy. In fact it was his custom to nickname any loose-living libertine "Krishna of the Kali Yuga".

While sitting in the room with Baba on his first visit to the ashram Banerjee saw Baba's face becoming transfigured into the face of Lord Krishna. This happened three times; momentarily each time. He was puzzled. But there was more to come.

Though the nephew of Soham Swami does not wrestle with tigers, he believes in keeping physically fit. Every morning early he makes use of the parklands around his house for exercising. At about five on the morning after his return from Puttaparti, while he was limbering up on the lawn, a vision of Krishna suddenly appeared before him. Then the little dark-blue figure seemed to come towards Banerjee and merge right into him. For some days the doctor felt that he was "possessed" by the one he had always regarded as the prototype of rakes. But it did not make him feel like a Mr. Hyde. In fact the effect was quite the opposite. He seemed to gain complete and absolute control of his senses and desires. It was the most wonderful inner experience he had ever known. "It made me feel like a king," he said.

In this elevated state he made another journey to the ashram to tell Baba, and try to find out what was happening. Baba just smiled and said nothing; then he placed one hand on Banerjee's head and the other on the small of his back, holding them there a while. After that the obsession vanished and the professor came back to normal.

But the experience made Banerjee realise how mistaken he had been about the character and significance of Lord Krishna - the divine cowboy, the great king and statesman, the "timeless charioteer" who spoke the golden words of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, and to all mankind. Baba had taught his new devotee an important lesson in the understanding of God.

The second vision, also a transfiguration, is mixed with a materialisation phenomenon. It took place at Brindavanam, Whitefield, where Dr. Banerjee and family had gone to see Baba. Suddenly, as the doctor sat in the room looking at the unique Sai head, it changed into the head of Siva with the waters of the Ganges falling onto Siva's matted hair. Again it was but a momentary vision. After some time Baba produced a locket and, holding it in his palm, showed it to Banerjee's son, asking: "What is that?" "It looks like Siva;" the boy replied. Baba said nothing, but after a moment held it up again and asked the same question. This time the boy replied, "It looks like Shirdi Baba.'' The father felt annoyed that his son apparently could not distinguish between the forms of Siva and Shirdi Baba.

Satya Sai gave the locket to the boy, and when later Dr. Banerjee examined it he observed that it had a picture of Shirdi Baba on one side, and on the other the illustration of Siva with the matted hair onto which the waters of the Ganges were falling - just like the transfiguration he had just witnessed.

Materialisations began at Banerjee's first visit. Apart from the vibhuti produced for all of the party, Baba took from the air for Dr. Banerjee a gold medal. The professor showed this to my wife and me when we visited him. On one side is Shirdi Baba with "Shree Sai Baba'' written in Sanskrit, while on the other is an open hand showing the palm and "Om" in Sanskrit blended with the inscription "Abhayam" in Telegu and some Tamil script meaning, "When I am there, what is the fear?"

However, for sceptics on the watch for sleight-of-hand tricks, perhaps the most evidential phenomenon is one seen by Dr. Banerjee soon after he met Sai Baba. At this stage he was himself still a bit suspicious, not being quite sure whether the productions were extremely clever stage magic or genuine miracles.

On this occasion, besides Banerjee, there were two women and three children present. Baba stirred the air in the usual way, turned his hand up, and opened it to show ash covering his palm like thin layer of powder. Now before their watching eyes, keeping his palm steadily upturned, he stroked a finger across the powdering of ash. As he did so there appeared on his palm five large circular sweets - one for each person present. The professor said that these confections were made mainly from cheese, and belonged to a type of sweet not well-known in India, being found only in certain parts of Bengal, the Banerjees' own state.

Mrs. Banerjee, her husband says, is the "handyman" around the place. Her practical capabilities range from driving in a nail to repairing an internal combustion engine. She was brought up without any formal religion and had never opened a book on spiritual subjects when she met Sai Baba.

At her first interview Baba blessed her by placing his hand above her head. Afterwards her husband saw a streak of vibhuti along the line parting her hair. Strangely, within a few days he saw his wife reading books containing Baba's discourses, and then later, other spiritual literature as well.

Some time afterwards Baba remarked on this new interest in reading and again blessed her. In doing so he placed his hand again above her head, but a bit higher this time, and, those watching saw vibhuti shower from his palm to cover the whole crown. Her interest in spiritual writings strengthened, deepened, and like her husband she has become a close devotee of Sai Baba.



Dr. Banerjee told me about three miracle cures of which he had had personal acquaintance. The first, which concerned himself, was a minor one but still amazing. In travelling by train to Penukonda en route to Prasanti Nilayam, he had jammed his little finger in the carriage window. It was black and swollen and very painful.

