March 28th 1998 Transcript to David Bailey's Speech At A Houston Mini-Retreat

[Plays his piano for a few minutes]

[Applause]

Hey…Thank you very much.

Well, I'm David and I come from England. And as a boy, as a choir boy in the local church, I used to stand there, from the age, I suppose, of 5 when mom and dad first made me go there to the age of 13, 14 when my voice broke. I was also fascinated about the stories of Jesus. There seemed to mean something that we were missing the point within the world and there I was at…ah…school until I went to college, I started to look into different churches because playing the organ, I used to get out to go play for different services…From the Methodists to the Baptists to for the Anglican so I different ideas that people were coming out with. I also experienced many people, in England, who had the ability to touch somebody and they would get better. I didn't understand how they did it but they did it. I met people who were able to look into the future and could tell you what was going to happen to you. I met people who take pen and start writing. I met people who draw people's faces so quickly, it was incredible. So I knew that there was something more than just the world that I was living in. There is Jesus the story of him other great masters the saints. Something was missing.

And I got my degree in music and I went to do my first cassette recording. And about a week before I was due to do it, I was walking around the high street of the local town and an old lady gypsy who came up to me and she said, "Young man…" I said, "yes, my dear what is it that you want?" She said, "You are a pianist and you are on the stage playing the piano." I said, "Why yes, actually I am. How did you know?" She said, "Well us gypsies know, you know?" And "You are going to make my first cassette, your first recording, very soon. You must not make it with a tall man and you will know this man because he is going to be made a Lord." Why, I thought "this is a rot-load of rubbish" because he is a friend of mine whose doing a recording with me, he's got a proper recording studio and I have known him for many years and there is just no way he's going to be a Lord. So, the following Thursday, I went down to the place and she said, "Whatever you do, don't sign the contract with this man! You must not sign this contract." So the following Thursday, I went down and there were all these cars parked outside his house at half past 9 in the morning. And I went in and I said "Hi John, this is a great reception just for me to sign a contract with you". He said, "No, you will never guess what?", he said, "I've became Lord John". I went tongue held. And I wouldn't sign the contract. He didn't understand. He just refused point blank to believe that I could listen to a gypsy who told me I was not to do something. But I knew that someone like that knew more than I did. And so, 3 months later, he went bankrupt. And I would had gone bankrupt too if I had signed the contract. So she turned out to be right.

Well, for the next twenty years, I looked everywhere to find out where this came from...where this information came from. Why did these people care about they found something more than I could find. Yeah, I could play the piano, but I wanted to do more. I wanted to find more.

And I became director of music in one of the top schools in England. And at the end of the winter term, about 4 years ago, I came out of school, looked down the road and there was a little sign and the sign on the road said "A talk about Sri Sathya Sai Baba, tonight, 7:30 at the local hall." The more I read, I stood out low because gurus to me were definitely no-no's. I was just not interest at all. Mum and dad…my father was a professor in physics and mum was a head mistress in a primary school. And so I had a very traditional upbringing. And "gurus" was not the word for home. So, I went to this meeting and the man giving it was a lorry driver and a hospital porter at the local hospital. And he said that he had been out to this man, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and called him "Swami" from then onwards. And he said Swami told him to leave his job and go back and every month take a lorry load of goods to Bosnia and Croatia to help the women and the children. Which he'd done. And he also said that Swami told him, at Christmas, to take 100 lorries of goods. Not small vans, but the great big loads I had remembered seeing this on television because and I lived down near the river, and I remember seeing all the lorries lined up at the port there and the ferry company giving them free tickets to take a load over because it was for a rescue.

Now Swami had promised that if they were in the war zone they were not be worried because he would be there. Well, it turned out that when we got there, the other drivers were very frightened. But they kept on seeing this orange figure walking around in the lorries. And they went to Tony, who was giving a talk, and they said, "You don't seem to be frightened. Who is this man that that's walking around in the lorries." And of course, if Swami had appeared just to tell him, nobody would have believed it. But he appeared to the other drivers.

And the whole of this, rung true with me. This man had found a sign post for his life, a turning point for his life, that I was looking for. He changed from an ordinary job to doing good, helping other people in a way that he could. He was a driver. But to drive from London over to Bosnia it was easy for him. He had a knack with children. So he was being used. Helping people all the time. And I thought, "This is good. I want to know more about this chap in India".

So, the next three months, I hunted around and lots of oddities that kept on happening. And looking back, I'm not really surprised. Until I was away on tour and a phone call came in and suddenly said, "David, would you like to go to India to see Swami. There is one place left in the group. There is seventeen of us going." So I said, "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that would be very nice." So…and I was going home that afternoon and I went into the car I thought how can I tell mum and dad that I going to India to see a guru. And this is not just let on. So I got home and I walked in and I said, "Look, it greats to see you but I got news. I'm going to *ahem* India, you know?" And she said, "Great! Go, please!" What? This is not my mum talking. So she answered to tell me something odd has happened, "A friend of ours in the local church choir was having a cup of tea this afternoon, at home, and something appeared in front of her, she didn't know what it was or who it was. It appeared and said, 'You've got to ring David parents and tell them that David's coming home with news of a long journey he's got to do, it's to do with a church of the future and he's got to go. He has a job to do". And then it disappeared you see? And so she said, was this tea or ginger tonic or something. She rang mum and told her what was happening. And of course, 15 minutes later I walked in, unexpectedly, saying I'm going to India so they said, "Okay, off you go".

