A week long account of Swami and Darhsan (22.09 - 28.09)

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This was sent by a USA devotee who is presently in Prashanti. A week

long account and I promise you, worth the read...

 

Take care and God's blessings

yours in service,

lalita

 

 

A WEEK LONG ACCOUNT OF SWAMI AND DARSHAN

 

Posted on 01.10.2003

 

 

September 22, 2003

 

No morning darshan.

 

Afternoon darshan.

 

4:38 p.m.: chanting began. Swami was on His way. He came in the

chair through the ladies section onto the veranda.

 

4:46 p.m.: Swami signaled for the chanting to stop. Swami spoke

with a boy on the veranda and instructed Him to have the singers

sing south Indian songs.

 

They were fast tongue-twisters; one was even sung in harmony by two

boys.

 

5:02 p.m.: bhajans began and continued until 5:25. Since the chair

is lower than the golf cart it is sometimes difficult to see Him

over other people's heads. It is so cute to see the hair at the

front of his head blowing back and forth with the breeze from the

fan on the floor ahead directed towards Him.

 

 

September 23, 2003

 

Yesterday I was unable to get into the mandir for Omkar and

Suprabhatam, so this morning I left the room even earlier and

arrived there ten minutes before 5 p.m. The lines were already

full. I went outside to line up for the tokens. Very strange:

there were less people outside than inside. It was a reversal of

the usual situation. Normally people want to get good seats for

darshan so they don't go into the mandir because they would come out

after everyone else was already seated in the hall. Now that Swami

is not coming in the morning fewer people are coming early and those

who do want to go inside the mandir. "Go Inside" is the message and

more and more people are getting it. Again, there was no morning

darshan today.

 

Afternoon darshan.

 

At 4:12 p.m. I saw Him leaving His compound in the chair. Soon

thereafter the chanting began. In a couple of minutes He was on the

veranda, smiling. The chanting continued until 4:20 when He

instructed the singing of south Indian songs to begin. Later His

mood became more somber. At 4:47 He signaled for arati and left for

home.

 

No bhajans.

 

 

September 24, 2003

 

No morning darshan.

 

Afternoon darshan. At 3: 36 p.m. chanting began; Swami was on His

way. Swami came onto the veranda smiling. Chanting continued for 5

minutes after which south Indian singing commenced and lasted until

5:32, when three "boys" of Swami's got up individually to speak.

Each spoke for about ten minutes about God's promise to look after

His devotees and related stories of this avatar and the Rama

avatar. This lasted until 5 p.m. when the singing resumed. The

singing went on for 6 minutes only at which time Swami signaled for

arati and He left for home. No bhajans again.

 

 

September 25, 2003

 

No morning darshan. No, I was fooled. Swami had come out in the

white Mercedes some time after 7:30 a.m. when I left the hall to go

to breakfast. At 9:12 a.m. during bhajans I received His darshan

outside the hall as He was returning through the gate leading to the

driveway.

 

Afternoon darshan.

 

At 3:49 p.m. the sevadals motioned to each other that Swami was

coming out. In a short while chanting began. He came out in the

golf cart, sitting on the left side behind the driver. At the

crossing point on the ladies side we weren't sure which way He would

go. He proceeded straight ahead towards the men's section! When

the cart reached the men's section Swami stood up and the men

applauded. In the men's section He took two or three letters. This

was different from before.

 

He actually pointed to the individual from whom He wanted a letter.

That person stood up and gave it to His assistant. When the cart came

to the section at the side of the mandir, he turned to the area where

young boys from His orphanage were sitting. There the cart slowed

and He said something to the boys. The cart continued around the

front of the veranda then came onto the veranda from the ramp on the

right.

 

Swami was still standing when the cart came to the low ramp leading

to the front of the veranda. There the driver hesitated a bit,

shaking his head. Swami was holding the bar in front of Him with

both hands as the cart smoothly descended. Soon after the cart

stopped four boys came to Swami's left side to speak with Him.

Shortly after that two men brought out the microphones with stand

and the podium, the ones used for yesterday's talks given by three

boys. Then an older man came up to His right, talked with Him and

gave a letter. Also He said something to the men to His right near

the guardrails. Anil Kumar quickly came up, but He was not the one

Swami meant. A younger man approached and spoke with Swami a short

while.

 

At 4 p.m. He signaled for chanting to stop and singing to begin.

The boys in front began the south Indian singing performance.

There were four boys who sang, two of whom did solos or duets.

