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Sai Vichaar 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.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. 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 visitors and for those who would like to know more about Sai activities in their and other areas. The "Question of the week" for the week is, Q. Should one believe in astrological predictions? 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 saibaba.org is not responsible for the opinions expressed by individual contributors.
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Feature of the week:
Never worry!
"Do not worry in the least; always be full of joy; never, never worry to the end of your life. This is what Baba said, all the time. Baba seemed to be repeating to his devotees the same famous Taittiriya Shruti-siddhanta, which says that, Perfect happiness itself is Brahman. This I know. (Sai Satcharit ch.17 v.112&113)." These are the words told by Sai to his devotees recorded by Sri Hemadpant in Sai Satcharita. Sai taught the simplest way to reach the happiness. It is by devotion and love for God. Sai asked us not to worry about any thing (after doing our best), as God is there to take care of everything. Still, most of us are living with a peculiar condition called, FADD. It is an acronym for fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction, and depression. Why there is a gap between Sri Sai's words and our daily living with lot of worries to the extent of drowning us (with worries power)! This shows, we are able to appreciate these words as Sai devotees, but when it comes to the level of practice, lot of us are not able to do so! Why? We are definitely omitting some important particulars regarding the essentials of understanding. We should realize that the worries or the problems we face are not new to the human kind or only to us. The degree of problems might be different for each of us, but the kind (type) is the same. According to Bhagavat Gita, whatever problems we have, they have all been categorized into three groups. ADHYATMIKA:
ADHIBHAUTIKA:
ADHIDAIVIKA:
These different problems are the common accompaniments to all human beings on the earth. They are called BHAVA ROGA. (Disease of birth and death). These problems in one sense help us to discover who we are in the truest sense. The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter. The moment we think we are separate from every one else and feel that we should get the best irrespective of what happens to others, then we are creating a wheel of karma which will be repeated to us through some one else. Having known this, whenever we face a problem let us give more attention to the solution, rather than blaming and brooding over the problem. Sri Sai advised us to be kind with each other and love one another for our own benefit. In simple words he told us that do not hurt, anyone (at least as much as possible) and he further added that it is equal to hurting him. Sai experienced that oneness with all the beings on earth. He told a simple remedy for our happiness. Remembering (feeling the presence) God in every action. He told Hemad, whatever you do; just remember me before doing it. Naturally, the remembrance of Sri Sai's name will remove all the Asubha (bad vasanas), as darkness cannot stand before light. Whatever comes to our lot, after our best attempts, we should accept it as karmaphalam. If we pray to God sincerely feeling remorse for the mistakes we committed, God will definitely listen to us. Destiny (mistakes we did in the past) cannot be changed, but we can use our freewill not to repeat the mistakes. Even though we continue to receive the reactions of our past mistakes, it will certainly lighten up our karma. In other words, a pin will prick where the sword is due. As told by a famous person, All problems are psychological (ego created). All solutions are spiritual. The awareness of the universal causes of problems and our role in it, lessens our tendency to make them into our very own personal worries. It changes our approach to the problem. We try to look forward to the lessons of life from the problems. When we are allotting less space for worry in the mind, we are giving more space for peace and happiness. Slowly, Sai's words start making sense in our day-to-day living.
Contributed Article: Sri Sai Gurucharitra - Chapter V(continued from last week)
By the time he reached home, the Maharaj's son Lakshmanrao was dead. Gopalrao's wife and daughter-in-law were weeping as if their hearts would break. Gopalrao was unmoved. He told in his daughter-in-law, "My girl, a bubble has burst. It is futile to cry about it in this manner. We paint the walls of the house and over time, the paint fades. Do the wise cry because the paint has faded? Can any one assuage his thirst from a mirage? This world is a mirage. Sheer delusion is this world. What you see all around you is purely temporary. This is all a magic show. In truth, who is born and who dies? All the relationships that we have, all these entanglements are the illusions in the city of magic located in the world of our dreams. As a lake dries up, the reflection of the sun in it vanishes. Does it prove that the sun is non-existent? This too is the same. Cease this futile sorrow and tears. Look after your son Khanderao. There is no use of further tears." His daughter-in-law was comforted by these words of wisdom. The last rites of Lakshamanrao were performed.
