S.S. Naganand speaks with Terry Reis Kennedy about Muddenahalli

RED CLOVER PRESS UPDATE

26.04.2016

Who is Terry Reis Kennedy?

My name is Terry Reis Kennedy. I was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and wrote my first story when I was three years old. Writing is my life. I have a B.A. and an M.A. in the writing arts and my writing has appeared in hundreds of publications including 6 books of poetry, one play, and three screenplays.

 My writing has drawn me to every state in the United States of America, including First Nation Territories, Puerto Rico, Nova Scotia, Canada, Mexico, Poland, Fiji, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand Sri Lanka and India where I have a home. I have read from my anthologized essays, fiction, and poetry on radio, on television, and at places as diverse as prisons, public squares, cafes, Harvard University, Boston City Hall, and at Native American Indian Reservations. 

I love working with people who want to get their book or film projects out to audiences whether they are still in the idea stage or are finished but need some design, layout, editing, publishing, and marketing assistance. 

I support myself through my own work as a wordsmith and I know that I can turn your dream of publishing a successful book or documentary come true.

How do I help you reach your goal?

We work together—one on one.  Sometimes, I go to where you live and work with you there. Or you travel to another location.

Other times we work as a team of writers on our individual projects which I guide and oversee at a retreat center in Vermont or in the Connecticut River Valley—Heart Center of the Abenaki Nation. We include meditation, meals, readings and critique sessions as part of our development and completion of our projects.

Once a year we have a writer/ film maker session in Sri Lanka, Ireland, or Spain. We do not work in cities or suburbs.  We work in harmony with nature in country settings.

To know more, read my BLOG:

http://terryreiskennedy.blogspot.com

Or, join my official Facebook page ALL OUR RELATIONS:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-Our-Relations/894397783936561

Or, visit my official website RED CLOVER PRODUCTIONS:

http://terryreiskennedy.wix.com/redcloverproductions 

Thank you.

Remembrance Day at Puttaparthi Town

By Terry Reis Kennedy

April 24, 2016

The sun burst upon me like a blast of heat from a furnace as I stepped outside of my house, Sai Prem, on Coconut Grove.  It was only 9 a.m. and my clothes were already dripping with sweat.  I made my way towards the ashram in a daze of grief, of bliss, of ineffable mixed emotions.

I walked through the tiny streets of Puttaparthi town remembering how I used to run to the main road when word rustled through the air that Sai Baba was out in His car, on the way to visit the students, or His pet elephant Sai Gita, or patients at the hospital.  I was crazed with joy seeing Him in His car.  I was not the only one.

We hurled flowers at the windows, we touched the doors; we were Gopis and Gopikas that not even the police could stop.  Swami loved our madness as He smiled out at us, sometimes even having the driver stop the car so He could have a word with someone.  The blasting heat, the monsoon downpours, nothing could keep us away from Him. Before we had a cover over the mandir He would often stop the rain when He came out for Darshan.  He loves us that much. 

And today it is the same.  It was the 5^th anniversary of my Sat Guru, the Kali Yuga Avatar, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s leaving—the day He chose to exit His body, a day the Hindu’s say, “He took Mahasamadhi”, meaning the day He returned to the Supreme Consciousness He is, the Great Quietude.  In plain America English, He died.  Yes, He is immortal.  We are all immortal.  But for me it was a day I felt pressed into a mold of mortality.  Everything I’d lived for, been living for, seemed to have vanished.

Until I got home to my writing desk where I could record my thoughts, I felt barely part of the world as I had known it.  Luckily there was a message from my editor at Bangalore’s Deccan Herald asking me to write a recollection of Sai Baba’s life and to have it done in two hours.  Most of my professional life I’ve spent meeting deadlines.  I was so relieved to have another deadline to meet.  As I typed the remembrance I realized what a gift My Baba had given me….a deadline.  But in this case it was a lifeline.  By having to go to work, to be of use, to focus on readers that would be wanting the news of Swami’s passing, I felt purposeful.  There was no time for crying.

