'Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshwara, Gurur Sakshat Parabrahma, Tasmai Shri Guruve Namaha! Guru is verily the Representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. A guru has to take on all the three functions of the trinity - Creation (of good qualities), Sustenance (of higher nature) and Destruction (of negative qualities).

The true meaning of Guru is "One who dispels darkness of Ignorance". "GU" means " Darkness of Ignorance " and "RU" means "One who removes". The word Guru also means "One who is beyond Attributes and Forms". GU stands for Gunaatheetha - One who transcends the three Gunas ( Satva, Rajas and Thamas ) RU stands for Rupavarjitha - One who is formless. The One who is beyond all attributes and forms is none other than the Supreme Self who is resident within each of us.

There are several instances where Great Avatars like Rama and Krishna, who had to submit themselves to their Gurus, Vasishtha and Sandipani respectively, for getting self- realization and that the only virtues necessary for such progress are Faith and Patience. The Guru-Shishya Parampara honours the teacher as God and promotes reverence for Vidya (knowledge). It inculcates humility in the student and respect and gratitude in him for the dispenser of knowledge. Other noble virtues like discipline, dedication, sense of duty, sacrifice and compassion also evolve with the Guru's help. He shows the Path of Enlightenment to seekers.

In Sri Sai Satcharitra a seeker asks Baba: "Where to go?" Baba replies "High up". The seeker then asks "How to go there?" Baba answers: "Take a guide, he will take you straight to your destination, avoiding wolves, tigers and ditches etc. on the way. If there be no guide, there is the danger of your being lost in the jungles or falling into ditches." In Baba's words, No Sadhanas, nor Proficiency in the six Shastras, are necessary.

Have faith and confidence in your Guru. Believe fully, that Guru is the sole Actor or Doer. Blessed is he who knows the greatness of his Guru and thinks him to be Hari, Hara and Brahma (Trimurti) Incarnate." (Sri Sai Satcharitra Chap18/19) Sri Sainath also urged that bookish knowledge is worthless and added, "Let us do our prescribed duty and surrender our Body, Mind and Five Pranas (Life) to the Guru's feet. Guru is God, all pervading. To get this conviction, strong unbounded Faith is necessary." (Sai Satcharitra Chap 32) Neither the senses, nor the mind and intellect reach the Self. Modes of proof, such as Perception and Inference will not help us in the matter. It is the grace of the Guru that counts. The objects of our life such as Dharma, Artha and Kama are attainable with our effort, but the fourth object, Moksha (Liberation) can only be had with the help of the Guru.

Having experienced that Sadguru Sainath is our Guru God; we should develop undiluted devotion with unshakable Faith in Him with utmost Patience. Let us purify our hearts to let the Divine dwell in it. Let us install God, our Sadguru in our hearts.

(Contributed by devotee Sai Eshwari)
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Contributed Article: Sri Sai Gurucharitra - Chapter VII

Hail to Sri Ganesa! Hail oh manifest almighty! Hail Oh thou unconquered, ever-victorious one! Thou art the indivisible Brahman! Thou art the complete Brahman! Pandarirama! Panduranga! It is totally beyond my capacity to describe you or to sing about the extent of your divine power. Oh Deva! I am not a great learned man! I am not a rich man with money, gold, houses and carriages. I have made mine, all the bad qualities of the world. I am rich only in the bad qualities that I have. Oh Sri Hari! How will you bless with your grace such a sinner as I am? No one wishes to even go near dilapidated houses, which have been deserted for a long time. But that is the nature of the common ignorant men. Oh, consort of Rama! Your nature is totally opposite to this. Oh Govinda! The guilty are punished everywhere, but in your royal court, the guilty are given succor and shelter. Oh Deva! The limitless kindness shown by you, to the unfortunates who have none else in this world is unprecedented. See, Sankara wears Bilva leaves with pleasure. But no matter how much we examine them we cannot find even an iota of fragrance in those leaves. But Siva regarded that blemish of little account. Oh Savior! In Gokula you had eaten the stale bread given by your friend, a common Yadava herder, called Pendya with great relish as if it was a hundred times tastier than ambrosia. When the demons and gods, the world destroying poison Halahala originated were churning the ocean of milk. When all had run far away in terror to avoid it, Siva kept it ensconced in his throat. So Oh Narayana! If you do not protect your good name (by casting you kind grace on me) it will be a black mark on your fame.

Listeners! Pay attention to the Ambrosia of the story of Sri Sai Baba! Pay close heed for your weal.

Sri Sai Baba had thus stayed under the Neem tree for some time. Later Nanasaheb Dengle prayed to him to stay in the Masjid. Baba acceded to his request and started living in the Masjid from then on.

