In a previous blog, I spoke of death. I also stated that we are not the body. We are Atma (soul) and part of God. The reason I have come back to this subject is because of a recent experience. My mother-in-law whom most of us called Ma passed away a month ago. She attained Moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death).
Never be afraid of death. Never forget God,
– Sathya Sai Baba
Never take this World as real.
In India with Ma
My wife and I came to India in September last year to help Ma transition from this physical world. It was difficult to undergo this experience at times, especially with people who are ignorant, everybody comes with their own ideas, their emotions can overcome them and then you are forced to deal with their outbursts.
Luckily for us, the person who was dying in this case, Ma, also happened to be our student and embraced everything that we taught. We worked with detachment, meditation, and understanding our true reality. She had attended most of our LiberatingTouch® workshops in which we focused on spirituality. Ma specialised in Mudras (hands and finger postures) which she also taught. The link below will take you to her Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzOr4D1hHD_InnCH3qDDYg/videos
All the things we teach, we learnt from our Guru, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He is the Source (God) for us and also the source of our inspiration. From the very beginning, Ma trusted the connection to our Guru, our teachings and understanding came from him. It helped that she was a devotee of our Guru.
LiberatingTouch® and Jin Shin Jyustu
When we first arrived in India in September 2020, Ma was physically weak and looked emaciated. It was at the time of the corona virus pandemic in India, there were food shortages in her locality because of transportation difficulties. We started giving her two sessions of Jin Shin Jyutsu and a session of LiberatingTouch® every day. Within a month or two she looked relatively healthy and not the skin and bones we saw when we first arrived. She also had more energy and started taking charge of the household and becoming very active, even though she had stage 4 terminal cancer.
The final days
By the middle of November 2020, she had a setback when she started having a build-up of ascites fluid and her abdomen started swelling. We went to the local hospital where they drained the fluid from her abdomen and within a week the fluid was back pressing on her groin and her diaphragm which affected her breathing. The local hospital couldn’t do anything more. The doctor asked my wife to take Ma home and allow her to die. Another local doctor was found through our guidance. He came to the house and removed the fluid every few days. By December, Ma became bedridden and found it difficult to take even a few steps to the bathroom. Throughout this time she kept cheerful even though she was in pain. Sometimes, the frustration proved too much, and she was in tears.
On the 5th February 2021, the doctor was unable to remove any more fluid, the pressure in her abdomen increased daily thereafter. Even at the very end, Ma was consistently working on herself. Questioning her old behaviour patterns and working to improve herself. She stopped taking all medication. A week later she stopped taking solid food and fluids two days later.
Her belief in God was strong. She felt that this was her last life and she would gain moksha (freedom from birth and death). True to her words she endured all the pain and refused to give up on that belief. A few days previous to her passing away, I suggested that she could have one more life in order to be free from the pain. She insisted that she would undergo all the experience even if it was painful in this life. We promised that we would ask Swami to take our grace into consideration and help Ma attain Moksha.
Most of the time, since September 2020, my wife and I undertook to look after Ma, giving her Jin Shin Jyutsu and LiberatingTouch® sessions daily. By the middle of December as her situation worsened, we took turns to care for her. My wife looked after her at night and sometimes had no sleep, if Ma couldn’t sleep from the pain. My wife would come to bed in the morning and I would take over from her and do Ma’s Jin Shin Jyutsu, monitor her Blood pressure and help her with the Nebulizer machine for breathing and oxygen. The final two weeks, she couldn’t drink, even taking a sip of water or juice was a painful experience and she did not have any medication.
Her last day
On the last day of her life, my wife was with her till 3.30 am. I came to her room at 3.30am and my wife went to have a nap. Ma asked me when Swami (Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) was coming for her. Ma has been asking us this question for the last few days. I said, “Only Swami knows the time”. She smiled sweetly and coughed up more blood. She had been coughing blood for the last three days. My sister-in-law came and wanted to be with Ma and so I left at 4.30am. My wife and I returned at 6.30 am. Ma asked to have a Jin Shin Jyutsu which she loved, as during it she was free from pain and felt relaxed.