After arriving at the ashram, he was sitting with a crowd in front of the prayer hall waiting for a sight of Baba. Presently the heart-stirring figure appeared, walking in his accustomed way along the narrow aisle between the sitting people. Banerjee was in a front row, and when Baba reached this spot, he stopped. But instead of looking at Banerjee, he turned his back and, leaning over, spoke to someone in the opposite row. As he bent forward the back edge of his robe stroked and covered the doctor's hands, resting in front of him as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Then after a moment Baba moved on without saying a word to Banerjee.

Shortly afterwards the doctor noticed that the throbbing pain in his finger had practically subsided. Looking at it, he saw with amazement that all the blackness and swelling had completely vanished. The damaged finger was in fact now quite normal; healed by the touch of the Master's robe.

Another cure concerns the champion parachute jumper who accompanied Dr. Banerjee on his first visit to Prasanti Nilayam in 1961. This Air Force officer was suffering from a long-standing "incurable" disease, and for this reason, although married, was not able to have children.

Baba produced some vibhuti and gave it to the officer to take internally, saying that he would be cured and would have a healthy son. Whether it was through the vibhuti or the presence and will of the great healer, or both combined, the impossible did happen. The "incurable" disease was cured - and as Baba promised the champion parachutist later had a son of sound health.

The third cure is equally "unscientific", yet the worthy scientist of Bangalore tells about it, without turning a hair - in fact, with obvious delight. The son of a friend, a wealthy manufacturer of chemicals, was suffering from asthma. At least it seemed like asthma to the family doctor.

But when Dr. Banerjee took the boy to Prasanti Nilayam into the presence of Sai Baba, the latter remarked that it was not asthma at all but a fault in bone structure that caused difficulty in respiration. Then Baba waved the magic hand again and brought from the Sai Stores, as he sometimes calls his mysterious source of supply, a gold locket carrying the picture of Shirdi Sai. Baba said that the boy must wear this as a talisman around his neck, and that there would be no more respiration trouble. From that day, Banerjee said, the boy had no more signs of the asthma. After a time the locket began coming off its chain, and when Baba was told of this he said that it had served its purpose and there was no longer any need to wear it. It could now be kept in a box.

When a scientist has repeated experience, over a number of years, of phenomena outside the laws and theories of modern science, what should he do? Turn his back on it, making scornful, self-protective noises, or admit that science has merely gathered a few pebbles and shells beside the vast unexplored ocean of the unknown?

Dr. Banerjee has, along with some of the greatest of his scientific brethren, taken the second course. He is now a devoted follower of Sai Baba and loses no opportunity of travelling, often on his motor scooter, over the hundred bumpy miles to Puttaparti or the twelve to Whitefield if Baba is there.

In these places or his own home, which Baba sometimes visits for a meal or a talk, the old Vedantist hears not infrequently, and not without delight, from the lips of Sai Baba what he describes as "the very gist of Vedantic philosophy".



Dr. Y.J. Rao, Head of the Geology Department, Osmania University, Hyderabad, was an appropriate person to witness the transmutation of solid rock to another substance - with a valuable spiritual lesson thrown in for good measure.

One day at Puttaparti Baba picked up a rough piece of broken granite and, handing it to Dr. Rao, asked him what it contained. The geologist mentioned a few of the minerals in the rock.

Baba: "I don't mean those - something deeper."

Dr. Rao: "Well, molecules, atoms, electrons, protons."

Baba: "No, no - deeper still!"

Dr. Rao: "I don't know, Swami."

Baba took the lump of granite from the geologist, and holding it up with his fingers, blew on it. It was never out of Dr. Rao's sight, yet when Baba gave it back to him its shape had completely changed. Instead of being an irregular chunk it was a statue of Lord Krishna playing his flute. The geologist noted also a difference in colour and a slight change in the structure of the substance.

Baba: "You see? Beyond your molecules and atoms, God is in the rock. And God is sweetness and joy. Break off the foot and taste it."

Dr. Rao, found no difficulty in breaking off the "granite" foot of the little statue. Putting it in his mouth as directed, he found that it was sugar candy. The whole of the idol, created instantly out of the piece of granite, was now made of candy.

From this Dr. Rao learned, he said, something beyond words and far beyond modern science; in fact, beyond the limits of the rational mind of men today. He is a great enough scientist and man to realise that science gives but the first word: the last word is known only to the great Spiritual Scientist.



The Rajah of Venkatagiri is a prince of the old school. He was educated in England, mixed in international social circles, hunted big game and played polo. He has a palace at Venkatagiri in his old royal state and another in the city of Madras. He is a largely-built man, with a princely demeanour, and the manners and speech of an English gentleman. Yet in religious matters he has the reputation of being a very orthodox Hindu, and his wife, the Rani, is still in purdah.

