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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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: To overcome negative experiences...

In his later role as a Sufi Master Sai Baba encouraged his visitors to practice repentance, to turn away from the life they had been living, and to practice devotion to God in whatever form they chose. He admonished his devotees to give up bad habits such as addiction to liquor, and exhorted that negative qualities such as caste rivalry, pride of learning, greed, etc. should not be harbored. In answer to a devotee's question concerning samsara (worldly activities), Sai Baba observed:

The Shadripus (the six enemies - lust, anger, covetousness, delusion, pride & jealousy) are all delusive. They make the unreal appear as real. If a rich man wears a gold ornament, the poor man gets jealous, and thinks he must have one. This is lobha (greed). All are like this. So one must conquer the six enemies. If they are conquered, waves of passion will not arise. Else they will enslave you. If they are subordinated and reason made the commandant, then the delusive pleasures and pains will no longer hold sway over you.

Commenting to Nana Chandorkar, he said that of this jealousy is the easiest to conquer:

Jealousy (matsara) is the inability to endure another's profit and prosperity. If another gets fortune or power, we cannot put up with it, we scandalize him. When he meets with loss, we rejoice. But is this good? When that man attains prosperity, what loss have we really suffered? But people do not consider this point of view. If he attains good let us rejoice; let us attain or strive to attain equal good. That should be our desire and determination.

One technique, which Sai Baba enjoined for overcoming such negative experiences, was to repeat the name of God. He said: "if others hate us, let us simply take to namajapa (recitation of the names of God) and avoid them."

(Source: ."Shirdi Sai Baba in the Light of Sufism" by Marianne Warren)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba and Nana Chandorkar (continued from last week)

Nana folded his hands and said, "I understand that but what puzzles me is this: why should there be pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow? There cannot be these if one gets rid of worldly affairs."

To this Baba said, "Pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow are illusions. They are not real, although people think them to be real. Thanks to his previous karma, one man feeds on delicacies; another feeds on dry bread; a third gets only stale food or worthless left-overs. Those who feed on stale food or worthless leftovers consider themselves unhappy, while those eating good food say that they have everything they need. The purpose of eating is to quench the fire in the stomach, no matter what one eats delicacies or leftover. Similarly, the purpose of covering one's body, whether with delicate fabrics woven with gold thread or with rough garments made from the inner bark of trees, is to protect the body; nothing more. Thus, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure are simply ways of looking at things. They are, as I said, illusions and you should not be deceived by them. Illusory as they are, these feelings cannot exist without a cause just as waves cannot exist without water or light without a lamp.

The six enemies like desire, avarice etc. are the underlying causes. These make one believe that the unreal is the real. When a poor man sees a gold bracelet on the wrist of a rich man, he feels angry. The anger in turn gives rise to envy, the desire to own something belonging to another. One must therefore defeat the six enemies. Once they are subdued they cannot disturb you with joy or sorrow. You need not destroy these enemies completely; you need only to learn to employ them as your slaves, keeping them in check through knowledge or rational thinking.
"There is, however, one real joy and one real sorrow. Being caught up in the cycle of births and deaths is the real sorrow; getting liberated from the cycle is the real joy. All the rest is illusion.

"How then, should one conduct oneself in the world? Listen to what I say carefully. One must be contented with one's lot in life; one must not keep worrying over it. If riches come to you, accept them but be humble, like the trees which bend on being loaded with fruit. It is good to be humble, to be kind and polite but not to everyone. You should learn to tell rogues, who take advantage of the kindness of the rich, and be stern with them. Do not forget, however, that wealth is but the noonday shadow. Do not get puffed up with the power of wealth and harass others. Instead give in charity according to your capacity. One should never borrow and be extravagant. The world may be an illusion but your destiny is not: it is real. You need wealth to conduct your worldly affairs.

Wealth is essential but one should not get entangled in it. Do not be a miser. Be generous but not over-generous. Remember no one will care for you once your wealth is spent. Generosity combined with extravagance is dangerous; avoid it by all means. While giving in charity, consider how suitable is the recipient. Ask yourself: "Is he worthy of your help? Is he in real need? and only if the answer is yes, must you give. The sick and the disabled are worthy of your charity; so are orphans. All public welfare projects are deserving of financial help: so are scholars of merit. Try and help, if you can, poor and deserving women in labor.

