Sai Vichaar for Thursday , July 19, 2007

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Sai Vichaarwww.saibaba.org Thursday , July 19, 2007 :: Volume 10, Issue 10 (In its nineth 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: Spiritual OasisSapatnekar was an elite lawyer who did not quite believe in Baba until he had to face the calamity of losing his only son to a disease. Disinterested in life and disturbed, he had to seek refuge in Baba. Nanasaheb Chandorkar had his own questions about the all-pervasive nature of Baba. Baba revealed Himself to Nana through some of the divine experiences of the latter, and thus Nana was a part of Baba's court. Kakasaheb Dikshit, another ardent devotee of Sainath did not know about Baba for several years and Baba drew him towards Himself via peculiar circumstances. Hemadpant wrote that however scholarly might man's learning be, it just fades away before someone that realized the Brahman. Everyone one of those that approached Baba with a preconceived notion, either with the curiosity to know if He is really what He is being portrayed as or with the arrogance of learnedness had to bow in front of His humility, benevolence, compassion, and the magnificence. In case of all those learned men, it was the surrender either due to the misfortune of a suffering or the providence of His grace that provided them with the means of enlightenment. It is true that however scholarly may man's learning be, it just fades away in front of the one that realized the Brahman. On this peaceful Thursday, let us contemplate on the realization only a Sadguru can give and nothing else in the world would.CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Sai Apostle: Sri Pratti Narayana RaoSadguru Sainath has left no institutions behind Him. Neither did He appoint any successor to His mission. I speak from my tomb, He said. He has been doing so, through some of His blessed children, time and again. Sai Baba's apostles have appeared on earth from time to time, from all religions and places, all walks of life, with the holy mission of spreading Sai message and His sweet love towards His children. These apostles have brought great solace to the spiritually deprived as well as to the materially aspiring. Some of the apostles are well known to the world, thanks to their work and the other's commitment to highlight their mission. Sai Vichaar would like to present and highlight those apostles and let us on this beautiful Thursday remember with love and reverence the services of these great men. In this week, let us know more about Sri Pratti Narayana Rao, the writer of Sri Sai Satcharitha in Telugu, the book that is revered by scores of Telugu speaking Sai devotees all over the world.

Sri Pratti Narayanarao hails from Ichhapuram town in Srikakulam district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. He is the eldest son of Sri P. Kamayya and Srimathi Ramaratnam. Sri Pratti Narayanarao left to Shirdi in the year 1950. He procured a job in Mumbai by Baba's grace, where he used to get Rs.500 per month. In the year 1953 Baba appeared in his dream and asked him to go to the city of Secunderbad, A.P. and translate Sri Sai Satcharitra from English to Telugu. He advised to approach Sri Papayya the chief engineer in public works department. Pratti Narayanarao got financial help from Sri Papayya, moral support from Sri GVR Naidu and the help for printing the book from Sri Chanda Narayana Shresti. Sri Narayanarao gave more than one hundred lectures on Shirdi Sai in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. After performing his untiring service at the lotus feet of His master, Sri Narayana Rao merged in Sai at the age of 56 years.(The information on Sri Pratti Narayana Rao garu is collected and complied by Saibanisa Sri Gopalarao Ravada based on the information furnished by Sri Karri Suryarao of Vijayanagaram, Sri Vittal of Machilipatnam and Sri Rajeswararao of Secunderabad, A.P)(Contributed by Collected and complied by Sri Gopalarao Ravada)DEVOTEES SAY: JagdeepI have an extremely strong belief that Baba always answers prayers. I would like to share our US green card experience. The chances that we would get ours soon had become pretty dim. Our case was pending since 2002 and we had moved on with our lives and stopped thinking about our green card. I still continue to pray to Baba to get our green card approved soon without any issues. And guess what? That's exactly what happened. Suddenly in June 2007 the visa quota was released and ours got approved. Baba, You have always and are always taking care of us like Your children.

