Hidden Message

 

At a discussion, Sri Baba asked the question: "Do you know why a Committee does not function?"  He also provided the answer: "The very name COMMITTEE suggests only one thing: COME TO TEA!'

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Big Enough to Laugh at Himself

At Kodaikanal, Swami was talking in Telugu to the students and a few invited guests.  Dr. Goldstein didn't understand Telugu but felt a bit uneasy as the gestures of Swami indicated that the topic of the talk was his plumpness.  Swami and the students were casting subtle glances at Dr. Goldstein and were smiling broadly.  At one point, Swami started to laugh joyously and Dr. Goldstein too joined in the laughter - although he was aware that the joke was about him.

Suddenly, Swami stopped laughing and asked very sternly in English, "Now, why are you laughing?"  Dr. Goldstein replied, "Swami I am happy because you are happy."

Swami turned to the students and told them, "See, this is true devotion.  Although he knew that the jokes were on him, he was happy, because I am happy.  All of you must develop this nonchalant attitude and become devotees like him."

Even jokes of Sai underline important teachings.

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Ba ...Ba...Black Sheep

 

In August 1980, I visited Swami at Prasanthi Nilayam with my five year old daughter, Meeri.

The group was very lucky to get an interview early in the fortnight, and we were all arranged in a circle in Swami's small interview room.  He went round talking to many of the group, joking and laughing.  Then it was my turn and my feelings were between immense joy and complete stage fright.

He asked me some questions and my nervousness increased because I kept on thinking - why is He asking me when He knows all the answers!

He then said to me that he would see us all again individually and talk over each person's problems.  By this time all I could get out was, "Yes, Yes, Swami, Yes..." to everything He said.  Suddenly Swami gave a big smile, turned to the group and said, "Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full Sir."  Humorous reference to our old British nursery rhyme, and my tension and worry departed!

~ Elizabeth Wallace-Talvitie

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Prize Vegetable

 

This story was told by Baba to the students at Kodaikanal.

Once all the vegetables on Mother Earth got together wanting to know which vegetable rated first in the order of merit.  All the vegetables prayed to the Creator Himself to do the judging.  So Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh descended on earth and examined all the vegetables and came to the unanimous conclusion that one particular vegetable should be the first in the order of merit.  That was the onion!  While all the other vegetables had good qualities, the onion had one extra quality of maintaining the same smell throughout its life.  Like the onion we too must be constant in our devotion to God, whether we are happy or not.

All the vegetables accepted the decision and gave a hearty applause.  Lord brahma placed His hands on His beard and said, "I bless you.  As long as you are on earth, you will always have a beard like mine."  If anyone has not seen the beard of an onion, carefully look at it and you will find one!  Then Brahma left.

Lord Vishnu blessed the onion and said, "Whenever you are cut longitudinally, the conch will be seen.  Whenever you are cut across horizontally, then the spinning wheel will be seen." If anyone has not seen this as yet, take an onion and cut it and you will see them!

Lord Mahesh said, "Onion, I bless you.  Whenever someone hurts you, that person will have to cry and not you."

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Divine Consultant

 

One day, two doctors, husband and wife, were in the interview room.  Baba looked at them and said, "This man here is a doctor.  This is his wife, who is also a doctor.  They are very good doctors, but do you know why they have come here? They have got health problems!"

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Timelord

This happened in 1976.  In Bhagavan's dining hall in the old bungalow in Brindavan, there was a new clock which had just arrived from the US.  This was a different clock.  There were no hands or numbers on it, but if you asked the time, it would show the time.

There was a famous doctor at the time working at the Victoria Hospital called Narsappa; he used to come to check Swami's blood pressure every night.  After the doctor finished his blood pressure measurement, Swami drew his attention to this new clock from the US.

"Narsappa, did you notice the clock?"

"No, Swami."

"It has come from the US, it has no hands or figures but if you go to the clock and ask the time, it will show you the time."