I have met the Rajah at several Sai Baba gatherings, and he has called at our residence in Adyar to tell me of his strange and wonderful Sai experiences. I believe his reason for doing this was to orientate me correctly, as he saw it, towards the miracles. Through the years he and members of his family have experienced many of these. Here are some examples.

The Rajah's second son was one of a party of men driving by car from Madras to Puttaparti on one occasion. Not far from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh they stopped to have a picnic by the roadside. After they had eaten the main course, Baba asked what fruit they would like for a dessert. They proved to be a very difficult party; one asked for a mango, another for an apple, a third for an orange, and the fourth for a juicy pear.

"You'll find them all on that tree over there," Baba said, pointing to a wild tree growing nearby.

Full of excitement, because they had learned that anything was possible with Baba, they went. Sure enough on one branch of that wild tree hung the fruits they had named - a mango, an apple, an orange and a pear. They plucked them and declared that the flavours were of rare excellence.

Once at Puttaparti, before the hospital was established, a visitor was suffering from acute appendicitis. There was no surgeon for many miles. One of the Rajah's sons was among the dozen people present when Baba waved his hand, materialised a surgical knife, and went into the room where the patient was groaning.

No one was actually in the room to see Baba perform the operation, but he showed them the removed appendix and the incision which had already healed to a small scar. As usual he had used vibhuti and the divine power it represents as both anaesthetic and instant healer of the surgical wounds.

The Rajah has himself seen a good many of the divine miracles. One that impressed him very much took place at Venkatagiri in 1950, not long after he had met Sai Baba. It was one of the earliest visits of the young twenty-four-year-old Swami to Venkatagiri.

A party of between twenty and thirty people left the palace in a fleet of cars for a drive in the country. Baba, who had never been in the area before, asked the Rajah to stop by any patch of sand they might happen to see. A few miles further on, they came to a dry sandy river-bed. Here they stopped, and all sat on the sand around the young Swami. After talking for a while, he rolled his sleeve up to his elbow and thrust his arm deep into the sand before him. 'Then," the Rajah told me, "we all heard a strange sawing sound - at least that's what it seemed like. I asked Baba what the sound was, and he replied enigmatically that the goods were being manufactured in Kailas."

Kailas, incidentally, is the abode of Siva, the God associated with yoga, yogic powers and divine grace bestowed on mortals. Many of the Sai disciples believe that Baba is himself an incarnation of the Siva-Shakti aspect of divinity.

As the young God-man withdrew his arm from the sand there was a great flash of blue light that spread to a circle of some ten feet in radius. Then they all saw that Baba was holding in his hand something about eight inches in height and made of pure white spatika. It proved to be a statue of Rama, one of the avatars, together with his consort, Sita. After everyone had seen this "gift from Kailas", Baba handed it to the veiled Rani of Venkatagiri, telling her to wrap it in silk and leave it thus covered until the following day.

When it was unwrapped the day after, the white stone had turned blue. The little statue now stands in the Rajah's shrine-room - still the colour, he says, of the blue light that flashed forth at the moment it was drawn from the sands.

The Rajah, like so many other Indians, has seen miraculous phenomena produced here and there by ceremonial magic, by the tantric and other occult arts.

"But," he said emphatically, "the Sai Baba miracles are on an entirely different level, and the word 'miracle' is really inadequate. It could be misleading to some people."'

"What other word can one use?" I asked.

"I don't know. But you must at least call them 'divine miracles'," he replied.

Like other close devotees, the Rajah and his family regard Sai Baba as an avatar of divinity.



Dr. A. Ranga Rao, M.B.B.S., M.S. (O.P.H.) (U.S.A.), F.I.C.S., is one of the leading eye surgeons of Madras. For some years at an early stage in his career he was serving the community at Bhimavaram as a general medical Practitioner and was haunted by the dream of becoming some day a surgeon of renown.

He believes that the fulfilment of this dream had its beginnings on a day when he went to attend an old man who was a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, one who had seen Shirdi Sai in flesh and blood and had built a temple to him. The doctor was so affected by the saintliness and devotion of that old man that he himself began to pray to Lord Shirdi Sai, and became his devotee.

From that day Sai remained in his heart. "As the years rolled by," he said, "Sai got more and more deep-rooted in me. I walked through life with a smiling face. In 1954 I was asked to join the University of Iowa, U.S.A., for higher studies ... By his grace I qualified for the degrees, and returned an A class surgeon. I began practising as an eye surgeon at Bhimavaram itself."

