Feature of the Week: Inwardly the Same

If Sai Baba was a Sufi saint, one may ask, how is it that he has been so readily interpreted and embraced by the Hindu community? Deccani Sufism with its poet-saints has similarities with the strong devotional heritage of the Bhakthi movement of Central India. Echoing the devotional goal of God-realization of both the Sufis and the bhakthas which the former call ma’rifa and the latter brahmavilasa. Sai Baba said, "reaching God is the aim". Although the eleventh-century Muslim scholar, Alberuni, visiting India declared, ‘ The Hindus entirely differ from us in every respect’, at the mystic and devotional bhakthi level there is a fundamental similarity of thought and practice, and indeed they share the same goal to have a direct experience of God. Their inner experiences tally closely, although externally they may appear very different - in their customs, languages, rituals and appearance. In climbing to the top of spiritual mountain, it can be said that the Sufis take a direct structured route with formal way-stations, where as the bhakthas take a more informal, gentler path, but both eventually reaching the summit. Once a bhaktha is able to transcend the boundaries of his formal religion he enters into a state common to all mystics. The Sufi goes beyond the Muslim law (shar’at) and is preoccupied with the way to enable him to experience (tariqat) the ultimate reality (ma’rifa). The poet saints were also intent on proclaiming through their poetic outpourings how to reach God-realization, placing great stress on saying the name of God (namasmarana), a practice which the Sufis also embrace (dhikr). Essentially they are no different. (From "Unravelling the Enigma, Shirdi Sai Baba in the Light of Sufism" by Marianne Warren)
Back to Menu

Devotees Say

Sumita Kanungo
I am a Sai devote. I want to recite Sai Amrati Vani. Please tell me about Sai Amrati Vani.
(Please visit www.saibaba.org/amrithvani.html for Sai Amrith Vani)

JayaSree, Malaysia
This message is for Balasubramaniam of Penang, Malaysia. Sai Ram brother, My name is Jaya Sree. I am a Sai Baba devotee. I read your article in Sai Vichaar and would like to know how can I get Baba's vibuthi & pendants. I would also like to find out how will I be able to get a Sai japa mala for my uncle who is very sick. Please reply. SAI RAM! Jaya Sree e-mail: jay@fds-malaysia.com

Manohar Adusumilli
I was taken to Shirdi by Baba, although I was not willing to go I was convinced to do so by my relatives. I was having severe cold all day on the day we were supposed to start to Shirdi and suddenly within an hour I became normal. As soon we went to Shirdi we did "dhooli darshan"(went straight to Mahasamadhi) and felt the vibrations (mind was in joy out of all the travel strain). Following thing happened at Shirdi which I want to share. After Noon Aarathi, lunch and some rest we wanted to see different places in Shirdi (Lakshmi bai's house, Mahalsapathi's house, Shyama's house...). when went to one store near chavadi and asked a person, don't know whether he was customer or shop keeper who started talking friendly in our language and even accompanied us to all the places and explained Baba's leelas. After we finished the tour, we thought of giving some money to the him but were not able to locate who was there with us few seconds before. We searched for him and despite very sparse crowds at that time near the Mandir, we could not find him. The final sentence he told us was to see Baba's Pallaki procession at 9 PM on Thursday. We were surprised with this and felt Baba's blessings through the person who Guided us.

MRK, Phoenix, AZ, USA
YOGA. Shri Shirdi SAIBABA used to bring out his intestines dry them up and put them back. He was a Mahayogi apart from his being a Gnani and Guru. It is seen from Vishnu sahasranamam, that those in danger, depressed , diseased and seeker of ultimate truth will get what they seek and get the benefit due to His grace. What are the tools that a human being has got to seek him physically? we have the external body and internally we have the breath and the mind. Through these tools we have to reach him. Hear his glory through ears, sing his glory repeat puja mantra, puja and pranayama. As far as the internal organs are concerned, we have the mind and we have the nose through which we breathe. If we control breath, our mind's wanderings are controlled. By this process yoga is practiced. If you control the mind, our breath automatically becomes slow and balanced. Gnana marga is finding out who you are by using your intellect and controlling mind through eliminating the worldly desires, wandering thoughts of the world. This is called vichara marga, Socrates of ancient Greece, Ramana Maharishi and Upanishads speak of this vichara marga. Hatha yoga, one of the Yogas, deals with physical movements such as control of muscular and nervous movements. By hatha yoga Baba used to control the movement of intestines and clean them up by bringing them out and placing them. These Yogis clean their nostrils and the whole digestive system by what is called dhowti. They place a thin wrapped cloth and make it go through the nose, all the way through the digestive system thus clearing the whole passage of esophagus, stomach, smaller intestines and colon. But what Shirdi Sai maharaj did unique and the rare of the rarest. (TO BE CONTINUED)