I went to see my Grandma. She was 94. For the previous three years, she'd been suffering from Alzheimers and had no memory of anything at all. I knocked on the door of the nursing home, the nurse let me in, she went into her room and said "you have a lovely visitor this afternoon". She said, "Yes, I know. It's my David. He's going to India, you know?" What? So I walked into the room and she looked at me and said, "Oh David, I'm so pleased to see you. You are going to India to see Sai Baba, aren't you?…Oh Quick, there goes a man up the chimney, there one going out the window". And she was gone again, you know? I have never saw her sane since that moment. Absolutely incredible. So what happened?

Well, about three weeks later, I was at Whitefield. Quite amazed at what I found. Completely new to my experience, of course. And I was sitting there with 8 thousand odd people, I suppose, crosslegged on the floor, just about. My shape does't really match crosslegs. And, anyhow, I was sitting there and this little figure walked out across the front and sat down. I've come across a lot of personalities and a lot of television and nobody likes when the camera comes close or the Queen is walking over there or Pual Macarney is coming here, and you feel a bit nervous. There is an atmosphere about the place, you know? And I thought, "Oh…What is special about you? You just walked in and sat there and it didn't do anything to me. I don't get this at all. I've traveled thousands kilometers to see this. What am I supposed to feel? You know?" And then it hit me. I'll never forget this moment in all of my life. It was like a sign of love. That is the only way I can describe it. Because it came and it hit me here and it was explained and the next thing I knew, I was pouring with tears. My mind was saying "David, what are you doing? You are a grown man! There are kids suffering through this. You know? You are here and dissolved into tears for no reason at all. That's what my mind was saying. Here, I knew what I was looking at. And the more I looked, the more I realized that it wasn't him, it's coming through him. The energy of this love was pouring through him as the door way, the gate way. Absolutely fantastic. Well, I thought, this is just ridiculous…[DB speaking like he was crying at that time.] A moment I'll never forget. A moment as I speak to many people. Nearly everybody has this experience sometimes. Can't put it into words, can you? It's not him, it's from him, through him. It is him.

Anyhow, that trip went on, I got closer and closer…[tape not clear]…So what's going on? Little did I know of the significance in what that was all about then. I took 10 disposable cameras with me on this particular trip. I got home took them to one of our big chain stores in England and had them developed. I went to collect them. They gave me 9 and they lost one. So I said, "Ah, it's a special trip to India". And she said, "Oh, we are terribly sorry sir, we are terribly sorry. We will pay for you to go back again". Well, I don't know about the States, but it certainly doesn't happen in England, that sort of thing, just like that. So the next thing I knew, I got a return ticket from England to Bangalore…through the post. I went the following March. 2 hours before I left my father had been diagnosed with very serious prostate cancer. And they said "We've got to operate immediately. We've got to operate." And I thought to myself, "Ah, I heard a lot about this chap in India. I certainly experienced. I'll drop him a line. I'll take it with me. I told you I can give him a letter. So I just wrote, "Dear Swami, please if it's possible, will you heal my dad". I got out there and I was about 8 lanes back, this time at Prashanti. And real squashed in. And very uncomfortable. Swami came out and he walked along and he said "Come here. Come". Of all the things to ask me to do, to stand up. I mean, it was precarious for me, it was extremely dangerous for the people on the side of me [DB laughing]. So swami grinning, you see, allowed me into the interview. I gave him the letter as I walked passed by him. Which he took. And I never thought anymore about it. When I got there. He took us into he interview room. He said what do you have there? I said, I brought you this swami. Because I had written a song for him. He said, "Oh", looking at me, eye contact the whole time. Holding this to one side, went (singing) "there's only one love, the love I adore, that love comes from you dear lord, please love me evermore" and sang me the song I had written for him. Without looking at the music or the words. Well, as a musician, that was very very important. Because it proved to me something that he knew what I done, what I had written in England. So…Actually, while we are on the song, why don't I sing it to you, because it is very popular in Europe and you may not have heard it over here yet.

Song:

(chorus is as follows)
There's only one love.
The love I adore.
That love comes from you dear Lord.
Please love me evermore.

Wintertime and Summertime
Springtime and Fall
Everyday in every way
Your love transcends us all.

(chorus)

Sometimes Lord, we stray away,
Thinking of only you.
Yet everyday in every way.
You guide us back to you

(chorus)

Thank you lord for everything
That you've come to do.
Teach us lord to follow thee.
Our lives we give to you.

(chorus)

Sathya Sai , Oh Sathya Sai
Please forgive us lord.
Give us your "very happy"
Your Servants young and old.

(chorus)

[Applause]

Thank you. Well when I got home. Um…when I got home. Mum and dad met me at the Heathrow airport. And it was several minutes before I realized that dad shouldn't be there. I said, "How come you're here?" He said, "Well, it was really extraordinary. We went to the hospital and I took the x-rays with all the lumps and everything showing and they re-x-rayed before I was to have the operation and nothing was there. It had all gone. Sure, I don't understand a word of it." Well, that was my second burst of tears. Because I knew who'd done it.

And so I explained it to dad, what I had done. And within, literally, about a fortnight, I was asked to go back out to India to play for the International Music Festival that was there. It was to be in July. So mum and dad decided to come with me on that one. And they wanted me to play Rachmaninoff prelude and Mozart.. Well, the thing is, how do you find a piano in Puttaparthi? I mean…Anyhow, they promised there would be one. They promised there would be one that would be a year old, an upright piano. Well, it was a piano that going to be able to take the Rachmaninoff [plays the tune on a piano] and so on. Massive huge thing to play. And so I agreed this piano would be alright. When I got there, on the Thursday evening, and the concert was to be started on a Friday we went into the Poorachandra Hall and then I said, "Dave there is your piano." It was a 100 years old and the half the notes did not work. How was I supposed to play this, shee. So they looked around and they found a baby grand in Swami's primary school. So they carried that down the road and put it on the stage and I said "Ah, that looks really good. That's much better". There's no pedals on it! So they spent all night trying to make pedals. They got me the right hand one but I didn't have the left one. And they tuned it all day specially for me. And they must have tuned it 20 times I should think. They were so worried about this piano.

