JULY 2025
Sri. Chiranjeevi Rao was a short-statured person. He used to be with Swami and regularly carry out Swami’s instructions in day-to-day affairs of the Ashram. When Sri. Chiranjeevi Rao went to the next building and entered the room; it was dark and had very little visibility.
The light switches were covered with the cloth bundles. He was not able to see anything and was trying to climb over the cloth bundles to reach the light switches.
But, he slipped back. He tried to reach the switches several times, and every time he slipped and fell.
Swami was reading a letter. All of a sudden, He closed His eyes and said, “Chiranjeevi Rao is slipping and is not able to reach the switch, go and switch on the light.”
Immediately, one of the brothers present in the room went and switched on the light. Sri. Chiranjeevi Rao was pleasantly surprised to hear Swami’s comments.
He said that he did not know what to do and did not want to come back without the cloth bundle.
Swami was reading a letter in the next building and He immediately responded and helped him. Swami’s ways are unfathomable. It may seem to be a simple thing. It was yet another evidence of His omniscience.
Bhagavan knew the entire universe as much as He knew what was happening in the next building. He knew exactly what would happen to each one of us at any point in time.
We go to a temple for praying. While praying, we reverentially close our eyes. We pray silently from our minds and hearts. We travel long distances and stand in queues for long hours for having darshan of the deity in the temple. When we are in the sanctum sanctorum, what do we do? We have gone to see the Lord and in front of the Lord we close our eyes.
Swami would always say that we close our eyes because God is not outside, God is inside Outwardly, what we do is seemingly a contradictory thing, but it is done subconsciously.
Also we never say our prayers loudly. We say our prayers silently in our hearts. And who listens to those prayers? When we say that Swami has answered our prayers, how did He listen if we prayed silently inside? It only proves that God is in our hearts.
We should firmly believe the truth that God is within us. If He is able to hear our prayers recited silently in the recesses of our hearts, know that He is in our hearts.
Every atom of the universe is permeated by God.
In one of His Discourses, Swami said, “Swami, being the Indweller, listens to all the prayers you make inwardly. If you think He is outside and pray inwardly, how do you expect your prayers to reach Swami?
Pray with the firm conviction that He is always in you, with you, around you, above you, and below you.” Therefore, God is very much present in us. He is the Indweller of not just human beings, but all living beings.
The all-pervasive Brahman shines in us as the principle of the Atma. When we realise this truth, we will understand the nature of the world.
The only way to realise God is to turn our vision inward. “You can never attain My proximity by external practices. Even if you are physically by My side, in reality you could be far away from Me. If you adhere to the principles of Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and Ahimsa, even if you are far away from Me, you will be near Me always.
These are the milestones along the path that leads you to Me,” declared Bhagavan. Therefore, let us lead our lives following these four cardinal principles, turn inward, experience and enjoy the proximity of Sai, the Indweller and become recipients of His immense grace.
Sourced from
Sanathana Sarathi July 2025 edition
