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FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Devotion!
Devotion means unflinching faith and love in God or
Guru. Until, unless the faith is mixed with love, it is difficult to
sustain it all the time. Some times, in difficult situations, the
faith is put to severe trials. This can be seen in the lives of the
great saints and sages. Because of their unshakable love in God, they
survived through the trials without losing the balance. The love for
Guru can be for the physical form or for the change less essence
present behind the physical frame. Sri Sai mentions about both in his
teachings. Sai advises his devotees about seeing his (Sai's) form in
the living beings (Bhakti), meditating on the essence behind the form
(Jnanam). It is very important to have faith in Guru and his
teachings. If some thing goes in a different way, other than expected,
it does not deny the Grace of the Guru. Acceptance of results for the
actions (after doing one's personal best) is the basis of faith. For
the heart breaking and difficult problems of life, there may not be
ready made answers. But, it is vital in those times to hold on to the
torch of Faith, other wise there is every chance to fall into the deep
abyss of doubting mind. The doubting mind never allows anyone to
establish in any thing. A great saint in one of his compositions
ironically laments, "What can I do with my tricky mind? If some thing
goes rightly, I feel that it is mainly because of my effort and partly
because of God's grace; if some thing goes wrong, I feel that mainly
it is due to your lack of Grace and partly due to my lack of proper
effort. Kindly show Grace on me and make my mind steady on your Lotus
feet in both pleasure and pain". Let us pray to Sri Sai to grant us
steady faith and love on him. |
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CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: The Bridge Not Far
Asleep or while awake
In silence and conversations
In crowds and in solitude
Sai, you are the goal, the object, and the purpose
What you really are is what you are while not asleep or
awake. The metaphysical aspect of Brahman is probably understood
through such logic and analysis. Or through the simple way of
remembering Sai's name before every thought or deed. This is precisely
what Baba said to the simple folks of Shirdi who flocked him during
the Golden days. Insisting on one's views and refuting the other will
not help one, remember discussion as one function of ego. Baba said,
"Let there be no insistence on establishing one's own view, no attempt
to refute other's opinion, no discussions of pros and cons of any
subject. Hearing my stories and teachings will create faith in
devotees' hearts and they will easily get self-realization and Bliss".
Baba's fold is a fortune. It is considered as the
result of the merits of several births. Once such a fortune is in
sight, who would let it go but the imprudent? Simple saadhana is to
remember him while awake and during every action. This will surely
cross anyone through the perils of everyday life of action and
consequence. Remembering Sai during every difficulty and every
celebration will surely lead one to remembering Him everywhere and
ever. Blessed is such life for them the bridge is not far.
(Contributed by Sai devotee) |
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DEVOTEES SAY:
Rajani
We were in Singapore in 2003, my husband's project got over all of a
sudden and we were depressed as it was taking long time for him to get
a new project. I read Sai Satcharitha quite regularly and thought I
should ask my husband to read it as soon as he gets a project. But
inside I was really scared and tensed to ask my husband that he might
say no to it. After two and a half months, he got a very good project
with an MNC and with pretty high salary. The next day I was on my way,
back from office thinking I should tell my husband that he should read
Sai Satcharitha for at least once. I reached home and looked at my
husband who was in the pooja room. My eyes was full of tears when I
saw him reading Sai Satcharitha. I prayed Baba that my husband should
read Sai Satcharitha at least once. He made it possible, even now and
since three years we both read Sai Satcharitha regularly at home.
Baba, please continue to shower Your blessings on us and get us
immense pleasure in Bhakthi.
Jayanti
A suggestion to devotees. If a person has problems in life, we should
not expect it to be resolved immediately by praying to God. We need to
put our best efforts and hard work to resolve the issue and pray to
God to guide us in taking the right path and to give the strength to
move forward.
Ranjeeth
My younger son studying in 9th class was very weak in his studies and
the whole of last year never got through even in his monthly tests. In
the middle of March, the Principal of the school called us up and
informed us that my son will not be promoted. My sincere prayers to
Shri Sai were answered and surprise of surprises, my son has been
promoted to 10th class. This is definitely the blessing of Sai.
