Long time ago, at the beginning of eighteenth century a young bearded
man with sparkling eyes took shelter in a mosque, in Shirdi Village (of
Maharshtra State, In India) . Nobody knew from where this stranger had
come who hardly spoke a word and stayed there.
Gradually the curious villagers started offering food to
the man, but he never asked anything from them. Sometimes he shared his
food with the animals. Soon the young fakir, as he was started to be
addressed, started expressing his view points with few elderly
villagers. His simple language of expresssion and his special power of
solving the problems of poor needy and destitutes soon made this less
known fakir, known as Shri Sai Baba. As the days passed, devotees
started streaming into Shirdi in ever growing numbers. The village was
fast becoming a centre of pilgrimage. As gifts and presentations flowed
in, the pomp and ceremony of Sai worship were evolving. Everyday Sai
Baba would be a pauper having distributed all among the needy and the
poor. But Sai Baba's life of a Fakir remained calm, undisturbed,
unaltered and therein is the saint's Spiritual glory.
People also realised that this "Baba" was no ordinary
person but a person with extraordinary godly powers. Such powers are not
known or present in normal human beings. Baba preached his principle of
love and faith in humanity to all his disciples. He always felt
anguished over the fact that all those who came to him were more for
their own personal problems and not for attaining the ultimate goal of
reaching God which he felt could be attained only by true servicing of
humanity.
Sai baba strongly believed in uniformity of religion and he never
distinguished anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion. He always
made it a point not to return empty handed those who had come to him in
their hour of need and grief. He performed miracles to alleviate the
suffering of poor people. On one occasion he restored the eyes of a
blind elderly and in another occasion he lighted a lantern with water
when there was no oil to burn it.
As all good things have to end ultimately "Baba" also
left his body on his own will on 15th Oct. 1918, leaving his millions of
believers and followers crying. His body was laid in the Samadhi Mandir
called "Booty", which he had asked his disciple to built before his
death.
Sai Baba was Unique, in that, he lived his message
through the Essence of his Being. His life and relationship with the
common man was his teaching. The lmmense Energy that was manifest in the
body of Sai was moving and is still moving in a mysterious way, creating
and recreating itself everywhere, beyond the comprehension of time and
space.Yet, he lived with the common folk as a penniless fakir, wearing a
torn kafni, sleeping over a mat while resting his head on a brick,
begging for his food. He radiated a mysterious smile and a deep inward
look, of a peace that passeth all understanding. He was always and ever
aware of what transpired within the hearts and minds of everyone,
whether they be, His devotees or not. This Omnipresent and Omniscient
Sri Sai Baba who left his mortal body in 1918, is the living spiritual
force that is drawing people from all walks of life, from all parts of
the world, into his fold, today.Sri Sai Baba lived, acted and behaved as
only a "God descended on Earth" can. He came to serve mankind, to free
them from the clutches of fear. This anonymity lent a strange facet to
his interaction with the people who came to him for guidance. To the
Hindus he was an orthodox Brahmin, with a sacred fire, enjoining the
worship of many gods and the devout study of various Hindu scriptures.
He lived in a mosque but always referred to it as "Dwarkamay!" (Lord
Krishna's birth place is Dwaraka). To the Moslems he was a fakir living
in a mosque observing the disciplines of Islam, uttering "Allah Malik"
(God is the master) guiding Muslim seekers along the lines c)f their own
religion. To the Parsis he was the sacred rire worshipper. His life was
a living manifestation c)f the Sermon of the Christ and of the
Eight-fold path of the Buddha.
His most concise message for one and all alike was "Why fear when I am
here". To take refuge in Sai, is to enter into ajourney to reach the
Divine Oasis of Love and drink deep from the Fountain of Life, the
source of all Spiritual Energy.Wherever the devotee is, Baba makes him
recognize within himself his highest aspirations and goal and at one
stroke, his conduct and the attitude to fellow beings is touched with
the awareness of love, understanding, patience and faith. This is the
promise that Sri Sai Baba holds out to all who come to Him. Sri Sai Baba
was beyond the limitations of Time and Space and thus caste, creed,
position dogmas and doctrines were fundamentally unimportant to him.
Nobody really knew his parentage, where he came from or which religion
he practised. He claimed no possessions nor accepted any disciples or
gave any specific teaching.