Baba continued at length:
Had Jesus not raised the dead, had he not performed the miracles, he would not have been crucified, and he wanted to be crucified. He performed the miracles to make certain of being crucified.
Many miracles have been attributed to me, but I do not perform miracles. I do not attach importance to miracles. When people think miracles have been performed, their faith has done it. One miracle I will perform, and for that miracle the time is nigh. I have said that my miracle will be not to raise the dead, but to make one dead to himself to love God. I have repeatedly said I will not give sight to the blind, but I will make men blind to the world in order to see God.
Why have I explained about miracles? It has to do with Sakori. Yesterday, we did not have time to go to Shirdi. There you would have found a different atmosphere from what exists at Sakori. People come there from all parts of India to Sai Baba's shrine. In almost every house in India, you will find Sai Baba's picture; it is in cinemas and on matchboxes. This Divine Being is being commercialized! They even sell the ashes there to get money! I hear lately they are issuing advertising circulars and charging people eight annas for visiting the shrine. All this is due to one very good soul who made a mess of things because of ignorance. I do not call anyone selfish or bad, because all are mine, and everything happens by the will of God. Sai Baba was Perfection personified, and the state of affairs at Shirdi I do not like ... Soon, I will change the whole atmosphere there.
What happened was that this dear soul named [B. V.] Narasimha Swami came to me at Nasik and said, "Baba, I want to stay with you and write your biography." I told him I did not want that done; that instead he should go to Sakori and write Upasni Maharaj's biography. "I do not want you to write about me," I told him. He then got very upset and went to Sakori, stayed for some time, and wrote the book Sage of Sakori . That is the book I took away from you yesterday after you had each been presented with a copy. Half the book is good and half nonsense.