Once when Baba was living under the Neem tree, a remarkable thing happened. Some devotees were sitting in front of him with their hands joined in respect. Sri Sai Baba said, "There is a samadhi here. Harm will accrue to those who dig it out. Let no one dig here ever." One amongst those who was seated there said, "Baba, this is the burial ground of Muslims. There will be many samadhis here. What is so surprising about it? "Another said, "This is not the burial ground of the Muslims. That is a little far off." Another said, "No, even this place is a part of the burial ground. In the past there may have been some samadhis here too. Recently when this place was dug one grave was found here." In this manner, the people these started arguing with each other. Sri Sai Baba stopped them from arguing with each other and said, "Let us leave arguments and discussions to those interested in the study of logic and philosophy. Nothing accrues from argument. Arguments have no place in the pure path of devotion. Fire and water mixed and as a result this earth was created. A part of the almighty became the life. All the living beings in the world come from the earth. That earth again becomes earth on joining the earth. It could be here or there; the soil of every place must have had the body of some man or animal, which must have formed it after their death. In this way one may say that this vast earth itself is a burial ground. Remember this truth."

In the past, Kabir the great mahatma left his body on the banks of the holy Ganga. At that time the Hindus and Moslems had great differences of opinion about his burial. Each claimed that great mahatma as their own and began to fight for the honour of burying him in accordance with their own faiths. Kabir thought of an idea to solve this impasse. He made his body change into basil leaves, Jasmine flowers and the leaves of the millet. The wit of the mahatmas devoted to the almighty is such that they can satisfy everyone.

The Hindus took away the basil leaves that they consider sacred, for burial as a representation of Kabir's body in a procession. The Moslems took the millet and jasmine away in a procession for burial. This has been elaborated in the books "Bhakti Mala" and 'Bhakta Vijayam' written by Mahipati. It may be the will of the almighty that the last rites, which were not done properly or completely in that incarnation, should be done properly in this incarnation.

What a great mahatma was Kabir who had the same reverence for Sri Rama Chandra, Allah-I-llahi and Parvardhigar.
The Hindus who had taken the basil leaves as representative of Kabir's body, took them in a procession and in accordance with the Hindu sastras mixed them in the water of the holy Ganga. We see even today this practice being continued. It is not the custom to build a samadhi for one whose body has been immersed in the Ganga. This is why we do not see a samadhi for Kabir on the banks of the Ganga.
The Jasmine flowers and millet leaves taken by the Moslems were taken all over the country and samadhi's were built for Kabir in those places keeping the leaves and flowers in them.

In the days of Kabir the whole country was covered by Moslem states both big and small. The Nawabs were governing the country from Hastinapur. That Hastinapur is the present day Delhi. At that time, a Moslem of these parts had gone to Delhi on some work. On his return, he went to Varanasi on some other work. At the time he reached Kasi the dispute about the last rites of Kabir was raging between Hindus and Moslems. He too joined with the Muslims and took one millet leaf as a prasad of Kabir. He brought it here and built a samadhi for Kabir. Do not doubt what I say, "The one who looked upon Hindus and Muslims with an equal eye - the incomparable Kabirdas is my Guru. I know very well what happened at that time. That is why I have decided to live near this samadhi. It is beyond my capacity to describe the extents of the divine power of this samadhi. Who so ever cleans this place on Thursdays and Fridays and applies fragrant incense will be blessed by the almighty," said Baba!

(Contributed by Source: "Sri Sai Gurucharithra" originally by Santkavi Sri Dasganu Maharaj. Translated from Telugu version by Sri SVL with an Introductory Preface by Sri Sainathuni Sarathbabuji)
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Experiences of Devotees:

Sampa
I would like to share one of my experiences of Baba's immense kripa on me. I have been an ardent devotee of Baba for many years now and have been blessed with numerous miracles in my life. I would like to share one most recent one. I moved to the US when I got married in 2003, although I am an arichitect by profession, I had a lot of difficulty getting a suitable job here. So I decided to do an MBA from here. I prepared for the GMAT for more than six months diligently, but when the final day of the exam came I got so nervous that I could not get a good score. I wa s absolutely disheartened by this, so I decided to give it again after 14 days and this time around I got even a lower score. As a result of this I lost all hope of getting into any college. As Baba's blessing I made a call to the University here, it has one of the top 10 part time MBA program in the US, and told them about my situation and asked them whether I could still apply. They said, I write the three essays there and fill the application and that they would consider to accept my application.To my utter surprise on the 11th of January at around 10:30 am I recived a call from the Director of Admission congratualting me on my admission to the program. I am going to start my MBA in spring 2005. All I want to say to all those devotess out there is to never lose hope in life and when you are Saibaba's devotee anything can happen. Inspite of my low score, Baba did something to get me in and fulfill my dream. He did not let all my hard work go to waste. I am so thankful to you Baba for being with me at every step of my life.