SreedeviBaba, I thank you for relieving me from a very serious personal problem. As promised I am posting this letter. Please continue to bless us.HariI was returning from Bangalore to Chennai and took a cab from my place to Airport. The cab is run by Ganesh Travels and I suddenly thought whether Baba's picture would be there in the car. Being Ganesh travels, I thought Lord Ganesha will be there and said to myself that Ganesha is none other than Baba. As soon as I entered the car, there was Ganesha idol and next to it was Baba's photo. The same happened from Chennai airport to home also. I was totally surprised and was laughing to myself that He is listening even to very small child like wish. Then I was talking to Baba, why He is not listening to my big prayers and I was also convinced that He also requires time to fulfill our wish, which is why Baba is asking us for Saburi. Sometimes, we feel that He is not listening but He surely knows all and gives us the right thing at right time.NirmalaDear Satyaji, after reading your messages, I thought I may share my idea with the little knowledge/experience I have. You have been expressing your anguish about falling sick on Thursdays, which you look up to Baba as His sacred day. I wish you could also look at it that every time you are falling sick you are also tiding over that wave safely and that is in my belief only due to the divine love of Baba. Secondly, you were also talking about karma. Indeed, we have to face our karmas, but please do remember that our constant devotion to and faith in Baba, will give us the strength to face and pass through the most difficult situation. I sincerely, request you to pray to Baba to give you the strength to face the situations and clear all the debts (karmas) instead of losing faith in Baba or lamenting over/cribbing about the situation or praying Him to remove the karmas. I hope you will remember the incident of Dr Pillay narrated in the Chapter 34 of Sai Satcharitra. Have faith in Baba, and let him carry you in your difficult times. Sai Ram.MonikaJai Sai Ram, I would like to share my experience with all Sai devotees. Sai blessed our family again. My husband and me were stuck in the immigration loop for the past five years. We were not able to take any major decisions because of that. I had sent my prayers in the prayers section of Sai Vichaar twice, hoping and believing strongly that my prayers will be answered. And my prayers were indeed answered. Thank You Sainath for solving our problems. Please shower Your blessings on my son also. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Sai devotees who share their experience through Sai Vichaar. It is through this that most of my doubts and questions are answered. In fact it was through Sai Vichaar I came to know about Sai Satcharita and the parayana. I got my Sai Satcharita and promised that I will read it every day and believe me, before I reached 39th chapter all my problems were taken care of. I thank every one who is associated with Sai Vichaar. May Sai bless you all and stay with us forever. Sai Nath maharaj ki Jai.

SirishaI delivered a healthy baby boy in January 2006 with Baba's blessing. This year January we visited India and went to Shirdi and had Baba's darshan. We took so many photos with my parents and in-laws, we finished our trip and came back. After coming we took photo prints in that we observed spots in eyes of our baby in so many photos and we were so tensed and took emergency appointment with eye doctor. I was praying to Baba that everything should be fine. At last doctor examined his eyes told everything is normal and nothing to worry. With Baba,s blessing we are very happy that everything is normal. I promised Baba that I will share this in Sai Vichaar.Sai devoteeThank you very much for Your love and affection towards me and my family. My results for the mamogram is good, no bad signs at all. Please show me the good path and Shradha and Saburi and look after my kids.PRAYER CLUB: AnjammaOm Sai Ram, please help cure my brother Ramakrishna, who is suffering from epilepsy for the past eleven years. His condition is getting worst day by day. Please help Sai baba, please help him recover from his illness, forgive his past karma and let him live peacefully.JitendraBaba, You know how I lost my job and my wife got a job. I cannot understand Your leela, what you have decided for us. Please help me to get a new job or create conditions to get the old job back. We have full faith in You. Baba please help us.Sai devoteeBaba, You know what is going in Inida, please see that daddy changes his behaviour. He is causing a lot of problems, he is not signing the papers. Please see that he changes his behaviour and also signs the papers. You know what all we are

going through. Please take care of my kids and husband. Please see that my husband changes his atttiude. Baba you

know what all I am going through. Please always be with us and take care of us.

