Guest guest Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday , September 20, 2007 :: Volume 10, Issue 19 (In its nineth 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: Jolt It is said that life is a journey through the waters, sometimes difficult, sometimes not so difficult. The guidance of the Master is essential for the successful completion of the journey. The sail of Guru's constant remembrance is very essential for crossing the mundane sea. When things go astray in the material aspects of our lives, we are reminded of the consequences in several ways. The causes may range from habitual rash judgments to one time ego-driven decisions. The results of such actions range from subtle reminders to change our course of actions to a major shake-up forcing the very direction of our lives. A person with a habit injurious to the physical self will wake up to the reality of ill health at a later stage. Craving for riches and attempts to possess them through short cut will be jolted by the ensuing financial calamity. Yet, the power of myth is such, most fall a victim to its peril. One may ask himself an important and curious question. What would be an indication of a spiritually fallen? Are there any signs that would caution a spiritual aspirant of such pathos? Well, it turns out that there may not be any such indication. Man is spiritual by nature. Firmly believing in this should naturally convince the self to give utmost importance to the means through which such a self is realized. Great souls of our times like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sri Ramana Maharshi were fortunate to realize this at the right time and more importantly, pertinent enough to pursue it. As long as one ascribes spiritual pursuit to a separate path parallel to the material life, this cannot be achieved. It should be convinced that it is one and the same life and spiritual self is the ultimate truth that is magnificent while the material, just trivial. Fortunate are those who cling to Sai tatva (philosophy) for this is an easy way, constant and consistent remembrance of Sai, the easiest path. CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Panchadasi- 10th Chapter Nataka Deepa (The Lamp of the Theatre) Saibaba encouraged reading of holy books such as Bhavartharamayana, Eknath Bhagavatham, Jnaneshwari, Panchadasi etc.. Baba's great devotee G.K.Khaparde used to read and explain to others, Panchadasi, a great Vedantik textbook. Now let us ponder on the background and the message of the holy text. Panchadasi was written by Swamy Vidyaranya in the 14th century. His name was Madhava Tirtha before taking sanyasa and he was instrumental in establishing the famous Vijayanagara Empire. At the age of 75, he took sanyasa and became the Sankaracharya of Shringeri Pith. Swami Vidyaranya was verily a forest of knowledge and wrote many famous texts. Panchadasi is a Vedantic book of Prakaranas (definitions), precisely explaining the message of the Upanishads; taking the seekers to the peeks of knowledge. It has fifteen chapters and hence is called Panchadasi. Roughly speaking the first five chapters (Viveka Prakaranas) talk of the discrimination of the real and the unreal (Sat-Vidya). The next five (Dipa Prakaranas) deal with the awareness aspect of the Reality (Chit-Vidya). The last five (Ananda Prakaranas) deal with the bliss aspect (Ananda-Vidya). How ever, each chapter is complete in explaining the Truth. As Panchadasi gives a better understanding of the theme of the Upanishads, let us determine the theme first. An insect caught in the whirlpool of a river can only be saved by a compassionate soul watching its plight. Thus, the compassionate Guru comes along lift us out of this rigmarole of life through the knowledge of Vedanta, indicating a blissful state. Now let us go into the meaning of the 10th Chapter, Nataka Deepa (The Lamp of the Theatre). One should read these verses very slowly for a better understanding of the intended message. 1. Before the projection of the world the Supreme Self, the secondless, all-bliss and ever complete, alone existed. Through His Maya He became the world and entered into it as the Jiva, the individual Self. 2. Entering the superior bodies like that of Vishnu, He became the deities; and remaining in the inferior bodies like that of men He worships the deities. 3. Due to the practice of devotions in many lives the Jiva desires to reflect upon his nature. When by enquiry and reflection Maya is negated, the Self alone remains. 4. The duality and misery of the secondless Self, whose nature is bliss, is called bondage. Abiding in Its own nature is said to be liberation. 5. Bondage is caused by want of discrimination and is negated by discrimination. Hence, one should discriminate about the individual and supreme Self. 6. He who thinks 'I am' is the agent. Mind is his instrument of action and the actions of the mind are two types of modifications in succession, internal and external. 7. The internal modification of the mind takes the form of 'I'. It makes him an agent. The external modification assumes the form of 'this'. It reveals to him the external things. 8. The external things (that are cognized by the mind in a general way, their special qualities having been jumbled up) are cognized by the five sense-organs quite distinctly as sound, touch, color, taste and smell. 