S.V. Swamy, Hyderabad, AP, India
Recently, thanks to a friend, a very nice discussion started on the topic "To pray or not to pray?" and more and more people are contributing their wisdom to this very important topic. Most of us pray to some God or other. Are we clear what are our motives in praying? What is the purpose of our prayer? Why should we indeed pray at all? Let us explore these topics. I do not claim any mastery over the subject.

When we pray, as I said earlier, our motives are very important. We have been given enough talents and resources by our Maker to carry out our tasks. Only problem is, most of us don't remember what we have set as our task when we took birth on this earth plane. Either because of selfish desires (to become very rich, famous or powerful etc.), or because of our emotional attachments to some other persons, (could be friends or relatives), we start praying, i.e. ask the Higher Entity for more than we may need. Our needs are very few but our wants (desires) are so many that even a hundred births may not be sufficient for them to be fulfilled. When we pray for a stranger, our motive could be a desire for fame (the person who got benefited by our prayer may tell others), money (that person may out of gratitude donate generous amounts to our activities), or a hope that if we pray for others now, others will pray for us when we need the divine help. In the last reason, there is one underlying implication that by praying for others, we generate good karma (a good impression in the books of Destiny) and this will come to our aid when we are in trouble.

The above may shock some of our friends. Many of us are not aware of our motives in doing something. Most of the time, our vision is turned outwards. The English word "Insight" is very relevant. It is a good translation of our Sanskrit word, "Antarmukhatva", which literally means facing inwards. We think our motives are very good and we are acting selflessly when we pray for others. It is not that we should not feel for others, who are suffering. There are people who are truly self-less in their actions. They may kindly ignore this discussion.

Why do we feel that we should pray for ourselves or for someone else? Because we feel helpless on our own! Because we have not put enough effort to get the desired result but still want the result (Like A student who has not prepared adequately for the examination but who prays to God to forgive him and pass him)? Or because we have done all that is possible but are not ready to accept the negative result? Do we pray because we lack full faith in God? Of course, the person who prays has some faith in God. Otherwise, (s)he wouldn't pray at all. Does He not know what we need or deserve? Or do we pray because of anxiety about the impending outcome? Do we at any time try to analyze these aspects of prayer?

We always pray for good and positive results for our dear ones or for ourselves. We sometimes (not always) pray for bad things to our enemies. You object to my use of the word 'pray' in this context, is it not? You may say that we don't pray, we may just wish, or if we are very angry with some person, curse him or her. Well, what is the difference between praying, wishing and cursing? They are all actions with our mind. We set off some thoughts, which reach the Deity to whom we address them. We may vocalize them or write them down in prayer, but that is only to help us in focussing our thoughts. Whether we vocalize them or not, thoughts are the means of achieving our goals. Thoughts, which are colored by emotions, precede all our actions. Many of the Yagnas, Yagas etc. are also performed for Universal welfare or for achieving a specific purpose, but Sarpa Yaga was performed by King Janamejaya to destroy all Snakes, because one of them 'Takshaka', was instrumental in killing his father, Parikshit. Similarly, Sukracharya, the priest of Daityas, (i.e. Rakshasas), used to perform various rites to give power to his disciples so that they can defeat Devatas. Thus prayers, rituals, Pujas etc. can be done with negative thoughts too.