Sai devoteeBaba please bless me with peaceful and happy marriage life. Baba you know everything, I am not surrounded with one problem, I got lots of responsibilities to look after but the priority is my marriage life. Please Baba make my marriage life smooth going. My relationship is now in such a stage where nobody else than You can help. Baba, You are para bharm, please help me out of this situation.

VaraprasadBaba! please help me to pass the examination on Friday so that I can complete the course for which I spent a lot of money. I am so tensed up, give me confidence and courage to face the External Examiner boldly and to do the oral and written test without any mistakes.KeshavSaibaba please help my daughter in her studies. Please give her more interest to study, she is getting less marks nowadays. I am feeling very sad. I beg You for the solution. Please help me. Please give my children good future.Sai devoteeBaba, please protect my parents and please make me do what all I feel for making their regular expenses without any problem. Please be with them always!

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: SupriyaI wanted to share one of my experiences as thought before. During the final phase of establishing the career, I like other colleagues was put in a situation to do a presentation to proceed for job placement. In the first attempt I had to face failure because of unexpected events. But this presentation was really crucial for future placements. This was the most terrible phase I underwent because I learnt that there was not going to be any other opportunity for presentation for another 4 months, which would delay everything. I could not afford to pay my bills. But things totally turned out to be different. I went to the head office, which was located in another state to plead them to give me a spot in the next presentation. They said they do not have any in the state where I live. But they said they would try for another state if I were willing to travel.