9. That consciousness which reveals at one and the same time the agent, the action and the external objects is called 'witness in the Vedanta. (To be continued) Inspired by Sainath maharaj. May Saibaba's Divine Light of compassion ever be upon us! (Ref: Swami Tejomayananda, Chief of Chinmaya Mission, Swami Swahananda, Ramakrishna Mission) (Contributed by Syamasundar Davuluri, Houston, TX) DEVOTEES SAY: Aruna Thank you very much Baba for helping me, when I lost my job and when my life was in full ups and downs, my family are ever grateful for all the good things You have given to us. Please fulfill all our good wishes and give us the strength, the opportunity to come to Shirdi. Sita Thank you Baba for everything. We had an employee, who was troubling us a lot; he filed a case against us. We all knew he was at fault. You helped him realize this and he withdrew the case. Leaving us unharmed. Thank you for your blessings, please be with us always. Mini I have been a devotee of Sai Baba for the past few years. I have had the opportunity of experiencing His miracles. An example of His leela is when I went to India in 2003 I wanted to visit Shirdi with my daughter and the day before my trip I went to this store which sold antiques and coins and since I like coin collecting I started rummaging through the coins the first coin I found was avery old coin with Sai Baba's divine face and a Shivan lingam on one side and Astha vinayakas on the other. I immediately bought this coin. We had a very nice trip to Shirdi and on the bus I met someone who gave me a Sai Baba watch and told me that Baba asked him to give it to someone. I request you Sai Baba to shower Your blessings on all Your devotees and solve my health and my daughter's health problems and I will post my experience again on Sai Vichaar soon. Pradip Last Feburuary, I was in Shirdi. Before going to Shirdi , I did sankalpa that I will sing all aratis during our one week stay in Shirdi. I also made the commitment I will dedicate one arati a day to the people who have serious financial and social problems. I with my family reached Shirdi, Wednesday night. I forgot my sankalpa of one arati a day to the weaker people. As Thursday was Baba's day, selfishness overruled my sankalpa. I was in line for Kakad arati on Thursday. Baba did not give me a better place to sit and I was almost in the last line of the Samadi Mandir hall. I did not enjoy arati singing from the distance whereby I cannot see Baba. The average crowd in Shirdi was 20,000 to 30'000. I went to my lodge. Thursday night, Baba made me remember my Sankalpa that I must sing at least one arati a day to the weaker people with serious financial and social problems. I made up my mind to sing and dedicate Madyana arati to the weaker people as per my sankalpa from Friday onwards. I was in line for Kakad arati on Friday, the crowd was not less than 20,000. To my great surprise, I got the seat in the first line of sitting line at the center. I sang Kakad arati with great enjoyment having full view of Baba. I got second line of sitiing line at the center in Madyana arati. For the coming six days of stay in all the aratis, I got either first, second or third line of siting line of the center by Baba's grace. I really enjoyed arati singing because I had full view of Baba from these centrally located seats. I do all the arati in Marathi script in my house since seven years. We have now started dedicating Madhyana and Shej arati in our house in Kathmandu to the weaker people as per the spiritual guidance given by Baba in Shirdi. Achuttan My younger sister's marraige proposals were not materializing, I was working in private company at Calcutta. When I was worried so much, my colleague (we call her Mami) asked, why you are gloomy now-a-days. I told her the story. She advised me to visit Shirdi Sai Temple at Calcutta for 7 Thursdays and pray well, then wait. I visited the temple every Thursday. Believe it or not, the proposal that was not materialized about 4 months back came again for consideration. Now she is married with the same person and having two children staying at Abu Dhabi, UAE. Her husband is working as Regional Finance Manager of a private company. This kindness of Baba, how can I forget Him. Sai devotee Baba, with Your blessings my younger son got a seat in a good Engineering college and also my elder son got a job in Dubai with a reasonable package. Whatever I have been today is only because of Your blessing on my family and as said I am posting this article. Koti Pranam. Rama Baba, I thank You from the bottom of my heart for helping my husband to get the job. In the future also please take care of us and lead us in the right path. Once again thank you Baba. Kalaivani Baba, I prayed to You for a quick settlement of our new home, which You have done to us and without any major difficulty, we have got settled. All this is due to Your blessings. I took a vow to write it in Sai Vichaar after the settlement. Here I am, writing the miracle You have done in our life. Baba, please guide us always and show the right path to go on in life. Only with Your blessings it is possible. PRAYER CLUB: Padmini Baba, my humble namaskarams to You. Without asking, You gave me a nice education and excellent job. But when it comes to another milestone which is marriage, why do you want me to go through these confusions and pain. Even if it is because of my previous bad karma, please forgive me. Let all my karmas burn in Your dhuni and give me advice and help to successfully pass this bad phase Baba. You know how much my mother is dependent on me. Since I am in confusions, she is also worried. Please do magic in my thoughts so that I can nicely take care of her. You are my only refugee. Sometimes I am scolding and fighting with You, please don't take it seriously. I am extremely sorry as we all know that You came down to earth to save us. Please Baba, help me to pass this bad phase then You will always see your daughters happy face only as I understood Your truth, " Desire is the cause of all sorrows " . Sai devotee Sai, my parents and I are going through