Video published on: July 7th 2020 

To enhance accessibility, this video has been transcribed with the help of AI. This work is offered freely for educational use, honoring the message and the mission of the original creators.

Ted Henry delves into the pursuit of understanding the Atma. He recounts his personal journey, including his conservative Catholic upbringing, early exposure to meditation, and pivotal moments leading to his spiritual awakening. He shares his experience with Sai Baba, including direct interactions and profound realizations about self-awareness and liberation.

The Path to Discovering the Atma

A Presentation by Ted Henry

Introduction

The path to discovering that we are the Atma—could anyone on Earth pick a greater topic to speak upon? I chose this topic because I sincerely believe it is the most important command—or perhaps another word is demand—that Sathya Sai Baba makes of each and every one of us. I chose it because I actually believe it is possible to acquire liberation in this lifetime. You don’t hear many people talking about it because the general perception is that not many people "get there."

Yet, increasingly, my wife Jody and I discover more and more devotees—and non-devotees as well—who are already "there." They are quite clearly, quite evidently, to anyone who has experience recognizing certain traits, self-realized beings. It is one of the greatest blessings of our lifetime to find such people along the path and to simply feel their presence. The best word I can use to describe that presence is magnetic. It pulls you right to it.

Welcome

Welcome to another Region 8 online devotional program. I’d like to start this program by asking: How often do we really remind ourselves that we are indeed the Atma—the great, imperishable "I AM"?

Our guest speaker this evening is Mr. Ted Henry, who started the popular program called Souljourn. It is a spiritual program featuring many Sai interviews as well as Eastern spiritual teachings. It is only natural that the topic of his talk is "The Path to Discovering That We Are the Atma." We will also have a chance to ask him questions at the end. Please give a very warm welcome to Mr. Ted Henry.

Ted Henry’s Address

Sai Ram, everyone. I want to thank you, Greg, for that wonderful introduction. I would like to offer my humblest pranams at the divine lotus feet of our beloved Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

I chose this topic for a very distinct reason. While the time for these programs is enough to get a point or two across, to cover a subject at this level of awareness, you really need a couple of months—or, in my case, 42 years. That is how long I have been on this path.

I believe this is the most important demand Sai Baba makes of us. He has given us many goals to aspire to and ensures that we are all going to reach liberation eventually. However, this particular theme—intimately knowing the Atma that you are—is at the top of the pile. He says that achieving liberation is your birthright; it is a guarantee if you engage in acts like Seva (service), Namasmarana (chanting the Name), Bhajans, and Poojas. Yet, I am here tonight to talk about what I presumptuously call a "quicker way" of realizing the truth of who you are.

I did not choose this topic because I am an expert—far from it. I chose it because I believe liberation is possible now. I want to disabuse you of the notion that it is out of reach. Neither Jody nor I claim to be there yet, but it is the greatest endeavor of our lives. Along the way, we are recognizing increasing numbers of people, especially Baba devotees, who are already there.

Early Foundations: From Ohio to Meditation

I was raised in a very conservative town in Northeastern Ohio called Canton. I grew up in a large, conservative Catholic family. We thought nothing of getting down on our knees in the living room after dinner to pray for the Rosary together, regardless of the season. That upbringing gave me a firm love for God, envisioned then as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

During my time in Catholic schools, a budding interest in meditation emerged. In the 50s and 60s, "meditation" wasn't a word used in Ohio, but my teachers, the Christian Brothers, invited me to join a group called Sodality. We were taught to worship and pray in silence. Looking back, I realized I was practicing meditation long before it was a common term. These formative years led me to the "cliché" questions of life: Who am I? Why am I here? What is it all about? I asked these questions weekly through my teens and well into my 70s. I feel confident now that I finally know the answers.

The Vision of the Library

One day, a profound image came to me in a dream. I saw a huge building consisting of one massive room. Every wall was lined with bookshelves from the floor to the rafters, containing thousands of books on Catholicism. Every question anyone could ever have was answered there.