I gave second thoughts about that but finally decided to take up that spot and make travel arrangements and somehow afford the expenditure by borrowing some money. Finally the day of presentation arrived and I thought I would give it my best try since I had already undergone so many pains, I did well in all my presentation. I was expecting this time my result will be good by the grace of Lord Sai. I was supposed to return some paperwork along with my CD to the agency. But to my horror the day I was packing stuff to return back to my state I realized I forgot to give them that CD in a hurry. I started to panic. I was in tears since all my efforts felt all of a sudden in a drain. I cursed myself for not turning back that CD. I feared if it constituted an important aspect for my results. I chanted only Baba's name throughout my journey.continued.....I did the Saptah (Sai Satcharita) and then Baba came in my dreams once like all the Astalakshmi's joining together to form Baba. Once Shyama Karna Baba's horse and once Baba with his feet drowned in water while I could see his feet underneath and then I rise above water to see him say, "I am the Universe? Is your Atma satisfied now? Do not worry about your CD. Everything will be alright". Baba appeared in the early hours like a vision saying that a part of your presentation will not be good but do not worry. Everything will be all right. When it appeared before I just ignored. Chanting his name I was waiting for the result. The whole week passed with horror. I learnt just on that day morning that the result was mailed and should arrive any time that day. I was totally terrified since I could not bear failure again. Moreover since I borrowed so much money and I promised them that I would return back that money. I kept chanting and weeping in front of Baba's murthi. Then when the postman arrived, I was trembling and did not even have the courage to go to the mailbox. I prayed to Baba and took him along with me and somehow managed to go there. I saw the envelope all set for me to open. And guess what. I did clear my presentation with a fantastic grade I could not believe my eyes. I just broke down and prayed to Baba. I felt a great relief. Baba answered the prayers.ChakravarthyI am a student of MSc Micro and Nanotechnology here at the Univeristy of Neufchatel, Switzerland. This course is a three-semester course. I joined for the program in October 2006 and cleared the first semester admirably as I am not from a Technology background but from Biological Sciences. The second semester appeared like a cakewalk and I had three oral exams. All the three orals I expected to pass convincingly. I did the first two well and knew I was going to pass. But when the time for the third oral came, I was full of ego (not confidence) and was dead sure that I was going to pass, as the model of the exam was also to my advantage. However, when I entered the room for this particular oral exam, my mind went blank and made very silly mistakes repeatedly. This was a half-hour oral. I knew my performance was completely below par, out of the ordinary and depressing and I deserved a score of 1/6. The Professor also told me then and there that he was sorry. I admitted that there were too many confusions and did not do well. I came out really shell-shocked how this could happen. I have put in good effort to prepare and yet I was left in such a precarious situation such as this. I cursed myself for celebrating too early even before the exam was completed. There was no remote chance of even passing the subject and clearing the module in any possible way. For the final results to come it was going to take a week. Without any other thought, I started the Sai Satcharita Paarayan. This Monday (9th) I was also going to meet an influential person and I had to present some strategies, I was in no mood to do that, as my mind was fully tension ridden with that Oral exam.continued......But before going to meet that person, I saw my result online and to my surprise, I got 3.5/6. This is not a pass mark (you need 4.0 to pass), but because I got higher marks in other subjects within this module, some of the marks transferred to this course and helped me clear the entire module!! This was never the scenario before. Tears welled up in my eyes and I realized nothing is impossible for Baba. Sincere Prayers devoid of ego and arrogance do help! It is only to make me realize this I was given this shock treatment! I have a 3 year old son and my wife who live in the USA. Now I am looking forward to complete my Master's project successfully and find a suitable job for me. We are all hoping to be together again. Thank you Baba.QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "If profit comes, they rejoice. If loss comes they weep. Why? Why they say, "This is mine"? What does it mean? ".-Shri Sai BabaQUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. How can one be consistent with their devotion to Sri Saibaba?A. by RehanaLiving our daily life in total surrender to Baba in itself is a continuous and a consistent devotion. The experiences in my life by Baba's grace have taught me that by living and accepting life as it comes is His blessing. He is a silent worker and works within us to turn our lives towards Him. Once we accept Him as our Lord and Master we need not fear anything, although we in our ignorance may think that we have forgotten Him, but strangely enough life will always help us remember Him. For me Baba is very vibrant and sensitive!Q. How can one be consistent with their devotion to Sri Saibaba?A. by NaineshWhat does consistent mean but same as reliable, steady, dependable etc. We should always be this in our worship of Baba. In whatever form we worship Sai we have to be consistent in it until we become one with Him. So whether you do naam japa or read Sai Satcharita be always consistent.Q. How can one be consistent with their devotion to Sri Saibaba?A. by VandanaShraddha and Saburi are the keywords