I started writing down my memories with inspiration. The first manuscript was an article, which was subsequently expanded and finalized by me into a book. After three days of hard work, the article was almost ready. Suddenly, the computer crashed, which strangely lasted only five minutes, after which the computer started working normally again.
I checked the contents of the computer's memory and realized that all the materials were saved, except for the article dedicated to Prema Sai Baba. I was frustrated but started working again.
The second time, I worked on the article for several days and again there was a problem with the computer. All materials were in order, except for this manuscript, which disappeared a second time. I realized that either God did not want me to write these memoirs, or I wrote something wrong.
The next day, in a mystical dream, I saw Sathya Sai Baba, who explained to me the essence of my mistake. In the first version of the manuscript, I called the divine boy Pritam, after the name given to him at birth by his parents.
In the dream I was able to realize that I should only use the name Prema Sai Baba and never use the name given to him at birth. After that, I was able to successfully complete the manuscript, which was first published as an article, and then expanded into a book.
The name reflects the essence of a person. The way we call it indicates our understanding of its essence. We should call him Prema Sai Baba because he is Prema Sai Baba, and it doesn't matter what name the boy was given at birth.
When he was three and four years old, I saw him as half child, half God. For me, he was a boy with great energy and spiritual potential. When he was five years old, I suddenly stopped seeing him as a child and a human being.
At some point I realized pure Absolute Divinity played the role of a naughty and cheerful boy. He blessed us to understand that he is Prema Sai Baba. He came to this world to give enlightenment to all mankind, to unite all people and to bless one and all.
This book is my research on Prema Sai Baba, the third Sai Avatar. My mystical connection with him is not accidental. I was fortunate enough to be Sathya Sai Baba's interpreter for several years. I first came to Puttaparthi in 1993, then I came to the ashram regularly and lived there for several months a year. I used to visit the ashram regularly until Sathya Sai Baba left his body in 2011.
I served as an interpreter during personal meetings of Sathya Sai Baba with Russian-speaking devotees from different countries. Many times, I had the honor to communicate with Sathya Sai Baba in person.
During audiences and personal meetings, he spoke in English, which I translated into Russian. It was a unique experience where I witnessed numerous miracles, as well as spiritual instructions that Sathya Sai Baba gave to his devotees and visitors.
In this book, I will not write about all the amazing details of my personal interaction with Sathya Sai Baba. I published three books of my memoirs, which were subsequently translated into English. The most complete material with my memories of Sathya Sai Baba is published in the sixth part of my main autobiographical book, which is called Creativity of Eternal Life.
In the book you are reading now, I will talk about my experience with the unique boy who is the next incarnation of Sathya Sai Baba. In the pages of this book, I describe the events that took place between 2015 and 2023, when Prema Sai Baba was between two and eleven years old, although I physically met him when he was three years old.
The events and miracles that I narrate are my personal experience. I was a direct witness and participant in most of these events. Naturally, some of the stories were recorded from the words of other devotees. All materials were given to me in detail and repeatedly checked for their authenticity.
On the pages of this book, I will bring to your attention not only materials about the events of the life of the divine boy, but also my reflections on some philosophical issues, in the context of the tradition of the three Sai Avatars. We will be reflecting on difficult and controversial topics related to the discussion on the further development of Sai Baba's mission.
All thoughts given in the pages of this book are just my worldview and are not objective. Each reader is entitled to their own conclusions and opinions on any of the issues discussed. Take my thoughts not as statements, but as an invitation for philosophical discussion.
5. Three Sai Avatars
Some researchers believe Sathya Sai Baba first mentioned Prema Sai Baba on July 6, 1963, in his famous speech called, “Shiva-Shakti”. Then, Sathya Sai Baba was 37 years old.
This information is not entirely accurate, because the first time he spoke about Prema Sai Baba was much earlier, in 1944, when he was eighteen years old. We will talk about this in the following chapters, but now let's return to the lecture, which went down in history under the name "Shiva-Shakti".
