Guest guest Posted September 11, 2008 Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday , September 11, 2008 :: Volume 11, Issue 18 (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: How Long It Takes Sainath said humbly, "I am a servant of the Lord". "Allah Maalik" or God is great. Sai Baba also said that He is in everyone and those who know Him that way will accomplish the benefits of spiritual realization. Is Sainath what we see He is? Just three cubits length of a mendicant who roamed the hamlet of Shirdi several years ago? Let us read what Shri B.V. Narasimhaswami ji says, "Gurow manushyata buddhihsishyaya yadi jaayate nahi tasya bhavet siddhih kalpa koti scatair apiThat means that if you treat a Guru as a mere man, your sadhana will be a failure perpetually. Faith in the Guru is specially needed for God realization. The Guru who has himself realized his soul as identical with Para Brahman (a truth expressed as "Main Allah Hum" by Baba) works at the soul of his disciple (sishya), and after seeing that it is duly prepared, and at the right moment, utter a word or uses a gesture or makes other effort, and the effect is instantaneous. The sishya is drawn into the same state of Satchitananda resulting from the experience of Jiva-Brahma Aikya. This is done in one minute or half a minute, as the Guru Gita says - 'Nimishena Nimishardhena'. That is, "In a moment or half a moment the Guru and his disciple are in that realized state as a result of the Guru's action and sishya's faith. This involves, no doubt, a previous preparation under the Guru's care of the sishya's soul for a very long time. But the final effect takes no time. It is instantaneous". CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Vishayananda - The happiness from external objects The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that this happiness is only a particle of the bliss of Brahman (Br. Up. 4.3.32). Mental modifications (vrittis) are of three kinds-calm (sattvic), agitated (rajasic) and dull (tamasic). The sattvic modifications are detachment, forbearance and generosity. The rajasic modifications are craving, attachment, greed, and the like. The tamasic modifications are delusion, fear, etc. The consciousness aspect of Brahman is reflected in modifications of all kinds, but the bliss aspect is reflected only in sattvic modifications. The same supreme Self dwells in all bodies. Though it is only one, it appears as many, like the reflections of the moon in different vessels of water. The reflection of the moon is clear if the water is pure and faint if the water is muddy. Similarly, Brahman appears differently in different bodies, depending on the nature of the mental modification. Brahman is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. The existence aspect alone is manifested in inanimate objects, but not consciousness and bliss. This is because inanimate objects have no subtle body which alone can reflect consciousness and bliss. The consciousness aspect is manifested in all animate beings, even when the mind is agitated, for we see that even a person who is unhappy is conscious. But the bliss aspect is manifested only when the mind is calm. A doubt arises as to why, when Brahman has both the aspects of consciousness and bliss, only one of them, consciousness, is reflected in an agitated mind. When you look at the reflection of your face in a mirror, you find that the face in its entirety is reflected and not only some aspects of it. This doubt is answered by giving two examples. When water is in contact with fire, only the heat aspect of fire is absorbed by the water and not the light of fire. But when a log of wood comes into contact with fire, it absorbs both the heat and the light aspects. Similarly, only the consciousness aspect of Brahman is reflected in an agitated mind, but both the consciousness and the bliss aspects are reflected when the mind is calm. When there is some desire in the mind there is anxiety about whether the desired object will be attained or not. In such a condition there can be no happiness. But as soon as the desired object is attained, the mind becomes calm. The bliss of Brahman is then reflected in the mind. The happiness experienced then is wrongly attributed to the attainment of the desired object, while it is really due to the mind becoming calm. This happiness continues only till another desire arises and agitates the mind. When a person has attained complete detachment towards worldly pleasures and is free from desires, his mind is absolutely calm and then supreme bliss is experienced. Brahman is existence, consciousness and bliss. In inanimate objects such as stones, only the existence aspect is manifest, because they have no subtle body, which alone can reflect consciousness. In all living beings both existence and consciousness are manifest. All the three aspects of Brahman are manifest in a mind that is predominantly sattvic. Brahman is in reality devoid of all attributes. The multifarious names and forms in the world are superimposed on Brahman by Maya. For those who are incapable of meditating on the attributeless Brahman meditation on Brahman with attributes is prescribed in the scriptures. When the non-dual, self-luminous, attributeless Brahman is known, there is no triad of knower, knowing and known. Then there is infinite bliss. May the Lord who is both Hari and Hara protect all those who, with a pure mind, surrender themselves to Him. (Contributed by Sri Vidyaranya Swami's Panchadasi - A Summary by S.N. Sastry) DEVOTEES SAY: Sai DevoteeKoti Koti Pranam Baba, With your blessings and kind grace i completed a year and got confirmation in my new job. Sainath , you have always been there in the tough times , blessing us and removing all the obstacles which come across time to time. I always remember and try to practise your mantras of Shraddha and Saburi, in all aspects of Life. Always, keep your blessing on my family and All Sai-devotees. JAY SAINATH ! Sai DevoteeThank you very much for providing me Sai Vichaar. I am very happy to read each part of this newsletter. I have taken this newsletter as the grace and Prasad from Baba. I hope to visit and see baba this year too. I know that I have his darshan many times in my dream and helping me in different ways and forms. Thank you and hope that you will constantly send me this newsletter. Sai DevoteeReally this is a nice news letter,When ever I am in any difficulty I recall Sai Baba and he immediately responds to remove it.This newsletter reminds us THE SUPREME AUTHORITY SAI BABA to remember when we are normal. PRAYER CLUB: DevoteeDear Sai Deva, Please bless me with knowledge and intelligence and guide me in the right direction to find a suitable job. I am not sure if you want me to relocate or not. Please BABA, help me, guide me and show me the way. Please remove me from this depression and confusion and bless me with your grace. With all my hope and faith at your lotus feet I submit this sincere prayer request. Bless all with Health and Happiness. DevoteeYou