for a Sai devotee. So, if we wait with faith and utmost patience, we are definitely sure to achieve our goals. So these two keywords can make a devotee be consistent in devotion towards his guru. Each and every devotee should follow this Sai mantra. The ups and downs in our life are His tokens of love. So bear them with patience, you will see Baba's leelas in your life. If this is followed where is the doubt of consistency in every Sai devotee.Q. How can one be consistent with their devotion to Sri Saibaba?A. by SaurabhI was trying to find an answer for this in Shri Sai Satcharita and Baba made me stop at the right place as the puzzle seems to be solved through this page. I have found an answer to this question on page 112 of Shri Sai Satcharita in English (parable of Nine Balls of Stool (Nava-vidha Bhakti). "Consistency" in Devotion is our Goal, so when I analyze, the main question that comes to my mind is "What really causes inconsistency in our devotion?" For me the answer comes as, Impatience, Restlessness or the opposite of Saburi. Impatience is through no "Peace of Mind". Thus, to have peace of mind is to have consistency with our devotion to Sri Saibaba, and how to have this "Stability and Peace of mind" is explained by Baba himself on page 112 to Mr. Patankar, key sentence there is "Consider yourself as the merchant or seeker after the truth, and be anxious and eager like him to collect the nine types of devotion. Then you will attain "Stability and Peace of mind." Please mark that Baba has advised us to be restless, anxious and eager to remove our restlessness, anxiousness and eagerness (or impatience) in general. However, this restlessness, anxiousness and eagerness is to be used for our benefit in no other area except in cultivating the "Nine types of devotion" (Nava-vidha Bhakti). Nine types of devotion being (1) Shravan (hearing); (2) Kirtan (praying); (3) Smaran (remembering); (4) Padasevan (resorting to the feet); (5) Archan (worship); (6) Namaskar (bowing); (7) Dasya (service); (8) Sakhyam (friendship); (9) Atmanivedan (Surrender of the self). Please note that the Question assumes that one has Devotion and only "Consistency" was required so all this is to be added to our Full devotion without which everything else is useless (as Baba says).SAI ACTIVITIES: Gurupoornima at Shirdi Sai Temple, Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USAGurupoornima celebrations will be held in Shirdi Sai Temple, Chicago from Friday, July 27th through Sunday, July 29th 2007. Program highlights: Maha Abhishek, Aarthis, Satcharita parayan, Sri Sai Satyanarayan Pooja, Sri Datta Moola Mantra Homam, Palaki procession and more. For program details please visit the temple website www.saibaba.us or contact the Temple office at 847-931-4058.Gurupoornima at Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MinnesotaSai devotees of Twin Cities, Minnesota invites everyone to participate in Gurupoornima celebrations on July 28, 2007 at Geetha Ashram, Brooklyn Park, MN. The program will start at 3.30 PM with Sri Sai Sathyavrata performed by 108 couples followed by Abhishek pooja, traditional Saibaba arathis, bhajans and naama jap, and palki procession. Please write to hamaresai or visit www.hamaresai.com for more details.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.Gurupoornima Celebrations in Sydney, AustraliaShree Shirdi Sai Sansthan Sydney invites you to with family and friends to join and celebrate Guru Poornima on 28th and 29th July 2006 at 420 Liverpool Road, Strathfield South, NSW 2136, Australia. For more details contact contact Sansthan's Info-Line 0500 524 724 or email: events Shirdi Sai Center in Bay Area, CAShirdi Sai Center is located 897-B East Kifer Rd, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. For more information please call 408-705-7904 or 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu. You can also visit our website is www.Shirdisaiparivaar.org.Shirdi Saibaba temple, Los Angeles, CADevotees in Los Angeles area are informed about Sri Shirdi Saibaba temple in Los Angeles area. The temple is located at - 144 South 4th Street, Montebello, CA 90640. For more information please call Krishna Samantula at 949-679-9938 or visit www.shirdisaila.org.Saibaba Temple, Columbus, OhioDevotees in Columbus and surrounding Ohio locations area are informed about Sri Shirdi Saibaba temple in Metro Columbus area. The temple is located in a leasing space at 7674 Sawmill Rd, Dublin, OH 43016. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday bhajans. For more information please call Panditjee at 614-799-8411 or visit www.saibaba.cc.Sri Saibaba temple inauguration, BangaloreDear Sai Bandhus, we cordially invite you to participate in the celebrations on Thursday, the 23rd Aug 2007 at temple premises No. 72, Sai Nagar, Chikkabettahalli, Vidyaranyapura PO, Bangalore 97, and receive the blessing of our Sadguru Sri Saibaba. Sri Dwarakamayi Sai Mandali ® phone : 91-80-22715618 / 91-80-23641052.Shirdi Sai bhajans every Thursday at Maitland, FloridaDevotees are invited to participate in Sai study and bhajans on Thursdays between 7-8 pm at Meditation Gallery, 219 E Horatio Ave, Maitland, FL 32715. For more details please contact Bonnie at 407-830-1276.FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: In recent days many devotees are using submission forms for their writings incorrectly. Please help Sai Vichaar by sending your contribution under appropriate topics. For example use Devotee Experiences page for sending your experiences and use Prayer Club for prayer requests only.

The "Question of the week for this week is suggested by a Sai devotee as follows:

Q. How can one be consistent with their devotion to Sri Saibaba?

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 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 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, USAEmailmaildropPhone847-931-4058Fax847-931-4066© 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.