How did Sai Baba's 'maya' work in practice? I'm looking for a specific example of how he influenced people's lives from afar.

An excellent example of Sai Baba's extraordinary 'maya' is found in the story of a lady from Berhampur, as narrated in Chapter 28. This woman had never even had Baba's direct darshan, yet he appeared to her in a dream, standing at her door and asking for khichdi. This powerful vision ignited a deep longing for him. The text from Chapter 28 explicitly states that the couple "felt the wonder of the vision; Sai's maya was extraordinary." This incident perfectly illustrates how Baba's divine power could transcend physical distance, planting the seeds of devotion in people's hearts and orchestrating events to eventually draw them to Shirdi.