And I got a lovely American pianist to turn the music for me. I was number two. The first country went on, they didn't use the piano. I was the first one to use it. So the piano had center stage. I went on and the pianist sat beside me. And I started. [DB sounds out the tune and the eventual out-of-sound tunes] This piano dropped out of tune like the.. It was awful! The more I played, the more off count it sounded. The poor pianist didn't know where I was on the music because my hands were not matching the music and the sound was not matching either of them! And I just had to keep going whatever happened, you see. I was crying inside because I spent 4 months learning this piece. You know, it was a proper concert piece and it takes a lot of work. And there I was making the biggest fool of myself in front of swami, let alone 40 odd thousand people in the poornachandra that'd been broadcast outside . So we got to the end of the piece you see, and I got a lovely round of applause from everybody and I thought that was really kind. Perhaps you didn't know the piece but you would never had recognized it. [DB laughs]

And the one thing that I did learn afterwards, was I got away with blue murder because I'd never thought before, but of course the tradition out there is to play the harmonium with the right hand and pump with the left hand. So the folks out there hadn't seen a pianist play with both hands. And so they thought I was quite a miracle man just playing with this hand. Whatever the sound was didn't matter. But the fact that I got two hands going like this, you know, was their fascination. Well, I looked to Swami. You know and I couldn't show it on my face, so I kept smiling, but I was crying. And I thought "Swami, I am about to play, Claire Guimond which is a lovely piece. This is awful Please help." So I put my hands back on the keyboard on the piano. And it was in tune. Now if you listen to the video of this, you will hear it. The Rachmaninoff was a disaster. But the Claire Guimond drops back into tune. What happened when I took the video back to the…[trying to play the video…DB laughing because he can't get the video player to work] when I played it to my piano tuner at home, he listened to it and he said, "Ah, you had the piano tuned between the two pieces." I said, "I didn't. There were two minutes between finishing one and starting the other, as you hear on the video. And he said, "Well he is a pretty fast piano tuner, isn't he?" So…I want to check the sound of the piano first.

[DB plays piano piece]

[applause]

Thank you. Thank you. Hey. Well now, very soon after, 2 or 3 days…Ah, I must show you one moment with Swami on that music festival. It was the first time…I got an inkling he got a sense of humor the previous visit. But this time, whoah, what about a naughty boy. I mean there were tournaments. I mean, with my school-boy sense of humor. Everybody, on the first day of the music festival came to the end of the evening and they were doing the aarthi, you see? And everybody was making a fuss to get to the audience to get to swami and what have you. And by force, I was actually at the back. As Swami was out in front, he came around right around the side of everybody, and came up and of course, now I know, but then I didn't, I went through the door into his private quarters, you see, in the Poornachandra there. And as he came past me the first night, he came up, you see, and went "Good Boy, are you happy?" [SSB pinching DB's cheek] You see? And I thought, "Oh gosh". You know? The next night, I thought to myself "He's going to do the same thing again." Everybody else who is going to be fussing about getting forward to do the aarthi. I am not going to play. I am going to be here. You see? I stood in the back, you see, and Swami did the aarthi, you see, and everybody was facing forward and Swami came around the back and they didn't pay notice of him and he came up the steps, looked at me and put his hands out like this….you see…and grinning like anything, so I put mine out like this, I don't know why, but I did. You know, and he come up to me and said, "Very happy, very happy, very happy." He danced on his way out, you see. "Good boy, good boy", you see. He gave them all a look as if to say "well they can get on with what they are doing, but are having a little bit of fun". [DB laughing] The Little rascal. [DB laughing]

A couple of days later, I was having an interview with Isaac Tigrett and his little gang, and they got in first and then he opened the door and called me in. And he was sitting there holding a diamond ring. And he said to me, "David, what's this?" I said, "Well, looks like a diamond ring, Swami". "Looks like? Looks like?" Threw it across the room to somebody and said, "What do you think?" The chap says, "It's a diamond ring, Swami". He said, "Good. Let's have it back". This man here, not me, said he doesn't like it. I said whew, wow, he doesn't like something from swami. So, blew on it and turned it into a blue stone and gave it to him. Then he said to me, "Give me the forefinger to your left hand" you see. Yeah, okay okay. Waved his hand, you see, and this appeared. A beautiful stone and beautiful fit on my forefinger. When I got back to school, of course, the staff room, a crazy lad had came back India again with another load of nutty stories. And where did this ring come from? Oh, he's a magician. Oh yeah, sure. A magician can't exactly afford to give this sort of stuff away. And apart from that…[DB laughing]…how did it fit my forefinger? You see? So I passed around the staff room and it didn't fit anyone else's forefinger. Funny enough, that was the first thing that making them think that were something a bit more to this chap in India than they thought in the first place.

Well, I ended up going back at Christmas. Because he had asked me to teach the boys at the College how to read music with Maynard Ferguson. You know the lovely jazz trumpet player. And do the music on Christmas day and on Sports Day. Well, it was a great trip that I had. And had probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Ever! Because sports day came and we had been working hard with the band and he wanted us to conduct the boys this particular year. Maynard to wear his white and myself to wear my black towels, you see. So he was standing in the stadium, out front, the VIP's stand here, all the men behind us, the ladies the other side. We prepared the band. It was about lead Swami in. There was the tarmac path that came around past me here and there were three rows of seva dals, in white, sitting between me and path. And I looked up, you see, expecting the band to start playing when I suddenly saw an elephant. Well, we don't have elephants in England on occasions like this. I didn't know about Sai Gita at the time.

