After listening to the story of the Sai boy told to me by Kumarji, I could hardly believe it. At first, I treated this story as an ordinary Indian fairy tale. I did not want to upset my new Indian friend and decided not to tell him that I strongly doubted the reality of his story. However, the events that took place just a few days later completely changed my attitude to such stories. The next time I met Kumarji was at the subway. It is difficult to say, but perhaps he sensed my distrust of his amazing story about the Sai boy, because I was about to encounter my first miracle. These events are imprinted on my memory in every detail.
I met with Kumarji in the center of the Moscow metro station and we headed toward the exit. Going up the escalator, his friend looked into my eyes and took out a small photograph of Sathya Sai Baba from his pocket. It was the most common calendar, and I later discovered that such calendars with photographs of Sathya Sai Baba are often carried by many devotees.
Kumarji showed me this photograph, and said, “all photographs of Sathya Sai Baba are absolutely extraordinary. They are literally alive.”
After that, Kumarji silently chanted a simple mantra. His voice was soft and gentle. Quietly, he said, "Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram, Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram, Om Sri Sathya Sai Ram."
Immediately, in the very center of the Moscow metro, I noticed sacred ash materialize from this small photo of Sathya Sai Baba and a fragrant aroma appeared around it.
I already knew several stories about the materialization of sacred ash, but this miracle was now unfolding right in front of me. I couldn’t believe that I was watching the miracle of the materialization of sacred ashes. I couldn’t comprehend it. I was surprised, too, that the appearance of the sacred ash came accompanied by fantastic divine smells.
Sacred ash in Sanskrit is called "vibhuti," this word is translated as "revelation." It is very interesting that seemingly ordinary ashes symbolize divine revelation. Sacred ash is used in almost all the temples of India. It is applied to the middle of the forehead and sometimes diluted with water and drunk in order for a person to be healed of illnesses or receive a blessing.
Sacred ash is a symbol of the impermanence of this world and the eternity of the Divine Consciousness. In the Vedic tradition, it is customary to cremate the body after a person dies. In ancient times, sacred ashes were obtained from cremation. Of course, in our time, ashes are prepared by burning various ingredients but its symbolic meaning remains the same.
Ash symbolizes the illusory nature of the body and the entire physical world. On a deeper level, sacred ash also signifies the impermanence of the entire universe. Sacred ash is a deeply positive symbol of the eternal reality of divine consciousness. By applying sacred ash to your forehead, you remind yourself of the eternal divine essence of your soul.
The ashes that Sathya Sai Baba materialized were quite unique, as they possessed great healing power having appeared from the power of the divine thought of the Avatar. Quite often, Sathya Sai Baba materialized the sacred ash directly from his hand. Sometimes sacred ash materialized from his photographs.
The materialization of sacred ash still takes place today and not only in India, but in all countries of the world, in the homes of true devotees, or in temples dedicated to Sathya Sai Baba.