[Srividya-Tantra] Donation - Who needs your money. A must read?

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MANAVA SEVAYE MADHAVA SEVA !SERVICE TO HUMANITY IS SERVICE TO GOD.In good old days way back in the 70s & 80s when we were visiting Shirdi,we used to feed pav (BREAD) to the poor after the darshan .I do NOT know if this is still continuing.I somehow used to feel my visit & darshan were not upto my satisfaction if I did NOT feed pav to those poor (it happened once as I had to rush back to my lodge to catch the bus back to Bombay).Even today in my clinic all consultations are FREE on every THURSDAY.There is so much more joy in giving & sharing than in mere earning !dr.p.r.k.prasad--- On Fri, 13/3/09, para_anuloma <para_anuloma wrote:para_anuloma

<para_anuloma[srividya-Tantra] Re: Donation - Who needs your money. A must read?Srividya-Tantra Date: Friday, 13 March, 2009, 6:07 PM

 

 

Dear Debu didi,

 

Yes, what is utilized finally is really the moot point.

 

The real powerof money is the power to give it away.Beyond a certain

level of comfort one's wealth should be seen as an opportunity to make a

difference to society.

 

Most of the wealth of big temples like TTD or Shirdi temple end up not

just in the set-up arrangements for the temple or maintenance but is

swallowed by vested interests much akin Churches and the Vatican.

 

Temple or for that matter any establishment unless run dharmically by

people of high spiritual calibre would finally end up like this.This in

no way means that we should stop being compassionate or charitable.

 

Charity is a means of not just helping people but to make a connection

with God by way of developing vairagya.

 

When I worked for my first time as a kid in Canada, fresh from India, I

used to distribute my money so much that finally I ended up under a

staircase, literally!(This despite being an Accountant in a reputable

organization) .But I had trust in God, my deity and thus one old lady

suddenly helped me get a ticket back home to India,when I wanted to

visit my parents and also get decent accomodation. Ofcourse, with

marriage and maturity, Im now donating,tithing, etc within my means.

 

But during those "staircase days" I developed a lot of vairagya, an

understanding of how poor suffer(how we take for granted our life and

comforts), what charity really means,etc

 

Even to this day, I try to feed one beggar,speak to him or her and then

take my food.

 

Everything according to me emnates from one's experience and thus I have

quoted my personal experience here.Marketing for charity,adverts for

charity events,etc bespeak of ignorance of the principles of vairaagya

or charity and what it really means.

 

It is never too late to do a 'charitable act'.

 

SaiBaba stands for charity, for helping others,for cultivation of

sevabhava and for righteous living within means.

 

Then only comes Pujas and meditations for Him.The marga which Saibaba

prescribes is really tough, Amma.

 

Your brother,

 

Shreeram

 

Srividya-Tantra, "Deepa" <debu7366@.. .> wrote:

>

>

> Donation - Who needs your money. A must read?

>

> It was a Thursday on the first day of this year. I knew how it feels

for

> a Sai devotee. New Year always brings lots of new hopes and since the

> first day was a Thursday, I was very excited and happy and felt that

> this is definitely going to be a good year. In the evening I went to

Sai

> temple, did pooja and offered some money in the hundi of the temple.

>

> The next day, I heard about an old friend whose father died 5 years

> back. I haven't heard about her since then. I didn't know that

> she had to abandon her study due to the financial crisis. She joined a

> beauty parlor to support her family. She has a younger sister who was

> physically challenged. I was shocked to learn about her story. She was

a

> very bright and ambitious student and she had lots of dreams about her

> higher education. I really felt bad. I tried to help her and offered

her

> financial help so she can resume her study. But it was too late. She

> couldn't accept my offer as she had discontinued her studies long

> back as she had to support her family.

>

> Later in the day I remembered an article about Shirdi Sai Sansthan

> becoming the second richest temple in the country just behind the

temple

> of Tirupati. There were talks of enormous amounts of money collected

by

> the temple as donation or offerings by people. I wondered how much of

> that money is actually utilized and how much of that money remains

idle

> not serving any purpose. People donate hundreds of crores of rupees

> every year to various temples and spiritual organizations without even

> caring how much of that money would be utilized.

>

> This incident made me realize that there are definitely better and

even

> more practical ways of utilizing the money which we want to donate.

And

> this can be achieved if we look around the place we live and identify

> the needs of the people. Because India is a land of contrasts, we can

> always find people who are in greater need of goods and financial

> assistance than us. For example we can support the education of a kid

of

> a poor family, pay for the medical bills of the person who cannot

afford

> it, feed poor people or donate our money to an organization which is

> actively involved in social work and not just sit on piles of money.

> Most of the famous Temples are already very rich and practically they

do

> not need any money at least for a couple of years.

>

> There is no better sight in the world than seeing the face of a small

> child who cannot afford education and who has just been given a

notebook

> and other accessories by you. If you think you have very little money

to

> help, you can save that little money and add onto it till it becomes

> significant enough to bring a change in a needy person's life. You

> can even save a fixed amount of money per month and use it later when

> you see someone really needs it. If you look around carefully, you

will

> find lots of opportunity where the money can be utilized.

>

> Donation is not a formality to please our lords but it's a way to

> support and appreciate a noble cause. The responsibility lies on us to

> plan well and donate the money very carefully as it belongs to our

Sai.

> We give full attention to our SAI who is sitting inside a temple but

we

> often ignore SAI who lives in each and every human soul in this world.

> Let us make judicious use of our assets to spread happiness in the

lives

> of people who need it most.

>

> PS: Article published in Samarpan Jan 2009 Edition.

> You can read more of such articles at

>

>

http://gallery. spiritualindia. org/spiritual- resources/ samarpan/ Samarpan_ \

\

> Jan2009.pdf. html

>

<http://gallery. spiritualindia. org/spiritual- resources/ samarpan/ Samarpan\

\

> _Jan2009.pdf. html>

>

>

> Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu

>

> Gurur Devoh Maheshwar;

>

> Gurur Shakshat Parambramha

>

> Tashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"

>

> May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our

> families and remove our problems and anxieties by giving us all -

> strength , goodluck, success and happiness with peace of mind.

> Sai bhakt,

> Deepa H

> Blog dedicated to Shri Shirdi Saibaba : http://debu7366. blogspot. com/

> <http://debu7366. blogspot. com/> Listen to Radio Shirdi Sai :

> http://sairadio. blogspot. com/ <http://sairadio. blogspot. com/> For free

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> <http://www.saiseva. omsrisai. net/store/ index.php> Saibaba temple

> directory: http://www.omsrisai .net/saitemples. php

> <http://www.omsrisai .net/saitemples. php>

>

 

 

 

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