So the doctor went up to the clock and asked softly, "Timistu?"  (What is the time?).  The clock didn't respond.  He looked at Bhagavan.  Swami said, "Ask again."  The doctor said "Timistu?"  And again the clock didn't show the time.  Then Swami said, "That is not the way," and called a student and said, "Go and ask the time."  The student went up to the clock and said, "What is the time?"  And it promptly showed 7 p.m.

Swami with a mischievous smile said, "Doctor, you are so learned, you have so many accomplishments to your credit.  But you lack common sense.  I just told you that this clock has come from the US.  It doesn't know Kannada!"

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Sai Garage

 

My very first pilgrimage to Puttaparthi was in October-November 1993.  By Swami's Grace, I was fortunate to have been one of the U.K. Group who was granted an interview quite unexpectedly.  We had faced several unforeseen setbacks and were all tensed up.  Needless to say, Swami was well aware of it, and as we settled down in the Inner Sanctum, He turned to our Group Leader (G.L.) and asked:

Swami:    "Why have you come?"

G.L.:        "Because we love you, Swami!"

Swami:    (Repeating) "Why have you come?"

G.L.:        "To recharge our batteries, Swami!"

Swami:    "To recharge your batteries?  Why?  Is Swami a workshop?"

We burst out laughing.  Swami looked round at all of us and our tension vanished into thin air!  What better way could one have for recharging Spiritual Batteries than being in the Divine Workshop?

We were truly blessed!

~ Mrs. Yoga Kamalanathan

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Count Yourself In

Baba told this story at Kodaikanal about the importance of the Atma.

Once, ten stupid men had to swim across a river.  When they reached the other side, one of them asked the other nine men to stand in a line so that he could count and make sure that no one had drowned.  He counted the nine men in front of him and was worried that one was missing.  To double check, he asked another man to count and he joined the line.  The second person too excluded himself and counted the other nine men.  They started to cry believing that one of them had drowned.

A passerby solved their problem by pointing out that the counting man should count himself first.

Baba told us to first see ourselves deep in the Atma, and then turn to the world.

(From the book "Sai Humour")

No Trouble

 

A Danish gentleman had been left alone to seek Swami's darshan while his wife stayed back home to take care of the household.  The husband was blessed with several interviews and phoned his wife to share his joy.

However, at home, the heating system broke down, the washing machine too and all sorts of calamities seemed to happen in the household.  The wife got very annoyed and in her mind she blamed Swami, crying out: "Why do you give him so much attention, Swami, and for me you only give trouble!"

At the same time, the husband was again called for an interview and Swami said: "Your wife has a hot of temper."  The husband who knew nothing about the wife's troubles at home, answered, "No, Swami, she is very sweet."  Swami insisted: "But she has a very hot temper."  The husband replied: "But Swami, I have no trouble with her."

Then Swami remarked: "No, you may not have any trouble with her."

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Enveloped with Love

 

Swami sometimes manifests a gift for a devotee to take home to a sick relative and on those occasions, He will sometimes put it in a suitable envelope from His latest pile of letters.  On one of these occasions, during a group interview, He manifested a lingam for a devotee's grandchild and rummaged in His letter tray for an envelope for it, taking the letter out first.  Then He manifested a bracelet for the child, searched for a second suitable envelope, and when He had found it, smiled whimsically and said, "Look, same address."

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Too Late!

 

Once during a group interview, Swami asked a man, "How many children do you have?"

"Three boys, Swami."

"No girls?"

"Too late, Swami."  (The wife was 50 at the time).

"Not if Swami decides!" said Sai.

It was a long time before members of the group stopped phoning her to ask if she was pregnant yet!  But she did have some lovely Sai daughters later.

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Degree of Commitment

 

A young man was asking Swami whether he should continue his studies with an MSc.

"Not MSC, MRS," said Swami.

"But Swami there isn't a degree called "MRS", the young man started to say before he realised that Swami was advising him to get married!

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Happy Event

 

"One Heart, Two Bodies" Swami said to an overweight devotee.

On another occasion, He called the same devotee over sternly, then looked pointedly at his stomach, then smiled and said, "And how many months?"

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Origins

 

Swami addressed a small Indian school boy asking him: "Where do you come from?"  the boy answered with a big smile: "From you, Swamiji."

