Sai Vichaar for Thursday, February 02, 2006

[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: God - a matter of experience Saibaba's language was truly mystic for he

talked back and forth between

the Absolute mode and the mode of surrendered servant or even bond slave of the

Lord. In the former mode, He made such statements as: "I am formless and

everywhere" and, "I look equally on all. Not a leaf moves except my grace". In

the latter mode of surrendered instrument of God, he declares:" Without God's

permission nothing can be made by me", and "Baba is but phaladata (giver of the

fruit or dispenser of the result). However, his message is clear both on fear

and hope that if one becomes God's or Saibaba's devotee the one will be under

his protective wing and need no fear. If then the devotee has patience, his

hopes will be realized and in due course, he will indeed be raised spiritually.

This blessing is not to be confused with worldly benefits such as material

prosperity, fame, power or even health, although these may in fact occur as

by-products. The promise is for the achievement of the Sufi goal of mystical

union with God, or the realization that one was never in truth

separation from God. Among many quotations in this vein of protection and

guidance, Saibaba said: "if you make me the sole object of your thoughts and

aims, you will gain paramartha - the supreme goal. Some visitors came to see

Saibaba at first merely out of curiosity to see a miracle-worker, and then

gradually they started coming to listen to what Saibaba was teaching. Nana

Chandorkar, for example, began listening to Saibaba this way, and eventually

gained complete confidence that Saibaba did indeed demonstrate the qualities of

divinity. Others however, such as Dasganu, although he had great respect for the

Saint and had been shown many phenomenal miracles, could never quite come to

terms with admitting Saibaba's divinity (when Baba was in flesh and blood).

("Saibaba and the Sufi Tariquat' in "Unravelling The Enigma - Shirdi

Saibaba in the Light of Sufism" by Marianne Warren) CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE:

Baba's method of Teaching As for Baba's declaration about his Guru, Professor

Narke heard Baba say, "Maja Guru Brahman ahe", that is, My Guru is a Brahmin.

Having said so much about his Guru, professor Narke carefully noted that Baba

did not say that he had any sishya to continue his line. On the other hand, Sai

Baba said, 'I would tremble to come into the presence of my Guru.' There was no

one prepared to serve Sai Baba in that way at Shirdi. Once Sai Baba asked, it

seems, 'Who dares to call himself my disciple? Who can serve me adequately and

satisfactorily?' But apart from a disciple to continue the line, Baba helped in

various ways and in various degrees. He encouraged them, protected them, and

gave them instructions occasionally. Narke was studying Baba's methods of

teaching and improving devotees. Baba gave our moral tales and a few occasional

directions. But these were exceptional. But the

traditional method of Baba was not oral. His traditional method was first the

negative portion; that is, the Guru did not give to his chosen disciple any

Guru mantra. Usually a Guru whispers a mantra into the ear of the sishya, and

he seems to be almost biting the ear when he is whispering. So, Baba said, 'Me

Kanala Dasnara Guru Navhe.' That is, 'I am not the Guru that bites the ear. He

did not regard japa and meditation as sufficient for the sishya. These produce

in the sadhaka Abhimana or Ahamkara. Unless and until Ahamkara is completely

wiped out the Guru is unable to pour all his influence into the sishya. In

Baba's school, the Guru does not teach. He radiates or pours influence. That

influence is poured in and absorbed in full by the soul which has completely

surrendered itself and blotted out the self, but is obstructed by the exercise

of intelligence by reliance on self-exertion and by every species of

self-consciousness and self-assertion. Baba, therefore, would tell some

devotees, 'Be by me and keep quiet and I will do the rest,' that is, 'secretly

or invisibly. One who was merely seeing him and staying by him for a while got

faith. Baba gave experiences to each devotee, of his vast powers of looking

into his heart, into the distance regions of space and time, past or future and

this infused faith. One need not swallow a thing on trust. The solid benefit,

temporal or spiritual reaped by the devotee and his feeling that he is under

the eye and power of Baba always, wherever he may be and whatever he may do,

gave him an ineradicable basis for his further temporal and spiritual guidance.

Baba's is the power that controls this world's goods and our fate here and now,

as well as our experience and fate in the future, in this world and many unseen

worlds. The professor concludes that the duty of a devotee under Baba is only to

keep himself fit for the Guru's grace. That is, he should be chaste,

pure, simple and virtuous and he should look trustfully and sincerely to the

beloved master to operate on him secretly, and to raise him to various

experiences, higher and higher in range, until he is taken at last to the

distance goal. 'But one step is enough for me', is the proper attitude now, He

need not take the trouble to decide complicated metaphysical and philosophical

problems about the ultimate destiny. He is ill-prepared to solve them now. The

guru will lift him and endow him with higher powers, vaster knowledge and

increasing realization of truth. And the end is safe in the Guru's hands. These

above conclusions, as the professor says, are not from any single lecture or

address by Baba, but are gathered from the various hints, his dealings with

many people and his occasional words. (Contributed by Courtesy: Pujyasri B. V.

