Can you explain the philosophical meaning behind the statement that for a Yogi, 'death is like dust before him' and that Sai Baba 'burned the body in the fire of Yoga'?

This phrasing describes the supreme spiritual state of a realized Yogi. As explained in Chapter 43, for one who has spiritually 'turned the body to ashes'—meaning they have completely transcended attachment to their physical form—while still alive, physical death loses its power and becomes insignificant, 'like dust.' The phrase 'burned the body in the fire of Yoga' is a metaphor for Sai Baba's conscious and voluntary departure. It was not a passive event but an act of will where he used his yogic power to merge himself into the unmanifest Supreme Brahman, demonstrating ultimate mastery over the life and death of the physical body.