That Maharaj was the abode of all good qualities such as shama, dama, the restraint of mind and organs and uparati. As his fame spread far and wide, many people came for his darsan. Some of them had long standing stubborn diseases cured by his darsan. Some got wealth and some were put on right moral path by the Maharaj. Once, a fakir's wife came from the Manawat village for a darsan of the Maharaj. Now listen to that tale with patience. She was old and was dressed in a bedraggled old dress which was darned and repaired many times. She would have been over fifty. She had a cloth bag slung over one shoulder for alms as the fakirs do, and wore green bangles. On her back she was carrying a five year old boy. He was Kabir in his past life. He was eagerly eating a piece of roti. For the poor the roti gives more happiness than sweetmeats. The Maharaj was sitting in his royal court at that time.
The soldiers who were the sentries did not allow the old woman to enter the august presence of the Maharaj. It is the nature of the soldiers to be harsh. These were the soldiers of the great Maharaj who was a desmukh. So they used to behave like the monkeys on a tree which harass all passers by to no purpose other than their own amusement. The old lady put the boy down and prostrated to the Maharaj from the door itself. She joined her hands in sincere supplication and said, "Maharaj, it is five weeks since my husband died. I am an orphan now. You are my only succor." Before dying my husband said, "Go to Selu. There lives the Maharaj who is the succour to all those who have none to look after them. He will look after you till the end of your days."
The Maharaj heard her with happiness. He said, "Kabir's mother has brought Kabir to me." He stood up from his seat and hurried to her side. He held her with both his hands and consoled her as if she was his own mother. He said, "Mother, I have been looking forward eagerly for your arrival. You and your child can stay happily in my house." On seeing the Maharaj the child started speaking in words, which were at once childish and mature, "Why should my mother bear the responsibility for me now? Since I have come here, she has neither the responsibility nor the authority of a mother over me. I am no longer hers. I am yours in all respects." The fakir's wife was given a room in the house. The Maharaj started showing great love and affection for the boy. As a result of this, the entire household started becoming hostile to the boy. They developed jealousy and envy that the boy had become such a favorite of the Maharaj in such a short time. By the time, the boy was twelve his mother had died.
One day in the evening, the Maharaj took the boy to the nearby forest and stayed on there for four months. This caused great perturbation in the minds of Maharaj's relatives and intimates. They started rumors that the fakir's wife knew black magic and was an expert in the black arts. They said that she had applied some mantra on the Maharaj, which made him develop unwarranted love and affection for the boy. That is why the Maharaj is showing such great infatuation for the boy and not leaving in him alone for even a second. They said, "The Maharaj is a brahmin. He is of the aswalayana gotra and is a holy Vaishnava; this boy is a mere Muslim low caste. One is the holy Godavari; the other a mud hole. The Maharaj is as the famous parijata tree, whose fame has spread its fragrance far and wide; the boy is a thorn bush. The Maharaj has realized his Self and is verily the consort of Rama- Vishnu himself; the boy is a devil. One is the seat of knowledge which shines forth leading the people to illumination while the other is a heap of fetid manure. Why has the Maharaj developed so much love for this undeserving boy? In addition to this is the propaganda that this wastrel was Kabir in his last incarnation! This is intolerable. Let us kill that boy in the forest and be done with him. The Maharaj will have no alternative but to forget him and come back to us. It is because of this worthless wretch that the Maharaj is becoming the subject of malicious gossip." They secretly got together and went into the forest one night. The Maharaj and the boy were sleeping. The Maharaj was sleeping in front while the boy was sleeping behind. They wanted to kill the boy so one of the party took a brick and taking aim at the head of the boy hurled it with great force. The brick however struck the Maharaj. His head was wounded and his face was full of blood. The Maharaj felt great pain. The Maharaj sat up and applying lime to the wound tied a bandage to it.
