Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji

In 1989 Sadguru Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji (affectionately called "Guruji") made Shirdi, the sacred adobe of his beloved sadguru, his home. "Sri Babuji represents for many Sai devotees, in India and abroad, a living paragon of the beatific Path of Sri Sai Baba. His whole persona conveys, with great simplicity and naturalness, a palpable and immediate experience of the sacred and numinous."
Sri Babuji is an ardent devotee of Sai Baba, whose entire life is a testimony to the grace and might of Sai. Recently, when asked to compose something on Sri Babuji, a ten-year-old wrote simply, "Guruji is Baba's greatest devotee", while one of his oldest devotees made the poetic observation, "Sai Baba is a book, and Guruji's life is the commentary on that text."

Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji
The infinite love which Sri Babuji cherishes for Sai Baba can be seen in everything he does, and it is that love and grace which pulls so many to him and which he showers on those lucky enough to come within his ambit. Although Sri Babuji insists that he is not a teacher or a guru, many devotees recognize him as their sadguru, and thousands are attracted to his presence and find their lives transformed as a result. People come to take his darshan, seek his guidance, ask for help with practical matters and relief from their afflictions, and to get the bliss of spiritual fulfilment.
Sri Babuji gives us a new outlook on spirituality, before which many of our cherished concepts seem old and worn out. Similarly, taking darshan of a holy place acquires new meaning under Sri Babuji's guidance. Discovering Shirdi and experiencing Baba acquires a thrill which never wanes. There is never a dull moment and no end to the experience. Under Sri Babuji's influence and inspiration, the flames of interest are fanned ever further.
Sri Babuji encourages devotees to find out what they really need and to ask for that, so that their lives have a clear direction and meaning. His teaching is at once down-to-earth and subtle. In the manner of Sai Baba he encourages the fulfillment of basic material needs. He says: "Concretization of one's own abstract sense of fulfillment is at the basis of all our spiritual and worldly endeavors. As such it is futile to draw a line of separation between the so-called spiritual and worldly, because all kinds of aspirations, ambitions, desires and emotional pulls are different expressions of one's abstract sense of fulfillment. That was why Sai Baba never discouraged his devotees from asking him for the fulfillment of worldly desires and protection against mundane problems. Baba made it clear when he said, "Saints exist to give devotees spiritual and temporal welfare. I give to my devotees whatever they ask, till they ask for what I want to give them!"
Sri Babuji does not lecture, preach or even teach in formal sense. He responds to our questions in words and in silence and communicates what we need at that particular moment. In fact, he teaches us in such a natural way that we hardly realize we are being taught. "I teach nothing. I try to make you learn," he says, when asked about his approach. He artfully places us in situations necessary for the integrated unfolding of emotions; this is needed to generate a backdrop for a fulfilled and complete experience of life. It is the fire, which he kindles, and fans in our hearts that leads to the destruction of the knots that bind our existence and limit our ability to love.
What is Satsang?
Satsang has three meanings: ‘Sat’ means ‘truth’. ‘Sang’ means ‘communion’. Our communion with the truth, our attunement to the truth. That is real Satsang. ‘Sang’ with ‘Sat’. The second meaning is to be in the company of those who have realized the truth (Sat-Purushas). And the third significance is the company of like-minded people in which we are sharing and discussing with ardent devotion about truth.
We have to do Satsang in all the three ways. When we are alone with ourselves we do the first type, thinking about truth and about what we really need. Whenever we have an opportunity we have to meet and take the guidance and blessing of those who have realized the truth. Thirdly, if it is not possible to be in the company of saints we have to associate ourselves with like-minded people, sit together and discuss about truth and Sat-Purushas. This is Satsang.
There is no need to create an organization. Let it be most informal: reading, singing Bhajans, meditating and sharing together. Let emotional attachment, connectedness and friendship grow with like-minded people. Try to transform your social contacts into spiritual contacts. Share! Try to talk to others in their own way, in the way that they can understand, in the way of human experience, and not in abstract philosophical terminology.
Bhajana
The ardent feeling of the devotee is the life force of Bhajana. It is not merely a psalm sung in chorus. The love we have towards our Ista, the ardent desire that the love should grow to be single-minded and infinite; and the feelings evoked in our hearts by such ardent desire is the embodiment of Bhajana. The divine, effulgent and powerful form of Sri Sai Baba, the love he has towards his devotees, which he expresses by granting anything, the moment one wishes for it; the unfathomable divine nature of Baba, the enchantment of our hearts in the quest towards divining his nature; and the dissolution of our individuality in the collective, universal consciousness in that enchantment-these are the beginning and ending of Bhajana
—- Sri Babuji
Parayana
(The study of Sri Sai Baba’s Leelas)
Parayana enables us to transcend the self imposed individual limitations which are the cause of all sorrow, make us achieve the happiness which is without any limitations and teaches us to elevate and sublimate our selves to the true and infinitely happy cosmic state.
Parayana is the thorough study of each of the glorious teachings of Mahatma’s and assimilation of the infinite inner meaning and the spirit of the teaching. Parayana is the means of enshrining our beloved Sadguru in our hearts and to pay homage to His lotus like feet with our minds
full of devotion.—- Sri Babuji
What is Saipatham?
"Saipatham means the path shown to us by Sri Saibaba. The path he trod himself. It is the highway to the destination, which again is Sai. The Sai path is not bound by the traditions of any one religion but is the universal path followed and taught by all the great spiritual masters. In short, the path of Sai is the Sadguru path." -- Sri Babuji
Saipatham is the path of Sai as exemplified and expounded by our beloved Guruji, Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji. For thousands around the globe, Sri Babuji is their guiding spirit along this path. His approach is to bring us to the essence of Baba, whose life was an expression of universal love and compassion and the timeless values of tolerance and brotherhood. A master of the highest order, Sai Baba manifested and keeps manifesting in fullness the rare fusion of power, love, and knowledge.
Saipatham is the path of love. At its core lies the total unconditional love from the Sadguru, which ennobles and uplifts the devotee. It fosters the preparedness to shed the shackles of ingrained patterns and yield readily to the loving care of the Sadguru, to his guidance and example. "Baba is the path as well as the goal," says Sri Babuji. His own life exemplifies this complete and undivided reliance on Sai Baba and his grace. Sri Babuji's speech, thought, and action are constantly turned and tuned to Baba, submerged in love at his feet. It is this love which is the very fabric of Saipatham.

