Sai Vichaar 19th March 2009

Sai Vichaar Thursday , March 19, 2009 :: Volume 11, Issue 45 (In its eleventh year of publication.)

www.saibaba.org

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. Please do not reply to this email. All replies will be ignored. To contact us please see information at the bottom of this newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE: •

FEATURE OF THE WEEK

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CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE

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DEVOTEES SAY

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PRAYER CLUB

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EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES

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QUOTATION OF THE WEEK

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

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SAI ACTIVITIES

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FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD

FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Saibaba's divinity! The Charters and Sayings reports a conversation of Sai with a mother and son in which Baba first denies his divine identity and later gives a vision of himself as a four-armed god. Sai asked the son for eight rupees. Since the boy didn't have them, he directed him to Jog. The latter was reading from the Dhruvacharita and commenting on it, told the boy: Saints, though not God, have some powers derived from Him. The boy came back to Baba quite angry and told him how there were persons who said that he was merely a man and not God. Then Baba said: "Then what is the untruth in that? Hello! What am I? A petty fakir! I am not God. How great is God! No one can compare with Him". Here the faqir adheres to the basic tenets of Islam concerning God's radical transcendence and unknowability. Soon after having said this, however, he is reported to have given a vision of himself as a four-armed Hindu god, thus confirming the boy's faith in his divinity! The story is a good example of Sufi as well as Hindu mysticism, elucidating a paradoxical coincidentia oppositorum, that is, the transcendence and at the same time immanence of the divine: God, in other words, is both everywhere and nowhere. (Source: "The Life and Teachings of Saibaba of Shirdi" by Antonio Rigopuolos) CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Spiritual Oasis

Sapatnekar was an elite lawyer who did not quite believe in Baba until he had to face the calamity of losing his only son to disease. Disinterested in life and disturbed, he had to seek in refuge in Baba. Nanasaheb Chandorkar had his own questions about the all pervasive nature of Baba. Baba revealed Himself to Nana through some of the divine experiences of the latter, and thus Nana was a part of Baba's court. Kakasaheb Dikshit, another ardent devotee of Sainath did not know about Baba for several years and Baba drew him towards Himself via peculiar circumstances. Hemadpant wrote that however scholarly might man's learning be, it just fades away in front of the one that realized the Brahman. Everyone one of those that approached Baba with a preconceived notion, either with the curiosity to know if He is really what He is being portrayed as or with the arrogance of learnedness had to bow in front of His humility, benevolence, compassion, and the magnificence. In case of all those learned men, it was the surrender either due to the misfortune of a suffering or the providence of His grace that provided them with the means of enlightenment. It is true that however scholarly may man's learning be, it just fades away in front of the one that realized the Brahman. On this peaceful Thursday, let us contemplate on that realization only a Sadguru can give and nothing else the world may teach would. (Contributed by: Sai Vichaar Team) DEVOTEES SAY: Dr. Sundeep I could complete my stay in Taiwan just due to the grace of Sainath Maharaj. His messages and devotees experience published in Sai Vichaar was a major souce of peace in times of agony. May the Almighty Sai bestow upon the entire team his everlasting grace so that you can continue this Seva for a long long time. Devotee Om Sri Satchidanand Satguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!! Baba thank you for listening to my request and having blessed my son-in-law with an excellent accommodation, room mates and landlord in Tasmania. Today is his test and I pray earnestly and also request you to pass him with flying colors. I shall post my gratitude in Sai Vichaar as always. Sai Devotee Baba I am going through a worse time of my life. At home everything is in shambles. I read Sai charitra which gives me strength for the day. It is like getting oxygen for the day. Please Sai bestow your kripa on to my family and show use the correct path. Sai Devotee Jai Sai Nath, Kindly bless us to lead a good and peaceful life. If you grace any one with your loving glance, I trust that even sky could not be a limit for him. You are the inner ruler and external wirepuller of all living beings. Please, Baba we are longing for your loving glance of yours. Bless your children. PRAYER CLUB: Raj Baba, please bless both my sisters with babies at the earliest and give their families joy