As long as we want positive fruits of our actions, we must also, be ready to accept the negative results. It is a law without exceptions. If we don't want to accept the negative results, we must then obviously not expect Any positive results also. If we don't want either positive or negative results, then why should we do karma? We can as well sit quietly, doing nothing. But is it possible for any of us to sit quietly doing nothing? It is impossible. Even if we don't do any karma with our body, we will still be doing karma with our mind. Doing Tapas, Dhyana, Meditation, anything in fact is doing Karma. Lord Krishna emphatically tells in Gita that it is impossible for any living being to be without doing karma. Unless we have mastered the technique of meditation such that our mind becomes totally blank, some thought or other will keep rising like a wave in the sea, in our mind. But can we maintain that blank state? The moment we come to normal state, we start thinking. And thoughts beget us karma, positive or negative.

So whether we want or not, when we pray for others or for ourselves, we will be acquiring positive or negative karma. The only way of avoiding karma is not to want any result from the karma, i.e. detachment. Sri Krishna talks of Nishkama Karma, i.e karma without desire. Desire for what?

For the results of karma. But is it possible? Not if we maintain our sense of duality (from Him) and not if we think that we can cross this ocean of Samsara on our own. That is, ego, and pride are the main obstacles for us to get rid of kama, desire. Then what is the way? Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that the easiest way for liberation from this cycle of birth and death (which is caused by our karma, which in turn is caused by our Attachments or desires for the fruits of our actions), is to surrender totally all our actions and the fruits of our actions at the feet of the Lord. (Sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamastu!)

To conclude, when we try to apply the above to our topic of prayer, what do we get? We must accept that prayer is also karma. We pray for some material or spiritual benefit because we either want more than what we deserve to get, or because we are not ready to accept failure as our due. Many times, with our shortsightedness, we are unable to accept an apparently negative result as His way of preparing us for better things, which lie round the corner. Thus when we pray for success in an examination or a job interview and when we don't get what we prayed for, we are disappointed and we feel that God has not responded to our prayers. We fail to realize that He has planned something different for us, which in His view is better for us. In our immaturity, we don't realize all this. We feel that He is not listening to our prayers and start enlisting other's help. We request our friends, relatives or some other sympathetic souls to pray for us, to help us to realize our desires. Are we being immature in thinking that God will do something different in our case, if we enlist the support of some more devotees? In addition, are we burdening others with our karma? These are the questions which we must ask ourselves.

I seek the forgiveness of all readers, if I had caused any confusion by the discussions on prayer, which I have presented from my logical point of view. But in the beginning itself, I submitted that logic and faith are poles apart. Prayer, in the end, is a matter of faith. Logic depends on your mind but faith is a servant of your heart. So let your heart, i.e. your faith, guide you in this matter.

Rajesh Routhu, Rochester, NY, USA rrouthu@hotmail.com
Sairam to all, I am living in Rochester , NY. I couldn't able to find Shirdi Saibaba mandir in Rochester. please tell me, is there any Sai Mandir in Rochester? If not, can any body tell me the address of Sai Mandir nearer to Rochester town . I will always thankful to you if you do this help. (Sai Vichaar is not aware of any Sai Mandir in Rochester, NY. However, devotees may visit Sri Rajarajeswari Peetham (www.srividya.org ), a spiritual congregation that may provide leads to any Sai Centers in the area - Sai Vichaar)
Back to Menu

Prayer Club

Rajesh Wattal, TX,USA
OM SAI RAM, I am a regular reader of Sai Vichar from quiet some time & I am trying to be Sai Bhakth .I used to live in new Delhi and go to Lodhi Rd temple every Thursday to spend few hours there. I really used to get lot of peace mind by sitting there. During this period Sai Baba has really helped me in my life's struggle. Then there was sudden change in my life and by the grace of Sai Baba & his wishes I had to come to USA along with my family .Life is hard here & I am trying to work hard. I have left everything in India, my house, and business to get settled here. Right now I can not say whether it was a wise decision or not but I want all the readers of Sai Vichar especially Mrs. Veena Gupta to pray for me and my family after she finishes Sai Amrit Vani on Thursday to give us strength to cope up with this struggle and please pray on my behalf to Sai Baba to settle me here as I have left everything in India to start a new life.
Back to Menu

Sai Activities

Sai Utsav 2000
Shirdi Sai Baba web site organization would like to bring to your attention that the Sai festival, Sai Utsav 2000 in November 2000 in Chicago is getting closer to the reality by Sai Baba’s grace. Arrangements are being made to make this event a grand success. The registration for this event will commence in September 2000. Current list of participants include Sai apostles from India and abroad. Please watch for the final program soon.