As I walked through this room, I spotted a ladder. I climbed it, flung open a trapdoor in the ceiling, and pounced onto the roof. I felt completely safe because I was standing on the bedrock of my Christian faith. But then, something beckoned me to look up. My jaw dropped. Above me was what I can only describe as a "cosmos" of advanced spiritual understanding. Every star and heavenly body seemed relevant to me, carrying the imprimatur of deep spiritual truth. Looking back, that was the first major step that led me to Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

The "Doubting Thomas" Brushes

Before I finally flew to Puttaparthi, I had two "brushes" with Sai Baba where I actually turned away from him. I must have had more ego or arrogance than most. He came to me twice, and twice I turned my shoulder to him, earning the label he gives many: "Doubting Thomas."

The first brush was in 1968. I was serving in the Peace Corps in a remote village in Paraguay—no running water, no electricity, just dirt roads. After a hard day’s work, I was sitting in a rocking chair outside my hut, paging through magazines sent from the capital city... I turned the page from 50 to 51, then over to 52, and there he was. You know who I am talking about: Sri Sathya Sai Baba. This was 1968 or perhaps early '69. I thought, Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anyone who looks quite like this. And look at the people sitting beneath him—they seemed to be Westerners. They looked like Americans, maybe six fellows who could have been contemporaries of mine. Perhaps they were in the Peace Corps somewhere; we were all about the same age back then.

But for whatever reason, though I read the article word for word, I cannot tell you a single thing it said today. It has been too many years. I simply turned away. I didn’t give it any more thought or time, except for the image of his face. The gaze from his eyes into mine, looking out from that tattered, torn magazine, and his name—those I never forgot. Even today, it feels as if that happened only yesterday. Instead of turning right, I turned left and walked away from him.

The Second Encounter: Calcutta

Fast forward several decades to 1992 for my second brush with Sai Baba. It was my first trip to India. I had been to many countries as a reporter by that time, but I wanted to go on an around-the-world trip. I bought a ticket covering six countries and many cities. I had no reservations for any particular event; I was just going to see what I could see. I had a massive curiosity about the rest of the world.

However, I did have one reservation made with a person I truly wanted to see: Mother Teresa. What a privilege! I am six-foot-three when I stand up straight, and she was four-foot-eleven; I was towering over her. She was much more diminutive than Sai Baba, but she couldn’t have been kinder. She blessed rosaries for my mother, my father, my five siblings, and myself.

Then she offered me a privilege I never dreamed of: she invited me to come back the next day to feed the men and boys who were dying in her hospice. It was a place where the indigent went to die under her loving gaze, regardless of their spiritual tradition. I was amazed and deeply grateful to the woman who had arranged this contact.

The Guest Room

As I prepared to leave for the airport after three and a half days, the woman who had hosted me in Calcutta approached the car. She said, "Now that you have traveled halfway around the world to visit an icon of your tradition, Mother Teresa, I invite you to come back one day to visit the spiritual icon of our belief system. I won't tell you his name, because you wouldn't recognize it."

I said, "No, please, tell me. I am curious." She said, "His name is Sai Baba." I replied, "I know who Sai Baba is."

She was floored. I was one of the first American reporters she had met who knew the name. I told her I had "met" him in a magazine in South America in the late 60s. She darted into the house and came back with three Sai Baba books and some trinkets. And you know what? I never looked at them. I took them home to Cleveland, Ohio, and never opened them. I knowingly turned away from the Avatar of the cosmos.

Before I left, she told me one more thing: "Years ago, he would come to Calcutta and stay in our home. We have a guest room off the main salon, and where you were staying—that is where he stayed." In my ignorance and stupidity, I just thought, How nice, what a coincidence. I didn't put it together. I suppose I can be given a small pass, but boy, did I come to regret not knowing more back then.

Meeting Jody

I met Jody a few years later at a dinner following a spiritual program. I really enjoyed talking to her; we found we had a lot in common regarding our enthusiasm for spiritual growth. I asked if she would be open to dinner the following week. She said no.

"How about the week after that?" "No." "Three weeks later?" "No," she said, "You don't understand. I am leaving for India the day after tomorrow to see a special person."

