During the holiday, several photographers took numerous pictures. To everyone's surprise, one of the pictures taken during the program clearly showed that Sathya Sai Baba was standing on the stage next to the children, although he was not physically there.
When Mr. Subba Rao told me this story, I asked if the photograph had survived. I did not want to offend my interlocutor with distrust, but I still wanted to get confirmation of the wonderful story. Mr. Subba Rao silently got up from his chair, went to the closet, took out a photograph and showed it to me. I carefully held the priceless photograph in my hands. Outwardly, it was an ordinary photo in which there were thousands of children on the stage with Sathya Sai Baba as if he were actually there in person. This shot was something special. Joy shone in my heart as I carefully peered at the photo, which was a manifestation of the love and omnipresence of the Avatar.
A similar incident happened in the mid ‘90s in Moscow in the home of some devotees. One day about fifteen devotees gathered together. They’d practiced mantras all evening and after that merrily drank tea and ate cakes. Some of those present took some pictures. After the pictures were printed, everyone saw that Sathya Sai Baba appeared in several pictures standing between the people.
Sathya Sai Baba was born from an immaculate conception. This was told many years later by his mother, Easwaramma. A luminous ball descended on her and entered her stomach. Easwaramma lost consciousness, but it was not an ordinary swoon – it was the highest divine trance. She then realized that she was pregnant.
No one knew about this for a long time and it was only in the ‘60s when Sathya Sai Baba allowed his elderly mother to tell the residents of the ashram that he was born as a result of the descent of divine energy.
The miracle of the Immaculate Conception in Christianity is attributed exclusively to Jesus Christ. In fact, a number of high teachers were incarnated through an immaculate conception, because they did not have the karma of birth in the human world. This is how Krishna and Buddha incarnated.
This is a very complex topic beyond human understanding. Avatars come in different levels. The complexity of the theme of Avatars lies in the fact we look at the physical body of a divine teacher and see in front of us, it would seem, an ordinary person.
