From the Bar-room to the Prayer-room: The Wilma Bronkey Story

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"I wanted to be the best I can be."

We invite you to join our next gathering as we explore the life of Wilma Bronkey. Wilma was a regular woman from Oregon whose life was turned upside down—and right-side up—by the presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Through her stories, we learn that spirituality isn't just about rituals; it’s about how we treat our neighbors, how we discipline with a kiss, and how we represent the Divine in our daily lives.

This is a composite video of three interviews with Wilma in 2001, 2003 and 2004.

The Advent of Sri Sathya Sai Baba into the Life of Wilma Bronkey

Location: Grants Pass, Oregon

Participants: Wilma Bronkey, Ivan Bronkey, and various interviewers/devotees

The Vision of the Future

We will have a world that is beyond belief, and we will have the world that our beloved Baba says we are destined to have. I go to India mainly because I love to see Baba, and secondly, because Baba told me to bring the tours.

The Manifestation of Vibhuti

Ivan: If you were a little scared when you woke up with Vibhuti on your mustache one day, what on earth did you think when you found a house half full of Vibhuti? Baba was just blessing us, and we let it go at that. What can you do but go to Baba? When he asks the question, 'What do you want?' He wants you to pay attention and say, 'I want to be the best I can be.'

I had never heard of Baba until the time he sent these messages to me. I would go upstairs for something, and the smell of Vibhuti would get so strong it was like walking into a wall. It hit me so strongly, but we didn’t know what it was. We had no idea.

Life at Enchanted Acres

Ted Henry: Welcome to 'Souls' and to Enchanted Acres, the Grants Pass, Oregon home where Wilma and Ivan Bronkey have been hosting their annual 4th of July Sai family reunions for years. Married for 64 years, Wilma has led more than 50 group visits to India to see Sri Sathya Sai Baba. At Enchanted Acres, she worked with handicapped children for 30 years, meeting the daily needs of more than 280 foster children.

Transformation of Character

I end up in the middle of the circle tonight! When you go to Baba—whether you have been there or not—you are going to be transformed. I don’t care who you are or what you believe, you will come away with a transformation.

What transformed me was a change in my lifestyle. We used to live 'high on the hog,' as the old saying goes. We had a bar in our house, and we used to drink beer and go dancing every Saturday night.

Mainly, the changes I noticed were that I no longer had a desire to drink beer. We never got drunk, it was just a beverage to us, but I took all the liquor bottles out of our bar and changed the bar into an office. We still went dancing, but not anywhere where liquor was sold. I found myself paying more attention to the spiritual side of life.

I think I became more mellow. I have never been a real temperamental person, but you could 'raise the cockles on the back of my neck' by doing the wrong thing to a child or by crossing me. All of that came to a halt very quickly. I centered my life around the fact that I had met God on Earth. I felt I was one of the luckiest people in the world, and it was my duty to represent Him the way He was representing me.

On Miracles and Desires

A lot of people go to Swami and hope for an interview because they’ve heard Baba created a watch or a ring. They go in and Baba says, 'How are you?' and they say, 'I’m fine, Baba.' Then he asks, 'What would you like?' and the first thing they say is, 'I want a ring, Swami!'

I remember one woman Baba asked, 'What do you want?' She said, 'It’s my birthday and I want my birthstone ring.' Baba said, 'Today?' and she said, 'No, yesterday.' Swami swung his hand and created a lovely ring that fit her finger perfectly. She looked at it and said, 'That’s not my birthstone, and I’m not going to wear it.' She put it in her purse and said, 'You didn’t do what I asked, so I’m never coming back here again.'

But when you go to Baba and He asks, 'What do you want?', he wants you to say, 'I want to be filled with your love, Swami,' or 'I want to be your hands.' If he gives you a ring, it isn't to decorate you; it’s because he’s giving you a responsibility. If you don’t live up to it, the ring will disappear or it will 'bite' your finger until you can't stand to wear it.

Who is Baba?

To me, Baba is the Creator of mankind, of the world, and of everything we see, breathe, and taste. If you look at a tree and see that it is God with leaves and blossoms, you are looking at a facet of God. The sun coming up is God.

It can be any 'God' you want to call it. It’s like going to a dozen different countries with a dozen different languages; everyone sees the same statue but names it differently. It’s the same statue. We fight over names and religions, but it is all one Being. God is the one power that answers our prayers, whether we pray to a tree or in a church. If you pray and believe, you will get your answer. I love people of every faith, every color, every creed. When I hug you, it is because I love your soul.

The Story of the Lunch and the Little Dog

This man and his wife wanted Baba to come for lunch so badly. Swami said, 'Yes, I will come tomorrow.' They rushed home, cleaned every corner, and swept the sidewalk. They set the table with a glass of cold water.

Baba didn't come. Then, a little dog burst through the gate, tracked mud all over the floor, and kicked gravel up. The man took a broom and beat the dog away. They were devastated because the food was gone and Baba hadn't shown. The next day at Darshan, they were heartbroken. 'Swami, you broke your word!' Baba looked at them and said, 'But I was at your house. I came to visit you, but you beat me with a broomstick and kicked me out of the gate!'

Bilocation: The Boy and the Well

I have seen him sitting in his chair in the Temple while we were singing Bhajans. Suddenly, he stopped moving his hand. His eyes were open, looking out over the crowd, but he was gone. After a while, he started keeping time again. He told us he had gone to England to save a boy from jumping into a well. Later, in a London newspaper, there was a story about Baba saving a boy from a well; they had seen him grab the boy and talk to him for a few minutes before disappearing.

The Miracle of the Bank Account

I needed money to go to India and I didn't have it. I went to the bank to see my balance, and I had exactly $8.00. The trip was going to cost $900.00. The teller said, 'Wait a minute, you had a deposit last night.'