and happiness. May your Grace be on every being. Usha It is a long time since I wrote to you my Baba. But I pray daily to you and my Baba really knows what are my requests and petitions. Baba you know my son will be admitted for his second treatment on Tuesday. Please be with him throughout the treatments and make everything successful. I have full faith in you my Lord, you will surely help my family and my son to cross all the difficulties with your help, I am sure that you are with my son day and night. Baba I want to bring my son to Shirdi after his treatment please show us a way and remove all the obstacles. Sai devotee Jai Sai Ram, Sai Babaji You are almighty and know everything that is happening and the hell I have been going through. Please guide me and remove stress from our family. Please be with me always. Devotee Baba ! save me from my present miserable situation of depending on the earnings of a daughter. Give me a job , make me financially independent. Only your miracle can get me a job here as my previous irrelavant teaching experience , spoken english with Indian accent and age are the main impediments for getting a job. I have spent all that I have earned, no reserve fund to fall back, no income. I regret a lot for leaving a very good career and migrating to this place. Sai Devotee Thank you dear Sai for making son feel better and curing him of his fever and his cough. Dear Sai please see that he is in perfect health always. Sai thank you also for taking care of him in his nursery and making him adjust slowly. Please keep your hand on his head always. Please give good health to my parents, family and son always. Thank you Sai. Devotee Sai natha, I am begging you to give a good college admission for my son. I am surrendering at your lotus feet. You know my life style, it is full of afflictions and miseries. I have never seen a greener side in my life. Please accept this request to give him a college admission. I do not have any one to request also. Devotee Dear baba please cure Vara's grandson who is suffering from such a bad disease and along with whom the whole family is suffereing baba please cure him please baba. Baba please make the decision of buying the new car a good decision and bless us with safety of driving it. Baba i am nervous but leave it on you to take care of. Baba please show a good path to my brother for his career as i can see him under the pressure.Help him baba and guide him through. Meena Baba, Help us to settle the money and property matter favour to us. Because it is very hard earned money which you know. I have surrender to your lotus feet. Help us. The matter should smoothly settle down in favour of us. EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

Devotee JAI SAI RAM ! We recently visited India and wanted to go to Shirdi. We know that only if Sai wants we would be able to get his darshan. Hoping we would be fortunate I booked the tickets two months in advance. Sai's test on my faith and patience started once I reached India. The tickets were on waiting list when I booked two months ago and it remained on the same status till the day of travel. I was in a dilemma, whether to go ahead with the trip or drop it. My main cause of worry being my nine month old kid and everyone was skeptical about taking the trip without a confirmed ticket. Everyone in my family left it to me to decide On the morning of the date of travel when my dad called in to check on my decision, I said we are going as if I somehow knew that the tickets will be confirmed. I had faith in Baba and I was patient to see how far Baba is going to take this. My mind was at peace and I did not have even an iota of doubt that it will not be confirmed even though logically it is next to impossible. When we look up to HIM with Faith and Patience, HE takes care of everything, HE ensures HIS children were looked after and taken care of. Once we started on the trip with Faith and Patience everything else fell in place, the ticket for every leg of the journey was confirmed, my kid did well even though he was traveling for the first time for such long distance. We had a wonderful darshan of Baba and stayed in Shridi for two days. I have visited Shridi many times in the past and this is one of the most memorable pilgrimages. JAI SAI RAM ! QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: "Tell him to be fearless. Why should he suffer for ten births? In ten days he can work out the sufferings and consequences of his past Karma. While I am here to give him temporal and spiritual welfare, why should he pray for death? Bring him here on somebody's back and let us work and finish his sufferings once for all" - Sri Saibaba referring to Dr. Pillay's condition QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Q. What is the attitude of Sai devotees towards raising their children? SAI ACTIVITIES: Sri Ramanavami Celebrations at Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA Sri Ramnavami will be celebrated for three days from April 2nd to April 4th, 2009. For full details and event information please visit temple website at www.saibaba.us and follow the link to events page from the menu. For sponsorship or other questions please call the temple line at 847-931-4058. To sponsor poojas in Sri Ramnavami celebrations visit the homepage and follow the link to Sponsor Ramanvami Celebrations page. 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 send mail to [email protected]. 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 or send email to [email protected]. 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. For more information, please visit www.saiaustin.org. 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

FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD: Saibaba.Org is undertaking relocation, migration and technology upgrade projects during 2009. The relocation phase has been completed. The upgrade and migration project is expected to be completed in phases during the year. The team will try to ensure that no services are interrupted for a long time but at times it will become necessary to bring down the equipment for maintenance and upgrade. Due to which there may be disruption in the distribution of Sai Vichaar. If this happens, you can always retrieve back copies of Sai Vichaar from the website by visiting the whatsnew page. We request your cooperation and regret inconvenience caused to you if any in this regard. 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. The "Question of the week" for this week is, What is the attitude of Sai devotees towards raising their children? 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 subscribed through our on-line subscribe page, 2. You have visited our web site and shown interest in the Sai topics and asked for information, or 3. 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 subscribe 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 unsubscribe option from the menu. If you have problems accessing the web page due to network problems, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with the words "Unsubscribe 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

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