"There are three types of feedings: mass feeding, regular feeding and occasional feeding. Mass feeding is feeding people in thousands. You may do this if you are very wealthy and your intentions good. When you mass-feed, you need not differentiate between caste or between good and bad people; all are worthy. Feeding in the name of the Lord also falls in this category. However, you should not undertake some feeding if you have to borrow and get into debt.

(Contributed by Continued......)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba and Nana Chandorkar (contd.)

Regular feeding, on the other hand, calls for discrimination. Only way farers, mendicants, the worthy poor among students who live by begging their bread, and the hungry deserve to be fed regularly. "Then there is occasional feeding - feeding on occasions like weddings, festivals and the completion of the observance of religious vows. On such occasions you may invite your good friends and relations and feed them. These are the three types of feeding and the reasons behind them. The same holds good for the offering of clothing as well.

"Try to help those in distress whenever your purse permits. When in power, do not misuse it. Do not take a bribe while sitting in judgment on a case. Whatever responsibility is given to you, carry it out well and with due care. Do not dress overly and show off. Do not, without proper reason, insult anyone. Know the bad and the wicked and deal carefully with them. If you are blessed with sons, daughters, servants and maids, treat them all affectionately but do not take pride in these blessings, for such pride is the cause of the cycle of births and deaths. We must finish up with our past store of karma so that nothing is left for us to carry forward. Blessings like sons, daughters etc. are meant for this life only. Where, for instance, are the friends and relatives we had in our past lives? They ceased to be when the lives for which they were meant ceased to be. Desires, on the other hand, bind us from birth to birth and bring about the next birth. Do not therefore take false pride in your progeny, relations or friends. Only then will you get everlasting bliss. We go to a hotel to take shelter there for a short while. We do not get attached to such a temporary dwelling. The world too is but a temporary abode for us.

"Everybody should perform his duties and at the same time remember the Lord, who is full of bliss.

The one God created all children on earth but your own child is your responsibility. You must bring him up properly, educate him, give him some money and leave some wealth for him. Do not, however, take pride in his upbringing or education or the wealth you have left him. Do your duty and give the Lord the credit for doing it. Give the Lord the fruits of your duty too. This will help you to remain aloof and detached from worldly activities. Use your intelligence and knowledge to differentiate the good from the bad, accept the good and discard the bad. Take up good projects and make all possible efforts to complete them. You must by no means be apathetic towards the affairs of this world. Do your duties proudly but cast off this pride as soon as they bear fruit.

"As long as life exists, one must take good care of one's body but one should not weep over death. After death nothing exists for you to cry over. Wise men are unmoved by death; it is only the foolish who give vent to their feelings in times of death. The body until its death is a loan from the five elements, which the life force repays. On full and final repayment of the loan, air mixes with air, fire with fire. Thus, the five elements go back to their respective places.

The body belongs to the earth and as such its loss is not a matter for mourning. Similarly the birth of a child need not be a cause for rejoicing, birth being as natural a phenomenon as death. One must simply stay calm, unmoved by birth and death, O Narayan! The earth bears the seed, the cloud waters it and the sun helps the seed to germinate. When the seed germinates, do the earth, the cloud and the sun rejoice and start dancing? Whether the sprout turns into a big tree or it dries up and withers is something that should cause neither rejoicing nor sorrow. If we act in this manner, how can there be any misery or cause for lamentation? The state of absolution is the absence of misery and lamentation.

(Contributed by Source: Sri Sai Gurucharithra: Collected works on Saibaba by DasGanu Maharaj)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba and Nana Chandorkar (contd.)