As we took her to the treatment room, we passed the hall and the sun was rising and the light was streaming through the windows. Ma perked up the moment she saw the sun and we brought her to the light in front of a big photo of Swami. We also started doing bhajans (songs in praise of God). I took my guitar and played bhajans for two hours. At times Ma swayed to the music. Eventually, we took her to the treatment room and I lifted her onto the bed, her eyes rolled back into her head. A classic sign that she was focused on her third eye and whatever she was seeing. She managed to say, “Sai Ma” at the end. This was a sure sign that her spirit left via the top chakra, the sahasrara and she attained Moksha
The purpose of life is to go back to the source, and it is a rare soul who achieves it so beautifully. When the experiences you gained in all the lives you lived bear fruit, we call that Moksha. It means that you have gained the full knowledge and there is no birth or death for you. You are forever ensconced in the Bliss we call God.
You must tread the spiritual path with an uncontrollable urge to reach the Goal; you must cultivate the yearning for liberation from all this encumberance. Remember that you have to dwell in a house built on four stout pillars: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha (righteousness, wealth, desire and liberation); Dharma supporting artha, and moksha being the only kama or desire. However much you may earn either wealth or strength, unless you tap the springs of ananda (bliss) within you, you cannot have peace and lasting content. There is Sathyathwa,Nithyathwa (reality of truth and eternity) in you; you need not earn them from any one else. The four pillars of Purushartha (goals of human effort) are made firm and stable by fixing them on the bedrock of the Nithya Sathya Thathwa (reality of eternal truth) in every man, the Divine in fact, on which the human is superimposed. Manava (man) means a person who has no trace of ignorance! And so, if you seek to deserve that name, you must remove it by incessant activity, moved by good impulses. But, while your efforts are little, your expectations are great. Your achievement is little, your boast is great. When some one asked a water carrier whether his leather bag was clean, he replied, “It is cleaner than the bag into which you pour the water.” Look to the inner purity rather than the outer one. Examine yourself, do not venture to judge others. Search for the pearl, not the shell; the gem, not the tinsel
You must have heard of people seeking moksha (liberation) and getting moksha; many may be under the impression that it is some rare honour that only a few secure or that it is some area like Paradise or a Colony of the Elect or a Height that some heroic souls alone can climb up to. No; moksha is something which all must achieve, whether they are heroic or not; even those who deny it have to end by realising it. For, every one is even now seeking it when he seeks joy and peace; and, who does not seek joy and peace? Moksha is when you have lasting joy and lasting peace. Tired with temporary joys and transient peace, man will at last endeavour to know the secret of permanent joy and peace, that is to say, of Moksha, Liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 5 (1965)
Ma’s legacy
Ma authored a book on Mudras, made Youtube videos in the last months of her life and she built a healing centre and home called, Sai Spandan. Sai Spandan is an oasis in this semi-scrub desert region. All kinds of animals and birds frequent her garden. Some of the animals are of the poisonous variety, like the cobra or, the viper. We have also seen a mongoose, squirrels, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, babblers, hoopoe, crow pheasants and more. She started this project in 2006 when she bought this land at the ripe age of sixty five. Ma finished building Sai Spandan by 2009. Then she slowly grew her beautiful garden, with all kinds of fruit trees and flowers. The building is in a vedic design. Her dream was to have healing centre for all kinds of complementary therapies, especially mudras which she specialised in. We hope to allow everyone to come and enjoy her legacy, be it just enjoying the garden, or experiencing the therapies and courses we offer.
Love and Blessings, Eddie
Eddie Appoo is a spiritual teacher and author dedicated to guiding others on their journey of Self-Realisation. He embarked on a journey of spiritual exploration from a young age and had his first glimpse of Self-Realisation in the early 1980s. In 1992, Eddie experienced himself as Atma (One with God) guided by his spiritual master Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Alongside his wife, he co-created LiberatingTouch®, a spiritual development system. Eddie’s teachings and writings, including “Detachment: The Secret to Infinite Peace,” reflect his dedication to sharing joy and facilitating spiritual progression.