During the singing I had a good view of Swami from the side, mostly

from the belly up. I could see Him tapping His right hand onto His

lap. He would alternate tapping with an open hand and a loose fist

with a "knocking" motion. Then He would tap with His index finger

as He held the handrail in front. Sometimes He would gently sway

His body side-to-side. Occasionally he would take the handkerchief

from the handrail to wipe His lips or eyes. Intermittently he held

His head down. He was reading the letter handed to Him by the

gentleman to His right. Then He would look up and resume tapping or

just look at the boys. Sweet to just observe Him performing these

mannerisms.

 

At 4:39 He signaled for arati and the cart made it's way to the

front of the veranda. At the right side of the veranda two men

stood up and came to the cart, an older and a younger man. The

younger man came very close to Him in the cart and spoke with Him

for quite some time as arati was playing. The cart then continued

through the ladies section and was out of the hall by 4:41 p.m.

 

A small side note. Last week He had inquired about the welfare of

the orphanage boys. The man in charge of the orphanage related the

following story that happened last Thursday. Four boys were getting

their bedding materials at night from a room which was not well-lit

when one of the boys said that he was afraid to go in there.

Immediately Swami descended from His photo hanging on the wall and

appeared before them. He said to them in Telugu, "Don't fear, I am

here." He further told them that He would come again on Sunday. He

did come on Sunday but not in the way they expected. He gave

morning darshan in Sai Kulwant hall, but the boys were not there

until the afternoon for which He did not show up.

 

 

September 26, 2003

 

Morning darshan. Today we had plenty of rain. It rain moderately

heavy since the early morning so not many people were in the darshan

hall. Coming back to the hall after breakfast there were again,

like yesterday, people waiting on either side of the driveway at the

Rama gate. Swami had come out and left the ashram sometime after I

had left for breakfast. I joined the group there to wait for

Swami. It is more organized there than in the past.

 

Yesterday and today the men and women were separated. Yesterday

when we had nice weather people were made to sit in rows on the

ground. Today because of the rain we just stood. Bhajans began at

9:00 a.m. and lasted for 30 minutes. Swami did not return before

the end of bhajans but it was still nice to have bhajans even while

standing in the rain.

 

This morning while waiting at the gate I saw a procession of men

walking outside the ashram, one man carrying the Indian flag. When

I went to the village later I found that all the shops outside were

closed. There I saw another procession slowly making its way down

the street. Then I saw a jeep-full of men with the Indian flag at

the helm of the vehicle. I learned that the Congress Party was on

strike. Why that would cause a shutdown of all the shops, I don't

know.

 

Afternoon darshan. At 4:18 Swami came from the far end of

Poornachandra in the golf cart. Darshan music started, followed a

second later with a single note on the keyboard, then a second after

that the vedic chanting. In a couple of minutes Swami was on the

veranda in the usual spot. Chanting lasted for only 5 minutes at

which time south Indian singing began. This time there was no

keyboard to accompany the singers. Instead there was a veena (?),

the four-stringed instrument sitting on a large gourd of a base, and

a violin. A man on the veranda to the right of Baba would

occasionally direct the singers with hand motions. The microphones

on the stand and the podium were waiting at the side of the left

column in front of Ganesha, but today they were not needed. Swami

did not come to the men's section today. Neither did He stand up in

the cart. He did not take any letters, until the very end when a

VIP handed Him a letter as the cart was departing. In front of

Ganesh He stopped and spoke (it appeared) with the priest who was

circling the arati lamp. Then he stopped and talked briefly also

with a young man who was also holding an arati lamp. He went

further and spent even more time at the right side of the veranda

speaking with someone there. Then He proceeded homeward. On His way

he blessed the ladies section to His left just before exiting. The

cart was out of the hall by 4:58 p.m. No bhajans.

 

 

September 27, 2003

 

No morning darshan.

 

Afternoon darshan. I came back from the village just after 1 p.m.

and everyone was already in the darshan hall! No token lines

outside! I went home then rushed back to the hall. Sevadals were

waiting at the Rama gate.

 

At 2:02 p.m. bhajans began. A few minutes after that chanting also

began and both went on simultaneously. At 2:11 p.m. Swami came into

hall preceded by a procession of boys. I saw earlier that boys

lined the driveway, some holding green or orange flags. Swami came

in a silver Mercedes. The car continued to the far end of

Poornachandra. Bhajans and chanting stopped at 2:21 p.m. with an Om

and three Shantis. Afterwards people were asked to go back outside

to join the token lines for regular darshan.

 

At 5:00 p.m. bhajans started and ended at 5:30. Baba did not come

out again.

