Sathya Sai Baba is my chosen teacher. After studying his teachings, I felt a resonance within my own experiences. I'm grateful for his love and guidance; I dedicate all my work to him as I do it. What follows is my personal view of Sai Baba and his teachings and is here only for information if you are interested. Otherwise, you may wish to skip this page.
 

I offer this web site and the work I have created to You. It is You who inspires me, provides the materials I use, gives me the talent to create the work and puts the visions in my head. It is my intention to present on these pages this art in the prayer that it will inspire, bring joy and peace to the people on the Internet, my collectors, my students and myself. 

Please bless my efforts. I would really like to sell my work easily and successfully to people who feel pleasure in looking at it. This is my wish. If it fits in with your plan for me, Lord, then this would really be wonderful. If not, then let Your will be done.

Amen
 

Sathya Sai Baba was born on November 23, 1926, in Puttaparthi, a remote village in the state of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. He is the fourth child of a humble and pious couple, who named Him Sathya Narayana Raju. As a child, He demonstrated exceptional qualities of wisdom, compassion, and generosity. When He was seven years old, He composed devotional songs that were sung in religious festivals. At the age of fourteen, He announced that His name was Sathya Sai Baba and proclaimed His mission: to bring about the spiritual regeneration of humanity by demonstrating and teaching the highest principles of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Nonviolence. 

From an early age, Sathya Sai Baba began demonstrating extraordinary powers. On a tree in the neighborhood which became known as the "wish fulfilling tree," he would create each of his playmates favorite fruit: a banana, mango, apple, guava, papaya. When he was older he quickly became known for the miracles He performed such as materializing objects, especially a holy ash called vibhuti, assisting people in distress, and letting those who came to Him for advice know that He was aware of even the most intimate details of their lives. Yet, He has always maintained that His miracles are to be treated only as His calling cards. They are for the purpose of inspiring and encouraging people to begin their own spiritual journey of personal transformation. Most impressive is Baba's dictum that no money was ever to be collected anywhere in his name.

In 1950, a temple and residential quarters were constructed about a mile away from His birthplace in the village. He named this ashram 'Prashanti Nilayam' (Abode of Peace). Today, this ashram can accommodate and feed the many thousands of devotees who come to see and hear Sathya Sai Baba. Under His care and guidance, Puttaparthi has evolved to have high quality schools, an accredited university, a spiritual museum, a music and dance school, a well-equipped modern hospital, and a jet airport. 

Sathya Sai Baba's followers regard Him as an incarnation of God in human form (Avatar). His teachings, along with the manner in which he leads his own life, are what particularly attracted me. His followers come from all the religions of the world. Yet, he is not seeking to start a new religion. Nor does he wish to direct followers to any particular religion. Rather, he urges each individual to continue to follow the religion of their choice.

Sathya Sai Baba promotes the high ideals of truth, right conduct, peace, love, and nonviolence as being the five values that set us apart as human beings. In the beginning he said, "My life is my message." Lately he has begun to say, "Your life is my message." 
  

Sathya Sai Baba places great importance on proper education for young people. I was impressed that his first educational institution that he established at Puttaparthi was a college for women. He has established a model education system, which includes primary schools, secondary schools, and an accredited university with three campuses, offering undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. degrees. No fees are charged to students, and admission is open to all, regardless of race, religion, or economic condition.

In addition to emphasizing the pursuit of academic excellence, Sathya Sai Baba's system of education requires students to take courses on morality and spirituality and to devote several hours each week to some form of community service. Sathya Sai Baba says that "the end of education is character". The teachers in his schools are required to be available to the students twenty-four hours a day. They learn together, eat together, sleep together in a spirit of dedication that boggles the mind.

At the School of Business Management, Accounting and Finance, affiliated to the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, the students are equipped with cutting-edge management skill that sets them apart. This University teaches the concept of the "Greater Common Good."

In this school Baba and his selected instructors teach by example. Their principle of learning: use fundamental discrimination based on what is good for all, as opposed to individual discrimination guided purely by self-interest. A creed followed by Baba's business school is that successful managers and leaders put integrity, openness  and the group above self.

The students are trained to give their (EQ) Emotional Quotient due importance as a successful businessman must be a dreamer and a realist. They make decisions by consensus. Lessons are taught by simulations, mental models and board meetings. A love of nature is nurtured.

To paraphrase Baba, "A business executive is a limb of the company; the company is a limb of society; a society is a limb of humanity; humanity is a limb of nature; and nature is a limb of the Divine."
  

"Help ever, Hurt never." Sathya Sai Baba has built two ultra-modern hospitals in southern India. Highly specialized surgeries, including open-heart operations and kidney transplants, are performed routinely. There is absolutely no charge to the patient for professional or hospital expenses. Motivated by the desire to serve humanity, doctors, nurses, and workers in the hospital render extraordinary, compassionate, and loving care to all patients. Volunteers from all over the world serve alongside the staff in these hospitals.
  

One of Sathya Sai Baba main tenants is to "love all, serve all. Recently, He initiated a project to provide an adequate supply of pure water to 1.5 million inhabitants who were living in drought conditions in the State of Andhra Pradesh (India) . The Prime Minister of India traveled to Prasanthi Nilayam in order to inaugurate the project. Sathya Sai Baba demonstrates that it is the duty of society to ensure that all people have access to the basic requirements for the sustenance of human life.

He encourages his devotees to do service where they live and as a result, many of his devotees participate in local service projects. Because of this I have maintained a quilting project in my home for seventeen years. Volunteers make quilts that are given freely to those in need.