Jiva to Atma

A nice sunny afternoon and I had left the kids home with the in-laws to go watch a movie with my sister. Kismet Konnections it was to be. A movie outing is always a cheery prospect and with my sister for company, its like the best treat in the world! I was in great spirits and so was she.

Aps is a very new devotee of Swami. She came into his fold with curiosity after hearing about His amazing grace from all my experiences and was investing a little bit more of her devotion with each day. And as our conversations often do, it veered around to Swami this time too, in the auto and being in the playful mood that I was, mentally asked Swami to give me some tangible signs of His omnipresence. I don’t want any regular God pictures, I told Him in my heart….It has to be a clear sign that is is YOU.

 I told her of my request and we began looking out on the road and passing billboards etc for the said sign. For awhile, nothing happened. And I was wondering if I was being too cheeky, and if this was His way of treating that, when suddenly my eyes saw a sign and the inner voice in my heart confirmed that it was indeed from Him. Sign-o-rama…a shop name said.

It took a while to sink in, the significance of that first sign, and when it did, I chuckled out loud. It seemed like a typical sign of His sense of humour, the one I had heard so much about in the Geeta Ram Mohan talks. I pointed it out to her and she gave me that Oh my God, I don’t believe it…look.

I kept my eyes tuned for more….I was greedy for more. We passed by many street paintings of various Gods, and I rejected all of them, telling Him…no no…not this stuff, it has to be different.

My mind began to wander and I started thinking about the movie we were going for. It was in Sathyam Theatre, and just as I came to that thought, my mind did a double take as I realised what the second sign was. Sathyam. His very name (Sathya Sai baba) merged in it. Told Aps. Oh my God, she said, out loud this time. That was good Swami, I congratulated him mentally. Very good. And how foolish that I did not see it before now???

When it rains, it pours. And our Sai showers were just beginning. Right after this second sign, we saw a huuuuge billboard which read Royal Sundaram. Whoa!!! This was a big time sign, what with Sundaram being the name of Swami’s ashram here in Chennai!!!

We got thoroughly into the groove now and signs just kept coming our way now….we saw another billboard which read…This is a sign of more to come…That was utterly cosmic, that sign. It had our hair standing on end and we had to hand it to Him…..it was totally different from all the usual signs I have received so far!

We reached the movie hall and were amazed to find all the Sathyam employees oozing warmth, courtesy and such a ready smile. Like they adored you. Aps told me it didn’t usually happen that way. This day was really one of a kind. The movie, in itself, was so full of these cosmic sign moments, that it will be hard to capture and describe each and every one of them and the effect they had on us. the story, in itself, was a low fuss one, with the hero being prone to bad luck all the time, until he meets the heroine who is Lady Luck herself. his life changes when she is around and then of course, the usual love story follows with some problems thrown in to keep the plot moving. There was this one point when his luck is about to change, but he does not know it. But as a viewer, we get to see it, because right behind him is a tall building, and a huuuge poster is slowly being mounted on it, as he is thinking about his life. The poster….an ad for Gita sermons, with a beautiful picture of Lord Krishna, and as you see it being hoisted up that building….as more and more of the picture becomes visible, and with the changing tempo of the background music that ensues…..and in the charged spiritual climate that is swirling within you….that moment is just tooo much to take. It is an experience that cannot be imagined or described.

We heard a song, it seemed to be the perfect one for Him, singing all his praises, when in fact, it would have sounded like a typical love song on any other day. A sign of more to come…promised a billboard on the road. Little did I know that it echoed the promise of the Lord Himself, when only minutes before I had foolishly asked him for a sign that He was there with us. A sign that had to be different and novel and not the regular, usual stuff . Even this silly request asked so cheekily was granted with such love and aplomb. Why?

Because it was asked with faith. Full and complete faith that He was indeed that and that He would deliver. No wonder they say….faith came move mountains. It was not said lightly.