Some centuries ago, there was a small temple of Srinath in the town of Govardhana. A poor Brahmin of that place had an only son who was always exulting in the stories and legends of Krishna and who delighted only in listening to the leelas of the Lord. One day, he went out into the meadows with the cattle and saw the temple. He considered the image of Krishna inside the shrine as Lord himself. He called out very piteously asking Krishna to come out and play with him in the moonlight. Though doors are locked, Krishna came and walked with the boy along the fields hand in hand. Krishna played the flute to the extreme delight of the Brahmin lad. After few hours, two friends returned to temple. Krishna disappeared into the temple shrine quite unnoticed. The boy could not bear the pangs of separation from his divine playmate. He spent the night and morning crying outside the door. The parents and the priest discovered the body and the parents beat him for giving them so much trouble. But, the priest found the idol bleeding because of the blow. If you call on him as little brother, he responds and becomes a playmate for you. But, if you call on him as Guru, he will instruct and inspire. He never fails those who call on him sincerely and in faith.

Man always magnifies the role of fate and consequence of Karma without understanding the overpowering might of God's grace. Remember the story of Markandeya who date with death was cancelled because of his penance that achieved the Grace of God. There are countless instances in the earthly careers of all Avatars that God's Grace is greater than garnered karma.

The two major evil forces that drag down mankind in the quest for God are - Temptation for Publicity and Cynicism. Even a small gift to some charitable organization is announced in thick banner headlines! Conceit is thus encouraged and man slides into paltry pomp. Kindness has to be fostered in the silence of the mind.

The seed should not be scattered on the rocky surface but it has to be embedded in the depths so that it can germinate. Cynicism is done in conversation, in judging works of art, the achievements of science, the attainments of adventure, the heights of sadhana and in the pronouncements of the wise. So, do not strive for False Publicity and do not become victim for Cynicism. Instead, Pray to God to illumine your mind and intellect, which leads you to gain the Grace of God. The first requisite for the seeker is the quality of detachment (Vairagya), a quality that is the product of deep discrimination on the nature, characteristics of the senses, the mind and the intellect.

There is no need for hard and tough discipline and sadhana needed to win the Grace of God: The Best discipline is - Control your tongue and make it soft and sweet; do not yield to the whims of the senses; dwell always in the thought of God; remind yourself always of the Glory and majesty of God. The Lord has said that he who does good, thinks good and speaks good will not come to harm. That is the way to get Equanimity (Shaanthi).

The Best Sadhana is - Spend all the time that you can command in the recitation of his name.

God can provide not merely Anna (food) but also Amritha (Divine Nectar). The Name of the god has all the potentiality needed. A single gasp, a tiny gesture, an anguished cry, an agonized shriek is enough to win the answer of God. Surrender the ego and dedicate every moment to him. He is full of mercy and eager to fulfill your prayers if they arise from a pure heart. When asked where God is, Do not show towards sky or some distant region. Realize that He is in you, with you, behind you, before you and all around you and he can be seen and felt everywhere.

God has no likes and dislikes. He is Gunatheetha (beyond all gunas) i.e., above and beyond all traits and characteristics. He is full of Love, Mercy, Goodness, Wisdom and Power. God is the mainspring of your life. He gives you what you ask and so, Be careful what you ask. In fact, Leave everything to his Will and surrender at his Lotus feet. Whatever God grants is for your good and for your Liberation but not for your fall or bondage.

(Contributed by Sai devotee Sathyanarayana)
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Contributed Article: Sri Sai Gurucharitra - Chapter VI(continued from last week)

Oh listeners! On the second day, Sri Sai Baba went to Chandbhai's house in Dhupkheda village. All the people of Dhupkheda went and had the darsan of Sai Baba. They wondered, "Is he a Hindu? Is he a Moslem?" Each who saw him formed his own opinion as to his religion. The Muslims thought he was an aulia. The Hindus considered him a siddha. Both the groups had a common feeling towards Baba- devotion. They all prostrated at his feet and paid him their respects.

