How did Sai Baba's philosophy of 'food as Brahman' challenge traditional ascetic views on self-denial?

Sai Baba's philosophy presented a radical challenge to traditional ascetic practices that glorify fasting and self-denial. Chapter 32 reveals his teaching that the 'realization of food as Brahman arises in the mind' precisely at the moment of intense hunger, elevating the act of eating to a spiritual level. Instead of advocating for the suppression of bodily needs, Baba taught that one must 'first satisfy the soul of the self' with food. This directly contradicted the mindset of devotees like Mrs. Gokhale, who planned a three-day fast. Baba believed that without sustenance, the senses become useless for devotion. By stating that 'food and the eater are Vishnu's form,' he reframed nourishment not as a worldly indulgence but as an essential component of spiritual life, a stark contrast to the idea that piety is achieved through deprivation.