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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... Last week's Contributed Article: Baba's presence at Canberra was written by Sai devotee Anitha Kandukuri, Canberra, Australia. Sai Vichaar regrets the inadvertent omission of contributor's name. Sai Vichaar received a mail from devotee Sangeetha as follows: Dear Devotees, A devotee recently asked me the following question: "We pray many Gods everyday. Our prayers start with Lord Ganesha, and continue with our family deity, perform rudrabhishekam, chant mrutyunjaya mantram, read Vishnu sahasranamam, Lalita sahasranamam, Sai Satcharitha and Gurucharithra. While praying so many deities, which of these deities should we consider as our guru? On what basis should our mind be set on one deity and consider that particular deity as our guru? Can any deity be followed as a guru? " I did not have a satisfying answer for that devote, could any of you kindly help me answer this question? Thank you. The "Question of the week" is Q. On what basis should our mind be set on one deity and consider that particular deity as our guru? Can any deity be followed as a guru? 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:
Sai Maaulee
Tvamev mata cha pita tvamev, Tvamev bandhucha sakha tvamev
You are my mother, my father, my brother, you are my friend. You are knowledge,
It is said that god resides on earth with each one in the form of parents. While singing these lines in aarthi it dawns on us that the value given to the parents is of the highest order in this hierarchical universe, as such God is compared to parents. Being a mother, Baba listens to us with compassion and empathy and fulfills our every wish; whim and fancy just like a Father. When we give position of a parent to God, the creator of the universe itself; why is that there is so much emotional, physical, mental pain inflicted on parents? Is that because the children have grown up such that they forget the selfless suffering, sacrifices, sleepless nights and unaccounted tears shed by parents to keep their children alive and provide for them? And these parents are now a burden to their children in their fag end of life? Does one ever recall that the financial position and status that is current is owed due to the financial assistance and turmoil of parents so that their children are not disadvantaged? In reality, everything that one does is due to parents. Baba said that debt and enmity has to be atoned for and God gives 100 times of what He receives. When one inflicts pain on parents, does it not mean we are inflicting pain on Baba as well, for He lives in all? So one must remember that their behavior towards parents will be returned in multiples of 100 in strength and intensity in a lifetime, one need not die to go to hell, hell is in this birth and our own making with our actions and deeds, inflicted on our near and dear. Today's children are tomorrow's parents and one has to face the same music that each one composes. All the suffering and pain in the world and the unrest is our own making. When one has good disposition towards all there is peace and harmony. We are the makers of our own destiny by the actions and deeds we commit. One ought to remember that in-laws are parents too; they might not have given birth to us but did to our partners. There is a lot of talk about the interference of the parents in the life of the children hence leading to keeping the parents away from their lives. A little bit of understanding and adjustment is all that is needed to make life easier for all parties concerned. Change is dynamic and an integral part of life and we have to embrace it with a positive attitude. Tomorrow we will all be in the same shoes as our parents are today and then it would be too late to make any amends to our life. We have already sown the seeds of unwanted behavior in our children when they see us behave in an abhorring manner towards our parents and what goes around comes back to us. If we develop positive disposition then tomorrow we would be better aged parents. So why not make a start. It is never too late to change. God and parents forgive at the first sign of repentance. And all they want is love and kind words in return for the love and sacrifices. Let us all think about these things in the light of our behavior and what we expect out of our children. After all, we are parents as well. And we would like to cut a better deal for ourselves. Mere rituals to god without good behavior and outlook are of no use. Even Baba does not approve of it. Let us bring about change in our attitude and behavior first before lamenting about the behavior of the world at large. We can definitely make a difference to the society. Instead of merely giving lip service to Baba's aarthis let us mean what we say and practice worshiping our parents as God. God would be pleased. Our rich mythological heritage provides us with examples of Purandarinath, Ekalavya, and Shravana Kumar, who have earned the grace of God by their loving and devoted service to parents. Sai devotees ought to have the qualities of tolerance, empathy and love. When we stick to the righteous path and have love in our heart then no matter what hurdle or pain it can be crossed smoothly with a smile on face. Initially one might find it hard to practice as having lead an imperfect life so long, but being ever conscious of ones behavior and correcting it every time it deviates from the right path, will help in becoming stable and strong. One thing to remember is that BABA chose us to be HIS children we did not chose HIM, and for this we are fortunate. When we have HIM with us all along our journey what is there to fear, we might fumble in our steps but if we are sincere in our efforts to be good, and do good, then we march along with the lord on our side to be better humans. May BABA bless us to be better children to our parents. (Contributed by Anitha Kandukuri, Canberra, Australia)
Contributed Article:A Spiritual Concept
Once a foolish woman thought that people would admire her and congratulate her on her good fortune if she tell others how dearly her husband loved her and about the happiness she has derived from his company. Filled with extreme pride of her husband's love, she began broadcasting the experiences of hers to her friends and relations. People laughed and mocked at her and avoided the company of this immodest woman. After sometime, even her husband began to hate her for such immodest behaviors on her part. Finally, she lost everything and spent the rest of her life in utter misery.
