Shirdi Sai Baba birthday

Shirdi Sai Baba is a famous Indian Saint/Spiritual master. Sai Baba’s teaching combined elements of Hinduism and Islam. He was revered by both his Hindu and Muslim devotees and was called as Fakir and Satguru. Sai Baba does not belong to any single tradition but to all mankind on the path of goodness, love and understanding. Sai Baba does not belong to any single tradition but to all mankind on the path of goodness, love and understanding.

About Shirdi Sai Baba

Sai Baba was first seen as a youth of sixteen sitting under a neem tree in Shirdi. None knew his origin or past. Even then he seemed to be full of the knowledge of Brahman. The people of the village were wonderstruck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat and cold. Shirdi Sai Baba was considered to be the Incarnation of God Dattatreya, who had threefold powers to create, maintain and destroy the creation. Lord Dattatreya had graced Sai Baba with the qualities of Lord Shiva, Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and Lord Hanuman. To save the human beings, Shri Baba presented his deeksha (It is the transfer of Divine Energy which, over time is designed to bring about the state of Oneness in the recipient) for the human service. He came to serve mankind, to free them from the clutches of fear. Nobody really knew his parentage, where he came from or which religion he practised. 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 “Dwarkamai” (Lord Krishna’s birth place is Dwaraka). To the Muslims 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 of their own religion. To the Parsi he was the sacred fire worshipper. His life was a living manifestation of the Sermon of the Christ and of the Eight-fold path of the Buddha. Sai Baba attained mahasamadhi on October 15th, 1918 on Vijayadasami day. Before his death he said, “Do not think I am dead and gone. You will hear me from my samadhi and I shall guide you”. Now people from all over the world visit Shirdi.

Spiritual Significance of Sai Baba’s birthday

Baba preached his principle of love and faith in humanity to all his disciples. 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. To take refuge in Sai, is to enter into a journey to reach the Divine. At one stroke, his conduct and the attitude to fellow beings is touched with the awareness of love, understanding, patience and faith. Sai Baba lived to awaken and lead mankind to the varieties of spiritual life. 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 realisation, in its interaction with nature, caused “the miracle” to take place. It was only a God in human form who could dare and accomplish the task of bringing unity between the different religious and social groups. Shri Sai baba had large number of Hindu, Parsi and Muslim devotees. Christians and Sikhs also used to visit Him. 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.

Among Shirdi Sai baba’s teachings the primary ones are Shraddha and Saburi. Sai baba looks for these two qualities in his devotees.

Shraddha means faith with love and respect. According to Sai baba steadfast love in God is the gateway to eternity.

Saburi means patience and determination. Saburi is a quality needed throughout the path to reach the goal.

Other teachings are:

Purity – Purity in mind and heart would serve any purpose of life.

Compassion – Sai baba himself is an example of compassion and love. Sai baba often told his devotees, “never turn away anybody from your door, be it a human being or animal”

Complete surrender to Guru – Guru was the sincere base of the path of devotion. He asked for the complete surrender to Guru.

Sai Baba’s Teachings through ‘Udi’ and ‘Dakshina’:

Udi – Udi or the sacred ash was produced from the perpetual fire called ‘dhuni’ lit by Sai Baba in Dwarkamai at Shirdi. Explaining the meaning of life He would refer to Udi and taught that like Udi all the visible phenomena in the world are transient. Through this example Sai Baba wished to make his devotees understand the sense of discrimination between the unreal and the real. Udi taught the devotees discrimination.

Dakshina – Sai Baba would demand ‘Dakshina’ or alms from those who visited him. This explained the sense of non-attachment to worldly things. Hence Dakshina taught the devotees non-attachment.

The best way to celebrate Shirdi Sai Baba’s birthday is to practice his teachings in our life.