Sri Sathya Sai Baba: A Life - Softcover

Bill Aitken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014400061X ISBN 13: 9780144000616

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2009

Synopsis

Acclaimed travel writer and self-described 'spiritual nomad', Bill Aitken tells us why so many - royalty, wealthy industrialists, influential politicians, as well as the poor - flock to Puttaparthi. Sai Baba's message, he reveals, can be summed up in one word: love. It is as simple as it is profound, not unlike how his devotees see the Sai himself - the embodiment of deep spirituality wedded to simplicity, elegance and grace. Yet, the Sai phenomenon is less about producing vibhuti from thin air and more about modern-day miracles - miracles like free schools and universities, super-speciality hospitals which provide free treatment to all and revolutionary projects like the one which has brought drinking water to a million villagers in drought-prone Rayalseema. Aitken's study is neither a hagiographic exercise in myth-making nor a dry, objective account of the Sai's life. While never shy of expressing his deep love and reverence for Sai Baba, he squarely confronts the controversies and criticisms which inevitably dog those who claim acquaintance with the holy.

About this title

About the Author:

Bill Aitken is Scottish by birth, a naturalized Indian by choice. He studied comparative religion at Leeds University and then hitch-hiked to India in 1959. He has lived in Himalayan ashrams, worked as secretary to a maharani, freelanced under his middle name (Liam McKay) and undertaken miscellaneous excursions - from Nanda Devi to Sabarimala - on an old motorcycle and by steam railway. Aitken has written on travel and tourism for newspapers and magazines in India for several years and is the author of The Nanda Devi Affair, Riding the Ranges and Branch Line to Eternity among other books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 014400061X
• ISBN 13: 9780144000616
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262