Sai Vichaar for Thursday, December 01, 2005

[Guest guest]

of Shirdi. Feel free to forward this newsletter to your interested associates in

its original form. IN THIS ISSUE: FEATURE OF THE WEEK CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE

DEVOTEES SAY PRAYER CLUB EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES QUOTATION OF THE WEEK QUESTION

OF THE WEEK SAI ACTIVITIES FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD FEATURE OF THE

WEEK: Reflections! It is that time of the year when gains and losses of the

year gone by are calculated and

expectations for the year to come are made. In short it is time for reflections

and resolutions. Calculating one's material gains or losses is mandatory by law

for many, as they have to file their returns. What about the spiritual side?

Focusing on spiritual part of the life and spiritual evolution is as important

or rather more important than other issues. Spiritual life is not different

than the daily life one leads. It is an integral part of the person. Any

spiritual evolution of the soul has a direct bearing on the daily life of the

individual. Delaying or avoiding to contemplate on the teachings of the perfect

masters and other saints only makes one more miserable as advances in age. Even

though one is born with the inherent knowledge of the truth as the scriptures

declare, one is shrouded by many layers of ignorance that have to be peeled off

before one can discover the truth within them. The role of the teacher in

helping one understand their ignorance is very clearly

depicted in Sai Satcharita. It is by contemplating; understanding and then

implementing the teachings of the perfect master that one slowly advances in

small steps towards their own evolution. And when one starts to implement and

incorporate the teachings without any effort it becomes second nature as with

any other thing. It is through a series of such small steps probably made

during many lives under the guidance of the perfect master that the soul

eventually walks on the path towards the ultimate truth that is the true home

of each and every one. So this holiday season while reflecting on all other

things, do spend some time in reflecting on the teachings of Shri Sainath

presented in Sai Satcharita too as it will bring you long lasting happiness!

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Control of thoughts "Our thoughts are precious. They are

our very own property and cannot be taken from us".- P.K Shaw. Thoughts play

havoc with our mind when the mind is unrestrained. When we do not control our

thoughts, it keeps feasting on everything that the senses come up and dwell

upon it. Training our mind is not easy. Vedanta says that we can master the

mind and through repeated practice, we can make the mind our servant rather

than being its victim. The mind can be made pure by constantly focusing on the

values and actions that are prescribed in the sacred scriptures. This involves

integrating all the senses and actions in an acceptable manner in order to

achieve the spiritual goal. One needs to discard any thought that is

undesirable and only feed those thoughts that are good to the mind. In chapter

6 of Satcharitha, Hemadpant refers to Baba's advise to his devotees and Baba

says, "fix the mind in remembering Me always, so that it will not wander

elsewhere, towards body, wealth and home. Then it will be calm, peaceful and

carefree. This is the sign of the mind, being well

engaged in good company. If the mind is vagrant, it cannot be called

well-merged." Meditation helps in control of mind. Meditation is loving

recollection of God, mental discrimination, and is an essential balance to

selfless action. Initially one finds all thoughts crowding the mind at once and

difficult for a man to concentrate on God either in nirgun or sagun akaar. But

constant discipline and sticking to the path of godliness and focusing on the

positive aspects of life one realizes the path towards happiness. It does not

mean that spirituality and control of mind is restricted to those who have

severed all the relationship in the world and lead celibate life. That is a

wrong concept. In fact, any person leading a normal family life can control his

mind and attain happiness. When mind is not allowed to covet other man's

property, wife, children and indulge in sensual thoughts and intoxicating

drinks and discriminate between what is appropriate

behavior then such mind is happy and in control. As we are the masters of our

thought we do not crave for things that don't belong to us, and harm our

thought process by neglecting our family when all the members of the family are

happy so also we are happy, calm and composed and the divinity within shines

forth without too much of exertion. Katha Upanishad reiterates this fact "The

Self cannot be gained by the study of Vedas, nor by intellect, nor by much

learning. He, whom the Self chooses, but by him It is gained. To him the Self

reveals Its nature". Let us make a regular practice to keep time for meditation

in order to create a habit; it's also helpful to have a regular place for

meditation that is quiet, clean, and tranquil. And most important let us invoke

the blessings of our Guru to start this stage of purification of mind.