It was in this famous lecture that Sathya Sai Baba told the audience about the mythological conversation between the god, Shiva, and the goddess, Shakti, in which the sage, Bharadwaja, took part. The mythological story says that in ancient times the sage, Bharadwaja, performed the great Vedic fire ritual of worshiping the gods, which is called Homa (Yagna).
After completing the ritual, the sage went to the sacred mountain, Kailash, where he met with the god, Shiva, and the goddess, Shakti. As a sign of blessing, God Shiva and Goddess Shakti said they would take human birth and incarnate among the descendants of the sage, Bharadwaja, three times. According to legend, Lord Shiva was born as Shirdi Sai Baba in the 19
century.
God Shiva and Goddess Shakti then incarnated together in the village of Puttaparthi in the 20
century as Sathya Sai Baba. Finally, Goddess Shakti incarnated as Prema Sai Baba in the village of Doddamallur in the 21
century.
Where exactly Shirdi Sai Baba was born is unknown. Sathya Sai Baba was born in the village of Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh), where he founded his main ashram. In one of the predictions, Sathya Sai Baba talked about his future birth as Prema Sai Baba in the village of Gunaparthi (there are also predictions about the village of Doddamallur).
Some devotees tried to find out from Sathya Sai Baba the details of the location of the village of Gunaparthi, since no one could find a similar village on the map of India. Answering these questions, Sathya Sai Baba stated there was no such village, yet. However, after the birth of Prema Sai Baba, a village would be built in the state of Karnataka where Prema Sai Baba would live, and this village would be called Gunaparthi.
According to legend, in ancient times, the god, Shiva, said he would take on a human form, having been born three times in the family of the sage, Bharadwaja. According to this legend, God Shiva incarnated as Shirdi Sai Baba (1835-1918), God Shiva and Goddess Shakti together incarnated as Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011), and Goddess Shakti incarnated as Prema Sai Baba in 2012.
In considering this mythological story, I ask myself several questions. Does the Avatar belong to any religious tradition or ethnic culture? What if God is beyond religion and ethnicity? Should we interpret the three Sai Avatars solely from the point of view of Hinduism? Again, I don’t think so.
Each person can perceive the three Sai Avatars from the point of view of any religious tradition; for example, from the point of view of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. People associate Krishna with Hinduism, considering him a Hindu. Obviously, the physical body of Krishna was Indian, but the reality of his consciousness was beyond the illusion of the manifested universe, beyond religion and ethnicity.
Jesus Christ is associated with the Biblical tradition and Jewish nationality. However, the consciousness of Jesus Christ was beyond the manifested illusion, although the body completely belonged to the Semitic ethnic group.
Let's get back to the legend of the three incarnations of Sai. According to the story, Sathya Sai Baba was the incarnation of the god Shiva and the goddess Shakti.
In this life, I am a Christian. Among my friends there are Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists … all of them are also devotees and followers of Sai Baba. Can we think about the meaning and mission of the three Sai Avatars not in the terminology of Hinduism, but in the terminology of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism? Yes, because the three Sai Avatars are a universal phenomenon that does not belong to any religion. God is beyond religion being the source of all religions.
If you intuitively feel the three Sai Avatars are indeed incarnations of God Shiva and Goddess Shakti, great. However, if it is closer and more comfortable for you to interpret the three Sai Avatars from any other point of view, in the context of any other religious tradition, then that is your right.
In most religions, there are predictions that in the future God, or a messenger from God, will incarnate on Earth with a special mission of spiritual transformation of mankind. Christians are waiting for another birth of Jesus Christ, Buddhists are waiting for the birth of Buddha Maitreya, and Jews are waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
Hindus say that in the future Kalki Avatar should be incarnated, who will become the tenth incarnation of the god, Vishnu. In some areas of Islam there are predictions about the birth of a divine prophet in the future; he is called Imam Mahdi.
Divine masters, who are expected in various religions, should, in accordance with the prophecies, bring the good news and spiritually transform all of humanity. The question arises, will it be one Avatar, which different religions call by different names, or should we expect many Avatars?