Chandbhai's brother-in-law's marriage was arranged with a girl from Shirdi village. Baba too joined the marriage party, which went to Shirdi from Dhupkheda village. As he stepped on to the soil of Shirdi, that village was blessed. Shirdi is the surely equal to Gokula. Krishna was born in Mathura but lived in Gokula. In the same way, Selu or Manawat is Mathura. Shirdi is Gokula. Sri Sai Baba stayed on in Shirdi purifying it and it has now become a great pilgrimage center. As he entered Shirdi, he met the pious devotee Mhalsapati. As he reached the Khandoba temple, Mhalsapati said, "Oh Sai! It is not seemly that you come here. This is a temple for the Hindus. You look like a Moslem to me. You better go to the Masjid or the takia." The able Sai was surprised by the words of Mhalsapati. He said, "It is one god who has created both these people. Hindu, Moslem are mere words - know this to be the truth. The sadhaka should never feel that religion has any importance. He should not differentiate between people based on their religion. Never show intolerance towards people of other religions. Reform your self. Try to see the god who is one for all of us. He is Allah-I-llahi. He is the Maha Vishnu reclining on the serpent Adisesha! There is nothing which is other than your Khandoba, my son. Know clearly as to who the real Khandoba is! Those who know the truth care not a whit for these differences based on religion. There are temples in this world and there are masjids too.

God has not constructed any of them. Oh pious one! Do not think that these temples or the masjids are the only ones to lead you to god. I will not trouble you. I will respect your feelings and have the darsan of Khandoba from afar. I hope you have no objection to that? Your puranas tell a tale. There was a low caste man called Chokha Mela who was very dear to Panduranga. He was a hundred times better person then those high caste Brahmin priests who did the daily ceremonial worship of Panduranga. Know you, that all those who sincerely try to reach the lotus feet of the almighty keeping their minds and hearts pure are the high castes. All others are low caste irrespective of the caste they were born in. Whose interior is pure is pure everywhere. Mhalsapati was ecstatic with happiness on hearing these words of wisdom from Sri Sai Baba. He prostrated at his feet and saluted him with devotion. He said, "You are truly the embodiment of wisdom. It is the accumulated merit of my past lives which has led me to you." He prayed, "Please stay on in our Shirdi village." Baba agreed to do so. They both entered the village. Sri Sai Baba settled in the Masjid. He stayed for many days in the shade of the Neem tree, which was close by. Sri Sai Baba liked to be alone. He would light the Dhuni and resting his elbow on the right knee and placing his palm on his ear would gaze at the fire for hours together with half closed eyes. He used to smoke the chilim. He was never in a hurry. He was always looking inwards and his mind was steadfast. He was always immersed in the bliss of constant communion with god. He would go to five houses for alms every day. He would ask for alms and stand at the door for a very short time. He would go to Vaman, Sakharam, Ganapati, Kumar Tatyaba, Nandu and Sawairams houses for alms. How fortunate are they, who had the merit of giving alms to that embodiment of wisdom?

One day a Gosai called Devidas requested Baba to instruct him about dispassion and freedom from all desire. Baba said, "In the path of dispassion, the main danger is from woman and the frailty of the sensual. See what a miserable state was reached by that great sage Viswamitra because of the frailty of the sensual. Even if one leaves the family and goes far away, one should be careful about the frailty of the sensual. Dispassion will never come to those who have a tendency to show off and love ostentation. One should keep the mind turned inward enjoying the bliss of self and meditate upon the almighty constantly. The ego should be annihilated".

Let us now see how that venerable saint spent his time under the shade of that fortunate Neem tree. The holy tale will lead us to salvation. Baba lived under that Neem tree for a long time. His abode had no walls. The East, West, North and South were the walls of his abode. The fallen leaves of the Neem tree were his seat. His abode was of such a nature. Raja Bhartrahari described once the dwelling of a one who had no desires. Such an abode was Sri Sai Baba's at Shirdi. The almighty incarnated to save the whole world. The whole world was his family.

(Contributed by Source: "Sri Sai Gurucharithra" originally by Santkavi Sri Dasganu Maharaj. Translated from Telugu version by Sri SVL)
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Experiences of Devotees:

Manju
Thanks Baba for giving me an opportunity for sharing my experiences with all of you. I have developed muscle weakness in legs from some years. I can walk but I usually take support of my husband or friends when I walk. I work at a company and one day I had to collect some documents from other building and I thought I can go by myself and started walking on the road. At one point heavy wind started blowing and I did not know what to do, I walked few steps and held a pole on the road and I was thinking what should I do now? The other building was 50steps away. I was praying Baba to send someone to help me, next minute a car passed by me I did not concentrate to look at the driver, and the car stopped few steps away from me. A female came out of the car and was walking towards me, then she said hi to me, I did not recognize her then after few seconds I recognized her she was my colleague from previous company. I did not meet her from past 5 years. She told she will contact me later and I went with my work. She did not contact me until now. I completely believe that, it was Baba himself. If baba would have not sent her, I don't know how long I could have stood holding at that pole. Thank you Baba.

