Travels With Mata Betty

By Lyn Kreigler

“Give Me That Ganesha"

Mata Betty had quite a bit of interesting history with Lord Ganesha, the magnificent elephant-headed Overcomer of Obstacles in the Hindu tradition. Mata had been born and raised as a strict Catholic, and married a devout Catholic in Jim, her beloved husband. When they came to Swami, they became completely devoted to Him and had very little trouble in still keeping with most aspects of their Catholic faith. They did not tell any of their fellow Catholic parishioners, of course, nor family or friends - and certainly not their local priest!

The only difference for Betty was she felt she could no longer attend daily mass. Jim, however, had no issue at all. He faithfully kept going to mass every day of his life. Betty sometimes commented wistfully: Jim was a much greater devotee than me. When the end came, he went suddenly and peacefully with Sai's Name on his lips.

When Swami was comforting me, He said “From now, you and I will do My teachings.” At the time, it didn't mean a thing to me. He said, “I will send the people to you.” Just as simple as that.

Swami was Jim and Betty's special “secret Sai”. This was in the 1970s and 1980s back in Wairoa, New Zealand. They quietly prayed to Him in the privacy of their home. They began having a little “Sai time” in the evening together. Betty would ring a little Indian brass bell. They then commenced with their private prayers to Sai, singing bhajans and doing aarti. (waving of a camphor flame). One day, the little hammer inside bell broke. Jim tried to mend it, but it never rang quite the same way afterwards.

Swami confirmed his omniscient knowledge of their “secret Sai" activities in their second visit to Him. Innocently, Sai asked them, "How is the bell ringing?"

Jim and Betty were amazed and delighted at Sai's casual proof of His All-Knowingnes. 

Ma also related that whenever she was admitted to hospital for her various surgeries, she would be holding her Catholic rosary, telling the beads, praying to the Virgin Mary, to Jesus, to Lord Ganesh and also praying to Sai. 
Betty totally understood and accepted the importance of Lord Ganesh in Hindu tradition. She saw her beloved Sai as Lord Sai Ganesh, as Vishnu, as Shiva, as her Heavenly Father, as Mother Mary, and as Divine Universal Mother in the Hindu Tradition. She had no problem whatsoever integrating these aspects into her broader understanding of what and Who God is. She achieved the highest states of spiritual maturity.

As you enter the main gate of Sai's ashram, you enter the Ganesha Gate . The first thing you will then see is a magnificent statue of Lord Ganesh greeting you. Standing in front of Him, you might see people breaking coconuts, offering flowers, lost in prayer, or circumambulating the enclosure around the imposing statue. If you time it right early in the morning, you will see the priest conducting the morning puja (sacred ceremony) washing the statue, presenting the daily offerings of coconuts, incense, fruits and garlands. 

Ganesh is the Overcomer of Obstacles. He is a favourite of the Indian taxi drivers, who often have a little figure of Ganesh fixed to their dashboards. If you’ve ever been in an Indian taxi trying to negotiate the chaos of wild and crazy Indian traffic, you'll understand why).

Mata was very fond of Lord Ganesh. In the early days before she began bringing large groups, she liked to buy a few small Hindu statues of Ganesh and Lord Shiva from village shops and take them into interviews for Sai to bless. She would distribute these as special keepsakes to some lucky devotees back home.

Mata Betty: "I have often bought statues and little things that I ask Him to bless and which I take back to people in New Zealand. Once, when I was there, a little statue of Ganesha that I was holding fell out of my hand, turned upside down, and landed at His Feet. Well, it’s not the done thing to have Lord Ganesha on his head upside down at Sai's Feet! I reached down to turn it right side up. Sai immediately said, “Hey, hey, hey, hey!”