One day a woman came to his clinic complaining of dimness of vision. She was suffering from cataract, with the complicating factors of rheumatism and iritis. The surgeon told her and her relatives that she was not a fit case for operation. Then she said: "I am a devotee of Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparti. He directed me to come to Bhimavaram, saying, 'At Bhimavaram there is an eye surgeon who has been my devotee for many years. Go to him and tell him that I want him to operate on you. He will do it, and you will have your sight restored'." Baba had gone on to tell her exactly who this devotee was, showing, in this telling that he knew details of Dr. Ranga Rao's past.

The doctor was perplexed and amazed. The woman told him that Satya Sai was a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai and, because of Baba's words to her, Ranga Rao felt faith in the truth of this statement. He performed the operation against his professional judgement. It was successful and the lady regained her sight immediately.

The surgeon wanted to go at once to Puttaparti, see the deity in real human form and prostrate before him. Some months later he had the opportunity to move to Madras and begin practice as an eye surgeon there. Within a few days of taking up residence he heard that Satya Sai Baba was visiting the city and staying at 3, Surya Rao Road (the Venkatamuni house). He drove there, but felt desperate when he saw the huge crowd. Then a young man unknown to him (it was Ishwara, the eldest son of the house) accosted him: "Are you Dr. Ranga Rao? Baba wants you to come in, with your family. He is on the first floor."

With beating heart the doctor climbed the stairs and immediately fell at Baba's feet. The little saffron-robed figure patted him on the back and lifted him up.

"Doctor," Baba said, "I have been with you and you have been with me for ages. It was I who brought you to Madras. I am with you always. You do not have to worry any more ..." It was, the doctor said, a "soul-touching experience" that made him happy beyond words.

From then on the surgeon had, within his clinic, many rare experiences. It sometimes seemed as if his hand was being guided when he was performing difficult operations. If the patient was a devotee whom Baba had sent, he (the patient) would sometimes see Baba himself there. One said as Ranga Rao was operating, "Baba! You have come. I see your face. Your fingers are moving. You are doing the operation yourself."

At the same time the surgeon felt a peculiar phenomenon, as if other fingers were moving within his, doing all the work. "It was over in a few minutes ... it was a miracle. My ego fled," the doctor said, "I knelt down to the doer of all things. I sobbed at heart, for I could not see the Lord's face and garments as clearly as my patient was able to."

But later Dr. Ranga Rao was able to see as well as feel the presence of the surgeon of surgeons. Let him tell it in his own words.

"Baba directed another patient, Chaganlal of Santi Kuteer, Royapuram, to me for cataract operation. He had fixed the time too -10.30 a.m. This very patient had been refused operation by many surgeons, including myself. He was a very complicated case. His blood pressure was as high as 200; his heart was very dilated; he was a heavy diabetic; his liver was cirrhotic; he had hernia on both sides; so that any eye surgeon worth his salt would close his clinic and take a holiday if asked to operate on this patient. But ... he was admitted. Preparations were being made in the theatre. I was in my office, nervous, moody, fearful of the loss of the patient and my reputation.

"Suddenly I felt Baba catching my hand and asking me to come up with him to the operating room. I followed him, seeing clearly his saffron robe gliding softly up the stairs before me. I washed and scrubbed my hands in the routine way; put on gown and gloves. The patient was on the table.

"But his blood pressure went up. His heart was throbbing. He was feeling suffocated. It appeared as though he would die on the table itself. Such fear had never before overpowered me. I felt helpless, I yelled, 'Sai Ram, Sai Ram!' [This is a mantram used by many Sai devotees.] My assistants too joined the chorus - 'Sai Ram, Sai Ram!' The patient also repeated 'Sai Ram, Sai Ram!'

"To the astonishment of every one in the theatre, and to my own surprise, the white apron I wore became saffron in colour. My gloved fingers were no longer mine. Sai, the mighty surgeon, had manifested in me, and he was performing the operation. In a few seconds it was over, the finishing touches were given by the Master's hand and he left. The surgeon's gown was white again. It was exactly at this time that Baba informed the devotees around him at Prasanti Nilayam: 'Chaganlal's operation is over!"'

Pilgrims of the spiritual search from all parts of the globe have found their way to the "Abode of Great Peace" hidden in the wild hills. Some have just managed to pay a flying visit: Baba has filled them with wonder and joy, and almost always found the way into the deep recesses of their hearts. Others have been able to remain months with the man of power and love, and so have gone through a "deep-sea change"; their lives are never quite the same again.

As the years pass what was at first a trickle from the far-off places is increasing to a steady stream. That stream is being fed from America (with emphasis on California), Australia, Europe, Africa, the Far East and South-east Asia. People as a rule do not come so far merely out of idle curiosity. They come with big personal problems, or seeking the path to enlightenment. They come with hope and at least a little faith, or they would not be there at all.

