Chapter Eleven

Sathya Sai Baba has been credited with a vast number of fantastic miracles, but none more "mind-blowing" than bringing those who had died, back to life! Resurrection!

The wife, of an Indian devotee who had died, requested Baba to join her and the family, in prayers for her husband. Baba responded that He would. However, He did not arrive that day, though it is customary in India to bury or cremate the dead, usually on the same day a person died. On the following day a further message was despatched, with the same response, "Yes, I will come." By this time the body was beginning to smell badly with decomposition, but still He did not arrive, to the dismay of the family, who were now pressuring the wife to proceed with the funeral rites, and not wait any further. But she resolutely refused, insisting upon waiting, as Baba had said He would come. The third day came, and so did Sai Baba, but by then the corpse was not at all pleasant to be near. Baba asked to be left with the body in the room, while everyone waited outside. Some three minutes later Baba came out and instructed the wife to take some liquid in to her husband, whom she found well and sitting up in bed!

Another case, with dramatic results, was related to Indra Devi, a long-standing devotee of Baba. She conducted classes in meditation and Yoga, and talks on Sathya Sai Baba, in Venezuela. Troylan Orozco, of Mexico, used to attend the lectures about Baba, and went with the group to India and was happy beyond words to have had an interview with Him. Upon his returning home to Mexico, Troylan enthusiastically started a Sai Baba Centre, and gave talks about Baba to all his friends and customers.

One day, his wife took a friend and her small baby for a drive. Only a few minutes passed when people came running to him with the news that there had been a crash and his wife and the friend's baby were killed. While rushing to the scene he was crying out for Sai Baba's help, and immediately applied vibhuti to their lifeless bodies and lips.

Three hours later the baby came back to life, much to the amazement of those present, and five hours later Mrs. Orozco also opened her eyes, not being sure where she was. She later related what occurred during those minutes after the crash; she found herself travelling down a dark tunnel, and coming out into a beautiful place so full of light. She saw Sai Baba there, having recognised Him from photographs and films. Realising she had died, she beseeched Him to return her back to her small boy who would need her care. Seeing her dead body, she re-entered it and returned back with a smile on her vibhuti-coated lips!

The other well-documented account of "life after death", was the case of an American called Walter Cowan, who had been pronounced dead by two doctors, and resurrected on Christmas Day 1971. A fellow American, Sai devotee, Dr. John Hislop, was witness to this extraordinary drama. On the day in question, Dr. Hislop went to the Connemara Hotel, in Madras, upon learning of a fatal heart attack suffered by Walter Cowan. Cowan's wife Elsie confirmed to Hislop that her husband had indeed died. She prayed to Sathya Sai Baba for help, but in the meantime the body was removed by ambulance to hospital. The body was examined by a doctor upon arrival at the hospital and pronounced dead. It was covered and removed to an empty room. Elsie cowan and a friend arrived at the hospital, only to find that Sai Baba had already been there. To their utter astonishment they found Walter Cowan alive!

Later that day, Baba informed devotees that He had indeed brought Walter back to life. He did this, He said, because He did not want Elsie to suffer the distress and difficulties of transporting the body back home to the United States.

The following is Walter Cowan's own account of his apparent death and resurrection, under the Grace of Sathya Sai Baba.

"Two days after arrival at the Connemara Hotel, in Madras, I was taken ill with pneumonia. Gasping for breath, suddenly all the body struggle was over and I died. I found myself very calm, in a state of wonderful bliss and Lord Sai Baba was by my side. Even though my body lay on the bed, dead, my mind kept working throughout the entire period until Swami brought me back. There was no anxiety nor fear, only a sense of well-being, for I had lost all fear of death. Sai Baba then took me to a very large hall where there were hundreds of people milling around. It was the Hall where the records of previous lives were kept. Baba and I stood before the Court of Justice. The person in charge knew Baba very well and Swami asked for the records of all my lives. He was very kind and when the records were bought Sai Baba interpreted them and after what seemed like two hours, they finished reading the armloads of scrolls, the Lord Sai Baba said I had not completed the work I was born to do and He asked the Judge that I be turned over to Him to complete my mission of spreading the Truth. I left with Baba to return to my body although it was like stepping into a cesspool to return to it, but I knew it was best to complete my mission. The instant I stepped back into my body it started all over again, trying to get my breath, being sick as I could be and still be alive. I opened my eyes and looked at my wife."

