Sai Baba has a very bad history--lies about miracles predation on boys and young men, money
Many of his most loyal devotees have repudiated him and those who spoke out have been hounded by cruel vitipuration.
Brian Steele helped write literature for Sai Baba and later in conscience felt obligated to educate others.
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bdsteel.tripod.com]
Kevin Shepherd
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www.kevinrdshepherd.net]
Sathya Sai and Wikipedia
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citizeninitiative.com]
Shirdi Sai Baba was a Sufi dervish very possibly of the Chisti order. He ate meat, said the Muslim prayers himself, and wore a beard. He counselled both Hindus and Muslims and tailored instructions to the needs of each devotee.
Though Shirdi Sai could and did use references and terms from Hinduism and Hindu literature he did so to counsel Hindus--this did NOT mean he himself was Hindu. After his death, the population in Shirdi shifted to a Hindu majority and only then was the dead dervishes tomb (Mazar) changed and decorated and a statue added to make it seem Shirdi Sai had been Hindu all along.
By contrast in areas once Hindu that were take over by Islam, previous Hindu shrines were turned into mosques and often Sufi dervishes took up residence as Lal Shah Baz did at Sewan, a city dedicated to Shiva in what is now Sindh in Pakistan.
Shirdi Sai who lived as a poor man all his life would have probably considered it obscene for a Hindu to create a corrupt tinsel empire and associate it with his career as a poor Sufi--by tradition the best of the Sufis made a point of fleeing the courts of emperors and kings.
Robert Priddy--former devotee of Sai Baba
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www.google.com]