Srikanth, Canada
Jai Sai Ram, I am a devotee of Sri Shiridi Sai Baba for the last 4 years. I immigrated to Canada in Feb, 2002. I am a pharmacy graduate and I had promised Baba that if I pass my Canadian pharmacy-licensing exam, then I would be writing my experience in the Newsletter. With the grace of Baba, I did studied very hard for 2 months. I was not confident enough to take up the exam. I compared my preparation with all other friends. I was the least prepared amongst all. On Nov 3, I took my first theory paper. Every one whom I met said that the paper was very easy. To be frank I felt a bit difficult. On Nov 4 I took my second theory paper. On that day, I had a peculiar experience. Just before starting my exam, I had put my hand bag (which had the photograph of Sai Baba). I thought in my mind if for some reason if the examiner asks me to take out the bag from the table I will put the bag on the chair next to the table. The examiner asked me to take away the bag on the table. Now I had put the bag on the chair that is next beside the table. I though that Baba is testing me. Then I started answering my exam paper and completed the exam in 2 hours. I had enough time to even sing Baba's Bhajans in my mind during the exam. Couple of weeks after the exams, on my return to my home I reached Islington subway at around 7:05 pm. At this point of time a thought crossed my mind." If I see my wife before I reach my apartment then I would pass both my exams. I stepped out of the subway I could not see my wife. I was a bit dejected. I turned my head right and lo.... my wife was right there! Later, I was called for an interview by one of the Shoppers in Windsor, Ontario. By Baba's grace, he was impressed and offered me a position as a Pharmacist at his store. He read out the contract conditions and asked me to sign the contract if the offer is O.K to me. I asked the owner to wait for couple of weeks so that we can get the results. Suddenly He asked me which god do I believe in. I said "SAI BABA".He then repeated "Oh SAI BABA". The owner was a white man and he doesn't know anything about Sai Baba. Then he said, "form what ever I had heard about you, I am sure the result will be positive". On the day of my results, I was looking on the pharmacy board website for results and for some reason the hall ticket numbers were not in sequence this time. Almost I lost hope, and then I was casually scrolling down the results screen on the computer. Lo ... I saw my number. Without Baba's grace and blessings, I could have never achieved this success. This reminds me of Hemadpant's words in SATCHARITA "that a devotees progress is smooth and certain (Spiritual and Worldly progress) with the blessings of Baba". Baba never turns down his devotees. Baba knows better than anyone what is good for his devotees. Shraddha and Saburi are the two things baba expects from his devotees. I would like to thank my friends Abdul Arif and Devotham Reddy for their selfless guidance and encouragement for these exams. I had so many experiences of Baba in the month of December. I am sending this experience to saibaba.org website from my new home in Windsor.
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Devotees say...

Prema
There are no words to explain your leelas in my life and in my family. What all happened is only by your grace. As you are aware, we are searching a good alliance for my sister for almost 3 years. As I write this email, groom and his parents are coming to see my sister. If you think, my sister will have happy life if this alliance gets fixed, please help arrange for the marriage. We leave everything at your lotus feet. Please guide us to lead a happy life. With lots & lots of love.

Shilpa Kapur
Om Sai Ram.....I would like to thank Nithin for writing in response to my prayer. I take this as a sign from Baba to me and have helped me a lot. I hope baba makes me strong enough. Many thanks to this newsletter, I feel as if I am directly talking to baba...Baba, please give all your devotees whatever they desire, most importantly your blessings. Always be with them, protect them and show them the right path to follow in life. Baba blesses me with your love and make me a wise person. I pray to u for the little girl (with minimal eyesight) who has made it so far (with your blessings) please do take special care of her.

