The Afterlife of Sai Baba

The Afterlife of Sai Baba
Author: Karline McLain
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2016-05-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0295806516

Nearly a century after his death, the image of Sai Baba, the serene old man with the white beard from Shirdi village in Maharashtra, India, is instantly recognizable to most South Asians (and many Westerners) as a guru for all faiths—Hindus, Muslims, and others. During his lifetime Sai Baba accepted all followers who came to him, regardless of religious or caste background, and preached a path of spiritual enlightenment and mutual tolerance. These days, tens of thousands of Indians and foreigners make the pilgrimage to Shirdi each year, and Sai Baba temples have sprung up in unlikely places around the world, such as Munich, Seattle, and Austin. Tracing his rise from small village guru to global phenomenon, religious studies scholar Karline McLain uses a wide range of sources to investigate the different ways that Sai Baba has been understood in South Asia and beyond and the reasons behind his skyrocketing popularity among Hindus in particular. Shining a spotlight on an incredibly forceful devotional movement that avoids fundamental politics and emphasizes unity, service, and peace, The Afterlife of Sai Baba is an entertaining—and enlightening—look at one of South Asia’s most popular spiritual gurus.

The Life And Teachings Of Sai Baba Of Shirdi

The Life And Teachings Of Sai Baba Of Shirdi
Author: Antonio Rigopoulos
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 498
Release: 1993-03-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1438417349

A vast and diversified religious movement originating from Sai Baba of Shirdi, is often referred to as "the Sai Baba movement." Through the chronological presentation of Sai Baba's life, light is shed on the various ways in which the important guru figures in this movement came to be linked to the saint of Shirdi.

When a Goddess Dies

When a Goddess Dies
Author: Orianne Aymard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2014-05-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199368635

Ma Anandamayi is generally regarded as the most important Hindu woman saint of the twentieth century. Venerated alternately as a guru and as an incarnation of God on earth, Ma had hundreds of thousands of devotees. Through the creation of a religious movement and a vast network of ashrams-unprecedented for a woman-Ma presented herself as an authority figure in a society where female gurus were not often recognized. Because of her widespread influence, Ma is one of the rare Hindu saints whose cult has outlived her. Today, her tomb is a place of veneration for those who knew her as well as new generations of her followers. By performing extensive fieldwork among Ma's current devotees, Orianne Aymard examines what happens to a cult after the death of its leader. Does it decline, stagnate, or grow? Or is it rather transformed into something else entirely? Aymard's work sheds new light not only on Hindu sainthood-and particularly female Hindu sainthood-but on the nature of charismatic religious leadership and devotion.

Inner Dialogue with Sai Baba

Inner Dialogue with Sai Baba
Author: Geesje Lunshof
Publisher: Sai Towers Publishing
Total Pages: 249
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 8187694246

Even Though The Writer Addresses Sai Baba, This Book Is Intended For Anyone In Search Of God. She Poses Questions And Answers We All Ask When We Set Out On The Spiritual Path. Actually She Addresses The Atma - Another Name For The Higher Self - That Resides In All Of Us. This Higher Self Can Manifest Itself On Earth In Human Form And As Such Has Been Given Different Names In The Various Cultures And Religions, Names As Rama, Krishna, Jesus, And Buddha And So On. However, We Always Deal With The Same Principle, Namely God Who Can Manifest In Different Forms But Who Ultimately Transcends Any Form And Is Worshipped As The Formless Principle Residing In All Of Us And Animating Everything From Within. If You Replace The Name Of Sai Baba For One That Represents Your Chosen Deity, You May Benefit Greatly By These Lessons Which Teach Us How, By Living Righteously And In Accordance With God S Will, We Can Be Happy In The Present, Critical Age. For Many Years Geesje Lunshof (Poet, Teacher, Writer) Wandered Through The World On A Spiritual Quest. Finally, In The Late Seventies, She Returned To Her Native Country, The Netherlands, Where Se Settled Down As An English Teacher. In 1980 She Heard Of Sai Baba For The First Time. Soon It Became Clear To Her The He Represented The End Of Her Search. In 1991, After Her Second Trip To Sai Baba In India, Sai Baba Started Answering Her Many Questions In An Inner Dialoque. This Took Place Through The Process Of Written Questions And Answers. As Many Of These Questions And Certainly All The Answers Are Of General Interest, It Gradually Became Clear To Her That She Must Not Keep The Dialogue To Herself, But Should Share It With Others.