Anyhow, obviously, it was Sai Gita who was going to lead the procession in, you see? Around she came, oh, dressed up and everything, beautiful, came and stood just beside me, you see? [DB and crowd laughing] The boys were following in a little bit of distance, you see? And I was standing there with Maynard you see. And I was quite solemn, you see. Looking forward to the day. And obviously, Sai Gita was bursting. She obviously hadn't been for days. And as I stood there, so it poured! You see? My boy school boy sense of humor got the worst of me and I began to get the giggles. And my fingers were digging into my knuckles behind my back, you see, the more I did this, Maynard Ferguson also has a wicked sense of humor. He knew I was in trouble. You see? And so he started just nudging me with his elbow. You see? He has got this act of a really straight face. You know, "I'm the angel. I'm the angel". You know? [DB and crowd laughing] And of course, she just didn't stop! And these poor chaps were changing colors because it was hitting the pavement, the tarmac, and spraying up all over them, you see? And they couldn't move. And of course, this is in the corner of my eye. And I thought I better look around. I can't take this any more. And Maynard was standing there, you know, smiling "yes yes", and he said, "Watch out, her tails going up!" [DB and crowd laughing] Well, the more I looked away, the more I heard. There must have been three wheel barrels full came out and of course the ground was now wet, and so [DB laughing] it hit the ground and went everywhere! These poor chaps were now multi-colored. It was just incredible.

And Maynard nudged me and I now had tears pouring down. Put I was still in the vertical postion. And he just nudged me and he just said, "David, Thank goodness Elephants don't fly!" Ah, that was me finished completely. They took Sai Gita off onto to the sand, you see. And I just composed myself and looked up to see the band coming, playing away, you see, marching in tune with the music, and their eyes feasting on what they are going to walk straight through. They had no choice. You see? Ahh! Swami arrived, you see, and got out of the car and he looked to the both of us, you see, and grinned and he said, "And when you finished perhaps you would like to join me on the VIP stand?" So he spent a lovely day on the stand with him. I went home. And I had taken 2 disposable cameras with me on this trip. I took them to be developed to the same shop. And a week later I went to collect them and the poor old lady said "I'm terribly sorry. You have two blank films here. There is a fault on two cameras. We can't explain it, but we are very sorry". I said, "Oh dear, it was special trip to India." [Crowd lauging] So she said, "Well, the management will pay for you to go back again, but please don't buy any more cameras at this shop. Oh…" she said, "actually on one roll of the film there was just one print, perhaps you would like to have it as a memento". Well, it was a photograph that I never took. It was the back end of an elephant! [DB and crowd laughing]

I think, by this time, I got the message that this certain person had a sense of humor and that he knew I got one too. So um, it started on this trip too telling me I wanted, I needed, a wife. And I said, "Are you sure Swami? I have been happy for 40 years, why change it? You know?" [DB laughing] He said, "You need wife…You need companion." I said, "Okay, well, you know better than I do." He said, "I'll find wife. I'll find wife." I said, "Oh, help".

Anyhow, the year went past and I was back again at Gurupurnima and it was quite fun. Got back the following Christmas to do the music again with Maynard. And the whole time on the trips during the year, he'd tease me about this wife. He'd come up to me he rummage in my pocket and say, "Where's wife? Where's wife?" I said, "I haven't got wife, Swami!". "Oh, you need wife." "Really sure, Swami?" "Yes, yes, yes." [DB and crowd laughing] He'd say, "Don't worry, I will find you wife. Leave everything to me. Your wife is my responsibility." And it was a very special moment because it was like Granddad talking to you, you know, your favorite Granddad there. There wasn't any fear but sheer love pouring. You felt somebody cared. Really for you, not for somebody else, but you! He cared for everybody else individually, but at that moment it was just special and I will never forget those moments. It was really lovely.

And, the following Christmas we did the music with Maynard and he called Maynard, thank goodness, he called Maynard into an interview with me. And he said, "Now David needs wife. Don't you think, Maynard?" Said Maynard said, "Yes Swami, he sure does!". [DB laughing] And he said "Right. Okay". And "I haven't got one, Swami. I don't know where to start looking". "Well," he said, "Look outside. There are all those women sitting out there. Go and choose one!" [DB and crowd laughing] If Maynard hadn't been there, I would not have a witness to know that Swami had given me the permission to give the eye to the ladies in the ashram! You know? [DB and crowd laughing] It would never have been allowed. Ever! You know? I thought to myself, "Oh, where do I start? Do I go up to the Western Canteen, on the ladies side and run a checklist?" You know? I mean, what would you do if you got 25,000 ladies to choose from? I thought, "Oh, okay."

On that particular trip, I made quite a few friends by that time. And word got out. [Crowd laughing] Swami had made a comment in front of the band boys, which of course, went around the students, which went around the ashram like there's no tomorrow. You know? And all the old folk, in the ashram, would say to me, who were on the veradah, "Shh…you shouldn't say anything about Swami and your marriage, you know? Swami doesn't like it." I said, "I hadn't said a word!" Swami just placed it…placed it just in the right ears when he felt like it, you know? So, that evening…ah about, a load of my friends kept stopping me and saying, "David, we know the lady for you! The very person for you. What are you doing at 7:30 behind shed 17? Could we meet, at Sai towers for a cup of coffee at perhaps a quarter to 8?" You know? The thing was, they all picked the same person. This was extraordinary, you see?

