Friday, June 19, 2009

Sai Vichaar Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 :: Volume 12, Issue 06


Shirdi Sai Baba updates - Photos, mp3, wallpapers, downloads, Shirdi festival news...



Sai Vichaar
Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 :: Volume 12, Issue 06
(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.



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



FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Whiplash

"Har din har pal chalthaa rehthaa.. sangraam kahin man ke bheethar
Mein tera dwaar na dhoond sakhaa Sayii bhatak rahaa hun dagar dagar"

"It is a struggle within, every day... every minute... I am lost Sayee... trying to find my way to your abode "

Scriptures and Sadguru stress one important feature of human life. That is, the duty of a human life exists in seeking the very purpose that the life may have and knowing what life is about. It is in this context that humans are considered very fortunate and human life meritorious. Amidst the checkers of the good and the bad, happiness and misery, may lay this quest, dormant. Unsuspectingly beautiful or seemingly painful happenings of one's life may still be quite trivial relative to the quest to seek reasoning for the bigger. Sadguru Sainath said that to know the Brahman, meditation is necessary. By this constant practice, all the thoughts will be pacified, the yearning intensified, and eventually the distinction between the objective of meditation and the meditator lost, meaning the purpose is achieved. Baba also said that He is the inner ruler of all beings and He is the wire puller of the show of the universe. He added that nothing will harm those who turn their attention towards Him, but Maya will lash or whip those who forget Him. Nectar-like words!

When is the right time to contemplate on thoughts such as the above? Does human life have a stage allotted for the thoughts of spiritual nature? If so, when? Shri B. Hanumantha Rao in "Sai Anusaranamu" wrote that fortunate are those who realize the transient nature of mundane happiness at the early stage of their life and dedicate their efforts for self-realization at the feet of Sadguru. How true! No one can claim to control his or her destiny. None may allot a stage of their life, whether now or latter, to realize the purpose life may have. In fact, the thought that one controls their time and the destiny in itself denote a sense of ignorance. Entire life can be spent on small pleasures and dwelling on imaginary fear, both the concoctions of mind. So, when is the time to embark on the endeavor? When does one realize that it is not "our" time in minutes and seconds that we spend on Sai, but it is His lease given to us to realize the purpose of our living?



CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: To Grieve or not to Grieve!

It is imperative that each soul that has taken birth on this earth as a human being or any other species continue its journey upon death after its time is up. No one can escape from the clutches of death when the time comes. Death is a difficult subject and very hard for us to deal with. People rather attach their mind to something else and try to shift their focus away from this unchanging principle of nature. Only when one sees the reality of death very closely, it dawns on the living that all of our time is limited and short on this earth.

Dealing with someone's loss is a very difficult and trying for a lot of people. Shri Sai openly lamented at the passing away of his beloved devotee Megha in front of the villagers to express solidarity and not look indifferent at the passing away of Megha. He went about his daily rounds after the funeral was over. Did Shri Sai leave his inner composure and Samadhi state when expressing such outward behavior? Absolutely not! The same Sainath told Tatya, upon the death of his mother, that death is an imminent principle and asked him to show one home in the entire world where there has been no death. Shri Sai used different ways and means to communicate with his devotees as circumstances demanded. But in the end what does HE do at his own passing away? He asks Shri Shamsuddin Baba to come and do Qawali and asks Shri Das Ganu to come and sing bhajans at his Samadhi. So there was Qawali and bhajans, followed by regular arathis and pooja as though he was still sitting there upon his attainment of mahasamadhi.

Saints recognize that departure of soul from this body is liberation rather than death. The soul entrapped in this body and shrouded with Senses and pulled by the ever dominating Maya is always looking for an escape. For spiritually advanced souls, this passing to the other side calls for a celebration! For us mortals who fear death, it makes us so unprepared that when someone close to us dies, it shatters our lives, faith and much more. On the occasion of this Baba's Mahasamadhi, we can all take a lesson from Shri Sai's life on how to deal with death in our own lives and the lives of our loved ones.

(Contrbuted by: Sai Vichaar Team)



DEVOTEES SAY:

Shilpa
Thank you Sai Baba for being there with me at the time of my delivery. You made a Caesarian delivery into forceps. And I m also thankful for providing a job in Pune to my husband as per our request. Thank you so much.

Shaileeprasad
Thank you Baba for finalizing my daughter's marriage. I know it is only your blessing that it all happened so nicely .It is just like a dream come true. You blessed us with a match, which we really thought of. Baba please shower your blessing on all of us, my only belief and strength is YOU. When you are with me I am not afraid of any thing. I know with your blessings and good wishes every thing will be solemnized in a greater way

Swetha
I lost one of my earrings last night. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find it. So, I prayed to Baba saying that if I find my earring I will post article in SaiVichaar. This morning with Baba's grace I found it at my Friend's yard.

Srinivas
My son's lip got hurt in day care and took him to emergency. We Prayed to Baba, Please cure him quickly and become every thing normal. By Baba's grace, his lip became normal within a week. Thank you Baba for showing your blessing on us for all hard times.

Sai devotee
Baba, Thank you very much for helping mum to recover. I hope both Mum and Dad be healthy and strong. Thank you for helping us all in many many ways. Thank you.



