Baskaran Pillai, also known as Dattatreya Siva Baba or Siva Baba, is an accomplished master of the Tamil Siddha tradition and one of the first of his lineage to bring secretive knowledge of the Tamil Siddhas to the West.
Wayne Dyer was the first celebrity to follow and publicize Pillai’s manifestation teachings through his book Manifest your Destiny, which he dedicated to Pillai.
The Tamil Siddhar are spiritual renegades who believed in 200% life, i.e.
living a 100% material and 100% spiritual life simultaneously.
Since March 2007 Pillai has attracted a large number of viewers as testified by his free YouTube videos teaching the Siddha knowledge.
Time called Pillai "The YouTube Guru".
As a philanthropist he has initiated many projects across India, Mexico and the U.S., which include the Million Meals Project and educating underprivileged children.
His educational programs in public schools and tuition centers improves the academic and social skills of disadvantaged students in India, Mexico and the United States through brain-enhancement sounds.
These programs are implemented through the Tripura Foundation, established by Pillai in 1991, a consulting non-governmental organization to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).