Where there is Unity, there is Love; Where there is Difference, there is Hate

	Is teeth the true culprit?

One afternoon, a person was eating a delicious meal. Then, all of a sudden his teeth bit his tongue and there came out oozes of fresh blood. If you were this person, what would you do?

What is the natural reaction when one meets with such a ‘mishap’? Surely, one does not get a pair of pliers to pull out the culprits, namely, the set of teeth! Or does one beat the teeth in retaliation for what it has done to the tongue! There is absolutely no sense of reaction or retaliation or revenge. The only feelings that arise at such times are those of how to heal and comfort the tongue, and of means to stop the bleeding. In fact, one is tempted to swallow one’s own blood!

Why are there no feelings of hate and anger, or judgements and condemnation on who is right and who is wrong? It is because one feels no sense of difference between the teeth and the tongue. There is a natural feeling of Unity. And where there is Unity, Love flows spontaneously. And the power of this Love heals every hurt.

But imagine that ‘another’ person (remember there is no other!) has just given you a blow on your mouth and your tongue is oozing with fresh blood! What will your reaction be? Surely, a strong feeling of revenge will begin to well up within you. And this may be followed by acts of retaliation, or at the least, a suppression of fitful anger.

Why are the reactions in both cases of the injured tongue different? This is because in the first case, there is a feeling of Oneness; while in the second, there is a feeling of difference or separation.

What is the cause of this different feeling in the second case? It is the mind! Once this mind goes, One can feel the whole cosmos as One’s own body, and His reaction in both cases will be the same; that of Love and Healing. This Love is beyond good and evil, and it is beyond judgment and condemnation. Love is beyond the duality of opposites, because there is only One. He is Allah. La ilaha illa allah, there is none but Allah.

The Mind is the Cause of the Sense of ‘I am Different’

		God's Name is the axe

Once we were engaged in a medical camp (using Sai Ram Healing Vibronics) in a remote village in Nigeria. One day, a person came to the camp with an injured limb.

While cultivating his farm in the thick of the jungles, he had cut his left hand with the machete and the wound was quite severe. Then, the following interaction followed:

Fr. Ogada: What happened to your hand?

Mr. Okonkwo: I cut it while clearing the bush for cultivation.

Fr. Ogada: Well, we shall give you all the medicine you need only if you are able to give correct answers to all the questions I ask you.

Mr. Okonkwo: Go ahead Father. I am ready.

Fr. Ogada: Did your left hand cut itself or was it the right hand that cut the left?

Mr. Okonkwo: My right hand cut the left.

Fr. Ogada: What did your left hand do when the right cut it? Did you give the axe to the left to cut the right in revenge?

Mr. Okonkwo: (laughing) No Father, there was no such thought in my mind.

Fr. Ogada: Why? What did you do when the right hand cut the left?

Mr. Okonkwo: The right tried to stop the flow of blood from the left.

Fr. Ogada: Now tell me sincerely, Mr. Okonkwo. If it were your wife that had cut your left hand with the axe leaving you with such a severe wound, what would you do?

Mr. Okonkwo: To tell you the truth, Father, I would chop off her head!

Fr. Ogada: Why? Is it not the same injury caused by your right hand? Why would you react differently when it was your wife?

Mr. Okonkwo: Father, a man does not kill himself unless his mind has gone crazy.

Fr. Ogada: Right, you got the answer. But you think that your wife is different from you. You think that your wife is not your Self.

Mr. Okonkwo: It is obvious because our bodies are different.

Fr. Ogada: What makes you think so?

Mr. Okonkwo: I see it.

Fr. Ogada: What makes you see it?

Mr. Okonkwo: My mind.

Fr. Ogada: Why do you say ‘my mind’ instead of ‘my eyes’?

Mr. Okonkwo: Father, if I were blind, still I would ‘see’ the bodies as different.

Fr. Ogada: Good, Mr. Okonkwo. So your mind makes you react to your wife differently and it is the same mind that makes a man to kill himself when it goes crazy?

Mr. Okonkwo: You are right there, Father.

Fr. Ogada: What to do with this mind?

Mr. Okonkwo: I do not know Father.

Fr. Ogada: Try to get rid of it. Cut it with the axe! (This is the holy war which the Prophet of Islam preached.)

Mr. Okonkwo: Hum! How do I kill my mind?

Fr. Ogada: Surrender it to God. Only God can.

Mr. Okonkwo: How do I surrender my mind to God?

Fr. Ogada: By making it to think of God at all times. God’s Name is the Axe.

Mr. Okonkwo: If I think only of God, who will take care of my family?

Fr. Ogada: God! That is what remains once the mind is surrendered.

Mr. Okonkwo: Father, this is another medicine which you are giving to me!

Fr. Ogada: A greater medicine. We give you the first only as bait for the second.

Prayer Breaks Bad Habits

	Ms. Nooshin Mehrabani's latest book

Because of what we see happening in the world today, I pray all the time. There is power in prayer. I learnt from Baba how important it is to pray. Prayer is talking to God all the time. I just talk to God. I talk to Swami all the time.

