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Sai Vichaar 01.Feature of the Week: Testament of Shirdi Sai Baba 02.Devotees Say 03.Prayer Club 04.Sai Activities 05.Experiences of Devotees 06.Quotation of the Week 07.From the Editor's Keyboard 08.Submit your article to Sai Vichaar 09.Subscribe to Sai Vichaar 10.Disclaimer From the Editor's Keyboard... Sai Vichaar thanks you for your support for the Question of the Week feature. This feature is intended to initiate useful discussion on topics related to Sai philosophy, His message, and Sai devotion. Please send your suggested topics for the same by writing to the web site administrator. Responses for "Question of the week" have no time deadline. Readers and devotees are requested to send in their response whenever possible. They will be posted in Sai Vichaar appropriately. We also hope to see more use for the Sai activities section. This is a good opportunity to spread the word about various activities, celebrations and festivities of Sai centers across the world. Postings on Sai activities are very useful for new devotees visiting the web site and for those who would like to know more about Sai activities in their area. Readers and devotees are requested to note that the venue for Sai Utsav 2000 is Chicago, IL and will take place from November 23-25, 2000. This is an exciting three day event of Sai satsang, naam jaap, concerts, discourses, bhajans, audio visuals and other activities intended for Sai devotees, men, women, and children. Please watch for more details in the days to come. "Question of the week" for this week is How can Sai devotees reflect Baba's humility in their daily lives? 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.
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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. Indira Kher has now brought out, for the first time, the English version. She is an ardent Sai devotee; her mother tongue is Marathi. 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. This book is published by Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., L-10, Green Park Extension, New Delhi- 110016 and is available through Baba's web site by sending an email to admin@saibaba.org)
Yoga and Skhema
Lord Krishna, in Gita tells Arjuna that he will provide Yoga and Skhema to his bhaktas. Yoga has many connotations in Indian philosophy. Gita provides us a basis for Karma, Gnaana, Bhakti and Raja Yogas. There are other Yogas of Hata, Tantra, Yantra and Mantra. With so many possibilities, how do we define and understand Yoga? Yoga had an original meaning of meditation in Vedas; in later use, it meant yoking - yoking the jeevathma to paramathma. In Gita, a particular attitude of total involvement and complete surrender to Lord Krishna, the Yogeswara, is termed Yoga. Thus, when Arjuna was despondent that he is going to kill his own brothers and Gurus, he was in a state of Yoga of Despondency! Hata Yoga is a tantric discipline, which plays with universal energies and its channeling in the human body. Ha stands for sun and ta for the moon. They represent breathing (and hence prana) entering the body through the left and right nostrils. Many ancient texts provide means of achieving complete control of the body and mind through practice of Hata Yoga, on the path to transcendence. Sri Shirdi Baba was an exponent of Hata yoga. He could leave His body for three days, clean His inside by taking out His intestines, go without food and water as long as He chooses, transport Himself from floor of Dwarakmaee to the wooden plank for sleeping faster than the blink of the eye, light lamps with only water, bilocate Himself at different places at the same time, perform khanda Yoga (severing His limbs)etc. Blessed are we who have a chance to keep His form in our minds, His name on our tongue, His leelas as our guide, His advice as our path. Jai Sai Ram.
MRK, Phoenix, AZ, USA
KARMA YOGA. Every act of avatar SHRIDI SAI MAHARAJ is karma yoga. As an avatar--guru, Baba spent all his actions in curing mental and physical diseases, and, slowly and surely taking his devotees to the ultimate goal of liberation that cancels birth and death. He directed the wheat flour to be sprinkled at the boundaries of Shirdi, to avoid cholera entering into Shirdi. When the merchants gave up giving oil for lighting lamps, he lighted them with water sanctified by him. He bestowed love and affection to Shyama and Mahalaspati. He discussed philosophy, sent one to meditate away from him, directed one sanyasi to give up attachment to his mother, made Dasgunu to spread his glory. Every second of his illumined soul lighted the little lamps of devotees then and now to finally submerge in the eternal jyoti of God, the self and cut the knot of PRARABDHA and reduced the number of lives to struggle or finally merge in the infinite. we come into this world, without knowing from where we come and to where we will be going at the end of this journey of life. As William WORDSWORTH SAID, AS CHILDREN WE COME AS TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY APPARELED IN CELESTIAL LIIGHT. But the moment we start growing, we get untrammeled into this world. Our vasanas brought forth from previous acts done in previous lives drag us to worldly activity. Our senses start jumping out to objects of the world with desires and enjoyment of temporary pleasure and unending sorrow. Every human being is bound to act, as we are not allowed to remain quiet by our own propensities and desires. In slokas four and five of Chapter III of Bhagavadgita, it is pointed out, that man does not achieve freedom from action, by abstaining from actions. None attains perfection, through the mere renunciation of works. None, indeed, even for a moment, remains without doing work. All being dependent, are made to work by the constituents of prakriti (nature) that drags us to work. When we are born, we look to mother's milk and food. When we are in school, we want to swallow all available knowledge. The moment we get qualifications, we rush up for earning money. We get married and then fall deep into the muddy turbulence of sansara. Then what is it we can do? We act because we desire a result. How can I act without a desire? Even Kumbhakarna, the embodiment of sloth, had to breathe and be fed. Even a sanyasi, needs to eat and look after his coupina (loin cloth). The story goes that as rats are quibbling his coupina, he brought in a cat and to control the cat brought a dog and to control dog a servant etc. We are painfully aware of MONEY collections for hearing highly valued spiritual lectures and collection of monies for ashrams etc. If this is the situation, what