I said, 'I wasn't at the bank last night.' She checked and said, 'A little gentleman in an orange dress with black curly hair came in and deposited $900.00 into your account.' That was the money I used to go to India.

Moving to the Front Row

In the Temple, you have to be very quiet. I had a tape recorder, a Polaroid camera around my neck, a small camera, a purse, and pillows. I was sitting about six rows back.

Don Heath was on the men’s side, and he yelled across the room, 'Wilma, move to the front row!' You aren’t supposed to talk or sneeze in the Temple, and here he is yelling my name. People around me were saying, 'Shut up!' I tried to ignore him, but he kept yelling.

I finally got up, banging people with my cameras and pinching legs as I tried to get out of the row. I finally reached the front row. There is a big white line you are not to cross, because that is Baba’s territory. The people in the front row made a tiny bit of room, and I squeezed in with all my gear...

The Miracle of the Feet

I developed 'Charlie horses'—muscle spasms in my legs. They were excruciating. I couldn’t get my feet up and I couldn’t get them down. The white line was right there, and my feet were drifting beyond it. I was in so much pain, and I thought, 'I can’t have my feet out here, Baba is coming through the door!' I tried to pull them back, but I couldn't even cross them. I was trying to hide them under my sari.

Just then, an orange robe appeared right in front of me. I thought, 'Oh, I’ve had it now. I’m going to get kicked out for sure.' I looked up at Swami. He looked down into my eyes and walked right up onto both of my feet. He stood on them with his full weight and tapped his feet.

Instantly, all the pain in my legs disappeared. The power that flowed through me was unbelievable—it felt like stepping on an electric cord while standing in water. I couldn't talk or move; I just sat there while he stood on my feet. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. He stepped back, looked down at me, and smiled very happily before walking to his chair.

Later, as I was leaving the Temple, Indra Devi stopped me. She said, 'Wilma, you were taken off of the time machine.' I asked what she meant. She said, 'When Baba stands on your feet, time will never mean anything to you anymore. He did the same thing to me.' And true to her word, time began to change for me completely. I don’t need much sleep, and I haven't for years. It was a wonderful gift.

Past Lives and Karma

Baba told me that I had been with him before, even with Shirdi Baba. He told my husband and me that we had been married seven times before. He told Ivan that he had been the President of the United States—General Grant—and a leader of a big army. He said Ivan suffers his karma now from the things he had to do during that time. Baba tells us about the past, but he doesn't often speak of the future.

The 280 Foster Children

People ask how we managed so many children. By law, we were only supposed to have five, but the Governor gave us a special dispensation. At one time, we had 14 children in the house. We taught them how to behave, how to love, and we hugged and kissed them all.

At Christmas, our biological children and our foster children received the same amount and value of presents. People couldn't tell which children were ours except sometimes by their skin color. We took them to parades and festivals; they were all our children.

I never beat or slapped a child. When older kids 'act out,' they are like little children begging for help. They aren't being loved. I have one 'daughter' from an Indian family who went to New York to help kids in the toughest neighborhoods. She taught them dance and art because she loved them, and she turned that area upside down. It can be done with love.

Vibhuti in the Bedding

We had a girl in our house who was acting out badly. She got angry and went upstairs to her room. When she came down, she was feeling much better, but she had gray dust all over the bottom of her slacks. I asked what she sat in. She said, 'I just sat on the bed.'

We went up to look, and there was Vibhuti all over her bed. When we checked the other bedrooms, every single bed had Vibhuti between the sheets and under the pillows. That night, when I turned my own sheets back, there was Vibhuti from the pillow all the way down to the foot of the bed.

Worlds Within His Eyes

Baba called my husband and me into a private room. He was standing directly in front of me. I looked directly into his eyes, and the most amazing thing happened. Within his eyes were worlds upon worlds.

It was as if they were in layers; you could see through one to the next. I saw the most gorgeous scenery—a valley with green grass, animals, dogs, and cows. Beyond that was a world of color and flowers with brightness I have never seen on this Earth. There were oceans and scenes sliced one on top of the other. I was looking through Swami’s eyes into infinity. Then, suddenly, the shutter dropped and it was gone. He just looked at me and asked, 'Are you happy now?'

The Living Legacy: A Reflection for the Path

The story of Wilma Bronkey serves as more than a collection of miraculous anecdotes; it is a roadmap for the modern seeker. Her life reminds us that the Avatar does not come merely to dazzle us with wonders, but to dismantle our old ways of being. From the moment she traded her home bar for a home office, Wilma demonstrated that the greatest miracle is not the manifestation of Vibhuti in a bedsheet, but the transformation of a human heart from ego-centered to God-centered.

As we reflect on her journey, we are invited to ask ourselves the same question Swami posed to her: "What do you want?"If we answer with a desire for temporary things, we may receive them, but we miss the "Birthstone" of our own Divinity. Wilma’s life teaches us that when we answer, "I want to be your hands," the constraints of the world begin to dissolve. Time loses its grip, fatigue vanishes in the face of service, and the mundane world reveals its true nature as a "facet of God."

Wilma did not just see God in an orange robe in India; she saw Him in the muddy paws of a dog at her gate and in the eyes of 280 "difficult" children. She proved that when we walk the path of love, we are "taken off the time machine" of worldly anxiety and placed into the eternal present of Grace.

May we all find the courage to stand at the "white line" of our own spiritual boundaries, ready for the Divine to step onto our feet, heal our pains, and show us the infinity that lies within a single glance of Love.

"I love you, Swami. I want whatever You think is right for me to have." — The prayer that changed Wilma’s life.

Source: SOULJOURNS - WILMA BRONKEY - Sai BABA - YouTube