Guest guest Posted December 12, 2008 Report Share Posted December 12, 2008 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday , December 11, 2008 :: Volume 11, Issue 31 (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: Reading for the spiritual benefit Reading of scriptures and spiritual work should not be undertaken with a view to criticize the author or attempting to know the logical explanation behind every word said and the incident depicted. This is because the realization of God cannot be explained by logic or analysis but by strong faith and a constant yearning. Shri Sai Satcharitha is a boundless treasury of wisdom and Sai devotees undertake reading of this holy book all over the world. While it is a practice to perform a saptah (complete the reading in one week), it is also said that Shri Sai Satcharitha reaps enormous spiritual benefit if read on a regular basis every day. Shri B. Hanumantha Rao, the author of "Sri Sai Anusaranamu" in Telugu, wrote, "While reading a holy book, it is not appropriate to question the qualifications of the author or the way its contents are presented. It is important to pay attention to what is said regardless of who said it. It is important to realize the truth in the sayings rather than attempting to apply one's rationale to the narration. The message of God is timeless and the way it is delivered and perceived varies from individual to individual. What is needed of a reader is the realization that he is the benefactor of riches that humans cannot fathom". This would automatically make a reader obedient and impart the humility necessary for spiritual growth CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Fruits of Action Deeds and the results of one's deeds are fundamental aspects of the karmic cycle. Once this "every action has a reaction" phenomenon is understood, the limitedness of the individual's role in the bigger realm of things should become clear. However, as it may seem due to the ignorance, the craving for the ownership is an irresistible eventuality. It is as involuntary as the heartbeat. How could one yield to the cycle of action and reaction, and yet contemplate on what the Sadguru is capable of giving? Baba said, it's Viveka (wisdom) that leads one to Vairagya (detachment). It is the "stateless state" that could only be perennial. It is possible only by surrendering the "self" to the Sadguru. The following is an interesting passage from Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swami ji's "Bhakthi Maala". The fruits of action and the experiencing of those fruits in this world are dependent on the effort we put in. If one works hard in the fields, one gets good harvest. But the fruits of action, like the grains that one grows, will be spent after some time. To replenish it, one will have to work hard again. Happiness in the other world also depends upon the amount of merit earned by us in this world. More the effort, more the merit, and more the happiness. With more and more effort, one might become eligible to go to Vaikuntha or Kailasa or Brahma loka. But it must be remembered that even this merit is like a bag of grains. It will be exhausted sooner or later. In this world, there is a possibility to preserve a part of the harvest for producing crops again. In other words, here it is possible to experience happiness as well as to strive hard to earn merit. It is not so in the other world. There, it is not possible to earn Punya while enjoying the fruits of merits earned previously. One will have to experience happiness completely, exhaust his merit, and then return to this world to earn more Punya. By this, we can realize that the happiness of the other world is not only temporary, but is also troublesome to us because it drains us of our merit and sends us here to strive hard again and again. When this knowledge sets in, you will automatically lose interest in the pleasures of this and the other world. The detachment should be so strong that even if someone offers you heaven, you should turn it down and look upon it with disgust. To reject a cake when the stomach is full does not constitute Vairagya. Real Vairagya is that state in which an individual shows no desire for any sort of pleasure - here or hereafter. Yes, it is possible only by surrendering the "self" to the Sadguru. (Contributed by Sai Vichaar Team) DEVOTEES SAY: DevoteeOm sai ram! Osai baba thanking you from bottom of my heart. I know you are always with me .Thanks for clearing black clouds of my problems. Me and my family always wants your blessings.. Bless us baba! Devotee of Sai BabaI normally try not to ask anything from Baba (although I know full well He will give anything we ask). However, just today I reached the end of my wits and I had to beg Baba for help. I am traveling in a few days and to my nightmare I discovered that I cannot find my passport. I searched all over the house and at work over the last three days but of no use. I decided to ask Baba for help and said I will post this note in Sai vichaar right away if I can find my passport. I came home and Baba inspired