Guest guest Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday, Mar 25, 2010 :: Volume 12, Issue 46 (In its twelfth 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. This is a post-it email only, any replies to this email will be ignored. To contact us please see information at the bottom of this newsletter. 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 Tip of the Week: "Anchor yourself at Shri Sai's feet while you can for you do not know what world's lie in between to re-connect with Him." --A Devotee. FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Sri Ram Navami Message Human beings carry within their selves the two opposing aspects of nature: good and bad. Usually, that which gives pleasure is considered good and which gives pain is considered bad. In this context, pleasure includes both pleasure of body and mind. Our bodies and minds need satisfaction at every moment from the smallest things say such as, adding a little sugar to our morning cup of tea to setting up a Sugar factory. At the mental level, a person may be inspired by the photograph of a film hero in a magazine or the wish to become a hero. All the time human beings are seeking instant gratification of the multi-dimensional aspects of their lives at the desired level and in the desired style. If we make a daily assessment of the number of physical and mental activities that gives us pleasure, then we may find that at least some of these desires never got fulfilled. That area of dissatisfaction becomes something like an area of deficit, sort of an emotional hole. At the end of the day, some people often forget these fulfillments and remember the areas of deficit only. Let us, for instance, place all the activities of life under twelve categories, namely parents, brothers, sister, wife, children, health, job, money, property, fame, religion, God etc. With certain rare exceptions, most people want the greatest possible satisfaction in all such desires that they nurture simultaneously. Satisfaction of the temporal status of human beings is not material in this situation because all the aforementioned aspects are human aspects and are common to all human beings all over the world. History tells us that no person on this earth, howsoever powerful or great had ever been fully satisfied in all aspects of his life. For the sake of argument, however, let us assume that someone got complete satisfaction in ten or eleven aspects of life and incomplete satisfaction in one or two aspects. Even in such a scenario, we find that this person will spend more time and energy in brooding over only these two aspects of life which he lacked. At times such deficits or unfulfilled aspects are taken too seriously. Sometimes, the waste of time and energy on the smaller areas of life are able to cripple or even destroy the other happier and vital aspects of life. Let us take the example of a person who has everything else but has a crippled body due to an accident. History is studded with examples of such people who achieved many things despite their physical disabilities. However, some of these people due to their pessimistic outlook have a propensity not only to disturb their own lives and also that of everyone around. Because of their peculiar mental state (sometimes magnified due to their imagination or selfishness) they become a liability for others. Such a state of mind often creates complex psychological condition or even adverse health condition. Many of these people even become self-destructive leading to suicide such as in cases of failure in love and exams etc. Some people consider such extreme reactions in them with a sense of idealism and believe that to remain dissatisfied is a great virtue. They are often shocked to find some other people happy even despite great adversities in their lives. Sometimes they look at such balanced people as insensitive beings or as persons who are escapists or careless. Thus in the ultimate analysis it will be seen that the enjoyment of life depends on the level of one's satisfaction. Life gives certain things and denies certain things to all living beings. Therefore one should not be over happy when life offers certain desired pleasures and should not break down when certain things are denied by life or go wrong in life. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba often used to tell his devotees to be happy and satisfied with whatever God has given them and to patiently watch the changing patterns of life dispassionately. This, then, is the key to a happy and meaningful life. by Shri C.B.SatpathyNew Delhi, India CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Shri Chandrabhanu Satpathy Ji visits Minneapolis, Minnesota Shri Chandrabhanu Satpathy, an ardent devotee of Sri Shirdi Saibaba visited Minneapolis, Minnesota from March 18-19, 2010 fulfilling the longing desire of Sai devotees of Minnesota. Shri Satpathy ji, fondly called as Guruji by Sai devotees, has been a guiding force and an inspiration behind growth of over 200 Shirdi Saibaba temples in India besides initiating the Shirdi Sai movement outside of India. He inaugurated the First world Sai devotee convention "Sai Utsav" in Chicago in the year 2000 