although he died in 1918, there are today in India over one billion pictures of Shirdi Sai Baba. I've met Muslims who pray to him (and go to his temples!), seen his picture inside rickshaws (3-wheeler vehicles) in cities, even on incense boxes.

it's very simple, why so many people pray to Shirdi Baba -- he delivers what they want.

one of his statements: "if you look to me, I look to you," is really true.

he's an incredible, difficult, tricky, pure love mischievous wild soul. he's always doing in your life what you really don't expect, then you turn around, startled at something that happened, and realize it has Baba's fingerprints, as it were, all over it. usually, the more outrageous the better.

my teacher, Kaleshwar, who is Shirdi Baba's direct student and the foremost proponent of his teachings today, often says of Shirdi Baba -- "he's a tiger. but he's a tiger who's drinking milk......."

Alx