SATHYA SAI BABA'S BLESSING OF DEVOTEES

It is certain that the that Sathya Sai Baba gives various forms of 'blessing'- either by the spoken or written word, or by other means, such as by touching something offered to him, supposedly even by just taking a letter. Devotees contrive possible signs by which they may receive his blessing, say - if he touches his right ear when passing them, or when making some characteristic hand movement within their line of vision. There is practically no limit to the ways in which zealous devotees can satisfy themselves that he has (or has not) given his blessing to some idea, plan, wish or person. Many believe that any blessing, not only the more definitive forms, necessarily lead to the desired or expected result, whatever it may be. If the result is contrary to ones hopes, they standard response is that he is nonetheless doing it for your own good, somehow. Some wants and wishes are better not fulfilled, and he is believed to know which are which. There are many projects, however, to which he gave his definitive blessing, but which came to nothing. Some of these have been reported in recent years, such as the most disappointing case of a young man who was granted his wish for a blessing to become an airline pilot for the airplanes Sai Baba would travel in. He enrolled and went through the entire course, then - when he came to offer his services - he was rejected nonetheless. Anything good that may follow on a blessing by Sathya Sai Baba - even after a visit to his ashram - is frequently attributed to his omnipotent benevolence, to the miraculous Sathya Sai Baba's machinations behind the scenes of the mere physical world! The unfulfilled blessing - rationalised as being "for one's own good" , a good one cannot possibly know oneself, as he claims to do. The whole 'blessing' is thus turned on its head to become a 'test of faith' or a 'tough but necessary lesson'. Once one accepts the catch-22 blessing charade, the logic allows no easy escape.