|
Sai Vichaar 1.Feature of the Week: Love and Demands 5.Experiences of Devotees 6.Devotees Say 7.From the Editor's Keyboard 8.Subscribe to Sai Vichaar 9.Disclaimer From the Editor's Keyboard... It is gladdening to see more entries for our essay writing activities. We thank the contributors for their efforts in presenting their essays. Devotees are strongly encouraged to participate in the essay writing by contributing as well as voting. We would like to have more entries in all the categories, especially the categories for younger age groups. We hope that the following guidelines explaining each category will be helpful: Category I is aimed at encouraging younger readers to participate in the essay writing. The topic A Sai as I know is of a general nature and may include write-ups on the individual experiences of how they came into Sai fold and their experiences with Sai. Category II is for the participation of young adult readers of age group above the previous category. The topic A Sainthood to Godhood may include material on the virtues and divine qualities of Saints, individual perceptions that may point towards realization that the Saint is God, and incorporation of the above thoughts as it pertains to Sai Baba of Shirdi. As informed earlier, the topics in all the categories were decided upon keeping in view of the global nature of participants and the objective that the universal nature of Sai teachings are given an exposure. We also feel that the topics in each category do provide enough scope for incorporating individual experiences and build up a cohesive reading material for a wider readership. We request and strongly encourage readers to suggest more topics for essays or other materials to be featured in Sai Vichaar. We thank the readers for a positive response for the feature on major religions of the world. We will continue to feature write-ups on interesting aspects of different religions. We are also happy to receive more write-ups on devotees’ experiences for featuring in Sai Vichaar. Please do contact the web site administrator team for any assistance regarding submitting your experiences, or expressing your comments, and opinions. Humbly yours, The Editor Disclaimer 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 organization is not responsible for the opinions expressed by individual contributors.
|
Feature of the week:Love and Demands "Yo NaHrishyathi NaDveshti NaSochathi NaKaankshathiSubhaaSubha parithyaagi Bhakthimaan Yasyame Priya"- BhagavadGeetha "The one who does not rejoice, neither does hate.. The one that is neither saddens nor aspires; the one that renounces the good and the bad... is the one that is dear to me" Geetha says that Lord loves those who neither rejoice at the good bestowed on them nor develop hatred towards ill mongers; those who are neither saddened by losses nor ecstatic from gains; those who are ready to give up both good and bad. How does one accomplish this? Why does one should accomplish this? Is this a demand from God? Lord Sainath demands both faith and patience from His children and a perspective of those attributes were presented in the earlier features. If God is considered as the repository of perennial wisdom meant for the betterment of mankind, the analogy of God's commands and its stringent demands takes up a different meaning. Sai is the "kamadhenu" the ever yielding cow, and the "kalpavriskha" the celestial tree that bestows all riches upon the faithful. This Saint God's demands are not a set of stringent commands but the loving guidance for a truthful seeker. Sometimes they are the bitter pills lovingly given by the mother necessary for the infant's perpetual health. How does one explain this love of God ? God's love is selfless and unconditional. This is realized only by the devotees' selfless and unconditional love towards God. Hence, the best mundane example useful to compare God's love is the love between mother and infant which is selfless, unconditional and undemanding.
I would like to inform you about how my wife SANNIDHI saved from critical delivery. As we are working couple & devotee of Shree SAIBABA & with his blessing we had a baby boy born on 11/11/96 named RISHI. When she was pregnant, jaundice was detected on 7/11/96 & on the same day, I took her to Valsad, about 85 Kms. towards south, her hometown as she can be treated well. As it was peak Dipavali time, there were very few Doctors present in town & others were on holiday. However we took her to a maternity home were her name was registered for delivery & we came to know that the lady doctor was also on holiday. However she had made alternate arrangement then she was taken to one doctor & he started treatments. I would like to inform you that probability of delivery was in mid of December. On 10/11/96 she had a little pain at midnight. Next day morning I drove to Surat for some work, moment I reached to my house at Surat I got a telephone from Valsad saying that Sannidhi is admitted. Moment I reached to Valsad hospital, present doctors had warned me about critical situation & also told me that if baby comes in normal delivery then O.K. but if we have to operate her then we don't give any guarantee about mother or child. I always read one ADHYAY (part) of Shree Sai Satcharitra, I started reading book & told my mother & mother in law to put some UDI (bhasma) in her mouth & apply some on her stomach. At about 4.55 baby boy was born & best part was it was a normal delivery and only nurse was present. Moment she gave this news, I rushed to the nearest temple of SAI BABA at Tithal (Tithal is a beach about 3-4 Kms. from Valsad Town & this temple is right on beach, beautiful place to visit ). After visiting temple, I saw my wife & baby boy. This was the real CHAMTKAR of SHREE BABA. Now my son, he is about two years, he is very healthy. For Other Devotees Information, Valsad is about 200 kms. from Mumbai (Bombay) towards north, well connected by Train on Western Railway. Valsad is a Dist. Head Quarter. From Valsad transport is available to TITHAL, SAI BABA TAMPLE, There is a good guesthouse near to temple, managed by Sai Baba Temple Organization. Prem Desai, Surat, India Mona wrote to us - "I am a devotee of Sai. He is always with me. Recently I had misplaced some important papers and have been searching it for a month. Today was the last day for finding it. I prayed to my Sai, read the Sthavan Manjari, and he directed me straight to it. I felt him asking me to search for it in the right place. Sainath answers everybody's prayers. Thank you Sai. Jai Sai
Thank you for the great newsletter I receive every week. Being in theMiddle East, I never thought that I could be so close to Baba through thenet. Thanks a lot. I always look forward to receiving my mail.Baba bless you all. I just finished reading the 8/6 issue of the newsletter. In the leading article, I read with great amusement this sentence: "Faith is a virtue of certitude that has to exist without even an aorta of distrust or doubt."I think the writer meant to say Iota (a very tiny amount) not aorta (a major blood vessel). Anyway, for some reason this struck me as so funny I laughed for several minutes. However, just the same I enjoyed the newsletter. I found the article on Jainism interesting but I think maybe there was a little too much detail. I got lost in some of the discussion. What surprised me was you said they do not believe in Gods. But do they believe in a Creator, or one God? You didn't say. Also, I very much enjoyed the story of the Sai devotee who saved up his sugar to give to a Sadhu and then one unexpectedly called at the door to collect the sugar. This sounds so much like something Sai Baba would do! What a blessing for him! I have a suggestion. Maybe you could tell one small story or incident from the Satcharita once in a while in the newsletter. I love reading this book and I am very much moved whenever I read any of the stories in it. Jerry Davidson Thanks Jerry Davidson for pointing out the mistake in our last week's feature. The sentence in reference should be read with "iota" and not "aorta". The articles on religions were prepared from several sources. With access to so much information, it becomes not so easy a task to put together a format that covers all aspects of a religion and yet fits into Sai Vichaar. We urge interested devotees to refer to other sources for more information on any religion. About Jainism and Gods, our sources tell that Jains do not have or believe in Gods as Hindus do; however, they do believe in a self-sustaining universe that has no beginning or the end. As far as a "Creator or one God" is concerned, one of the sources does mention that Jains do believe in a creator known as "Jina" and that the name Jain in fact, is given to those who follow "Jina". Thanks for your suggestion regarding stories from Sri Sai Satcharitha. We will include them in our forthcoming issues. Sai Vichaar Team
Back to Menu |
© 1996-1998 by Shirdi Sai Baba web site Organization, all rights reserved.
