Guest guest Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Note: forwarded message attached. ______________________________\ ____ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Sai Vichaarwww.saibaba.org Thursday , February 21, 2008 :: Volume 10, Issue 41 (In its tenth 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 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 man's learning might be, it just fades away in front of the one that realized the Brahman. Everyone 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, love, compassion, nobility 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 a man's learning might be, it just fades away in front of the one that realized the Brahman. On this peaceful Thursday, let us contemplate on that kind of realization only a Sadguru can give and nothing else the world may ever teach will.CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: How to achieve the grace of Sri Saibaba? (continued from last week.....)Importantly, living with Sai also means that one should not hate or decry or loath others' food habits; but should respect other all forms and kinds of food. After all " Annam parabrahma swarupam." In words, food is the expression of God, a divine blessing and hence sacred. At the same time one should not thrust his or her food habits on other unwilling persons. Baba never gave importance to taste of food and consumed all kinds of food. At the same time He never forced a certain kind of food on those who were not used to it. 'Sai maata' (Mother Sai) took abundant care to prepare a lot of tasty food to cater to the tastes of the children! Baba, however, advocated moderation in food consumption. He also suggested that one should not get too attached to any kind of food for that matter. He said, "Be satisfied with one or two items of food. Don't go after tastes!" One of the activities dearest to Lord Sai is feeding the hungry and helping the needy. He said that any hungry individual or living organism needs to be offered food and fed without any reservation whatsoever. He used to feed many from the food He collected by the way of 'Bhiksha' or alms. I am of the opinion that living in Sai means giving up all bad habits and maintaining outward cleanliness and inner and purity. Sai Baba stressed internal or inward purity i.e., purity in thought and deed. How can we control the thought process to achieve purity of mind? I am convinced that 'Sai naama smarana', 'Sai chintana' and 'Sai charitra paaraayana' will certainly purify our thought process. Once I surrender my mind to Sai, how can it harbor negative thoughts and emotions? As Achaarya Ekkirala Bhardwaja has put it in his book Sai Prabodhanaamritam, our internal garden i.e., mind needs regular cultivation and weeding i.e., elimination of weeds in the form of negative tendencies by spiritual exercise, i.e., Sadhana through Sai-tatva.Devotional study of 'Sri Guru-charitra' and 'Sai satcharitra' helps us a lot in purifying our minds. Baba attached great importance to the study of Sri Guru-charitra, which is considered the best spiritual tonic promoting the seeker to acquire the nine forms of devotion, about which Baba indicated to Anantha Rao Patankar and Laxmibai Shinde. As we can see from the episode of Kushabhau in Sai life history, Baba decried exhibition of petty miracles and foretelling fortune to attract people and over-awe them. He did perform miracles not to impress any one, but to help His devotees and inculcate faith in them. Behind every miracle that He performed, there was a definite spiritual cause. Living with Sai means not to run after those who perform petty miracles and foretell fortune, but to have steadfast faith in Him, who is the Savior. Baba also taught us not to hanker for 'mantropadesam', i.e., instruction in the form of mantra or hymn, but to develop Shraddha (faith and dedication) and Saburi (patience tempered with courage) with total devotion to Him. That also means to get rid of the influences of superstitious beliefs, which hamper spiritual growth, thus impeding us in harnessing His Grace. Baba discouraged laziness and exhorted His devotees to cultivate good work culture. He cautioned His devotees whenever He found them turning lazy. He set an excellent example Himself by developing a beautiful flower garden and Lendi Bagh at Shirdi by dint of His hard work. He encouraged the study of sacred spiritual literature viz, Eknathi Bhagavath, Panchadasi, Guru-charitra, Vishnu Sahasra Nama, Bhavaartha Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita, Jnaneshwari, Guru Grand sahib, Qoran, Bible etc.(Contributed by MV Ramaa Prasad)CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: How to achieve the grace of Sri Saibaba? (continued...)Sai Bagawan Himself got done 'paaraayana' of sacred 'Raama Vijayam' a few days before He entered 'Maha Samaadhi'. 'Paaraayana' of Sai satcharita and Guru-charitra is an essential part of Living with Sai, which helps us to experience Sai-sannidhi. The importance Baba attached to paaraayana of spiritual literature can be gauged by the benefit accrued to Saint Vijayanad in the final days of his life at Shirdi under His guidance. Sai would be very pleased to see His children discharging their duties and responsibilities without any deficiency. In other words, He would say, "Do your duty well. Don't bother about the reward or fruit of your action!" just as preached by 'Gitachaarya' Lord Krishna. Organizing 'Satsangs' for collective 'paraayana' and 'bhajans' and carrying out activities dear to Baba should be another important step in our effort to live Sai. A dedicated study of Sai philosophy enables us to appreciate that He is all pervasive and present in every one. This realization