Narasimha Swami) DEVOTEES SAY: SaipadmaOne day a shuttlecock hit my eye

while my kid was playing. It swelled and became red. It was very painful,

itching and burning. A doctor gave an ointment to apply because of which the

condition became worse. I was scared and prayed to Sai Baba to help. Again, we

went to the same doctor, he said some people develop irritation for that

ointment and he asked me to stop. I washed my eye and the irritation subsided a

bit. But the eye was continuing to swell. I went to another doctor who directed

me to see eye specialist. I was really worried about my eye sight now, I told

Baba that I will post my experience if my eyesight is normal and my eye problem

will be cleared. After a long wait the doctor tested my eye and said my eyesight

is ok, and gave me medicines to reduce swelling and pain. Within a week, my eye

became normal. Thanks to Saibaba. SantoshiniThank you very much for giving me

such a good job. Thank you

for blessing me and giving me strength and courage in doing the work. Thank you

very much Baba. SandhyaOm Sai Ram, many thanks to You for getting my sister

married. I had promised that if my husband passes his exam, I would share with

Sai Vichaar. Thanks for helping my husband in succeeding his exams. Please

continue to shower Your blessings on us and my parents and sisters. PRAYER

CLUB: SubhaYou have showered your love upon me always. Baba, I am longing to

make the official trip along with my husband. Baba please help us to get a good

assignment and facilitate us to move together and accomplish our project well

and return together. Also, please take care of my parents and my kid, when I am

in UK. VandanaBaba we want your presence at the time of my delivery. Baba I am

very much sure that this

baby is your gift to us. You will bless us with a healthy baby and a normal

delivery. SumaDear Sai, my niece is one and half year old and she is suffering

from food allergies. She has milk, egg, soy, wheat, peanut and tested allergic

to lot of other products. She immediately gets a skin rash and has not put any

weight since last one year. Sai, please heal her allergies and make her a

healthy girl. Please bless her with good health. SumanaPlease see to it that I

get a good job suitable to me. I am keeping complete faith in You and

resigning. Please help me out otherwise me and my daughter will be helpless and

be on the roads. ChandrikaThere is nothing that you do not know. You know very

well the problems I am facing and my concerns. I want all my reports to be

normal and do not want to undergo any surgeries. Baba please help me.

MithunDear Saibaba, please bless me Baba, you know every thing, Baba with out

your blessings nothing can happen, Baba please find me a another job.

SureshBhagavan Sai Nath please cure my brother-in-law who is suffering from

cancer at the earliest and grant long married life to my dear sister.

SheelaDear Sai, last time I mentioned that my father has had a paralyzed stroke

and now we heard that there is a place in India where such ppl are cured. My

mother and father both are going down to India, please Sai take are of them and

please help my father recover soon, please also give my mother lots of strength

to go through this phase of life, as she is also not keeping good health and is

a diabetic patient. All Sai devotees please pray for their safe journey and

recovery. RachnaDear Baba please help me in getting a job in good corporate

sector. I am hunting from last four montha and as far I have seen no results.

Baba please look at me, atleast give a glance and bless me a job in good

corporate sector, so that I can be independent and have a good career ahead.

Baba please don't check patience I really don't have that much of patience. Why

is it always with me, I have to beg and then also I don't get any results. I am

becoming hopeless, Baba You know everything, please help me and bless me with

job. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: Sai RudraBaba has been taking care of my

family and me since many years. I have seen many small things that Baba grants

me here and there, but many a times I think that it was just a coincidence or

was bound to happen. But today Baba has proved beyond doubt that he is watching

my husband and me and ensuring our welfare. My husband has been unlucky with his

career. He was always a very

smart and intellectual person. He went to the best schools and colleges in India

and USA and had been very successful in his studies. He was a merit student

always. But the year he passed out of his Masters and was ready to get into an

employment, the IT industry crashed and he had to take up some short time and

low paying jobs in order to survive. This went on for almost two and half

years. He was almost losing hope of succeeding in life. But, August of 2005,

Baba got him a very good project in IT industry to work on a latest technology.

We accepted the project on the condition that there was a person to support my

husband in all his technical doubts and be available to groom him. This was the

latest technology and my husband had no clue about it. We decided to pay our

tutor a big portion of our salary and go ahead with the project, but once we

relocated to the new place and joined the company, our tutor let us down. He

too did not have any idea about the project nor the technology

and we were terribly scared and disappointed. But, he continued to take money

from us without giving any support. But by Baba's grace, my husband somehow

managed and got through the project using other sources for about four months,

for some reason the project got scrapped and we were getting tensed if we would

get another project or not as it was Thanksgiving time and holidays season when

the IT industry would be very inactive. continued......With Baba's grace, my

husband found another project without any delay. But this was even a bigger

challenge. His project manager was very rude and did not give time for my

husband to even breath. He gave a lot of work to my husband and was after him

all the time. He followed my husband even if he went to the rest room. My

husband was going through hell, all the more because he was still not

technically sound. I prayed and pleaded Baba every day to make sure my husband

would succeed in his job. Within

three weeks, my husband read many books, got some guidance from the Internet

etc, and completed all the tasks his boss gave him and today his boss is very

happy and sent him a long " Appreciation Letter". Thanks Baba, You have proved

that You are with us every second of our lives, guiding and guarding us.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "A man comes into contact with a Sadguru only as a

