Abdul was a resident of Nanded. From his sixteenth year, he was serving Fakir Amiruddin, a saint of Nanded. In the year 1889, Baba appeared in a dream of Amiruddin, put two mangoes in his hands and asked him to send Abdul to him. When Amiruddin woke up, he really found two mangoes in his hands. He gave them to Abdul, and asked him to go to Shirdi and be in the service of Sai Baba. Abdul came immediately to Shirdi. On seeing him, Baba said that his crow had come. Baba asked him to do his service without any other thoughts. From then onwards Abdul kept the mosque and adjoining places clean and the paths on which Baba walked. He cleaned the lanterns in the mosque, not forgetting Lendi Bagh. In his leisure time he sat near Baba and read the Quran. He put two pots of water near the Nanda Deep in Lendi Bagh. Baba set in the evenings daily at a fixed time near Nanda Deep. He took water in his hands from the pots and reading something sprinkled the water on all sides. After that he got up and looked seriously in all directions in which water was sprinkled. Devotees used to think that by his actions, Baba was protecting his devotees who were there on all sides. One whole night Abdul knelt down and put his hands on his head and Baba asked him whether he wanted to see the moon. After remaining in that position for sometime, Abdul fell on Baba sleepy. Baba woke him up and told him that he would show him the moon. Next day afternoon, when Abdul took water in his hands, he found the image of the moon in the water. Abdul also washed the clothes of Baba daily in the nearby rivulet and kept them neat. (From Life History of Shirdi Sai Baba by Ammula Sambasiva Rao)
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Experiences of Devotees

Raj
We came to USA in 1993 with some money to educate my children. My self or my wife could not get a reasonable job and my two sons were about to get into college. Prior to my arrival, we never believed in Sai. However, not only me but my wife also dreamed Swami several occasions. One of my friends took me to a bhajan center and then I told my friend that is the person I was dreaming and that was my start to believing in Sai and worshipping him. Since then, I had many roller coaster rides in my life. I will share one of them. As I could not get a decent job I started a business partnership with a relative and subsequently lost all my savings. Now, my two sons are admitted to reputable universities. I had no money to pay for my sons tuition. They were considered as international students and the tuition was around $8000 per quarter. Everybody in us know how difficult to get a credit card without a proper credit history. My eldest son never worked in US. Swami arranged credit cards exceeding $10000.00 on his name. Even now with a reasonable credit, my credit limits are not that high. Swami did the best for me and my family. A normal person might think that I am crazy. After loosing so much of money that still I believe in swami. Yes, he got my wife a school at an unbelievable price. He got me a job in a county. My eldest son is finishing his masters degree in Engineering. My second son is about to enter a medical school. Wealth is happiness not money. My dearest Sai has always taken care of me and my family and enriched with happiness. Truly, I think this message will be helpful for the people who are on the fence thinking whether to be a devotee or not. Help ever and Hurt never as Swami says!
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Devotees say...

Krishna Alluri, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
"ALL PROBLEMS HAVE SOLUTIONS" Sai Ram! My boss used to say "all problems have solutions and if they don't then they are not problems - they are facts." Please be assured that you are not alone, whether it is Mala from London facing financial problem, or Natasha Singh needing strength to take care of herself or 'A devotee' seeking a miracle.

In Chapter XXXIX & L, Sai Satcharita, Sai explains the meaning for the Sanskrit stanza:
'Tadviddhi Pranipatena Pariprashnena Sevaya Upadekshyanti Te Jnanam Jnaninastattwadarshinah'
- Surrender COMPLETELY (to Sai), seek His guidance, and SERVE Him reverently. Sai expounds on the principle of Advaita: - the one formless, immutable and auspicious alone is REAL - the formless One governs and is within each of us Atma (Jiva), God (Sai), and the world are all One. The message from Isha Upanishad becomes clear to Sri Das Ganu by observing the maidservant of Kaka (Chapter XX): The maidservant was happy in rags, wearing a good Chirdi and again with her old torn rags. 'One ought to enjoy whatever God bestows on her/him in the firm belief, that as He pervades everything, whatever is bestowed on her/him by God must be good'. Sai's asks Mrs. Radhabai Deshmukh to practice Firm Faith (Shradha) and Patience (Saburi); to believe fully, that Guru is the sole Actor and Doer; and not to try to get Mantra or Upadesh (or Miracle). One might be blessed to be born normal, have good parents , siblings, children, friends, education, job, property, wealth or whatever, but none are likely to have everything good! We need to appreciate what we have and not ponder over what we don't. We have a choice to be happy. We are Sat, Chit and Ananda (Existence, Knowledge and Bliss). "How can a person have grief if s/he sees all beings in the Self and sees the Self as existing in all beings!"---- All problems have solutions and we do pray for all! Sai Ram!

