Teachings of SaiBaba I

Shirdi Sai Baba, leaning against the wall of his masjid, with devoteesIn his teachings Sai Baba concentrated on uniting the Hindu and Muslim religion. He took part both in Hindu festivals and Muslim pilgrimages.
He prayed in the Hindu and Muslim way. Together with his disciples he read the Qur'an and the Hindu scriptures. He wore the clothes of a Sufi fakir, and sometimes
performed salat. Another example of the way he combined both faiths is the name he gave to his mosque - Dwarakamai (it is connected with Hinduism - the sacred place Dwaraka where Krishna lived). Sai Baba also opposed all sorts of persecutions on religious or caste background. (In India at the times when he lived religious intolerance and conflicts were common).

Sai Baba of Shirdi was also an opponent of religious orthodoxy - both Hindu and Muslim.

Although Sai Baba himself lead the life of an ascetic, he advised his followers to lead an ordinary family life.

Sai Baba encouraged his devotees to pray, chant God's name and read holy scriptures -he told Muslims to study the Qur'an and Hindus texts like the Ramayana, Vishnu Sahasranam, Bhagavad Gita (and commentaries to it), Yoga Vasistha.He advised his devotees and followers to lead a moral life, help others, treat them with love and develop two important features of character: faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi). He also criticized atheism.

In his teachings Sai Baba emphasised the importance of performing one's duties without attachment to earthly matters and being ever content regardless of the situation.Shirdi Baba also interpreted the religious texts of both faiths. According to what the people who stayed with him said and wrote he had a profound knowledge of them. He explained the meaning of the Hindu scriptures in the spirit of Advaita Vedanta. This was the character of his philosophy. It also had numerous elements of bhakti. The three main Hindu spiritual paths - Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga - were visible in the teachings of Sai Baba.This does not mean however that they were exclusively Hindu - they had many Islamic elements.

Sai Baba said that God penetrates everything and lives in every being, and as well that God is the essence of each of them. He emphasised the complete oneness of God which was very close to the Islamic tawhid and the Hindu doctrine, e.g. of the Upanishads. Sai Baba said that the world and all that the human may give is transient and only God and his gifts are eternal.

Shirdi Sai also emphasised the importance of devotion to God - bhakti - and surrender to his will. He also talked about the need of faith and devotion to one's spiritual preceptor (guru). He said that everyone was the soul and not the body. He advised his disciples and followers to overcome the negative features of character and develop the good ones. He taught them that all fate was determined by karma.

Sai Baba left no written works. His teachings were oral, typically short, pithy sayings rather than elaborate discourses. Sai would ask his followers for money (dakshina), which he would give away to the poor and other devotees the same day and spend the rest on matches. According to his followers he did it in order to rid them of greed and material attachment.

Jai Sai Ram..