can an ordinary average human being do? One way is to work without desiring a particular result. Leave the fruit of one's action to Guru or God. One can do this only by two methods. One to find out the nature of life as explained in samkhya yoga of Bhagavadgita. There is one eternal immortal entity called God in this temporary haven of the body. So try to merge in it, and analyze and understand that all acts and results thereof are only temporary phases and though doing work, keep your mind on that which is immortal. The second way is to completely surrender your ego to the Guru and do all acts. God knows and guru teaches this. The result is what God knows is good for you and not what you think is good for you in this journey of mortality to immortality. In chapter III Karma yoga, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna," Controlling the sense organs with the mind, he who commences the Yoga of action, with the organs of action, unattached, is held to excel." So while acting in this world, and praying to Guru/God, to satisfy our desires, slowly draw your mind from all the objects of the world and develop the control of senses by the mind and excel in this life and finally merge in Him. Love all and hurt never. Try to develop giving to others and always not taking from others. When you give do not expect a return. As you give to another human being, actually God in you is giving to God in the other person and God always gives you much more than you give may be not from the same person but by other ways as all finally are His ways. What is a desire? your mind says -there is a beautiful object, we should possess it. so the subject you, crave for the object and the relationship between you and the object cause desire. we are not happy that a beautiful object exists, but we want to possess it. In fact, you the subject, the object and the relationship are finally him. Suppose we can enjoy a beautiful sunrise, early morning chirping of a lovely bird in the park , this is no desire. We then participate in the glory of God. I is the major problem. On analysis we will find the mind is nothing but bundle of thoughts and I is illusory. Who is this I.? Our body.? No! We know definitely our life is like a flight of a bird in the sky. it starts and before you fully perceive the body and its activities , it vanishes. Thus analyzing what we are and understanding the transitory world, we have to reduce desires and finally merge in the feet of Guru. Love all, hurt never and do service is the best way to Action. Then we will make our karma a yoga. OM SAI RAM . (Errata: Ref. Sai Vichaar V.3, No. 13 Gnana Yoga by Sai devotee MRK, paragraph 1, lines 10-11. Please note that 'Ghana' should read as 'Gnana', 'Gila' as 'Gita' and 'Sankarre' as 'Sankara'. Sai Vichaar regrets the typographic errors - Editor)
Harini
Malathy Raghavan
Saidarbar, Hyderabad, India
Sai Nama Sankirthan, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India
Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Sai Mandir, Panvel, Maharashta, India (Sri Bhagawati Sai Sansthan - Regd.) Sai Baba Mandir in Panvel, Maharashtra is situated about 40 Kms from Mumbai(Bombay). Spirtual head of the Mandir is Guruji Sri Sai Narayan Baba. The Temple activities start at 3.15am with Abhishek of 5'6" idol of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba and ends with Shej Arathi at 8.00pm. Devotees visiting India are urged to visit Panvel ashram and seek HIS divine blessings. For more details or pooja sponsorships at Panvel Ashram, please contact Sri Bhisham Vachhani at bhishamv@hotmail.com. Sai Utsav 2000
S.A. Patnakar, Dadar, Bombay - December 1, 1936
"Ceaseless chanting of his guru's name is to Hemad, the only weal - material and spiritual. Bowing his head at the guru's feet, he has a sense of fulfillment. For it is only at his feet that the four highest goals of human life can be achieved" - (Chapter 37 of Shri Sai Satcharita by G.R. Dabholkar, Translated by Indira Kher.)
Question of the Week
A Sai devotee, Vancouver, BC, Canada Jai Sai Ram and prayers to all! Let me attempt to respond to the Question of the week for this week by reminding ourselves of a few famous quotable quotes related to the topic that might help us appreciate the philosophy of Shri Sai Baba. "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." - LEO TOLSTOY. Sai Baba never tried to change the world, but showed the world the importance of His philosophy by actually living by His principles. "...it is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes some think that human misery is inevitable. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes others say that there are many worlds, when we know that there is one. Ours." - KOFI ANNAN, UN Secretary General. Sai Baba believed in Advaitha or in Oneness of the whole world. His philosophy is based on 'seeing divinity and God in all living beings and non-living things'. "True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness." - ALBERT EINSTEIN. This quote essentially depicts Shri Sai Baba and how He led His life. The organized religions are ethically based that teach their believers what is good and what is bad, what is allowed and what is forbidden were birth and death. The basic building blocks of human religions were, contained in:
While ignorant ones could have mistaken Shri Sai Baba as an ordinary and poor beggar, He did not succumb to or got influenced by religious inclinations. Sai Baba was totally free, detached and His life was guided by His principles of Appreciation, Benevolence, Calmness, Charity, Contentment, Control of mind and body, Compassion, Desirelessness, Devotion, Discrimination (of Real from Unreal), Egolessness, Faith, Forgiveness, Humility, Introversion, Love, Mercy, Meditation, Omnipresence, Oneness, Patience, Purification, Remembrance, Remuneration, Renunciation, Surrender and Tolerance. Let us recall another quote "Any religion or philosophy which is not based on respect for life is not a true religion or philosophy." - ALBERT SWEITZER. The response to the question "How does Sai philosophy differ from organized religions?" could then be looked from a different angle too, since Shri Sai Baba truly respected and regarded that all forms of life, including insects, birds, animals and humans of varied social, political, economic, cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds, were one and the same. Thus, Sai Baba was unique, on one hand totally free and on the other respected all religions and the core of divine philosophy. Prayers to Sai Baba and let us hope to live by (at least some of) His principles!
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