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The Making of a New-Age Therapist 205
affected by it. At a certain stage in my development I began getting the message that I was to be more actively involved with the outer world. One day I was walking in the hospital when a secretary approached and said, “Dr. Sandweiss, you should stop now.” I should stop what? She said, “Your pants are falling off, you’re too skinny.” Before meeting Baba I was a stocky 205 pounds and after meeting him I became a strict vegetarian, observed periods of fasting and had lost weight to 165 pounds. So my pants were sagging, and I was getting to the point where if I turned sideways some people might have had trouble seeing me. Not even my best friend would tell me about this “spiritual anorexia,” until a kind secretary told me to stop.
This is how Sai Baba helped awaken me to my responsibilities in the outer world. It was at a time when I was with Baba during Christmas 1978. I love to go to India—something special always happens. Away from the hectic life here, the emotions and mind quiet down and I move from the outer to the inner world—and into a seemingly paradoxical state combining great peace and joyful exhilaration. It’s a level of consciousness and a way of life I can’t express in words, though God knows I’ve certainly tried.
The central focal point at Prasanthi Nilayam, Baba’s ashram, is the temple in which he lives. He’s always going in and out so people are constantly looking that way and gathering there to see him and sing to him. And if one is extremely fortunate, as I have been once in a while, you may be allowed to sit on the veranda, just outside the temple door. The area is charged with a marvelous excitement. I sense Baba’s presence strongly there, and when he appears at the door I can hardly remain in my skin, the excitement is so great. Devotees congregate around the temple twice a day for darshan, when he walks through the crowd. The vision of Baba in the midst of all those open hearts is so beautiful. I love to space-out on that porch and move into my inner life. I could sit there eight to ten hours a day until my legs turned to tree stumps—and still crave to stay longer.
I particularly took to the so-hum meditation. According to Baba, the breath itself is a very holy mantra or sound: so-hum—”I am He.” With each breath we’re saying, “I am He, I am He,” constantly being reminded that we are one with God. Baba says that we should link our awareness to each of the 21,600 breaths we take every day in order to constantly challenge the delusion of duality. He asks us to have such


































































































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