Dr. John Hislop later asked Baba whether the experience was a real one or an hallucination, Baba replied; "The experience was a real experience, not an illusion. It was an experience occurring within Mr. Cowan's mind and I myself was there directing and clarifying the thoughts."

When we turn on our radios and televisions, it is unlikely we will hear of a resurrection having taken place. Does that mean that they do not occur? Should we choose to accept that resurrections do not happen at the closing of the twentieth century, why then do we not question those mentioned in the Old and New Testaments and other Holy Scriptures? Perhaps they do occur today but are too "outrageous" to be taken seriously by the proprietors of the media. Certainly, it requires faith to believe in such events, and not reasoning powers. Modern technology, and its vast potential, would be deemed miraculous to those in a bygone age. To land a space-craft on a distant planet, would be beyond the credibility of institutions in the middle ages, who believed the world was flat, and in more recent times, to scientists who believed that travelling at speeds in excess of thirty five miles per hour, meant certain death. There must then be room for believing the "impossible"!

Scientists today admit to knowing little of the mind and all its complexities, and also its place in the causing of disorders, both physical and mental. The fact that miracles happen, means that they occur within the laws of Nature, as Nature does not work against itself. In reality there are no miracles, only occurrences outside our present understanding. As man's consciousness is raised, he begins to perceive things today which he could not comprehend yesterday. All major scientific and technological discoveries, were the results of this process. The perseverance and faith inherent in man, continues to overcome obstacles in his search for truth, leading him to greater and deeper wisdom, especially when his determined Will to succeed is brought into play. It is as if his Will is itself a point of energy; a source of power to help punch the search forward.

The most famous resurrection was that of Lazarus, who was brought forth from his tomb, by Jesus Christ. But there had been others, as referred to in the Acts of the Apostles; St. Peter raising a disciple named Tabitha (meaning Dorcas or Gazelle), at Joppa (Jaffa). She had fallen ill and died, and St. Peter was entreated to, "Please come to us without delay." This he did immediately, and staying alone in the room with her, he prayed and said, "Tabitha, rise!" She opened her eyes and sat up.

The other resurrection, mentioned in the Acts, was that of a young man named Eutychus, who had been seated on a window sill, at a gathering, listening to a discourse by St. Paul. The young man sank into a deep sleep, fell down from the third story and was pronounced dead. When Paul was informed of the incident, he hurried to him, and resuscitated him. Was the young man dead or in an unconscious state? We can only accept that he was dead, as reported at the time, otherwise it would put all such miraculous happenings, in the scriptures, under question.

Jesus had suggested that we too would do greater things, in His name. Sathya Sai Baba also says as much; that in time we will also perform "miraculous" resurrections, materialisations, and great deeds. One must then presume that such Divine Beings as Jesus and Sai Baba, are the norm, in the human sense, while the rest of mankind is wholly abnormal. Baba once remarked, that there are very few HUMAN beings on earth at this time, as animal tendencies are dominant within man, cloaking-over, as it were, the Divine state which is man's true nature.

It is interesting to postulate that Avatars, like Baba and Jesus, never perform miracles for themselves; for their own benefit or gain. All such deeds are rendered on behalf of the people they serve. Their entire lives are dedicated to the service of all peoples as well as to the other kingdoms of Earth; ie. mineral, animal, vegetable, etc. In doing so they are setting examples for us to follow; for us to have dominion over nature and our less-fortunate brothers and sisters. The real meaning of the word dominion, is to have "responsibility for", and not mastery over, as some people choose to believe.