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Sai Vichaar Dec 03, 2009 Volume 12, Issue 30 (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... Please visit the Sai activities section for details of upcoming events. To post an event in your temple, please send details by email. We are continually striving to upgrade our technical capabilities. We thank you for your patience and contiuned support. Please check your email folders before deleting to make sure Sai Vichaar is not delivered into Spam mail. It will also help greatly if you send us email to update any changes in your email accounts as that will prevent us from sending Sai Vichaar to closed or discontinued email accounts. 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.Sai devotees have a practice of greeting each other with "SaiRam". How and when did this practice originate? 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: Living Sadguru
When faith wavers, the mind goes after a tangible physical experience. It becomes very necessary to long for His presence in our lives, His assurances for our well-being. It is natural. It is important to rely on our patience at such instances. "I shall speak from my tomb", said Sadguru Sainath. There are also certain type of followers who need a grander vision of the Lord. They prefer to see Him in the most physical state. Having lost the patience to realize that Sadguru is the embodiment of the spirit that can be realized anywhere, anytime, they bring upon themselves unnecessary burdens. This is not a good sign of spiritual progress. However, even great realized souls have gone through this stage. But, just like any intense quest is answered, Guru leads such souls to the answer in the most unseeming way. Let us see one such experience narrated by Acharya Bharadwaja in his, "Sree Guru Charitha": Once I visited Sri Ma Anandamayi at Naimisharanya during Bhagavat Saptah. At one of the daily expositions of the holy text, the revered speaker Sri Akhandananda Saraswathi remarked that only a living Sadguru could lead his devotee to self-realization and that a Sadguru who had cast off his body, however great he might be, can only fulfill prayers for one's material good. He spoke in Hindi, which I could only understand but cannot speak and so I could not discuss with him. As Sai Baba was no longer available to me in flesh and blood, I wondered what I should do, but had no chance to get the clarification. After a few months, I visited Shirdi on a proposed stay of seven days. I wished to obtain Sai Baba's guidance and clarification in this matter. On the second day, I was very strongly impelled to visit my old student who was working in Pune. It was quite unusual, as I never visited anyone of my friends or kinsfolk. I had to yield to the impulse and I reached Pune. My friend was away at the office. So I left my bag in his house and wet out, wishing to spend the time in going round the city till my friend's return. Quite accidentally, I enquired at a wayside florist whether there was any great saint worth visiting in Pune. The shop-keeper directed me to visit Sree Gulavani Maharaj, a direct disciple of Sree Vasudevananda Saraswathi. As soon as I entered the Muth (monastery), the aged saint greeted me saying, "Oh! The child of Sai Baba has come!". I at once realized that I could get a reliable clarification for my problem from him. He heard my question and said, "What that learned speaker said is true of only those who attained enlightenment through their efforts. But Sai Baba of Shirdi is not such one. He is the Avatar of Lord Dattatreya. He manifests himself to his worthy devotees even today in his physical form and guides them. You are on the right track. Go ahead". At once I realized that Sai Baba had blessed me with the solution to my question. (Contributed by Sai Vichaar) Yesterday a newly arrived Andhra youth told Bhagavan about the vagaries of his senses to which Bhagavan said, "All that is due to the mind. Set it right". "That is all right, Swami, but however much I try to reduce this anger, it comes on again and again. What shall I do?" said the poor boy. "Oh! Is that so, then get angry with that anger; it will be all right", said Bhagavan. All people in the hall burst out laughing. A person who gets angry with everything in the world, if only he introspects, and enquires why he does not get angry with his anger itself, will he not really overcome all anger? Two or three years back a devotee who could freely approach Bhagavan came and told him five or six times that somebody had been abusing him. Bhagavan listened