Baba then told Nanasaheb that we would receive from him more 'upadesh" later. Nanasaheb was very pleased to hear this. His eyes moist with tears of joy and his body full of goose pimples, he caught hold of Baba's feet and said in a voice overwhelmed with emotion."O generous Sai: you have redeemed me. Your "upadesh" has washed away the dust of nescience that had gathered over me. I am deeply grateful to you." Nimonkar was equally overwhelmed. They both fell at Baba's foot and left for their respective homes.

(Contributed by Source: Sri Sai Gurucharithra: Collected works on Saibaba by DasGanu Maharaj)

DEVOTEES SAY:

Savitha
I want to thank you Sainatha for Your grace on my family and me for all these years. As per my vow to You I am writing in this newsletter to spread the bhakthi that indeed you are with everyone who believes in you. Please continue to bestow Your grace on everyone. Om Shri Sai Ram.

Vijay
Thank you Sai because of you my brother got good job. Thanks for every thing, please shower your blessings on all your devotees and my family.

Suresh
I have prayed with Sai Nath that if I receive last months salary from my company I will publish this in Sai Vichar as the company was not in a position to pay salary and I received salary only with Baba's blessings. I thank you Baba.

Jyothi
A many thanks to dear Sai, You have gifted me a with a baby boy. After I lost a baby last year I thought I would never have any child but by Your grace and love for Your children You bestowed upon me this great gift. You also got my husband a job in India and now a new home. I just can't believe that everything is happening so soon. Once again I would like to thank you and request You to keep me ever chanting Your name. Sai, O Lord, this time my mother has some health problems, kindly help her recover without any trouble. Thank you O Lord, thanks a lot.

PRAYER CLUB:

Prakash
Due to poorvarjita karma, I am trapped in a serious debt problem. Though You have blessed me and my family with a good salary, all my earnings are getting drained out in repayment of debt. You are the only solace and help me in getting out of this problem as soon as I can. Though You are aware about my problems, I am making a request to you specially like a baby requests his mother for food.

Karnad
Sai Baba, please help my son overcome all his doubts and wavering mind and to concentrate on his studies.

Punam
Om Sai Ram. By Baba's grace my IUI was done. I prayed and requested to Baba that please bless me with a baby. Already my 4 IUI were failed, but I know Baba can do miracles any time. Everything is in Baba's hands. So please Baba, take care of me this time. I request all Sai devotees to pray for me.

Neetu
Baba, You what I am going through. Please Baba tell my husband to come back soon. Please Baba tell him that we are missing him very much. Baba please have mercy on us.

Swaminathan
Baba please solve our problems and give us some peace and happiness. Please forgive my mistakes and bless us. We are trying our best bit still the results are not in our favor. We are keeping all our faith in you. Only your help can save us.

Srinivas
Please, see that I don't lose my Job. I will perform well Baba. With your grace, I will perform definitely well. Please provide your blessings to me. I always recite your name wherever I am.

Hemisha
Forgive for all mistakes committed in my life and please Saibaba shower your grace on me and my family and assured to me to get a good job.

Shai
I don't know whether I should go ahead with my idea of changing my career path should I just be patient and see what Baba has stored for me. I feel so confused. Please guide me my Mentor.

Nikhil
Please pray for my mother, she has got airthritis from past five years. Baba please help her, give Your heeling touch Baba. Take her problems away. Baba give Your love to my family.

Zinda
Please bless my brother with a child. Please help my sister's son to get admission for Engineering. You are taking good care of me and my family. Help my husband in his job and take care of our health.

Reshma
Baba, please help my husband to get a job. We have relocated interstate and it is increasingly difficult for him to get back in the lecturing or teaching profession. Also Baba my son who is very bright but tend to get careless with his studies. Please guide him to concentrate in his school work for this is such an important year for him. I beg you Baba please show my sixteen year old the right way. He must not get sidetracked. Thank you very much Baba for everything. Om Sai Ram