So, I met Faye, this lovely Australian lady, and the following morning, Swami said, "Well have you found somebody?" I said, "Why yes. I met somebody last night." Swami said, "Good. Good. Who is it?" I said, "It's Faye, she is from Australia, you know, she's got the ring of yours." "Oh yes. Very lovely lady. Very good. Go and ask!" [Crowd laughing] So I went up to her room, you see, after darshan in the morning and knocked, she answered the door and I said, "Faye…" She said, "Yes". I said, "Um…will you marry me?" [DB and crowd laughing] "What?" I said, "Swami sent me to ask you if you will marry me?" "Well," she said, "if you are an Englishman, get down on one knee do it properly." [Crowd laughing] So she said, "If Swami sent you to ask, yeah the deal is on. We will go for it. As long as Swami says it is okay." So in the afternoon, Swami said, "Well did you go and ask?" I said, "Yes I did, Swami". "Who is it?" I said, "Well, I told you this morning, it was Faye, the Australian lady." "Ah, yes," he said, "Very good. Very happy. Very lovely lady. Super. Oh no. Oh no. No no no no no wait… go and say 'no'! Go and say 'no'!" [Crowd laughing] So after darshan, in the evening, I went up her door, you see, and told Faye, "It's off." I waited 40 years to propose to somebody. I never thought I'd call it off in the same day. [DB and crowd laughing] Anyhow, she was very understanding. I think! [DB laughing] But neither of us understood what was going at all…this game that Swami was playing. A note of music.

[DB plays a song on the piano]

[Applauds]

Thank you. Thank you. Well, the whole time during this, of course, back in England, I'd been doing my shows. And it had been a one man show. Sometimes, with a singer. But I would present music for slightly older folk. All the tunes that they would like. Everything from Beethoven to Debussy through to some Wartime songs, some Glen Miller, Phantom, all sorts. This was really becoming very popular. But one of the things that I started to notice were people were saying, "Okay, thanks for a lovely afternoon, evening", or whatever it is, "Here I feel a lot better having come this afternoon of this evening". And one afternoon show, I got half way through the show and gently the curtain coming down and there was a man in the front row and he was going crazy. Jumping up and down, cheering etc. Well, as a performer, as any performer likes to know, if you've got, for example, a party of mentally handicapped it is always a pleasure to play for them, but it is nice to know where they are. Because even noise comes from the audience and you know that's where the party is. You are happy, but if you have a noise from the audience you suddenly think somebody's had a heart attack or something's gone wrong. You know, and you're sort of still all over people still out there looking out after you, you are still responsible. And there was this chap and I thought, "What a place to put him!" Quite honestly, his behavior was extraordinary.

Got to the end of the show and I wanted to do what I always do. And that is to go into the foyer to say goodbye to everybody. Because ever since I started doing the shows, one of my little, inner prayers was because I knew people could help each other with healing, or however it is done, by contact. I would hold my hand out to send to say goodbye to these folk and just ask that "Father, if I can be a channel to help anybody, please use it." And it was always fascinating to see the people who walked past and say, "Thanks David for a nice afternoon, great." And the other people who'd come up and hold your hand and talk and say "Lovely afternoon, etc., etc., etc., You know, I just came out of the hospital from an operation." And you think, "Oh yes." It was just interesting to notice the difference, you know, in why people held your hand. And I'd just ask, at the end of the show, I would do the same thing, but I couldn't get around to the backstage to the foyer in time, because of the circumstances in the theater. I had to come off the steps in the front of stage and go through the audience. Well, I got off the front of the stage and this chap got hold of me and put his arms around my neck and he went crazy. "Oh thank you very much! Thank you very much!" Just…I said, "Thank you very much sir, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, but I have lots of other people I have to see. Goodbye. Will you please excuse me?" And eventually got away from him. Went into the foyer. And my stage manger came up to me, Roger, and we always had an arrangement that if either one of us tell each other do so something during the show, we'd do it and argue about it afterwards. He came up to me and said, "David, you've got to go back to that man." I said, "Roger!" He said, "Go!" Okay, so I went back, you see. This man was standing there in tears. And I said, "I'm terribly sorry, sir". He said, "No, it's not you." He said, "Two months ago, my wife had a stroke and she lost the use of everything, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything. At the end of the first half of your show, her right foot was tapping. She's now standing up over there. Her voice has come back. Everything's come back. She's got her life back, thanks to your show."

Well, you could imagine how sick I felt inside. Having with all the thoughts that had run through my mind over the last hour. That in fact, that this was what was happening. [tape blurred] I got somebody who was very much emotionally touched by the situation, and the fantastic result of something. So I knew that the music was doing something. And from then onwards, things started to happen, the people would tell me headaches had gone, backaches had gone, this had gone. And we would have letters back afterwards. Nothing fantastic, but just a whole lodge of, you know, an audience of 3 to 4 hundred people, 50 of them would make a remark. You know, not to say "my cancer is going" or grand like that but headaches, backaches, knee aches, this aches. I spoke to one psychiatrist and I said, "Look, this is what's happening during the show. There is enough proof to know this is going on." And he gave me one explanation. He said, "David, you are starting with music of the current day and you are taking all these people down a trip down memory lane down through their lives, back to when they were teenagers. Before they had all the problems. At the end of the show, you bring them back to the modern day so quickly, that their brain pattern comes back through this period and they don't have time to remember when they got arthritis, angina and all this sort of stuff. So they left it behind." To me, that was one very convenient explanation.

