Sai Vichaar for Thursday , April 13, 2006

[Guest guest]

Note: forwarded message attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authentication-Results: mta188.mail.mud. from=saibaba.org; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:43:18 -0500 (CDT)

svlist

mahadevanvnswamy

Sai Vichaar for Thursday , April 13, 2006Sai Vichaarwww.saibaba.org

Thursday , April 13, 2006 :: Volume 8, Issue 48 (In its eighth year of

publication.) Sai Vichaar is a Weekly newsletter distributed every Thursday

and is devoted to the life, philosophy and teachings of Shri Sai Baba of

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

its original form.IN THIS ISSUE:FEATURE OF THE WEEKCONTRIBUTED ARTICLEDEVOTEES

SAYPRAYER CLUBEXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEESQUOTATION OF THE WEEKQUESTION OF THE

WEEKSAI ACTIVITIESFROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARDFEATURE OF THE WEEK: Unseen

miracles!Behind every prayer and parayan (reading of holy books) there lies a

desire, the quest for a miracle. Nice are those experiences where the seeker

gets what he desires. It is the experiences of several devotees to receive the

good news, from seemingly nowhere, beyond the logic, at the end of a sincere

prayer. What of those who do not see the light at the end of the tunnel? Did

Sai not hear them? Are those prayers not sincere? A prayer is always sincere.

The mere thought of surrendering our ego, even for a moment, at the feet of

Sadguru and invoking His grace to the betterment of our existence is a

significant step. However, not being able to receive the expected or wanted may

not construe as a failure. It does help one to know why the prayers aren't

answered always. Why is that Sai withholds His miracles, seemingly to a few

"unfortunate" ones? A careful analysis may help our little minds to some

extent. Next time, if our prayers are unanswered, let us remember those

occasions carefully and move on. Let our faith be doubled and let our love to

Sainath is unchanged. It will be revealed later, that the prayers that were

"unanswered" were a part of a much bigger plan. It will be known that, what

happened is in our best interests. It will also be known that it may not be a

dealing between Sai and the self, but a part of a grander revelation. "Seek my

treasure. My coffers are open", said Sai. The best miracles are the ones that

are unseen.CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Who Comes First!Guru Govind do khade- kiskolagu

pai

Balihaarii Guru apne- Govind deo batai

Guru and Govind stand in front of me. Whose feet should I touch first? Because

of the grace of my Guru that I had the darshan of the Govind. Glory to my Guru.

In this Doha, Sant Kabir offers his pranams, first to the teacher, later to the

Govind, and explains why is that so. He did not let down the God, but he

stressed the importance of Guru in reaching God. Whenever we look at a house,

we first see the door. The door helps us to enter into the house. Inside of the

house cannot be seen from out side except the door. Like wise, the eyes cannot

see the Brahman. To reach the Brahman we have to go through the Master(Guru).

On the spiritual path, the role of a teacher is very important. We need the

examples of the persons who are fully awake and aware of the Self all the time.

The Guru knows the path and advises us about the pitfalls and traps in the path.

The teachers are the best physicians. When the Bhava Roga (the disease of

repeated birth and death in the material world) disables us, the teachings are

the best medicine. Being around a spiritual teacher or a spiritual group of

friends helps us to face the problems of life without much confusion and

tension. Sadguru and satsangs are an important part of life. All of us are so

fortunate to have a master like Sri Sai Baba. Sri Sai emphasized the importance

of a guide in the life of a spiritual seeker. Sri Sai explained to us how much

his teacher loved him and took care of him. Love is the simple path to reach

God. To start with, many people love God or Guru due to various selfish

reasons. As the days pass by, Guru will make the devotees to realize the

defects of the earthly desires and would make them to ask for the permanent

good.(Contributed by Sai devotee)CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: The Story of Stale FoodIn

the town of Shrabasti once lived a rich merchant named Migar. One fine

afternoon, when he had just sat down for his freshly prepared and delicious

meal, a Buddhist monk knocked on his door and asked for alms. At that moment,

Vishakha, his daughter-in-law, was standing nearby and waving a fan over him.

