The Saint of Shirdi, Sri Sai Baba, is the great Master whose idol or portrait adorns the houses of millions of people globally. He was not a conventional saint. He wrote no books, gave no formal preachings or initiate any disciples to take over from him. Infact he made no pretensions of being a scholar. Sai Baba was unique, in that, he lived his message through the essence of his being. He was quiet and calm in his demeanor and showed no desire for any comforts or luxuries. He treated everyone alike irrespective of their financial or social status.

The blessed saint of Shirdi, in whom the light of Divinity was fully manifest, had come to awaken man to his Divine nature, and save them from delusion and ignorance and to inspire them to strive for self-realisation. This phenomenon of Shirdi is the dynamic spiritual force that is drawing people from all walks of life and from all parts of the world, into his fold. He continues to guide their lives, saving them from all types of miseries, material as well as spiritual. The wave of spirituality started by him is now spreading all over the globe. He radiated a mysterious smile and a deep inward peace. He was always and ever aware of what transpired within the hearts and minds of everyone. He was Omnipresent and Omniscient. His teaching was the way he lived and his relationship with the common man. Contrary to the methods used by other saints, he used metaphoric actions for preaching.

Nothing definite is known about his birthplace, parentage, religion, or caste. He lived as a penniless fakir, wearing a torn kafni, sleeping over a mat and begging for his food. He made a dilapidated mosque, he called "Dwarakamai Masjid", in Shirdi, a village in Maharashtra, his home for nearly sixty years till his mahasamadhi in 1918.