A worldwide phenomenon is the proliferation of godmen of varying qualifications and consumerist New Age religions that claim to make us all Gods easily. This age witnesses the erection of spiritual empires with vast wealth and power in contradiction to the fundamental spiritual value of poverty and abstinence of all kinds. The New Age religions recycle and package traditional wisdom for material gain and offer an inner la-la land, obliterating the primary requisite for spiritual progress the presence of a genuine teacher or Guru; only one who has successfully traversed the path is fit to impart Brahma Gnana. Intellectual brilliance and oratory often masquerade as enlightenment and we have too often seen the crash and burn of such masters ending in scandal economic, sexual and political. The resulting disappointment, sense of betrayal, chaos and shock is a spiritual epidemic. Left to sort through complicated psychological baggage with no solace, this is a terrible plight an affliction that is profound. In this exploitative, confusing and vexing ambience, a handful of true masters still exert an authentic presence decade and centuries later. One of them is Sai of Shirdi. It is not an exaggeration to say that even today millions find an authentic master in him and a response to needs on all levels, even though he is no longer an embodied presence on earth.
Shirdi Baba is an enigma. His spiritual origins have been under debate for a century with no certain conclusions regarding his religion of birth. What is known for certain is that he was deeply soaked in the Sufi tradition and was knowledgeable of Vedanta. Neither the Hinduisation of the Saint or the Islamic claim of his past will render the truth about his reality. No amount of culturalisation by one group can eradicate the presence of the opposing stream.
His universalism, tolerance and presence transcended narrow religious confirmation. What is striking to me was his acquiescence to be worshipped by devotees in their particular customs, and his ability to subvert traditional definitions and meld existing contradictory ones. God's religion was his. Allah and Asanas; Ram and Rahim; Japa and Dhikr everything was on the same side of the fence. Shraddha (faith) and Saburi (patience) were the requisites, whatever the path. Avaliya or Avatar are sure to be immaterial terms to him. For one who saw himself as a servant of God, nomenclature is vanity. Surrender to God's will is essential to both the bhakt and the mureed; the absolute prerequisite for possible transformation. Nafs or Maya need to be overcome, whatever one's religious affiliation is.
Both Hemadpant and Abdul Baba recorded Baba's life and teachings. Though Hemadpant's Charitra has become another Veda for Hindus, Abdul Baba's recordings have not enjoyed the popularity of the former and need to be discovered enmasse for his Sufi teachings. His original manuscript still lies in his descendant's home in Shirdi; it was published by Sterling titled: Unravelling the Enigma: Shirdi Sai Baba in the light of Sufism by Marianne Warren.
A remarkable outcome of Baba's presence in Shirdi was the simultaneous celebration of the Urs and Ram Navami. It is a tragedy that it has been discontinued. I felt his overriding message like Kabir was to breach the distance between both the communities. I think we lose his identity if we are hesitant to accept his evident Muslim/Sufi origin in dress, prayer and worship. It is remarkable that his embrace included all affiliations. His presence was his message.
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