Sai Vichaar for Thursday Apr 1, 2010

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Sai Vichaar

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Thursday, Apr 1, 2010 :: Volume 12, Issue 47

 

 

(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:

 

 

"Shri Sai's mercy can ward off all difficulties and hardships in one's life." --A Devotee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEATURE OF THE WEEK: To overcome negative experiences...

 

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: YOGA TRAYA

 

The triple Yoga of service, devotion and knowledge are very essential for Self-realization. The one does not contradict the other. On the other hand, they help growth and harmonious development of the heart, mind and the intellect. It is mere folly to discard any of these in the course of one's onward march towards the goal of life. Each Yoga supplements, helps and complements the others. The Bhagavad Gita says, " Sankhya Yogau prithak Balah pravadanti na pandithaah"- Children, not the wise, say Yoga and knowledge are distinct. Though Sri Sankara was a pure Advaita Vedantin he always worshipped a personal God. He composed many verses and hymns in praise of Devi, Lord Krishna, Hari, Siva and others. He did Lokasangraha or selfless service unto humanity. There was no power on earth to compel him to do work. He was free as a bird. Yet he served untiringly. He established four

Mutts. He initiated deserving students into Sannyas. He hoisted the flag of Vedanta and established its supremacy over other philosophers. He put down the misleading heads of various cults and schools who led humanity astray. He put them in the right path. His philosophy today stands unparalleled. He wrote several inspiring and elevating books. He inspires us even to day. His commentaries on Prasthanatrayi are simply wonderful. Is there a greater Yogi, philosopher and a Karma Yogi than Sri Sankara? Sri Sankara says, in one of his hymns to Hari, " O Lord, though I and you are one, yet I am thine but mine, just as the waves belong to the ocean only, and not the ocean to the waves". Swami Madhusudan Saraswati was one of the reputed saints of the 8th century A.D. He was a Poorna Gnani and a Bhakta too. Even after he realized the all-pervasive Self or Brahman he worshipped Lord Krishna. He said, " Though I behold the one Atman in all beings

and see all as one yet my taste or craving for the worship of the feet of Krishna never leaves me. To me Krishna is the highest reality." Krishnat-param kimapi tattavam aham nahjane- I do not know of any superior reality than Krishna. Though Sant Tukaram was a great Bhakta he had the cosmic and supreme Advatic Realization. Some people hold the view that a Bhakta has no realization of oneness of the attainment of Brahma Sayujya. This is wrong. The Bhakta too attains the state attained by Gnanins this may be observed also from the lives of the South Indian Saiva saints like TirumalaNayanar, Appar, Sundaramurthi and others. Though they adored Lord Siva with all their heart they had the highest realization of Brahman. The practice of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga is as difficult as that of Gnana Yoga. Keeping up of Atma Bhav while practicing Karma Yoga in the world is more difficult that the practice of Jnana Yoga while remaining in the cave.

Work must be done for the divine alone and in union with the divine and with the right spirit and attitude. By doing constant selfless service with Ishwararpan Buddhi the aspirant develops Bhakti. His will gets merged in the Divine Will. His ego slowly perishes. Action done with the right spirit and mental attitude is a powerful and effective as devotion and meditation. Action, devotion and knowledge go together. Internal development and perfection are possible only through the practice of this triple Yoga (Yogatraya). Karma Yoga includes meditation and devotion. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, " Remember me at all times and fight" i.e., do your duty. " Take refuge in Me and surrender the fruits of all your actions unto Me.Smarana" of the Lord consecrating the fruits of all actions and self-surrender (Atma Nivedan) which are the fundamental doctrine of Karma Yoga are really devotion in essence. Incessant untiring selfless work leads you from

devotion to knowledge and fulfills the purpose of life. May you understand the philosophy of the triple Yoga and practice it in your daily life and attain perfection in this very birth! May you be blessed! (Swami Sivananda Saraswathi, Rishikesh, India Source: SAI SUDHA - MAY 1945)

 

 

 

 

DEVOTEES SAY:

 

A DevoteeBaba, Thank you for solving all problems from my sisters life and blessing her a very good marriage. You turned all her tears into smiles. She is really blessed to have a good life after facing so many issues. Thank you baba and bless her for continued happiness. Baba please take care of my parents health and show me the right way. A DevoteeThanks for all that YOU have given to mankind so far. Thanks for blessing us, our friends and relatives with each others support and memorable moments. The recent ups and downs in both of our lives has made our relationship more stronger. We are absolutely certain that this was a deliberate thing by thy grace with a certain purpose. We promise to respect this relationship and do our best to serve fellow humans. If we deserve a child, please bless us with a child and the maturity to bring up our

child in the best possible way who would continue to be your devotee and follows the path of truth. Thanks to our friend Raghu who has been kind to encourage us to communicate and pray to you.

