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190 SPIRIT AND THE MIND
mind. The mind is part of the world of duality, the world of many names and forms. But you are beyond all of that. You are beyond the material universe, beyond difference, beyond duality. You are eternal and unchanging—beyond time and space.”
He turned and pointed to a number of people in the room saying, “She says ‘l’, he says ‘I’, they say ‘I’—we all experience this ‘I’. What is the significance of this? It is that beyond all the separate and distinct names and forms there is an underlying reality that is the same for everyone. This inner experience of I reflects an eternal, universal basis from which everything comes and to which everything must return, a reality that is beyond time and space. This is the reality that is worth man’s attention. Attaining it, realizing it—that is the purpose of his existence.”
Baba paused a moment. It seemed that his train of thought took another direction and he continued with heightened excitement in his voice. “Shirdi Baba had a ring with a large blue stone. Blue is the color of the infinite—that which cannot be measured, that which is unfathomable. See,” he said, gesturing with his arms, “the sky is blue and the ocean is blue. Blue is a cool color. It is peaceful. Look around; the doctors in the room are all wearing blue —it comforts and soothes.”
Sure enough, every doctor in the room was wearing a blue shirt. He continued, “And etched in the middle of this blue stone is the symbol of OM. OM is the inner identity of this unfathomable reality. It is this inner reality, awareness of the infinite, universal self, that is what we must learn to realize.” And as he began to circle the air with his hand, everyone froze in wonderment, awaiting his creation. In a flash, he produced a large ring. “Here is the ring that Shirdi wore at the time of his death.”2
Baba passed the beautiful blue stone ring around the room for everyone to see and touch. Light seemed to emanate from its center, making the OM symbol etched on its surface seem even more prominent.
Westerners won’t be familiar with Shirdi Sai Baba, a spiritual figure whom millions in India revere as an Avatar. An object belonging to this sacred figure would be as treasured as any of Christ’s possessions. Shirdi died in 1918, after telling his followers that he would be reborn eight years later. Sai Baba was born in 1926. From early adolescence he has told his followers that he was previously Shirdi Baba, come again to continue his teachings. He also says that he will come one more time in the form of Prema Sai Baba soon after he leaves this body at the age of 96. Now he was


































































































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