me to look for it in most unexpected place and there it was! He is inside and outside of us and all we need to do is remember this every second of our life. Jai Sadguru Sainath maharaj ki jai DevoteeOm Sai ram..help us baba.. Please take away my husband's job burden . Please show us the path. My family is in your sacred feet. Bless us Baba. Please hold our hands and take us out of the situation we are facing. PRAYER CLUB: AnushaDear Sairam, My mother came to help my sister in Boston to take care of her son and to take care of her as she is pregnant. But for the past two days she is having problems of dizziness Please cure her. There is nobody to help us out, as my husband and my sister's husband are not in good terms with my parents, my mother does not have insurance too. I will fast for my entire life on thursday, if not atleast avoid eating rice on thursdays. Please save my mother. my father is in india, please make a miracle and feel her better, kadavule kapathu. enngaluku yaarum illai. Hema JaishankarPranam baba, koti kotipranam. Baba please protect guide and help shradha. Baba it is cold there plus she has to attend college and then she has her exams from the 15th Dec. Baba I pray to you I beg of you and I fall at your feet. Baba please help her, be with her and guide her. Please help her to study and finish revising her course and make her very confident. Thank you Baba. Shradha has to do well. Baba she has six subjects to do and plus Baba she has two exams on 17th. Baba please help her Baba. I am depending on you Baba for our welfare. Baba please I pray to you and put all my hopes on your shoulder. Baba help my amma jai and shreasht. Take care of deema issue. Baba I am loosing hair at an alarming rate, and my scalp is seen. I am putting vibhuti on my hair please please stop my hair fall and make it strong. Baba help me please I fall at your feet. With one wave of your hand you can help me Baba , help me with shradha, shresht jai amma deema bheema. Thank you. DevoteePlease help me Please send a very appropriate match for my daughter. I know this cannot happen without your blessing. Baba please bless me and my family . Baba I am very much worried about my daughter , she is so good and talented I don't know where i will get a good match for her. Baba please help me. Tejal pandyaMy brother is very very sick and hospitalized into philadelphia hospital since 11/27/08. please, send him home healthy and strong. we all doing prayer for him. every day. please, accept our prayer and give him your blessing. Monica KhatriPlease fulfill my single wish, my only wish you know it Sai baba, please listen to my unheard prayer, my prayer which is going on in my heart day and night, it is something which i cant say but you can hear it, it is something which i cannot write but you can read it it is only which I can express and only you can understand it. Please listen sai baba and help me to fulfill my wish. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: Navind BeeharyOn Thursday 4th of December 2008, I was reading the last Sai Newsletter on Shradha and Saburi and during the day I got a call from my collaborators in Australia out of the blue wanting to employ someone whose file was already rejected. Such things can only happen on Thursdays with Baba's blessings to teach us more about shrada and saburi. WE shall be tested but never leave Sai's hands. T Aravind KrishnaI wish I should share the experience I had with Baba's nearness during the above period. The day we received the message from the hospital that my father was not feeling well in his working spot due to which he has been admitted in hospital and he needs support from family members. At that time, I and my mother where at home. We were perplexed as to what would have happened to my father who is normally good in health with no sugar, pressure or cholesterol, though he is at the age of seventy. Immediately, whether you believe or not baba showed that he was with us through the six different images fixed in the vehicle (auto) we were traveled to the hospital. The moment we saw the image we were confident that baba is with us and he will guide us through this hard time. When we went to the hospital the doctors there told us that my father has had a severe heart attack and needs to be fitted with a temporary pace maker. By this time we were fully confident that Baba is with us and that he will take care of us. So we just left all things to his guidance and just did everything as per the doctor's advice. Just after two days the temporary pace maker was removed as the heart started functioning normally. The normal tests such as echo cardiogram and angiogram was taken and three blocks with small percentages were identified. All other things were normal. The doctor stated that the blocks are only to normal percentages and no serious immediate action is required. Just my father can lead his normal life with reduced pace (due to age factor). So my father was discharged from hospital in six days. Now he is at home taking rest, walking twice a day, eating normal foodleading his normal