Discovering my Higher Power
Sri Satya Sai Baba
by Don L. McDowell
Paperback, 255 pages, Rs 55
Don L. McDowell was born in smalltown USA and during his school years, undertook ROTC training and was appointed Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. At the outbreak of World War II, McDowell was commissioned as 2nd Lt in the Army Air Corps as an engine maintainer for various types of aircraft.
Throughout his life, McDowell felt that an unseen Higher Power guided his life. He relates his three experiences of tornados in the book. It was as a young boy, some two weeks after his first experience of a tornado, when he was sitting up in a tree during his grandmother's funeral (he refused to attend) ... and he became strongly aware of an unseen power like a radio beam, and if he could tune in properly, he would have protetion and guidance all his life. This was to be the case in the narrative which follows.
McDowell writes with a frank and ingenuous hand and has a strong memory for the details in his life. He deftly gives the dates and locations of all his postings in the Army Air Corps, and writes his narrative fully conscious of an unseen guiding hand in his life, which was to save his life on many occasions, in his civilian days and in his military career.
Sometime after his retirement, his wife and daughter went to India on a guided tour, which ended with one week at the ashram of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. When his wife came home and showed him their pictures and cards, he felt as if the ashram was a place he had already visited, perhaps in dreams. It felt very familiar to him.
On the second visit to Prashanti, Swami called McDowell's wife in and told her that her husband would visit him on their next trip. A suspected brain tumor struck McDowell down, and after two months in allopathic medical care, McDowell felt he was going to die. He took up the option of alternative medical care and recovered, along with ingestion of vibhuti and repetition of the divine name.
What follows is the narrative of McDowells visits to India, to the Ashrams of Sathya Sai at Prashanti Nilayam and Brindavan. There was also one visit to Tirupathi, whilst Sathya Sai was away in Bombay. An interesting account of that darshan is given.
McDowell first visited Prashanti Nilayam in 1979. He visited in a wheelchair. There were no complaints about the facilities in the ashram. When asked by his daughter what he thought of the Sai Baba ashrams, he replied, "What is there to say of Heaven, except heavenly?". During his visit, Swami would manifest vibuhti and tell him to eat it, or rub it on his chest. McDowell was soon out of the wheelchair and pushing others around in the wheelchair.
There is an excellent introduction to Sathya Sai Baba and the Sai Organistion in the USA. McDowell was conducting devotional singing and applied to have his home registered as a Sai Centre in the USA. This was granted. McDowell and his wife attended the First World Conference of the Sathya Sai Organisation in 1980.
This is a book which covers the early period of overseas devotees being called to the Lotus Feet of Sathya Sai Baba. Jack Hislop and Sir George Treyveylan feature in the narrative and citations along with other peronages from that time, i.e., the then Chief Justice of India, etc., etc. An older book with period photographs of darshan on the sands, the first round houses, the early images of the ashram and darshan under the Sai Ram Shed in Whitefield.
McDowell is a crisp writer, especially where his own life story is concerned, and shares his own spiritual progress, along with a good overview of Sathya Sai Baba and his mission. This is probably not available for sale in the normal outlets, but possible to obtain in secondhand piles and collections, and the like. A good book for a newcomer to Sathya Sai Baba to read, as the readings and citations give an excellent introduction to the mission and purpose of the Sai Avatar.
Obtain from the Ashram Bookshop or Online Order. Link
108 Names of Sathya Sai Baba in English
Included in this book is an English version of the 108 Names of Sathya Sai Baba. We cite the origin of this compilation from the book itself:
We had met a number of fine people during out stay at Prashanti Nilayam. One lady in particular, Dianne Dorfman, from Chicago, gave me a list of one hundred and eight names of Sri Sathya Sai Baba; this was in English. The Indians chant the one hundred and eight names of Baba every morning. These are ususally chanted in Sanskrit and they might as well be chanted in Hebrew or Greek, as far as my understanding is concerned. The list given to me by Dianne Dorfman was actually more like a list of divine attributes than names. Dianne said that "Baba had dictaed them to her through mental telepathy twelve thousand miles away," and she said, "they came to me so ast I had difficulty writing them down". I showed the list to Professor Kasturi who has been close to Baba for more than forty years and asked him how it compared with the Sanskrit version. He told me subsequently that "only a few of the English attributes had the same meaning as those on the Sanskrit list, but whatever I felt most comfortable with was the one I should adopt". The Sanskrit list, when it was chanted, had absolutely no meaning for me; however, I can read the English version and all one hundred and eight attributes in my opinion, describe Sai Baba perfectly. I now offer a copy fo these, which I read constantly, sometimes several times a day...
Download the 108 Names of Sathya Sai Baba in English (PDF)