I puffed my chest out and said, "I'm a reporter; I've traveled the world. I've been to India. There’s a chance I might recognize the name of the person you’re going to see." She laughed and said, "I hardly think so. In fact, I’d say there’s probably not another man in the whole state of Ohio who has heard this person’s name, except for a handful of followers." I said, "Okay, I give up. Who is it?" "His name is Sri Sathya Sai Baba."

You should have seen her reaction when I told her I knew the name and shared the two episodes I just told you. It changed her outlook on me at least a little bit. That was December of 1996. When she returned from India, I questioned her deeply: What is the ashram like? What is Baba like? Did he say anything to you? A hunger was growing in me to see him myself.

Advaita and the "Coincidence"

My first attempt to go was foiled when I fainted one night—something that had never happened before—and broke my ankle, requiring a metal plate. I couldn't make the trip.

However, shortly before I finally made my first visit to see Sai Baba, Jody and I discovered something independently: we both had a long-standing interest in Advaita (non-duality) and oneness. We realized we both had a burning interest in Sai Baba’s greatest lesson long before we even knew him well. What a "coincidence" in an industrial, hard-working city like Cleveland, where people generally stick to traditional churches, synagogues, and mosques.

In a town like Cleveland, where life revolves around hard work and traditional worship, the subject of non-duality is rarely discussed. Yet, unbeknownst to each other, Jody and I were in the same city, at the same time, reading the exact same book about non-duality even before we learned of it from Sai Baba. For me, that study began at a critical point in my life back in 1989.

The book is called A Course in Miracles. For some, it is a household name; for others, a brand-new concept. The title doesn't quite do it justice. It is a text that ties directly to Sai Baba—I am living proof of that. The book proclaims that all is God. It states that none of this is real—not the lights, not the mirror, not the walls. It teaches that we are all actors in a dream, playing out our roles until we wake up. The reason we wake up is that the dream eventually comes to an end, and the purpose of awakening is to realize our true identity: to awaken to the truth of oneness, or in other words, to know what our Atma truly is.

A Western Path to Advaita

The Course was written in America in the 1960s. It is a 1,300-page book with 365 heavy, complex lessons. Some of them infuriated me because I couldn’t even begin to understand them. I believe its purpose was to bring the concept of non-duality (Advaita Vedanta) to those of us living in the West.

Talk about a cultural difference! Non-duality is nothing new for Indians, though I understand modern generations may not focus on it as much as their ancestors did. But for us in the West, it flips our entire concept of religion and spirituality completely upside down. It is a revolutionary shock.

I have studied it weekly for 28 years, no matter where I was living in the world. However, when I first started, I found it incredibly difficult to accept. One Sunday night, I got so angry that I threw the book across the room. I vowed never to open it again. That vow lasted exactly two weeks. When I picked it up again, I played a game: I opened it at random and read the first paragraph my finger landed on. This is what it said:

"This course can be summed up very simply this way:

1.     Nothing real can be threatened.

2.     Nothing unreal exists.

3.     Herein lies the peace of God."

In an instant, I got it. Those three phrases opened the entire book for me.

Baba’s Confirmation

Years later, during interviews with Sai Baba, I had the chance to ask him about the Course directly. About 16 or 17 years ago, I mustered the courage to ask: "Baba, did you write A Course in Miracles?"

Without skipping a beat, he gave an emphatic, one-word reply: "Yes."

A year later, I was back in Puttaparthi with a group of devotees from Cleveland who were also students of the Course. I was nervous to ask again, fearing I might get a different answer and have "egg on my face." But I asked: "Baba, did you write A Course in Miracles?"

"Yes," he replied quickly. But this time, he followed it with a short phrase that stayed with me: "Best book I ever wrote."

The Goal: Waking Up

We chewed on that for a long time. I knew then that I was in the deepest of all spiritual waters. That was my command from Baba to keep moving forward.

Baba’s message for us is entirely about "waking up." You could say it is about many other things, but ultimately, it is about each of us awakening. I know I am preaching to the choir; there may be people watching right now who are fully realized Jivanmuktas (liberated souls). We have met one such person in our lifetime—a close friend whom I interviewed for Souljourn.