know me very well as you quote, you are close to all your devotees even though they are 1000 miles far from you. First, I would like to Thank the person who is going to pray and request for me to Baba. I am currently doing my Masters Degree. I am stuck up with a course called Design and Analysis of Algorithm without which I cannot complete my degree. I kindly request you to pray for me that I should get a waiver for the algorithm course and finish my degree sucessfully by 2009 May. I would also like you pray for my Husband to get a new job with a good salary. DevoteeShri Shirdi Saibaba, This is a sincere prayer from your true devotee for my parents. Please Saibaba Please bless my mother and father with good health. We are totally dependent on you,Saibaba. We have completely surrendered to your lotus feet with faith and patience. Please Saibaba please give my parents good health. Please Saibaba please give them full strength to manage all the activities.Shri Saibaba, with your blessings and grace my parents should travel comfortably and reach here in good health. Shri Saibaba, please shower your blessings on them and with your divine grace they should happily play with their granddaughter. Please Shri Saibaba,Please accept my humble request and sincere prayer and bless us. DevoteePlease kindly pray for me as I always am feeling not well, stomach ache and diarrhea and gastrics problem. I am also always having financial difficulties and want to have a happy married life with my husband. I want my son to be a good devotee to god and Baba and have a good future. DevoteeOur family has been struggling without a own home to live in, for years being pushed from one rented place to another. Baba! Pl. bless us with a suitable home of our own at the earliest that would give peace, good health and happiness to my mother. My ultimate prayer to you remains. DevoteeSai natha, thank you so much for the peaceful trip and a great darshan at Shirdi. Please give me a placement. I am surrendering at your lotus feet. VidyaSai Baba, please solve my sisters problems regarding marriage. Bless her with a happy and prosperous life. Also give my parents a peaceful life. Forgive me for my sins. DevoteeBaba I need your blessings and guidance. Please baba, help me to find a job, here in the US, so that the quality of my life does not change and I am able to do what I set out to do. Thank you DevoteeI request in the prayer club to all the sai devotees to pray for my sir and his company. The business was going on smoothly only but all of a sudden it is coming down. I am so scared about the business. In between his son is creating a problem. So i request all sai devotees to pray for my sir's business and he has to receive payments. Kindly help my sir in giving financial assistance also. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: DevoteeDear Sai is the Saviour of my family and ever since he came into my heart I have witnessed several miracles .Sai ram has fulfilled my latest wish for helping my parents and sister in getting visa for Europe tour ,which otherwise was impossible to get. But his grace is beyond our imagination and their visas came within 3 days and now my entire family is here with me .Lord I thank you with my heart and soul and I promise to follow your foot steps. SuzieSix and a half years ago my father got entangled into a colossal web of scheming crooks who robbed him of not only millions, but his health, peace of mind, trust amongst his family, colleagues and friends and in the bargain landed him in huge debts which has been cleared this week. I must mention that it has been nothing short of mental hell these past six and a half years, and there were innumerable times when we were so emotionally and mentally bogged down. It seemed as if there was just no God and no hope. But I must mention that during this hell, SaiBaba never once abandoned us. Even though there were times when like the footprints in the sand we saw only one set and thought we were walking through the valley of fear alone, Baba cradled us in His arms. What I mean to say is that, He provided all our needs, never once were we alone, there were family and friends and even strangers who comforted us and stood by us, we always had a roof over our heads, food on the table. Whatever our need Baba met it through someone or the other. He has kept every promise and true to His words, He has stood by His devotee through thick and thin. Due to all this anguish and turmoil, Dad's health suffered intensly and he was admitted in the ICU, for a very serious ulcer as well as other complications like diabetes, blood pressure but again Baba healed all that and Dad's as fit as a fiddle. continued..I think it's very important for us to share the greatness of Baba as it never fails to lift someone's spirits. A few weeks before Sai Vichaar feature was very apt where Baba performs miracles by working through people. This testament I am sure will give solace and comfort to people in similar situations. Please believe and trust even though it may seem as if Baba has suddenly gone on an extended vacation that He is with us and has taken responsibility for us. He will see us through till the end where He will remove all our sufferings. Six and a half years may not seem very long but to us it seemed a lifetime! But looking back, it's very easy to trace Baba's hand in everything and our eyes are opened to His greatness and love for us. Thank you Sai Baba! Forgive me for all those times when I said hateful things to you and doubted you. Like a loving parent you treated me exactly as you would a child! And now that the ordeal is over, you have shown me step by step how at every junction you have held our hands. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "Sai knows fully the desire of His devotees and fulfills the same. Hence they get what they want and are grateful. So we invoke Him and prostrate ourselves before Him. Forgetting all our faults let Him free us from all anxieties. He who being overcome with calamities remembers and prays Sai thus, will get his mind calmed and pacified through His grace"-Sri Sai Satcharitha QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. "Purification of mind is absolute necessity for the spiritual growth" comment A. by K.V.Murarji Though Baba said that purification of mind is absolute necessity for the spiritual growth, it is actually to change people Baba said at that time. Once our mind attains the stage of absolute purification, means that we have reached our goal of spirituality.If your mind is full of love, heart is absolutely clear and entire body is spreading fragrance rays of compassion, you are at the peak of spirituality. Jai Sai Ram, Ever at the Lotus Feet of Sai. 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, 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, everyday. 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. nullShirdi 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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