Sathya Sai Baba was born into a Hindu family in the Kshatriya caste. This caste has united warriors and politicians since ancient times; however, one should not think that the family and relatives of Sathya Sai Baba were warriors or politicians. His parents were quite modest inhabitants of a small village.
In modern India, belonging to a caste means a family tradition, and does not guarantee financial well-being. These days, representatives of the higher castes can be very poor, while people from lower castes are successful and rich.
The philosophy of Sathya Sai Baba goes beyond the Hindu religion. Teachers of all world religions, such as Krishna, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Zarathustra, and the Prophet Muhammad, are revered in the ashram. Every year the ashram celebrates the most important festivals of all world religions, such as the Nativity of Jesus Christ and Buddha's birthday, Jewish New Year and Chinese New Year, all Vedic festivals such as Shivaratri and Guru Purnima.
Sathya Sai Baba never asked his devotees to change their religion. His teaching was to proclaim the spiritual significance and authenticity of all religions.
The mission of Sathya Sai Baba included communication with people from different countries of the world who belonged to different world religions and different ethnic cultures. His philosophy was not limited to the Indian tradition. Of course, most of all he commented on the Vedic texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He also commented, quite often, on the Gospels.
One of the accusations that is often made against Sathya Sai Baba by some spiritual schools is that he allegedly performed miracles too often in the presence of a large number of followers and devotees.
This all sounds rather strange, because all the world's great spiritual teachers have always performed miracles in the presence of a large number of people. Remember Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus Christ? They all performed numerous miracles as part of their divine mission on earth.
Krishna and Jesus Christ are best known for their deepest spiritual messages. They preached the doctrine of direct communication between man and God – the quintessence of which is the revelation of God in one's own heart. In addition to philosophical teachings, they also performed a huge number of miracles.