As for me, I am a very slow learner. But I have realized that now is the time. The irony is that you don’t actually have to do much; you don’t have to pour through books forever. It comes to you when you set your mind on the intention to get there.

An Unexpected Invitation

Fast forward to 2008, three days before Christmas. I was sitting on the cold marble floor of the Mandir in Prasanthi Nilayam. It was early morning and still dark. Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see an older gentleman I didn't recognize. It was Mike Congleton from Southern California.

He didn't introduce himself; he just made a brief request. I thought he was going to ask me to move, but instead, he said: "Would you be our guest speaker on Christmas Day, here in Mandir, in the Divine Presence?"

I almost laughed out loud.

The Speaker’s Terror

He repeated the question, and I was starting to get truly scared. I asked, "Why are you asking me to do that?" He simply wanted an answer. Nervously, I thought maybe I should just shut him up by saying yes and then worry about settling the details later. I couldn’t believe I heard myself say "Yes"— I agreed to be the speaker on Christmas Day in the Divine Presence.

Except for the fake smile on my face, it was the worst Christmas of my life. I was never so scared or traumatized. I told Jody that if I had a car parked outside, I would have driven all the way home to Cleveland across the ocean. But as soon as that talk was over—a 23-minute talk captured in that moment—it became the best Christmas of my life.

Speaking from the Heart

How do you prepare a speech to be delivered in the Divine Presence? I am not intellectual or professor. I appointed Jody as my editor; she is a strong taskmaster. Those three days went by painfully quickly. My first three drafts ended up in the trash; I didn't know how to speak from the heart.

I asked Baba for help, and he gave it to me. I finally saw the light: I was to speak about Souljourns, the website Jody and I have labored over for 22 years. We have conducted over 400 spiritual interviews, 95 percent of them with Sai Baba devotees sharing how He transformed their hearts.

This was not to come from my ego. It was not a talk about how our project was Seva (service) for the benefit of others; it was about how it was Seva for me. It was a gift from Baba to ensure I would no longer be a "Doubting Thomas." For 22 years, He directed people to me so I could sit at their feet and learn. Among them were self-realized people. When you are in the presence of such a being, it is magnetic.

The Call to Awake

You may be aware of the letter Baba reputedly wrote to a devotee titled "Awake, Awake, Awake." In it, He says we have been asleep and dreaming for thousands of lifetimes. He declares that the time to awaken is now—not in another hundred years or another lifetime.

Separation is no longer the order of the day. Baba says, "I separated myself from myself so that I could love myself more. That experience is finished. I want all of myself to return and merge into Me, the one true Self." He asks us to repeat the mantra: "I am God. I am God. I am no different from God."

Phyllis Krystal’s Lesson

A few years ago, I flew to London to interview Phyllis Krystal for her 102nd birthday. She was strong in will and presence. During the interview, she told me a story about the most difficult moment she ever had in a conversation with Sai Baba.

Baba looked at her and said, "Mrs. Krystal, repeat after me: I am God." There was silence. "Mrs. Krystal, say after me: I am God." She replied, "Oh, Baba, there’s no way I could say that. It goes against every tenet of faith I was raised in. I was a good Episcopalian in the Church of England; that would be considered heresy."

Baba insisted, "Mrs. Krystal, repeat after me: I am God." She told me she whispered it, almost inaudibly: "I am God." "LOUDER!" came the command. "LOUDER, MRS. KRYSTAL! LOUDER!" Finally, she found herself virtually shouting it: "I AM GOD!"

She told me it was like pulling teeth. It was the most difficult thing she ever did, yet it showed how hard Baba works with us to break our conditioning. He wants us to realize our truest identity: Being, Awareness, and Bliss.

Loving the Dream

Why aren't we awake yet? I’ve reasoned it out: We like dreams. We love the "inventions" Baba created for us—families, nice homes, vacations, schools, and even our Seva projects and Bhajans. We are not fully awake because there is too much "noise" in our lives. We are so busy loving the dream that we forget to still ourselves long enough to find the Dreamer.