Anshuman Pandey
I humbly bow down at Sai Baba's holy feet in my mind right now. What should be done to achieve moksha and reach satloak, which is higher than brahmloak. What is the difference between Satpurush and avatars like Krishna, Rama and Shiva. My e-mail address is anshumanp@hotmail.com

Laxmikantha Sai, Chicago
Dear Sai Vichar Editor, The "Feature of the week: Value of Patience" is extremely well written and interesting. My congratulations to the person who contributed this piece. "Shraddha" and "Saburi" are really keys to success in any sphere. Following these virtues is a very apt way of dealing even with our day to day chores. Krishna Alluri's thoughts in today's newsletter (dated 6/9/99) are also interesting.

Darshan Pal Kaur, Atlanta, USA (Kau of the Shirdi trip posting)
Dear SaiVichar, Heartiest congratulations for completing one year of Sai-service on the web. Also, my heartfelt thanks for featuring my posting on Shirdi Trip (which I had posted in the Devotees Experience page under the name of Kau) in your esteemed newsletter. It is always a delight to visit this website, read devotees experiences and obtain invaluable guidance through the articles in Sai Vichaar. I hope that you will continue to delight us devotees for many many years to come.

I assume that dear Roselene Prasad has requested for my e-mail id and I am providing the same.
Dear Roselene, SaiRam! You are most welcome with your queries on anything you need to know about Shirdi, or our dearest Baba. With Baba's grace, I will try to answer your queries. It is my good fortune that I will get a chance to interact with another loving devotee of Baba. You can e-mail me at dpkaur@hotmail.com OR kau_rorl@hotmail.com
May Baba shower His grace on you and call you to Shirdi very soon.

Response from Alphanso D’Souza to the question of the week
To me it is not wrong to have material pursuits, that money can buy as long as you don't lose them to one's spiritual progress. One should not have any false confidence that simply because the bank account looks good you're going to live joyfully. After all, we can't take our money with us, but we surely can use it today for His glory. When we do that, we can make our wealth eternal by letting Sai direct our use of it. We ought not to trust in the worldly resources when we should be trusting in Sai. To seek and trust Sai is therefore, to know Sai better and to possess less. Wisdom is God; Sai ought to be sought early in life and early in each day of life. When we show Him we love Him in this way, He shows us He loves us by filling our day with His wisdom. To me Sai never intends that we should not have riches; He only intends that riches should not have us. It is vitally important for those who possess wealth not to be possessed by it. Seek the wisdom of the Lord early in the day, before earning the wealth of the world. Then use that wealth in a way that will not be detrimental to one's spiritual progress.

I had been praying for something I wanted very badly. It seemed a good thing to have a thing that would make life even more pleasant than it is, and would not in any way hinder my work. Sai did not give it to me. Why? I do not know all of his reasons, of course. But Sai, who, I have chosen to orchestrate my life, it is well that I leave it to Him. In addition, what I do understand is He offers me holiness at the price of relinquishing my own will. "Do you honestly want to know Me?" He asks. I answer yes. "Then do what I say," He replies. "Do it when you understand it; do it when you don't understand it. Take what I give you; be willing not to have what I do not give you. The very relinquishment of this thing that you so urgently desire is a true demonstration of the sincerity of your lifelong prayer: Thy will be done. Therefore, instead of hammering on door's for something, which it is now quite clear Sai does not want me to have, I make my desire an offering. The longed-for thing is material for sacrifice. Here, Lord Sai, it's yours. He will, I believe, accept the offering. He will transform it into something productive to my spiritual progress. He may or may not give it to me, but at least He will know that I fully intend to obey Him. Faith is the willingness to receive whatever He wants to give, or the willingness not to have what He does not want to give. And as was confirmed in last week newsletter that Baba has said authoritatively that just repeating "Sai Sai" wholeheartedly, He will take me across safely.