Within hours of completing that news story millions of people from around the world were on their way to little Puttaparthi to say good bye to Sai Baba, the “man” who had changed the face of India and the world.  The God we loved, the One Who had loved us beyond our understanding.  

Today, five years later, He remains the same for me.  As I continued on my way to the ashram the crowds grew thicker.  I heard that 40,000 people were in Hill View Stadium eating their free breakfast provided by the Central Trust, Baba’s Trust, ensuring Swami’s devotees that nothing has changed for them.  Puttaparthi town continues as before.  Swami will never leave His home.  He had promised us and He had promised His mother Easwaramma.  The breakfast plates were also carried home to those who could not walk to the stadium.  Everyone got fed, the poorest of the poor, the richest of the rich.

As I neared the Ganesha Gate entrance, I saw that some people were going up Gopuram Road to the stadium and some were coming down carrying their gifts of saris and dhotis, heading towards the ashram.  As I entered and passed through the security check I felt lighter, less hot.  A slight breeze was turning the leaves and swaying the bougainvillea blossoms.  Incense wafted towards me.

After hearing Swami’s discourse from years gone by I found myself smiling at the youngsters who smiled at me.  “From which place did you come,” their perennial question made me happy.  Though I have lived in Parthi for 25 years I told them the truth they wanted to hear.  I replied, the United States of America.  Oh, the USA one of them said, as if to let me know how informed she was.

In spite of the heat, in spite of the crowds I managed to get into the Ladies ‘side of the dining tent.  And I was served a heaping plate of south Indian delicacies, foods of a region that I have come to love…slowly, very slowly.  It was like an arranged marriage, Telugu country and me.  First I found I could not adjust.  But Mother Sai taught me how to accept the things I could not change, and to change the things I could—that meant transformation.  I learned how to grow where I was planted.  

Today, I heard a little voice inside me say, “Remember Who loves you, Baby.”  And I remembered.  Thank you, Bhagawan, for my life.

READY TO START YOUR BOOK PROJECT?

GREETINGS,

READY TO START YOUR BOOK PROJECT?
WORK WITH TERRY REIS KENNEDY FOR THREE WEEKS IN VERMONT, OR ELSEWHERE.

SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF FIVE BOOKS OF POETRY, WRITES A BLOG WITH EXCERPTS FROM HER NOVELS, AN EDITOR, AND A PUBLISHER.

SHE HAS BEEN INITIATED BY THE WARM SPRINGS INDIAN NATION IN OREGON WHERE SHE CONDUCTED A WRITERS' RETREAT AND HAS PARTICIPATED IN A NATIONAL POETRY READING IN BISHOP, CALIFORNIA, AT THE TOIYABI INDIAN HEALTH PROJECT AND ALSO HAS WORKED WITH OTHER FIRST NATION PEOPLE.

Dalai Lama on America

By Terry Reis Kennedy

Many of us may be looking at the United States with great sadness as we witness its fall from a once seemingly almighty country to one riddled with internal difficulties.  Some political commentators and activists, such as scientist Noam Chomsky, have noted that the USA’s loss of standing in the world community coincides with its loss of integrity—the  practice of human values such as truth, non-violence, peace, right action, and love.

On an earlier visit there His Holiness said, “America, like every other nation, has some good aspects and some negative aspects.  That is normal.  First, the United States is a so-called superpower.  You are a superpower, not only in military and economic force, but even more so in freedom.  I think that your greatest strength is in creating a country where true open space is available, where human individual creative nature can be fully realized.  Of course, it is true that in your country there is much inequality—many people are poor while others are quite rich.  But, basically, there is genuine freedom here, and this is quite an open society.  I think that is your real source of strength and progress.”

Another feature of the United States is that it is an ethnically mixed society where people have learned to co-exist in relative harmony.

