By The Editor, Sai Sandesh

The story of Dr. Art-Ong Jumsai is a fascinating account of how Baba protects His devotees in divinely mysterious ways. For those unfamiliar with Dr. Jumsai, he has worked with NASA and is an intellectual par excellence. Despite being a rocket scientist by training, he has been serving in Swami’s mission since a very long time.

During a Regional Sai Conference, Dr. Jumsai narrated his wonderful experience.

He was born during the start of World War II, which was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of mankind. At that volatile time, his family was living in Bangkok when the Japanese started bombing the military barracks. Since his grandfather was a colonel in the Thai army, they had a house in the military barracks.

The barracks were a prime target for bombing and all houses in the barracks were in danger of being destroyed by powerfully-designed, air-dropped bombs.

During that critical juncture, a young man (appearing to be a monk) visited the house of Dr. Jumsai. He gave a small packet to the latter’s mother and said “Spread this all over [the roof of] of your house, and you will be safe.” On saying this the young man disappeared. As the mother curiously opened the packet, it appeared to be something that looked like white fine sand. Being religious and faithful by nature, however, she obeyed the instructions and spread the contents of the packet on the roof.

At the end of the war, that was the only house left standing. All others were bombed, destroyed, and razed to the ground. That little packet of holy ashes had saved the entire family from being burnt to ashes.

Many years after this incidence, Dr. Jumsai had the opportunity to get a confirmation about this incidence. While addressing Sathya Sai Summer Courses, he was narrating the incidence of how a young man had given a packet of sand to his mother when Swami started laughing. He addressed the gathering and said “I did not give her sand; I gave her vibhuti.”

This seemingly simple packet of vibhuti had served as the most potent weapon defense system for the Jumsai family.