When you inhale, the breath itself produces the sound "So", and when you exhale it produces the sound "Ham". Together, it sounds like "So-Ham", which means "I am God." You are constantly breathing, your very breathing naturally repeats “So-Ham”, “So-Ham”, “I am God, “I am God.”

(Sathya Sai Baba – "Dasara", 1998)

So-Ham is one of the most important practices of Kriya Yoga. Sathya Sai Baba often spoke about So-Ham meditation. At various times, he advised his devotees on various types of meditation techniques, but he recommended meditation "So-Ham" as the most ancient and effective technique leading to a high spiritual experience and a significant increase in human energy.

The first sound "So" means Absolute Consciousness. The second sound "Ham" means individual consciousness. There is another translation of this Mantra. The sound "So" means "the father principle of the universe." The sound "Ham" is the "mother principle of the universe." This is a very short and simple Mantra containing the entirety of the universe.

This technique is performed as follows: the sound “So” is mentally pronounced on the inhale, and the sound “Ham” is mentally pronounced on the exhale. During the execution of this technique, it is necessary to be aware of the process of your breathing, mentally pronouncing “So” on each inhalation and “Ham” on each exhalation.

The nature and speed of breathing is related to your emotional state. A person who is in a state of harmony and peace breathes slowly. A calm state of mind is manifested in calm breathing. Those who are under stress breathe quickly and deeply. A restless state of mind is manifested in restless breathing. Emotional states affect breathing. It is logical to argue that a conscious change in breathing affects the flow of thoughts and emotional states.

In a normal situation, the flow of thoughts forms the character of the breath, and during the practice of meditation, conscious breathing forms a harmonious flow of thoughts. You build your life with your thoughts, so you need to understand that it is breathing that is an important tool in harmonizing thoughts, which means harmonizing life in general.

It is very difficult to influence the flow of thoughts directly, but it is quite easy to change the breath. Many people wonder how they can calm their anxious thoughts. Breathing is a powerful key to influencing the nature of your thoughts, this is important because it is thought forms that form all the circumstances of life.

The movement of vital energy in the body is also associated with breathing. Life energy in Sanskrit is Prana. The harmonious movement of vital energy is also associated with the nature of breathing. In order to harmonize the flows of vital energy, it is necessary to consciously work with breathing.

Perfect meditation begins with mindful breathing. Conscious breathing is a method that can positively influence health promotion, inner peace and emotional stability, release from fears, stress, and depressive states. All of this can be achieved with the “So-Ham” meditation. Conscious breathing allows you to awaken and redirect vital energy.

Sathya Sai Baba said that awareness of breathing and understanding of the original divinity of your soul is important, but what words you pronounce is not so important. Instead of the mantra "So-Ham", you can mentally say, "I am God." Inhale as you say, "I" and as you exhale mentally say, "God".

The universe is the dream of God. By practicing the So-Ham meditation, you come to realize the truth – God is within you – and, at this higher level, you begin to understand the unity of "I" and God. Sathya Sai Baba is a divine incarnation in the perfect state of the True Self, which is why everything was possible for him, because the True Self is the original source of everything.

The practice of "So-Ham" leads to the realization that "I and My Heavenly Father are one." Realizing this truth, you begin to perceive everything that happens as your dream, and it depends only on you whether it is a happy one.

31. Sathya Sai Baba rescued a cobra that was run over by a car

Here is another story that shows the extent of Sathya Sai Baba’s love for all, both human and creature. One day Sathya Sai Baba was returning by car to his ashram from a nearby town. Suddenly, a cobra crawled onto the road. The driver looked at Sathya Sai Baba in the back seat. He seemed to be deep in thought, sitting with his eyes closed, and so the driver decided not to stop and take care of the cobra so as not to disturb him.

The car quickly flew along the road, and an hour later they reached the ashram, stopping in front of the main temple. When Sathya Sai Baba got out of the car, everyone present noticed his clothes were covered in dirt. Having mustered up the courage, someone asked how this happened because when he got into the car, his clothes were completely clean. Sathya Sai Baba smiled and explained that the dirt on his clothes was because he materialized for a moment on the road to save a cobra.

Strange as it may seem, the practice of meditation in itself is not a spiritual act. Only when you combine meditation with the motivation of love and compassion do you become authentic spiritual practitioners. Vedic mythology shows that all demons also practiced meditation and mantras. Despite this, they still remained demons, because their motivation was based on satisfying their selfish desires, to the detriment of everyone around them. Therefore, one should not think that a demon is one who denies the practice of meditation and mantra. In fact, a demon is someone who has a false, selfish motivation.

The main sign of a spiritual person is a sincere motivation of love and compassion. With a spiritual person, any action becomes divine, because it is aimed at the benefit and benefit of all those around.