No symbols of any religion nor images of any gods or goddesses are seen around Sri Babuji except that of Sri Sai Baba. No other name is chanted except the name of Sai Baba. He stresses the need for undivided emotional focus on one's object of adoration and makes it clear that there is no need for a Sai devotee to resort to any other means and rituals. Reliance on Baba's grace - and grace alone - is the essence of the Saipatham and the uniqueness of its pure expression.

Saipatham is a way of life, an attitude and a state of mind. "Spirituality is discovering the art of living," Sri Babuji says. "Skilful living can be learned and cultivated, but the art of living is different. It is the spontaneous and full participation in life, which springs forth from love." He explains that "Saipatham is a path of life which has Baba as its center. A life in which our thoughts, actions, and our whole way of living revolve around Baba. Just as a creeper winds around a pole, our life should revolve around Sri Sai. And like the creeper that is climbing its way to the top, is taking support from the pole, we too must seek support, strength, and security from Sai."

"A sadguru uses his power with unconditional love and compassion to help us reach our destination", says Sri Babuji. And Saipatham is the celebration of the power of the Sadguru, that supreme alchemist, who turns the basest amongst us to gold.
About Sri Babuji
"My methods are different," said Sai Baba. Different from what? What is the real tradition established by Sai? These and many other questions assail the devotees of Sri Sai Baba who cannot articulate their doubts and suffer, searching in vain for the true path prescribed by Sri Sai Baba. Sri Babuji is the guru sent by Baba as an answer these and the many other questions which trouble the suffering multitudes. His life has been ennobled in the quest for the real tradition of Sri Sai Baba and the true path to be followed by Baba’s devotees. His life has been purified by the unceasing remembrance and repetition of the holy name of Sri Sai Baba. "My deeds are as the unfathomable ocean, boundless and illimitable. Whosoever constantly contemplates on my divine play and immerses himself in such contemplation will find jewels of wisdom," said Sri Sai Baba. Sri Babuji is the mahatma who has reached the limits of that limitless ocean and has brought out the jewels of Baba’s wisdom for our weal. The assurance made by Sri Sai Baba that, if we take a step towards him he would take ten steps towards us, has become true in Babuji’s case. He has received the boon of knowledge from Sri Sai Baba, with the result that at a very young age he became an erudite scholar; who can authoritatively comment on the traditions of all religious and spiritual pathways of the world. Each word of Sri Sai Baba is as the Veda for him.
Despite his vast erudition, he modestly states that his quest and spiritual endeavour is to fulfil himself but not set himself up as a teacher of jijnasus or as a scholar. Musk does not intend that it smell sweetly, and that all the people should praise it for its fragrance -it is its nature is to spread a sweet aroma. Such is the case with Sri Babuji too. Many were the seekers who met Sri Babuji to smell the heady perfume of Sri Sai Baba’s teachings. None who met him went away unsatisfied. He slaked the thirst for knowledge of all who met him. One such scholar who met him and drank fully of that bliss commented, "The breadth of his knowledge is immeasurable. Being in his presence is sufficient for us to immerse in that ocean of love and happiness, which is Sai Baba. He has reached the pinnacles of spirituality and his life is a perfect example of total surrender to Sri Sai Baba." The Ganges’ mission is to reach the sea. But it gives life-sustaining water and irrigates the fields and thereby removes the thirst and hunger of millions while fulfilling its mission or dharma of reaching the sea. In the same manner, though Babuji’s ultimate destination is the happy union with that ocean of bliss, which is Sri Sai Baba; he has been giving succour to the multitudes of the needy in their struggles with life. He is the flower, which spreads its perfume of love in the field, which is Sai Baba. He is the one who can show us who the real Sai is. He is the mother who gives us the milk of devotion for Sri Sai Baba and thereby enables us to receive the grace of Baba. There are many who by the benign glance of Sri Babuji and his grace have been rid of diseases that had been plaguing them for years. There is no heart that did not find solace and comfort in his presence-none who went with his problems unsolved. There is none who can have his darshan and leave without being enmeshed and bound by the bonds of love, which so readily flows from him to all.

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