brings out the futility and irrelevance of the divisions amongst us based on race, religion, caste, creed and color. Hence, it is the duty of every Sai devotee to spread the messages of universal love through Sai philosophy among the masses of humanity untouched by spiritual thought and thus awaken them. This is no doubt a difficult job, but very dear to Bhagawan Sai Baba. Sai Satsangs should become champions of this cause. Lord Sainath asked His devotees to acquire 'shraddha' (faith and dedication) and 'saburi' (patience tempered with courage). A Sai-devotee should have steadfast faith in Him with enormous patience, which will give him the needed courage to face adverse situations in one's life with equanimity. These two attributes are the essential components of Saadhana to acquire the capacity to develop a feeling of gratitude and admiration for Lord Almighty. This in turn will generate love and compassion for the less fortunate, who need help and encouragement.Finally 'saadhana' involving all the above should lead to the total and unconditional surrender of the devotee to Paramaguru Sai Baba. The actual meaning of surrender is 'sarvasya saranaagathi'. In surrender, the head bends and meets the heart. The head that does not bend is stiff, ignorant and has no value. Lord Krishna told Arjuna, "You are very dear to me" and then He told Arjuna that he must surrender. You must assume that you are the most beloved of Sainath Maharaj and then surrender happens. A person who cannot surrender cannot be self-reliant. Often people think that surrender is a way to escape from responsibility; so they end up blaming God/Guru for all their problems. In fact surrender is taking total responsibility. How? Pray Him, "Let Thy will prevail". Take full responsibility and pray for His help. From Dwarakaamai in Shirdi, Paramaguru and Almighty Sainath said, "I feel indebted to him who surrenders himself completely to Me and ever remembers Me. I shall repay his debt by giving him salvation. I am dependent on him who thinks and hungers after Me and who does not eat anything without first offering it to Me. Who loves Me most, always sees Me. He who comes to Me, becomes one with Me, just as a river gets into Sea and becomes merged with it. So, leaving out pride and egoism, you should surrender yourself to Me, Who am seated in your heart". Lord Sai also said that once the reins are handed over to Sadguru, there is no place for worry absolutely. (Concluded)(Contributed by MV Ramaa Prasad)DEVOTEES SAY: IndiraI wish to thank Baba for the miracle he showered on my mother. My mother was suffering with acute bronchitis was the last one year. She was suffering like anything. She had gone to all the doctors. But it was of no use. I prayed Baba that if it gets cured I will share my experiences with other people through this article. Miracle has happened, she had gone to ayurvedic doctor, and he cured my mother within a month's time. She is very much happy and healthy. Thanks Baba. Keep faith in Baba. Thanks to Saibaba.org for the beautiful website.VarshiniI got married and moved to the USA a couple of months back and on a spouses visa so I cannot work and was dejected. I prayed to Baba to show me some way. Then a friend of mine who was also going through the same thing suggested that I apply in the firm where she was working as a freelancer for a job in Freelance writing. I agreed and applied for it and although I was confident of getting the offer, I didn't hear from the firm for almost 2 months and I had no hopes. However I had full faith in Baba and on 14th February, Thursday, much to my surprise, I got an email from the firm stating that I had been short listed for the job.ShashiWith Your udi and blessings, my disease was cured. Also one day I tried to start my car, it did not start so I sat in front of Your photo and took Your blessings. Within no time, I was able to start the car, without any trouble.SushmaI would like to express my thanks to saibaba.org for your services. I have received Sai calendar on 7 th February, Thursday, that day I was waiting for Baba's reply, through that calendar Baba has cleared all my doubts. Baba has given reassurance to me and also helping me in everyday of my life.AnuradhaBaba, I had a dream last night. I don't remember any details. The only thing I remember that Baba, You saved me from something evil. Thank you Baba. VaralakshmiThank you so much Saibaba.org for the beautiful calendar. Every week I used to read about devotees in Sai Vichaar who were receiving the calendar. I was feeling dejected that it had not reached me. That day I specially looked at Baba and sincerely prayed to Him to come home to me. That same evening my mother called up to say that a thick packet had arrived from saibaba.org. Thank you Sai Ram for your infinite grace. We can feel Your presence every moment and still we doubt and don't surrender. Please grant me the grace of infinite devotion and total surrender. Jai Sai Ram.JayaI suffered a lot in the past. I faced many difficulties and after knowing about Sai baba my problems were all gone. Now I am searching for a job and I am pretty sure that I will get it soon by His grace.JayashreeIt was August - September 2007 when I had to get passport and visa for me and my daughters to go for a trip to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia in November. I had changed my surname to my maidan name and I had much difficulty in getting one paper over the other. Last it was only some days left. I prayed to Sai to set right all papers and get my passport and visa for me and my daughter. Within next few days everthing worked out fast and I got my passport and visa and with Sai's grace we went to the trip without any