Birth day greetings to Baba - 1.

[Guest guest]

Dear friends and devotees,

 

Bhakti is eternal.

 

Today is the 83rd birth day of Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba. Those who are

in His presence at Puttaparthi are blessed with His darshan and

preaching. Let us also be blessed by Him by recollecting His avatar and

his messages.

 

With love and regards,

 

Sastry

 

A short history of Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba

 

Sathya Sai Baba was born in Puttaparthi, a small village in South India,

on 23 November 1926. As a child, he demonstrated exemplary qualities of

compassion, generosity, and wisdom, which clearly distinguished him from

the other children of his village.

 

On 29 October 1940, at the age of 14, he declared to his family and to

the people of his village that he would henceforth by known as Sai Baba

and that his mission was to bring about the spiritual regeneration of

humanity by demonstrating and teaching the highest principles of truth,

righteous conduct, peace, and divine love.

 

His mission was further amplified in a letter he wrote to his brother in

1947. I have a task, he said, to foster all mankind and ensure for all

of them lives full of bliss. I have a vow: To lead all who stay away

from the straight path again into goodness and save them. I am attached

to a work that I love: To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant

them what they lack.

 

Sai Baba's ashram, built by his devotees close to the village where he

was born, was inaugurated on 23 November 1950. It is called Prasanthi

Nilayam (the Abode of Divine Peace). It has been the gathering place of

millions of spiritual pilgrims of various faiths from all over the

world. Every day, Sai Baba graciously walks among them to guide,

comfort, console, and uplift them.

 

The small temple dedicated in 1950 has grown into a spiritual oasis of

unprecedented magnitude. The temple and the darshan area in front of it,

which is completely covered by a beautiful roof, together encompass an

area that is over 10,000 square yards. During the period 14-23 November

1995, the celebrations of the 70th birthday of Sathya Sai Baba took

place in Prasanthi Nilayam. More than one million people, including the

President and Prime Minister of India, assembled in Prasanthi Nilayam to

pay homage to Sathya Sai Baba during the 70th birthday celebrations.

 

In a discourse on 29 September 1960 (Chapter 31 of Sathya Sai Speaks

volume 1), Sathya Sai Baba said this:

 

I will be in this mortal human form for 59 years more and I shall

certainly achieve the purpose of this avatar; do not doubt it. I will

take my own time to carry out My Plan so far as you are concerned. I

cannot hurry because you are hurrying.

 

I may sometimes wait until I can achieve ten things at one stroke; just

as an engine is not used to haul one coach, but awaits until sufficient

haulage in proportion to its capacity is ready. But My Word will never

fail; it must happen as I will.