result of accumulation of lots of good deeds in the past lives. One can try to

seek God by going from Guru to Guru but once the Sadguru comes to his life, he

should end his search and surrender to him because he can only give God

realization to the seeker".-Shri C.B. Satpathy QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q.

How are we to know that we have won Sai's grace? A. by Sadashiv Kavthankar When

the merits and demerits of souls balance each other, they are born on earth as

human beings and are given a chance to workout their salvation. It is therefore

recommended to remember God (Guru is God) and chant His name always. The kind

and merciful Shri Saibaba (Sadguru) said many a times the following sweet words

in the masjid: - " he who loves me most, always sees me. The whole world is

desolate to him without me. He who tells no stories but mine; he ceaselessly

mediate upon me and always chants my name I shall repay his debt by giving him

salvation." If that is so and present in you, rest assure that you have won

Shri Sai's grace. When Hemadpant asked Sri Saibaba, "Baba do all the people

crowding around you are benefited?" Sri Sai answered that only few flowers ripe

into fruits, not all are benefited. My question is why is it so? People crowded

around Sri Sai Baba with different motives. There were those with improper

ones, who did not benefit.

While those who worshiped Him faithfully and wholeheartedly, mediated upon Him

constantly with complete surrender and had firm faith and patience, benefited.

To quote an instance, once Shri Sai Baba said:- " My treasury is full, and I

can give anyone, what he wants, but I have to see whether he is qualified to

receive my gift. If you listen to Me carefully, you will be certainly

benefited, while sitting in this masjid, I never speak any untruth". Q. How are

we to know that we have won Sai's grace? A. by Ravin, Minnesota In Baba's fold,

those that are not blessed are the ones that Think they are not blessed! Baba

said, "No one can come to me on his or her own accord, its me who brings them

on various pretexts". He exhorts that it is because of Rinanubandha that we are

drawn to him and it is His business and in fact, His responsibility to take

proper and right care of us. Anyone in Baba's path should rest easy that they

belong to

Baba whether they completely know it, feel it or not!

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. Sai Satsang, New Jersey,

USAShirdi Sai Dham, Inc regularly conducts Sai bhajans followed by Aarti and

Parsad on every 1st Saturday of each month at Durga Mandir, Kendall Park, New

Jersey from 3 pm to 5 pm (Winter Hours). All are requested to kindly come and

receive Baba's blessings. For more information, please call us at 609-275-1334

or visit www.shirdisaidham.org or email us at shirdisaidham (AT) hotmail (DOT) com Shirdi

Sai Satsang, Toronto, CanadaShirdi

Saibaba Sansthan invites all to join for satsangs every Thursday 7:00 pm at Sai

Dwarkamai, 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham, Ontario, L6C 2N4, phone 416-402-8089

or email: saileela99 . To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends

and family for any occasion at your residence, please call. Devotees can

request udi or Holy water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba by

sending us an email or by phone. Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, CanadaThe

Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario, 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 is

at 7:30 p.m. everyday. Bhajans are 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 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. Sai Satsang,

SingaporeTo all Shirdi Sai Baba devotees in Singapore, Sai Sansthan, Singapore

is organizing Shirdi Sai Baba prayer session every Saturday between 18:30 hrs

to 20:30 hrs at 2nd floor function hall, Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman temple,

(opp. to Sinda), 555, Serangoon Road, Singapore-218174. We invite you all to

participate and seek Baba's blessings. For further details, please visit

www.saisansthan.com. Sai Baba Satsang in Auckland, New ZealandSai Baba Satsang

( Bhajans , Provochan , Sai Ashotottram and Shej Arathi ) is held every

Thursday from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at MT Roskill War Memorial Hall, May Road , Mt

Roskill, Auckland, NZ. For more detials visit our website

http://www.shirdisaibaba.org.nz or mail to info (AT) shirdisaibaba (DOT) org.nz. FROM

THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Sai Vichaar thanks you for your support for the Question

of the Week feature. This feature is intended to initiate useful discussion on

topics related to Sai philosophy, His message, and Sai devotion. Please send

your suggested topics for the same. Sai devotee Meenakshi Kumar suggested the

Question of the week as follows: When Hemadpant asked Sri Sai, "Baba do all the

crowding around you are benefited?" Sri Sai answered that only a few flowers

ripe into fruits, not all are benefited. My question is why is it so? Q. How

are we to know that we have won Sai's grace? Humbly Yours,The Editor ABOUT

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