On the other hand, Dalai Lama, warned, “But I sometimes feel, in the global atmosphere of international politics, that moral uprightness or justice has very little value, and that makes me very sad.  If that continues, many people will suffer.  Eventually, the powerful nations will also suffer.  Even though America is a powerful nation,  you need genuine friends, including the small countries.  How can you make friends?  I think, on top of your material strength and cultural strength, you must begin to stand firm with moral principles.  That would be marvelous.”

Personally, I am troubled by how many Indians have taken on western ways, particularly selfish and materialistic attitudes, the very things that have so corrupted  the American Ethic—liberty and justice for all. Bollywood has turned into Hollywood, producing what I perceive as over rated films and film heroes.  

“The present trend is not healthy,” the simple monk who happens to be King of Tibet, explained. “ Sooner or later you will have to change.  It is easier to change while you are strong.  If you become weaker or smaller, it will be much  more difficult to change.  You will not be strong enough to face the consequences.  Powerful nations always have a greater chance and capacity to right the wrongs in our system and be able to take the risks that are involved in changing an existing system.  Until the fifties and sixties, America was a really powerful nation with quite high prestige, a real champion of liberty and freedom.  But since then, it seems to me, you have been going in the opposite direction.  That is sad.  But it is not my business; it is really your business.”

Sai Baba on MEDITATION

By Terry Reis Kennedy

I first started meditating at the age of 38.  I was instructed to get into any comfortable position, seated, either in a chair or on the ground.  I was taught that the purpose of meditation is to become one with God.  However, I had no idea how to merge with the formless God I believed in—a faraway, faceless force that ruled my life.  It was not until I became of devotee of Sai Baba in 1990 that I began to understand that a person needs an object to focus on in order to meditate.  That can be a symbol of God, a deity, or even a flame.

According to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, meditation is a process of Self discovery.  He has said, “All accomplished spiritual aspirants, yogis, and renunciates have acquired knowledge of the Absolute through meditation.  When higher knowledge is established, there is no sense of past or future; all is present-time.”

And it is precisely in this meditation moment, that there is the experience of the living God and nothing else.  It is in synchronicity with the beats of one’s own heart.  Such a moment leads to the discovery that the Absolute and you are one.

For me, meditation produces refreshment, like water when I’m thirsty, sleep when I’m tired.  Puttaparthi Sai taught, “Through meditation, the weakness of the body can be overcome, the restless nature of the mind can be controlled, and progress towards the Seat of Grace made easy. One can then attain the experience of Primordial Powers.”

And what might these powers be?  For me, they are peace, sense control, love towards all, patience, spontaneity, and joy.  Without worry, anger, fear, jealousy, and hatred I feel free!  So, meditation brings liberation—at least for segments of time.  With more practice, “nirvana” lasts longer.

But meditation is much more.  Parthi Sai, in his own down-to-earth way of teaching said that meditation is a way of life. “One should have Daiva Preethi, Papa Bheethi and Sangha Neethi (Love for God, fear of sin, and morality in society). That is true Nirvana.” 

He prescribed, “Be away from sin. Understand that Daiva Sannidhi (proximity to the Divine) is true Pennidhi (wealth principle)… While you are walking on the road or driving a car, if your vision is not focused on the road, you may meet with an accident. Concentration is necessary in all aspects of life. But concentration does not become meditation. One should go beyond concentration which means the mind should become still. You should be free from thoughts. That is true meditation.”

There is a step-by-step process for new and seasoned meditators.  According to Bhagawan, “When in meditation, concentrate on the form chosen by you, then pass into contemplation and then into meditation.  Only by the three states will you get there…When there is complete attention on the form chosen that will lead to meditation.  The attention of the mind is totally removed from the body and totally concentrated on the form chosen as the object of your meditation.”

MUDDENAHALLI PERSPECTIVE

By Diane Wells

I was in Muddenahalli twice: once before the Subtle body phenomenon and once after. I experienced Swami on my birthday the first time I was in Muddenahalli, which was one year after Murthy’s so-called “dream” about building a place for devotees to come and visit.

