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... Devotees are requested to refer to Sai activities for information on Ramnavami celebrations. Sri Ramanavami is celebrated during the second week of April 2006. Please write to maildrop@saibaba.org if you would like to publish about Sai activities in your area. Sai devotee Poonam suggests the following "Question of the week" for the week, Q. What is the best way to worship Saibaba of Shirdi? What should be our routine? If we are non-vegetarian, is it OK? Humbly Yours, The Editor Back to Menu 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:
Ramnavami message
The path towards the Sadguru is the real path, more so in this age of conflicts, contradictions and acute materialism. As Swami Vivekananda said like all rivers leading to the sea, all the paths that men take lead to Him, the God eternal. The paths that are mostly adopted by the seekers are Rajyoga, Karmayoga, Bhaktiyoga, Hathayoga, Layayoga, Nivaiti Marg, Prakriti Marg etc. There are even Avadhootas, Kapalikas, Aghoris and many other type of seekers. Various religions have different approaches. In all this multiplicity of approach towards God realization, there has to be something common and universal that must be pervading all. The seeker of this universal path reaches the goal in the earliest period of time. Sitting in Shirdi Masjid, Baba had said that there are many paths, but one of the paths leading to God is through the Dwarkamayee. When one analyses how Baba led thousands of people towards God realization at Shirdi a certain pattern evolves. The basic principles of the Sai path are based on : (a) The existence in physical form of a perfect being known variously as a perfect Master a Sadguru or a Qutub as called by the Sufis. A Qutub simply means an axis, a pivot around which others, living and non-living, both revolve. The perfect Master, having himself experienced different stages of evolution including that of man has at last reached the stage of God. However, those among these perfect beings, who, out of infinite compassion, make the greatest sacrifice of not enjoying the blissful state of God but incarnate in a human body on earth to serve the imperfect, suffering humanity are called the perfect Masters. As Mehar Baba has said at any point of time there are five perfect Masters on earth in embodied form. (b) When in human body they act both as human beings and Gods. As Gods they have infinite power, infinite knowledge, infinite happiness and infinite existence. Like God they are Omnipotent, Ominipresent and Omniscient enjoying the powers of the Almighty. They share their power, knowledge and pleasure with the millions of human beings by methods unperceivable by human beings and are known as Leelas or divine miracles. All miracles are based on the laws of nature, only one has to know, experience and master it. All the elemental forces of nature like fire, water, air etc. defined as deities by the Hindus work under their command or wish. As Gods they see everything in themselves and themselves in everything. So they serve everyone without any differentiation as if they are serving themselves. They see God in everyone even though others may not be able to see God in them. They give infinite love to others and infinite pain from others. Once any human being or any specie is linked with them in any manner, they ensure that these creatures are evolved, life after life till they merge with God from where they came. This ultimate stage of evolution is ordinarily known as Mukti or Moksha. (c) These perfect Masters alone are capable of leading human being to God realization. They follow what is common and universal in all religions i.e. humanism based on love. Out of love they not only take care of the spiritual evolution of the devotees but also their temporal requirements. Once one has surrendered to them they look after all needs of the devotee as a mother would do for a child. They can go to any extent, even to sacrifice their human body, to protect their children. That's what Baba did for many as can be read in Shri Sai Satcharitra and as experienced by many. To develop closer and closer link with Him, one has to develop faith in Him even under the most trying circumstance patiently. Also to develop the qualities of humility, sacrifice, tolerance and steadfastness in devotion and actions desired by the Sadguru. One will evolve earlier than others worshipping too many deities if he follows this path of Guru. Baba used to give visions to many people in the form of their deities like Hanumaan, Ganesh etc., which convinced them that there is no difference between Baba and any other deity or even God. One can therefore, at the first stage try to see all deities in Baba, worship Him in the method in which other deities are worshipped. In short one should try to see and seek everything in and from Baba. This path may be difficult at the initial stage but can certainly be achieved with steadfastness and faith in Baba. So let us try. A message from Guruji Shri C.B.Satpathy
Contributed Article: Devotion, an end in-itself
It is said that while attending to the ordained duties/functions that involved in our life, every being ought to strive to escape from re-births, that is, to attain Liberation. This calls for spiritual practice and great Saints and Scriptural texts speaks of Devotion as an end in itself. In this pursuit, separate Mutts arose because of differences in the methods of pursuing the same. However, the Bhakti Marga is inherent in any Mutt. Bhakti is not mere Prayer. The actual strain of Bhakti is to promote in-depth understanding of a subject through logical discussions and study. Bhakti may not be possible without research. Any devotee that is bereft of Bhakti is bound to be regenerated under the weight of it's own ignorance and it is imperative for it's intrinsic values.
Of the four ways, namely, Karma, Gnana, Yoga and Bhakti (devotion) in the spiritual pursuit, the path of Bhakti (devotion) is thorny full of pits and ditches and difficult to traverse, as explained under Chapter 6 of Sri Sai Satcharitha. In fact, the three ways, Karma, Gnana and Yoga also ultimately lead the devotee to attain Bhakti (devotion). It is evident that Bhakti marga brings together all the institutions on spiritual aspiration. The conception of God taking any particular form is a way to develop Devotion (Bhakti) as mentioned by the blessed author under Chapter 11 of Sri Sai Satcharitha. Hence, the Being concentrated on a particular form, would be the easier Sadhana to develop Bhakti (devotion). Evidently, the realization of the virtue of Devotion by Devotion itself, by being worshipping Saguna Brahma form, Sadguru, results in the realization of God's action, that is, develops Faith in God. Thus cleans the restlessness of the mind. There on, it keeps the mind peaceful under Bhakti (devotion) on Saguna Brahma, Sadguru. The devotee shall be successful when earnest in this pursuit.
