Have Patience, Have Faith

By Tatiana Mineeva

Tatiana Mineeva is from Russia and currently lives in Puttaparthi. It is difficult to find another devotee who has as much conviction in Swami’s Reappearance as Tatiana. Since Swami left His body, Tatiana has been telling every Sai devotee whom she meets, not to believe in His Maya “disappearance” and that He will be back in the same Sathya Sai form. Tatiana, along with Veronika Kravtsova and Natalia Kosareva, was instrumental in getting Sai Thy Kingdom Come translated to Russian and spreading the book and the belief of His Reappearance among Russian speaking devotees. In this article (originally written in Russian and translated to English by Veronika Kravtsova), Tatiana expresses her strong faith in His Reappearance and narrates an incredible experience that she had, which points to Swami’s return.

(This article is being presented as a letter written by Tatiana to Sreejith)

I have been waiting for our beloved Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to manifest Himself in the form that is visible to us and give His Darshan, ever since the moment He was in the hospital. I do believe that everything that we are now witnessing is His Divine Leela. I am sure that He will ‘return’ in His Sri Sathya Sai Baba Avatar form and I keep telling this to all the Russian Sai devotees whom I meet in Puttaparthi (where I have been staying for a number of years). I find that there are many people who share this conviction with you and me. After your book had been published and sold in Puttaparthi, their number started increasing. I recommend everybody to buy and read your book and I am so grateful that it exists!

I am sure that whatever Swami said is bound to happen and is the Truth. He is the Avatar!  It is not correct to diminish Him by thinking that He is a human being with a human body. He told Hislop that the whole Universe and all the billions of living beings in it are just in that thumb of His! He said: “Everything is in this hand”! He told one lady from California in an interview in the 80s: “What you see in front of you is not a usual human body: there is nothing but Jyoti (Light) behind this skin, no usual human organs, no kidneys, no liver, nothing!”. He also said that He did not depend on the five elements out of which our human bodies consisted; the five elements depended on Him for their existence. He said that each moment millions of Universes were created and destroyed in His causal body. 

In one of His latest discourses Swami shared one episode. When Sri Satyajit was cleaning Swami’s bathroom, he found one of His hairs, picked it up and put it in a box. Later that box exploded. Baba said: “Don’t think that anything that has to do with the Avatar is ordinary!”

I am thinking: how could it possibly be that Swami allowed to put Himself in a hospital, allowed the doctors there to touch Him, to operate on Him?! It all seemed so absurd and remained a mystery until I found something that gave me a clue and that I would like to share with you.

Swami once shared a story about Lord Rama. Before Ravana came to steal Mother Sita, Lord Rama had said to Her: “You know with what mission We have come. Now it is time for you to go into the fire and stay with Agni Deva!” She did what Rama told Her to do and stayed with Agni Deva. Maya Sita, that looked exactly like Her, stayed in Her place. When Ravana came, he stole Maya Sita and not the real Sita. The real Sita was never taken away! When Lord Rama killed Ravana and Maya Sita came back, He told Her to step into the fire, creating this Leela that shocked people. Maya Sita stepped into the fire and the real Sita (who had been safe with Agni Deva, having been His guest all this time) came out.

Perhaps our beloved Swami has NEVER been to the hospital! He has NEVER been operated on, He has NEVER left His body, nothing wrong has ever happened to Him! This could all be just His Leela, a drama played by Him for some very important purpose that only He knows about! He could still be in His body that is quite young and healthy, hiding from us and watching each of us and guiding us and showering His Love on us – and will show Himself to us again very soon in all His glory, revealing at least SOME of His Divinity to us to transform us and the entire world!

I would also like to share ONE OF MY DREAMS with you. In your book, you quote Swami who spoke about lifting a whole mountain range, not just one mountain Govardhana as Lord Krishna did. You mention in the book that "Swami could have been using a metaphor to explain the enormity of His task. However, with Swami anything is possible!".

The dream is about something that I believe is bound to happen. It has to do with some time and conditions when Swami will really do it on a PHYSICAL level.

Before I share this dream with you I want to tell you that I PERSONALLY heard Swami talking about His lifting mountain range in His discourse on Sri Krishna Janmashtami and I heard Him saying that it would happen during the life span of THIS AVATAR.

“Formerly when the Govardhanagiri was raised aloft by the little boy, the gopees and gopaalas realised that Krishna was the Lord. Now, it is not one Govardhanagiri, a whole range will be lifted, you will see! Have patience, have faith”. - Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 3 Chapter 15

Some people had debates with me after we have heard it: they couldn’t believe that it would happen on the physical level and thought that it was a metaphor. I told them that Krishna had done it on a physical level and that because of this manifestation of His Divinity not only many people were saved from a terrible disaster, but their devotion and faith were also raised to a new level. Swami could do the same with all of us, but now it could be on a global scale.

Here is my dream that I saw in 2004 after this conversation with my friends had taken place. It was a very vivid dream that I remember very clearly.

The dream

I am in a Darshan place (that doesn’t look exactly like Sai Kulwant Hall, it’s a bit different) and Baba is giving His Darshan. Baba’s students are singing a Bhajan about Govardhanagiri. I am sitting in the front row. Baba comes up to me and asks: “What are they singing about?” I answer; “They are singing about Govardhanagiri, about Krishna having lifted it.” I suddenly remember what Swami had said in His Discourse and my dispute with Sai friends. So I say to Him:

“Swami, can I ask You a question?” He looks straight at me and answers: “Of course, you can!” I ask: “You told us that You would lift a mountain range. Will it happen on the symbolic level?”

Swami says: “Yes!” 

I feel disappointed and I think: “Oh, it’s only a metaphor!” Then He looks straight into my eyes and says: “And on the physical level, too!”

All of a sudden everything disappears. I find myself in a strange place that is difficult for me to describe: some kind of space with nothing in it. I can’t see anybody or anything, but I am overwhelmed by a most strong feeling that I have never ever experienced or imagined before, something for which the words of our human language are too small to embrace it. Terror, horror, anguish, despair, agony are all too small to fit this feeling. It is a state of an awful shock. I know that I am witnessing something: some kind of events happening around me in this environment. Each cell and atom of my body feels and senses and knows what is going on.

I can’t stand it even for a short time and I begin to cry as loudly as I can: “Swami!!! Swami!!! I want to be with You!!!”

My state transforms at once, this feeling stops and I hear Swami’s voice that is cosmic and fills the whole space around: “When God finishes His Leela, it always happens!”

I wake up and open my eyes.

I did not share this dream with anyone for a long time, because I thought that it was not the right time to do it. Perhaps the right time has come!

I do not know what is in store for us, time will show it. I only believe that whatever Swami says is the Truth and will happen JUST THE WAY HE SAID they would. I also believe in His immense Love and Grace and that we’ll always be together.

Thank you for all the work you are doing, for being willing to be Swami’s instrument, it is such a support for me and many people whom I know. I wish you all the best! May all be happy!