I would like to thank the Sai Vichaar team for their loving commitment and for the unseen work that goes on, in putting the newsletter together. Congratulations for the successful year past. I think you have been excellent. I have truly been blessed spiritually and I guess emotionally too sometimes by each Sai Vichaar that has been emailed to me. To read each week the experiences of other devotees can be very encouraging and it all comes to me, as a reminder of Sai's blessing and guiding that is always there for the earnest seekers who accept Him and surrender to Him and lay it all at His holy feet.
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Sai Activities

Vijaya Kumar, Sri Shirdi Sai Sansthan, Sydney, Australia Our congratulations to the Sai Vichaar team for their exceptional task in spreading Sai philosophy. It is so fulfilling to read the newsletter. We also share its contents with our fellow devotees at our weekly meetings. It is amazing how we suddenly started receiving your letter. Soon after we started our weekly Sai Bhajans. Almost as if Baba was sending his blessings for our new venture. May it continue to shower Baba's blessings on everyone. A group of Sai devotees got together and decided to attract like minded people to share and spread Sai teachings. We started meeting weekly for bhajans and with Baba's blessings have now registered as a sansthan. We hope to ultimately build a simple temple here in Sydney. In these times of general discontentment, we feel it is very important to turn towards spirituality for solace and peace. Keeping in mind the power of ‘Satsang’, we have started a web site as a forum for spreading Baba's message. Merely hearing and reading Sai's leelas is the easiest and simplest form of 'Bhakti' . We are therefore trying to focus mainly on his Leelas . Visitors are welcome to visit our site and give their comments. Also to share their experiences, which is the most important thing and miracles are happening all the time. The address for our site is: - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/5433/
We finish the joint parayan for our temple this week and would like to thank all the members of the Sai family for giving us their overwhelming moral support.

Sai Samsthan USA, Warrenville, IL 60555, USA Sai Samsthan USA has scheduled the Gurupurnima celebrations on Wednesday, July 28, 1999 at Shri Sai Baba mandir in Warrenville, IL a Chicago suburb.
The program is as follows:
9.00 AM Kakada Arati
10.00 AM Vishnu Sahasranaama Havan
1.00 PM Madhyahna Arati
1.30 PM Mahaprasad
3.00 PM Sai Satcharitha Parayan
4.00 PM Samoohika Vishnusahasranaama Parayan
6.30 PM Dhoop Arati
7.00 PM Abhishek to Shri Saibaba
Ashtothrasatanama Puja
Bhajans and Kirtans
9.00 PM Shej Arati
9.30 PM Mahaprasad

The important feature of this year’s celebrations is the Vishnu Sahasranama Havan scheduled at 10.00 AM on Gurupurnima Day. This event requires 1008 sponsors. Sai devotees are requested to use this opportunity, participate in an activity dear to Lord Sainath and seek His blessings on Guru Poornima day.

For further details, please contact Sai Samsthan USA, at 27W 321 Butterfield Road, Warrenville, IL 60555. Phone No. 630-653-4444. Information can also be obtained by contacting on of the following:
Umapathi Kattamanchi 708-448-3016
Nagabhushanam Koneru 847-304-0641
Anantha Sonti 630-790-3800
Manju Panjwani 847-677-6654
Jitendra Shelke 773-465-5605
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Prayer Club

Nila Vaishnav
"Our family has a tremendous faith in Baba and I would like you to help me in praying for my husband. My husband has a Ph.D. and is a very bright guy. About three years ago, he quit his job to start his own business. He has tried many different areas to do his business in but so far has not been succeeded partly because we don't have capital to invest and he wants to do a business with a minimum investment. He is to a point when he is unable to get a job even. We talked to his mom the other day who is quite old and she seemed very worried about him. If something should happen to her, it won’t be good for her to be worried. It would be very nice for him to be an earning member of the household again. His recent venture has just started and we think that would work. Would you please join me in praying for either him getting a good job or succeeding in this new venture real soon?" Thank you very much. Aum Sai...

Radhika, USA
I have been receiving the Sai Vichaar regularly for some time now. I invariably find that when I have any problems or am feeling depressed for whatever reason, a message on how to proceed, in the SaiVichaar writings or prayers. I find great peace of mind in reading the experiences of various devotees and my sometimes flagging patience and faith in HIM is once again bolstered. This time, however, I find myself questioning HIS motives, as last month my best friend's 5-year-old son passed away. She is such a gentle, pure-hearted and devout person that I cannot come to terms with it. Though my mind understands, the article in June 2nd Sai Vichaar, that the soul is ever alive and true and the body only an illusion, the heart does not. Please pray for Helen (my friend) that she may find strength and courage to deal with her loss and for me that I may develop unquestioning faith and patience in HIM.
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