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Sai Vichaar Aug 27, 2009 Volume 12, Issue 16 (In its twelfth year of publication) 01.Feature of the Week 02.Contributed Article 03.Experiences of Devotees 04.Devotees Say 05.Sai Activities 06.Prayer Club 07.Quote of the Week 08.Question of the Week 09.Subscribe to Sai Vichaar 10.Email Newsletter to a friend 11.Submit Articles to Sai Vichaar 12.Un-Subscribe Sai Vichaar 13.From the Editor's Keyboard 14.Back Issues 15.Disclaimer From the Editor's 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 stay grounded amidst the swell of spiritual ego? Humbly Yours, The Editor
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 Feature
of the week: Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma
Shri BV Narasimhaswamiji wrote the following in "Life of Saibaba": "Once a young man went out at night and under a tree saw an evil spirit, or ghost, and hastily returned. Baba the next day asked him what he saw. The young man answered, 'I saw an evil spirit'. Baba said, 'No, It was I'. The person answered again that he saw an evil spirit. Then Baba said. 'Go to your mother and ask her'. The man went to his mother, and she told him that Baba (being God) is in every creature, evil spirit, or good spirit, and, therefore, 'Baba wants you to remember that He is in everything and that you need not fear anything.' Similarly, when Baba passed away from his body in 1918, Lakshmi was praying, 'Baba, should you not show yourself to me?' and came out in the dark from the Mosque. On her way, there was a snake. At once, she said, 'Baba, if you come to me in this form of a snake, what am I to do?' In spite of the terrible form of the snake, she was able to picture Baba within the snake and prayed to it. This is the practice commended by Baba even to those who are at the lowest rung of the ladder. Those who are capable of achieving the highest aim find that Baba's advice or lesson is far more patent and easily achieved by yogic means. If you dip yourself by laya in God constantly, then you feel that you are part and parcel of God - "Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma" BG X1 (9) 22-23. Similarly, everything is part and parcel of God. The dog, the snake, and everything is a manifestation of that sacred force which you call your God, and, if so realized, it will really react on you like God. Stand still before a snake. Worship it as God, and it will not bite you. Stand before an evil spirit, and say: 'Thou art Brahman'. The evil spirit will not harm you. The very moment you are thinking that everything is God, your spirit is part of God, you cease to be your body, and no harm can befall you. This is the most valuable teaching and training that Baba gave under this heading of Cosmic feeling of Godhood". Similarly Sri Sainathuni Sarathbabuji says, " When we understand and are aware that what is in us is the same Chaitanya or Consciousness that is present in everyone, a sense of equality among all is established. The Chaitanya in everyone begins to respond favorably to the Sankalpa, the intent of our Chaitanya. Even if someone is angry with us, we do not feel like harming Him. If we are in need of something, we receive cooperation from others". Contributed
Article: Saibaba and Kabir For a parallel with Saibaba, I shall focus on the following characteristics traditionally attributed to Kabir's persona and teaching: (1) the way he used to define himself, (2) the fundamental importance he gave to the teacher, (3) the path of devotion leading to surrender, (4) the essential role played by the remembrance of the divine name, (5) the use of attributing many different names to God, (6) the prominence of Rama's name and, finally (7) the refusal of "tantras" and "mantras" as being deceptions of the power of maya. Kabir like Sai referred to himself in various ways: God's slave or servant, a devotee of God, faqir, even God himself. He said: "I am Hari's humble slave, and I would not let go of His lotus feet for anything the world might offer me". He said, "I am your humble servant, oh Lord, and you are the light which illuminates all of my recesses. "I am the fakir who has found his truth. One and the same God created Hindus and Muslims alike, and these poor fools fight each other in His name". He also said, I am your devotee, oh Lord, and I come towards You with the hope I my heart of finding refuge". Kabir particularly insisted on the necessity of finding a Guru. The Guru is everything in Kabir's vision, and innumerable are the passages in which he extols his supremacy. He said, "infinite is the Guru's kindness, and incalculable the help which he lavishes. Only he knows how to open the disciple's eyes, so that the vision of the Infinite may bless his sight". "Only the knowledge which Guru grants makes it possible for one to save himself." Devotion is the foundation on which Kabir based his religious life. He insisted on the notion of surrender, of totally submitting oneself to God. Kabir, like Saibaba, insisted upon the necessity of practicing God's remembrance, not in a mechanical way but by reminding oneself of God's presence in one's heart, bringing to mind all that the divine name connotes. The divine name constitutes the only safe path leading to realization. Says Kabir: "Sing Rama's glory with your heart, tongue, and actions. Kabir, like Saibaba, used different names taken from both the Muslim and Hindu traditions to designate God. He said, "To me Rama, Rahim, Karim, and Kesava are all truth. And the same are Bismil and Visvambhara. With Rama's name as his support, Kabir declares that both tantras and mantras are deceptions of maya. This offers another interesting parallel with Saibaba who always refused to give out tantras and mantras. G.G. Narke stated, Saibaba never gave me any mantra, tantra or upadesa, and so far as I know, he gave them to nobody. (Source: "The Life and Teachings of Saibaba of Shirdi" by Antonio Rigopoulos)
Kavitha Manjula Naveen Kumar MeenaKumari Sandhya Quotation of
the Week: Q. How does a Sai devotee stay grounded amidst the swell of spiritual ego? A. Your answer can go here
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