Guest guest Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday , September 04, 2008 :: Volume 11, Issue 17 (In its eleventh 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 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: Faith and perception Is Sai Baba God or could that be He was just a man with a few unique powers and peculiarities? This was also a question raised about two thousand years ago with Christ, was Jesus Christ a man or a magician? Discussions on - the father, the son and the Holy Spirit' is still a popular topic at churches all over. Where does the answer lie to the question whether Sai Baba was an ordinary man with a few powers or the manifestation of the supreme conscious that eludes common rationale? Let us see a wonderful passage from "Glimpses of Sai Baba" by Shri Narasimhaswami ji: "As to how Sri Sai Baba is to be regarded, there is wide divergence of views, not merely among religions, sects and people, but also within one's stage of the spiritual growth". Many regard Him as both God and man, just as Tennyson did in case of Jesus Christ. Thou seemest human and divine The highest holiest manhood thou. Our wills are ours, we know not how Our wills are ours, to make them thine There are many who are hovering about this level, in their view of Sai Baba-now, disposed to submit and surrender, and pray to Him as God, again disposed to regard Him as a highly developed personality acting as their guardian angel or at least as a benevolent but more gifted man, with human frailties and other human peculiarities. Some devotees, if they analyze their perception from time to time, might discover that they can not fix themselves to one particular view of Sai Baba always, but are involuntarily moved from one to the other viewpoints mentioned above and even to pass beyond these, even to the extent of doubting whether Sai Baba is or is not good and powerful. Such is human weakness that one need not be ashamed to discover his own position in the last named class. But commonsense, and higher impulses naturally drive us to quit such a useless, nay, pernicious state and strive to reach higher levels of faith and perception. CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Baba's views on Sanyasa Baba's begging continued until His Mahasamadhi. During His final days, when His movements were restricted due to illness, Baba delegated the honor of begging His food to others. Such was His insistence on the honorable act of bowing in front of others for the daily bread. Begging aids in the purgation of pride and brings in humility. Humility is an easy path to God. Baba's insistence on begging is only to highlight this axiomatic truth. Scriptures say that the duty of feeding a mendicant falls on the society, as the renounced do not earn their livelihood by other means. However, mendicancy is not a way for everyone. Only a few can tread that path. Mrs. Shaila Hattiangadi in "Sai's Story" wrote as follows: Baba never recommended Sanyasa. "Sanyasa", He said, "is not the way for you. In fighting desires, which are normal, you will lose all your strengths. The more you fight, the larger the temptations will become. And if you drain your energy and strength in trying to fight and overcome them, you will have no power left in you to reach God. Instead, live a normal, natural life, reserve the energy and use it positively to find God". "Sanyasa", he would say to His devotees, "is a path for select few, to be followed under divine guidance and directive, and not by one's inclination alone. It is very difficult path" The real significance of Baba's begging is glorification of the virtue of humility and not just as an act of a mendicant. Let us on this Thursday, resolve to emulate our Sadguru and emphasis on the virtue of humility in our own ways. (Contributed by Sai Vichaar Team) DEVOTEES SAY: AnnapurnaIndeed a very nice magazine for sai devotees-thanks to the organizers. DevoteeI love you baba. I got my car baba on your blessing. Now I am very happy and I very heartly thank you baba. DevoteeWhen I was 20 years old some body told a little story about BABA. But about ten months I got close to Baba . One night around midnight while I was writing in a paper only Om Sai , Sri Sai , Jai Jai Sai, I felt Baba was standing near to my chair, but for a while I could not believe I saw him . After that I saw Baba more then hundred times. Then I wanted to visit Shirdi and within one month He called me to visit Siridi it is also a miracle of Baba . Baba helped me a lot which I can't explain . RamyaSainatha, Setakoti Namaskar for you! Two of my friends were able to get great job offers once they completed reading the Sai Charitra as suggested by me and they have started visiting your temple regularly. Kindly be with them through out and help them overcome all hurdles and problems they come across. Jai Sai Ram! DevoteeI am extremly happy to recieve this Sai Vichhar . Every part is intersting to read, learn and to perform in a honest way. PRAYER CLUB: SANTOSHBaba, please cure sunil and his family of all his ailments. See that they do not have any health problems hereafter. I will publish my thanks and gratitude in this newsletter once my wish is fulfilled.OM SAIRAM Sai DevoteePlease babji, let me receive a full tuition scholarship for my undergraduate studies at SHU, get into the honors college, the tuesday night bio lab, please deport and keep s & d home, and remove the testosterone that has infected my body please, nothing can be accomplished without your grace... I promise to fulfill my duties as well. DevoteeI ask for forgiveness in the my nasty thoughts, words and deeds DevoteeMy Pranaams to you oh kind Sai. Please why do you torture me like this Sai. Why is it that every time I want to spend some time with my family, my in-laws do not like it. Please Sai its been three years since my parents saw my children, please make it possible for me to go and visit them in India. Kindly bless all Sai devotees and make my sisters eye completely alright. We remain ever grateful to you, please continue to protect our family. Jai Sai Ram. DevoteeDear Baba, please help me. I am hearing that we will loose our jobs. Baba, please bless me with whatever you think is right for me. Please bless me to have the job. