Sai Brother Arun from USA says: Hi to my fellow Sai Devotees. Today I am very fortunate to be able to share my personal experiences of Shri Sadguru Sainath Sai Baba and His Miracles in my life. I have been waiting for this time to arrive. I was thinking for a while to share my experiences but was not sure how and where to share. But with Baba's blessings, I feel the time has arrived and with His Grace, I have found this website to share my experiences. I will try my best to post all the details pertaining to my experiences and how Baba has been with me and helping me pass each and every hurdle in my life so far. My association with Sai Baba dates back to my childhood days. I don't remember exactly my age. But I believe that was my first visit to Shirdi, at least from what I remember. I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I used to like raisins a lot when I was a kid. I used to purchase and eat lot of raisins with whatever pocket money I got, but I also had this occasional habit of stealing small quantities of raisins, and putting them in my pocket during my visits to local grocery store for purchasing groceries. I used to do this at a few other places as well. This continued on for a while.

Then one day, me along with my parents and another family went to visit Shirdi. We had our Darshan of Baba and came out of the Temple and were looking through the stalls which were setup outside to purchase a few things. I left my parents to go visit a stall which had cashews, raisins and other dry fruits lying outside in big pots for sale. My mind automatically influenced me to secretly take a handful of raisins and put them in my pocket without anyone noticing. But somewhere in my mind, I knew this was wrong. But my habit overpowered me. However while I was doing this, the shop owner noticed me stealing, hurriedly came to me, caught my hand, slapped me on the cheek, held me by my shirt collar, and in a very angry tone started asking me about my parents. He said he would complain to my parents. This happened so quick that I did not even know how to react. So many things were running through my mind. I was shocked, and then later started crying, apologized and begged him to leave me. Luckily my parents were not nearby or else he would have brought it to their notice. He showed some mercy on me and released his grip from my shirt collar, and warned me never to steal again and allowed me to go. I was relieved. I was happy that my parents weren't notified. I used to be very scared of my dad, and I knew my dad would have beaten me up so bad if he had known this. And not to forget the embarrassment and humiliation for me and my parents in front of our relatives family who came along with us if this had been made known to them. I decided then and there itself never ever to steal again. I thought as if Baba Himself came and warned me in the form of shopkeeper and taught me a fitting lesson there. I thanked Baba that my parents were not notified and took a resolution never to steal again. And I stood by my word ever since then.

After that we visited Shirdi again a couple of times. Baba used to have a special place in my heart always, but I don’t think I was completely devoted to Baba or believed in Baba fully. Then later when I was in 2nd year of my undergraduate college, me, my sister, my mom and my cousin brother were planning to visit Shirdi. There was heavy rainfall previous day and the day we were planning to start for Shirdi. There were floods as well at some places and some routes/roads had to be closed due to the heavy rainfall. So we were not sure if we would be able to go. We were in a confusion. We were not sure if the buses were even operating. Many people advised us to reschedule. I am not sure why, but even I was trying to convince my mom to reschedule. Maybe I was scared of the floods or maybe it was something else I don’t know. But my mom and my cousin brother decided to place the entire burden on Baba and finalized to start that day itself despite heavy rainfall. I was not 100 percent convinced. I felt like I was being forced to go. I felt like I did not want to go but I could not say no to my mother. So we took a bus and then a train to Shirdi. Luckily we were not impacted much with the rainfall. The journey was smooth with Baba's blessings. As they say, Baba pulls His devotees to Shirdi wherever they are and no matter what the circumstances are and assures them safety with His blessings. We had some dinner in the train that night.

Next day early in the morning, we were in Shirdi. We visited the Temple, took Baba's Darshan, and as soon as I came out, I started vomiting. I was not feeling well. It was due to food poisoning from the food that I had on train. Everyone had the same meal but surprisingly I was the only one who got sick. We went back to the hotel. I took some medicine and slept. My mom, sister and cousin brother went back to the Temple to have second Darshan. They came back and told me that the second Darshan was much better and much peaceful. They were allowed to stay in the Temple for a long time and stare at Baba as long as they wish and seek His blessings. During our first Darshan, we were pushed out very quickly due to the large crowd. But for them luckily the second Darshan was much more satisfactory with Baba's grace. They told me I was unlucky to miss out. Then I started thinking that this might be due to my hesitation in coming to Shirdi. I did not come here will fully and Baba taught me a lesson here. If I was more willing full and believed Baba completely leaving off doubts and negative attitude, maybe I would have also had the opportunity of second Darshan of Baba. This incident completely changed my attitude and devotion. I was more careful of my actions from there on and was devoted to Baba.

