Who Is Sathya Sai Baba? After reading my first edition of Eating Healthy the Sai Way, many Western readers have asked me, "Who is Sathya Sai Baba?" I give them a simple answer: He is my God, my guru, my spiritual guide.
When asked if He is God, Sathya Sai Baba responds, "Yes, I am God and so are you. The only difference between you and me is that while I am aware of this fact, you are not." In this answer, Swami is pointing to the fundamental truth of humanity's innate divine nature.
My ancestral heritage is deeply rooted in the Vedas, the ancient sacred scriptures of India. They teach very simple ways of living lives filled with truth, righteousness, peace, love, and nonviolence. Through the Vedas, God gave humanity teachings on every aspect of life from practical guidelines on health and diet (Ayurveda) to subtle spiritual wisdom.
In the beginning, this wisdom was perceived directly by the rishis. These highly evolved sages actually heard the words of the Vedas spoken by the creator. For generations, the rishis shared these teachings with their students and members of society.
With the passage of time, however, humanity began to ignore these teachings. At such dark times in human history, God, the supreme divinity, manifests as an avatar (a divine incarnation) in human form such as Ramana, Buddha, and Jesus. The avatars incarnate with full divine power and knowledge to once again partithe essential values. Being an avatar, the creator Himself in human form, Sai Baba is also the author of the Vedas. So His teachings about food are truly SAI: a Simple, Ancient and Indian way of eating.
When I was approaching my teen years, I wanted my parents to search for the avatar of our kali yuga, our dark age. Alas, I had to wait another thirty-four years before I found my avatar, Lord God Sathya Sai Baba. It happened while I was watching a movie of His fiftieth birthday celebration and heard Him say, "This year, you have named my birthday the golden jubilee of the avatar!" Hearing the word avatar, I started sobbing uncontrollably. I heard His profound teaching: "My life is My Message and My Message is Love The day when you resolve to practise My advice, follow My directives, translate My message into acts of service and engage in sadhana [spiritual practice) that day is My birthday for you."
Ever since that day, my faith in His divinity settled permanently in my heart. I read more of His teachings and tried to understand and follow them implicitly.
Having discovered Sai Baba as my avatar, I was getting attached to His physical form. However, He alerted me not to get attached to His physical presence but rather try to understand His Reality. I understood that God is really a powerful, universal energy and is also known as love, the universal consciousness, and Brahman, who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. He is present in all the animate and inanimate things that exist including humans. This formless God known as the atma, spirit, resided in all beings; He took care of me until my first contact with His current physical presence in this life and in many previous lives. He is always with me.
Sai Baba was born on November 23, 1926, in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India, a tiny village; its population, fewer than five hundred, was poor. He abandoned His schooling during eighth grade to start His avataric mission. He discarded His physical body for His formless reality on April 24, 2011.
Vedas (1216)
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