The merchant did not pay any attention to the monk's call and kept eating and

enjoying his meal. When the monk called for the second time, Vishakha replied

to the monk, My father-in-law is eating stale food and therefore, the monk

should look somewhere else. On hearing these words the merchant immediately got

into a fit of anger. He left his food, washed his hands, told Vishakha that she

has insulted him, and asked her to immediately leave the house. Vishakha

politely replied-At the time of my marriage, you had promised my father that

for any of my mistakes, you will consult the eight wise men of the town for the

punishment that is appropriate for my mistake. I request you to fulfill your

promise. This angered the merchant even more. He immediately called the eight

wise-men and told them how Vishakha has insulted him. Once Migar had described

the incident, Vishakha explained, Wealth, riches and worldly possessions in the

present birth are due to the merits and good deeds that were performed by the

person in his previous births. Everything in possession of my father-in-law is

due to the merits of his past births. As he has now stopped doing good deeds in

his present birth, so he is simply enjoying what he has accumulated from his

past birth and therefore, I told the monk that he is eating stale food. After

listening to Vishakha's explanation, the merchant realized his mistake and

apologized to her.(Contributed by Translated in English from Kalyan Magazine -

contributed by Dharmender Rathore)CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: News from Shirdi: Income

Tax rule 1961 clause 35 AC to Shri Saibaba Sansthan.Finance ministry of

Government of India has granted the permission of 100 percent exemption in the

Income Tax on the amount of donations being given by Sai devotees to the

Sansthan. This exemption will be as per the Income Tax rule 1961 clause 35 AC.

Chairman, Vice-chairman and Executive officer of the Sansthan, MLA Jayant

Sasane, Shankarrao Kolhe and Bhausaheb Wakchaure respectively informed jointly

in a press release here.

Ministry of the Central Government has published this information in the gazzate

of India. This sanction is given under the scheme of social, economical, health,

educational developments and essential facilities for the Sansthan. Sansthan can

collect the donations upto Rupees 75 crores under this scheme. Uptil now, donors

were getting 50 percent excemption in Income Tax on donated amount as per clause

80G. Thereafter the donors will get 100 percent exemption in Income Tax on

donated amounts as per clause 35 AC.

The donations to be received under this scheme will be utilised for hospital,

school, museum and food supply. Economically backward people can get the

benefit under this scheme. The period of this scheme is from financial year

2005 to 2008. As per the gazzate published on February 3rd 2006, by the Finance

Ministry of India, 12 such organisations(centers) got this permission. Shri Sai

Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi) has got the highest limit of collection of

donation i.e. Rupees 75 crores, is a matter of appreciation.

The donors are appealed to take the benefit of this scheme, informed by Mr.

Sasane, Mr. Kolhe and Mr. Wakchaure.(Contributed by Executive Officer, Shri

Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi)DEVOTEES SAY: TomI am from a catholic family in

England. I began reading about philosophy and eastern religions, becoming

obsessive and persistently searching books for the "answer". One fateful day, I

was in the local library after work and had become tired and annoyed with myself

over the time I was spending on this fruitless quest. I decided to give it up

and to read something purely for entertainment. In the biography section, I saw

an interesting book on the top shelf. I took hold of it but the book next to it

fell to the floor. I am not clumsy and do not remember dislodging that book.

This obviously aroused my curiosity. The book was Sai Baba, Man of Miracles by

Arthur Osborne. Despite all my reading, I had never come across Sai. I was

intrigued by a quick review of the contents and took the book home. Cutting a

long story short, I have now been a devotee of Sai for 30 years, have twice

visited Shirdi, my watch face has a picture of him and I "talk" to him each

day. I have received great worldly and spiritual benefits over the years. Seek

and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.HaritA couple weeks

ago, I was reading this newsletter, which mentioned about an article regarding

Baba appearing at a devotee's home. Upon reading the same, I began to think as

to if Baba would be kind enough and bless our home. It was late in the night,

and upon coming home next day, I was simply amazed to see that we had received

a photo of Baba along with Udi in mail on Thursday. This was nothing short of a

chamatkar. All this happened on Thursday night. Come Friday, there were some

major restructuring changes at my wife's work place. She dearly hung on to the

photo of Baba, which had arrived the day before, and it was only due to Baba's

blessing that she escaped unscathed from the job cuts. Thank you very much Baba

for blessing our home. Baba please show us the right direction during the tough

times and not let us have any ego during the good times.SrinivasI want to thank

you Baba for arranging my sister's marriage (we were looking for last 2 yrs).