After 4 years, I had encountered another Miracle of Baba. This was in 2012. 2011 was very horrible for me in terms of education, and I was trying for a visa to US for doing my Masters. I was not sure if I would get a visa because of a few complications. There used to be a Temple of Baba nearby our house and I used to go visit the Temple whenever I could, primarily on Thursdays. I used to wake up early and be at the temple by 6:30 AM to have the opportunity to do some Seva to Baba such as washing Baba's idol, doing the milk Abhishekam and then later cleaning Baba's Idol. I felt I was very fortunate to have such opportunity. I used to feel very happy and confident. I did this for nearly 6 months. My visa interview date quickly approached and I was very nervous. But I had immense faith in Baba. I have read in some forums that there is a particular interview officer at the American Embassy who is notorious for rejecting visas. The day of my visa interview approached. It was Thursday. I have not told anyone, my parents, my friends or anyone about my interview. I was scared. I was nervous. I was waiting for my token number to be called and praying to Baba that I should not be interviewed by that particular person who usually rejects. My token number was called and sadly it was the counter of that particular interviewer. I had lost all hopes by then. I thought even my visa would be rejected. The person in front of me got rejected and that dashed my hopes even further and made me even more nervous. My name was called. I approached the counter, chanting Baba's Name in my heart. I was asked a few questions and I had answered them. The interviewer was typing something in the computer. He took nearly 5 minutes to type. During this whole time, I was chanting Baba's Name within myself. I was praying from the bottom of my heart to Baba. And then I heard the person say, Your visa is approved. I thought oh my God. Thank You, Thank You. Then I left very happy. I can’t describe the immense joy I felt and I could not thank Baba enough. I was going to leave to US in 2 months.

I went back to the Temple whenever I could and thanked Baba for helping me with His blessings. This was the first incident which really convinced me that Baba exists and is watching over me. I decided to visit Shirdi before I left to US. As my visit to Shirdi was approaching, and unfortunate incident had occurred. Boiling water fell on my feet and had burnt the skin on my right foot. I was under severe pain. I was asked to take complete rest and not go anywhere. But I did not want to postpone my Shirdi trip. I was scared that I might leave to US without visiting my beloved Baba in Shirdi. So I went to the doctor, took his permission, changed the dressing on my feet, and left to Shirdi in car with my friends. My feet hurt me a lot during my journey and was swollen as well. But I was very determined to see Baba and have His blessings. We came to Shirdi and visited the Mandir next morning. Unfortunately the Mandir was very crowded and there was a huge line. I could barely walk, was under immense pain and not sure if I could stand in the queue. So we pleaded with a security guard about my position and he sympathized with my situation and luckily allowed us to enter directly into the Mandir skipping the entire queue. I was very much pleased with the Darshan of Baba. I felt very happy. My joy knew no bounds. With the Grace and blessings of Baba, we returned to our hometown safely.

But, my feet was in a very bad situation. It had swollen a lot and was in a lot of pain. But I had my belief in Baba that He would take care of it. I went to visit another doctor, a surgeon. He looked at my feet, scolded me for not taking rest and my immature behaviour, and told me that the injury has become severe now, and it may take at least 3-4 weeks or even more to completely heal if I take complete bed rest. But I did not care when the doctor scolded me. I was so happy that I was able to take Baba's Darshan. I had full faith in Baba and with His blessings, my feet healed pretty quickly and I was able to leave for USA. Even in USA, I was able to clear many hurdles with Baba's grace. My faith in Baba continued to grow and grow. Once I had finished my Masters, I was looking for a job. I had received a good job offer but I have not received my employment authorization card yet, and without that I would not be able to work. My case was pending with USCIS and was not sure when I would receive it. I thought I might lose that job and was very depressed. I prayed to Baba to do something. I did not want to lose the job offer. Amazingly, my case got moved and I was able to receive my employment authorization card within a week and was able to join the job. I couldn't thank Baba enough for this Miracle. I was able to survive in my job thanks to Baba's blessings. I also did Sai Satcharitra Parayanam for 1 week to pray to Baba and request Him to ensure my card arrives soon. And with Baba's Grace everything went smooth even though I was tensed at that time.

Around 4 months later, I decided to apply for H1B visa because my student visa was expiring. Since the H1B was lottery I was not sure if my application would be picked. But I had left it to Baba. I put my faith in Baba and with His Grace my application got picked in lottery. Next came the big problem. I thought my application would definitely be scrutinized and an RFE would be issued since all necessary documents were not submitted. I was concerned that I would receive some sort of RFE asking me to explain how my education matches with my work, lack of client letter etc. I was concerned if such RFE was issued, how would me and my employer be able to respond to such queries. My employer warned me that if an RFE was issued on my application, there is a higher chance of my application getting rejected than approved. I was scared and depressed. I was praying Baba day and night to do something about it. I even started doing the 1 week Satcharitra Parayanam and exactly the day that I had finished the Parayanam (Thursday), my application got approved without RFE. I was shocked, surprised, amazed. Words fail to describe my joy. Another miracle of Baba. My faith in Baba doubled that day. I can’t describe in words how lucky and fortunate I felt. I shared my happiness with my parents. My mom and sister are also ardent devotees of Baba. I have encountered difficulties later on as well, but it’s part of life and I have immense faith in Baba to help me through them. I hope Baba continues to shower His blessings and help me and my family clear any/all hurdles in life with His Grace as He did until now. I request Baba to confer His blessings on all Sai devotees and thank this website for allowing me to share my experiences. I place my head on the holy feet of Baba and request Him to shower His blessings on us, always guide us to walk on the true path and help us through our difficulties with His Grace. As the Satcharitra says, "Difficulties surround us only to move us and confirm our faith in Baba" Trust Baba completely and chant Sai Sai and He will ward off all difficulties. Om Sai Ram.
 

Source: As narrated by Mr.Arun from US a Baba devotee.