but said nothing. As there was no response from Bhagavan in spite of repeated and varied complaints and in a number of ways, this devotee could not contain himself any longer and so said, "When I am abused so much unnecessarily, I also get angry. However much I try to restrain my anger I am not able to do so. What shall I do?" Bhagavan laughingly said, "What should you do? You too join him and abuse yourself; then it will be all right". All laughed. That devotee, unable to understand anything, said, "That is very good! Should I abuse myself?" "Yes indeed! What they are abusing is your body, isn't it?" What greater enemy is there than this body which is the abode of anger and similar feelings? It is necessary that we ourselves should hate it. Instead of that, when we are unguarded, if anybody abuses us, we should know that they are waking us up. We should realize at least then, and join them in abusing the body, and crying it down. What is the use of counter-abuse? Those who abuse us that way should be looked upon as our friends. It is good for us to be among such people. If you are among people who praise you, you get deceived", said Bhagavan. (Source: "Letters from Ramanasramam" by Suri Nagamma)
Bikkubai - 2nd December, 1936 My parental home is Ahmadnagar. I knew Radhakrishnamai as a friend at Nagar. She had a photo of Baba and she told me about him there. She was worshipping him with Arathi etc. She told, me she wanted to go to him. Her paternal grandfather was a lawyer there. Baba Saheb Ganesh was his name. She resided with him. I was wedded to one at Sangamner and he died and from there in my 14th year I came here, as Radhakrishna Ayi, my friend was here serving Sai Baba (1908). Gangagiri Baba of Vanjargaon was performing a huge Nama-Saptha under the tamarind trees (near the Wada). There was a huge gathering every day and among many pilgrim groups that came, one was from Sangamner and when that returned to Sangamner, it brought from my friend R Ayi a photo of Baba, a lot of Burfi Prasad and an invitation to me to go over to Shirdi and settle there. I accepted the invitation and came here without jewels and property. I then went and saw Baba. He told me to live with R Ayi and be busy serving. About the end of 1916 i.e., 1 or 2 months after R. Ayi died, I had gone to Nagar draw my pension as the widow of a man that died in the war at rupees 6 per month (which I still draw). On my way back, at Kopergaon, near the banks of the Godavari, I was reminded of the fate of R. Ayi, who was burnt there. My mind was all in turmoil. I had brought over my garland to Shirdi for Baba. When I went to place it on Baba, he said, "I don't want this garland of mental uneasiness " He did not receive it. H.S. Dixit requested him to take it as I had brought it from Ahmadnagar for him with such great trouble. I then went near Baba lifting up the garland with both hands. Then I neared Baba, the garland somehow snapped into 3 parts; one was left in each hand and one fell on the floor. How it got severed like that I could not discover. Baba was simply saying, "I don't want it." I had brought with me along with the garland a watermelon and some milk sweets and I placed the Pedas and the cut fruit before Baba. Baba took them up and distributed them. Then I took a slice and cut off the outer skin and presented part to Baba and asked him to eat it. Dixit also requested him to eat it. Baba then said "This woman was weeping and shedding tears at Godavari and she has brought it with such a troubled heart and so I will not accept it." The fact was that at the riverbank I was weeping and blaming Baba mentally for not having saved Radhakrishna Ayi, i.e., for allowing her to die such a wretched death. Baba knew everything that was in my heart and hence His refusal to accept my present. Baba at His noonday meal daily gave me a vessel full of food which I took home. On the day of Baba's expiry, I was greatly agitated at His leaving me desolate and I was weeping at about 10 p.m., in my house saying, "Baba I cannot see You again". I came out and outside my front-door I saw a serpent and felt that it was Baba and said "I cannot recognize you in this serpent body, I know only your Sai Baba form." The serpent disappeared. (Source: DEVOTEES' EXPERIENCES OF SRI SAI BABA - PART-II by H.H.NARASIMHASWAMIJI) RSS A Sai Devotee Bidhan Raghava R Anita A Sai Devotee Quotation of
the Week: Q. Sai devotees have a practice of greeting each other with "SaiRam". How and when did this practice originate? A. Your answer can go here.
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