Each Avatar is incarnated through an immaculate conception. For example, this is how Krishna and Buddha were born, similarly like Sathya Sai Baba’s incarnation. During his lifetime this fact was kept secret for a long time, and only when Sathya Sai Baba was forty years old, did he consider it necessary to reveal this great secret. At that time his mother, Easwaramma, was still alive and at the direction of her divine son, the secret of his birth was revealed.

Easwaramma said that one day she went to a nearby well to draw water when, suddenly, a dazzlingly bright blue ball appeared in the sky. Descending above the astonished woman, the ball of light then entered Easwaramma’s stomach. After that, Easwaramma lost consciousness and lay on the ground for some time in a state of absolute bliss. Upon waking, she quickly returned home and told her mother-in-law who strictly forbade her to discuss the topic with other relatives.

How can you recognize an Avatar? This is a very complex question, the answer to which cannot be found with the help of logic. It is not possible to prove or disprove that Sathya Sai Baba is an Avatar – one can only feel it.

By the time I first met Sathya Sai Baba in ‘90s, I was already aware of various yoga traditions and spiritual teachers. I was seriously practicing meditation and studying Vedic philosophy. Back in Moscow, when I saw the video recording of Sathya Sai Baba and learned the stories of his amazing life, I instantly felt his colossal energy and power.

Several of my friends told me he is the Avatar of our age. It was difficult for me to understand what this meant, but it was clear that Sathya Sai Baba was a supreme being incomprehensible to my mind.

At that time, I was a Shaivite. Lord Shiva was for me the personification of all higher realizations and transcendental wisdom. When I first saw videos of Sathya Sai Baba and heard stories about his life, I felt he must be the incarnation of Lord Shiva.

One of the most important holidays celebrated in the ashram is Shiva's sacred night, Shivaratri. The exact date of this holiday is calculated according to the lunar calendar. That is why in different years the holiday is celebrated on different days. Most often this happens in the second half of February or in the first half of March.

The symbolism of the holiday is very deep. On this sacred night the wedding of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati takes place. The wedding of the Gods means the unity of Absolute Consciousness and Cosmic Energy, as well as the unity of the spiritual and material in the life of every person. In various yoga traditions, this is considered the most important night for the practice of meditation.

For many years on the sacred night of Shivaratri, Sathya Sai Baba materialized from his mouth a golden Lingam. A Lingam is an egg-shaped object made of stone or metal alloy. It’s a symbol of cosmic egg, source of the entire universe.

There are many videos of Sathya Sai Baba performing this miracle of materialization. Outwardly, it looked as if a golden egg inexplicably popped out of his mouth, but in fact, at first it materialized in his stomach as a clot of divine light. Then the energy rose up through his body and only in the mouth it turned into an egg-shaped golden Lingam.

In the early 70s, on the sacred night of Shivaratri, Sathya Sai Baba again materialized a Lingam. After that, he said, “this is the great Lingam, which was described in ancient times by the sage Kapila.” He then addressed the audience and affirmed all the people present, saying they were there at the time of the birth of this Lingam because they had reached the highest point of their development and were now freed from the cycle of birth and death.