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FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Unseen miracles!
Behind every prayer and parayan (reading of holy books) there
lies a desire, the quest for a miracle. Nice are those experiences where the
seeker gets what he desires. It is the experiences of several devotees to
receive the good news, from seemingly nowhere, beyond the logic, at the end
of a sincere prayer. What of those who do not see the light at the end of
the tunnel? Did Sai not hear them? Are those prayers not sincere?
A prayer is always sincere. The mere thought of surrendering
our ego, even for a moment, at the feet of Sadguru and invoking His grace to
the betterment of our existence is a significant step. However, not being
able to receive the expected or wanted may not construe as a failure.
It does help one to know why the prayers aren't answered
always. Why is that Sai withholds His miracles, seemingly to a few
"unfortunate" ones? A careful analysis may help our little minds to some
extent. Next time, if our prayers are unanswered, let us remember those
occasions carefully and move on. Let our faith be doubled and let our love
to Sainath is unchanged. It will be revealed later, that the prayers that
were "unanswered" were a part of a much bigger plan. It will be known that,
what happened is in our best interests. It will also be known that it may
not be a dealing between Sai and the self, but a part of a grander
revelation. "Seek my treasure. My coffers are open", said Sai. The best
miracles are the ones that are unseen. |
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CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Who Comes First!
Guru Govind do khade- kiskolagu pai
Balihaarii Guru apne- Govind deo batai
Guru and Govind stand in front of me. Whose feet should I
touch first?
Because of the grace of my Guru that I had the darshan of the Govind. Glory
to my Guru.
In this Doha, Sant Kabir offers his pranams, first to the
teacher, later to the Govind, and explains why is that so. He did not let
down the God, but he stressed the importance of Guru in reaching God.
Whenever we look at a house, we first see the door. The door helps us to
enter into the house. Inside of the house cannot be seen from out side
except the door. Like wise, the eyes cannot see the Brahman. To reach the
Brahman we have to go through the Master(Guru). On the spiritual path, the
role of a teacher is very important. We need the examples of the persons who
are fully awake and aware of the Self all the time. The Guru knows the path
and advises us about the pitfalls and traps in the path. The teachers are
the best physicians. When the Bhava Roga (the disease of repeated birth and
death in the material world) disables us, the teachings are the best
medicine. Being around a spiritual teacher or a spiritual group of friends
helps us to face the problems of life without much confusion and tension.
Sadguru and satsangs are an important part of life. All of us are so
fortunate to have a master like Sri Sai Baba. Sri Sai emphasized the
importance of a guide in the life of a spiritual seeker. Sri Sai explained
to us how much his teacher loved him and took care of him. Love is the
simple path to reach God. To start with, many people love God or Guru due to
various selfish reasons. As the days pass by, Guru will make the devotees to
realize the defects of the earthly desires and would make them to ask for
the permanent good.
(Contributed by Sai devotee)
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: The Story of Stale Food
In the town of Shrabasti once lived a rich merchant named
Migar. One fine afternoon, when he had just sat down for his freshly
prepared and delicious meal, a Buddhist monk knocked on his door and asked
for alms. At that moment, Vishakha, his daughter-in-law, was standing nearby
and waving a fan over him. The merchant did not pay any attention to the
monk's call and kept eating and enjoying his meal. When the monk called for
the second time, Vishakha replied to the monk, My father-in-law is eating
stale food and therefore, the monk should look somewhere else. On hearing
these words the merchant immediately got into a fit of anger. He left his
food, washed his hands, told Vishakha that she has insulted him, and asked
her to immediately leave the house.
Vishakha politely replied-At the time of my marriage, you had
promised my father that for any of my mistakes, you will consult the eight
wise men of the town for the punishment that is appropriate for my mistake.
I request you to fulfill your promise. This angered the merchant even more.
He immediately called the eight wise-men and told them how Vishakha has
insulted him. Once Migar had described the incident, Vishakha explained,
Wealth, riches and worldly possessions in the present birth are due to the
merits and good deeds that were performed by the person in his previous
births. Everything in possession of my father-in-law is due to the merits of
his past births. As he has now stopped doing good deeds in his present
birth, so he is simply enjoying what he has accumulated from his past birth
and therefore, I told the monk that he is eating stale food. After listening
to Vishakha's explanation, the merchant realized his mistake and apologized
to her.