Sashikala
Om Sai Ram. Baba thank you very much for giving my son a job. Please
be with him always, and make sure that he has job security, on-the-job
training, job satisfaction and good pay. You have helped me in so many
ways all through my life, guiding me from darkness to light. I pray
that You do the same to my children as well. I had promised to send
this letter to Sai Vichaar if my son got a job. Thank you once again
Baba, a devotee of yours I will always be, Baba's child.
Padmini
Thank you for your blessings to my second daughter. Forgive me from my
all sins. Please bless my eldest daughter to get married soon and
bless Hardeep to get his visa. Give me Shradha and Saburi all the
time. |
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PRAYER CLUB:
Srinivas
I am presently very disturbed due to some real problems regarding my
career. I pray to you to deliver me from all my problems. I promise to
publish this in Sai Vichaar once my problems are solved. I sincerel;y
beleive that Baba will solve my problem.
Mythili
My sincere prayer to you Baba is that let me be Your sevak forever. My
husband is an alcoholic and I have tried all my ways to get him out of
this habit. I have two sons 14 and 8 years old. There is no peace in
my life and I do not know any one who could help me to overcome this
problem of mine. The moment I enter my home I get disturbed and feel
very depressed. I want to share my agony with You, please help me Baba
in any way. I will come to Your darbar whenever You wish me to be
there.
Sai devotee
Pranaams to you Oh Sai. Please let my friend Raj find a good project.
Please bless him and his family always. Kindly shower Your blessings
on them.
Neetu
Dear Baba, Koti Koti pranam to You. Baba you know all my problems.
Baba, please help me solve these problems. Saibaba I am not able to
face these any more. Please Baba help me. Sai baba please give me
patience.
Ravi
Dear Sai, I am writing this letter in my utmost sorrow and unhappiness
in my mind. I am also confused, till my age I have not been permanent
in my life with any sort of permanent income to my life. Swami, kindly
bless my family and my daughters and give me courage and strength in
my life. I am facing lot of troubles in my life with current job and
not in peace and happy. I want to join a good organisation (MUM) of
USA and serve myself as lecturer there with utmost happiness and
settle my family over there. Swami, you know what I had for past one
year of suffering and still it is killing me. I am in pain and agony.
Kindly lead your light and save me.
Ananthashayanam
Baba please help my son to get good marks in 10th (ICSE). Baba please
get him a seat in good college. Baba, I am applying for the post of
Officer in my office. Baba, please be with me and encourage me to get
through the test and interview. Baba, my brother court is going on.
Baba, please solve his court case. Baba, please be with my son and
give him good knowledge and good behaviour. Baba, I have to vacate my
leased house before December. Baba, please get me a good house in the
same place where I am staying. Baba, please solve my financial
problems. Baba, please give goods thoughts to remember You always.
Sathiawani
Dear Swami Shirdi Baba, I pray to You that I need help to overcome my
present situation, I have been trying to get a job, things are very
hard for me at present, grant Your grace upon me to solve the issues.
Thanking You. |
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EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:
Srinivasulu
I joined into a doctoral program (PhD) few years ago in one of the US
Universities. In a typical US University, one has to pass qualifying
exam in order to continue in the doctoral program and usually they
give two chances to pass the exam. I was not very happy with my
research because I chose a wrong topic and by then it was too late to
change the topic or advisor. So I was thinking what to do. Somehow I
could not pass those qualifier exams and had to leave the University
with Masters degree. Then I realized may be Baba actually wanted me to
fail the exam so that I can discontinue that course in which I was not
really happy with and go to another University. After that, I left
that University, applied to another University, and got admission. Now
I am doing research what I really love and very happy with it.
Recently I also passed the qualifier exams in this University and
fulfilled all the requirements. With the blessings of Baba, I have
confidence that I can successfully complete my doctoral program. Thank
you Baba for helping me and because of You only I was able to cross
all those hurdles.
Anjali
Today as any normal day, I was called to attend a caesarian delivery.