a lot and I am not sure why. We are so devoted to You and seek Your blessings in all matters and still nothing is working out. The property is all my parents have and it must come to them without any court case and any problem. Please take care of their health and give them a happy long life with a lot of peace of mind. I have done the saptah 4 times like You have said and pray so much to You. I have no peace of mind and happiness Sai and my health is affected so much. I am begging you Sai, please make things happen as You said it will. Please help me finish my studies before I leave next month without any problem. Please ensure that I will leave next month as planned. Please help me with the other issue as well and please let things be wonderful and happy just as You have said. I believe in You and I will do another saptah if everything sorts out by next month. Please give me and my parents a miracle. Sai Devotee My dear Sainatha, You have always been with me. Please help me to get well soon. I am doing very well in the gym and coming back to my normal shape and size. My husband is getting a promotion for his hardwork and his company is making huge profits. Protect my two children. Dear Baba please shower Your grace on my family. A devotee My son is entering his eleventh grade and please shower Your blessings and show Your mercy on him. He has to focus in his studies and please Deva make him more serious in his education. I do not have any other person in this world to tell my sorrows. Please change my husband's attitude towards me. I am so distressed with so many calamities in my life. Stay with me in the interview that I am going to attend tomorrow, which is Thursday. I want to visit Shirdi in 2009 with my family. Stay with my son through-out his high school. Thank you Deva. Ramoo Baba, may I humbly ask for Your kind assistance, blessings, arrangements and guidance to overcome my present situation/predicament, residence and financial constraints. Thank you very much. Usha My dearest Sai Ma, Thank you for all the grace You have showered on us. We continue to seek Your guidance at every step we take. You know that my husband has been going through lot of ups and downs in his career. Please help him to get a good break in a good profit making company where he will be happy and get good peace of mind. Veena Dear Sai, I truly beleive You are always with me. O Lord I pray to You to get me another good job with very good salary as I am unable to survive in my current job. You very well know my situation. I beg of You o lord to grant my wish. Leena Respected Baba! what I learnt from childhood, I did that. Yes somtimes as a human being I became arrogant. But Baba do I deserve this sufferings. Why am I crying today for a child and a happy family. Please bless me with a child who will be Your reflection and a sweet family where You will be the head of the family. Pujawalia Thank you God for everything. Baba please help my brother get a job as soon as possible. You know that how much my mother and brother are worried about this. Oh Baba please help him in this. I will post my thanks in this prayer club. I love You Baba. Please bless me with all the faith and patience. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: Chaitanya Om Sai Ram! Yesterday evening my daughter who is four and a half years old was suffering from ear pain and headache. Late in the night she was very much struggling with pain and I could not see her suffering from 12 am and then at around 2 - 2:30 am I got up and took out udi and mixed in water and prayed to Baba, " that this pain should go away and she sleeps well and tomorrow I will write this miracle definitely " and gave it to my daughter. Then wonder of wonders just within 10 to15 minutes after she had Udi she had a nice sleep and in the morning when she got up she was fine. Thank you very much Baba. Well yesterday morning I had read about Udi's miracle in Sai Satcharitra and remembered about Jamner miracle where the lady who had labor pains and at the last moment when she had Baba's Udi she delivered a baby safely and the problem was solved, then even I thought my daughter should also get well after having Udi with water. Thank you very much Baba. Parthasarathy This happened on 9th September 2007. My mother-in-law traveled from Bangalore to Chennai in Lalbagh express. Before boarding the train, she was having her purse with some cash and train ticket. After boarding the train and settled down, the Ticket master came asked for her ticket. She searched and found that the purse is missing. She gave my residence phone number to TTE. He called my residence. My wife picked up the call. As soon as I reached home, she told me the incident. I prayed whole-heartedly to Sai Baba that You alone could help my mother-in-law for a safe and hassle free journey. I attended the noon aarthi in Sai Baba temple and prayed there. She reached Chennai in the afternoon and called us. She told that the TTE after realizing what had happened did not ask for the ticket. Further, after reaching Chennai central station he came to the platform and ensured that nothing should happen to my mother-in-law. He kept a vigil if the ticket checker asks for the ticket. My father-in-law went to the station to pick her up. He sensed the happenings and got a platform ticket and both walked out of the station. Until the time they were inside the station, TTE made sure that nobody questioned her. Soon after hearing this incident, it flashed my mind where Sai Baba himself drove a tonga to a devotee, which I read in Satcharitra. Bow to Sri Sai, Peace be to all. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: " The true remedy is that the result of our past actions has to be suffered and get over " .