difficulty. Thank you Sai for all You have done to me and my daughters. Sai devoteeDear Baba, thank you so much for giving my husband a job. As I had promised, I am posting it on the Sai Vichaar. Thank you so much again for blessing me with the flower from your chest to my head, when I was praying at Your feet at Your Mandir. Please Baba, help my son to get into a good school. Please be with him because he is going to take examinations in the upcoming months. Deva, I will come to Shirdi with Your blessings. Still, I do not have a job. I know You do only good to your devotees. I will wait until You shower me with a job. PRAYER CLUB: Sai devoteeI am going through tough time. Sai Baba knows everything, my relation with my parents have gotten bad. They don't talk to me any more. My in-laws are giving me tough time, teaching my husband wrong against me. I don't have anyone, not even my parents who can listen to me nor my own husband. I am absolutely left alone with my one year old baby. Baba (my malik) I pray to you, please help me. Please listen to my prayers. You make me feel your presence so many times but this is a big problem for such a long time. Please do something my Lord.Sai DevoteeOm Sai Ram, I am very disturbed. My personal life seems to be going downhill. I feel neglected all the time specially from my husband. Despite his assurances that he loves me a lot, I feel some kind of distance between us either mentally or emotionally. I cannot get over this feeling and it is making me depressed all the more. I feel he spends less time with me and doesn't care about me anymore. Please Sai, help me out of this situation. You are the only one I can turn to and desperately seek Your intervention and blessings. Om Sai Ram, help me find peace.KarthikeyanSairam, please offer Your blessings and help my brother recover fully from the two wheeler accident he had last week. Dear Sai, I pray that he makes a full recovery. Please bless him Baba.Sai devoteeSai, please bless my daughter, she is expecting and doctor is saying there are many complications. Please Baba be with her and bless her with a healthy baby and no more complications should be there. I know Baba, you can bless her and make all her problems disappear with no more complications. Please bless her normal delivery(which is due in April). We have total faith on You and Baba, You know I am already worried about my husband's health, so please bless me and my family with total perfect health. All problems should disappear and bless my son also healthy life, he should always be on right path and should become a successful professional in his field.ShailjaBaba, I always pray that You should always be in my mind at all moments and that You should give me, my entire family and all human beings happiness and peace of mind. Baba, you should help me so that I could indulge myself in some good social cause for the benefit of the society.NatashaOm Sai Ram, I am feeling very down and depressed today, I pray that swami will help me overcome this feeling. I pray to get another job as I am so tired of the one I have. I am really undermined but I applied for so many other positions and none were successful for me. Please swami , I pray to you together with my other friends around the world please open my path and help me sustain my life. Forgive me for any wrong that I have done to anyone, please help me. I am so confused with life.RaghavDear Sainath, please bless my parents, my wife and our baby girl with health and happiness. My father is suffering from fractured lumbar spine, kindly help him in recovering as soon as possible. Sai devoteeYou really know what all situations I go through. I had a very tough project. I did my level best. My husband is in onsite, myself and my son want to go there and spend 3 months with him. Before I ask my manager, I'm constantly telling this to you. Please Baba, my manager should approve this. One of my colleague is feeling greedy about my work and growth and has done some unwanted ill things. Due to that I was suffering for atleast 4 weeks and some how recovered from it. During my trouble I read Sai Satcharitha and healing was also given to me. But any activity of that colleague will never allow us to think that she will do all these. Please Baba protect me from this. Help me to complete the Sai Satcharitha. Now when I told that I should talk to my superior about the leave the colleague is saying if not granted leave this job. Please Baba, my manager should approve my leave. And the air tickets should also not cost too much.AnuI sincerely seek Your blessings. Please help me so that I pass in my examination that I have written on December 2nd 2007. You know very well that I wrote this exam amidst so much of difficulties. In my life also how many times I pass the hurdles. In my life I want only one thing to happen and that can happen only with Your blessings and miracles. Please help me to pass in my examination. Atleast after that I get a little confidence of going out of this place.EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: SivakumarI am writing this article from the bottom of my heart. Sai always tells us that believe in him when we are in distress. This happened to me recently about 15 days back. I have been offered an employment abroad 3 months back. One of my friends who had also applied at the same time as me got his Visa approved. But my Visa has been kept on dragging for almost 2 months. Then one day when I was in total distress my brother-in-law who is also a Sai devotee called me and asked me to read Sai Satcharita starting from Thursday. He also told me to finish it within next 7days (i.e. by next Wednesday). When he told me to read I thought within myself that Swamy