Once a large crowd collected at a big city venue for darshan of a Divine Master.
The place was packed to capacity with eager devotees, including the rich and the famous. A chauffeur became curious about the person who his employer was so keen to see. Standing at a distance, he managed to get a fleeting glimpse of the 'holy man'. He thought that had he got closer he could have unburdened his problems and got blessings. However, that was not to be.
A strange thing happened after that. His life took an inexplicable turn for the better and his situation improved dramatically. Some years passed and he got a chance to travel to the ashram of the same holy personage whose brief darshan he once had. From amongst the thousands seated for darshan he was picked for an audience by this Divine Master. Face to face with him he was nonplussed when the divine personage said to him: "We have met once before, when you ferried your employer for darshan . Your plea from the heart reached me."
The story exemplifies the power of darshan the sight or vision of a holy being, experienced with sincerity. ` Darshan' is different from 'mere seeing', as it is imbued with a sacred attitude of reverence and faith. So it has spiritual consequences. Devotees testify to experiencing a sense of ineffable peace in the act of darshan of a holy being as also to a sense of being spiritually rejuvenated.
Holy personages are store houses of divine energy and just being in their presence nourishes the soul. Kirlian photography which captures the auras of human beings has recorded that the aura of light around divine masters is significantly different; it extends far beyond the normal range and is layered with incredible hues of gold and pink, signifying divine compassion and love. Anybody in the proximity of such beings is touched and enveloped by the aura.
When adharma is rampant and moral structures are crumbling divine masters restore the faith and spread the light. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita underlined the importance of the presence of these holy souls on earth whose ordained task it is to help humanity. Saints and holy men like Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Paramhamsa Yogananda, Meher Baba and Ramana Maharishi all helped to raise the spiritual quotient of humanity. Just being in their presence and having their darshan became an edifying experience for followers. Ramana Maharishi would sit in perfect silence in God-communion and devotees would have darshan in silent retreat. In this simple act, everything of real value was gained. In darshan , when a divine master glances at us, he's viewing our stainless parts and bestowing the grace needed to make it more manifest in our lives.
Darshan in its purest essence, however, is the vision of the Lord Himself. In most religious traditions, this darshan or blessed vision remains the central motif of devotion where the inner eye is opened and dependence on external darshan is shed. Sri Sathya Sai Baba says: "Outer darshan is essentially insufficient and transitory... but God is omnipresent. The limitations of the body and the outer senses do not hold for the inner vision. Therein you can see Him at any time and any place and receive Darshan ."
Truly, once God's invisible beauty is revealed through the Self in this manner, one is utterly charmed and is impelled to turn inward. The vision confers everything including deep satisfaction and bliss. Today is Sri Sathya Sai Baba's birthday.