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: SwethaKoti pranam to Sai. I want to share my experience with you. What can I say, my one month old baby fell down from my own hands I was speechless, my heart stopped beating for a while I was so scared my mom and dad everyone where so tensed. I prayed to Baba. Now everything is fine only because of Baba. Please show the same love towards my baby and towards my family. Thank you so much Baba you are always there for us. DevoteeTo begin with our family is a staunch follower of Shri Sai Natha. We believe in him immensely and know within us that we have our Sai Baba looking out for us all the time. This is a small experience but of great value to my mother. My mom goes for evening walks regularly and she is sometimes accompanied by our family friend. On GuruPoornima day also our aunt asked my mom if we are going for evening walk, but my mom was unsure as she had some work in the office and that she might be late. So my aunt made plans to go to Baba's temple in the evening as the walk is cancelled. At the last moment my mom 's work got cancelled and she came home at regular time and decided to go for her walk; then she knew that my aunt was going to the temple. So my mom started off alone, during her walk she crossed Baba's temple and saw long lines of people standing for darshan and also saw many people coming out with big covers of prasadam. My mom thought for a minute had she planned earlier she could have gone to the temple and got the prasadam. Its not that my mom was after the prasadam only but somehow her mind was fixated on the prasadam covers in all the people's hands. She felt very bad for not having the prasadam. So she came home after the walk, and started to cook something for dinner. At that moment she heard a knock on the door and when she opened it was my family friends who went to Baba's temple with two big covers of prasadam. Continued..They said they initially took only one but someone came by and gave another one. They said they came by to give one to my mom, when they never mentioned earlier if they were comming over (as if they thought of it spontaneously). My mom did not realise this then but after they left, it just struck her that she was thinking so much and feeling so bad about missing the prasadam, that Baba like a child's request fulfilled my mom's request by sending the prasadm straight to the house. What else, she was overwhelmed with joy, she could not say how blessed she felt and how child like happiness Baba had blessed her with. This is what we get when Baba takes over and looks after us. She wanted to share this happiness with all SAI devotees via the newsletter. So I hope this post might have made justification to what she felt. Jai Sai Ram!!! QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "Love the world as if the whole world belongs to you, depart from the world as if nothing belongs to you"-Shri C.B. Satpathy ji QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. "Purification of mind is absolute necessity for the spiritual growth" - comment 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. Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MNVigraha Pratishtapana Day Celebrations - September 6, 2008. Activities include traditional arathis to Sri Saibaba, Sri Sai Sahasranaama Havan, Sri Datta Sai pooja, and Sri Sainaama Jap. Please write to sai or 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 Temple of New England, Boston AreaSri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of New England is now operational. It is located at 1827 Bridge St # 8, Dracut, MA 01824. The temple is open every Thursday from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm and Saturday's from 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm. For temple hours and activities please visit the website www.nessp.org or send mail to maildrop. 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. 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. Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Austin, TXSri Shirdi Sai Temple of Austin, Texas opened at 601 E Whitestone Blvd (RM 1431), Cedar Park, TX. Daily 4 aarthis are performed to Sai Baba. As part of service to needy, a weekly sandwich seva is also conducted. For more information, please visit www.saiaustin.org. Shirdi Sai Mandir, Dulles, VAShirdi Sai Mandir is located at 43671 Trade Center Place #166 Dulles, VA 20166. The mandir is open through the week in the evenings from 6pm to 9 pm. Sri Satyanarayan pooja will be conducted every full moon day. Please visit the mandir website www.shirdisaimandir.org or call (703) 661-4724 for more information on activities, events and other information. Shirdi Sai Mandir, TorontoShirdi Sai Mandir Toronto is open from 7am to 9pm for darshan. Extended hours on thursdays and saturdays. For more information, program schedule or directions please call 647-444-4724 FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: In the true spirit of Sai devotion, contributors are requested to remember the global nature of Sai Vichaar readership. Therefore, the content, language, style and presentation, appropriate to a worldwide readership will be more rewarding and fulfilling. It should also be noted that when a section from any material other than their own is quoted or referred to, it is the authors' responsibility to acknowledge the source appropriately The "Question of the week" for this week is Sri Saibaba said, "Purification of mind is absolute necessity for the spiritual growth, without this all sadhanas are of no use" - Comment? Humbly Yours,The Editor ABOUT 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, or3. 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 webmaster From and Editor: Shirdi Sai Baba Web Site Shirdi Sai Baba Sanstha (A non-profit organization) Mail: 12N950 State Route 47 Hampshire, IL 60140, USA Email maildrop Phone 847-931-4058 Fax 847-931-4066 © Copyright 1998-2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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