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Sai Vichaar Sep 10, 2009 Volume 12, Issue 18 (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
Disclaimer 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 saibaba.org is not responsible for the opinions expressed by individual contributors.
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 Feature
of the week: Compassion Incarnate
God, the manifestation of the Supreme is seen as the savior from sin and the way to the eternal life. The core of the message delivered by different messengers is the same. As if confirming to an unseen doctrine, each of the messenger appeared to have spoken to those under different conditions of life, over the time. Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God. But unlike John the Baptist, or the Essenes, or many others of his day, he did not envision the Kingdom of God descending miraculously from Heaven. The arrival of the Kingdom would not mean the end of the world or the destruction of Israel's enemies. Instead, he said, "The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (Luke 17:20,21) The Kingdom had already arrived, and it was a spiritual community consisting of Jesus and all those who centered themselves in God. The Kingdom of God was always meant to be a this-worldly movement, which would bring a measure of Heaven to earth through the lives and actions of those who lived in God. Just like Sainath had said, "poverty is Kingship", Jesus said, "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." (Luke 6:20, 21, 24-26). Baba asked His followers to cast their burden for Him to carry. Similarly, Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) Baba, like Jesus, said that God is great and kind and taught us to be likewise. "God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate." (Luke 6:35b,36) The word translated "compassionate" is derived from a word, which means "wombish." God's compassion is nourishing and life giving like the womb to an unborn child. Jesus taught His followers to abandon the broad way of organized religion, which tells us to believe such and such and do such and such to win the favor of God.. Jesus said to abandon the way of anxiety, for we already have the favor of God. Baba's advice to the fasting lady is a perfect example of this similarity between Jesus and Baba. But knowing that God already loves us, what are we to do to live good lives? And how do we participate in the Kingdom of God in the here and now? First of all, Jesus said to love. "... you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) And he also said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31) Secondly, he said to have a clean heart. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) [By seeing God, he means primarily the experience of God's presence in this life.] The Mango Miracle in Shri Sai Satcharitha is an interesting one. Baba said to Damu Anna that those who would eat the mangos would die! The way of death is a metaphor for a transformation deep inside, in which we turn away from that which separates us from God. Jesus spoke of both the self and the world as the two great spiritual obstacles. He said to "deny self." And he told us that it profits us nothing to gain the whole world, and lose our way spiritually. (Luke 9:25) Therefore, to the self and the world, we must die. For the self-absorbed self is filled with narcissism, and greed and fear, jealousy and cruelty. But the self which is centered in God, loves others as much as it loves its own self. It is kind and compassionate and does not think itself better than any other. On this Thursday, let us contemplate on the universal nature of Baba's message that permeates beyond the divisions of religions. (Inspired by and partly in reference to Robert Jenkins from "Observations on God, Life and the Human Journey") Contributed
Article: Testament of Shirdi Sai Baba SRI SAI BABA of Shirdi lived from 1856 A.D. to 1918 A.D. A great Marathi litterateur and Sai devotee had been noting the events of his life, day by day. Around 1923 he began this work of Marathi verses, chronicling the life of the master and completed it in about five years. It is rightly acclaimed as a true testament, like The Bible. But unlike the latter, which was written long after the exit of the subject, this poem had been almost started in 1880 A.D. with the express permission and blessings of Baba. Also the author had the singular distinction of being a close disciple of Baba, who had conferred on him the honorific of Hemadpant, after the famous Sanskrit poet (of the same name) of the 13th century. This book has been accepted by all disciples as the authentic version of the master's life. What is more, its primacy among his biographies can be understood from the fact that since the 1930s it has served as a book of daily recitation like the Ramayana. Its recitation was also recommended for special holy days, such as Ramanavami and Gokulashtami. For such recitation, the original Marathi poem had been in use. Written in simple English prose, it retains the original flavor; it is tinged with a poetic tone; it embodies the classic tenor of chronicling. The style is simple, narrative in nature, with overtones of praise of the Baba coming off in a natural manner as part of the narrative. Every chapter has the traditional type of colophon. The penultimate chapter is titled Epilogue, wherein Hemadpant explains how it came to be written. Therein he states the Phalasruti (assurance of varied rewards as fruits of the recitation ritual) in the Hindu tradition of epics and hymns. The last chapter, Epitome, summarizes the contents of all previous 52 chapters; it also details different modes of recitation. Needless to assert, it is a must for all English-knowing Sai devotees. Spiritually-minded readers will enjoy reading it as it is a marvelous book of instruction. Every chapter includes a small story, stated in a telling manner. Many significant miracles are described in different chapters. This volume is a very useful one to devotees and spiritually inclined persons. (A review by V. N. VEDANTA DESIKAN of SHRI SAI SATCHARITA - The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba: Govind R. Dabholkar, translated by Dr. Indira Kher)
Devotee In the year 2007 my son appeared for the 12th CBSE exam. On that year I was so upset and also worried about my son's result. One of my friends told me that you visit Shirdi there will be change in your and your son's life. After finishing the exams, in the month of May we visited Shridi first time. My husband gone to book the tickets and rang up and told that there is no tickets available in TATH KAL ALSO. I told him to book the ticket for the available date. Again he stands in another Q for booking the tickets, the counter man asked where you want to go and when? My husband told I want to go to Shirdi and I am not getting tickets in THAT KAL also for 17th May. He told my husband that I will book you ticket for the 17th itself but you should not by any reason cancel your trip as you are going to Shridi. At that time I was unable to understand that BABA is doing all this and I got the ticket for the 17th May itself. My friend told me to get down in MANMAD and take bus or taxi and go to shridi. So we were supposed to go to MANMAD only. When we boarded the train, in our compartment itself a couple is also going to Shiridi and told us that they are going to get down in Kopergaon and take sharing auto to Shridi. They told that they have also purchased THAT KAL ticket upto Kopergaon and it was printed in the ticket. But when we saw our tickets MANMAD is not written, it was upto Goa so we can also get down at Kopergaon . This is also BABA grace. After having Kakkad arti, evening darshan, in shani dham evening arti and we came back to Delhi. We have not faced any difficulty in accommodation, darshan, etc. We never felt that we have first time visited Shridi. After two days my son's result declared. I was surprised to see that my son got compartment in Economics subject. But I was not disappointed I thought this was also Baba's wish and it was true because my son appeared the compartment exam and secure 86% and was highest in the school and his percentage is gone high. After seeing the result my eyes was full of tears. If one have faith on Baba and have shurda and saburi will get every thing in life. Devotee Devotee Devotee Devotee Devotee 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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