Who can describe his inner glow when his personal lamp has been lit at the flame of Baba's love? For as the old Persian poet says, when a man's "barn of being is ablaze" all he can give out are a few smoke signals. These, rising heavenward, tell a little - but only a little - of the story. They represent the limits of verbal communication. And so the "wisps of smoke", the stories, the experiences told, usually deal with the outer miracles, and scarcely touch the great, glowing, inward miracle.

But it is interesting to know a little of the reactions of those westerners who have been brought up within narrower spiritual horizons than those of Hinduism, and of Sai Baba in particular. Here I can mention only a few whom I know personally, and who have spent a fair length of time with Sai Baba.

Earlier in the book I spoke of Miss Gabriela Steyer who was living at the ashram when I first met Swami. She stayed there for many months and when I visited Prasanti Nilayam the first time she told me about many wonderful miracles she had personally witnessed. She had had a very rich experience of these outward signs of power and grace. But, as always, the most important factor was Baba's love; this was the magnet that held her to the discomforts and austerities of ashram life month after month. Gabriela finally had to tear herself away and return to her own country and profession. But I doubt if her life could ever be the same again after it had once been kindled by the Great Flame. There were many outer signs of the inner glow.

Two others we met in our early Sai days who have since become our close friends are Bob and Markell Raymer of Pacific Palisades, California. Bob, an aircraft pilot, was the red-haired American who kindly went in search of Baba for me on my first visit.

Before coming to rest at Prasanti Nilayam this couple had, like us, conducted their own "search in secret India", visiting many ashrams and meeting some great yogis. They had gained some spiritual nourishment here and there, but it seems that they have now found their Sadguru and the true glory. Of their inner experiences I cannot speak here, though in confidence I have been told of some. Their outer experiences include a good range of phenomena of the type described in these pages. They have often watched the magic hand stir the air or dig into the sand to produce some charming personal gift, or some confection for the enjoyment of all in the magic circle. And they have seen the same hand transmute one substance to another. Once Baba idly rolled in his fingers a scrap of paper while Bob sat near him as one of a group. Unexpectedly he told Bob to open his mouth, and popped the roll of paper into it. But there was no taste of paper; the roll had changed to a delicious piece of candy.

Like many westerners, the Raymers have learned that Baba's miracles are genuine, varied, of daily occurrence, and yet always unexpected. They have come to accept them as part of his divine nature.

Soon after our initial meeting the Raymers returned to America, but since then they have flown back on a number of visits to Baba, and they went with him from India on a tour in East Africa in 1968. Just before that I saw them at the Satya Sai World Conference in Bombay, following which they, with my wife and myself, travelled for a while with Swami. It was during this pleasant period that I had the opportunity of learning what sincere Sai devotees, and serious sadhaks (searchers on the spiritual path) they really are.



But among the non-Indian followers of Sai Baba one of the best-known names is Madame Indra Devi, the internationally famous yoga teacher and authoress of several books on yoga.

Once when she was on a visit to the Theosophical Society Headquarters at Adyar, my wife and I told her some of our experiences with Baba. This was apparently the first time she had heard his name but she at once sensed intuitively his great importance. Immediately she seemed to have no doubt whatever that this was one man in India she must see at no matter what cost in time and trouble. She was scheduled to fly to Saigon for a lecture engagement, and had originally intended returning to her Yoga Foundation in southern California directly from Vietnam. But now she changed her mind and came back to India in order to meet Sai Baba.

After a mountain of difficulties, because Baba was touring and his movements were uncertain, she finally made the contact at Prasanti Nilayam, reaching there in the hammering heat of an Indian summer. She seems to have recognised his great spiritual stature from that first meeting, and straight away became a fervent and very active devotee.

At that time she was just starting on her mission to teach and encourage meditation throughout the world. Baba gave his blessings to this work - her mission of "Light in darkness". Since then Indra Devi has made the long journey from California to India several times a year to spend a period with Baba at Prasanti Nilayam and other places. I will leave her, as a writer herself, to tell whatever she wishes of her own spiritual and miraculous experiences. But of the various materialisations Baba has performed for her, and which she has described to me, there are two I would like to record here, for their interest as well as their evidential value, coming from a witness of world renown.

One is this: in front of Indra Devi and a party of American visitors, Baba "took" for her, from his "land of nowhere", a long, bulky jappamala - a string of 108 large pearls. She was wearing it when a little later I saw her at Adyar in company with one of the Americans who had witnessed its production.

A good many people have seen Baba change one object to another or one substance to another openly, without shield or covering before their gaze. I myself saw this, for instance, when at Horsley Hills he turned a piece of hard rock into sugar candy. The second incident in connection with Indra Devi's experience concerns a dramatic example of this type of transmutation through Sankalpa, or divine will. It also involves some mind-reading.