After I started reading the Sai Satcharitha daily, things started settling

down.Sai DevoteeWhen I read Sai devotees prayer and Sri Saibaba's visit to

their functions. I was praying Sri Saibaba to attend my son's marriage or

reception. But I was thinking that I am not as strong devotee as other devotees

so how will Sri Saibaba can come to my place. Before marriage, we perform Santek

in Gujarat. Purnahuti is very important in this. During this stage, our priest

calls a senior priest to help him. As purnahuti started the senior priest came

and started saying the slokas. After completing purnahuti I ask my priest what

dakshina I should pay the other senior priest. He told me that he do not know

the senior priest and he did not invite the senior priest. So my wife asked me

to pay him some dakshina. When I tried to pay him, he said, Did I asked for any

money? I told him, I am giving it because I am very happy with his work. Then

again the senior priest said he did ask for any money? I requested him and he

took it. Then he asked me for rice and dal to eat. I could not understand why I

did not offer him lunch as people were having lunch. When he asked me for rice

and dal, I told my friend to take him at the lunch place. He only eats rice and

dal out of so many items. After that he went away. Then I asked my neighbors,

priest and many people but nobody knows him or seen him any time. Immediately

it strikes to me Oh! Baba you came as a priest. Tears came out from all of our

eyes. My family is a strong believer of Sadguru Sri Saibaba for more than 55

years and how can He forget us. Just keep faith and patience and He will be at

your place. Many thanks Baba for your help all the time to my family and me.

Please guide us all the time.SandhyaSai thank you as promised I am posting my

thanks through Sai Vichaar. Thank you Sai for saving my mother. Please be with

all of us Sai.PRAYER CLUB: PrabhavathiPlease control my husband's anger, give

him patience, and let him be tolerant to my son's faults. Please take care of

us Baba. I know that I have not been very good and faithful to You, but I need

you Baba. Please help us and please bring peace to our family.CharulLord show

me the way to gain back my lost confidence. Give me strength, intellect,

resources and courage to achieve my goal of setting up my school and my husband

joining me.VasanthiBaba please help my husband hold on to this job, which he got

by Your grace. Please help him meet his productivity goals, he is right now

quite far from it and has only two months time to bring them.VinodiniMy

daughter is too young to make her decisions now. I pray to you Oh Sai! Please

take care of her!PaviOh Lord Sai! Please help my brother and sister-in-law

remove all their misunderstandings. I feel that I do not have all the pieces of

the puzzle and so I am not sure who is wrong in which way. As their well wisher,

I can only ask from you Deva.RajeshSai Baba, please grant that I am promoted at

work.SrikalaSai Baba please help my husband to get a job, he is giving many

interviews but he is not getting any job. Help my husband to get the

job.RatnakarPlease give strength, concentration and courage to my son, who is

appearing for his IITJEE-2006 exam.MamathaI would love to have a baby, my

husband was not interested. We had been to a doctor; they found some problem in

me. Please help me to overcome that problem.MamataWe are desperate to have a

child and we are trying since one and half year with no fruits, you know this,

I pray to you everyday about this, I have cried in front of you everyday since

one year, every month I expect I will get good news. Please bless us.EXPERIENCE

OF DEVOTEES: ParagA month back I had been thinking about lord Ram. Many

questions came to my mind in a quest to find if he truly deserves to be called

god. He left his wife for the sake of the well being of his kingdom, how can

such a human be compared with God? When Lord Rama met Sita after releasing her

from Ravan why did only Sita had to undergo agni pariksha? Even after passing

the agni pariksha eventually Lord Ram left Sita in the jungle. All these and

many more questions confused me. I started reading randomly any one chapter

from Sai Satcharitha to calm down my mind. In a weeks time I was again and

again taken to the same Chapter where Sai tells Mrs. Khaparde to always chant

Rajaram, Rajaram. I felt it was just mere coincidence. However, be it early

morning's newspaper or watching TV Lord Ram's praise and articles puzzled me.

Finally, one early morning I just went on the web and searched for Rajaram in

Google image search. I was dumbfounded to what I saw. Lord Ram Sitting on his

throne the same way my Sai sits in his mandir at Shirdi. I realized that I need

to surrender my ego and find more information about Lord Ram's life. I got

answers to all my questions. His ways are truly inscrutable. Sai will always

break your ego and myth's if you truly surrender to him. May he always keep

showering his blessings and guide us in the right direction.

KrishnaMy job where I was working laid me off on September 16th 2005. However,

to my wonder just before being laid off, Sai made me visit to a store, which I

usually do the shopping. I just asked for job application and the manager said

there are no applications and asked me to check next week. But when I was

coming out from the store the district Manager came to visit the store for

inspection and asked me what for I am looking? I do not know who he is? I told

him that I was looking for an application for a job in the store. To my

surprise, he asked me to wait and he got a pad of applications, gave me one,

and asked me to fill the same and submit immediately. He waited till I

completed the form and he interviewed me there itself and selected me after

negotiating the pay terms etc. and confirmed the appointment and asked me to

join after the due formalities of background check. In the same store, I

applied earlier 2 or 3 times but there was no response. After this, I went home

and in the night I went to the job as usual and I got the notice from my

previous employer about my lay off. I am working in the same company now, which

is a corporate store and has light work compared to the previous job. I am also

given one more job in October 2005, to schedule my hours properly during the

weekdays to have sufficient income. Both jobs are corporate owned and with

certain benefits. I only pray Sai to give me the normal way of life, as he

knows what is needed to me and he gives that. I only request all devotees to

leave the burdens and worries to Him whatsoever and surrender to the lotus feet

of Sai who takes care of everything.QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "The four sadhanas

and the six sastras are not necessary. Just have complete trust in your guru:

it is enough".-Sai BabaQUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. What is the best way to worship

Sai baba of Shirdi? What should be our routine?A. by Sai devotee, NJThere are

many ways to worship Sai and it can be found across various chapters of Sai

Satcharitha and as mentioned by various devotees in the previous newsletters.

