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Sai Vichaar Jun 04, 2009 Volume 12, Issue 04 (In its twelfth year of publication) 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.Back Issues 15.Disclaimer From the Editor's Keyboard... Sai Vichaar requests the devotees to continue to submit to Sai Vichaar using the pages intended for various sections of Sai Vichaar. Sai Vichaar gratefully appreciates the patience of its readers during the past few weeks of revamping of our database. In the true spirit of Sai devotion, contributors are requested to remember to suit the content, language, style, and presentation, appropriate to a worldwide readership. It should also be noted that when a section from any material other than their own is quoted or referred to, it is the authors' responsibility to acknowledge the source appropriately. The "Question of the week" for this week is, Can intellect be an obstacle to devotion? Humbly Yours, The Editor
Disclaimer Sai Vichaar is devoted to the philosophy and teachings of Shri Sadhguru 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: Key to Happiness
Is there a way to quantify faith? What constitutes a successful dose of patience? Some endure severest of hardships for several years, yet call themselves very fortunate. Some seem to have a short stint with time and profess to have waited patiently! Wisdom, whether through Bhakthi or Jnana should impart the ability to truly discriminate between things of transient nature and permanent. Spirituality may not be about quantifiable material gains and losses that one accomplishes, even with the help of Sadguru. It may also not be about the benefits that are only perishable. On the other hand, it may be about a total personal transformation that should take place every minute, while at sleep or awake. The effort has to come from within oneself and the external factors may be the means to accomplish them. Baba said out of love for His devotees - "What (whether good or bad) is ours is with us, and what is another's is with him." - Ch. XLV, Shri Sai Satcharita. Even the simplest expressions of Baba have the message of greatest importance. A moment of contemplation on such comments might have the most profound effects on what we perceive as pain or pleasure. By the above statement, Sadguru Sainath has endorsed the thought that our actions precede our fruits, the consequences. He also several times advised that one have to endure the consequences of his past Karma. Devotees also have seen how Sainath, the destroyer of karma, comes to their rescue if the faith is earnest and the patience is complete. The patience is complete if the faith is earnest. He is the helmsman and His boundless coffers are open
Contributed
Article: Review of book "Baba May I Answer" A new book authored by Sri C.B. Satpathy has been published by Sterling Publishers titled "Baba, May I Answer". The book is a compilation of questions received by Sri C.B. Satpathy during the last many years from Baba devotees and his comprehensive answers to them. The book is must reading for any serious Baba devotee as it expands on the thoughts about various topics like anger, patience, etc. One of the topics covered is patience and a sample from the book is given below: Patience is a divine virtue. Unfortunately, not only are we badly wanting in this divine virtue, but also we neglect it most foolishly. Q. What is patience? A. It is an inner assurance of Baba's unreserved love and unconditional guidance. Patience is Baba's power hidden in us to weather the teeming storms of life. Our fondest dreams will be transformed into fruitful realities if we just know the secret of growing the patience-tree in our heart. Patience is our sincere surrender to Baba's Will. This surrender is by no means the effacement of the finite self, which we now are, but the total transformation of your finite existence into the infinite Self. Patience can never be imposed on us from outside. It is our own inner wealth, wisdom, peace and victory. Patience will never tell us that something is a hopeless task. Patience will only tell us either that we are not ready or that the time is not ripe. We may have the feeling that we are ready, but we have to know that our integral being, our whole being is not ready. We have to feel that patience is not something passive. On the contrary, it is something dynamic. In patience, we develop our inner strength, our inner will power. It is true that if we have will power we can easily acquire patience. But it is equally true that when we have patience, our inner will power develops itself in a special way. You can get a personal copy of the book Baba, May I Answer by visiting the online store at www.Saibaba.org or send an email to maildrop@saibaba.org for further information. (Contrbuted by: Sai Vichaar Team) Sasi Nirmala A devotee Kirti Mangamma Sasi Meenakshi Mamta Shashibhushan Vijaya Alka Quotation of
the Week: Q. What is the attitude of Sai devotees towards raising their children? A. by MV Ramaa Prasad No doubt, all parents love their children. In most of the cases, the kind of parental love that we see is mixed with attachment or 'moha'. Many cannot delineate the two components viz., love and attachment or 'moha'. Many times attachment is confused for love. In pure love, there is no place for possessiveness; but most of the parents are possessive of their children. Possessiveness and attachment lead to grief, unhappiness and consequently lack of peace. The kind of up bringing of children that we come across these days in most of the cases is clouded with possessiveness and expectations of different kinds from their children. A Sai devotee on the other hand should be guided by 'sai-tatwa' in raising his or her children. How this is be done can be seen in the case of Rege, a Sai devotee par excellence. Rege took his infant son to Shirdi and put him at the feet of Paramaguru Sai Baba. Baba asked Rege as to whom did the child belong. Rege said, "Baba, he is Yours." Then Baba said to Rege, "Raise him as My own." In other words Baba hinted that child should be raised with lot of love befitting a child of Sai; but without any attachment or possessiveness. Later, when the child became seriously ill, Rege prayed, "Baba, take him away, if your wish so and let me experience his left over 'karma' for being instrumental in his birth". That should be the attitude of a Sai devotee to his/her child. That is to say that the parent should consider himself / herself a custodian of Sai's child. In other words, the parents should realize that they are only instrumental in assisting in the earthly life of their children. Consequently, the parents must assume the duties and responsibilities of custodians in the up bringing of children, without any attachment or possessiveness. Once the child is considered as the gift of Sai Baba, it should be the responsibility of the parents to inculcate in the child the values of 'Sai-tatwa'. In other words, the child should be made aware of universal love, i.e., love for every one regardless of the facades of cast, creed, race and religion, which are man-made and love and commitment for truthfulness. A true Sai devotee would also inculcate in his / her children a spirit of understanding and tolerance towards faiths other than his / her own. Being a child of a true Sai devotee, the child should take to devoted worship of Sai Baba as Parama-guru and Para-brahman, who is all pervasive and omniscient. This should lead children of Sai devotees to take to 'satsangs' with the mandate of service to the downtrodden and underprivileged. Automatically, a child of Sai devotee should develop love for truthfulness, egoless simplicity and utmost devotion. Children raised with the values of 'Sai-tatwa' ingrained in them, will be diamonds in the glorious crown of Paramaguru Sainath and become agents of change for a better world.
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