DEVOTEE'S EXPERIENCE - Why fear when I am here - By Jagannathan

July 14, 2009

Shirdi Sai Baba is a mystery. His birth, to whom he was born, who nurtured him, his travels before coming to Shirdi and his scholarly interpretation of Hindu and Muslim philosophy, baffled the most eminent scholars who visited him. His miracles that cured any kind of suffering, are as valid today as in the past and through them he created millions of devotees. When Sai Baba came to Shirdi it was a village. Today Shirdi has luxury hotels, motels and, is full of activity.

A friend of mine is a fighter pilot with numerous battle honours. His one and only weakness was addiction to smoking, and however hard he tried he was unable to give up this habit. He prayed to Shirdi Sai Baba very sincerely, as only a miracle from Sai, would give him the will power to leave smoking forever. One day, while on a flying mission, he thought he saw, a figure like Sai blessing him that his wish to leave smoking was granted. Shortly after this experience he landed. As per usual practice his wife was waiting with a packet of cigarettes, for she knew he enjoyed his cigarettes as much as he enjoyed the flights. But on that day, he took the packet and threw it away. His wife was thrilled, and from then on, he never touched cigarettes. He kept this vision as a secret, till I met him post school, after three decades of his joining the air force. I had known him as a chain smoker and so took a special brand of

cigarettes for him. He flatly refused to light the cigarette. I was amazed at his will power in giving up this addiction. Like him, I too had tried various ways of giving up my addiction, but failed miserably even under threat of breathlessness. I asked him how he had accomplished this, thinking that if he could do it I would follow the same mantra to give up this deadly addiction. He smiled and said that if I could become a devotee of Sai Baba, pray religiously, put complete faith in Baba granting my wish, then, may be, He would bless me in my dreams and help me never to touch cigarettes.

My fervent wish is that Sai will grant me the ability to stop smoking, to save my breath, to witness auspicious events. Let not cigarettes take away my breath. I do not want to take birth again just because I wanted one more puff of a cigarette that was denied. Ramana Maharishi compared tobacco to poison, for the poison will kill body, mind and soul. A great English author seeing a young man smoking remarked, I am happy that you have a useful occupation in smoking. If one devotes one hundred percent of oneâ€™s mind to Sai, everyday, at specified allotted time, then Sai will occupy the mind and release one from the tobacco; and mind and heart will no longer be slaves to this breath killing habit.

Jagannathan