How could Sathya Sai Baba perform such an amazing miracle? Think about it, he materialized for a moment, right on the road, saved the cobra and got back in the car, all this happened in a fraction of an instant. Incredible! It may seem to some that saving a cobra with the help of supernatural abilities is not a very great feat.

Sathya Sai Baba has great love and compassion for all beings. This example shows how important it is to be responsible for one's actions and try not to harm any living beings. In the Vedic tradition, the animal world is closely connected with people. Of course, people are at a higher level of development, but animals are perceived in India as part of divine creation. It is well known that almost all animals and birds are considered an important part of Vedic mythology.

This story once again makes us think about the meaning of the miracles that Sathya Sai Baba constantly demonstrated. Some may ask, is it not easier to just stop the car for a minute and thereby save the cobra? Yes, it might have been easier to just stop the car, but divine teachers prefer to use any situation to teach a lesson. Every action of Sathya Sai Baba had a deep meaning and carried a divine message.

32. Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity

All Vedic texts and all sages with high spiritual experience describe God as the highest inner essence of the soul of every living being.

(Sathya Sai Baba – Gita Vahini, Chapter 20)

Philosophy gives theoretical knowledge of truth, and yoga leads to the inner experience of truth. Philosophers meditate on truth, and yogis reside in the actual experience of truth. One who practices self-inquiry is on the spiritual path, and everyone must independently discover the truth about himself.

The answer to the question about the nature of one's "Self" can only be found in meditation. To the extent that a person is in the process of self-exploration is the extent that he is on the spiritual path.

There are many answers to the fundamental question: who is "I"? These two answers are the most basic: "I am the Soul" and "I am God." How to make a choice between the human and divine nature of your "I"? How to understand who the "I" really is? Am I the individual Soul or God? There is no need to make any choice. In fact, at every moment of time, "I" carries both the Divine and human nature.

Sathya Sai Baba says that "the sages describe God as the highest inner essence of the soul of every living being." This means that the reality of "God" and the reality of the "soul" exist in parallel. Both of these realities, absolute and individual, are in primordial harmony and unity.

The Self is potential and manifested, positive and negative, soft and hard, logical and intuitive, eternal and momentary. The Self is a great ocean and a small drop. Self is beginningless unity and infinite diversity. Self is unity in diversity and diversity in unity.

33. Personal meetings with Sathya Sai Baba, everything was unpredictable

Interviews were an important aspect of the daily program. Sathya Sai Baba would sit in his chair, which looked more like a throne. Some followers came with spiritual and philosophical questions, and some with questions relating to the circumstances of life. All those invited to a personal meeting sat on the carpet directly in front of him. Sathya Sai Baba was like a conductor for the interview. Quite often people brought photographs of their relatives with them in order for Sathya Sai Baba to bless them.

Only Sathya Sai Baba decided how the meeting went, if he wanted to give someone the opportunity to speak, he gave them that opportunity, at the same time he could completely ignore someone else. Sathya Sai Baba could turn to someone present and ask: “What are your questions? What is your problem? What do you want to say or ask? Then the person got the right to talk to him and ask his questions.

Some tried to interrupt the neighbor and ask their question, but Sathya Sai Baba made it very clear with whom exactly he wanted to communicate at the moment.

There were cases when large groups came, but Sathya Sai Baba could only talk to one person during the whole meeting, and the rest just sat and listened. There were interviews where he could talk to each person in turn. Every time everything was unpredictable.

When people turned to Sathya Sai Baba with really important questions, he listened attentively and gave detailed answers. If people came who wanted to show off their intelligence and education, Sathya Sai Baba interrupted such a farce. If he understood that a person was not sincere in his questions and asked them only to be smart, he could abruptly interrupt the clever man and point out his hidden vices and problems in front of everyone.

Only those who were completely sincere in their questions received deep and comprehensive answers from Sathya Sai Baba.

34. Sathya Sai Baba met a woman whom he knew in a previous life

Here is another story told to me by Yogi Hari. One day Sathya Sai Baba went on a long journey through the state of Kerala, in the southwest of India. He visited many cities and villages and finally came to the ancient city of Thiruvananthapuram. During this trip, as always, Sathya Sai Baba was accompanied by numerous devotees, and among them was a man named Bhagavantam. During this meeting, Sathya Sai Baba drew attention to an elderly woman.

Sathya Sai Baba turned to Bhagavantam and said he knew this woman well from childhood. At that time, Sathya Sai Baba was about 30 years old, and the woman was over 70, so Bhagavantam was extremely surprised at such strange words and decided to ask Sathya Sai Baba what they meant. He immediately said that he knew this woman well in a past life. In a previous incarnation, Sathya Sai Baba lived in the city of Shirdi, in western India. He was called Shirdi Sai Baba.