That was the first baby of that couple. I was talking to them during
the operation and they were telling me how excited they are to have a
baby. Suddenly the surgeon was unable to take the baby out, tried for
20 minutes, and called for senior help. I thought the baby would not
be in good condition as it was the difficult caesarian I had ever
seen. It went all quiet in the theatre. I prayed to Baba to please see
that baby survives and be well. After 30 minutes of struggling the
baby came out. Sai baba showed his mercy and baby started breathing
after 6 minutes of respiratory support, was perfectly normal, and was
discharged from baby unit in 3 days. This was really a miracle shown
by Baba because after such difficult delivery, my experience says the
baby would have needed respiratory support for few days and might have
been neurologically impaired. Thank you Sai Baba.
Jyotsna
In spite of really good progress on our project, suddenly due to
Market changes our project was in jeopardy. The financial analysis
looked attractive yet it was dead certain that the project would be
canceled and a number of positions would be cut. It was a great shock
and total surprise that this could even happen. I prayed to Baba and I
knew in my heart that Baba would always spread His arms and His divine
look to save us. I went into the meeting and the VP was vehemently
opposed to the proposal of continuing the project and I was exhausted
trying to convince him and at the last moment I thought of Baba and
said Sai I have done my best and now You please take over- suddenly as
if Baba was pulling the strings- it occurred to me that there was a
feature in the product profile that my boss had liked at one time and
if we leveraged that he might change his mind. The moment I mentioned
this to him the whole situation changed and he said yes now I believe
this will work and I give you my commitment towards the project. What
a miracle, what a turn around, the inspiration my Sai- the success-
due to my Sai. It was unbelievable. I had told myself if we prevail
it's only due to Baba's grace and I will post this in Sai Vichaar, and
it did happen. Need I say more; at least 30 positions and thus
families were saved! We all owe it to the ever kind, ever helping,
Omnipresent God our Sai. Please always keep faith in Baba, this is not
my first experience, I have witnessed his grace many times, and I will
continue to post my experiences to inspire others and reinforce their
faith in our kind Baba, our loving Sai. |
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Q. Name any incident during life of Baba which has made
a lasting impression on You
A. by Nainesh
The one incident that has made a last impression on me
is the incident in Sai Satcharitha- Chapter 26, the story of
Harishchandra Pitale. I read one chapter daily from Sai Satcharitha. A
while back during my repeated readings when I was reading this Chapter
26, the story of Harishchandra Pitale, tears rolled down my cheek, I
knew He was showering His grace on me, for this chapter has extra
meaning to me. Just like Harishchandra's son was cured of epilepsy, so
has my son been cured off epilepsy since my visit to Shirdi. May Sai
shower his grace on all as He has done on my family.
Q. Name any incident during life of Baba which has made
a lasting impression on You
A. by Sai devotee
The life of Shri Sai Baba itself is a miracle. Unless
we are blessed by Sai, we will not have any contact with Him. That is
why it is very difficult to name one incident that has made a lasting
impression on us. The moment you know Sai, it means He had made an
impression. We can only thank Sai for all that he has done to us. Sai
wants only Shraddha and Saburi, which we have to have. We have to
trust him and wait patiently. He knows our wants. Nothing is hidden
from him. Even though he sits in one place, he knows everything that
is happening around the world. Of course as human beings, we get
dejected when our prayers are not answered but be sure that he has
something better in store for us. Each time petty things work out for
me, I feel so grateful to Sairam. I know and can feel that he really
listens to our prayers, if said whole-heartedly. Baba has taught us
that the material life is transient and that we should not cling to it
too much. Sai Baba's leelas are countless which no human being can
tell everything. By this message, I place my head on the Lotus Feet of
my Sai and request him to listen to all my prayers and guide me and my
family in the right direction.
Q. Name any incident during life of Baba which has made
a lasting impression on You
A. by Sai Prasad
There are actually two incidents in the Life of Shri
Sai Baba that had a profound impact on me. First is the story of
Mrs.Radhabai Deshmukh wherein Baba expounds the importance of the two
pice - Shraddha and Saburi. This one story if constantly remembered
will keep one in good stead. The second incident is Das Ganu's
experience with Kaka Saheb's maidservant. This incident teaches one to
live with equanimity as Baba says happiness or sadness is just a state
of mind. These two stories are great confidence boosters and I
personally strive to always remember them.
