- 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
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Sai Vichaar
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Thursday , December 21, 2006 :: Volume 9, Issue 32
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(In its nineth year of publication.)
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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.
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SBOI-Group|
Pictures |
Audio-Video |
Wallpapers|
Greeting-cards |
Ashrams Info. |
Sai news |
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FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Key to Happiness
Is there a way to quantify faith? What constitutes a successful dose of
patience? Some endure a hardship for several years, yet call themselves
fortunate. Some seem to have a short stint with time and profess to have
waited patiently! Wisdom, whether through Bhakthi or Jnana should impart
the ability to discriminate. Discrimination between things of transient
nature and that are permanent should lead to detachment. Spirituality may
not be about quantifiable material gains and losses that one accomplishes
with the help of Sadguru. It may also not be about extending the benefits
that are only perishable. On the other hand, it may be about a total
personal transformation that should take place every minute, while at
sleep or awake. The effort has to come from within oneself and the
external factors are the means to accomplish them, by Sadguru's grace.
On several occasions, Baba said out of love for His devotees - "What
(whether good or bad) is ours, is with us, and what is another's is with
him." - Ch. XLV, Shri Sai Satcharitra. Some of the simplest expressions
of Baba seem to have the message of greatest importance. A moment of
contemplation on such comments might have the most profound effects on
what we perceive as pain or pleasure. By the above statement, Sadguru
Sainath has endorsed the thought that our actions precede our fruits,
the consequences. He also several times advised that one have to endure
the consequences of his past Karma. Devotees also have seen how Sainath
comes to their rescue if the faith is earnest and the patience is
complete. The patience is complete only when the faith is earnest. He is
the helmsman and His boundless coffers are open.
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CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Spiritual Rejuvenation: A New Year resolution
The nature of human conscious is nothing but true bliss at birth. However,
it is thrown into the chaotic web of sorrow, grief, pain, pleasure, anger,
passion and the countless grades of different states these emotions may
have. The involvement in the cause and the effect is a tough whirlpool, a
situation that can not be dealt with any other means but yield. Scriptures
are unequivocal about one fact, the significance of sadguru and the faith
in His predisposition. Encounter with the chosen path of salvation has to
be the single most significant event in one's life. However, human mind
sensitive enough to perceive the pleasures and perils of life, sometimes
dismisses the key to eternal happiness as irrational and illogical.
Dr. S.P. Ruhela in " Shirdi Sai The Supreme" wrote, " With the speed of
education and emergence of the age of logic, science and concern for
functionality in every sphere of life, educated people of today do not
have much interest and faith in divine or spiritual personalities and
spiritual matters, their miracles and teachings which they ususally
consider to be rather very traditional, superstitious or out of tune
with modern times. But on the other hand, the sociological fact is that
there is a widespread anomie (normlessness), misery, immortality and
resultant insecurity and unhappiness in the world. Only the inervention
of Prophets, Saints and their teachings of the right kind of moral and
spiritual values, which focus on universlity and nobility of man's
existence can save the crisis-ridden contemporary world".
Devotion for the most begins with the gratitude. Human mind normally
fills itself with joy when the going gets good. When a calamity
befalls, lo, the confidence in the self crumbles, and the mind goes in
pursuit of the power that would deal with the insolvency. Then follows
the gratitude towards the helmsman only to be overshadowed by the
power of the mythical world, the whirlpool. This is the game of high
and low and the life is one of unresolved spirits. Is devotion just an
emotional gratitude to one's savior, a feeling of thankfulness for a
temporary material benefit? Perhaps not! It is just a beginning of a
blissful process, a sign of more magnificient things to come. Let us
dwell on these thoughts as the New Year dawns. Let us resolve to seek
the coffers He has open for us. Let the New Year bring the awakening,
the beginning of our spiritual journey with our beloved guide, the
Saint God of Shirdi.
(Contributed by Sai Vichaar team)
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DEVOTEES SAY:
Anbumozahi
Om Sai Ram, I was praying to Baba to help me in getting a good job with good salary in a good company. Recently Baba has blessed with a very good job. I thank you very much Baba for being with us all the time and taking care of us.
Sharada
Thank you Baba for giving a very wonderful job to my husband. You gave him that very job which I have been asking You to give. In fact You have placed him in a much bigger company than what I asked for. Baba, thank you so much. Baba please continue to shower Your blessings on my husband so that he can perform this job satisfactorily and happily.
Suresh Rao
Thanks for granting her visa, Baba. You answer all our prayers since we started praying and believing you Baba. Please be with us all the time and bless us.