One day Baba materialised for her an ornate ring, set with a large spray of colourful stones. Indra Devi told me that she has no liking for jewellery, particularly the striking, decorative type worn so well by dark-skinned Indian women. She herself is a Russian-born American citizen whose name, Indra Devi, derives from an association with India earlier in her life. She has a very-pale skin.

Anyway she was not happy about the ring. It was a gift from Baba and she felt she should wear it for that reason, but it did not suit her and she did not like it. The dilemma worried her a good deal for a day and a night, she said. Then she found herself invited to another group interview, and wearing Baba's disturbing gift on her finger she waited with several other people for his arrival.

Soon after he entered the room he asked her to hand him the ring, making a remark from which she was sure he was fully aware of her dilemma. Then holding the ring between his thumb and forefinger with the display of stones uppermost, and in full view, he blew several times on the stones as if blowing out a match. Suddenly, as all watched the spray of brightly coloured stones merged into a single, sparkling diamond. Baba handed the ring with its solitaire diamond back to her. It was now something which she could wear happily and constantly.



Here is the story, in condensed form, of how one man of the western world came to Sai Baba and of how it affected his life.

Mr. Alf Tidemand-Johannessen of Oslo, Norway, arrived in India with nothing but the proverbial typewriter and his own ability, grit, energy and ambition to make a fortune. Within twelve years, that is, by 1962, he had built up one of the largest ship agency companies in India, handling more ships each year than any other individual company. His was India's pioneer company in grain discharging. It handled more than half of the grain ships bringing enormous quantities of food to India to avoid large-scale starvation there. His big success did not pass unnoticed. Into certain minds entered jealousy, envy, and schemes for getting control of his business. Certain key men on his executive staff were soon actively engaged behind the scenes in misusing their powers to divert the company's assets into their own pockets.

"When I found out that malpractices were taking place," Alf Tidemand told me, "I knew that I would have to face a furious battle with a ruthless enemy. As soon as I took steps to seal the leakages, the executives concerned terminated their services and started a competing company. Their aim was to take away all my business."

As part of their scheme his enemies sent anonymous letters to Income Tax, Reserve Bank and Customs authorities indicating that the Tidemand Company was abusing the laws and regulations of the country. Apparently it is customary for such authorities to take action on anonymous letters: they soon discovered who the senders were, and then months of investigations followed during which Alf had to provide documents covering all the past years to prove that the allegations against him were false.

Naturally his business clients were disturbed at the sudden exodus of his key staff and the rumours that were floating around. To add fuel to the fire his scheming enemies sent letters to all his clients informing them that his company was in trouble with the Government. All this put tremendous restrictions on his business operations, and things looked very black indeed.

Nevertheless, because of his past integrity, Alf's clients did not immediately desert him, and the new competing company established by his defecting executives was not doing well. So then they made their next move, a move that is apparently not uncommon in the concrete jungles of modern India. They engaged a black magician to work against him.

Alf said: "I could handle the other assaults, but was not prepared for this attack from occult black science; nor did I at the time have the slightest idea that such methods were being used. Even if I had known, I would have laughed at it as pure superstition."

But Alf's lawyer in Bombay, who was working on the company's problems, soon caught a whiff of the black magic. He had known similar cases before. Being a good friend and knowing Tidemand's innocence and integrity, the lawyer took him along to a Parsi priest who lived in an old temple in Bombay. The priest, who was clairvoyant and had other powers, confirmed that strong dark forces were being used against Alf Tidemand. The latter kept in regular touch with the old Parsi priest and, he says, "By many strange methods he began piloting me and my business through the troubled waters stirred up by the black magician."

The magician, himself, now came out of hiding. Discovering that counter forces were being played successfully against him, he decided to strike directly and boldly. He turned up at Alf's office and by various methods, well-known to students of sorcery, tried to gain dominion over his intended victim. But Tidemand had been warned of this possibility by the Parsi priest, and immediately suspected the evil-eyed old Indian who, by clever ruses, had gained admittance to his private office.

Alf managed to avoid the initial traps, and then manoeuvred the sorcerer into his car, planning to take him along to the old Parsi priest. On the way, perhaps recognising Tidemand's strength and also his liberality, he decided to change masters. He admitted involuntarily that he had been employed by Alf's enemies to destroy him, his family and Company. But he had changed his mind, the magician said, and would work for Tidemand if the latter paid him reasonably well. He would see to it that all Alf's enemies were completely annihilated.

"Black magicians are very powerful," he announced, and added meaningly, "they can even kill a child in its mother's womb." Alf had just received that very morning a cable from Norway informing him that his wife had lost her child in its seventh month. This must be more than coincidence, he thought.

