Sri Sathya Sai Baba—a life

Balanced account :: The Week By Dr Hiramalini Seshadri:

Sri Sathya Sai Baba—a life
By Bill Aitken
Published by Penguin Viking. Price Rs 450

"The book Sri Sathya Sai Baba—a life by travel writer Bill Aitken is an account of his journey within. Just as his guru, Krishnaprem, discovered that all lofty doctrines of the head melted into nothing in the divine love of Radha-Krishna, Aitken, though not a Sai devotee, confesses that he wrote the book because his "heart was too full to be silent". He candidly says, "What Sathya Sai Baba arouses in me is a feeling so maddeningly beautiful that I am convinced everyone in the world would wish to experience it."

The book is a balanced account of the Sai phenomenon. Thanks to his down-to-earth Scottish instincts, Aitken represents the ascent of man rather than the descent of Godhead. He treats his divine subject as humanly as possible. The book delights the historian and the seeker alike because it seamlessly weaves the history, political overtones and spiritual awakening of the Deccan over the last millennium, culminating in the Sai parampara.

The years spent at Mirtola have perhaps enabled Aitken to take Baba’s miracles in his stride. Refreshingly, the book plays down the materialism associated with Baba. Instead, it focuses on his love and grace that transform one "from a state of mindless animal behaviour to an awareness of one’s divine inheritance". The book informs and inspires, and is a must for both the non-devotee and the devotee. "