(Contributed by Anitha Kandukuri) DEVOTEES SAY:

SuvarnaI would like to share one of my experiences, which happened recently. My

son, who was nine months old, suddenly went semi-unconscious while playing with

his father and fell backwards. We recently had come to a new place and were

staying in a hotel. We did not know what to do and my son started having

seizures. My husband took him to the receptionist and they called 911.

Meanwhile I was praying to Baba and put my wallet with Baba's photo on his

chest .The 911 people were there in minutes and said they were nearby and that

is why could come so fast. They took him to a nearby hospital and everything

was normal. The doctor could not tell us why it happened but I am sure Baba was

there helping us or else we could not withstand the emergency situation. A Sai

DevoteeSai Satcharitha is a real Gem and by reading it gives a lot of peace and

your body gets relaxed on whatever the situation or crisis you are

facing. Once you start reading you would not want to give up. Hemadpant, a

simple living human has put a lot of good work with the blessings of Sadguru

and gave us this piece of Gem which we have to carry and spread across the

world. I bow and fully surrender to the Sat Chit Anand Sri Sadguru Sri Sai Baba

of Shirdi and seek his blessings to spread the message and teachings of this

great omnipotent, omniscience. LavanyaWe have recently shifted our family to a

new location. We do not have any acquaintances. We were feeling difficulty in

securing a LP Gas cylinder, used for cooking. I prayed Sai to solve our

problem. When I went to the dealer who earlier said that there were non in

stock, offered the LP Gas cylinder immediately. This is only due to Sai's

grace. PRAYER CLUB: GowthamiBaba, please remove all the obstacles and

bless me with

a healthy child. Only you can do some miracle and solve my problems. RaviMy wife

has been working hard to get into a permanent role for the last few years with

any good employer but has so far been unsuccessful. She has tremendous faith in

You, is looking forward for Your kind blessings so that she gets permanent in

her current temporary role, as she likes the place, the people, and also has a

good hold on her duties. AdityaSai, please remove my fear, anxiety and

depression. Give me confidence and enthusiasm in whatever I do. I am going

through unexplained mental agony. Give me peace to my mind and help me

concentrating on my work. PrabhavatiBaba, please help my son become calm and

overcome his rudeness. Please let me as his mother also become calm and not

shout at him, rather try to understand his frustration. Please help us and let

there be peace in our family

and let our son grow up as a responsible and good person. SangeethaBaba, please

let me get more students. Please Baba, You are only supporting me, please bless

me with more work, thanks Baba. Sai devoteeKoti namaskarams to your lotus feet

Baba. Baba, you know what I am going through, my job is only till December

31st., Please see that I have a stable and permanent job. Baba I am very

tensed, see that our financial position improves and see that all the people

who has taken loan from us returns our money back. You know Baba what I am

going through, I am very depressed. Baba see that my husband changes and we

settle in India pretty soon. Please always be with my daughters and my husband.