A Dane sitting nearby noticed that Swami looked very pleased and decided that he would give the same answer should Swami ask him the very same question.

Immediately Swami came up to the Danish gentleman asking him: Where to you come from?"  

The answer came promptly: "From you, Swami."

"No, no," Swami replied, "From Denmark."

~ T. Meyer

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Danish Delight

 

At an interview, Swami addressed a Danish couple saying to the wife: "He is a good man."  

The wife gleaming with joy responded: "Yes, very good, Swami."  

"No, no," Swami replied.  "Not very good, only good."

~ T. Meyer ~

(From the book "Sai Humour")

The Omnipresent Timekeeper

 

On a visit to a Sai Baba satsang, I listened with great amusement to a story told to the large audience of Swami's sense of timing and impish humour.

It seemed that the speaker, a delightful Indian school teacher, was instructing junior pupils at one of Sai Baba's schools in India.

On the day in question, Swami was due to visit the school.  That morning, the teacher was unfortunately a few minutes late in arriving at his class.  Later, when Swami arrived to tour the school and was visiting this particular teacher's classroom, He made various inquiries of the young pupils, finally asking them, before leaving, and speaking of their teacher "... and is he punctual?"

To the teacher's discomfort, a little girl at the back of the class put up her hand.  "Please, Swami," she said, "He was late for class this morning."  Baba looked disapprovingly at the unhappy teacher before moving on and later in the day, He reprimanded him for being "one hour" late for class.  The poor teacher protested and denied being so late.  "No, no, Swami, I was only a few minutes late."  But Baba replied: "Twenty pupils, each kept waiting three minutes = one hour late!"

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Height, Weight, Heart

 

"Hey, coconut tree!" said Swami to a very tall man.  "How tall are you?"

"One metre 82 cm," said the man.

"No!  No!  No!" said Swami.  "Height in inches, see look at me, 5 ft. 3 ins. ... with my hair." said Swami, putting His right hand on the top of His hair.

"And how much do you weigh?" said Swami to the large man next to him.

"15 stones, Swami," was the answer.

Swami smiled gently and said, "Height - not important.  Weight - not important.  HEART - very important."

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Surprise!

There is always a hint of the Divine Child in this most glorious and unique Sai phenomenon.  I am constantly haunted by a delightful incident recounted by Professor Kasturi in his memoirs, Loving God.  

Some many years ago, there were only about fifty residents at Prashanti Nilayam, living in a small cluster of tenements near the Mandir; and every afternoon at 4 o'clock, the young Baba visited them, though never in the same order.

One day, Kasturi - then a retired professor - stood waiting at his window, anxiously watching for Baba to emerge from the front door of another dwelling.  Suddenly, from behind him, he felt hands cover his eyes and the words, "Guess who?".

Kasturi writes: "My reply was a cascade of tears."  

Baba had left the other house by the back door and managed to creep round unseen to enter Kasturi's house, also from the back, to surprise him.  I find this little incident enchanting.

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Part Refreshment

 

There was a young American devotee whose co-workers would go to a bar after work to have a beer.  He was invited to join them but continually fought desire.  Knowing full well that Sai Baba does not approve of alcohol for spiritual aspirants, sometimes his desire won and he had a beer with the guys.

Swami approached him in darshan line, looked at him and said, "Heineken today, Heineken tomorrow!"  This young man did not tell Swami about his battle with the beer desire.  Yet those few chosen words conveyed a profound message.

Sai Baba speaks a few words but communicates paragraphs.  We speak paragraphs and communicate a few words.

(From the book "Sai Humour")

Any Doubts?

During an interview, Baba manifested a ring for a doubting Thomas (a scientist), and sent it round the room for inspection by all present.  Then He transformed it into another huge ring - about two inches across, and sent it around the room for a second time.  Then He said kindly, "You would like it smaller, wouldn't you?" - and changed it back into a wearable size and sent it back around.  (This was a thrice-repeated and witnessed scientific experiment the devotee had to accept).

(From the book "Sai Humour")