himself had asked me to read. I started reading the book from Thursday and finished on next Wednesday. Only with the grace of Swamy I was able to finish reading the book. Next day morning after finishing the book, I performed pooja and arathi to swamy and went to office. Suddenly, when I checked my mail after reaching office, I got my Visa approved letter from the Government. There are no words to explain the grace of Swamy. I am having tears in my eyes when I am writing this article. From that day onwards I am always looking at Sai when I am in distress. Baba always tells us "Believe in me, I will look after you". Nowadays I am feeling that Baba is always near to me. Thousands of Pranams to Swami's lotus feet.MridulaI am also one of fortunate recipients of Saibaba wall calendar and I would like to thank the committee for this wonderful initiative! As soon I submitted the request for calendar from UK, I was eagerly looking into the post every day, but I used to be disappointed. I was getting restless and just when I had almost given up hope, there came the calendar! The best part was the timing, as during that week, I was actually weighing some future career options and was praying Baba profusely to show some guidance and show some clarity. So, Saibaba's calendar came along with this information booklet on the relevant subject. It is as though Baba is guiding me by showing the future by coming home along with relevant information. Though I am still confused, I would certainly reckon this event as good indication and pray Baba to guide me as always. It was indeed a gratifying experience! I would like to thank Baba and all the committee members once again. I am on look out for Saibaba's temple in London and I am hopeful that I would able to find one very soon.RajeswariAs I am working as a consultant in one CMM level 5 company, I never expected that I would get the opportunity to travel to USA. Usually the company will send only their employees and not consultants. But it is my luck, which Sainath blessed me. Now I am in USA. Today I visited Baba temple and I did 108 pradashkinas. I am very thankful to Baba to bless me with this. Baba, hope my husband and me will come soon here again with H1 visa.QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "Why do you brag and fancy yourself great and pose yourself as an old Haji? Do you read Koran like this? You are proud of your pilgrimage to Mecca, but you do not know Me."-Sri Saibaba to Haji Siddique PhalakeQUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. Question of the week is given below.....A. by SrivastavaQ. In Sai Satcharita, Sri Saibaba says to a devotee that their relationship was for the past 72 births. Is there any significance to 72 births? A. Saibaba says" Trust in Guru fully" that is only sadhana. Guru is all the Gods .If any one devotes his mind on him; he need fear nothing for body and soul. Simply say "Sai Sai" with heart over flowing Baba care not for show of respect and forms, Baba rest in such devotees. Baba never expects or accept material offerings, let us serve the fellow humans, feed any one who is in hunger or in any need, then we can reach Sai destination, by which we can achieve the grace of Saibaba.Q. Question of the week is given below.....A. by MadhumoortiQ. In Sai Satcharita, Sri Saibaba says to a devotee that their relationship was for the past 72 births. Is there any significance to 72 births? A. Shri Sai Baba in one of the conversations tells Madhavrao alias Shama that their relationship is for 72 births. Here it may not be that appropriate to intellectually analyze whether there is any significance for the number 72 or not. This would rather spoil spirit and the devotion element involved in the conversation. All that is to be taken in this context is that, once we are in the fold of Sainath maharaj, there is no giving up from his side. He keeps helping us climb the ladder of evolution life after life till we achieve salvation and get out of the circle of births and deaths. Hence we are only to remember that our devotion to sat guru should be total and complete so that we open ourselves to the grace and move ahead towards catching hold of his feet - satgati.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.Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MNSri Saibaba Mandir is located in Minneapolis, MN at 1835 Polk St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418. The mandir is open 7 days a week in the evenings from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm and during morning hours from 9 am to 12:30 pm, except Mondays. Satsangs are conducted every Sunday mornings, 9 am to 12:30 pm. Please visit the mandir website www.hamaresai.org or call 612-789-7729 for more information on mandir activities, events and other information.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.FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Several Sai devotees have written to Sai Vichaar thanking for the beautiful wall calendar of Sri Saibaba. This is a humble attempt of service by this website to Sai devotees all over. Everyone's continued support is sincerely appreciated. Sai devotees posting prayer request are requested to state their needs briefly and be specific about their prayer needs. This will help with good use of space and allows more requests to be posted every week. A Sai devotee suggested the "Question of the week" for this week as follows: Q. In Sai Satcharita Sri Saibaba says to a devotee that their relationship was for the past 72 births. Is there any significance to 72 births?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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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