Bhagavantam approached the woman and asked if she had seen Shirdi Sai Baba as a child. The woman said that when she was a very small girl, her uncle took her with him to see Shirdi Sai Baba, and he gave her a medallion, which she wore around her neck all her life.

Thus, Bhagavantam was able to confirm the words of Sathya Sai Baba. Most often, people think in terms of the events of one life, but Sathya Sai Baba knew exactly everything that happened to everyone in previous incarnations.

35. People are like rays of a single sun

A person must do his job in society, constantly realizing the relationship between Spirit and Matter. There are many people around you, all people have different physical bodies, but in all bodies there is one divine Spirit.

(Sathya Sai Baba – “Lectures at Kodaikanal”, 1996)

The world around us reveals great diversity, but at the base of this diversity lies a deep unity. One divine spirit dwells in all people. Unity and diversity are one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.

Everyone has their own purpose in life, but it is important not only to understand it, but also to realize it. Realizing your purpose in life is real success. A person who lives in harmony with the aspiration of his soul is truly happy and satisfied. A person is realized not only in deep meditative practices, but in the actions he performs physically.

The realization of one's divine potential occurs through activities in society, it can be scientific research, artistic creativity, social activities. We are all united in spirit, but in this manifested world we have incarnated as a huge number of unique individuals with our own talents and characteristics. The sun has many rays and people are like the rays of a single sun.

It is written in the Avadhuta Gita:

“For the True Self, there is no birth and death, there is no bondage, there is no liberation from bondage. Truly, each person is inherently an eternal reality and is inherently perfect. The Self is absolutely pure, I have no body, my mind is a stream of thoughts that have nothing to do with me, Self is beyond the illusion, Self calmly observe the illusion of this world. In the True Self, there is no distinction between desire and its absence, activity and inactivity. Although I am acting, there is no activity for me.”

Some mistakenly assume that the philosophy of the True Self supposedly must lead to the denial of family relationships, financial success, the implementation of social projects. Sometimes people read the books of Sathya Sai Baba or the ancient Vedic texts such as the Avadhuta Gita and make the erroneous conclusion that the contemplation of the True Self should supposedly be accompanied by complete apathy and denial of the physical and material world around them.

The question is: how do you perceive yourself and the surrounding space? Are you attached to the results of your actions? In fact, the philosophy of the True Self, on the contrary, helps to reveal dormant potentials and talents. Approaching the deep essence of his soul, a person becomes a wise creator of life.

You are incarnated with a special spiritual mission, but each person around you is also unique, and incarnated also with a special spiritual mission. No one is better or worse than you – everyone plays a role in the performance of life – all people are different, and each person is completely unique. Each person is God receiving the experience of human existence.

You live in harmony with the entire universe, complementing everything that happens around you. Realizing your purpose in life, you feel the whole world complements and helps you to realize the work you do. The unity of spirit and matter is the unity of Divine Consciousness and Cosmic Energy. Both of these aspects are inside each person, and their play and interaction give rise to the whole diversity of the universe.

36. Immaculate Conception of Sathya Sai Baba

Sometimes you have to see something to believe it. This story is about a religious man whose doubts kept him from believing the greatest miracle of all until his questions were answered by the voice of a woman.

Sathya Sai Baba once said that in ancient times the Divine Consciousness incarnated on Earth as Krishna. According to tradition, Krishna was born from a virgin birth, he entered like a flash of light into the womb of his mother. Sathya Sai Baba declared that just as Krishna incarnated on earth in ancient times, he, Sathya Sai Baba, incarnated in this world in our era.

Among those present was one of the renowned experts in the Vedic scriptures named Rama Sharma. Sathya Sai Baba's words aroused many doubts in him. He decided not to voice his doubts aloud, but all this seemed very strange and even implausible. Krishna was a divine incarnation. Rama Sharma questioned the validity of Sathya Sai Baba’s claim, asking: is Sathya Sai Baba as great and significant as Krishna?

As time passed, Rama Sharma continued to think over the strange words of Sathya Sai Baba. His doubts not only did not decrease with time but, actually, became more and more intense. He constantly pondered whether it was true that Sathya Sai Baba was the divine incarnation of our era.

Rama Sharma knew that one of the few signs of a divine incarnation is a virgin birth, just as Krishna, Buddha and Jesus were conceived. If he could find out whether Sathya Sai Baba was born in this way, then he could answer with confidence the difficult question about the authenticity of Sathya Sai Baba's divine origin.

One day, Sathya Sai Baba was sitting surrounded by a group of devotees and visitors. Rama Sharma was also present, and it was during this meeting, that he felt it a good moment to clarify the difficult issue. Gaining courage, he asked Sathya Sai Baba bluntly whether his conception was virgin or ordinary.

