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Leslie Farkas
Leslie Farkas first visited Sathya Sai Baba when he was 21 in 1989. His mother Veronica was already an ardent devotee, but Leslie was very skeptical and even against this strange looking man in India. Leslie’s heart was deeply yearning for God, but he was living from his head, from the ego, thinking that he could be the master of his own life. Little did Leslie know that Swami was about to totally transform him.
It was on Leslie’s third trip in 1992, when out of a deep existential crisis he finally surrendered to Swami. On that day of surrender, the mind took a back seat and the Lord of Love became the charioteer of his life. This visit that was supposed to last for 6 months, turned into a five-year spiritual odyssey of living and serving in the physical presence of the Lord. In Leslie's first interview in 1992, Swami asked Veronica and Leslie to run the Western Canteen. They had no prior training or experience, but with Swami’s grace, much hard work and the service of many devotees, they managed, cooked, and fed many hundreds and sometimes thousands of devotees per meal.
When Swami visited Bangalore, they ran the Canteen there. Their vacation time from the Canteen was when they would follow Swami to Kodaikanal, Ooty and other locations in India. Through his time in India, Leslie was blessed with numerous interviews, Swami’s close personal attention and deep, difficult and liberating spiritual lessons. In the last year of his stay, Swami asked Leslie to speak to visiting devotees as a Public Relations Officer, sharing Swami’s messages, teachings and his own experiences.
In 1997, Swami told Leslie that it was time to leave and go back to California, where Swami would continue to guide and polish him, removing the obstacles to Union, through the miracles and drama of life. Since returning to the USA, Leslie has been working as an Electrical & Mechanical Engineer in the medical device and electric transportation fields. He continues to do service and shares his experiences and teachings of his Divine Master who resides in his heart as his very Self.