So…yeah…[Question from the audience: Did you say before you met Swami this did not happen, you did not get any letters of this kind at all?] Before I met Swami, this was starting to happen. But since I met Swami, this has increased and increased and increased and increased. Um, because my father, um, the last ten years has been, because of his interest in things developing, has been President of the National Federation of Spiritual Healers in England. So was looking at the hands on healing rather than any religious or spiritual connection was just that one human being could help another. And so…again, this was an area that I looked at, researching, so I was quite aware that things could happen. But wanted, I wanted to do be able to do something. You know, with my life to help. And this was starting. Having found Swami, this seems, seemed to be getting stronger and stronger and stronger.

So I went back to Swami to Kodaikanal in April. And had an interview with him, again with Isaac and Keith Crichlow. And we were with him for about 2 and a half hours, I suppose 3 hours. And Annie was with us as well. And we went into the kitchen, just Swami and I. And the students were there. And Swami said to me, "Would you like something to drink?" I said, "Yes, please. A cup of coffee." I just forgot. Wasn't supposed to ask for coffee. He said, "Fine." Went off into the kitchen and came back with a cup of coffee for me. Went back into the kitchen and came back with a cup of coffee for himself. Sat down at the table and there were two stalls, one for him, one my side and he came up to my side and he pushed and shoved and he pushed and shoved and he looked at me and he shoved again a little more and he said, "Yes, I think this will be alright." [DB and crowd laughing] So we sat and chatted again. One of those special moments. You know, how is work? How is mum and dad, How did you travel here? Where are you staying? All of this sort of general, Granddad chat. And he suddenly said to me, "David, how much do you weigh?" I said, "What Swami? Pardon?" He said, "Yes. How many kilos?" And my school boy sense of humor cropped into gear. I forgot myself. I said, "Swami, um the trouble is in England we have these machines that you stand on, you put the money in and it tells you how much you weight." I said, "I stood on it, I put the money in and it said, 'one at a time please'." [DB and crowd laughing] He roared with laughter. It was lovely. And the poor students are standing there looking at me in my embarrassement, not knowing whether they could laugh or cry. This crazy Englishmen gagging against Swami. I mean, it's not what they are used to. Swami loved it. And then we actually stayed and had lunch with him, which was another very memorable moment. Just…It was one of those lunches I will never forget. It was super grub. And he would not let me have anymore! [DB and crowd laughing]

But again, kept on, kept on about my wife. I said, "Swami, look at what you did at Christmas." He said, "No no no, wait. Everything is all right. Everything will be sorted. I will find. I will choose." Well, he promised in the October trip….ah, on the October trip, I will just show you, he manifested this for me. Which is a lovely jappamala. But, it was quite interesting to see how, where it came from because…imagine that this hand isn't here, just, that's not there, but since I can't do it, I will do this way. He hasn't taught me yet. He waved his hand, you see, and in just in mid…not connected…in mid air, slowly, this started to move and went dangle and he just caught it and gave it to me. He said, "This is for you." And I looked at it and I thought, "Oh help! 108 names of God, I know about three of them." And every morning this is Swami's revenge. So he said to me, "Do you know…do you know what this is?" And I thought, I'm not going to be clever here, I said, "No Swami, I don't." He said, "This is for divine protection." while he put it on me. I thought, "Just got away with that!" It's extraordinary because you can feel when it is on and feel when it is off. It's certainly got something…something there.

And on that trip too, I experienced…I saw the second half, I was not part of the first half, but it was an Indian family where the Grandmother must have been in her late 90's and apparently hadn't walked for 15 years. Swami went to her and called the family in for an interview. And all I heard first was a round of applause from the ladies side. And then this elderly lady walked up to the interview room with the family. Swami then called me and I joined them. I got the word, you know, from people who could see that this lady got out of a wheelchair. And she came into the interview with me. Got in there and she sat down on the floor! And I honestly thought, "That is a bit silly. You just been got out of a wheelchair, you know, these chairs you could have used. Why did you do that?" That was just my English mind racing, you see? And Swami came back in and called them into the inner interview room. Her 2 sons went to pick her up. He said, "No no no no! Bhagavan here! Bhagavan here!" And he just put his hands up like this and ladies, all I can describe it is like the underneath a ladies hair dryer. There seemed to be just a swirling energy that came out of the hands and she just popped up off the floor like a 2 year old. Nobody touched her at all. And she walked in. The energy just caught me which I can still remember the sensation of that energy. He sure was pretty wise to not try it on me! It was lovely to experience that. Just one of those…another one of those little moments of his love.

He promised, Christmas, last year to marry me. So I got there and I knew Faye was out there as well. And to be honest, I rang her on the Saturday nights for the previous 2-3 months. And I used to ring up and she'd say, "Faye speaking". I'd say, "Shhh! It's David. Speak quietly in case Swami's listening." We used to have a little matter on the Saturday night. So I knew she was there. Well, Swami came out to me and said, "Well, is your wife here?" And I thought, oh yeah, it is Faye. "Yes Swami, she is." "Good. Marriage next July." I said, "No Swami! You promised this trip. Christmas this trip. I am not waiting any longer!" It just burst out of me before I thought, you see? He said, "Oh, oh. This year is not good. Bad year. Not auspicious. Next year better." But I said, "I'm here to the 15th of January, Swami". "Alright. 4th of January. 4th of January. Go and call your parents." This is the 20th of December. So I rang them straight after morning darshan. Which, of course, is 4 o'clock in the morning in England. Which didn't please mum too much, really. And I said, "What are you doing for Christmas?" She said, "Well, we got the family coming." "Oh. You want come to India for Christmas, would you?" "Why should I want to do that?" Cuz I hadn't told her anything, you see? I said, "There might be a wedding." She said, "Well, so what?" I said, "Well, it might be my wedding." [DB and crowd laughing] Well, after the conflap between mother and father, um, they agreed they would come. And they were able to get a couple of tickets for the 22nd of December. And having got the tickets, the airline rang them back and said, "Oh, by the way sir, on these tickets, we are going to send a limousine to pick you up from home and take you home afterwards." And that is 140 kilometers from the airport. And that never happens. And I had a beautiful, big limo come and take them to and from the airport. Thank you Swami.