Jaidev Singh
I am based in Qatar. I came into Baba's fold recently in 2002 and since then I have had so many fantastic experiences that one could write a book on Baba's leela's. I would like to recount a recent one. On Friday 28th January, 2005 evening I was clipping our dog's nails and by mistake clipped more than required. The dog's nail started bleeding profusely and blood was coming out like a fountain. It did not lessen even after half an hour of efforts. Since Friday is a holiday in the Midle East all the Veterinay Clinics were closed. I spoke to our Vet on the phone and he said that if the bleeding was not stopped the animal could bleed to death and it needed to be cauterized, but he could not attend. Finally out of desperation my wife ran to the Puja room and applied Baba's Udi which a friend had got from Shirdi. We could not believe our eyes that the bleeding stopped immediately. We just cannot thank Baba enough for his kindness.
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Devotees say...

Sai devotee
Sometime back, I have submitted an article (May 20, 2004 Issue) in devotee's experience, on how a policeman saved me when my car skid in snow. Ever since the incident happened, my faith towards Baba increased and I still have a feeling that the policeman was nobody else other than Baba himself. It also taught me that our Sadguru Sai Baba is always there watching us and caring for us. In troubled times we become desperate and delirious, but at such times we should remember Baba and pray to Him. He will certainly work out a happy solution for all our problems and bring us out of them safely. Jai Sai Ram.

Komal Patel
I am devotee of Sai baba. I believe in Sai baba since I was 12 year old. This is all I got from my parents. That is why I really appreciate my parents who show me the path to Sai baba. Sai baba is my two worlds and two hands. He is my everything. Wherever I do something new and important I would always ask his permission and whatever he says I would do it, even though I do not want to do it. He always helped me in my works and that brings me to believe him so much on him. And I also know that he will keep helping me like that because I am his child and everybody want to help their children. Please be with me like that and help me.

Madhavi
Baba, we all are very selfish, especially me. First, I asked you for job. Then my marriage. Then financial help for my parents. Happiness for my sisters, parents. I prayed you for my son. And now I am standing before you begging for my sister's life. But You are always standing by me granting all the wishes. I know what you want us to ask you, for what you want us to concentrate on you. Still, knowing everything, I do the same mistake over and over again. This is just because I am not able to lose the attachments. When it comes to my parents and sisters, I lose control of my mind. I start thinking very materialistic. I try to take the spiritual path by praying you, by keeping faith in you and by practicing patience. But whenever I face any problem, I again forget everything and come to you asking for materialistic needs. Why do I need to ask you at all? When we follow you, when we keep faith in you and strictly follow your teachings, you yourself will solve all our problems without being asked. But why am I asking? Don't I trust you? You know my mind and atma better than me Baba. Please tell me. Do I really have faith in you? But how bad we may be, please do not leave us Baba. We need your help in every step of our lives. I will change Baba. I will follow your teachings. I will practice saburi and faith. I will do no gossip. I will not hate anybody. I will be happy for everyone and wish happiness for everyone. I need your help to achieve all these Baba. I am sure you will help me as always. Sri Samartha Sadguru Sainath Maharaj ki jai.

A Sai devotee
Dear Anjana from Auckland, NZ, I read about your skin problem in this weeks Sai Vichaar, I am positive that the solution for this is Sai Baba's udi (the ash powder that you get in Shirdi). If you mix a little udi with any face cream and apply it everyday I am sure Sai will solve this problem very soon. If you do not have it may be you can ask someone to send it to you from India.
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Prayer Club:

A Sai devotee
Baba, Satchithananda, my love, my father, please bless my children, my husband, my mother, my father, and me. Baba, you know that my father is suffering from end stage cancer, please baba, please bless him, please get rid of his cancer, he is almost close to death, he is suffering so much, please baba please make it go away. He is in hospital today, they removed fluid from his abdomen again, it's just getting worse, as you know he has gotten all the treatments and nothing has worked, only with your blessings, only you can make it go away, baba my loving father. Baba please give me and my family happiness and good health, please bless my children. Please bring my children close to you, I want them to get close to you, read about you and pray to you only. Baba, you are always on my mind, can you give me a chance to see you and talk to you, I love you my dear father. Please bless everyone. Please come to my home baba. Please stay at our home all the time. I love you very much. Please help Baba.

Sai devotee
Dear Baba, please bless us with a child soon. Please shower your loving grace on us and bless us with this gift. Please be with us all the time and please cure of us any diseases we have and bless us with this lovely gift Deva. I need you Deva. Dear devotees please pray to our Sainath to bless me with a child soon. Thank you.