Baba showed up in the form of an old man in the likeness of a drawing I had made. I didn’t recognise him at first. Swami asked me how old I was. I said "Seventy years." As he shook my hand, He repeated "Seventy years! Very happy!" There were many children who wanted to wish me a happy birthday, six or eight, all the same height, who lined up and shook my hand. They were, in my mind, like little deities, since they were all the same height, with eyes filled with light and wisdom. Each one insisted on shaking my hand as I walked down the line.

When I went to Muddenahalli the second time, I came with a friend who was not a devotee. Many devotees were waiting for the program to start. We sat in the outside of the bhajan hall where Isaac Tigrett and Madhu and Murthy were speaking. Madhu came outside afterwards to give a ring to the Vedic musicians in the back of the veranda, just three feet away from me. I was feeling the devotion from the people inside and around me, but Madhu seemed stiff and in a trance to me. I have been surprised at the response of so many people as the teachings of our Lord Sai began to be ignored by this new phenomenon.

So many of Sai’s warnings have been overridden by the MH group that I have not embraced the so-called “subtle body” as so many of my old friends have. After all, in His lifetime, Sai urged us not to follow a form. Yet I remembered what Baba had said: something to the effect that the purity of feeling and belief of the devotee saves him, but the false guru accrues his own bad karma. The problem for me is that all of the western advertising gimmicks are being employed by the MH group: direct solicitation of funds by E-mail, as well as using Baba’s students to directly approach visiting devotees, gathering money in Baba's name--these are the main issues for me that keep me watching the worldly scenario. 

I have read the article by Bob Bozzani about his experience. What I wrote above is my experience. What he did not state clearly in his article was whether Baba had come to him in a dream or vision in his own form and said anything about Madhu being his new form. Bob talked about Baba accompanying Madhu as though he was actually seeing Him and described Swami as if he saw Baba in the flesh. I felt that he was simply giving words to the "feeling" or "belief" that he felt strongly that Baba was indeed walking beside Madhu or actually sitting in the chair set for Swami. To me, all of this seems to be the acting out of what Swami, in his form with us, cautioned and warned about over and over. It's happening in front of our eyes, but the devotees, in my view, are missing the warnings because of the influence of the dark forces at the end of the Kali Yuga age. Baba's old devotees are now following another form.

How ironic. This is how the dark forces work. Bob Bozzani did respond to my E-mail questioning this point. His response was focused, not on answering my questions, but rather on living in love, as God is Love – Live in Love. He reminded me that Swami has told us that we all are God. He said that each one should have their own thoughts about the subtle body, that we all are God, the only difference being that He knows it and we do not. I finally came to feel that this was more important to me at this stage of my life than engaging further in the MH controversy. Yet there may be some merit in sharing my main concerns with other devotees who are playing their roles on the worldly stage, perhaps caught up in the “mob mind” of blind acceptance, under the influence of the Dark forces, which ignores Baba’s warnings all during his lifetime, before he left the body. Though Baba has said to "Love my uncertainty," I am not convinced that he would go against his own teachings made while he was with us, in the Baba form we know and have experienced before the “subtle body” came on the scene.

My Baba friends are, on the whole, very loving human beings. I know that Bob Bozzani is truly convinced in his point of view, but I questioned where his discrimination has flown, under the influence of the dark forces. Many of us remember how Isaac Tigrett for years has been so fond of saying that Baba said to him "You are a magnet for evil." Tigrett announced at Christmas that he was going to open a casino in Las Vegas, the money which would go to charitable projects. Surely Isaac has not taken Baba's words about being a magnet for evil literally, but has viewed such an astounding statement by Baba as a positive thing. It seems to me that what Baba says is TRUTH. For Isaac to be told such a thing has put him in denial. Yet, can one not see how our LORD SAI would never have anything to do with using his name to collect money!...no matter what the intentions are. Isaac is penniless. Where do you think his money to build a casino is coming from? The Muddenahalli people own the Solar company Lotus. Business men. They are using worldly ways to get money in Baba's name! Sai Baba of Shirdi announced his next incarnation in another form. Sai Baba of Puttaparthi only announced his next incarnation as Sai Prem. He did not mention a word about any "subtle body" interim form. He did warn not to trust cheats who would imitate him, collect money in His name. Let them collect money under their own name, but not to trade on the impeccable name and reputation Baba spent a lifetime building. 