Q. Name any incident during life of Baba which has made
a lasting impression on You
A. by Rajesh
Saibaba lifting his kafni, showing big bubos, and
saying that he has to suffer for his devotees. I always read these
lines in Satcharitha with controlled tears, why should He suffer a lot
for his devotees. I understand that if He himself suffers for us
(devotees), then why can't we suffer/withstand our difficulties with
His grace.
Q. Name any incident during life of Baba which has made
a lasting impression on You
A. by Anupama
I have read sai Satcharitha many times. The thing that
impressed me lot is Sai's loving and caring nature. In the incidents
like a mother forgets her child when it is raining heavily, but sai
never forgets, he saves the child and handles the child to the mother.
In one more incident, a mother gets up to attend her husbands call,
without realizing her child on her lap, who is about to fall in the
fire, Sai saves the child. A mother may forget the child, but Sai
never. His love is more than mothers love, incomparable to anything.
Thank you. |
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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@saibaba.org.
Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, Minnesota
Regular Sai activities in Minneapolis, St.Paul area are being
conducted at Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, 725 Lake St NE, Apt #139
Hopkins MN. For details, please contact hamaresai@yahoo.com, or call
Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center at 952-938-2983, and to read the monthly
newsletter Sai Sandesh, visit www.hamaresai.org.
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 Satsang, Bay Area, California
Shirdi Sai Parivaar invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday
7:30 pm at Odd Fellows Temple, 20589 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA
95014. For details please call 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu@yahoo.com
or visit www.ShradhaSaburi.org.
Sai Satsang, New Jersey, USA
Shirdi Sai Dham, Inc regularly conducts Sai bhajans followed by Aarti
and Prasad on every 1st Saturday of each month at Durga Mandir,
Kendall Park, New Jersey. The next bhajan is on May 6th 2006 from 5:00
p.m. to 7:00 p.m. All are requested to kindly come and receive Baba's
blessings. For more information, please call us at 609-275-1334 or
visit www.shirdisaidham.org or email us at shirdisaidham@hotmail.com.
You can also subscribe to shirdisaidhamevents@yahoogroups.com to
receive regular updates and newsletters.
Shirdi Sai Satsang, Toronto, Canada
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan invites all to join for satsangs every
Thursday 7:00 pm at Sai Dwarkamai, 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham,
Ontario, L6C 2N4, phone 416-402-8089 or email: saileela99@yahoo.com.
To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends and family for any
occasion at your residence, please call. Devotees can request udi or
Holy water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba by sending us
an email or by phone.
Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada
The Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham Road, Scarborough,
Ontario, M1X 1L5 (Intersection of Markham and Nashdene) is open Monday
to Friday from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 10:30
a.m to 8:30 p.m. Dhoop Aarti is at 7:30 p.m. everyday. Bhajans are on
Saturday from 6:00 p.m. onwards. For other temple activities and
information please call 647-444-4724 or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com.
Shirdi Sai Bhajan, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Shirdi Sai Mandir, Sri Saibaba Temple Society of Ohio, regularly
conducts Sai bhajans followed by Aarti and Prasad on every Thursday of
each month at 7637 New Market Center way, Columbus from 7:30pm to 9:00
pm. All are requested to kindly come and receive Baba's blessings. For
more information, please call us at 614-799-8411 or visit
www.saibaba.cc or email us at sssb_temple@yahoo.com
Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation, Malaysia
We have regular gatherings, bhajans on Thursdays at Sri Shirdi Sai
Akshaya Meditation Centre, Brickfields, Kualalumpur, Malaysia. For
more information please call 60322606030 or send email to daewanand@yahoo.com
Sai Satsangs, Seattle, WA
We are happy to inform all the devotees that we are organizing Sri Sai
Baba Satsang program at HTCC Temple, Bothell (Seattle), WA from 4.00
to 6.00 P.M. on Sunday - 7th May, 2006. Please join in and get the
Blessings of Sadguru Sri Sai Baba. For further details please visit
HTCC temple website: www.htccwa.org |
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