Guest guest Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org Thursday, Apr 15, 2010 :: Volume 12, Issue 49 (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: "To submit articles in Sai Vichaar follow the link given in the About Email column at the bottom of this newsletter." --Editor. FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Merge into Shri Sai! To gauge or comprehend Shri Shirdi Sainath is very difficult and impossible for an average person. Whatever is known about Him is very little and that too mostly of the last eight or ten years of His life and stay in Shirdi. A few rare pictures that are available describe his majestic physical form. But his overall personality has to be understood through perception from the available stories about Him. After reading about Him, it could be said that either God descended in a human body or a man ascended to Godhead. Either way it is clear that the human body does hold the key to understanding the myth or truth about God. The influence of the personality of Shri Shirdi Sai did not end with his leaving the mortal coil. In fact today Shri Sai Baba has become a phenomenon and a household name in millions of homes across the globe. An entire nation has come in the grip of His aura. Today in India there is not a major city where a temple dedicated to Shri Sai does not exist. If this phenomenon was limited to a particular country, then it could be termed local or cultural, but it is not so. There are groups of self-motivated individuals in many countries who in their own ways and means are carrying out organized worship to Shri Sai. Some of these efforts have already culminated into temples outside India and more are on their way. By providing individualistic service to each of his devotee sometimes at great inconvenience to Himself and by forging a unique relationship with each which is highly emotive in nature, Shri Shirdi Sai exhibits a very complex personality. Shri Sai tried to break the man made traditions and fanaticisms that existed during his time and brought together the people of differing faiths under one fold. Love and compassion were His main weapons in dealing with all. With fairness to all and ever ready to listen and help, Shri Sai developed individual relationships with those who came to Him. He nicknamed all his favorite visitors. The personalities of His visitors changed to reflect a shade of His own personality, such is the miracle of Shri Sai. That phenomenon of transforming an individual by constant invisible yet certain companionship continues even today. Beginning to understand Shri Sai is to experience Him in one's daily life and chores. Mere reading will not suffice. Slowly but surely the great master will evolve the soul that comes into contact with Him, cleaning its impurities on the way and drawing it ever so close to Himself that eventually that soul will merge into His own personality CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Saibaba Temples! A number of temples of Saibaba are being built around the world. These are not just temples but the branches of ever expanding wonderful tree of Sai devotion. These temples should not be limited to mere places of Sai worship and bhajans; but should branch into anchors that instrument the awakening and spreading of the unique Sai tradition. These temples should develop into the abode of invaluable spiritual principles that Saibaba stood for and not mere places of convenient ritualistic formalities. One should not indulge in wasteful deliberations such as whether the temple built should be a replica of Shirdi Mandir, if one should install Dhuni like in Shirdi or how to perform all aarthis like the way they are performed in Shirdi. Sai temples should imbibe the idealistic path of Saibaba and glorify the significance of sacred Sai tradition that made Shirdi into a place of pilgrimage. To accomplish this awareness requires Sai's grace and our efforts should be to earn the grace by knowing and imbibing the values Saibaba represents. There should be a strong sense of community and everyone should feel that the temple belongs to all. Everyone will have comforts and inconveniences when it comes to managing a Sai temple. However, if we get rid of the feelings of "ours' and "yours", most issues do not sprout into problems. Such a sacred, goodwill seeking, happy and fulfilling transformation is the result of Saibaba's grace and His grace alone. With that awareness, we have to pray to secure Sai grace that fulfills our wishes. (Source: "Sai Bhakthi Saadhana Rahasyam" in Telugu ) DEVOTEES SAY: SharadThis refers to the article in last week's Sai Vichaar. It is very disturbing to note that along with Murti of Baba Now folks are also having "SAMADHI" of Baba. Sairam RamThis is regarding the Article "Sai Temples under Shirdi Sansthan's Scanner" from Apr 8 2010 Sai Vichaar, I'm astonished that the trustee of Shirdi Sansthan have lost faith in baba, do they think people flock to Shirdi because the original samadhi is there, if they do then they should think again. People come to Shirdi because Baba call them, its his wish, and so is his wish to have replica