My Pranams at the lotus feet of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I am Samudra De Zoysa from Sri Lanka. My unprecedented sight of Swami was when I was taken on an unplanned journey to Bangalore in 1995 by my uncle who had some business there. 

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We were fortunate enough to be seated in the second row awaiting Swami‘s Darshan. At that moment I did not know what to expect. I had only seen Swami in small pictures that my grandmother had in her shrine room. As the melodious sounds of Bhajans began to play, I saw a small figure gliding towards us. It was my  very first moment of seeing Swami. He walked past me and as I stretched my hand to give a letter written by my mother, He gently looked at me and smiled. That was a profound and electrifying moment that changed everything in my life! 

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After 40 blissful minutes of enjoying Bhajans that day, Swami glided away through an exit on the stage. Just before He left, He looked back, raised His hand and blessed the audience, flashing a beautiful, serene smile. That moment, I crumbled and could not stop the flood of tears that came from my eyes. I went back to Sri Lanka vowing to become a better person. The first step was to become a vegetarian, which I did.  Thereafter, many things in my life became successful. Swami’s name was what I called every time I needed help. I was blessed with a wonderful husband and lovely children. Once again in 2005, my family and I went to see Swami and we were blessed with wonderful Darshans every single day we were there!

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I continued to help people whenever possible, mainly distributing hot food packs to day workers and the poor and commenced daily meditations and learning the scriptures. I felt Swami’s blessings were always there with me, in times of sickness and in happiness. Then came the sad news of Swami’s passing. However, we knew that His blessings were always there and we continued to pray. It was in 2015 that we heard about Swami in the subtle. At first, it was a little hard to come to terms with the news that Swami was once more among us in an unseen, subtle form. However, I was reinforced that Swami was very much with us when little things would go right in completely mysterious ways. Fast forward to four years and here I am doing Seva projects whenever possible. Together with my cousins, we feed over 15 people each week. We look after poor children of two schools; one in the city and one 300 km away from Colombo in Batticaloa. As a teacher, I try to teach my little students the correct path with good morals and values. Knowing that I am capable of changing young lives humbles me and I always try to do justice to my students, keeping in mind what Swami has taught all of us.

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Swami’s name is now part of our household. We pray before we eat and we pray each night for every blessing that He has given us! My life has completely changed from a hot-tempered young adult to a kind, compassionate being. This is all because of Swami’s grace and calling. Little did I know that the short meeting back in 1995 would transform my life in such a profound way!