You see, I was not allowed to take my eyes off Him when I was in His physical presence. The same goes during darshan when He was walking amongst us. I knew this in my heart. I must keep my eyes on Him all the time, even when I am in the private interview room with Him, and I am trying to look over at someone who has become tongue-tied. This happened a lot! Sai zipped them up! They couldn’t think of a single thing to say. They could not answer Him when He spoke to them. They sat there with their mouths open. I would turn to them to encourage them, but I had to always quickly look back at Him. That's how He works with some people. I mean to say, who knows how He works! But whatever is happening, they can’t answer him."

Betty always drilled us hard in this. She told us:

"As soon as He comes into view, never take your eyes off Him even if all you can see is just a postage stamp- sized glimpse of Him. Even if it is just the back of his head or a glimpse of His orange robe, His shoulder, His foot, arm, wrist, hand - never take your eyes off that for a second." 

This was not an easy discipline in a huge open-air hall crammed with over 10,000 to 30,000 seated or standing people from all over the world twice every day. There were always a thousand and one distractions to take your eye off of Him. Crying babies, restless children, pigeons’ droppings landing on you. Monkeys scampering up and down, swinging on chandeliers. Heavy monsoon rain beating on the roof. Eagles screaming overhead. Royalty, the military, the Prime Minister, government VIPs, famous actors and musicians arriving with their entourages. Six foot tall tribals striding in, wearing exotic silver jewelry.

Someone might be tugging on your clothes, pushing you from behind, a big bottom landing in your lap while passing gas - or standing in up in front of you - or the crowd heaving and shoving behind you. People thrusting letters, infants, trays of rice, and sweets for Him to hopefully bless. People coughing and sneezing, asking around for cough drops, mints, or a drink of water.

Sometimes ladies would have hysterics, faint, or even on occasion drop dead. It wasn’t until much later that we realized that this discipline would serve us very well in later years when the turbulence and distractions in society and the world became paramount, as they are now as I write in mid-2022. This exercise had trained us to keep our eyes on Swami no matter what happens in this ever-changing, constantly challenging outward world. 

He had told us these times were coming.

Swami (in the late 1990s): "A time is coming in the very near future when everything will start spinning. There will be floods, great storms, winds, earthquakes. Coastlines will rise and fall. Much illness, much hunger, cancer, much anger, mental suffering, fighting, chaos throughout the world. All known man-made institutions will begin to disintegrate and not function properly. When these times come, hold onto My Feet for dear life. Everything will be all right. This has to happen before the Golden Age can begin. It will be a great cleansing. A certain clear-out must take place."

There is a happy postscript to the story of the little Ganesha statue falling over at Swami ‘s Feet. Swami picked Ganesha up and began rolling the little statue around in His hand for some minutes, then gave it back to Betty. The Ganesha began producing quantities of healing vibhuti ash.

Ma kept Him hidden in a drawer beside her bed. Her whole bedroom was fragrant with the unmistakable scent of vibhuti. I would always ask to see “the little fellow”.

Mata would obligingly open the drawer. The air would fill with puffs of sweet vibhuti. She would always collect some and give me a packet. 

When Zone 3 (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Guinea) Sai Organisation chairman Arthur and his wife Poppy Hillcoat once visited Betty, she let them see “the little fellow” - the little Ganesh, spouting vibhuti.

"Betty, give me that Ganesha! I have to have Him! I'll take Him to Australia! I’ll take Him everywhere!” Arthur exclaimed. 

Betty chuckled. 

“Now, Arthur, you know very well that if you take Him outside of this house, even for a minute, you know that vibhuti will stop!” 

Ganesha is the Form of Atma. (Supreme Being, Soul, the True Self, one's God-given inner Divinity).

The Atma has no Master. What Form does the One Who Has No Master exist in a human being? It is the Form of the Atma.

Ganesha is always engaged in conferring boons to all. He is the Giver of Prosperity and Intelligence. Food offerings to Ganesh have health-giving properties. The Ganesh principle symbolises health, bliss, peace, wisdom, prosperity and many other things.

Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discourses 1997