Rajyalakshmi
Jai Sai Ram! With your blessings my parents got their passports without any issue. Thank you very much Baba! Please bless them with a happy journey to Singapore in the month of January 2007 for my delivery. Also shower your blessings through out without any obstacles from any one of my family members, so that they can peacefully stay with me during the delivery time.
Sindhura
Thanks Baba for blessing me with a good job. I never expected that I would be placed in such prestigious IT Company.
Nagadeep
I am so relieved after I came to work today because my colleague told me she is also planning to work on something else. In the next project we are going to work together. But now I got a new job and accepted, I was worrying how to tell her. I did not expect that she would move on. Thank you for showering your blessings on us. I know by your grace only I got this new job.
Subhash
My heartfelt humble thanks to Sri Sai Baba for giving everything in my life. I wished for my higher studies, wished for like minded spouse and talent sons got everything by the blessings of Sri Sai Baba. I also prayed to Sai Baba to give me an opportunity to serve poor people of this world and got opportunity to serve poorest people of Nepal through food aid agency of UN. I have been getting strenghth from Sai Baba all the time whenever there is some obstacles during my right judgement. I have no words but to pray to Sai Baba for His blessings to my whole family and wish to be in Shridi in near future.
Devika
I took on this class that was really difficult and I had no idea how I was going to get good marks in it. But with Sai's grace I got an A grade. It would really not have been possible without His help. I know that for sure. He is really so kind. Even though I am far from perfect He has been extremely generous to me. I have not had a single failure since I resorted to the feet of Sai Baba. Thank you Sai Baba. I love You a lot.
Suresh
I was searching for good job and I prayed that if I get good job I will share my experience in Sai Vichaar. By Sai Baba's blessing I got offer letter from good company and they have asked me to join for duty on Thursday. Thurday is Sai Baba's day. This is nothing but Sai Baba's miracle and I thank Him for granting me this job. |
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PRAYER CLUB:
Sheela
Baba we have always had Shardha and Saburi, for both these words have a great meaning in our life. Whoever we meet we also teach them to have patience and faith, rest leave all to Sai he knows how to handle. But lately Baba, we are going through lots of tension, as You know my husband, he does not stay at home with us and disappears for days and days and suddenly appears after a long period. We have no questions to ask where and how he has been, as we hardly speak to him beacuse of his behaviour. Now our daughter is getting married in Jan 2007, he should understand his responsibilites now. We had a domestic helper, who suddenly said I don't want to work anymore and has left us in this time when we needed her the most. Baba I can't cry or show my inner feelings to anyone except You, as you are well aware, what is going on inside me. We have always had Shardha in You that whatever happens, happens for the best. Now also I have full faith in You that You will bring him back. Please Sai also help us get a good helper who is Your devotee. We know You are here and You have something better for us. We love you Sai.
Seshagiri
My son is in final year of B. Tech. His performance is average. I pray Sai that he should pass all exams well and secure a seat in a good University for his higher education this year.
Sai devotee
Dear Sai Baba! You knew all my problems very well. My husband is out of the job for the last four months. If he won't get the job in IT field within this month he has to wait until March or April because of the job boom. He is going to write a test regarding his job. So Baba, please bless him with a nice job and settle in our life at least now. I have been praying You since my childhood and I never face any problems like this. You helped me in my problems all the time. But for the last four years You are very quiet and calm even though I am praying You every day. I have Shani for seven years. But it won't work in front of you Baba. I am suffering a lot and please try to understand my problems and help me. I believe You so much and I don't have anyone except You.
Navi
Om Sai Ram, I would please like our readers to pray for my mother who was diagnosed with colon cancer. Her surgery was successful, we are just waiting to hear from the pathology report if the cancer had spread. I pray to Baba that she does not have to suffer with lots of pain and that the colon will heal nicely. I also pray that she will be stronger and better than ever soon. I also pray Baba will give my father strength to go through this with my mother. Thank you always Swami for being there from me.
Sai devotee
Koti Pranams to you Sainath. Sainath please let my neice's wedding be settled and my sister's tensions be relieved. Please let her overcome her ego and pride and become normal self again. You know I have already asked my forgiveness from her. I want to help her in that. Thank you Sainath.
Sai devotee
Hey Sainath, please help, I am losing my patience day by day. I do not understand why are You taking our test. Me and my family believe in You so much, then why us. My mother is a good soul she cannot take all this. She is very depressed and crying all the time still she has faith in You. Please prove her that You are there for her. Please Baba bless my family, I want my father back. Baba we are orphans without You. Please Baba we all need You badly. Help us. My father is a very nice human being and he needs You. Bless him. I promise, after this problem gets solved I will write my thanks to You in this newsletter. Help me and bless the universe.