PRAYER CLUB:

L Viswanath
BABA, please protect me and my unborn baby from any mishaps and help me have a safe delivery. We all only rely on You to shower Your blessings on us. Please do not let us down. Koti pranams to You BABA.

Hema
Please help us to live happy and grant my son admission in to the school we want. Please bless us with no problems

Divya
Please dear Sai, keep your word to solve all my parent's financial problems within the date u told me.

Devotee
Please see that I should get this job. Please SAIBABA, Please see that Swarna and myself should get good jobs

Sai Devotee
Jai Sai Ram, Baba please help me and my husband to settle down with a good, stable and peaceful job. Please bless us with peace of mind and happiness.

Nayana
You know what happened today, I made a big mistake. Please save me from it. I assure you that I will never crib about job rather take things positively & do my best wherever I am. Please help me in the same.



EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

A Sai Devotee
I want to share a wonderful experience with all of you. One day a customer of ours asked me to produce certain deliverables by certain date. I was sure I will produce and therefore casually postponed the finalization of the deliverables on the morning of the day when meeting was to happen with customer. On that morning I just could not concentrate and finalize the deliverables. So when meeting started I had to show my blank face. After the meeting I was sure that the report would go to my Boss and this could be my last day. Thereafter, I prayed and cried in front of Baba for the whole weekend - that such thing has never happened me before so why this should happen now and put me to misery and shame. Believe me or not the customer NEVER reported my Boss (even though they are known for their bad and good reports to management). I can say only one thing Baba carried me on his hands and saved me. Devotees, please do your work with full diligence and faith and believe in HIM. This is undisputed truth - "HE is sure to take make things happen".

Lakshmi
I would like to share my recent experience. Few months back, on Dec 9th, 2009 Tuesday morning I read Chapter 29 from Sai Satcharitra and left to another place for job interview. On the way, I was recollecting what I read, in that chapter Baba comes into dream and fulfills devotee's desire by showing Ramdas. I thought if Baba comes into my dream what I would ask. My first wish was to go back to earlier days in Shirdi in 1910 and see the neem tree, Tatya patil, Shama and others and then finally wished to see Chavadi. After thinking all these for a while I slept and after few hours I reached my friend's house and checked my email. I got email from Saileelas about 100th year of Chavadi and everyone has to read chapter 37 before go to bed, so he fulfilled my wish of chavadi. When I read that chapter I felt like I was in Shirdi. On Thursday I got another email from Saileelas with the following link http://heritageshirdi.blogspot.com/ which has photos of neem tree and all other photos, which I wished to go back to 1910 and see.

Manjula
I came to US three years back but I never wanted to stay here. I got married and had one child during this time. Life changed a lot for me and I was finding it difficult to adjust with job, family and child. I needed help but that was possible only after going back to India. I was not sure if I could get a job in India. One day my sister told me on phone about SAI BABA and HIS mercifulness. I knew HIM before, my grand ma visited Shirdi once and I also knew about his lilas but I never thought that GOD could be so close to us to help us in day-to-day problem. I believed in GOD but never found him so close to me before. I started praying BABA. He helped me in all small things, then big news came, me and my husband both got job in India. Now we are planning to go back. Still this is unbelievable to me. This Chamatkar is possible only with SAI KRIPA. I can feel him blessing my family and me all the time. SAI BABA keep everyone healthy and happy in this world. Help us settle down in India. Always direct me, my husband and, my family to do correct things in life. Bless my daughter with good health. OM SAI RAM!



QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

""Let us do our prescribed duty and surrender our body, mind and five pranas (life) to the Guru's feet. Guru is God, all pervading. To get this conviction, strong unbounded faith is necessary." - Sri Sai Baba



QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Q. What is the attitude of Sai devotees towards raising their children?

A. Your answer can go here.



SAI ACTIVITIES:

Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Sri 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.

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, 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.

Shirdi Sai Temple of New England, Boston Area
Sri 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, CA
Shirdi 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, CA
Devotees 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, Ohio
Devotees 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, Florida
Devotees 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, TX
Sri Shirdi Sai Temple of Austin, Texas opened at 601 E Whitestone Blvd (RM 1431), Cedar Park, TX. 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, VA
Shirdi 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, Toronto
The 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 -Toronto
Devotees 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 York
Devotees 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 Jersey
Devotees 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 York
This 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, VA
The 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.



FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:

Sai Vichaar has learnt that several have received their weekly email into their unwanted email folder due to the email filter function of the respective email providers. Please check your email folders before deleting to make sure Sai Vichaar is not delivered into Spam mail. In the true spirit of Sai devotion, contributors are requested to remember to suit the content, language, style, and presentation, appropriate to a worldwide readership. It should also be noted that when a section from any material other than their own is quoted or referred to, it is the authors' responsibility to acknowledge the source appropriately.


Sai Vichaar requests the devotees to continue to submit to Sai Vichaar using the pages intended for various sections of Sai Vichaar. Sai Vichaar gratefully appreciates the patience of its readers during the past few weeks of revamping of our database. A Sai devotee suggested the The "Question of the week" for this week as,,

Q. How does a Sai devotee deal with deceitful relationships and situations where there is abuse of trust?


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
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© Copyright 1998-2009 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 Sadguru 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.





Shirdi Sai Baba updates - Photos, mp3, wallpapers, downloads, Shirdi festival news...

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