Emergence, growth and social service activities in the Sathya Sai Baba spiritual movement

Abstract

The present paper deals with the social and welfare activities of an important spiritual movement in India, Sri Sathya Sai Baba movement, which has attracted thousands of devotees around the world cutting across class, caste, religion, region and ethnic backgrounds besides making its presence within the tradition of Hinduism in India. The spiritual movement has made several contributions to the social upliftment of the disadvantaged in the form of social welfare service activities. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part of the paper reviews briefly the emergence of Sathya Sai Baba movement, while the second part focuses on the growth of Sathya Sai organisation, which is an integral part of the Sathya Sai Baba movement, and the third and final part discusses the way in which the members of the movement engage in social service activities in order to popularise the movement.