The ultimate worship would be if we could remember Sai all the time and see him

in all the beings.

Sai has always said that he is present in all the creatures. In Chapter 22, Baba

Says, "God lives in all beings and creatures, whether they be serpents or

scorpions. He is the great wire puller of the world and all beings obey his

command. Unless he wills it, nobody can do any harm to others. So we should

take pity and love all creatures." In Chapter 9, Baba says to Mrs. Tarkhad, "I

am roaming in their forms. He who sees me in all these creatures is my

beloved."

As Lt Col. M.B. Nimbalkar puts in his book 'Shri Sai Baba's Teachings and

Philosophy', -- "Thus if devotees are once convinced that Baba resides in every

creature, would they ever dare to touch non-vegetarian food in any form at all".

Q. What is the best way to worship Sai baba of Shirdi? What should be our

routine?A. by Sai devoteeThe best way to worship Sai is with a clean heart.

There is no specific time, day or date. The only criteria required are we

should have firm Faith and Patience. We should trust that our Sai would take

care of all our needs. As Sairam says, we have to remember Sai often and all

our afflictions will be removed. Whether a person is vegetarian or

non-vegetarian does not matter. Baba wants only firm faith and of course true

to the self. We should not just pray to get our matters or problems solved. We

should not remember Baba only in times of problem. We have to remember Baba

always and thank Him whenever something good happens and request Him if

something bad happens.SAI ACTIVITIES: Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs,

Illinois, USAShirdi Sai temple is open daily from 7:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m (Summer

hours). Daily program includes Kakad Arathi at 7 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.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) comShirdi

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.FROM

THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Sai devotee Sadashiv Kavthankar suggests the following

"Question of the week" as

Q. Name any one incident during The Life of Shri Sai Baba which has made a

lasting impression on you?

Humbly Yours,The EditorABOUT THIS EMAIL:This newsletter is not sent unsolicited.

This newsletter is e-mailed to you because of at least one of the following

reasons:1. You have d through our on-line page, 2. You have

visited our web site and shown interest in the Sai topics and asked for

information, or 3. You have been gifted a subscription by a friend or a

relative.To Subscribe Sai Vichaar for receipt by Email please visit the URL

http://www.saibaba.org/newsletter.html and select the option from the

menu. If you are subscribing the newsletter for your friend or a relative, we

request that the person concerned may be notified about receiving the

newsletter and the willingness to receive the newsletter be confirmed. To

Un-Subscribe receipt of Sai Vichaar, please visit the URL

http://www.saibaba.org/newsletter.html and select the option from

the menu. If you have problems accessing the web page due to network problems,

please send an e-mail to support (AT) saibaba (DOT) org with the words "Un Sai

Vichaar" in the subject line. To make a contribution to any of the sections of

Sai Vichaar, please visit the URL http://www.saibaba.org/newsletter.html and

select the Submit Articles to Sai Vichaar option from the menu. Back copies of

HTML version of Sai Vichaar can be accessed by visting the URL

http://www.saibaba.org/whatsnew.html. For any questions or more information

regarding this e-mail or our web site, please send an e-mail to

maildrop (AT) saibaba (DOT) org and your inquiries will be attended to promptly.Thank

you,The webmasterFrom and Editor:Shirdi Sai Baba Web SiteShirdi Sai Baba

Sanstha(A non-profit organization)Mail:12N950 State Route 47 Hampshire, IL

60140, USAEmailmaildrop (AT) saibaba (DOT) orgPhone847-931-4058Fax847-931-4066© Copyright

1998-2006 saibaba.org, Shirdi Sai Baba Sanstha - Sai Vichaar Weekly may only be

redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission must be obtained to

reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter. Sai Vichaar

is devoted to the philosophy and teachings of Shri Sadguru Sai Baba of Shirdi,

and will take every measure to avoid topics or themes contradicting the same.

Sai Vichaar team or the Shirdi Sai Baba web site is not responsible for the

opinions expressed by individual contributors.