of his smadhi in various temples, if it wasn't then it wouldn't happened, I would suggest these so called trustees to let Baba handle his house and them do the service to the people coming to shirdi to visit Baba and don't try to restrict Baba's children. DevoteeJai sai Ram, Baba whenever I have requested you to show me signs of your presence, you have given me such experiences which I can not express in words and which are beyond understanding. Still I doubt and wonder when will you listen to my prayers of getting your child married. You know Baba what am I asking you all the time. I tell myself you have great plans, baba when will these plans materialize, time is running and I beg you to now end our search. Your daughter really wishes a family of her own. She believes in you Baba and wishes to visit you in Shirdi. Make her visit to your abode a pleasant one and Baba please fulfill her wish. Shower your blessings on her so she is always happy and has a loving husband and a family of her own. Please do not delay anymore Sai. Baba, Please put your hand on my bowed head. Jai Sai DevoteeThank you very much Baba for helping me to complete my master's degree. Also, thanks a lot for helping my brother to clear his exam. Please continue to bless us. Please bless me with an excellent job. DevoteeOm Sai Baba, as per my prayer, You indeed got a job for my husband as desired. And as I told you, I am posting my experience. Please fulfill the other part of my prayer too. I strongly believe that you would do it. I am waiting with shraddha and saburi baba. PRAYER CLUB: Karem, AlgeriaShri shirdi sai babe. Remove all problems and all obstacles and all danger and all adversity and all black magic and all negativity for me and my family and my sister Nadia and her daughters. Give me shop store and good house and beautiful girlfriend and remove poverty and all suffering and all diseases for me and my family and my sister Nadia and her daughters. Protect me and my family and my sister Nadia and her daughters and my cats and my house. amen. AmanShree Sai Baba Please get me a job. DevoteeWe 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. DevoteeYou have blessed our family a lot. Keep your hand above us always. My relation with my husband is getting sour every day. We have reached a stage where living together seems impossible. But I love him. I am not able to decide what to do. I am stressing my parents also because of this. Baba, please...please guide me. I am not able to take this confusion any more. I have heard you do miracles. Help me deva. DevoteeShri Saibaba, This is a sincere prayer for my niece who is not feeling well. She is suffering from fever. Please Shri Saibaba, cure her from the fever and please give her good health. Shri Saibaba, we have completely surrendered to your Lotus feet with Faith and Patience. Shri Saibaba, please shower your blessings on the baby and please protect her. Shri Saibaba, please shower your blessings on all of us. Thankyou Shri Saibaba EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: JanakMe and my wife Sai Baba Devotee for five years. During time we get numerous experiences of Baba's presence. This one I like to share with all Devotees. On April 4 th 2010, as we go every month to Sai temple in Chicago, Hampshire, we proceed. This time my son Parth who serves in US MARINE CORPS, came from California along with us before proceeding to Japan to be stationed there for two years. So my wife told me to go first BAPS SWAMINARAYAN TEMPLE, she want a prayer service for my son to Nilkanth Varni God (Lord Swaminarayan). I did not want to miss Arti at noon at SHREE SAI BABA TEMPLE, so I said we can not reach BAPS temple as temple closed at noon time. But while driving I felt some thing different, so I directly drove to BAPS temple. When we reached it was noon arti time, so we attended the same, we saw Lord Swaminarayan in beautiful BLUE color cloth, later we did all pooja vidhi, and start driving towards to SHREE SAI BABA TEMPLE . I missed Noon arti at Babe's, so I have some sort of strange feeling. But as soon as we took darshan of Babas Murti at Hampshire Temple, me and my wife both had tears of happiness. What we saw is Shree Baba has the same BLUE COLOR CLOTH we saw in BAPS on Lord Swaminarayan. I greatly feel like BABA want to teach me and all devotee that I am every where. I read Sai Sahcharitra book every day, Baba always say I am, every where, you need to feel me, and I have very good luck that I experienced like that. Baba I am your small devotee, please accept me and my whole family Sastang Dandavet Namaskar. GitaDear Swami, Thank you for healing my scoliosis of the spine. I was diagnosed with scoliosis of the spine after a bad fall from a flight of stairs. A lot of physiotherapy failed to heal me. Then I appealed to Sai Nath. I had a dream in which Baba asked me to listen to Sri Rudram for one month for my health. In that time I was to take no other treatment. I did as he requested me too and in one month the stiffness in my inner spine reduced and I was able to walk to the doctor with ease. Then I learnt yoga to strengthen my muscles and now I am