 

 

 

 

PRAYER CLUB:

 

DevoteeDear Baba, Please help my family in these difficult times and unite us. I want to be with my family and please take care of my family's health.I 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. Sai DevoteeOm Sai Ram. We are going through a difficult patch with Your blessing support. With lot of expectations ,

we admitted our son in a self financing engineering college. We are utterly sad after seeing his I semester results. Saibaba, shower your blessings on our son, change his attitude, make him work hard to have a bright future. We submit his future at his holy feet Sai DevoteePlease Help us Baba. I agree that you have been always with us since the inception BABATEK. Your blessings and Karuna have brought us this long. Specially SHE is burning out with so much of dedication and too much of hard work to bring up this organization. But she is going through a terrible testing period by YOU. Please show mercy on her and me too. The job market is terrible, which is the main hitch for us. Recent ASccreditation project has brought down my health too. I am so frightened with all these issues going on. Kindly shower your blessings on us to over come all these hurdles in this Year. DevoteeBaba, I am feeling very

low. My heart is sinking. Nothing is fine between me and my husband. I feel like crying but cant cry in front of my parents. I feel like doing something to myself but can't do that also. Please make everything fine between me and my husband.

 

 

 

 

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

 

DevoteeThis happened last year my son who is just 17 was having some neuro problem. even last year i had posted the same in sai vichar to pray for my son. since last year he is on medication, daily i pray to baba to cure him completely and he was also hospitalised. i do pranayan, and read daily saicharitra. today was his blood test which proved the results negative. i prayed baba that i will post this in sai vichar. one experience i really felt is with baba's grace everything is possible. now my son is still on medication and i pray baba that his medcine should be discontinued and he should have a good health. i continue my prayers and i am sure my prayers will be answered. let your grace be always with everyone. SangeetaI want to share my experience of Baba's mahima with everyone. I decided to pursue my academics and wanted to enroll for

Phd program. We were driving down to Jaipur to enroll for the course. On the way I kept praying to Baba that if you approve of my decision please show some sign. I kept looking around that maybe somewhere I will see Baba's photo or some other indication. And suddenly quite close to University I saw SAI Properties written. I was ecstatic seeing SAI written, taking it as a go ahead sign. But still in my mind I wanted to see Baba's photo somewhere. My interview went well. I was selected, enrolled myself and started back for Delhi. I was still looking for Baba's approval. Half way through our drive suddenly I saw a big photo of Sai and when we came little closer it was actually a SAI temple off the road. I knew then and there that Baba has approved of my decision. Baba does listen when we call him with our heart. OM SAI

 

 

 

 

 

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

 

 

If you want to see My light, be egoless and humble, and meditate on Me - Sri Saibaba

 

 

 

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

 

Q: How should Sai devotees react when their wishes are not fulfilled? A. by Talreja The answer is found is Chapter 19 (Story of Radhabai Deshmukh etc.) and Chapter 20 (Story of Dasganu and Maidservant of Kakasaheb Dixit...) of Shri Sai Satcharitra. One needs to faithfully accept and keep reminding oneself at such times that "GOD, Our Sathguru Sai is in complete control, is fair and loves us". We only need to learn to be patient to know the compelling reason behind the divine will (which may or not be in line with our desire but invariably for our well being and may be realised only on hindsight). So one needs to have Shraddha in the "Divine Will" and Saburi to "comprehend the reason behind it". Q: How should Sai devotees react when their wishes are not fulfilled? A. by Geetika Yes it is painful

when our wishes are not fulfilled and we feel as if deserted .But As Saibaba said remember two words "Shraddha and Saburi "i.e. Have trust on me and keep Patience then I'll give you what you can never dream of.

 

 

 

 

SAI ACTIVITIES:

 

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, 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, 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. Shri Sai Spiritual Center, Middletown CTSri Sai Spiritual Center welcomes everyone to visit the temple and get Baba's blessings. The center is open for darshan and arathis at 749 Saybrook Rd, Unit A101, (Next door to Udipi Restaurant) Middletown, CT, 06457. For more information please call 860-347-5878. Shirdi Sai Baba Centre Perth AustraliaSri Shirdi Sai arrived in

Perth, Australia on this year's Ram Navami to the joy of deovtees in and around Perth, For details on services or directions contact by phone at 0432 938 542.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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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.