life. Thank you Baba. You have always been with me and my family. This time you had strongly shown us your presence. Thank you for helping my father recover from his heart attack quickly. DevoteeIt so happened that I was struck by some unknown fear which was killing me everyday, during that course of time I was not eating food I hardly use to eat only two spoons of rice and leave the rest. This went on for four weeks and I have become very weak. I have been to a counseller to ask what is wrong with me he told me that I have to go to a psychiatrist and take some drugs to calm my restless mind. I thought of finishing my life I just cried out the name of Sai Baba .. and lo he has come for my rescue that very moment I left to Shirdi as if Baba has called me. I went to Shirdi and sat in Dwarakamai asking him only one thing what is wrong with me. I sat there for six full hours and in that time for every one minute I had his prasad which filled my hungry stomach that was starving for four weeks. It was like Baba saying me, you haven't ate anything for these many days I am seeing you and I will feed you. Since then I have become normal with out taking any drugs. After that baba called me to shirid with in a span of two weeks and I had his wonderful darshan. Sai all my life is dedicated to you ... the lord of lords you have come to save the life of this servent of yours. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "The one namaskar offered with love and humility is enough"-Sri Saibaba QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. Who did Sri Saibaba refer to saying, "This was a true devotee of Mine" and why? A. by Ravin Megha came to Sri Saibaba at the behest of Rao Bahadur Sathe, another eminent devotee of Baba. An orthodox Brahmin, Megha was first reluctant to bow in front of someone who he was told was a Muslim. Upon Sathe's insistence Dada Kelkar, Sathe's father-in-law, introduced him to Baba. Baba roared at the sight of the new visitor, "Kick out the rascal". Why would Baba, the absolute love incarnate react in such a belligerent manner? Only, Baba would know. Megha, agitated after the unwelcome, went ahead on pilgrimage for over a year, came back to Shirdi, and stayed there permanently until his death. Satcharitha quotes "Sai Baba's help to Megha was not through any oral instruction. He worked upon Megha internally (mentally) with the result that he was considerably changed and benefited". This devout person, looked at Baba as his Shiva, worshipped Baba, as he would worship Shiva, including the rituals performed on Shiva. Baba confirmed Megha's devotion by installing the image of Shiva in the wada where Megha was put up. Megha had the unique habit of worshipping Baba in person in masjid as well as worshipping His portrait in the wada. What a wonderful experience that should have been! Q. Who did Sri Saibaba refer to saying, "This was a true devotee of Mine" and why? A. by Continued.. Sri Sai's reaction during Megha's first visit indicates that Sadguru's way of transforming is not always pleasant, like bitter medicine, and sometimes it could be even violent! On the other hand, Megha was only being truthful to his own convictions about orthodoxy and tradition. Yet, once his love and interest in Saibaba was kindled his own will and resolve gave in to the higher power of Sadguru, and Baba became his own personal God. By worshipping Baba as Shiva, Megha continued to stick to his conviction of experiencing Baba as Shiva. Baba allowed Megha to worship him as he chose without "unsettling him in the least", as mentioned in Satcharitha. One can discern from Megha's life the importance of being truthful to one's own convictions, yet be flexible to be worked upon by Sadguru. The true experience of Sadguru for anyone begins from being truthful about his or her own experiences and convictions. When Megha passed away, Baba was visibly sad, tears rolled down his eyes. Baba lamented that Megha was a true devotee of his and ordered at His own expense the traditional food distribution at Megha's funeral. 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, 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. 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 6599 Dublin Center Dr, Dublin, OH 43017. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday bhajans. For more information please call Panditjee at 614-799-8411 or visit www.saibaba.cc or new website www.srisaimandir.org 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 9 pm for darshan. Extended hours on Thursdays and Saturdays. For more information, program schedule or directions please call 647-444-4724 FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Please note that Sai Vichaar is only yet another global platform on the electronic medium for sharing information on the life and message of Sadguru Sainath of Shirdi. Sai Vichaar does not profess to endorse any particular thought, nor will judge or reflect the opinions expressed by individual contributors. 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. 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