Devotional Spaces of a Global Saint

Devotional Spaces of a Global Saint
Author: Smriti Srinivas
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2022-10-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000604063

Devotional Spaces of a Global Saint focuses on the presence and contemporaneity of Shirdi Sai Baba (d.1918), who has a vast following in postcolonial South Asia and an ever-growing global diaspora. Essays consider the saint’s influence on everyday life and how visual, narrative, textual, sensorial, performative, political, social, and spatial practices interpenetrate to produce multiple terrains of devotion. Contributions by twelve scholars of several academic disciplines explore eruptions and circulations of sacred materials, spatialities of devotional practices, visual and digital imaginaries, transcultural narrativizations, and material affects and effects of Sai Baba. The presentation transcends routine scholarly discussions about sainthood, cultures of worship, religious objects, Hinduism and Islam. Shirdi Sai Baba’s presence conveys inspiration and healing energies and he accepted the entreaties of people of all castes and creeds, offering an alternative to communal ideologies of his time – and the present. Considerations of Shirdi Sai Baba’s milieux of devotional praxis situate and localize debates about the meaning of nation and religion, past and present, urbanization, and class identity in transitions from colonial to postcolonial/global South Asia. The book expands the boundaries of the study of Shirdi Sai Baba and makes important contributions to South Asia Studies, Anthropology, Religious Studies, Global Studies, Urban Studies, Indian Ocean Studies, Inter-Asian Studies, Visual and Media Studies, and Cultural Geography.

Unique Spiritual Philosophy of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba

Unique Spiritual Philosophy of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba
Author: Satya Pal Ruhela
Publisher: Notion Press
Total Pages: 708
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9352068033

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba (1838–1918) was the first Sai Avatar (incarnation) in the Sai Trinity. His name and fame have been spreading like wildfire throughout the world. He is venerated and worshipped by billions of inhabitants on this planet. His life as a Sufi fakir, simple yet penetrating teachings, countless astounding miracles, blessings to everyone who simply chant His name, "Sai" and His great impact as the unique Jagat Guru (Universal Master) are duly acknowledged by billions of people from all races, religions, cultures and nations. Many Shirdi Sai Baba temples have been built not only in India, but also in many foreign countries like the UK, USA, Russia, Africa, Mauritius and eastern countries. Almost fifty-eight websites and twelve journals propagate His name. Still, most Sai devotees in the world do not know many crucial facts about Him. The book contains valuable information about prominent Shirdi Sai organizations, web sites, temples and books.

The Hagiographer and the Avatar

The Hagiographer and the Avatar
Author: Antonio Rigopoulos
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 595
Release: 2021-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1438482302

In this biographical study, Antonio Rigopoulos explores the fundamental role of a hagiographer within a charismatic religious movement: in this case, the postsectarian, cosmopolitan community of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba. The guru's hagiographer, Narayan Kasturi, was already a distinguished litterateur by the time he first met Sathya Sai Baba in 1948. The two lived together at the guru's hermitage more or less continuously from 1954 up until Kasturi's death, in 1987. Despite Kasturi's influential hagiography, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, little scholarly attention has been paid to the hagiographer himself and his importance to the movement. In detailing Kasturi's relationship to Sathya Sai Baba, Rigopoulos emphasizes that the hagiographer's work was not subordinate to the guru's definition of himself. Rather, his discourses with the holy man had a reciprocal and reinforcing influence, resulting in the construction of a unified canon. Furthermore, Kasturi's ability to perform a variety of functions as a hagiographer successfully mediated the relationship between the guru and his followers. Drawing on years of research on the movement as well as interviews with Kasturi himself, this book deepens our understanding of this important pan-Indian figure and his charismatic religious movement.

The Luminous Landscape of the Afterlife

The Luminous Landscape of the Afterlife
Author: Matthew McKay
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 164411285X

• Reveals the afterlife as a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness • Explains how to navigate the early stages of the afterlife, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life • Includes exercises and meditations to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit There is no better source of information on death and the afterlife than someone who has died and lives in spirit. Channeling his late son, Jordan, psychologist Matthew McKay offers a postdeath guide for the living, revealing in vivid detail what to expect when we die and how to prepare for the wonders of the afterlife. Specifically describing the transition experience and the early stages of the afterlife, including how to navigate each stage, Jordan shows how death is a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness. He explains how a soul that has newly crossed over is an amnesiac, arriving without senses, a nervous system, and all that has anchored us to the world. Jordan details how to navigate without a body, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life and instead view it as another stage of being. He shows that the inferno described by Dante is an optional nightmare caused by thought projections that overwhelm the newly transitioned soul, and he reveals that the bardos are where souls who are beset with fear and false beliefs spend time learning and recovering. Providing profound relief from the fear of death, as well as exercises to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit, Jordan’s message reveals how love is the bonding element that holds all of consciousness--and the afterlife--together. McKay also documents the unbreakable bond between the living and the dead and teaches the skill of channeling, allowing you to connect to loved ones who have passed.