The Second Coming of Christ, Buddhist Maitreya, Jewish Messiah, Islamic Imam Mahdi and Hindu Kalki. Will it be the same divine incarnation under different names, or are they many different incarnations? It’s a difficult question; at the moment, I don't know how to answer it.
Alas, each religious tradition is trying to preach its exclusivity, including the peculiarity of "its own" divine savior of mankind. It is difficult for Christians to imagine that the savior of the future can incarnate outside the Christian religion. It is impossible for Hindus to assume that the Avatar of the future may not be a Hindu. The same thing happens in the minds of Jews, Muslims and Buddhists.
Some believe the three Sai Avatars are divine incarnations prophesied in the prophecies of all religions. Many devotees claim it is the three Sai Avatars that are the Hindu divine incarnation of Kalki Avatar, who absorbed the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Buddhist Maitreya, the Islamic Imam Mahdi, and the Jewish Messiah.
The above point of view is not accepted by everyone. Admittedly, for the majority, the various divine incarnations predicted within different religions are still different teachers of humanity who should come to Earth under various circumstances. I am not ready to comment on such points of view because this is a matter of a personal system of beliefs and sensations.
6. Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba
Let's look at some details of the first two incarnations of Sai: Shirdi Sai Baba (1835-1918) and Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011).
We know very little about the first half of Shirdi Sai Baba's life; in fact, only the second part of his life is well known to researchers. By the end of Shirdi Sai Baba's life, quite a lot of followers gathered around him and became direct witnesses of the events of his life, numerous manifestations of miraculous power, as well as his spiritual instructions.
We will not retell the biography of Shirdi Sai Baba in detail, as a large number of books have been written about his amazing life, deep teachings, and amazing miracles. Let's just delve into a few details.
Most followers believe that he was born into the highest caste of Brahmins – Hindu clerics. Shirdi Sai Baba was born on the banks of the Godavari River in western India on September 28, 1835. Almost immediately after birth, he was orphaned, so the boy was raised by foster parents. They were Muslims who practiced Sufism.
Some biographers claim that his Muslim adoptive parents did not initiate him into Islam, which does not sound very convincing. There are suggestions that from childhood he studied with a Hindu guru, whose name was Venkusa. Being brought up in both the Islamic and Hindu environment, Shirdi Sai Baba was well aware of the religious traditions of both Islam and Hinduism.
Shirdi Sai Baba was well versed in the esoteric aspects of Islam and Hinduism, he also knew the philosophical teachings of Zoroastrianism. The most important foundation of his philosophical teaching was the idea of the unity of all religions. Shirdi Sai Baba preached that all religions lead to the same truth.
This idea may seem very obvious to modern people of the 21
century, but in the 19
century this approach was quite revolutionary. Among his followers, first of all, were Muslims and Hindus, as well as representatives of Zoroastrianism and other religions.
At a young age, he came to the small town of Shirdi in western India, where he lived almost all his life. That is why they began to call him Shirdi Sai Baba. Shirdi Sai Baba left his body on October 15, 1918.
At the end of his life, he predicted that in eight years he would be reincarnated in southern India as Sathya Sai Baba, which happened in 1926. We know that Shirdi Sai Baba only predicted his next incarnation and did not mention anything about who he would incarnate in through life.
Thus, Shirdi Sai Baba predicted his incarnation in the 20
century as Sathya Sai Baba and did not say anything about his incarnation in the 21
century as Prema Sai Baba.
There is no need to give all the details of the amazing life of Sathya Sai Baba, as many books and articles have been written about this, with a detailed description of his biography, philosophical teachings, and miracles. We will only analyze those events that are relevant to his predictions about the next incarnation as Prema Sai Baba.
Sathya Sai Baba was born on November 23, 1926, in southern India on the banks of the Chitravati River, in the small village of Puttaparthi. His parents belonged to the Hindu religion.
The Sai Boy proclaimed himself the next incarnation of Sai Baba at the age of thirteen on May 23, 1940. A little bit later, he left his parents' house and moved to an abandoned temple of Krishna and began his activity as a spiritual mentor.
