Sri Shirdi Sai Baba has become a part of the mainstream of Indian spiritual and temporal life within a short period of attaining mahasamadhi. Sai Baba had also become a beacon of sorts for all the Sufis on the spiritual path at the time and they were constantly drawn to the sheer power of his spirit. He regarded himself as a sort of mentor, not a guru to the Sufi fakirs and he was always giving them advice and spiritual exercises and instructions. People also realized that this "Baba" was not an 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.
His message for one and all alike was "Why fear when I am here". To take refuge in Sai is to enter into journey 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.
Sai Baba's attraction and appeal lie in this fact that he was a perfect model of the harmony of all religions, for which this world - with all its sectarian and religious antagonism, had been waiting. Sai Baba lived to awaken and lead mankind to the varities of spiritual life. He set in motion a wave of spirituality, which is now spreading all over the globe. All his life's activities constituted the upliftment of mankind. By first conferring temporal benefits, he drew unto himself countless souls caught up in ignorance (darkness) and opened their eyes to the true meaning of life. The miracles which manifested through Sai Baba were just such as were needed to create faith in the people and to make his devotees ethically and spiritually better evolved. Baba did not purposefully perform miracles to show his powers. The very strength of his perfect realization, in its interaction with nature, caused "the miracle" to take place. Thus he drew people from their deluded pursuits after earthly objects of a transitory nature and induced and inspired them to strive for self-realization. He continued this glorious work until the last moment of his human embodiment in Shirdi.
Amazingly, there are a phenomenally large number of Instances in which Sai Baba has been literally physically appearing before his devotees, even decades after his passing out of the physical body. Sai Baba is constantly and simultaneously proving that he Is alive in spirit and responds to our sincere prayers. He Is the One Spirit of all existence. Which is God in all the forms of God, in all the saints, in all the men and in all the creatures? All those who sincerely take to a life of inner development, Sai Baba lift him to a higher level. Every one derives benefit according to the ripeness o f his soul and in accordance with his inner yearning. Baba assured his devotees by his saying "I am at Shirdi and everywhere. Whatever you do, wherever you may be, ever bear this in mind, that I am always aware of everything". Sai Baba does not belong to any single tradition but to all mankind on the path of goodness, love and understanding.
All were treated by him alike. Under his umbrella, both the Hindus and Muslims happily took part in each others religious festivals. The caste scheme of the Hindus had no relevance with Shri Sai. He had introduced the tradition of group worship, group prayer and group dinning for all. He even showed highest compassion for animals and birds and encouraged his devotees to feed and take care of them. He recognized no difference in temporal status of human beings. He refused to accept food brought in silver and gold utensils from a queen but relished a single ROTI (hand-made bread) of a beggar woman and showered all His blessings. He practiced and preached humanism and universal brotherhood. He established the superiority of love and compassion above egoism. He taught simplicity of livelihood and excellence of human virtue reflected in day to day conduct.
Today, the world is looking ahead for a magical solution to its problems of cultural, racial, national and religious differentiation. All intellectual exercises to bring about peace in. The world and happiness to mankind has failed for these efforts are not based on humanism, universalism and love as taught by Shri Sai. The ever multiplying number of Sai temples and devotees Sai Baba in India and other countries establishes the ever- increasing relevance of his preaching today. The body of Shri Sai Baba cannot be seen but the magnetic pull of His Divine Soul is felt by all those who merely think of Him and particularly, those who visit His tomb at Shirdi. Baba had promised that whosoever would put his feet on the soil of Shirdi; his miseries would end or marginalize.
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