So, on the fourth of Jan., we were married. I wore my black towels. James was with us. Swami allowed him to come into the interview room with us, and take some shots before and after the wedding. He didn't allow it when he was actually doing his prayers and sorting out. And he manifested the chain with the medal with Swami on it. One for me, one for Faye. Which obviously, we put onto each other. And, he then produced a gold ring which he blew on to make it flat, [DB makes blowing sounds] blew on it 9 blows, 9 stones as a wedding ring for me. He gave Faye a gold one and then produced my parents two lovely, great big rings with big diamond "S's" on them. Which he put on father's finger. And if ever there was a ring that didn't suite father, this was one. Swami looked at father and said, "Do you like it?" Father said, "Yes, Swami." I mean, where are the earrings to match? You know? [DB laughs] Swami grinned, took it back, waved his hand and produced 2 nine-stone rings, one for each other. Which was actually lovely and just his little chuckle.

So, we were married. And an extraordinary twist in life for both of us. And Faye's known swami for many, many years. And because I have written my book, A Journey to Love, and Swami designed the front cover, and sorted it all out for me, it was decided that she should um, you know keep the girls side up and so she's written Another Journey to Love, telling the truths where are the powers he twisted them a bit. Well, I mean, you know, these are the rather good points about this system. The boys against girls really. It's my story against…well, not against Faye's but with Faye's. It's lovely.

So, where it's left me? Well, one of pieces that I played on the show, which had seemed to have increasing effect, was Phantom of the Opera. And as I played Phantom, suddenly, the atmosphere would change on stage. I could feel it. But you'd get an audience of ordinary folk who'd say, "Who was it who walked on stage while you were playing that?" Or, at the very end, it would go absolutely silent and people wouldn't applaud for many seconds and then you could hear the audience say "What was that?…What happened?" And then a round of applause. So that was an extraordinary little twist to my normal shows. So I decided that I would record a tape specifically for healing. And I did this one night. I have a very lovely man who does my recordings. And he's um…he came one night and we put a picture of Jesus on the piano, a picture of Swami and we lit a candle. And I just said, "Look please, if if my music can be used…I am just going to play. I give you my hands. And I didn't play any piece that anybody knows. I just let my hands play. And I recorded a tape called "Music to dream by". And this was instantly taken up by a lot of healers and hospitals in England. And Dr. Upadia, who is one of our top eye surgeons who works out at the Super Speciality Hospital regularly, and does work with Mother Teresa, he got one of my tapes because he wanted it personally. And he went out to Bhopal last year with this team of 10 doctors to do operations on a hundred children who lost their sight or virtually lost their sight from that terrible chemical disaster. And when he got there, there weren't a hundred children for him to operate on, there were 350. And they hadn't had enough anesthetic. They had only taken enough anesthetic for a hundred children. So he didn't know what to do. Well, being a Swami man, and a very special person, he just went into his prayer spot and said, "Father, please help." And his own little inner voice say, "Put David's cassette on." He said, "Yes, sure." "Put David's cassette on." So he put this cassette on and they were able to do 350 operations to the music. An extraordinary thing. Because, if I hadn't recorded it for that, I'd only just offered my fingers to play. But that had been used, what, 9,000 kilometers away, to help.

To me, it made the whole of my degree and all the hours practicing worthwhile for that one thing. But it shook me that this was something practical in the world. That my music…sorry, when I say "my music", it's not "David's music" but the music coming through…was being used. This is what this body could be used for. To help other people. And so, that's the twist that I've gone along. And, in May, some doctors in Italy are going to do a specific test on the music because they already know from the two cassettes that I have done, that it is having major effects on patients, with relaxation. And whether it is causing the body to relax and the body healing itself, in a way, what does it matter? As long as the effect is there, the result is there. And I asked Swami about this. I said, "Swami, this music and healing. Please help. What is it?" And he said, "David, it is not the music itself cannot heal. Music is the vibration that you are using. The love of God, the love flows through you, through the music to the other person. And that is the contact that you are making. A person who does beautiful cooking, where they cook with their heart, their food will have the same effect. Every single person on this planet has the ability to share their own love through their own gift that they have been given. And that gift could be as simple as a smile. You happen to be using music." So it is the twist that it was making my life worthwhile and so I must get on out into the world to share how this man in India, who James has said, I call my greatest friend, because that's who he is. We shouldn't be afraid of him. He has often said to me, many times, "Why do people pull away when I walk out? Why are they afraid of me? Why don't they talk to me as a friend? Because I am everybody's friend. I will look after everybody. Everybody, every single person in the world can have my love and transform their lives." So I saw Tony's life in the first place transformed. I have seen hundreds of thousands of others. And I can see, I pray, the use that I can be, with the talent that I was given, as a child, to play the piano, to twist, to help other people.