That the MH group has solicited funds from known donors and done it by E- mail violates everything Baba stood for. They are operating, not by the promptings of the hearts of the wealthy, but by every known western advertising scheme from the worldly sector. They are trading on the gullibility of westerners who are trusting and easy "marks" for charlatans, especially “devotees" who are under the influence of the "Dark forces," which tends to dull their discrimination and throw all of Swami's warnings about such charlatans out the window. Please know that I love and admire my friends who follow this MH charade. I still do. But I disagree with what they perceive to be a good thing. There are consequences on a spiritual level for the MH group. I hope my Baba friends and other devotees will open their eyes and use their intellect, their Buddhi, to reflect on these matters. They are now just following another form, and I do not think it is the one he left us with.

Baba insisted on students, office bearers and all devotees to know his teachings and to be able to speak in front of people. We all can talk of our experiences and repeat His teachings ad infinitum. It is also strange that Baba's policies regarding his Centres and officers demand that when two parties disagree, whether in Centres, the Sai organization, even his Schools and Universities, one of the parties must leave. A house divided against itself cannot stand. The MH group goes totally against Baba’s directives...and yet, the gullible devotees accept these infractions. I pray that we all wake up to what is happening. BABA IS WAITING FOR HIS DEVOTEES TO WAKE UP.

There is an old joke that goes something like this: a man dies and meets God in the afterlife. He complains about all the horrible things happening on earth...so many people starving, injustice everywhere, etc., etc.,—and why doesn't God do something about it? God replies: "I did. I brought it to your attention!"

Baba wants us to handle our own issues. He has given us the guidance and left us on our own to handle our own future. The split in our organization has been brought to our attention. It is up to Baba’s devotees to do something about it. Baba is waiting for us to wake up and see the reality. How often He has referred to our propensity for worshipping what is really “tinsel and trash”. All that glitters is not gold. BABA IS WAITING FOR HIS DEVOTEES TO WAKE UP. Money, comfort and flattery do not count in Baba’s estimation. Baba as the young Bala Sai admitted that he gambled once and it was a sin. Only money that is earned dharmically is acceptable to the Lord. Using gambling money profits for charity is a complete misdirection of intentions. The MH group is not acquiring money by dharmic means. This will destroy them and their efforts in time. I hope and pray that Baba’s true devotees will examine the truth of what lies before them and begin to see into and through the methods being deployed by the MH folks.

Dear Bellows Falls

I had just talked with my Mom, Blanche Reis, on the phone one morning.  She told me that things in Bellows Falls are about the same, but that her cousin Amelia Belzac, God rest her bountiful soul, had passed away and that the burial took place at Sacred Heart Cemetery Grounds with snow on the ground.

When I arrived home to my little house in India, after three months in New England, I had to take my shoes off and walk barefoot in the garden just to get myself readjusted.  It is so warm here right now with chickens pecking at worms in the soft soil and the parrots flying through the coconut trees screeching with glee.

I hoped that Amelia, who I loved dearly, and who I had spent many happy childhood days with might pass over my speck of the Universe on her Grand Journey to her resting place.  Would I feel her presence if she did?  I wondered.

Here in the spiritual India I inhabit, the emphasis is on the Soul.  People regard each lifetime as an increment in the Soul's journey towards final mergence with God, by whatever name they choose to call that Power.