(Contributed by Translated in English from Kalyan Magazine -
contributed by Dharmender Rathore)
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: News from Shirdi: Income Tax rule 1961
clause 35 AC to Shri Saibaba Sansthan.
Finance ministry of Government of India has granted the
permission of 100 percent exemption in the Income Tax on the amount of
donations being given by Sai devotees to the Sansthan. This exemption will
be as per the Income Tax rule 1961 clause 35 AC. Chairman, Vice-chairman and
Executive officer of the Sansthan, MLA Jayant Sasane, Shankarrao Kolhe and
Bhausaheb Wakchaure respectively informed jointly in a press release here.
Ministry of the Central Government has published this
information in the gazzate of India. This sanction is given under the scheme
of social, economical, health, educational developments and essential
facilities for the Sansthan. Sansthan can collect the donations upto Rupees
75 crores under this scheme. Uptil now, donors were getting 50 percent
excemption in Income Tax on donated amount as per clause 80G. Thereafter the
donors will get 100 percent exemption in Income Tax on donated amounts as
per clause 35 AC.
The donations to be received under this scheme will be
utilised for hospital, school, museum and food supply. Economically backward
people can get the benefit under this scheme. The period of this scheme is
from financial year 2005 to 2008. As per the gazzate published on February
3rd 2006, by the Finance Ministry of India, 12 such organisations(centers)
got this permission. Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust (Shirdi) has got the
highest limit of collection of donation i.e. Rupees 75 crores, is a matter
of appreciation.
The donors are appealed to take the benefit of this scheme,
informed by Mr. Sasane, Mr. Kolhe and Mr. Wakchaure.
(Contributed by Executive Officer, Shri Saibaba Sansthan
Trust, Shirdi) |
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DEVOTEES SAY:
Tom
I am from a catholic family in England. I began reading about philosophy and
eastern religions, becoming obsessive and persistently searching books for
the "answer". One fateful day, I was in the local library after work and had
become tired and annoyed with myself over the time I was spending on this
fruitless quest. I decided to give it up and to read something purely for
entertainment. In the biography section, I saw an interesting book on the
top shelf. I took hold of it but the book next to it fell to the floor. I am
not clumsy and do not remember dislodging that book. This obviously aroused
my curiosity. The book was Sai Baba, Man of Miracles by Arthur Osborne.
Despite all my reading, I had never come across Sai. I was intrigued by a
quick review of the contents and took the book home. Cutting a long story
short, I have now been a devotee of Sai for 30 years, have twice visited
Shirdi, my watch face has a picture of him and I "talk" to him each day. I
have received great worldly and spiritual benefits over the years. Seek and
you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
Harit
A couple weeks ago, I was reading this newsletter, which mentioned about an
article regarding Baba appearing at a devotee's home. Upon reading the same,
I began to think as to if Baba would be kind enough and bless our home. It
was late in the night, and upon coming home next day, I was simply amazed to
see that we had received a photo of Baba along with Udi in mail on Thursday.
This was nothing short of a chamatkar. All this happened on Thursday night.
Come Friday, there were some major restructuring changes at my wife's work
place. She dearly hung on to the photo of Baba, which had arrived the day
before, and it was only due to Baba's blessing that she escaped unscathed
from the job cuts. Thank you very much Baba for blessing our home. Baba
please show us the right direction during the tough times and not let us
have any ego during the good times.
Srinivas
I want to thank you Baba for arranging my sister's marriage (we were looking
for last 2 yrs). After I started reading the Sai Satcharitha daily, things
started settling down.
Sai Devotee
When I read Sai devotees prayer and Sri Saibaba's visit to their functions.
I was praying Sri Saibaba to attend my son's marriage or reception. But I
was thinking that I am not as strong devotee as other devotees so how will
Sri Saibaba can come to my place. Before marriage, we perform Santek in
Gujarat. Purnahuti is very important in this. During this stage, our priest
calls a senior priest to help him. As purnahuti started the senior priest
came and started saying the slokas. After completing purnahuti I ask my
priest what dakshina I should pay the other senior priest. He told me that
he do not know the senior priest and he did not invite the senior priest. So
my wife asked me to pay him some dakshina. When I tried to pay him, he said,
Did I asked for any money? I told him, I am giving it because I am very
happy with his work. Then again the senior priest said he did ask for any
money? I requested him and he took it. Then he asked me for rice and dal to
eat. I could not understand why I did not offer him lunch as people were
having lunch. When he asked me for rice and dal, I told my friend to take
him at the lunch place. He only eats rice and dal out of so many items.