Lord Shri Shirdi Sai Baba said that His Guru was the sole object of meditating and He was conscious of none-else. While meditating on His Sadguru the mind / intellect were stunned and keeps Himself quiet and Bow in silence, vide, Chapter 32 in Shri Sai Satcharitha. When devotion becomes all-consuming, the Lord also reciprocates it, as His devotee's welfare is paramount to Him. It is rather interesting to observe and analyze the oriental concept of Sadguru and the relationship He bears towards His chosen disciples. The Truth and Guru are identical. Once ignited Bhakti (devotion), it draws the whole being irresistibly on-wards until the tiny spark becomes a flame.
(Contributed by LV Subbarao)
Lata Vidyadhari Kanakachary A Sai devotee Neelima Geeta Vidya Harshana Kavi Rama Geeta Shipra Malini Mahua Prasuna Siva Mansi Sai Devotee Prakash
Quotation of the Week:
Q. "I give my people what they want until they will begin to ask me what I want to give them ". Comment? A. by Prakash Sai Baba said, "I give my people what they want until they will begin to ask me what I want to give them ". Comment? Few lines from Sai Satcharitha will explain this. "I thought that what a man might give does not last long and it is always imperfect. But what My Sircar (God) gives, lasts to the end of time. No other gift from any man can be compared to His. My Sircar says "Take, take," but everybody comes to me and says 'Give, give.' Nobody attends carefully to the meaning of what I say. My Sircar's treasury (spiritual wealth) is full, it is overflowing. I say, "Dig out and take away this wealth in cartloads, the blessed son of a true mother should fill himself with this wealth. We want material wealth; Sadguru wants to give us Spiritual wealth. Q. What is the best way to worship Sai Baba of Shirdi? What should be our routine? A. by Ramaa Maddipatla Shirdi Sai Baba, who is the incarnation of Almighty as Sadguru, never advocated any ritualistic method of worship. He called Himself a servant of God and always used to invoke uttering "Allah Malik!" In another mode, He said that He is all pervasive, omniscient and would protect and facilitate spiritual elevation of His devotees. He clearly said, "If you make Me the object of your worship and utter My name remembering Me always, I shall be ever indebted to you. I am servant of my devotees. I am there everywhere. What ever you do and think will be known to Me. I do not need a vehicle or open doors to reach you. I am always with you. If you think that Sai is confined to Shirdi alone and is restricted to this human body, you have not understood Me. I am everywhere. I can reach you even if you are thousands of miles away. I shall drag My devotees to Me, like a sparrow with a leg tied to a string." Let us consider the episode of Radhabai Deshmukh. Baba explicitly told her, "Mother, My guru did not give me any mantra. I am not the guru who babbles through ear. Our traditions are different. There is no need for any mantra from guru. Dedicate yourself to guru taking the path of 'Shraddha' (faith and devotion) and 'Saburi' (patience with courage)." According to Baba there is no need to take recourse to ritualistic worship. He loves devotion / "Bhakthi." Baba exhorted his devotees to adhere to their "swadharma". Hence in the ambit of ones own "swadharma" a devotee can comfortably worship Sai Baba. He belonged to the devotees of all religions without affiliating Himself to any religion. I do not think that we should insist on a strict daily routine with regard to worship of Sai Baba. The daily routine of worship should be as per the inclination and religious background of each devotee. Baba's devotees are from different religions and sects. Therefore, the daily routine of worship cannot be common or uniform to all of them. The only feature that can be common to all Sai devotees is "parayana" or the dedicated study of His "Satcharitha". Every Sai devotee should carry out the dedicated study of "Sai Satcharitha". The important thing is that one should adhere to "swadharma" with regard to Baba's worship. With love, dedication and devotion, if we call Baba, He would respond. Let us not have any doubts in this regard. Let us surrender to Him and enjoy the everlasting bliss of His divine love! Regarding food habits, Baba never insisted on any strict code of diet for a devotee. He, however, has given some guidelines. He said, " Be satisfied with one or two items. Don't hanker after taste." Baba said that all kinds of food are sacred, as it is said; "Annam parabrahma swaroopam" According to Him there is no unholy food. His dictum is not to get attached to or loath any kind of food. He advocated moderation in food consumption. He respected the food habits of all His devotees irrespective of the fact whether they are vegetarians or non-vegetarians. I think all Sai devotees should develop the attitude of not loathing or / and getting attached to any kind of food. Let us respect the food habits of others and let us be moderate in our food consumption.
Sri Ramanavami celebrations in Chicago, USA Sri Ramanavami-Urs celebrations, Minnesota Shirdi Sai- Ramanavami Celebrations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Shirdi Sai-Ramanavami celebrations in Bay Area, California Sri Ramanavami celebrations in New Jersey, USA Ram Navami celebrations, Toronto, Canada Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada Sri Ramnavami celebrations in Sydney, Australia Shirdi Sai Satsang in Vancouver, BC, Canada Sai Satsang, Singapore Sai Baba Satsang in Auckland, New Zealand Sai Satsang, Seattle, WA Website on Saibaba of Shirdi in Tamil
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