All those present were extremely surprised by such a strange question. In silence, they waited for Sathya Sai Baba’s answer. This story took place in the ‘60s, when Easwaramma, Sathya Sai Baba's mother, was still alive. At this particular meeting, she was sitting next to her son. Sathya Sai Baba addressed her in a mysterious voice and asked her to share about the incident which happened to her next to the well, nine months before his birth.

According to eyewitnesses, Easwaramma did not want to tell this story but Sathya Sai Baba insisted and so she agreed.

She explained how on that day, as usual, she went to the nearest well for water. Suddenly, a luminous blue ball appeared in the sky out of nowhere, which swiftly flew up to the frightened woman and entered her stomach. Immediately, she experienced an exalted spiritual state, after which she lost consciousness. An hour later, she woke up and rushed home where she told her mother-in-law what had happened. The excited mother-in-law strictly forbade Easwaramma to tell her relatives and neighbors about the event, so as not to cause speculation and ridicule. Many years later, Easwaramma first spoke about this amazing incident at the request of Sathya Sai Baba himself.

After Easwaramma told all the details of this story, Sathya Sai Baba turned to the astonished Rama Sharma and asked him if his doubts that he, Sathya Sai Baba – born of a virgin birth – had been dispelled.

Immediately after the birth of Sathya Sai Baba, many relatives and immediate neighbors clearly felt he was not an ordinary baby. In his presence, people experienced unusual spiritual states of bliss and joy, and for this reason visitors came especially to Easwaramma's house in order to glance at her newborn son.

37. Sathya Sai Baba in the Himalayas

In the early ‘60s, Sathya Sai Baba made one of his pilgrimages to the Himalayas. The most ancient and sacred city located in the upper Himalayas is Badrinath. It is hot there in summer and a lot of snow falls in winter with severe frosts making life in the mountains extremely difficult. The road leading to lowland India is closed for the entire winter season. Few people are able to live in Badrinath all year round and most pilgrims and tourists go for the summer and leave in the winter.

Badrinath is a small town nestled among snowy peaks surrounded by a few ashrams and hermitages in the gorges. In the center of the town there is an ancient temple of Lord Vishnu. Pilgrims from all over India come here to receive the blessings of the Divine. In previous eras, getting to the Badrinath area was difficult, with yogis and hermits being protected from the bustle of big cities and military conflicts.

The city of Badrinath got its name from the fact that the ancient temple of Badrinath is located there. This temple is so ancient that it is difficult to say who founded it and when. It is only known that a long time ago it was a temple of Shiva. There was a period when the temple was abandoned. In the eighth century the temple was restored by the great mystic and philosopher Shankara, who materialized the main statue of the Deity. Nearby is a sacred lake. According to legend, Shankara materialized the statue right under the water and then took it to the shore. It was Shankara who restored the temple and installed a miraculous statue there.

Some of the most significant teachers have the power to create from the world of their imagination objects that do not previously exist in the world. There were cases when Sathya Sai Baba materialized statues underground. Usually it happened like this: Sathya Sai Baba blessed a piece of land and then ordered the men to dig in the indicated place.

To the astonishment of those assembled, stone or metal statues of various Deities were dug up. Some of the statues that Sathya Sai Baba materialized in such an unusual way were small in size and some were quite large. I saw a huge statue of Ganesha that Sathya Sai Baba materialized near Bangalore in southern India.

The very fact that Sathya Sai Baba visited the Himalayas several times in his life is very curious. About five thousand years before the birth of Christ, the sage Vasistha lived in the Himalayas. His ashram was located in a cave on the banks of the sacred Ganges. Legends about this cave ashram have remained since ancient times, but no one knew where it was located.

During a trip to the Himalayas, Sathya Sai Baba pointed out the exact location of this sacred cave and gave his blessing for a small ashram to be built at the entrance to the sacred cave. Thus, the cave of the sage Vasistha was rediscovered. I have visited this beautiful place many times and have been in awe of the magnificent mountains, fast icy waters of the Ganges, fresh air, and amazing atmosphere. Anyone who comes to this fabulous place feels the beauty and power of the Himalayas.

In the ‘60s, Sathya Sai Baba visited the Himalayas several times and his route was always the same. He would come to the holy city of Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas, and then he would travel with a small group of devotees up the Himalayas to Badrinath.

He spent only a week in the Himalayas and then returned back to the south of India to his ashram. The great and mysterious question is: why did Sathya Sai Baba make repeated pilgrimages to the Himalayas? This amazing region of the world is famous for the fact that great Yogis and Mahatmas have lived here since time immemorial.