After that he went away. Then I asked my neighbors, priest and many people
but nobody knows him or seen him any time. Immediately it strikes to me Oh!
Baba you came as a priest. Tears came out from all of our eyes. My family is
a strong believer of Sadguru Sri Saibaba for more than 55 years and how can
He forget us. Just keep faith and patience and He will be at your place.
Many thanks Baba for your help all the time to my family and me. Please
guide us all the time.
Sandhya
Sai thank you as promised I am posting my thanks through Sai Vichaar. Thank
you Sai for saving my mother. Please be with all of us Sai. |
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PRAYER CLUB:
Prabhavathi
Please control my husband's anger, give him patience, and let him be
tolerant to my son's faults. Please take care of us Baba. I know that I have
not been very good and faithful to You, but I need you Baba. Please help us
and please bring peace to our family.
Charul
Lord show me the way to gain back my lost confidence. Give me strength,
intellect, resources and courage to achieve my goal of setting up my school
and my husband joining me.
Vasanthi
Baba please help my husband hold on to this job, which he got by Your grace.
Please help him meet his productivity goals, he is right now quite far from
it and has only two months time to bring them.
Vinodini
My daughter is too young to make her decisions now. I pray to you Oh Sai!
Please take care of her!
Pavi
Oh Lord Sai! Please help my brother and sister-in-law remove all their
misunderstandings. I feel that I do not have all the pieces of the puzzle
and so I am not sure who is wrong in which way. As their well wisher, I can
only ask from you Deva.
Rajesh
Sai Baba, please grant that I am promoted at work.
Srikala
Sai Baba please help my husband to get a job, he is giving many interviews
but he is not getting any job. Help my husband to get the job.
Ratnakar
Please give strength, concentration and courage to my son, who is appearing
for his IITJEE-2006 exam.
Mamatha
I would love to have a baby, my husband was not interested. We had been to a
doctor; they found some problem in me. Please help me to overcome that
problem.
Mamata
We are desperate to have a child and we are trying since one and half year
with no fruits, you know this, I pray to you everyday about this, I have
cried in front of you everyday since one year, every month I expect I will
get good news. Please bless us. |
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EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:
Parag
A month back I had been thinking about lord Ram. Many questions came to my
mind in a quest to find if he truly deserves to be called god. He left his
wife for the sake of the well being of his kingdom, how can such a human be
compared with God? When Lord Rama met Sita after releasing her from Ravan
why did only Sita had to undergo agni pariksha? Even after passing the agni
pariksha eventually Lord Ram left Sita in the jungle. All these and many
more questions confused me. I started reading randomly any one chapter from
Sai Satcharitha to calm down my mind. In a weeks time I was again and again
taken to the same Chapter where Sai tells Mrs. Khaparde to always chant
Rajaram, Rajaram. I felt it was just mere coincidence. However, be it early
morning's newspaper or watching TV Lord Ram's praise and articles puzzled
me.
Finally, one early morning I just went on the web and searched for Rajaram
in Google image search. I was dumbfounded to what I saw. Lord Ram Sitting on
his throne the same way my Sai sits in his mandir at Shirdi. I realized that
I need to surrender my ego and find more information about Lord Ram's life.
I got answers to all my questions. His ways are truly inscrutable. Sai will
always break your ego and myth's if you truly surrender to him. May he
always keep showering his blessings and guide us in the right direction.
Krishna
My job where I was working laid me off on September 16th 2005. However, to
my wonder just before being laid off, Sai made me visit to a store, which I
usually do the shopping. I just asked for job application and the manager
said there are no applications and asked me to check next week. But when I
was coming out from the store the district Manager came to visit the store
for inspection and asked me what for I am looking? I do not know who he is?
I told him that I was looking for an application for a job in the store. To
my surprise, he asked me to wait and he got a pad of applications, gave me
one, and asked me to fill the same and submit immediately. He waited till I
completed the form and he interviewed me there itself and selected me after
negotiating the pay terms etc. and confirmed the appointment and asked me to
join after the due formalities of background check. In the same store, I
applied earlier 2 or 3 times but there was no response. After this, I went
home and in the night I went to the job as usual and I got the notice from
my previous employer about my lay off. I am working in the same company now,
which is a corporate store and has light work compared to the previous job.