Thyagarajan Kanagasabai, Dubai
Regarding Sai Mandir in Dubai, there was a mandir was setup (in a villa) in Satwa (near WTC round about, near Iranian hospital) by the Burdubai Mandir Management. Later, this is shifted to either Al Gusais or Al Awir. Beyond this, I don't know, because I stopped going there. Regarding astrologers prediction, Madam either you believe the prediction or not, if it created a fear in your mind, hold fast and firm Sai Maharaj's feet and start to read a Chapter in Saisatcharitra as frequently as possible. Even if anything happened, it will be blocked by Sai Maharaj and the effects may be minimized. But never ever go behind human being and doing these non-sense pooja or mandra or tantra. Hold Sai Maharaj feet and have nishta and saburi.
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Prayer Club:

Sai devotee
SaiRam. By this march 26th 2005, I will be completing my sixth wedding. But Baba knew that my marriage life is not good. Due to my previous birth karma, I am undergoing a very unhappy married life. My husband dislikes me andhe is not treating me as his wife, though my marriage is done with your blessings. He was (is) having illegal relation ship with a married lady who is having two children. This we all came to knew only on 15th december2003.even now he in not able to forget her and is not ready to accept me and live with me. Now I have come back to my parents place. By January 25, it will be one year I have been here. Still he is not giving me any positive reply. Baba had assured in many ways that this marriage is his sankalpa and he will set right things quite from the beginning. We believe it fully and we are still waiting. My parents are old and very much tensed. My brother I always thinking about me. He also believes in Baba's saying shradha, saburi. I pray Baba to change my husband. He should forget that lady completely. He should realize his faultand should come to swamy's fold. He should accept me as his wife.

Sandhya
My sister's marriage supposed to be fixed with a boy. Boy parents are against this marriage. The boy was very firmed that he will marry my sister only. Now he is not keeping in touch with my sister. Please Sai Baba, I want this marriage to happen. We are very much under depression. Please bless us that the boy calls my sister and make sure he still loves her. Please bless us that he comes to my parents and talk about their marriage. We (my parents and my sisters) are going thru many other problems from many years. Please bless us to lead a happy life from now on.

Usha
Om Sairam.Koti Koti pranam. Thanks for being with me all the time baba. A couple of weeks back I have put my prayers for my fiancé's job in Sai Vichaar. Immediately after 2 weeks, my fiancé be got a job with your grace. Thanks a lot baba for hearing my prayers. But we are much tensed, as this is his first job. Baba please help him and give him enough strength to maintain his job, as you know he got this offer after his struggle since months. Baba my parents and all are worrying more about my marriage now. Please bless us with H1 and please bless me to be married and Come to Shirdi.

Sai devotee, Malaysia
OM SAI RAM, I know that you are with me as I have received signs of you guiding me and I am greatly thankful. As it has been said, "No point crying over spilled milk" and this is what I am following. I realize that whatever that has happened is for my own good and I am not going to brood over it and am putting my foot forward to be more positive and I do so with your grace, blessings and guidance.

Mukesh Kumar
Baba, my sister has some misunderstanding. Please clear this immediately. Thanks. Jai Sai Ram

Divya
Baba O sarvantharyami! Please help me get my loan sanctioned. Baba I pray to you earnestly for my brother, help him. My in-laws are interfering too much in my personal life, baba make them mind their own business. Please take care of my son.

Sai devotee, London
Kothi Kothi Pranam Sainath. With your blessings and darshan, I am now moving in my daily progress through this difficult life. I kindly request for your Bakhti and Sakhti in attaining a house and a partner this year. I work hard and yet the end is not so near. I do not have jealousy on others but believe that hard work with faith in You will see the light through the tunnel.
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Quotation of the Week:
"If you avoid rivalry and dispute, God will protect you"-Saibaba
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Question of the Week:

Q. Sai Satcharitha says, "Debt and enmity has to be atoned for". Please comment?
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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: Monthly Pooja ( 2nd Sunday of every month) on Sunday February 13th.

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

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.

Shivanesan Swamiji Aradhan, Hyderabad, India
The ninth Aradhana of Pujyasri Sivanesan Swamiji of Shirdi is going to be observed with an ecstatic Sai Nama Sapthaham, conducted by Dattaguru Bhandara Trust and Akhanda Sainama Sapthaha Samithi, Hyderabad. The program will be from Feb. 2nd to Feb. 9th 2005 followed by Anna Santharpana. For more details please contact the Samithi at (040) 27225895. E-mail : dattaguru_bhandara_trust@yahoo.co.uk
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