These are magical items that contain special divine energy and information. People who wear his rings, amulets or rosaries sometimes may not be fully aware of their meaning. It is probably even impossible to fully understand this, and it is important to understand and feel these amulets are a manifestation of great divine mercy and love.
13. Unity of all religions, miracles of Jesus and Krishna
Sathya Sai Baba was born into a Hindu family in the Kshatriya caste. This caste has united warriors and politicians since ancient times; however, one should not think that the family and relatives of Sathya Sai Baba were warriors or politicians. His parents were quite modest inhabitants of a small village.
In modern India, belonging to a caste means a family tradition, and does not guarantee financial well-being. These days, representatives of the higher castes can be very poor, while people from lower castes are successful and rich.
The philosophy of Sathya Sai Baba goes beyond the Hindu religion. Teachers of all world religions, such as Krishna, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Zarathustra, and the Prophet Muhammad, are revered in the ashram. Every year the ashram celebrates the most important festivals of all world religions, such as the Nativity of Jesus Christ and Buddha's birthday, Jewish New Year and Chinese New Year, all Vedic festivals such as Shivaratri and Guru Purnima.
Sathya Sai Baba never asked his devotees to change their religion. His teaching was to proclaim the spiritual significance and authenticity of all religions.
The mission of Sathya Sai Baba included communication with people from different countries of the world who belonged to different world religions and different ethnic cultures. His philosophy was not limited to the Indian tradition. Of course, most of all he commented on the Vedic texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He also commented, quite often, on the Gospels.
One of the accusations that is often made against Sathya Sai Baba by some spiritual schools is that he allegedly performed miracles too often in the presence of a large number of followers and devotees.
This all sounds rather strange, because all the world's great spiritual teachers have always performed miracles in the presence of a large number of people. Remember Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ? They all performed numerous miracles as part of their divine mission on earth.
Krishna and Jesus Christ are best known for their deepest spiritual messages. They preached the doctrine of direct communication between man and God – the quintessence of which is the revelation of God in one's own heart. In addition to philosophical teachings, they also performed a huge number of miracles.
The Buddha also performed numerous miracles despite the fact the essence of his teaching was the practice of meditation. He preached compassion and love for all living beings. Studying his biography, we find multiple evidence of the manifestation of his miraculous power.
All the great teachers of mankind such as Krishna, Buddha and Jesus Christ preached philosophy and taught disciples through action. These actions could sometimes be a manifestation of supernatural forces. Thus, miracles performed by great teachers are a natural element and an important part of their spiritual mission.
Every miracle created by the Avatar has a deep spiritual meaning. The Avatar gives instructions in words, but also in every action, some of which may include manifestations of the supernatural.
14. Sathya Sai Baba on the Life of Jesus Christ in India
Sathya Sai Baba spoke quite a lot about the life and spiritual path of Jesus Christ. He delivered numerous lectures about Jesus Christ that were completely unusual and unique, and they often shared information that cannot be gleaned from the canonical Gospel texts.
If you perceive Sathya Sai Baba as an ordinary person, then the question arises: how can he know all the secret details of the life of Jesus Christ and the features of his spiritual path? However, if you realize that Sathya Sai Baba is a divine incarnation, then his stories about the inner spiritual quest of Jesus Christ and his life path become precious.
The sayings of Sathya Sai Baba about the life, teachings and spiritual path of Jesus Christ are an invaluable treasure. In fact, this is the most reliable source of information about the most hidden details of the inner world of Jesus.
Throughout his life, Sathya Sai Baba gave public lectures and communicated with individuals. His books contain his lectures given to university students and devotees from around the world. The philosophical heritage of Sathya Sai Baba includes dozens of volumes. In his lectures, he covered a variety of topics; in particular, he spoke often about life and the philosophical heritage of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ preached the unity of all mankind – love for one's neighbor, direct communication between man and God, and the original unity of the soul with God. Jesus Christ taught his disciples that true worship of God takes place in the depths of the spiritual heart.
Every year in the ashram on December 25th, Christmas was celebrated in Western style. In Greek Orthodox Christianity, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. Since Christians from Europe and America began to arrive much earlier than the Greeks and Russians, the tradition of celebrating Christmas in the Western style was established in the ashram.
During the celebration of Christmas, Sathya Sai Baba delivered the most interesting lectures, which were dedicated to Jesus Christ. During his long life, he left a vast amount of invaluable information on this topic.
Sathya Sai Baba said that in the Tibetan manuscripts, which are kept in the monasteries of the Himalayas, there is information that Jesus Christ spent several years in the northern Himalayas in Kashmir. In those days, Jesus was called Issa, which means the Lord of all living beings.
The fact that Sathya Sai Baba confirmed the version that Jesus Christ lived and studied in the Himalayas is extremely important for a deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ and his world divine mission. These facts lead us to the realization that Christianity has not only Biblical roots, but to a great extent came out of Vedic philosophy and Buddhist moral principles.
Where did Sathya Sai Baba get his information about Jesus Christ from? Sometimes he spoke in detail about Jesus, as if he himself had witnessed all the events of the distant past. Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar, and therefore all, even the most hidden events of the past, present, and future are open to his all-pervading consciousness.
Over the years, during the Christmas lectures, Sathya Sai Baba told several stories about how, after the death of his earthly father, Joseph, the teenage Jesus worked for some time as a carpenter. Sathya Sai Baba said that Joseph died when Jesus was a teenager. At an early age, Jesus worked as a carpenter in and around Nazareth. Because of his spiritual quest he made his journey to India.
Sathya Sai Baba repeatedly mentioned the high spiritual level of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Several times, Sathya Sai Baba touchingly shared about Mary’s dedication to the spiritual education of her son, and that as young man, when Jesus decided to leave home and go to India for spiritual education, he received the blessing of his mother.
Nowadays, quite a few spiritual seekers mistakenly believe that family responsibilities are an illusion thinking instead that it is possible to engage in the practice of yoga and meditation, but at the same time neglect their family duties.
Sathya Sai Baba spoke about the fallacy of such a point of view and cited, as an example, the relationship of Jesus Christ with his mother. Mary showed deep concern for the spiritual development of her son and was active in encouraging it.