From a philosophical standpoint, did Sai Baba actually experience death in the conventional sense?

According to the teachings in Chapter 43, Sai Baba did not experience death as ordinary beings do. The text posits that death is merely the separation of the body and senses, a concept that doesn't apply to a being like Sai Samarth, who is described as a 'mass of bliss' and the 'complete Supreme Brahman.' For such a being, birth and death are considered 'false imaginations.' The text explains that Baba's departure was a voluntary act, where he 'burned the body in the fire of Yoga' and 'merged himself into the unmanifest.' Therefore, what appeared as death was simply a transition back to his unmanifest state, an event likened to an eclipse which is merely a 'defect of vision' for the observer.