I am also given one more job in October 2005, to schedule my hours properly
during the weekdays to have sufficient income. Both jobs are corporate owned
and with certain benefits. I only pray Sai to give me the normal way of
life, as he knows what is needed to me and he gives that. I only request all
devotees to leave the burdens and worries to Him whatsoever and surrender to
the lotus feet of Sai who takes care of everything. |
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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:
"The four sadhanas and the six sastras are not necessary.
Just have complete trust in your guru: it is enough".-Sai Baba
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Q. What is the best way to worship Sai baba of Shirdi? What
should be our routine?
A. by Sai devotee, NJ
There are many ways to worship Sai and it can be found across
various chapters of Sai Satcharitha and as mentioned by various devotees in
the previous newsletters. The ultimate worship would be if we could remember
Sai all the time and see him in all the beings.
Sai has always said that he is present in all the creatures. In Chapter 22,
Baba Says, "God lives in all beings and creatures, whether they be serpents
or scorpions. He is the great wire puller of the world and all beings obey
his command. Unless he wills it, nobody can do any harm to others. So we
should take pity and love all creatures." In Chapter 9, Baba says to Mrs.
Tarkhad, "I am roaming in their forms. He who sees me in all these creatures
is my beloved."
As Lt Col. M.B. Nimbalkar puts in his book 'Shri Sai Baba's Teachings and
Philosophy', -- "Thus if devotees are once convinced that Baba resides in
every creature, would they ever dare to touch non-vegetarian food in any
form at all".
Q. What is the best way to worship Sai baba of Shirdi? What
should be our routine?
A. by Sai devotee
The best way to worship Sai is with a clean heart. There is
no specific time, day or date. The only criteria required are we should have
firm Faith and Patience. We should trust that our Sai would take care of all
our needs. As Sairam says, we have to remember Sai often and all our
afflictions will be removed. Whether a person is vegetarian or
non-vegetarian does not matter. Baba wants only firm faith and of course
true to the self. We should not just pray to get our matters or problems
solved. We should not remember Baba only in times of problem. We have to
remember Baba always and thank Him whenever something good happens and
request Him if something bad happens. |
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SAI ACTIVITIES:
Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Shirdi 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@saibaba.org.
Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, Minnesota
Regular Sai activities in Minneapolis, St.Paul area are being conducted at
Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, 725 Lake St NE, Apt #139 Hopkins MN. For
details, please contact hamaresai@yahoo.com, or call Shirdi Saibaba Prayer
Center at 952-938-2983, and to read the monthly newsletter Sai Sandesh,
visit www.hamaresai.org.
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 Satsang, Bay Area, California
Shirdi Sai Parivaar invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 7:30
pm at Odd Fellows Temple, 20589 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. For
details please call 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu@yahoo.com or
visit www.ShradhaSaburi.org.
Sai Satsang, New Jersey, USA
Shirdi Sai Dham, Inc regularly conducts Sai bhajans followed by Aarti and
Parsad on every 1st Saturday of each month at Durga Mandir, Kendall Park,
New Jersey from 3 pm to 5 pm (Winter Hours). All are requested to kindly
come and receive Baba's blessings. For more information, please call us at
609-275-1334 or visit www.shirdisaidham.org or email us at shirdisaidham@hotmail.com
Shirdi Sai Satsang, Toronto, Canada
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan invites all to join for satsangs every Thursday 7:00
pm at Sai Dwarkamai, 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham, Ontario, L6C 2N4, phone
416-402-8089 or email: saileela99@yahoo.com. To request a pooja for
yourselves, your friends and family for any occasion at your residence,
please call. Devotees can request udi or Holy water (Abhishek Jal) from the
Holy bathing of Baba by sending us an email or by phone.
Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada
The Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario,
M1X 1L5 (Intersection of Markham and Nashdene) is open Monday to Friday from
6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 10:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m.
Dhoop Aarti is at 7:30 p.m. everyday. Bhajans are on Saturday from 5:00 p.m.
onwards. For other temple activities and information please call
647-444-4724 or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com. |
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FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:
Sai devotee Sadashiv Kavthankar suggests the following
"Question of the week" as
Q. Name any one incident during The Life of Shri Sai Baba
which has made a lasting impression on you?
Humbly Yours,
The Editor |
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