attended by over 2000 people followed by similar events in Australia, Kenya and South Africa. He inaugurated the Chicago Saibaba temple in 2004 and was instrumental in pushing the movement through the concert, "Ek Shaam Shri Sai Ke Naam" in 2006 which was coordinated by twelve Sai centers across USA. He guided the Sai devotees of Minnesota in their pursuit of Saibaba temple and his invisible presence and grace has made the inauguration of Saibaba mandir in 2007 possible. More recently on August 29, 2009 he performed the inaugural pooja of Houston Saibaba temple followed by another major event in Chicago where about 3000 people enjoyed an evening of Sai Consciousness where Satpathyji released the Sai Mantram CD "Thubyam namami" and conferred the title of "Pandit" to eminent artiste Shri Suresh Wadkar. On Thursday of March 18, 2010, the weather in Minnesota suitably turned warm and sunny as Shri Satpathy ji spent the evening hours in Shri Saibaba mandir amidst thronging devotee group that was ecstatic with Shri Satpathy ji's visit. Shri Satpathy ji inaugurated Sri Saibaba's chavadi in the temple premises by consecrating the installation of Sri Saibaba's idol. Later, he launched the Audio CD of "Living with Sai" for USA and Canada, a compilation of songs on Sri Saibaba written and composed by Guruji and beautifully rendered by eminent artistes including Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam, Shankar Mahadevan, Sukhwinder, and Shilpa Rao. The album was produced by Times Music. Later, Shri Satpathy ji, addressed the devotee gathering and spoke about the Sai devotion, and shared his experiences with the Master Shri Saibaba. Guruji spoke about how the concept of God evolved, elucidated the significance and qualities of Perfect Masters, and, the role of Sai devotees in the context of temporal and transient nature of the world. His words were invaluable and practical advice to Sai devotees in carrying out their daily lives respecting their parents, importance of upholding ethical values, and tending to other household responsibilities while living as Sai devotees. Guruji stressed the importance of service, and the need for helping the under-privileged and destitute, highlighting activities on helping needy and physically disabled children. Saibaba temple in Minnesota and other Sai temples pledged to help make the needy and destitute children smile by supporting causes including cancer research for children. On March 19, 2010, Shri Satpathy ji addressed devotee gathering and talked about "Relevance of Shri Shirdi Sai in the future". The talk was broadcast live to audiences all over the world. Sai devotees in USA, Canada, India, and Europe, attentively listened to Guruji spoke about the emerging relevance of Shri Shirdi Saibaba's teachings to the changing world. Shri Satpathy ji thanked Sai devotees of Minnesota for hosting him and said he was pleased to spend time in their company. Sri Saibaba mandir, Minneapolis, Minnesota thanks Sri Satpathyji for his visit, Shirdi Sai Temple Chicago for co-ordinating the event, all participants and volunteers for making this memorable event possible. (Contributed by Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MN) DEVOTEES SAY: A DevoteeNeed your healing prayers and thoughts. I was in a very bad accident on Saturday where I was driving on an interstate highway going over 60 miles and hour and hit a car. That vehicle landed on its roof and I crossed one lane and did a turn around facing the opposite direction and slammed into a guard rail. Can't believe it happened but I walked away from that accident without a scratch, bruise, or any physical problem. No sore muscles after two days. Amazing. Cars zooming all around and no one hit any other vehicle. The first night after the accident I could not sleep...all hyped up running the whole accident in my head. Met with a friend for breakfast and he mentioned that I should recognize that a) I was alive and not hurt and b) God had something for me to do and it just was not my time to depart. May be it was a wake up call...can you tune in on anything as to why it happened. Was there meaning any messages. Also, the driver in the other vehicle was pulled out of a turned over car and taken to the hospital.. Not sure the extent of his injuries. Can you put him in your prayers? A DevoteeDear Sai, today I want to give thanks for my daughter's result. It is only because of you, she is promoted to next class and she has realized her mistakes and promised to herself that she will work hard. Please shower your blessings on all of us. PRAYER CLUB: SaviI request all Sai devotees to pray for me and for my sister as we both are very badly in need of job and the place where we are working now is are not understanding our problem and we both are not having any luck as others are having and we both are unable to face that so I request all Sai devotees to pray for us in prayer club that we both should get good job with good salary. I also request all devotees to pray for our parents as they are not treated properly by their daughter in law. Now they are planning to talk to their son about this issue. Please pray for their well being. RaviSai Natha, We are