Usha
Om Sairam...I have posted few prayers in sai Vichaar and immediately you have solved my problems. I thought they will be the end of all problems and promised that I will not ask you for anything else at least for some time. But Baba, now I am in more troubles than before. So far, my fiancé's mother was very good with me. But suddenly she changed her mind and now she is not willing for our marriage.

Baba Kavi
Dear Baba, please help me. I have undergone so many problems since 98 and I have somehow got out of it all with god's grace. But off late my mind is so restless, I feel so depressed as I am having terrible financial, career and personal problems all at the same time. This is making me so feeble. I am not even able to pray for 5 min with a peaceful mind. Please answer my prayers baba. I need your help to keep my faith strong. Help me to surrender to you with unmoving faith. Please help me baba.

Sudhakar
Dearest Saibaba, Jai Sai Ram, Baba I am travelling to India on 26th to bring my wife and new born son to this country. Baba bless us with safe journey. Also safe and healthy stay in this country. Baba call us with my family to Shirdi during my short stay in India to make your charan seva and bring our new son for your blessings. Baba with your blessings You have given us lot of happinees. Baba continue to shower this happiness and peace on us forever.

Balaji
Dear Baba, I know You are with me and my family. You are keeping me in good position and only worry is myself and my wife and daughter are not able to live together dueto locations of jobs being different.Hope Your grace will make our union and we work at same place.Baba it is over 10 years like this. Please shower on us Your blessing for this to happen.

Sai devotee
Baba, he may not have faith in You but I believe in You. Please help him get through his application. It is so important for his life and You know everything. If You wish, he will get his admission without any difficulty. Bless him, this is his life. If You let him down, there is no one to help him. Bestow this on him.

A devotee
I am going through plenty of tensions both in my business and my personal life. In spite of my earnest attempts I am unable to secure one full project. Although I am promised by all concerned that I will be given, none has come. I am spending plenty of my energy and time for all preparations and travels. In my personal front, I pray almighty Sai to bless my people for what they are doing and working. My prayer for early solutions.

Ananthashayanam
Baba, how can I express my feeling and problems. Baba, I have cleared some of the loans with your guidance and grace and support. Baba, but I am having some more loans to be cleared. Baba, I am unable to repay the loans. Baba, I am paying a huge interest to some of my friends from whom I have taken loans. Baba, I am unable to clear the loans taken from my friends. Baba, please be with me always and guide me to solve my problems. Baba, my son is having exams from March 7th, 2005. Baba, please be with my son always and guide him to do the exams properly to get more marks. Baba, my son is having dust allergy. Baba, give my son good health and guide him with good nature. Baba, whenever I want to go to Tirupathi, I will not get money. Baba, every year I want to go to Tirupathi, but I can't arrange money for going to Tirupathi. Baba, please be with me always and guide him to do good things. Baba, please be with my son and guide him to do the exams.

Anil
My loving Baba, please help me and my family in this crisis.You are the only one who can resolve the problems that we are in. Om! Shri Satchidanand Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai.
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Quotation of the Week:
"Distinguish right from wrong and be honest, upright and virtuous".-Sai Baba
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Question of the Week:

Q. What is the essence of Anandrao's vision regarding Kakasaheb's doubts about Bhakthi?
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Sai Activities:

Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Shirdi Sai temple is open daily from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm(Winter hours). Daily program includes Kakad Arathi at 8am followed by Abhisek. Madhayana Arathi at 12 noon, Dhoop arathi at 6pm and Shej Arathi at 9pm. Archana, Homams, Sahasranama and sponsored poojas continue in between the Arathis. To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends and family, please call. Devotees can request water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba by sending us an email or by phone. Temple is located 25 minutes drive west of Schaumburg on intersection of IL Route 47 and Plank Road in Hampshire, IL. For more information please call 847-931-4058 or send email to maildrop@saibaba.org.

Upcoming Events: Samuhika Satyanarayan Pooja on Poornima (Thursday), February 24th, Maha Shivrathr on Tuesday March 8th and Monthly pooja (second Sunday of every month) on Sunday March 13th.

Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, Minnesota
Regular Sai activities in Minneapolis, St.Paul area are being conducted at Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, 725 Lake St NE, Apt #139 Hopkins MN. For details, please contact hamaresai@yahoo.com, or call Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center at 952-938-2983, and to read the monthly newsletter Sai Sandesh, visit www.hamaresai.org.

Shirdi Sai Satsang, Canada
Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan of Canada invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 6:30PM at 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham Ont. L6C 2N4. For details on other Activities and Services please call Shammi Chopra at 416-402-8089 or email us saileela99@yahoo.com
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