Baba please show some daya and forgive all the mistakes and sin we have

committed. With your grace my sister- in- law was conceived, please be with her

all through her pregnancy and bless them with a baby boy. Please take

care of my parents and my grandmother. Baba please bless us. ShwetaHey Sai Baba

please help me out. You know my situation very well. This time I am totally

depended on You. I don't know what You have for me in future but please

Bhagwan, bless me with happiness only. I need health, wealth and prosperity for

my loving husband only. I want to give him all happiness I could able to give

him. He is very clear hearted and very down to earth. He never asks anything

from anybody. Hey Sai Baba be always with him. And I promise that if this time

You give me a baby boy, I will come to visit Shirdi with both kids. Please

listen to my prayer and bless me with a healthy boy. EXPERIENCE OF

DEVOTEES: Sai devoteeIts been long time that I haven't submitted my experience

as I promised, but when ever I read many couples seeking for children I feel

like

I should definitely write my story so that they will get encouraged by reading

this. After my marriage I have come to know that I have all sorts of gynec

problems, I was trying from long time to get pregnant and nothing was working

out and I stopped taking all medicines and me and my husband decided to go back

to India, then one day as Sai wants, he made me to go and see the gynec and when

I went for a minor problem, my gynec advised me to go for another round for

treatment which I did and lo I got pregnant. I was very happy and could not

believe that it happened finally, what can I say about this, the day Sai made

me to go to doctor was Thursday and if I had not gone that day I wouldn't have

tried another round of treatment and would have not got this chance of having

this wonderful experience. I still have three months for my delivery and I am

praying everyday to Sai that everything should go as smooth as possible, one

thing I have to tell to all devotees in this journey of my

motherhood I faced many obstacles, many health problems, and in all that I came

out successfully only by praying my Sai and believing him, I request all those

couples not to loose hope and Sai will definitely give them what they want,

only thing we need to have patience, which is very difficult to practice, I had

to wait very long and face many things to get to this point. I sincerely pray

and thank Sai for giving this wonderful life and a chance to help others in

what ever way I can, Dear Sai, please keep your blessing hand on our family and

look after my entire family of mother's and in-law's, please bless all the

devotees, and bless me that I have a smooth delivery on my due date with out

any problems. Please bless my husband all the success in what ever he is trying

to do, please Sai, please help him. RanjeethMy pranams and koti namaskaras at

your lotus feet. This is a testimony to the power of reading "Sai Satcharitra".

I am devotee of

Baba for the past three years and I had the blessings of staying in Shirdi for

42 days in 2002 when I was literally on the streets. During my stay in Shirdi,

I had the privilege of attending all the Aarthis and the palaki procession on

every Thursday and reading of the "Sai Satcharitra" on daily basis. On

returning back to Chennai, Baba blessed me with a job and right from then I had

not looked back, but all of a sudden I lost or threw away my job six months back

and I was back to square one. This is a very clear indication that I had not

kept up the promises or most probably not practiced what has been written in

Sai Satcharitra. Fifteen days back I informed my father that I had stopped

praying to Baba, he was very disturbed on hearing this and he requested me to

cling on to Baba's feet even in the time of distress. Yes, I regretted and

immediately continued my poojas to Baba in a humble way and soon things started

improving. The moment I started reading Sai Satcharitra, the very

next day Baba blessed me with a good job. Dear devotees please read a chapter of

Sai Satcharitra daily and experience by yourself the presence of Baba with you.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "God has agents everywhere and their powers are

vast".-Sai Baba QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. What is contentment? A. by Sister

Dobby Contentment is Sainath in ones mind, heart, and soul every second of every

day. Contentment is Sainath in the minds eye and souls ear all day and all

night. Contentment is Sai Vichaar in ones email every week. Q. What is

contentment? A. by S. P. Srivastava Shri Sai Satcharitha is a real life saga of

a saint whose sole possession was a piece of sack cloth, a kafni, a cap, a tin

pot

and zoli and who had no cravings for anything. Whatever dakshina He received

from His devotees He distributed to various persons not storing anything for

Himself. If anything He stored, it was firewood for keeping His Dhuni burning

day and night. He never boarded any train for His movement. Sai Baba was thus

contentment personified. He was truly a 'sthitapragya' as elucidated in Gita's

Chapter 2, Sloka 55. It describes the characteristics of a person who forsakes

all his desires and remains satisfied in his self. Sai Baba had no desires

whatsoever and remained ever engrossed in self-realization. Contentment is a

divine attribute. A contented person is one who remains at peace with himself.

