Rating *****

242 pages
published by Samuel Weiser
ISBN 0877287945

This book narrates in a vivid style Phyllis Krystal's encounters with Sai Baba over a period of ten years. As   readers we share some of the personal development and growth she experienced, plus some of the very everyday things you wonder about when visiting India for the first time. What do you wear? How do you make sure you don't lose your sari? How do you handle the separation between men and women at the ashram? When Sai Baba looks through you, and sees you, and knows your problems, how do you deal with it? This book presents a warm view of Sai Baba - the avatar, teacher, healer, diplomat and visionary -  and you feel very close to him and what he represents in the world.

«When he stepped through the gates and came into full view, I felt a quickening all through me. A ripple of happiness welled up from deep within and quickly expanded until I was enveloped in a warm glow of happiness at being in his presence again. It was like coming home and being reunited with my real Mother and Father, both contained in that one small body. That thought reminded me of a previous interview, when he had warned me not to come back to see "this little body", but to find him in my heart. Yet here I was, thrilling at the very first sight of his physical form approaching. Then I also recalled that he had added that we would come back to be regenerated. So that was what I was feeling! My battery was already being recharged at the very first sight of him. That must be what is meant by darshan. I had known the meaning of that term in theory, but now I was experiencing it in my entire being, and on many different levels of awareness. His power was so potent that the mere sight of him could set in motion an inner reaction when I least expected it. Perhaps the point I needed to see was that it was precisely when I was least expecting it that I was open to receive it. Whereas at other times, when my mind was clamoring with its questions, expectations and desires, the way was blocked to acceptance of his power and its action within me. At that point I was reminded of one of his pet sayings: "I will give you what you want in the hope that you will want what I have come to give you.»

- Chapter 10, 66

«I soon became aware that while I was in the immediate presence of Baba, it was much easier to maintain contact with the Godself within my own heart which he symbolizes in phyiscal form. Because of this almost constant awareness, I found I could handle the heretofore hidden aspects of myself as they surfaced from the unconscious into the conscious level of my mind where they became recognizable. Admittedly, I did not particularly care for some of those aspects when they reared their heads, though I realized that I needed to see them clearly before I could let go of them or transmute them. Many other devotees have informed me that they too have obeserved this activity in themselves and in others. All agree that it is most disconcerting until it is understood that changes can be brought about only after the problem has been clearly seen.
Some devotees experience similar cleansing episodes in their physical bodies. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, they become very ill, often accompanied by a very high temperature which burns out the negativity as it emerges from the unconscious. Suffice it to say that around Baba's energy there is no knowing what will take place on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes.»

- Chapter 18, 155

Phyllis Krystal was born in England but lives and works as a psychotherapist in California where she has developed her own techniques of psychotherapy. For over thirty years, she has been developing a counseling method using symbols and visualization techniques that help people detach from external authority figures and patterns in order to rely on their own Higher Consciousness as guide and teacher.

Last Updated Wednesday, January 13, 1999