LEAD ME FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT. Natalya Kobysheva

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      Vladimir Muranov’s path was predetermined by a series of circumstances. In his youth, he was very ill. At first he sought help from conventional medicine. Then he became convinced that this path was fruitless, and he began to look for alternative treatments offered by traditional healers. So he became the student of a master teacher, who restored his health and taught him how to be a healer. In time Vladimir, now a healer in his own right, established a school of his own. There he began to teach his students the fundamental nature of human beings and their interaction with the Universe, together with the basics of healing.

      There was a large portrait of Sai Baba in Vladimir’s classroom. He told his students what he had learned about Swami, often sharing memories and knowledge from his own travels to India. Twice a year he gathered a group of people and traveled to India, going to Puttaparthi for a few days and introducing his group to Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram. During the five years of our friendship with the Supreme Teacher Sathya Sai Baba, I have observed that almost everyone who had ever visited this ashram as a tourist, or had just passed through, always returned or intended to return. For those visitors, a deep process of transformation had begun in their lives, an enduring friendship with the Supreme Teacher that touched many lives.

      The Ashram (Monastery) of Sathya Sai Baba is located in Puttaparthi, India, a town located 150 km from Bangalore. Puttaparthi had once been a small village, but now there are schools, colleges, universities with residential campuses, museums, shops, a major hospital, clinics, libraries, temples, sport complexes and a vast stadium, a planetarium and many hotels. It is a place of pilgrimage for believers of all religions, people of different nationalities, who speak all the languages of the world. For convenience of communication people use the mantra «Sai Ram», which replaces such popular phrases as «hello» and «excuse me» and all the other things you might want to express in a language that’s not your own.

      The Ashram is called Prasanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Supreme Peace. Here you can often hear about miracles: the materialization of various objects, the sacred ashes of Vibhuti in Swami devotees’ houses, and complete healings from illness. We know a lot of incredible stories that have happened to people after they became acquainted with Swami. In this place of love and peace, there are wonderful manifestations of the Divine in everything, and a person’s spiritual transformation begins with their first steps on the Ashram’s paths.

      CHAPTER 2

      WHY I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS BOOK

      In June 2014, Vadim and I took a trip to Lake Baikal in the company of Vladimir Muranov and other friends. One evening, after dinner, everyone was sitting and chatting away. Vladimir and I were exchanging our impressions of the trip. He suddenly broke off the conversation. He gave me an odd look and then said, «Write a book.» Seeing my surprised face, he added, «This wish doesn’t come from me.» This suggestion – practically a command – surprised me. I asked:

      «A book? What should I write a book about?»

      «About your life, about Sai Baba,» replied Vladimir.

      Inwardly I couldn’t help laughing at this suggestion. I have never been eloquent, and, outwardly, my life seemed too ordinary to write about. I had tried not to tell anyone about events connected with Sai Baba, except for my husband and Vladimir. These events were too personal and, as it seemed to me, would be of no interest to others.

      I listened to Vladimir’s suggestion and decided to take my time thinking it over. It would have stayed on the back burner indefinitely if I hadn’t had a dream just that night after our conversation. Since my first trip to the Ashram, I had been having prophetic dreams that gave me intimations and counsel on how to deal with difficult situations. Those dreams, bright and clear, usually came just before I woke up, so I remembered them very well. On this occasion I dreamt of Prema Sai (the next incarnation of Sai Baba). He came up to me, put His arm on my shoulders and looked at me with deep loving eyes, as only God can! He said, «Go ahead and do it, get started!»

      Upon waking up, I had no more doubts about writing the book. It was also clear to me that the Supreme Guru’s words didn’t just apply to the book I was to write, but also to my spiritual advancement more generally. But I still had questions: what exactly should I write about? What style should I use? Who was my intended мaudience? I was racking my brains for days. But then I calmed down – time would tell.

      CHAPTER 3

      EVENTS OF 2013—2014

      Make one step towards me and I will make a hundred steps towards you

      – Sathya Sai Baba

      My husband, my eldest son Misha, and I made our first visit to the Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram in early December 2012 for just four days. This was our first trip to India; we were travelling with a group organized by Vladimir Muranov, and Puttaparthi was one of our stops. At that time India was a whole new world for us – and, not least, this wondrous Ashram. The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers in bright sunshine, and everywhere there were people dressed in bright colors. Large numbers of local people came to the Ashram every day, mostly from the villages. When I attended darshans (meetings conducted in the Divine presence, where Vedas are read and then the devotional songs – bhajans – are sung), there was such a large number of multicolored saris that I was continuously drawn to observe the women, their clothing and adornments, and the way they carried themselves. The Mandir (temple) itself was no less brightly colored than the people.

      At that first visit, Sai Baba remained a puzzle for me, but we loved the Ashram and its atmosphere to such an extent that we decided we would definitely come back. Four months later, in April 2013, my son and I returned to the Ashram.

      We found information about Swami mainly from books, and from talking in the Ashram with witnesses of Swami’s earthly life. We enjoyed going to the Chaitanya Jyoti Museum with the old Swami devotee Igor Mehanoshin who acted as a guide for Russian groups, explaining the Museum’s exhibits in great detail.

      In those days Sai Baba was incomprehensible to me, despite my best efforts to comprehend His acts and work out explanations for things that I just couldn’t square with my logic. Eventually I grew weary of these efforts and gave them up, realizing that to comprehend the incomprehensible was simply beyond my conscious ability. All I knew was that simply being present in the Ashram was a one-of-a-kind experience, making us feel completely calm and serene, and that we had never experienced anything like this anywhere before.

      From this visit I took home a framed picture of Swami. It was just a photo of his smiling face, but it seemed to me the best likeness that I’d seen. When I returned to Moscow, I put it on a shelf in my kitchen. One day, while thinking about Sai Baba and doing household chores, I heard a crash; that same picture had fallen on the floor! I picked it up and moved it to another shelf. A few days later, as I was watching a video about Sai Baba, I suddenly felt such a strong wave of love and longing for Him that my tears flowed like a river, with this thought swirling around nonstop in my head: «Why didn’t I find СКАЧАТЬ