Ok and back to normal. Thank you Baba for healing me and showing me the power of Sri Rudram. PriyaI was introduced to Shirdi by a colleague of my husband. I am always thankful to her for she has shown the path of sadhguru to me. Because of her I got to visit Shirdi for the first time and it is been almost 5 years now that I have been making regular annual visits to Shirdi. I would always like to pray for her well being and happiness. My first visit to Shirdi. I was married for couple of years and had no children. I had decided to read the Sai Satcharita within 24 hours and that too on a Thursday in the Shirdi premises itself. When I landed in Shirdi on Wednesday night, I could automatically hear to sounds / chants in my mind. Next day, I automatically woke up at 4:00a.m. (normally I never get up before 8:00 a.m.) Took a bath and went to the Dwarkamai and started to read Sai Satcharita. That was the first time I visited the place, did not know any rituals or anything about the place and hence decided to just sit anywhere. It was cold and my feet were getting cold. Suddenly I saw a blanket lying there in a corner and I sat near the blanket and kept my feet on the blanket. I started feeling comfortable and continued my reading. It was after the madhyam aarti, when I felt a little hungry, I did not want to get up as I wanted to ensure that I complete the reading as early as possible. Suddenly someone walked up from somewhere and handed over to me a bunch of grapes and vanished. I had them and continued my reading. When in the book I was about to read the lines that Saibaba applied udi on someone's forehead, few seconds before that I felt as if someone applied udi on my forehead. At about 14:00 hrs Sun was at its peak and it was very inconvenient to sit at that place and read.Suddenly someone walked up to me and told me that, there is a parayanam hall inside the Samadhi mandir area and all readings should be done there. When I was getting up I noticed the board near the place I was sitting. It read this was the place where Baba used to stand the entire day. I was overwhelmed to see the miracles shown by Sai Baba on that day. Later when I continued by parayanam in the parayanam hall, it was a very peaceful, cool and comfortable place. Just about the time I was finishing the reading, I started feeling very hungry and was not able to do the reading properly. Saibaba again helped me, gave me the strength and almost every 10 minutes someone from the parayanam hall would walk up to to me and give me some pedha or mishri or grapes to eat. With the help of Saibaba, I was finally able to complete my reading at about 18:00 hours and when I walked up to the photo of Saibaba which was inside the parayanam hall, I felt as if someone told me - "go your 10 wishes will be fulfilled". I at that time noticed that I had made a prayer list which had about 11 wishes. My experience on that 1 day was beyond explanation. When I shared my feelings with my mom on returning back to my home, my mom was overwhelmed. She wanted me to write this down somewhere and preserve it for life. I told mom this is personal experience and that if I share, people may or may not even understand/believe. But today, I feel, five years down the line, almost all my wishes have come true, hence, I felt today that I should share my experience with the world as people should really know and believe that Saibaba is always there with them wherever they are. Thank you Saibaba for fulfilling all my wishes. I now only pray to you to fulfill my 2 remaining wishes. A. We to be blessed with our twins B. We to be able to build our personal business in a very big and successful way so that we can help more and more people around us. Thank you "Oh Lord" for whatever you have given to us and for whatever you have in store for us. Om Sai Ram ! QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "If anyone utters ten words at us, let us answer with one word, if we reply at all" - Sri Saibaba QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q: Does Shirdi Sai tatva fit into Guru parampara? Explain why? Or Why not? A. Your answer can go here. SAI ACTIVITIES: Pran prathishtha and inauguration of Shri Sai Baba Temple Hosur TN India April 26th Sri Sai Baba will have another abode in Hosur, TN on April 24th morning Indian time. The venue is at Gokul Nagar in Hosur town in Tamil Nadu which is forty kilometeres from Banagalore Railway Station and about seventy kilometeres from Bangalore Airport at Shree Sai Mangalam Trust. Pran prathishtha and inauguration ceremony will be done by Shraddheya Sri C.B.Satpathyji. Shree Sai Maganalam Trust invites all devotees to attend the ceremony and take blessings of Shri Sainath. For more information please contact (+91) 9600973062. Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Hampshire, 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. 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 email at maildrop(at)saibaba.org. 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_articles_submit.html. 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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