5. Russian yogis in the Soviet era
Almost ten years before my meeting with Sathya Sai Baba, I began to practice yoga and meditation. Even as a child, I had all sorts of mystical experiences, such as astral travel in the subtle body and memories of past lives. For a long time, it seemed quite natural for me to come home from school, lie down on the sofa and in my astral body go for a walk in the neighboring park. With age, it became clear that such experiences do not happen to everyone.
I was very lucky with the social circle that has been around me since childhood. Among my parents' acquaintances were people who were seriously interested in esotericism, meditation, and yoga. It must be remembered that these were Soviet times during which yoga and meditation were banned.
At that time, it was not possible to go to India – there was no free sale of books on the topic of spiritual practices. Despite all the difficulties, there were enthusiasts in Russia engaged in practicing meditation and yoga underground. Now, it sounds very strange, but such was the reality of Russia in the mid-twentieth century.
Quite a few people practiced yoga in Moscow, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Kyiv, and other cities, and it was a very interesting and difficult time. Now we have many opportunities to find necessary information instantly, but at that time, there was no such option.
Russian yogis of the Soviet era drew information about meditation practices either from the few books they managed to bring from abroad or from internal mystical experience. They very quickly developed many supernatural abilities in themselves and entered deep meditative states to quench their spiritual thirst by immersing themselves in the inner space of the spirit first of all.
The era of underground Soviet yoga was both strange and tragic, but its raw strength was revealed in how people learned to trust their intuition and their feelings, foregoing their attention to logic and common sense. Some of the first Russian devotees of Sathya Sai Baba came from the Russian underground yoga environment.
6. How to understand that he is an Avatar?
How can one understand that Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar? Can we be sure that he is a divine incarnation? What are the criteria by which it is possible to identify an Avatar?
First of all, it is possible to realize this, but only personally and independently. Experience gained by other people can only prompt you to think on your understanding and help you in your spiritual practice. Realizing the truth can only happen within your heart. In order for awareness to occur, it is necessary to independently go through the path of reflection, possible doubts, and ultimately, deep contemplation.
It is impossible to understand the truth about the Avatar "for the company." The desire to focus on the opinion of a large number of people is associated with the desire to shift responsibility to someone else. There is a naive belief that if many people think something, then it is definitely true; after all, millions cannot be wrong, can they? They can. The history of world culture gives us numerous examples of when the opinion of the majority did not mean the truth, at all. The most important decisions on the spiritual path must be made on your own, not hiding behind the backs of others.