In the Sai tradition, in each of his incarnations at a certain age, he "proclaims" himself, which is an important symbolic act – the meaning of which is difficult to understand and appreciate by the human mind.
The rite of "proclamation" is extremely important and very mysterious. It is unlikely that anyone will be able to accurately and fully understand its deep meaning. We can only say with certainty that the beginning of the open and official mission of Sathya Sai Baba began precisely from that historic day when he "proclaimed" himself the Avatar.
Shirdi Sai Baba also repeatedly "proclaimed" himself as an Avatar throughout his life. The exact date when Sathya Sai Baba "proclaimed" himself has remained in history and is celebrated by devotees as a holiday. The exact dates when Shirdi Sai Baba "proclaimed" himself several times are unknown.
This ritual has its own paradox. If you feel that Sai is a divine incarnation, then even without the "declaration" you will feel it. Those who did not feel the divinity of Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba refused to recognize him even after the "proclamation".
The ritual of "proclamation" has a great energetic significance, as a result of which the fullness of the cosmic power of the Avatar in its entirety begins to manifest itself in the universe. Before and after the "proclamation", the power of the Avatar is the same, however, after the "proclamation", this power begins to manifest in full.
7. Reality of reincarnation
Nowadays, there are still people who doubt that reincarnation is real. The materialistic worldview imposes on people a false self-identification of themselves as a physical body. According to this primitive concept, the body is born, the body lives, and the body dies, and with the death of the body, the existence of human consciousness ceases.
The basis of the materialistic worldview is that the function of consciousness is tied to the brain. This means that if the brain physically exists, then thinking exists, and if the brain is dead, then thinking supposedly cannot exist.
In fact, consciousness; and hence, thinking, can exist outside the biological functioning of the brain. In other words, thinking (consciousness) was before the birth of the physical body, and continues after the death of the physical body. This is the basis of the esoteric idea of the process of reincarnation.
In Buddhist terminology, this is called the process of continuity of consciousness, which occurs regardless of the existence or non-existence of the physical body. This is truly a vast topic, which is considered in great detail in various areas of yoga, including the tradition of Kriya yoga.
Man has three bodies: the physical body, the astral body and the causal body. Beyond these three bodies is consciousness. Thus, when the physical body dies, the astral and causal bodies continue their journey into the next life.
The process of reincarnation of the soul (consciousness) is perfectly proven by the fact of the reincarnation of Sai Baba, who incarnated in this world at least three times. Thus, he proved the reality of the process of reincarnation. The meaning of reincarnation shows we are not a mortal body, but an eternal consciousness.
The false idea that matter determines consciousness has been completely refuted. Once again, the world was shown the truth that consciousness and spirit are eternal.
8. Meeting with Sathya Sai
My spiritual connection with Sathya Sai Baba spans many lifetimes. When I first heard about him, and then came to his ashram in Puttaparthi, I immediately felt like I was at home.
My first trip to India took place in 1993 when I was 22 years old. This trip was completely spontaneous. Circumstances suddenly swirled around me. Several of my acquaintances unexpectedly decided to go to India. Two weeks before their departure, they invited me to join them.
At that time, I had been studying yoga, meditation, Vedic and Buddhist philosophy for more than ten years. I could not even imagine that one could easily go to India and meet Sathya Sai Baba. It all seemed too fantastic.
I first came to this fabulous country for six months. At the beginning of the journey, I visited the ashram of Yogi Ramaiah (1923-2006), a unique teacher of Kriya yoga, who lived in the very south of India.
After living there for some time, I moved in with Sathya Sai Baba, who became my greatest source of blessing. A person goes through the path of spiritual practices, thereby preparing himself for a great revelation, which can only be obtained as a gift from God.
Who is Sathya Sai Baba? This is a very difficult question to answer when there are so many followers, each with their individual encounters, stories, ideas and opinions. People sometimes project the qualities and properties they want to see.
Sathya Sai Baba often said: "I am a mirror that reflects your inner world, thoughts and feelings." These are excellent and perfect words.