Our son was just 3 months old when my husband decided to return to Iran. The government had confiscated his properties, and he hoped to reclaim them. After we came to Iran, my husband found his old friends, and unfortunately started again his old bad habits.

Because of this I was very unhappy and sad. At that time, the Iran-Iraq war was going on and my married life was falling apart. I had no peace inside or outside.

One day I prayed to God to give me peace of mind. I remember, that afternoon I had visited a friend and she knew how I had hit the bottom in my life and had gone through so much pain and suffering because of my husband’s problems with drugs. She gave me a little Vibhuthi (sacred ash) that Swami had given to her and said, “Why don’t you ask Sai Baba? Maybe He can help you.”

This was the first time I ever heard His name. The same night I used the Vibhuti and I prayed, “Oh Sai Baba, I don’t know who you are and how much power you have, but please, if you can, help my husband.” And then, I went to sleep.

In the Light of Sai

		The mosque at Yazd, Iran

Around 3 o’clock in the morning, someone began to shake my shoulders to wake me up. On the wall across from me was a beautiful white light, shaped like a diamond. It was glowing like the Sun. Inside was written an “Aum” sign, in light. I didn’t know what “Aum” was at that time. But I kept repeating, “This is Sai Baba’s light. This is Sai Baba’s light.”

After five minutes the light faded. Nine o’clock in the morning when I woke up again, my husband gave me very good news; he had decided to change his bad habit. I was so shocked, because I knew it was extremely difficult to quit that habit. I was so happy. This happened surely as a result of this effulgence of God which entered our room.

Prayer can Cancel Cancers

When I returned from my first visit to India to see Sai Baba, I found that my mother-in-law had been taken to sixteen doctors. Every physician had given the same diagnosis - cancer and tuberculosis. She was 75 years old at that time and very sick.

Everyone was afraid to go near her because of the contagion. They thought she would die. But in my heart, now I had Swami and I knew I could ask Him anything. I took one of the Vibhuti bags Swami had given me during the interview and dropped it on my mother-in-law’s chest and prayed to Swami. I gave her a pendant with Swami on one side and Shirdi Baba on the other, and asked her to wear it all the time.

	"I give you liberation"

That night, after I came home I slept as I was reading Swami’s book. In the middle of the night, I woke up and remembered my mother-in-law. I started to pray to Swami. I opened up my hands and reached for Him in front of His picture, asking for His help. The room was very dark, but as soon as I started to pray the tips of my fingers began to glow with a blue light.

Then, within me, I knew that my mother-in-law would not die. In the morning, I called my sister-in-law and told her that we should take my mother-in-law for another x-ray. That same week we took her to a new doctor – a specialist – and she had another test. As soon as he saw the x-ray film, he said, “She doesn’t have cancer, only tuberculosis.” I knew that Baba had helped her. After eight months, she had no sign of the disease. Today, after 10 years, she is still alive!

A few nights after the good news about my mother-in-law, Swami came to my dream. He made so much Vibhuti for me that it filled both my hands. He told me to eat it. He was lying down on the bed and I was sitting on the floor in front of Him. Very lovingly, He asked me, “What do you want?” I said, “Baba, I want peace of mind.” He said, “I already gave it to you. I give you liberation.” I didn’t know what liberation was at that time. But I said, “Thank you, Baba,” and I woke up. We should always ask God for one thing in our prayer: Liberation.

Prayer – the Miracle of Sai-naz

My love for Swami was growing – and so were the problems in my life. Swami had become my constant companion and friend, the only one I had. I placed His picture all over my house, because I wanted to see Him everywhere I went - looking into His eyes, His face and talking to Him all the time. My life was all about Swami.

Now, He gave me the opportunity to do much service. I was very grateful to be able to work once a week at a hospital for mentally and physically challenged children. Another devotee friend of mine and I spent each Thursday with the children, feeding them and hugging them.

Abandoned in God’s Temple

		The Grand Bazaar Mosque in Tehran, Iran

There was this new child whose parents had abandoned her in a mosque in Northern Iran a few months earlier. She was found and taken to a hospital where the doctors diagnosed her as having microcephaly.

Through a genetic disease, her brain was smaller than normal. Not knowing anything about her parents or her background, the hospital staff had named her Sanaz. I fell in love with this little girl. Since she had been left in a mosque, I thought her parents had prayed that God would care for her, and perhaps her soul had a close connection to God.

After three months the nurses recognised the bond that Sanaz and I had developed. They informed me that this little girl was all alone in the world. They asked if I would like to take her home for a weekend and give her some time with a family. My husband agreed.

I was so excited and bought beautiful clothes to dress her in when I picked her up. Three different times I tried to take her home. Each time I went I found that she had been sent to children’s hospital for one illness or another. On the third week, I was told that she had bleeding in her stomach and that the hospital would be keeping her for more tests.