Sai in Annadanam -17 and 18 - Saidarbar, Hyderabad, India
Due to the GRACE of LORD SAINATH, the following Annadanam Programs were conducted by http://www.saidarbar.com SAI IN ANNADANAM -17 on June 4, 2000 and SAI IN ANNADANAM -18 on June 11, 2000 at Sri Shridi SAIBABA temple, Koneru street, Secunderabad, AP, India. These activities were sponsored by Smt&Sri Satish Achanta, Sri Katta Srinivas, and Sri Badari Vadlamani, USA. Saidarbar Team Prays Lord SAINATH to shower HIS Blessings on the above sponsors. For further details, please visit
http://www.saidarbar.com/saiinannadanam.htm
http://www.saidarbar.com/annamcamera.htm
Back to Menu

Experiences of Devotees

S.V. Swamy, Hyderabad, India
The second story which I read in a Telugu magazine from Master Publications, Ongole, edited by the disciples of late Pujya Ekkirala Bharadwaja, is about Hazarat Nizamuddin. Hazarat Nizamuddin was a great Muslim Saint. Once a poor man who has a daughter to be married off and who could not get any help from any one, came to the Saint and requested Him to help. The Saint replied, "I am a Fakir, what do I have? However, I will give you whatever I get from my visitors in the next 3 days!" The poor man happily waited at the feet of the great Saint Nizamuddin for the next 3 days. Nobody came to the Saint and the poor man lamented, "Oh holy saint! my bad luck is dogging me here too. No one came to see you. Now what will happen to me and my poor daughter?" Nizamuddin consoled the poor man and told him, "I have taken a vow not to send any one from here with empty hands. The only thing, which I have now with me is this pair of chappals. Please take them and see whether someone will buy them from you. Whatever you get, you can keep". So saying the Saint gave the poor man his pair of chappals. The poor man took the pair of chappals and started home with a heavy heart lamenting his bad luck. He carried the Saint's chappals in his hand. Amir Khusro, the King during that period was coming with a caravan carrying a lot of precious stones, jewels etc. He saw the poor man from a distance from his camel. While the poor man looked like any ordinary fellow, he saw a great halo with him. As he came nearer, the king (a spiritually advanced disciple of Nizamuddin) saw the poor man carrying a pair of chappals with a dazzling halo, and recognized the chappals as belonging to his Guru. Immediately he dismounted the camel and asked the poor man whether he will be willing to sell the chappals to him, and that he will be happy to pay a good price. The poor man is happy and agreed, expecting a few rupees and asked Khusro how much he will give. Khusro diffidently offered him all the jewels and other precious stones carried by all the camels in his caravan along with the camels, keeping only two camels with him. The poor man's joy knew no bounds. He went with all the wealth and Khusro was also very happy. He went with the chappals to the Saint and bowed to him. Nizamuddin asked Khusro how much he paid for the chappals. Khusro told him. The saint told Khusro, "My son, you got them at a very cheap price. The wealth of the whole world is nothing compared to the grace of the Lord. And Lord shows His grace through His servants like this" The above story remind s us of the story of Kuchela in Sri Mad Bhagavat, who got so much wealth after visiting Sri Krishna, who took a fistful of pounded rice from him and gave him a palace in return. We start wondering who is the luckier of the two, the poor man or Khusro, the devotee of Nizamuddin. Both got benefited. It is said that the sight, touch or talk with a Sadhu (Who has no anger or enmity to any thing or anybody, who is the embodiment of love and Satvik quality), or taking a prasad or pada tirtha from him, will destroy our Avidya and thus all our sins. On Guru Purnima day, we had the good fortune of worshipping Sai and taking his prasad. What a good fortune! Om Sai Sri Sai Jai Jai Sai. Om Sai Ram.
Back to Menu

Quotation of the Week

Once the strings are entrusted to the Sadguru there is no cause for grief - Sai Baba (as cited in -Sai Baba the Master- by Acharya E. Bharadwaja.)
Back to Menu

You may subscribe to receive the newsletter by e-mail.

Fill out your e-mail address and hit the subscribe button:

Back to Menu