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

Ambika
I am 22 years old and Baba came into my life in the year 2002. For me it was complete belief and love from the beginning, no doubts, no questions. Since then Baba has given me loads of beautiful experiences, not once has He let me down at every step He has held my hand and helped me walk through life without which I have no idea whether I could even take a step forward but the experience I am about to relate is absolutely unbelievable. It's a miracle. I still feel that I experienced something so beautiful and perfect very early in life, I've got much more than I deserve. I mean after loads of prayers and good deeds not many people witness something like this. I still don't understand the reason behind Baba choosing me. I always try to be his perfect daughter but I don't think I've really always managed it. But as they say He has His reasons or probably Faith does move mountains. But I am so thankful to Baba for choosing me. I study in Pune and I have been offering Baba a glass of water and prasad as Naivadya everyday since September 2005.This is generally how we all express our love to Baba. Just that I did it a little differently, every time while offering water I always took a drop of water from the glass on my finger and put it on the lips of the Baba's murti I have with me. It was just my way of making Baba drink water and as expected the drop would either trickle down to the chin or just stay on the lips and dry up in some time. So on the 27th February 2006 night at around 11 pm (which was rather late than usual) when I did my regular offering I as usual put the drop of water on Baba's lips. And to my utter surprise the drop disappeared immediately in front of my eyes. I was shocked, actually too shocked to believe my eyes. So I took another drop and put it on the lips of my Baba's murti. And that within seconds disappeared too.

continued...
I decided I will do the same once more and if it happens for the 3rd time I'll go and call my masi (who was the only elder person at home at that time). I did it for the third time and Baba seemed to have drank that drop too. I immediately went and called my masi and I showed her the miracle. And she was shocked to no bounds. She immediately took a drop from the glass and put it on Baba's lips. And that disappeared too, we were so happy with the miracle that we alternately made Baba drink water from the glass for an hour till the water in the glass was over. By the time we finished the glass and brought more water my brother sister and their friends were home. And Baba accepted water from them too. In fact their friends who are not really Baba devotees were too shocked to believe what was happening. But that was Baba's way of drawing them closer to Him. As a result all of them took the first bus to Shirdi two days later in order to take Baba's darshan. After around one and a half hour (that is at 12:30 am approx Baba stopped drinking water). This miracle was something none of us had ever dreamt of. I was so shocked that there was a point of time when I thought probably the clay of the murti was absorbing the water so I put a drop of water on the murti's head. And that just stayed there, it was only when we put it on the lips did Baba drink it. It was not the clay it was Baba for sure. After that day till today whenever I offer water to Baba I put the drop on His lips and as usual the drop remains on his lips. Guess that was the day Baba wanted to literally drink water from my and the other's hands accepting our love and devotion for him. I really don't know how to express my love and gratitude to Baba for everything. All I can think of telling Him right now is 'I Love You Baba'.

Charul
I would like to share my experience with all Sai devotees. My 4 year old son was hospitalized on 3rd April, 2006 as he was suffering from severe gastroenteritis. He developed severe fever that reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. He had not eaten since the morning so he couldn't take in the medicine for reducing his fever. The medicines that were being injected into his bloodstream were having little effect. The cold strips treatment to lower his temperature was leading to nowhere. My poor child was also having convulsions from time to time. The doctors suspected meningitis but weren't sure. I was crying bitterly to Sai and praying to Him to take care of his child. All of a sudden we heard the sounds of Jai Mata Di from the neighboring temple, as these were the Navratras days going on. We all prayed to our Sai Mata to bless our little baby and all of a sudden his temperature reduced to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, much to the surprise of everyone including the doctors around. He started talking normally as if nothing had happened! Thank you Sai for having saved the life of our son.

Arun
Thanks a lot Sai, I promised Sai that I will publish this once my brother gets a job. I started reading Sai Satcharita and committed to complete it in 7 days with request to Sai to give my brother a job who is being idle after our set back in business. I completed reading Sai Satcharita in 7 days, there was no news of my brother getting any job, I was disappointed and thought that Sai did not bless me. I was depressed, but within a week my brother got an offer for job and they asked him to join from Thursday itself. My belief in Sai is reconfirmed and felt Saibaba's presence in my life is always there. He does not leave His devotees in middle. Thanks a lot Sai, have Your grace on my family and me always.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

"Wholesome food will bring good health. A man of restraint is better than a man of indulgence".-Shri Sai Baba

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Q. What does Sai Baba say about the wealthy/rich?