-Shri Sai Baba QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. How to remove Fear and unwanted Sentiments? A. by Padmini Fear depends on the type of Faith we have on Baba. When we wish for something and if we have faith that Baba will satisfy our desire, then it will be accompanied by fear also. This is because, our mind will also think whether baba will give it or not. But when we have a faith, that whatever Baba gives, that is the Best I can get in this life, then there will not be any Fear. To remove Fear, we should do our duty sincerely but leave the result to Baba. To remove unwanted Sentiments (like Cat crossing the way or someone coming towards us when we start from home), we have to believe Baba lives in all living and non-living beings and hence nothing would be a bad sign. Q. How to remove Fear and unwanted Sentiments? A. by Ramaa Prasad MV Despite 'fear' being a natural instinct of human beings, it must be said that it is a negative sentiment emanating from one's own ego. Fear is the consequence of a feeling of insecurity. I see that the feeling of insecurity arises for the reason of considering one-self different from others ('anyathwa bhaavana'), which itself is a manifestation of ego. The realization that it is the one and only one 'Aatma' pervading all ('Aatma vat sarva bhootani') comes with faith. Faith in Almighty Parmaguru Sai Baba who is all-pervasive ('sarva vyaapi'), can eradicate fear as well as other unwanted sentiments. Faith in Almighty Baba leads to Shraddha and Saburi the great twin attributes, which give enormous courage to 'saadhaka'. Once we realize that Baba is everywhere and in everything around us, where is the question of fear? We pray Baba singing, " Shri Sadguru Baba Sai, thuja vaachuni aashraya naahi bhoothali " (Baba, other than You, I have no shelter on this Earth) and " Mee budatho bhava bhaya dohi uddhara " (Please save me from getting drowned in the well of fear) in our 'Kakad aarati'. Baba is " bhaya nivaari " (Remover of fear) as we eulogize Him in 'Dhoop aarati'. Once we surrender to Him with the realization that we are in Him and He is in us, fear in us vanishes like fog disappearing with the incidence of sun-rays. Q. How to remove Fear and unwanted Sentiments? A. by Pallavi Fear arises because of insecurities that we create in our minds for ourselves. For example: what if my home falls down, what if I earn no money, what if I fall ill... etc. Unwanted sentiments are sentiments like anger, jealousy, hatred and these arise when we are not satisfied with whatever we have been given for ourselves by our Lord Sai. The only way to remove fear and unwanted sentiments that arise within us from time to time is Faith in our mother Sai and be Contented with whatever we get from our graceful Sai. We should remember that no mother would like to see her child in dreaded situations and would protect the child from any problem that arises. Faith assures us that nothing can happen to us as Sai is protecting us at each step. Even if we fall into harsh situations in life, still we should not fear, as again our faith would say that the bad times would end soon as Sai is taking care of us and he knows that his child is in trouble. Troublesome times only happen to test our faith for our beloved Sai. Next if we are happy and contented with what Sai gives us be it in terms of money, luxuries, material or anything. If we are grateful to Sai for all that he bestows upon us we will never have any unwanted sentiments arising within us. So to conclude I can only say that faith in Sai and love and humbleness for everything that Sai gives us can help us to remove fear and unwanted sentiments. Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be to all. 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. Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MN Sri 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, except Mondays. 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, 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 Shirdi 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, CA Devotees 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, Ohio Devotees in Columbus and surrounding Ohio locations area are informed about Sri Shirdi Saibaba temple in Metro Columbus area. The temple is located in a leasing space at 7674 Sawmill Rd, Dublin, OH 43016. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday bhajans. For more information please call Panditjee at 614-799-8411 or visit www.saibaba.cc. Shirdi Sai bhajans every Thursday at Maitland, Florida Devotees 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. FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Sai Vichaar is an open forum for those interested to share their experiences, views and ideas on Sai devotion and their experiences with Saibaba of Shirdi. Readers are requested to note that Sai Vichaar is not responsible for the opinions expressed by individual contributors. The " Question of the week for this week is suggested by a Sai devotee as follows: How to remove Fear and unwanted Sentiments? 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, or 3. 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 1998-2006 saibaba.org, Shirdi Sai Baba Sanstha - Sai Vichaar Weekly may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter. Sai Vichaar is devoted to the philosophy and teachings of Shri Sadguru Sai Baba of Shirdi, and will take every measure to avoid topics or themes contradicting the same. Sai Vichaar team or the Shirdi Sai Baba web site is not responsible for the opinions expressed by individual contributors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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