Ego-less he puts his heart and soul in the duty he performs without bothering

or engrossing himself in the result thereof and does not envy or covet another

man's wealth. Such a person is, to my mind, a contented person. Q. What is the

two-fold importance of Khandoba temple

in Baba's life history? A. by Sasi Lakshmi Khandoba Temple is a wittiness of

Saibaba's leelas. Mahalsapathi's association with Sai and his humble service to

Baba is well known. Well known saint Upasani Baba was asked by Saibaba to stay

at Khandoba temple. During his stay, UpasaniBaba attained many siddhis. But he

left KhandobaTemple without complete transformation. Maarthaand, son of

Mahalsapathi narrated one interesting example of Baba's leela. One day

Maarthand was sitting at the entrance of the temple. Baba came from the back

the idol. Then he went back to the idol, smiling at Maarthand. He was surprised

and searched for Baba in and around the temple. Through this Baba wants to tell

that He is Omniscient and Omnipresent. SAI ACTIVITIES: Shirdi Sai Temple

of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USAShirdi Sai temple is open daily from 8:00

a.m to

9:00 p.m (Winter hours). Daily program includes Kakad Arathi at 8 a.m followed

by Abhisek. Madhayana Arathi at 12 noon, Dhoop Arathi at 6 p.m and Shej Arathi

at 9 p.m. Archana, Homams, Sahasranama and sponsored poojas continue in between

the Arathis. To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends and family, please

call. Devotees can request water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba

by sending us an email or by phone. Temple is located 25 minutes drive west of

Schaumburg on intersection of IL Route 47 and Plank Road in Hampshire, IL. For

more information please call 847-931-4058 or send email to

maildrop (AT) saibaba (DOT) org. Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, MinnesotaRegular Sai

activities in Minneapolis, St.Paul area are being conducted at Shirdi Saibaba

Prayer Center, 725 Lake St NE, Apt 139 Hopkins MN. For details, please contact

hamaresai , or call Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center at 952-938-2983, and

to read the monthly newsletter Sai

Sandesh, visit www.hamaresai.org. Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Dallas/Fort

Worth, TexasSri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of DFW Metroplex is located at 2109 West

Parker (Parker Plaza), Suite 212, Plano, TX 75023. For temple hours and

activities please call the temple office at 469-467-3388 or visit the website

www.shirdisaidallas.org. Shirdi Sai Satsang, Bay Area, CaliforniaShirdi Sai

Parivaar invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 7:30 pm at Odd

Fellows Temple, 20589 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. For details please

call 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu or visit

www.ShradhaSaburi.org. Shirdi Sai Satsang, Ontario, CanadaShirdi Sai Baba

Sansthan of Canada invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 6:30PM at

147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham, Ont. L6C 2N4. For details on other activities

and services please call Shammi Chopra at

416-402-8089 or email us saileela99 . Shirdi Sai Satsang in Vancouver,

BC, CanadaShirdi Sai parivar in Vancouver invites you for bhajans, every

Thursday (6:30pm - 7:30 pm) at 8571, 118A Street, Delta, V4C 6L2. For further

details contact Ritu (604)592 4182 or email at sai_ish (AT) hotmail (DOT) com. Sri Shirdi

Sai Mandir, Scarborough, CanadaThe Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham

Road, Scarborough, ON M1X 1L5 (Intersection of Markham and Nashdene) is open

Monday to Friday from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m and Saturday to Sunday from 10:30

a.m to 8:30 p.m. Dhoop aarti at 7:30 p.m everyday and Bhajans on Saturday from

5:00 p.m onwards. For other temple activities and information please call

647-444-4724 or send an email to info (AT) theshirdisaimandir (DOT) com. Shirdi Sai

bhajans in SingaporeShirdi Sai Sansthan, Singapore invites all to participate

in bhajans every Saturday from

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple, 555 Serangoon Road,

Singapore 218174. For more information please send an email to

rajamm (AT) starhub (DOT) net.sg FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Sai activities section

is a good opportunity to spread the word about various activities, celebrations

and festivities of Sai Mandirs across the world. Postings on Sai activities are

very useful for new visitors and for those who would like to know more about

Sai activities in theirs and other areas. Sai Vichaar receives several emails

for Prayer Club. They will be posted in the order they are received, please

indicate if you do not want to include your name. Sai devotee Subhadra suggests

the "Question of the week" for the week as, Q. What is the two-fold importance

of Khandoba temple in Baba's life history? Humbly Yours,The Editor

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1998-2005

saibaba.org, Shirdi Sai Baba Sanstha - Sai Vichaar Weekly may only be

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