A. by Prakash

God descends from the heaven in the form of Yuga Purusha to protect the Dharma from evil spirits. We read about Shri Rama and Shri Krishna in our great epics. Even though they were taken the human form, they stood above the human traits. This shows how one can raise to the level from Manava to Madhava.

The riches are the accumulated fruits of the past good deeds. By virtue of being rich due to one's own good deeds in the past, one should be humble and do good deeds even during the present life also. Sainath always teaches the humility and the path of renunciation. He always recommends and believes in the Karma theory. Sainath never teaches running out of the responsibilities of Grihastashrama. There is a Sanskrit saying that "Vidya dadati Vinayam, Vinaya dadati patratam, patratvat dhanamapnoti tad dana dharma tatah sukham". Which means, education brings the humility and humility brings the capability and the capability brings the money. Out of the money you earn through these means, first you do some good deeds by donating some portion of your earnings to the poor and needy (Daridra Narayana Seva- which pleases our beloved Sai Sadguru) and then utilize the balance for your personal well being.

This should be the ultimate aim of all. This is exactly what Sainath preaches to all the riches to bring down the parity between the haves and have-nots. During the divine presence of Sainath in the human form, he never gave importance to money. All that he used to get in the form of Dakshina used to be distributed among the needy devotees. Taking dakshina from the devotee is an indication of the movement towards the path of renunciation. This is the real lesson, which Baba used to say it to all the wealthy/rich. "Sainathaya Namaha".

SAI ACTIVITIES:

Gurupoornima at Shirdi Sai Temple, Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Gurupoornima celebrations will be held in Shirdi Sai Temple, Chicago from Tuesday, July 11th through Thursday, July 13th 2006. Program highlights: Maha Abhishek, Aarthis, Satcharita parayan, Sri Sai Satyanarayan Vratha, Sri Datta Moola Mantra Homam, Palaki procession and more. For program details please visit the temple website www.saibaba.us or contact the Temple office at 847-931-4058.

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 will begin to function at 1835 Polk St NE, Minneapolis. 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 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 Prasad on every 1st Saturday of each month at Durga Mandir, Kendall Park, New Jersey. 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.

Summer Sai activities for Children, Toronto, Canada
Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan of Canada cordially introduces "Character and Moral Values"- a unique 4 Week Summer Program for Children of all ages. The Guiding Principal of the program is "Shraddha" & "Saburi" with its curriculum based on the Teachings of our Sadguru Shri Shirdi Sai Nath. For details to enroll or volunteer visit www.shirdisainath.org or send email saileela99@yahoo.com or call 416-402-8089 or 416-895-7905.

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 6:00 p.m. onwards. For other temple activities and information please call 647-444-4724 or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com.

Shirdi Sai parivar, Vancouver, Canada
Shirdi Sai parivar in Vancouver invites you all for Sai satsang on Thursday from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm and first Sunday of every month from 11:30 am to 1 pm, at 8571, 118A St, Delta, V4C 6L2. For further details contact (604)592 4182 or email at sai_ish@hotmail.com.

Sai Satsangs in Singapore
Dear Sai devotees in Singapore, Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan (Singapore) conducts regular Sai bhajans every Saturday from 6:30 p.m. at Shri Vadapathira Kalliamman Temple, Serangoon Road, Little India, Singapore. Please visit the web site http://www.saisansthan.com for more details.

Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation, Malaysia
We have regular gatherings, bhajans on Thursdays at Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation Centre, Brickfields, Kualalumpur, Malaysia. For more information please call 60322606030 or send email to daewanand@yahoo.com

FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:

Sai devotees staying in Singapore please refer above for Sai satsang details in Sai Activities section. Gurupoornima is celebrated on July 10th to 12th in Shirdi. The festival celebrating Sadguru Sainath Maharaj's love and grace is important to all Sai devotees. Please share with your fellow devotees the details of Gurupoornima celebrations planned in your community.

A devotee suggests the Question of the week as follows:

Q. What does Sai Baba say about the wealthy/rich?

Humbly Yours,
The Editor

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