Nobody but God

	The little miracle that is Sanaz

I was worried. I found the address of the hospital and went to visit her. There was only one other child in the room with Sanaz and she looked so little and lonely. I had purchased a beautiful doll for her, but it was me she was looking at. As soon as she saw me, she called me “Mom.” This was the first time I heard her talk! I hid my tears as I held her.

She had nobody but God in this world to help her. I went to see her at least three times a week. I prayed to Swami about her all the time, asking Him to help her. She was seventeen months old, but her legs were so weak; she was unable to stand. None of the doctors or nurses thought she would get any better or that her life would be very long.

I asked the nurses if they knew of an orphanage who could take Sanaz in her condition. But there was none. I looked all through Tehran, but no place would even consider Sanaz.

I asked the authorities to let Sanaz come and stay in my home for a few months. There, I would be able to take her to private doctors and give her the care and love she needed. Finally, one day, an ambulance arrived at my house with little Sanaz in the back, covered with a hospital blanket. I was glad I was going to be able to take her to the private doctors.

		Sanaz bathed not in just water, but love!

On the first night, I gave her a bath. My son was so excited to meet the little girl I had talked about so much. At night Sanaz slept with me in my bed, while my husband graciously moved to another room. Sanaz and I felt so bonded together, like she was my own daughter.

Every night before I went to bed I kissed Swami’s picture next to my bed and placed His Vibhuti into my mouth. Sanaz joyfully did the same thing. The second word I heard her say was “Baba”. She had Vibhuti every night before she went to sleep and every morning she woke me up, calling, “Mom, Mom!”

I used my connections to make appointments for her with some of the best specialists we had in Tehran. They all told me the same thing - “Don’t waste your time. Don’t bring her here anymore. She won’t get better.” But in my heart, I didn’t want to give up hope. Swami had taught me the power of prayer.

Sanaz had lived with us for two months already. Then, one day I had a call from one of the orphanages. They told me to bring Sanaz there that very day. Our whole family cried, but legally we had no choice, and Swami also had not given His permission for us to adopt her. This was one of the most difficult times of my life. I took her to the orphanage, where I was told not to come back for at least one month. They wanted her to adjust to this place as her new home, which would be easier if she did not see me.

We have to Pass Through our Destiny

I went to bed with tears that night. But this was the night that Swami broke His silence and came to my dream. I told Swami how much I loved this baby. Swami looked at me in a very stern way and asked, “Are you a hero?” “I’m not, but I’d like to be,” I answered. “No. No. No.” He said, shaking His head. He was not at all happy with the answer I had given Him. After some time He called me to sit next to His chair. He placed His hand on my head and smiled. That was my answer. Swami did not want me to change Sanaz’s destiny or her karma. One important lesson I learned was that I shouldn’t be attached to the seva I am giving for others.

But Prayers can Change even our Destiny

I kept up my prayers to Swami for Sanaz. I asked Him at the very least to let her walk and talk and do the basic things of life. After one month, I began to visit her regularly in the orphanage.All the caretakers knew how much I loved Sanaz. I was relieved to see that they paid a lot of attention to her and gave her so much love. After four months I decided to take a picture of Sanaz to Swami directly and ask for His blessing. When Swami finally called us for an interview, I did not have a chance to speak with Swami or to ask Him to bless her picture.

	Finally... walking!

This was the only time I left the interview room with tears in my eyes. I had gone all the way to Puttaparthi to ask Swami to bless her, but had returned from the interview room disappointed.

Every day I took the picture of Sanaz to darshan. I was almost always in the last line and had no opportunity to ask Swami for a blessing. Finally, with one week left before I returned to Iran, Swami came to my dream. He stood in my room, and I immediately thought to give Him the picture of Sanaz to bless – now that He was so close. I went to get the picture, but when I came back I saw that Sanaz herself was already with Swami. She was walking around Him, playing. Swami said, “You wanted to talk about her? She’s walking now.” Then I woke up. In my heart I knew then that something would happen.

The day after my return to Iran I went to the orphanage to see Sanaz. The caretakers were happy to see me, but they told me, “Wait here. We want to show you something.”

I will never forget this sight. Sanaz was wearing little red shoes; the caretaker was holding her hand and she was walking! This was one of the most beautiful days of my life. I began to cry, thanking Swami for hearing my prayers, for healing her.

I got permission from the orphanage to take her back to the specialist to check on how she had progressed. The doctor could not believe it was the same child he had seen a few months before. When he measured her head, he found that her brain had also grown: something quite unusual. The heads of children with microcephaly usually remain very small.

Our True Birth Certificate

		Sai-naz - Her destiny in His hands

Sanaz lived in that orphanage for four years. During that time she learned to talk with no problem, she could now eat and do little things by herself.

When she was six, they sent her to another girls-only orphanage, where she was able to go to school. The last time I visited her, she was learning how to read and write.

Swami has been taking care of her all this time. Looking back, I remember a dream my husband had during the time Sanaz was living with us.

We were all walking in a forest. He saw a piece of paper in his path and picked it up. It was a birth certificate for Sanaz. The name, however, was “Sai-naz”. What a beautiful confirmation that she, like all of us, is God’s child and her destiny is in His Hands.