 

 

September 28, 2003

 

Morning darshan. We men were not allowed to sit in the "island"

section; that was reserved for the staff and those with special

passes. On the veranda there are low steps two on each side located

between the back and middle sections, and between the middle and

front sections. Previously there were ramps connecting only the

front and middle sections, between the handrails. This morning

there were ramps also connecting the middle and back sections. All

four ramps were covered with red carpet. Too, the wooden thresholds

at the two doors to the mandir were removed. Presumably this was

all done to allow Baba access into the mandir for these next several

days.

 

At 7:48 a.m. darshan music started, but it was soon replaced by

vedic chanting. Within a couple of minutes Swami came out in the

golf cart, which proceeded directly to the veranda from the ladies

side. Swami this morning was in a light mood, even excited! He

called many people to Him. Men came up to both sides of the cart

singly or in groups of two or more. When He had two men on His left

He was so eager to speak with them that He had pulled Himself

forward with His right arm and was leaning on the handrail with His

forearm. Two men came rushing to Him also from the VIP section on

the right, then four boys came up from the musician section in

front, then a boy from the same section came up by himself, a VIP

man came forward from behind to show Him something from a large

envelope. Swami used quick short movements of His hands and head,

so excited was He. He "slapped" one man on the side of his shoulder

a couple of times and He tapped the shoulder of another. He called

forward one of His attendants and sent Him into the mandir. Shortly

after that attendant returned Baba signaled for the cart to take Him

home. On the right side of the veranda the cart stopped and He

spoke with the men seated there. By 8:24 the cart was at the

entrance of the hall. The cart stopped there as Swami waited for a

VIP woman from the left side of the entrance. She rushed to the

cart and was there for a couple of minutes. Then Swami continued

homeward. The chanting continued for a few minutes after Baba was

outside the hall. Normally chanting ends with an Om and three

Shantis. This morning they ended with an abrupt "Om Tat Sat" which

means "Brahman (God) alone is the Reality."

 

Bhajans started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 9:30 with arati. Normally

when Baba is not present the priest does not perform arati with the

camphor lamp.

 

Today he was there and circling the lamp in front of a statue of the

Goddess placed there this morning in front of Ganesha. That must

have been what Swami had told His assistant to do when he went into

the mandir before Baba departed.

 

Afternoon darshan.

 

At 3:17 pm Baba came out of His residence in the golfcart. At that

time all of the men from the token lines were in but the ladies had

just started to enter, and so most of them were still outside. The

majority of the students also were not inside yet. When sitting

outside in the token lines I saw a group of priests walk by; when I

entered the hall they were in the mandir chanting. They now lined

the path of Baba on the veranda behind Ganesh. Shortly after Baba

left His residence chanting began. At the intersection on the

ladies side where the cart turns right or goes straight the cart

paused for a while. The ladies were stopped at that point from

entering, then the cart turned right and continued to the veranda.

At the top of the ramp on the veranda the cart halted again. Baba

was then framed (for me anyway) between the right column and the

edge of the wall in which Ganesh sits. I could see Him full figure

waiting there. Baba motioned with His left hand. Maybe the path

was too narrow with the priests sitting there on either side. Maybe

He motioned for the cart to go via the front of the veranda. In a

short while the cart continued forward and so by 3:22 He was in the

regular spot. It was certainly a surprise for many people that He

came so early. Students (boys and girls) as well as men and women

devotees came running inside. Like this morning Baba was in a light

mood, although He did not call many people to Him this afternoon.

He looked for a while at the chanters.

 

At 3:30 the chanters did an Om and three Shantis and singing began.

I am not well versed in south Indian singing but it seemd to me that

at least a couple of the songs were not classics, i.e. they seemed

to me like newer arrangements. I thought I heard the words "Sai

Baba" and "Thyagaraja" which are more contemporary than

traditional. The boys did a repeat performance also of the song

where there is a little harmonizing. Very nice. The singing

continued until 4:15 when bhajans began. Bhajans continued until

4:32 p.m. when Swami signaled for the cart to leave. The priest and

a boy were circling lamps for arati, but the priest put his lamp

down when Swami signaled with His hand. The cart continued to the

right side of the veranda where a man came from the area behind

Ganesh to speak with Swami. Soon Anil Kumar was called forward also

to speak with Swami. Swami then continued off the veranda and left

for home. By 4:37 the cart was outside the hall. Anil Kumar then

announced that tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Yajnas will be conducted in the

divine presence of Bhagavan.

 

Original posted in: SaiForum/