Swami conversation with a devotee:
A Devotee from Greece
November 1st and October 28th, 2002
Now I come to the 1st of November and also on the 28th of October. These two days are important in the sense that Swami spoke to a gentleman from Greece. The gentleman’s name is George. Swami stood there and just called, "Hey, Greece, come here."
The gentleman came crawling forward. I wondered if something was wrong with his feet, or something like that?
Swami said, "See how he’s coming?"
"Swami, he’s crawling on his knees."
"Out of devotion. He's not like you - to walk like rowdies. No, no. You see, he feels devotion."
"Oh, I see, Swami."
The fellow came forward and Swami asked, "Boy, what’s your name?"
"George, Swami."
"Oh, George, hmmm. What do you do?"
"Swami, I run a bookstore."
"What is the name of the bookstore?"
"’Ananda’, Swami, ‘Ananda’."
"Oh! Who else assists you?"
"Swami, my sister helps me."
"Oh, I see. What do you do?"
"Swami, bookstore cleaning, selling and all that."
"Oh, then what else?"
"We sing, Swami."
"What do you sing?"
"Sai bhajans."
"When do you sing?"
"Throughout the day."
"Where do you sing?"
"Everywhere."
Swami said, "See his devotion. You’re not like that, mmm – that fellow from Greece -- see there’s devotion."
And then He said, "Oh, I see. Last time how did you come to Prashanthi Nilayam? How did you reach here?"
"Swami, I walked from Bangalore airport to Puttaparthi."
"Oh, how many miles?"
"180 miles, Swami."
"How long did it take?"
"Four days, Swami."
"Oh, did you just walk like that?"
"No Swami, I carried 18 kilos of luggage on my back."
He walked for four days to reach Prashanti Nilayam.
Swami said, "Anyone of you like this? See, see his devotion."
Then Swami said, “How long have you been coming to Puttaparthi?"
"Swami, 29 years. I’ve been visiting here for 29 years."
"Ah, what did you do in those days?"
"Swami, I used to collect sand from Prashanthi Nilayam and put it in a bag. Wherever You walked, I collected the sand. I collected it in bags and took it back to Greece. I kept it there in my pujaroom at the altar," he said.
more in the Audio.........