When I was back in Vermont and studying about the indigenous Abenaki peoples who used to fish and camp alongside the falls in our sweet town I learned that the Abenaki  believe in the God spark in all living things, that part of the Great Spirit that is immortal….just like India.

It's such a beautiful world when we focus on the good and the positive around us.  For instance, I really enjoyed being in the snow back home in Bellows Falls and walking through the slushy streets, thinking of how everything would be so green come spring.  After all, that's how our state got its name, the Green Mountain State.

There is lots of snow here too, up in the north, especially in the Himalayas.  In fact, the northern state of Himachal Pradesh is named after the words Hima Challa which mean, Ice Heart.  It is said by the spiritual elders here that the person who develops a heart that is pure and cool as ice is someone who can best serve humanity.  In so many indigenous cultures, it is the heart that is regarded as more important than the head.  In other words, the feeling one has for life is genuine, while the head, the mind, the thoughts, can deceive.

I worship the Himalayas; they remind me in a colossal way of the Green Mountains of my heartland, covered in snow, the Soul of my native place.

It is often during the coldest parts of winter that I get my best insights, that I can go deeply within and commune with God.  This is why so many pilgrims flock to the Himalayas.  It is there, at the top of the world, that they feel close to the Great Spirit.  So many places of worship are there.

The town of Puttaparthi, where I live,  is waking up right now and people are hurrying off to the market to get the best of the fruits and vegetables that the local farmers have brought in from their planting fields.  Today I will buy bananas, three for a penny, some mandarin oranges, one for a penny, and a pound of potatoes.... a whopping 10 cents.  Later I will take my shirt to the tailor to be mended for less than a quarter.

I wish I could send all that is good about India home to you so that your lives would be more comfortable. And I wish that the special strength of character that resides especially in the hearts of the folks of Bellows Falls could be spread like maple syrup over some weary hearts here.

For now, I send heaps of sunshine and truckloads of my love.

Catch you later!

Terry Reis Kennedy

10 p.m. India Time

(Terry’s New Signboard)

I am going to retire early tonight without a book!

I need to find out what I am really feeling about life.

The flame from my altar will spread fluttering shadows onto the ceiling.

The tulsi and tuber rose garland hung on the water color painting of Sai Baba

with His Holiness the Dalai Lama will send it's fragrance across the room

to my bed, while the frogs in the lotus pond talk to each other like lovers.

When I wake up in the morning, the crickets will not be singing.

The moon will have disappeared and the shadows too.

In the mirror I will look the same, but I will not be the woman you left

standing in the doorway when you walked out......

Dalai Lama on Freedom

By Terry Reis Kennedy

When you are free, you understand freedom.  When you are not free, you might understand it more.  I have often experienced up-close situations where people are not free. 

His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama explains, “Today, the values of democracy, open society, respect for human rights, and equality are becoming recognized all over the world as universal values. To my mind there is an intimate connection between democratic values and the fundamental values of human goodness. Where there is democracy there is a greater possibility for the citizens of the country to express their basic human qualities, and where these basic human qualities prevail, there is also a greater scope for strengthening democracy. Most importantly, democracy is also the most effective basis for ensuring world peace.”

I spent time in Warsaw, Poland during the Solidarity Movement when the country was occupied by Russian communists and a state of war—martial law—was enforced.  Curfews restricted movement, shops ran out of food and basics. Luxury items such as coffee were non-existent.  The people I interviewed supported the Solidarity workers who were trying to re-gain control of their country. They wanted freedom.  I did not know how difficult my situation would be, until I arrived.  But strangers eased my distress. 

According to His Holiness, “We also need to focus on cultivating good human relations, for, regardless of differences in nationality, religious faith, race, or whether people are rich or poor, educated or not, we are all human beings. When we are facing difficulties, we invariably meet someone, who may be a stranger, who immediately offers us help. We all depend on each other in difficult circumstances, and we do so unconditionally. We do not ask who people are before we offer them help. We help because they are human beings like us.”

