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VII.
Master of Matter
The Story of
The Crucifix
Bhagawan materializes a cross, made
of wood from the crucifix on which Jesus was nailed.
Dr. Hislop, the fortunate recipient of this
sacred cross, narrates the event in his book, “My Baba
and I”:
The evening before the Mahashivaratri Day
of 1973, we were told to be ready in the early morning for
a trip, and that when the cars were loaded and ready, we would
be told of the destination. Swami had decided that only a
handful of people would be with him when the lingam became
manifest. (On Shivarathri Day usually Baba manifests the lingam
[sacred symbol of Lord Shiva] from within His being).
Our destination was the Bandipur Sanctuary in Bandipur Forest,
several hours away in Mysore State. We arrived at the Forest
rest house in the early afternoon. The next morning we returned
to our cars, and, guided by the Forest people, took various
winding roads hoping to come upon one of the Forest's wild
elephant herds. As we moved through the trees and the open
areas, in our minds we were hoping for a replay of the dramatic
and fascinating encounter between Baba and a wild elephant
herd, which had taken place some years before when Swami and
some devotees had made a holiday expedition to the Sanctuary.
This time, however, the elephants remained in their secret
places and not even one was seen.
But the drive through the hills had another
and more important objective. Swami intended to find a correct
site where we could gather at dusk for the sacred event of
the lingam birth. It was on this great and most mysterious
occasion, unknown and beyond imagination to the world at large,
that the crucifix came into being.
As we crossed a bridge above a sandy, dry riverbed, Baba indicated
that this would be the place. He said that we would all return
here just at dusk, and this we did. The cars halted at the
side of the road, and we started to climb down the bank to
the sandy river bottom. I was beside Baba. As we passed a
bush, Swami broke off two twigs, placed them together and
asked me, “What is this, Hislop?”
"Well, Swami, it is a cross," I
answered. Baba then closed his fingers over the twigs and
directed three somewhat slow breaths into his fist, between
thumb and the forefinger. Then he opened his hand to reveal
a Christ figure crucified on a cross, and he gave it to me.
He said, "This shows Christ as he really was
at the time he left his body, not as artists have imagined
him or as historians have told about him. His stomach is pulled
in and his ribs are all showing. He had had no food for eight
days".
I looked at the crucifix, but found no words. Then Baba continued,
"The cross is made out of wood from the actual cross
on which Christ was crucified. To find some of the wood after
2,000 years took a little time! The image is of Christ after
he died. It is a dead face."
I noticed something odd and asked, "Swami, what is that
hole at the top of the cross?" Baba replied that the
cross had been originally hung from a standard.
We continued down to the riverbed, and Baba seated us in a
rectangle, with himself at the head. It could be seen that
Swami's body was already in labour, and the group at once
started singing bhajans (sacred songs of devotion and praise
to Divinity). This continued without interruption until the
lingam came out from Baba's throat and was caught by him in
a silk handkerchief. After everyone had admired the lingam,
Swami put it aside.
He then raised a small heap of sand in front
of his knees, and with his finger sketched an outline on it.
Then in a moment or two, he dug his hand into the sand and
brought forth a silver flask filled with Amrith (Divine ambrosia).
Then he moved his hand and created a small silver cup. Everyone,
from His hand, was then given a portion of the Amrith, nectar
of the Gods. How delicate and delicious was the taste! It
is unique. There is no other taste to compare to it.
Within a few weeks we were back at our home in Mexico and
were soon to witness an amazing series of events in relation
to the crucifix. The cross is so small that the details on
the figure of Christ escape the eye. A friend, Walter, came
down to our home and took some colour photographs of the crucifix.
The over-all length of the Christ figure is only one inch,
and Walter had to make some enlargements to bring out the
detail.
When he mailed us a sample of the prints,
my wife and I were astounded. I wrote to him and said that
if the pictures were seen around the world, they would create
an art sensation. I am sure it is the greatest sculpture of
Christ ever made.
A few weeks later, Walter and his wife returned
with colour enlargements of the cross. These, along with the
cross Baba had created, were spread out on the dining room
table, next to large French windows overlooking the sea. The
time was about 5 p.m. The details revealed by the photographic
enlargements were so extraordinary that all persons present
were concentrating on this amazing vision of Christ, and on
the mystery and wonder of Bhagawan.
On this afternoon, the sky along the Mexican
coast was clear and peaceful. But suddenly, without any warning,
there was a loud crash of thunder and as our eyes turned to
the windows, lightning flashed from a dark cloud where a moment
before there had been only clear sky. A violent wind rushed
through the house, causing windows and doors to open and shut
with such force that glass was in danger of shattering. The
curtains were flying in all directions. We were much startled
by this turn of events, but my wife at once, said, "It
is 5 p.m., the time Christ died on the cross, and what is
now happening is described in the Bible."
She later brought a Bible and we looked until
we found the pertinent paragraph, which said that at the moment
Christ gave up His life, a violent storm arose with lightning
and thunder, and winds rent the curtains of the temple. We
concluded that we had witnessed a wonder totally beyond our
power of imagination. Before our eyes had occurred nothing
less than a recapitulation of events related to the crucifixion.
The following day newspapers in San Diego
carried a brief story commenting on the sudden and mysterious
storm that had arisen without warning on the Mexican coast,
near Ensenada. We concluded that this recapitulation of an
event which had taken place some 2,000 years ago upon the
crucifixion of Christ, implied a great power connected in
some way with that small cross and Christ figure materialized
by Baba.
A year or so later I sent a description of
the event to Dr. Eruch B. Fanibunda for his book, ‘Vision
of the Divine’. He showed the memo to Baba. After reading
the memo, Baba said the event had occurred as described and
that the significance attributed to it was correct.
It might be thought that the story of the cross was now, complete,
but there is still a sequel.
In 1975, I made an unannounced trip to India
to consult with Baba about arrangements for a visit to America
that we hoped He would undertake. Swami had not been informed
of my visit and was away on tour when I arrived. On that day
He was having lunch with a few senior devotees and He said,
"Hislop arrived in Bangalore just now and is
waiting."
One of the men at the table (who later told
me of the scene) remarked, “You made a crucifix for
him.”
Baba replied, "Yes, I made it for him. And when
I went to look for the wood, every particle of the cross had
disintegrated and had returned to the elements. I reached
out to the elements and reconstituted sufficient material
for a small cross. Very seldom does Swami interfere with Nature,
but occasionally, for a devotee, it will be done.”
Reference: “My Baba
and I” by Dr. John S Hislop.
Page: 18-21. Publisher: Birthday Publishing Company, San Diego,
California, 1985. Copyright of the book is now with Sri Sathya
Sai Books and Publications Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam.
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