Pooja
Please Baba shower your blessing on my husband & me. Kindly bless us with a child with no problems.
Bharathi
Now I pray you to show the right education path for my daughter. I follow your directions for my every action.
Vamsi
Sai, by Your grace I did well in the first round of the interview and will be attending the second round tomorrow. Give me the strength to get through the second round also.
Rasmita
My boyfriend is very disturbed for not getting a job. He tried his best. Please God help him out. Please God don't break my faith.
Ghazal
My mom has seen bad times all throughout her life. Baba please bless her with Your love. I don't want to have any problems because of me and my siblings. Bless us Baba.
Swapna
Baba, please help me in getting a good job. I'm very much scared as I don't have any experience in my field and am already on the lookout for jobs.
Anupriya
I want to marry him and he is also interested in me. But he is afraid to tell this to his parents. So please pray for us. Ask Saibaba to bless us and ask Saibaba to make him to be my husband. |
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EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:
Divya
Our Dear Baba came in my dream last night. I could see that my brother and me had bought a small Baba statue (Baba sitting with one leg folded position) and were decorating our house with him. We had kept him on a small table. But after some time when we looked at the statue, it wasn't looking like Baba anymore. The statue had a crown of thorns and resembled Jesus Christ. In my dream I was so surprised and was looking intently at what had happened and where was our Baba. But his folded leg posture had gone and his legs were now unfolded and he had become Jesus Christ. I was so surprised and immediately woke up. I just sat up and prayed to Baba for showing me that He was one with Jesus Christ and that there was no difference between him and Christ. All the time in the Satcharithra we read that Baba used to utter 'Allah Malik'. So by this I felt that Baba was telling us that he was the God, whom different people worship in different forms. I felt blessed that Baba had given me this dream. In these days of communal disharmony among people, it would be so good if people realize that the God they worship is the same God, but in different forms and for me, I visualize any Hindu God in our temples as our Baba.
Krishna
A couple of months ago I had applied for dual citizenship for my family. I had sent all the necessary papers to the Indian High Commission and was asked to send our passports for the Indian Visa to be stamped. I sent the passports along with necessary documentation. In a couple of days I got a call from the Indian High Commission informing me that they had received the envelop I sent but our passports were missing. I was very shocked and started worrying about the potential for the passports to be misused, especially in the current situation around the world. I requested the Indian High Commission staff to search for them once again and started praying to Baba to solve this problem. Baba has always been guiding and helping us and I was very confident that I will find the passports. I called up the passport office and informed them about the loss. They said that I would have to cancel the passports immediately and apply for new passport of my family and myself. I was told this would be an expensive proposition, but I had no other choice. However the person in the passport office asked me to wait for one more day and then give a call to the local passport office and enquire about the missing passports. I kept praying to Baba. The next day, was a Thursday, I called the Indian High Commission and was told that they made a thorough search but could not find our passports. I thought I will wait till afternoon and if I don't find them I will cancel the passports. Around 3 pm I called the local passport office one last time to my pleasant surprise I was told that our passports were returned to the local passport office and that I could come and collect them. This was nothing but the leela of Baba. I don't know why this happened but this has only increased our faith in Baba many fold. I promised to Baba that if I get the passports back I will post my experience in the Sai Newsletter and hence this article. |
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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Q. Question of the week given below....
A. by Ramaa Prasad
Q. Saibaba said to Smt. Radhabhai Deshmukh, "Oh mother, My Guru
never taught Me any Mantra, then how shall I blow any Mantra in your
ears?". Comment?
There is a tradition in Hindu religion that Guru would initiate
the disciple into spiritual path by disclosing a power packed
'mantra' or a sacred hymn secretly into his / her ears. The
disciple thus initiated is bound keep the mantra a secret, which
is personal to him / her and recite it with in himself without
uttering it aloud. Any deviation of the process by the disciple is
considered detrimental to his spiritual growth. This entire
process is expected to elevate the disciple spiritually. This,
however, is not accessible to persons of the lower strata of the
society, as they are deemed ineligible to such initiation. In
other words, this tradition has led to a system of discrimination
with in the ambit of same 'dharma'. It is also observed by many
that the people who were initiated thus normally feel that they
are more privileged than the others, who have no access to such 'upadesh'
or initiation. To my knowledge the first saint who revolted
against this established tradition was none other than the famous
Guru Shri Ramanujacharya, the proponent of 'Vishishttaadwaita' or
the theory of qualified non-dualism. He felt that if the sacred
mantra could elevate a seeker spiritually, why should he not
reveal it to every one even at the cost of his own spiritual down
fall. Such was his compassion towards fellow human beings.