At the temple the Parsi priest immediately recognised the sorcerer for what he was and chased him away, threatening to report him to the police. He warned Alf to have nothing whatever to do with this man of unclean powers.

Soon after that Alf Tidemand was taken by a business friend, his Taxation expert, to Shirdi. There he had "the feeling that God had opened a door to let me feel his greatness for a blessed moment, during which the great weight fell from my shoulders and my troubles evaporated". He learned that the old Parsi priest who was helping him was a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, and he began to understand that it was really the Sai power that was guiding him through the reefs and shoals of strange, difficult waters.

Soon the black magician gave up the unequal struggle; the Government authorities decided that the accusations were false and baseless and all the intrigues of Alf's underhand enemies fell to the ground. The difficulties that had threatened to destroy him were completely overcome, and the troubled year came to an end.

Early in 1963 the Tidemand Company was getting back on its feet and beginning to prosper again. Though the struggle had taken a toll of Alf's strength, it had also shown him a light. This light, and a power that brought peace and refreshment to his mind and spirit, were at the village of Shirdi over which the spirit of old Sai Baba seemed to brood. It was only a few hours car journey from Bombay and Alf paid regular visits there during the next three years.

On February 26th, 1966 he was at Shirdi with the friend who first took him there, and the Parsi priest, whom he now addressed as "father". In front of the temple a short man in a blue shirt walked up to Alf and asked, "Have you ever met Sri Satya Sai Baba?" Alf replied that he had not, and the man went on: "You must see him. He is coming to Bombay on the 14th of March. If there is any God on this earth, he is God." Then he gave vibhuti from a silver container to each of the party, and to Alf he gave a small locket with a picture of Satya Sai in a blue shirt.

"Don't forget to see him in Bombay on the 14th of next month" he repeated, and went away. Later as they were about to leave Shirdi, they again saw the man - by the side of the road. He greeted them, and repeated again the advice to Alf, that he should see Satya Sai on March 14th.

The Norwegian was at this period in the middle of another deep problem. Because of his wife's bad health she could not live in India and really needed him with her and the children in Norway. He felt that he must somehow sell his business and return there. But how could he find a good buyer?'

He had built the business on his own personal integrity and efficiency. He knew that it depended very much on the goodwill felt towards him personally in the shipping world. Potential buyers would think that with Tidemand himself gone, the business might not be worth much. He had faced many mountainous obstacles in his life, and this was one of the biggest.

He had learned that the Sai power was very great. If in fact Satya Sai was a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai, and was a divine avatar as people said, he could solve this or any other problem. Alf decided that he must have an interview with this man if he should come to Bombay as predicted by the character in the blue shirt. But deciding such a thing and achieving it are two different things. Most people have to work hard and overcome obstacles to reach Sai Baba. Some have to go through the labours of Hercules; Alf was one of these.

Certainly Satya Sai was in Bombay by March 14th, just as blue-shirt had foretold. Day after day for many hours the Norwegian sat cross-legged in the broiling sun with the big crowds outside the place where Baba was staying; first the Gwalior Palace and then the house of Mr. Savant, the Food Minister of the Maharashtra Government. Or he sat with even bigger crowds in the Stadium listening to Baba lecture in Telegu, with a translation into Hindi by Dr. B. Ramakrishna Rao. Alf understood neither of these languages.

During this time he saw the little figure of Satya, with his shining robe and black dome of hair, walking among the people signing photos, blessing objects presented for his touch, producing vibhuti here and there. The big blond Norwegian was favoured with a nod, a friendly smile, a greeting now and again, but there were no signs of the longed-for interview.

Being one of the very few Europeans in the crowds, Alf was becoming well-known among the Sai following. He was invited to homes of devotees and heard wonderful stories about Baba's love, grace and miraculous powers. This was all very inspiring, but it did not solve his problem. After four days of trying and getting nowhere, he almost decided to give up.

It was then that a strange man with a curved nose and black beard said to him: "Would you like to meet Sai Baba?" The stranger said that he could arrange an appointment, and Alf decided to take a sporting chance with him.

There was still much to go through. Under the direction of this bearded stranger Alf had to buy grass for a cow, give something to beggars, visit a temple and touch the floor with his forehead before an image there, buy garlands of flowers and kan-kans (circlets) of Mogra flowers. Perhaps all this ritual helped, or maybe the stranger knew the right people near to Baba. Anyway, on the morning of March 18th Alf went for his first appointment. Stepping out of the car in front of Mr. Savant's house, he took off his shoes, and with a garland kan-kans in his hand, began to climb the steps. Suddenly he looked up and there stood Baba as if waiting for him.

"I am so happy to see you," Baba said with simple friendliness. Usually Swami will not let people place garlands on him, he merely places it aside. But now before the ministers and V.I.P.s who had gathered in the entrance, he permitted the tall Norwegian to garland him.