So what I'd like to do, first of all, is to share a little bit of this with you. I'd like to play Phantom. Because this is just our interest. A lot of people like Phantom anyway. And just…um…feel the music and see what happens. And then, we will all just let go and I'll explain what we are doing in a second or two. Let's play Phantom first off. Oh the other thing, having taken that off [DB removed a watch], that time when Maynard wore white and I wore black, Swami waved his hand and he gave me a lovely Seiko watch with a black face and made Maynard one with a white face. [DB laughing] So, anyhow, let's see if this will behave we will see what we can do for Phantom.

[DB plays Phantom of the Opera on the Piano]

[Silence]

[Applause]

Thank you. Well, what I'd like to share with you now, are just a few thoughts on where exactly my music has taken me. First of all, Swami asked me to produce a new cassette for Darshan, at the end of last year. Because they wanted some music that fluoresced with the orchestral music. Which I've done, which he has used every 10 days at Prashanti. Also, Christmas, he gave us, through, there's been a magazine in England for 16 years, written by Peggy Mason. And she died at Christmas and she was 89. And Swami asked us to take this over and get it around the world. And if anybody would like to have a copy, a free copy, with the details of the magazine, if you give James or I the address afterwards, we will send you one through from England. But it is the original magazine from Europe that Peggy started 16 years ago.

This music, what does it do? Because one of things that I've noticed as an innocent stumbler across Swami, having only known him for 4 years yet he is so close, I honestly see so many people go out to Swami and forget the talent that God has given them as a child. Now, the world can't change unless we change it. We've all got our job to do, our part to do. I've heard people say, "Yeah David, we can't play the piano like you, but why are you close to Swami? Why don't you…" Wait a minute. It's us. I've had a lot of closeness with Swami and I love to share it because I think that is why he has given it to me. To show the reality of him, how he understand what a cup of coffee is. How he understands how an elephant works. How he understands what a school-boy sense of humor is. Those beautiful moments when he sits in his chair and I know that love pours.

So I said to him this last trip, "Swami, how do I talk about you when I go back to the West." He said, "With your mouth." I said, "Yes, Swami, but when we talk about God or this sort of thing, so many people in the West that shut the door on you. They laugh. They don't want to hear language like that." He said, "No! Don't talk about Sai Baba and God! Definitely not." He took this jappamala. He said, "Look, love is God. You have to go back and talk about love. Truth by your example in the world. People will want to know more. Not more example. Your example! And the love is like the silver chain that goes through this jappamala. That is the love of God, it goes everywhere. All the way around the world. And the beads are people's hearts. And most people do not know that the love of God exists. The love of God goes through everything. Love is God. Therefore, I am God and you are God. They are all God. We are all God." The message is not to talk about God. The message is to transform the world with love. And that made so much to me. Because there are so many people who go out to Prashanti and they stay there, or they come back and think, "I've got Swami, I don't have to do anymore." And to me, that's not right. To me, we've all got a talent, a gift, there may be periods in our life where we say where did they go now. What do I do? I don't see what I got to do. There is that lovely old saying in the old story, when somebody prayed to Jesus and said, "When I was in trouble, you left me. Because look at my life, there are two sets of footprints on the sand. And when it got difficult there is only one, you left me. And then there was two further on. Why did you leave me when times were difficult and I didn't know what to do? And the reply is, 'I didn't leave you. I was carrying you.'" And that's what he does. He comes into all of our lives, in the most difficult circumstances, he's there. You can talk to him every single one of you. If you don't know how to do it. Talk to him as I am talking to you. He's here in the chair.

He's promised me, wherever I am, I will be. Everywhere in the world, David, I will be there with you. So he's here. But he's here anyway. He only gave me that as proof to be sure that he was. He might be sitting amongst you. He doesn't need to be in his chair. [sound blurred] So think what you've got to do. There's no rules with Swami. There's no rules at all. There is only one word. And that one word is "love". That love pours through him and it should pour through every one of us. Every day, every moment, every breath we take. And it starts with a smile. How many people do we walk past and don't smile at? Don't even say "hi"? But a smile is where it starts. Just think…what can you do? What is your job in life? It's not to be the new Prime Minister of England. But in your home, what is your role? And I'd like now to play a piece of music, I've never played it before and I will never be able to play it again. But I want to play this for us. I want to play this for you, each every one of you. And I want you think about yourself, who are you, what can I do, what am I doing with my life? If you've been out to see Swami, remember the darshans, remember a look he might have given you. If you have some props video, if not, just a special moment in your life. A holiday, a view, a favorite puppy, a newborn baby. Something that was special to you. Some people like to visualize a rose or a lake. Do whatever you like. There is no bounds on this. Just let the music flow through you and if you know somebody who is not very well, send them a thought as well. But don't forget "you". It starts off for you. I will sit and play and see where we go. At the end of the song, don't applaud. Don't do it. Just sit quiet. Because this is where my music, my life has been taken now with Swami. To share this.

[DB takes a deep breath and then begins to play the piano]

[DB takes another deep breath and then begins to pray to SSB]

Swami, please come into every one of our lives in a way that we can understand. So often we look at you, we long to be with you and we don't' feel. We get frustrated. We don't understand. Swami, please come, please share your love in a way that each one of us understands. And show us how each one of us can be an instrument, a messenger of your love. The love that is God, the love that you've given your life to show us. This is a beautiful world, Swami. But so much of it is in a mess. Help us to lead the way to change the world. So that wherever anybody goes, the love can be felt and seen. You give us your love Swami and you ask us for one thing in return, the one thing we find so difficult to give, because we're not sure how…teach us how to love you Swami. Love you and serve you every moment of our lives. Thank you for everything you do. Sai Ram.