ORIGIN OF THE PHOTO

In 1985 B.A., an Australian, made her first visit to the ashram of Satya Sai Baba in Puttaparti, India. She was one of many thousands who come every day to be in the presence of Sai Baba, an extraordinary avatar whose spontaneous miracles and all-encompassing love are world-famous. He is known for manifesting objects "out of thin air," such as rings and, especially, ash - which many of his followers carry in small packets.

The major event of the day at Sai Baba's ashram is Darshan, when Sai Baba walks among those gathered and gives them his blessing. While receiving Darshan, B.A. held up for Sai Baba's blessing a crucifix and a computer-generated black-and-white print-out of the Shroud of Turin. Sai Baba did not bless the crucifix, but took the page of computer paper in his hand and from it manifested a blank sheet of glossy photo paper. As he passed his hand over the paper, there appeared a color photo of Jesus. Later examination showed that the markings in the photo line up exactly with those of the Shroud of Turin.

In 1988 Ruth Hanna and Robert Ferre of One Heart were visiting the Ramala Center in Glastonbury, England, where they saw the photo hanging on the wall in the meditation room. Inquiring as to its origin, they were given the name of C.B., who, through an unusual turn of events, had been given a copy of the Sai Baba Jesus photo in 1987 by B.A. Bringing the photo to the United States, it has now gained increasing distribution, including being used on the cover of a book by Paul Ferrini.