For many years, the Buddha aspired to enlightenment, and having received this state, he was surprised to say that it turned out he had always been enlightened. However, the Buddha and many Masters, having gained enlightenment, utter wonderful words that all enlightened people simply do not know about it.

"I Am" is the door to higher reality. The beginning of the spiritual path lies in the awareness of one's existence, i.e., "I Am". At first glance, this sounds too elementary and obvious, but most people are not aware of their existence – most live their entire lives in unconsciousness. Self-existence is a well-known sensation for every person; it is so familiar that it often goes unnoticed. The feeling of "I Am" is the door to the highest reality and it is from this knowledge that the true spiritual path begins.

You are what you think you are. You are inherently free, so no one can give or take away your freedom. Remember that the information you are given may be true for some, but it is not necessarily true for all. You have the right to accept or reject any point of view, regardless of the authority of the person who tells you something. You are what you think you are so, be aware of your freedom.

The divine man is free and of good morals. Freedom alone is not enough. Freedom in ignorant hands can cause grief and suffering. The freedom of the wise is based on good. You are free because you always have the freedom to choose, even if you may not always understand it. The freedom of choice in the life of a wise man is based on love. The freedom of the unreasonable is based on selfishness.

The Buddha told his disciples they could only accept his teaching if they agreed with it after thinking deeply about the essence of the teaching. This was a manifestation of true freedom. Sathya Sai Baba also never demanded thoughtless submission. He left people with the right to free choice and the right to learn from their mistakes.

I will now tell a very famous story in this chapter, which I heard from several senior devotees who were close to Sathya Sai Baba for many years. In 1961, a traditional Vedic ceremony was planned to be held at the ashram. For this, several experienced Hindu Brahmin priests were invited. Vedic ceremonies are performed according to strict regulations. According to the astrological calculations made by the clergy, the ceremony had to start at 7.30am. This was immediately reported to Sathya Sai Baba. After listening to all the details of the calculations, Sathya Sai Baba said that it was not favorable to start the ritual at this time and that the correct time would be 9.30am. Moreover, he proclaimed that the ritual could only be started at the time specified by him.

The priests were very experienced astrologers and insisted on the accuracy of their calculations. Sathya Sai Baba did not respond to their objections, so it seemed to the priests they were able to convince him of the correctness of their opinion.

When the appointed day arrived, the clergy got up early in the morning, took a bath and prepared to leave the house to calmly reach the temple to prepare and start the ceremony at exactly 7.30am, as planned. It had heavily rained all night and in the early morning it continued to pour without a hint of the bad weather ending.

The priests dressed as they should in special vestments, but looking at the raging weather, did not know what to do as it was impossible to leave the house because of the storm. Missing the scheduled start of the ritual would be a big mistake and would be considered an unfavorable sign, and so everyone present began to worry.