going through a painful period. With high expectations we admitted our son in engineering last year. He is not understanding his responsibility and his future. He has performed so miserably in the I semester. He got a suspension for befriending some students who attacked fellow students. Sai Natha we are worried lot and feeling very depressed by our son's behaviour. Please shower your blessings on him and everyone and make him change his attitude and concentrate on his studies. Make us visit Shirdi to offer our prayer and gratitude. Oh Lord we are leaving all hopes on your holy feet only RameshWith your blessing things are going good. What ever be the position to am in, its because of your blessings. Now I am into another important phase of my life. My parents have started bride search for me. Please bless me to get a good wife, who should be soft spoken, kind, loving, joveal, helping minded and who has more humanity and probably your devotee EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: SumanWhen ever I am worried I always ask question from Sai Baba and always get my answers. I have one book which I bought in 2004. I used that book till 2005 than I forgot about that book even it was with me where ever I went. Latter on when I had some difficulties in my life I took help from this book. Here are some experiences that I want to share. 1) I used to worry about my brother. He didn?t have any stable work. I asked about him from Sai Baba. Answer was ?Meri Sharan mein aaoge sab kaam theek ho jayenge?. We went to Shirdi in Dec 2009 and after coming from there, he got engaged and got some projects. Finally he is mature person and started believing Sai Ram. 2) I was supposed to go for my Visa interview. I heard that lots of visas are rejected. I asked Baba again. Answer was ?Jis din ka aapko 2 saal se intezaar tha vo din aagaya hai.? It was true and I got approval. 3) We planned our Vacation in dec in 2009 and booked flight for shirdi. We were suppose to leave for India on 5th Dec but my husband got ?Shingles? near thanksgiving. Due to wrong diagnose and long weekend he went to see Doctor on 1st Dec. Doctor asked us to cancel our trip and come back to see Doctor on 9th Dec. We were upset because we were visiting India after 2 years. I again went to Sai Sharan. This time answer was ? Neeyam ka ulanghan karna hoga (you need to break the law), Sai Ram kirpa karenge . Sab theek ho jayega.? I was confused and didn?t understand the meaning. On 2nd dec my husband decided not to cancel our trip. We wend to India on schedule date and didn?t have any problem. Then I realized what Baba had to say. 4) My daughter (19 months old) had surgery. I had complete faith on Sai Ram that everything will go smooth. She was not suppose to eat after mid night and drink (4hrs before surgery) anything on day of surgery. Her surgery was scheduled at 2:30 pm. When we were taking her to hospital she was crying for milk like. She was hungry and it was so difficult situation for us. I don?t know what to do. Suddenly I started saying ?Om Sai namoh namah, shri sai namoh namah?..? My mom started singing with me and my daughter too. She didn?t ask milk and forgot that she was hungry. He is great and Omni present. Thank you so much for taking care of my family Sai Ram. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "Serving Baba and being in love with him is the ultimate reality. I therefore do not seek things like 'Samadhi', emancipation, to be yogi, have miracle powers etc. When the most extraordinary God descends on earth as an ordinary person, how can the ordinary persons try to be extraordinary?" - Shri C.B. Satpathy ji QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q: How should Sai devotees react when their wishes are not fulfilled? A. by Devotee Your answer can go here. SAI ACTIVITIES: Sri Ramanavami Celebrations at Shirdi Sai Temple Hampshire, Illinois, USASri Ramnavami will be celebrated for three days from Tuesday March 23rd to Thursday March 25th. The celebration will mark the first major festival of the temple in this year. For full details and sponsorship information, please visit the temple website or call 847-931-4058 or send email to maildrop. Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USASri 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. Sri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, MNSri 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, everyday. Satsangs are conducted every Sunday mornings, 9 am to 12:30 pm. Please call 612-789-7729 for more information on mandir activities, events and other information. Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Dallas/Fort Worth, TexasSri 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. Shirdi Sai Temple of New England, Boston AreaSri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of New England is now operational. It is located at 1827 Bridge St # 8, Dracut, MA 01824. The temple is open four days from Thursday to Sunday. For temple hours and activities please visit their website. Shirdi Sai Center in Bay Area, CAShirdi Sai Center is located 897-B East Kifer Rd, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. For more information please call 408-705-7904 or 408-564-6704. Shirdi Saibaba temple, Los Angeles, CADevotees 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. Saibaba Temple, Columbus, OhioDevotees 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 6599 Dublin Center Drive, Dublin, OH 43017. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday bhajans. For more information please call 614-799-8411. Shirdi Sai bhajans every Thursday at Maitland, FloridaDevotees 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. Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Austin, TXSri Shirdi Sai Temple of Austin, Texas is now open at 2509 W. New Hope Drive, Cedar Park, TX 78613. Daily 4 aarthis are performed to Sai Baba. As part of service to needy, a weekly sandwich seva is also conducted. Shirdi Sai Mandir, Dulles, VAShirdi Sai Mandir is located at 43671 Trade Center Place #166 Dulles, VA 20166. The mandir is open through the week in the evenings from 6pm to 9 pm. Sri Satyanarayan pooja will be conducted every full moon day. Please call (703) 661-4724 for more information on activities, events and other information. Shirdi Sai Mandir, TorontoThe Mandir is located at Unit 7 & 8 2721 Markham Road Toronto ON M1X 1L5 Canada. Daily services offered to Baba include abhishek and all aartis. For Mandir hours and activities, please call 647-444-4724. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, Canada -TorontoDevotees in Toronto, are invited to join in Sai Namavali, Satcharita reading, Bhajans, Aarti and Prasad every Thursday from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. at GUR MANDIR 207 Queen's Plate Dr. Etobicoke - Hwy27 South of Finch for more info call (416) 294 4804. Sai Mandir, Baldwin New YorkDevotees in New York and surrounding locations are informed about Sri Sai Mandir in Baldwin NY. The temple is located at 1889 Grand Avenue, Baldwin, NY 11510. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday Panchamruta Abhishekam and bhajans. For more information please call at 516-867-8008. Shirdi Saibaba Temple, Iselin/Edison New JerseyDevotees in New Jersey and surrounding locations are informed about Sri Shirdi Saibaba temple in Iselin NJ. The temple is located at 465 Lincoln Highway (Route 27) Iselin, NJ 08830. Please attend daily Aaratis and Thursday Panchamruta Abhishekam and bhajans. For more information please call at 732-283-1800. Shirdi Saibaba Temple, Flushing New YorkThis temple is located near the famous Ganesh Temple, Flushing, New york. All the day-to-day rituals at the temple are being conducted in a manner similar to that in Shirdi. The temple is located at 46-16 Robinson Street Flushing,NY,USA 11355. For more information please call 718-321-9243. Sri Sai Amruta Narayana Sarveswaraalaym, Richmond, VAThe temple is open from 5.15 am to 9.00 pm, everyday (no lunch break etc). We have all 4 aarthis every day and Baba's paalki seva on every Thursday after Dhoop Aarthi. Further information can be obtained by calling the temple at 804-708-0867. Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir, Houston TXThis temple was inaugurated on August 28th 2009 with idols of both the saints Shri Sant Jalaram and Shri Shirdi Sai Baba. The temple is open for darshan and arathis all day. It is located in Sugarland and more information can be obtained by calling 281-433-4706. Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Detroit, MISri Shirdi Sai Baba temple, Livonia welcomes everyone to visit the temple and get Baba's blessings. The temple is open for darshan and arathis. For more information please call 248-471-6474. FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: For the past several months we have been trying to work on issues related to distribution of Sai Vichaar. Our goal is to make this spiritual e-magazine rich in contribution and rewarding experience to its readers. Several factors have been responsible for delays and non-deliverability of Sai Vichaar. To receive Sai Vichaar without interruption, readers are requested to please add the from email to their address book. If you move or close your email account, please drop in a line to us so that we can update your records. Mail continued to be sent to dead accounts goes against the sender. By following these basic steps at your end will go a long way in helping us to keep our lists clean and all readers get Sai Vichaar every week. Thank you for your support and making Sai Vichaar a part of your lives. We will continue to strive to bring you material of benefit to all Sai devotees in the years to come. Sai devotees are requested to write their submissions in English only. Some devotees use other languages in English script. Kindly note that such contributions cannot be published. "Question of the week" for this week is Q. Does Shirdi Sai tatva fit into Guru parampara? Explain why? Or Why not? 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, or3. 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 maildrop 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 847-464-1567 © Copyright 1998-2010 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 Sadhguru 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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