"Please come up," he said, patting Alf on the back. The latter soon found himself on the first floor of the huge house occupied by the Food Minister. There, sitting on the carpet with about twenty people, he heard Swami give a discourse - again in Telegu with Hindi translation. But every so often during his talk, Baba paused to perform a materialisation miracle.

In one pause he materialised vibhuti, in another a small locket with a picture of Shirdi Baba. These were for Alf, who writes that "they were taken right out of the air in front of the ministers, who all consider this to be a normal procedure for him". Then the Master went on teaching, mainly in parables, which were later translated into English for Tidemand. Came another pause in which he autographed a photo for one of the women and materialised for her a locket of Vishnu. Then he got up and put a vibhuti mark on everyone's forehead. During the talk he had been playing with Alf's kan-kans. Now he gave the big Norwegian another friendly pat and a few encouraging words before leaving the room.

Although Alf had at last gained regular access to the house where Swami was staying, the long-awaited private interview and the solution to his big problem still seemed difficult to obtain. But other things happened. Urged on by the man with the curved nose, who also seemed to Alf to have a precognitive nose for Baba's movements, he even had the temerity to invite the great Master to his top-floor apartment. The latter graciously accepted and came with a small group of close devotees on March 24th, ten long days after Alf had first sighted him at the Gwalior Palace.

Elaborate arrangements had been made under the direction and supervision of that curved, precognitive nose. These included lavish floral decorations, a children's band, a young woman (she was supposed to be, and probably was, a virgin) to blow a conch shell and wash Baba's feet on his arrival. She blew the shell successfully, but Swami would not permit the feet-washing ritual. He was more interested in some sick people who had been brought than the display and splendour of decorations. But he listened to the children's music with pleasure and "took" vibhuti for each and a nine-stoned ring for the leader out of the fresh sea-breeze stirring the flowers in the roof garden. Most important of all he invited Alf to come to him for a private interview on the following morning.

During this hard-earned climactic interview, Alf Tidemand discovered, as many have done before and since, that Sai Baba already knew his problems and his past.

"I have been thinking about selling my business," Alf said.

"I have been thinking about the same thing," Swami answered.

Then the Norwegian began to explain the difficulties.

"Do not worry," Swami told him. "I will help you find a reliable buyer and obtain a good price." He went on to say that it was now right for Alf to get away from life in the Bombay business circles with all it entailed, and settle down in Norway with his family. In this way his wife's health would improve. Perhaps to infuse more confidence and dispel any doubts in the mind of the worried shipping man, Baba said, "Do you remember the black magician? I helped you then."

In his notes on this interview, the turning point of his life, Alf writes: "He gave me convincing evidence of his divine powers and I was made to understand the purpose of my life. I knew that all the prayers I had made to God during my lifetime, and all the help I had got as a result of those prayers, were known to Baba. I knew too that though there had been many obstacles in the final stage of reaching him - many tests to my faith and courage - he had really called me to him through strange and miraculous ways. The man in the blue shirt at Shirdi, for instance, who was he? I had found on enquiry that none of Sai Baba's closest devotees, not even Mr. N. Kasturi, knew that Baba would be coming to Bombay on March 14th.

"Swami seemed to know too that I had long been searching for a living spiritual teacher, and at this first interview he said: 'You need not look for a guru any more. From now on I will guide you.' At the end Baba materialised for me a locket with his picture, some sweets to eat and some vibhuti.

"The next day the manager of the Bombay branch of one of the largest companies in India phoned me to say he had heard I might be interested to sell my company. He would like to talk to me about it.

"During the negotiations that followed I was in regular touch with Swami, seeing him often. And in my early morning meditations, which Swami had told me to observe with regularity, I received amazing inspiration for solving the complex problems in connection with the proposed selling contract, for which there was no sample precedent of any kind available. After some months of difficult negotiations, helped by the ever-present guiding hand of Baba, a very favourable contract materialised for the sale of my shipping agency business in India."

Alf Tidemand returned to his wife and family in Oslo. His early dream had come true; he had made his fortune. But something much more important had happened to him in India. He had found his Sadguru his spiritual guide and mentor, who brought meaning to the chaos and emptiness of life lived only at the material level.

Talking to him recently, learning something of his eventful and sometimes heroic saga, I came to the conclusion that my friend Alf Tideman-Johannessen will always have hard problems to solve because he is of the type whose spiritual muscles grow through solving such problems. He is essentially a man of action. But in the future his karma will, I feel, be nishkama karma - action without greed for the fruits of action. It will be action that in some way in keeping with his own dharma will help to spread the glory of God and his message of light for this age. All this through the grace of Sai Baba.