When the Russian KGB (State Security Committee) detained me and took me in for questioning, I was terrified.  However, the interrogating officer ended up helping me.  He had a fern plant on his tiny window sill. It was struggling to stay alive in the cold and lack of light.  I commented on the plant and we struck up a conversation about keeping ferns healthy in the deep of winter.  He was impressed by my Polish which I had learned as a child from my Polish grandmother and soon I was released.  He urged me to take the first available flight out of Poland when air travel resumed.  And when he handed back my passport we smiled at each other with loving kindness and respect.

“Peace starts within each one of us,” The Embodiment of the compassion of Avilokiteswara assures us.  “When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities and so on. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.” 

Today Poland is a free country.

Sai Baba on Time and Place of Death

By Terry Reis Kennedy

When I first came to live in the presence of my Guru, Avatar Sri Sathya Sai Baba, one of the things I wanted to know was what happens after we die.  Every day I would hike up a steep hill inside the ashram to a little library and try to master this subject.  This was long before the present library existed, long before Internet.  Invariably in the afternoon heat I would fall asleep and wake up in time for Darshan. I didn’t learn a thing. Then in one discourse I heard Swami say that after death everyone’s experience was different, just as it was after birth.

Beloved Mother Sai said, “Man is stalked ceaselessly by death; it may pounce any moment on its prey.  He is not conscious of this companion; he has not learned how to meet him and rob him of the fruits of his exploit.  The Atma does not die; only the body dies.  When man knows this, death loses his sting, death is not feared; death is but a welcome voyage into the known harbor.”

It seemed to me that I had died many times in this lifetime alone.  Yet, there was always a resurrection. I came back from the so-called deaths and took up life again as if it were brand new.  Eventually, I accepted that whatever death I was destined to meet, I would meet it gracefully.  And Swami’s words were comforting, confirming my own outlook.

He said, “If you are asked, what happens to man after death, you can point to yourselves and declare: ‘This is what happens’; they are born again.”

For a while I had fancied just blowing up in a plane.  It would be fast, I reasoned, and fairly inexpensive, sparing those who would have to pay for after-death services.  But that was forgetting that God calculates differently.  Puttaparthi Krishna said, “No one is competent to determine where a certain thing should take place. Life may end in a town, in water, or in a forest. Each one’s life will end in the place, the manner and the time prescribed for him. This is inescapable. This is according to the operation of Nature’s law based on the pairs of opposites in life—what ever has to happen, how, and what time and in what manner, has been predetermined and the mere fact that I am near by will not serve to alter them.”

Oh, I didn’t like hearing that.  So, I took comfort in other words he spoke, “The Lord, however, is a witness to all happenings.  In some instances He gives prior indications and warnings.  When these are heeded, the person concerned gets sanctified.  When one disregards them, he forfeits his sanctity.”

Over the years I learned to heed Sri Sathya Sai’s inner guidance.  I have been forewarned about many events simply by going within and communing with him—my Highest Self.  Hopefully, at the time of leaving my body, I will do exactly that.  

Tenzin calls from Varkala

By Terry Reis Kennedy

Tenzin calls from Varkala in Kerala and tells me about his Seer who lives on the beachhead does predictions by reading the ashes he scatters on the sands from his hand stove.

Tenzin urges me to find out about my love life, says the women in ancient India used to read their husbands' faces looking through sieves. Aha, so this is where I get my obsession with sieves, past-life karma with straining tea leaves, poppy seeds and husbands.

I say I will go to the Super Bazaar later and buy more sieves for my kitchen window, to hang beside the knives. No need for hand stoves and Seers.

Early Morning

(Terry’s New Signboard) 

Early morning,

heliotrope sky

above the ashram.

From the inner sanctum

the harmonium breathes

as worshippers stir

You awake.

Temple bells ring.

Bird songs flood my heart.

So many creatures

praising You.

What of defeat, what of death?

I am ecstatic.