Conclusion: The Choice

The path to the Atma is about reaching a state of equanimity. Most of us are on an emotional roller coaster—up when things go well, down when they don't. True equanimity is a flat line. It doesn't waver. When you remain calm and abiding in the Absolute regardless of the world's noise, you are approaching your own awakening.

We are not merely humans striving for spiritual experience; we are the Divine experiencing humanity. Let us embrace this birthright and walk the path toward the Atma with courage, love, and the joyful expectation of awakening.

The Express Train to Liberation

Distractions vs. The Quick Way

There are so many distractions; I love the dream, and I still feel that way, but less and less. You have Baba’s word for it that you will reach liberation. All the paths you are involved in—the service projects, the bhajans, repeating the Names of the Lord, poojas, and modeling Baba’s love—you are doing it, and you will be awakened.

However, I believe there is a "quicker way." I say this based on my observations of people who are already "there." I refer to it as the "Express Train"—working on awakening as if your life depended on it. We want to move beyond this life to our truest identity.

Awakened Service (Seva)

People ask, "Ted, what about my service projects and the bhajans that improve the quality of life for so many?" When human beings become awakened, they lose their ego. At first, it might be ten percent of the time, but eventually, they lose it entirely. Their worldly identity diminishes, and they lose attachments and desires. They find endless compassion, humility, and love.

At that stage, their very presence becomes their Seva. You don’t lose service; you don’t stop your practices. You cherish them and do them from a different position of heightened awareness. The service of these enlightened beings is simply to radiate love and divine healing. We all benefit from being in their proximity without even knowing why. Why can’t it happen to each of us in this lifetime?

Questions and Answers

Greg:Ted, you mentioned you feel you are nowhere near self-awareness. Why work so hard for something that so few people ever achieve?

Ted: I’d like to disabuse you of that term. It’s not "heavy work." It’s the most important thing I want to do. It has been a journey of discovery and continuing revelation. I used to think I could just reuse old speeches, but I’ve learned that I am not where I was a year ago. It’s not work; it’s a sense of discovery.

Greg:What spiritual exercises would you recommend to someone wanting to enhance their identity?

Exercise 1: Self-Inquiry

Go to Baba’s teachings. He was a great admirer of Ramana Maharshi and the path of "Who am I?" Challenge yourself to talk about awakening. Often, there is a lack of interest in this because it seems like too lofty a goal, but if you choose to try, your life will be filled with revelation.

Exercise 2: The 30-Minute Reminder

Jody and I do this every day. Set your phone alarm to go off every 30 minutes. Baba says no one can meditate for more than a handful of seconds. So, every half hour, we take a five- or six-second break to remind ourselves who we truly are. Anyone can do this, no matter how busy they are.

Signs of Progress: Equanimity

Greg:Are there any signs that show we are on the right track?

Ted: Look for the diminution of ego and the expansion of humility. Also, look for love of self. Baba says, "You are God; you better darn well love yourself."

But the truest yardstick is Equanimity. Most people live on an emotional roller coaster—up with success, down with loss or criticism. True equanimity is a flat line. It doesn’t waver. Once you recognize that you remain calm and abiding in the Absolute regardless of the world's noise, you are approaching your awakening.

Closing Thoughts and Baba's Grace

Greg:Are you still looking for people to interview for Souljourn?

Ted: Absolutely. We look for people who radiate egolessness and compassion. Baba brings them to us on a silver platter.

Just today, I received a quote from a friend that perfectly sums this up. Baba says:

"There are those who think the world is real, and others who think it is not real. Rare indeed is the blessed one who does not think, but who is ever calm, abiding in the Absolute."

He is talking about Moksha (liberation)—the stillness at the bottom of the ocean. As we reduce our thoughts, we find the bliss of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss). While we might understand "Being" and "Awareness," the "Bliss" part is what we often only experience for a nanosecond. That is what you find in the absolute stillness.

Greg:Thank you, Ted Henry, for this fascinating talk on the path to discovering that we are all the Atma.

Source: The Path to Discovering that We Are the Atma | Ted Henry