Similarly, good sadhakas never tell others of their Guru's upadesa or their spiritual experiences. A foolish sadhaka, proud of his initial spiritual experiences, begin to advertise them in order to draw public attention and admiration. Soon, the public will discover his vanity and he becomes the laughing stock of the people. Brother-sadhakas avoid his company as he is a man of vanity. Overweening pride makes him lose even the initial contact with the Divine that he had and thus he forfeits the spiritual experiences granted to him. Finally, he spends the rest of his life in utter misery. Keep your Guru's Sacred Upadesa and your spiritual experiences a secret. Then you will grow spiritually and reach the goal quickly.
One should be concerned with the spiritual concept because those who are allured by the bodily concept are no better than dogs and cats. You should develop reasoning like: Why am I suffering? What am I? Am I meant for suffering? Am I meant for troubles? What is the reason behind my suffering? How to become free from all these troubles? Otherwise you are simply leading a animal life and he should understand that whatever activities he is doing will lead to his defeat.
Frustration and confusion with materialistic life is the qualification to enter into spiritual path. You cannot manufacture a process of happiness by tackling this material energy because the material energy is not under your control but it is controlled by the supreme. Anyone who rebels against the superiority of God will suffer under the stringent laws of material nature.
Avoid factions, quarrelling, hating, scorning and faultfinding because they recoil on you;
Bhakthi is best among the yukthis (the paths dictated by intelligence) to give shakthi for acquiring unshakable joy in this world which is full of sorrow and strife, grief and disappointment. In kali-yuga (age of quarrel and disagreement because everyone have his own theory and his own philosophy), perfection can be obtained by simple method of Hari kirtana i.e., glorifying of Supreme personality. No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy.
Sunshine is open to everyone but if someone wishes to remain in darkness, what can the sunshine do for him?
(Contributed by Surya Prasad Immadisetty)
Manoharan One of the 11 sayings of Sai " Nobody can come to me on their own, until I wish " which I read, made me realize, why I was unable to make it to Shirdi for 8 yrs right from 1994 to 2002. I am glad the Almighty has taken me under his care. In fact, people with faith in the "Sarva Devta Swaroopam - Shri Sai " will experience the truth of the 11 sayings.
Krishnaveni Anu Vadlamani Srilakshmi Aparna S P. Sundaram Swati Rishikesh Sai Devotee Rachna Vandita
Quotation of the Week
Q. On what basis our mind be set on one deity as our guru? Can any deity
be a guru?
Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir, Houston, Texas, USA Sai Baba Center in Toronto Shirdi Sai Satsang, Minnesota Shri Shirdi Sai Chitra Yatra in USA The journey which involves the ceremonial travel of Baba in the form of a portrait will stop at all Baba devotees homes who are interested in being a host to his protrait. The Yatra is open to one and all. There is no fees or charges involved to take part in this event. You may participate either as a host home or serve as an anchor point in your community. Visit online at www.saibaba.org and follow link to yatra page for all the details and to register. For questions, comments, suggestions or to get details on an Anchor
home in your area, send us an email at maildrop@saibaba.org with the
subject line of "Shri Sai Chitra Yatra".
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