Therefore he disclosed the mantra "Om Namo Naryanaya" to one and
all.
The traditions and principles of Sai-tattwa on the other hand,
are simple and accessible to every one without any
discrimination whatsoever. Sai Baba of Shirdi, the incarnation
of Almighty Brahman as Paramaguru or the Paramount Spiritual
Master has taken upon Himself the mandate of leading millions of
His devotees irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, race,
sex etc., on a clean spiritual path. Shraddha plus Saburi (Faith
and devotion plus patience with courage) that form the crux of
"Sai tattva" are two traits common to everyone beyond the
barriers of their religious, social, and financial factors. By
invoking the traits common to every human being, Sadguru Sai
Baba of Shirdi has indeed simplified the pursuit of spirituality
and made it more practical without the necessity of superficial
facades such as the babbling of mantra in the ear of disciple.
This way, he inspired even the most downtrodden to take to
spiritual pursuits without any discrimination whatsoever. All
are equal in the eyes of Sainath. Every one is His child.
Despite He being incarnation of Para-Brahma, Sainath said that
He owed His spiritual stature to His Guru, who of course never
initiated Him by means of a mantra. He said this to Radhabai
Deshmukh who took to fasting with a view to getting initiated by
Sai Baba through a mantra from Him.
Q. continued.....
A. by Ramaa Prasad
Therefore, Baba said, "I am not the Guru who babbles secret
mantras into the ears of the seeker. Our traditions are
different; but novel." The guru who babbles mantra into the
ears of his disciple teaches the limited. Paramaguru Sai
Baba of Shirdi teaches the Limitless and takes His devotee
new heights of spirituality, ensuring his / her spiritual
evolution step by step. He advocated whole-hearted
dedication to one's Guru and steadfast faith in Him coupled
with a high degree of patience tempered with courage to
climb the ladder of the spiritual evolution. There is no
question of any body being ineligible for His guidance,
mercy and grace. Every one who treads the path of 'Shraddha'
plus 'Saburi' would become his dear child. Then it depends
upon the seeker alone to opt to "Sai-tattwa" or not. He said
that once you opt to take the path of "Sai-tattwa"
Paramaguru Sainath takes care of you as His dear child just
as mother tortoise on the other side of the river gazes her
young ones and ensures their nurture and development. The
message of Paramaguru Sai Baba of Shirdi is very clear and
unambiguous, by which Radhabai Deshmukh was convinced
thoroughly about the utter futility of fasting to get mantra
from Sai Baba. This message also opened the eyes of
Hemadpanth, who initially was peeved as to how he could not
gather the grace of Baba, despite his long years of
paraayana of Gurucharitra, while Sathe with one week's
effort was blessed by Baba. I wonder how powerfully
convincing and blissful and at the same time so simple is
the divine message of Parmaguru Sai Baba!
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SAI ACTIVITIES:
Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Shirdi 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@....
Shri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Saibaba activities in Minneapolis were conducted at Shirdi Saibaba Prayer center since the year 2002. Now, with the grace and blessings of Baba and the support of devotees, a new Saibaba Mandir has begun to function at 1835 Polk St NE, Minneapolis from July 11th 2006. Please visit www.hamaresai.org for all details.
Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Sri 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 Center in Bay Area, CA
By Baba's grace, Shirdi Sai Parivaar is pleased to announce the grand opening of Shirdi Sai Center in Bay Area. The center is located at 897-B East Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. For more information please call 408-564-6704 or 408-705-7904.
Shirdi Saibaba temple, Los Angeles, CA
Devotees in Los Angeles area are informed about Sri Shirdi Saibaba temple in Los Angeles area. Please visit www.shirdisaila.org for more details. |
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FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:
Sai Vichaar thanks you for your support for the Question of the Week
feature. This feature is intended to initiate useful discussion on topics
related to Sai philosophy, His message, and Sai devotion. Please
participate by sending your contributions as well as suggested topics for
the same.
The Question of the week for this week is,
Q. Saibaba said to Smt. Radhabhai Deshmukh, "Oh mother, My Guru never
taught Me any Mantra, then how shall I blow any Mantra in your ears?".
Comment?
Humbly Yours,
The Editor |