The person who threw the brick was dead the same instant. Those who seek to harm the mahatmas are harmed themselves. The boy wept in fear on seeing the bloodied head of the Maharaj. He cried, "Maharaj, you are very devoted and pious. You have great merit. Despite all the merit that you have, you have been subjected to this pain because of me. Please send me away at least now. In the past Samarth Ramadas Swami of Sajjan garh has sent away one of his disciples from Kalyan to Domaga as the others developed enmity towards him. Send me away to some far off place in the same way." The Maharaj said, "I will be on this earth only for a few hours now. I will not go to Selu until I give you all that I have. Only then will these fools realize your powers and ability. Do now as I say. In that village located nigh, a lambadi (tribal) man has a cow of tawny color. Tell him I want some milk from that cow. Milk that cow and bring the milk to me. I will become well again if I drink that milk. Do not tarry any longer. Go soon and bring the milk." The boy immediately went to the lambadi owner of the cow and telling him of Maharaj's order requested him to let him milk the cow. The lambadi's name was Ahulla. He said, "This cow is barren. It does not yield milk. I am using it as a draught animal in my farm work in the place of oxen." He immediately took that cow to the Maharaj and said, "Swamy! Oh able one! This cow does not give milk. There is no purpose in pressing its udders. This cow has been with me for fifteen years and has never given even a drop of milk until now. I have brought her here just to show you the truth in what I say." (To be continued)
(Contributed by Source: "Sri Sai Gurucharithra" originally by Santkavi Sri Dasganu Maharaj. Translated from Telugu version by Sri SVL)
Neru P Chalam Sirisha Sai devotee Sharmila Jagdish Muktha Devotee Sai devotee Shefali Mittal S Kapur Sai devotee
Quotation of the Week:
Q. Should one believe in astrological predictions? A by Sai devotee All of us function in this world with two identities inside us. One is the eternal being (never changes with time) and the other is the temporal being (changes with the time). Our true nature is the eternal being. But, most of us relate ourselves with temporal being most of the time. So, whatever discussion we do now is done with our identification as temporal being. As the humans living on earth, we are bound to be affected to some extent by the planetary position and planetary rotations, as earth is a planet by itself. Narrowing it down, the charting of the life cycle of one's journey on planet earth and the influence of other planets on it is astrological predictions. However, these influences are not random or by chance, they are the result of one's actions, done using the free will, in our past. Naturally, any action creates a result. The result is known as destiny. This can be reasonably predicted using the astrology. It is also can be included under the term astrological science. But there is a principle in science known as Uncertainty principle. . Any conclusion, which results from a measurement, is affected by a certain degree of uncertainty. Same principle applies to astrological predictions too. It is clear that finite and limited intellect cannot comprehend the infinite God and cannot explain the subtlelity (a distinction that is difficult to make but is important) of the life. Even though one's life chart shows a certain pattern, still things may not go exactly in the same way. The legend of Bhaktha Markandeya is a classic example for this. That's why, whenever there is a difficult configuration of planets in our charts (It does not mean that planets or Gods are angry with us; It also doesn't mean that we have to press a panic button. It is a wake up call for us to recharge the batteries of temporal being by changing our life style to less selfish and more disciplined way), we would be advised to do poojas and sacred rituals. It is not for pomp or show. This is not a blind faith or superstition. It is based on the deeper understanding and a purpose. The worship of God in times of crisis helps us to clarify our confused mind. This in turn helps us to reconnect with the eternal being (God) inside us. This gives us the faith and courage in times of crisis to face the problems of life. However, nowadays, it is a sad fact that the role of astrology and its purpose in our lives is completely overshadowed by superficial application and the purpose got lost. The rituals have become a way to mount the expenses on already burdened families. Astrological predictions simply show a rough sketch of one's life on planet earth. It is like any law applicable under the standard conditions of temperature and pressure, with the element of uncertainty. In Sai Satcharitha, the stories of Savitri Tendulkar's son, the Bapusaheb buttie and Damuanna kasar explain the role of divine play in the astrology predictions. There are lot of things in the world beyond the scope of human intellect. It is better for us to keep our hearts open and retain a broader perspective on the subject of astrological predictions and on the leelas of the miracle maker.
Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA Events for this month: Monthly Pooja( 2nd Sunday of every month) on Sunday January 9th, Makar Sankranti and Pongal festival on Saturday January 15th and Samuhika Satyanarayan Pooja on Poornima(Tuesday), January 25th. Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, Minnesota
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