On this holy day it may be worth to reflect the tradition of perfect masters incarnating on earth and their mission. It is said in the Hindu scriptures that the foremost in line of the divine teachers to incarnate on earth is Sri Dattatreya. To enable mankind to realize the ultimate truth which is but difficult to comprehend; the Lord kindly consented to incarnate on earth from time to time. The first and foremost time is considered to be as the son of Anasuya and Sage Atri to fulfill the promise given as a boon to Anasuya. The Lord born to them was called "Datta Atreya", of which the later word is patronymic derived from Atri. Sri Datta, the Lord of the Avadhutas (the naked sages), first taught the highest truth to Sri Parasurama from whom it was passed on to Sri Haritayana and so on. Thus started the lineage of divine teachers on earth. The lord did promise that this tradition would continue till the earth remained in orbit. In the line of divine teachers many names are taken across the world, some very well known and some unknown. But one thing is common to all these divine teachers; they are pretty much self realized, reflect a personality that is very difficult to comprehend, majority of them have their early life shrouded in mystery and their life is dedicated to spiritual evolution of souls that get attracted to them. The tradition of Sri Datta also referred to as "Datta Parampara" continues uninterrupted even after so many millions of years.

Many consider Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi as being in the lineage of Shri Dattatreya. By His life and stories, Shri Sainath did propound the same principles that were first taught by Sri Dattatreya and by many divine teachers since then. Sri Sai Baba's teachings are more geared towards the current age yet the fundamentals remain unchanged. Among the few books Shri Sainath encouraged his devotees to read and listen was Sri Gurucharitra, the book on life and teachings of Shri Dattatreya! Not only did he encourage reading but to one devotee he explained the meaning of it too! When one reads Sri Guruchartitra they will find many parallels in the stories with that in the life of Sri Sainath. It can't be mere coincidence or chance that lead to this!

Since time immemorial the fundamental truth remains the same, the same teacher returns to earth as perfect master taking on different forms and teaches the same truth through the thought process and the evolution of human society of that age.
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Contributed Article: Unity is Divinity

Once a guru taught his disciples, "Guru Brahma, Sishya Brahma, Sarvam Brahma" implying that everything in the universe was Brahma. After this particular event, one of the disciple stopped getting his seat to greet his Guru on his arrival. The Guru questioned him on this strange behavior and the disciple replied that the previous day, the Guru had said that everything was Brahma and therefore there was to difference between them. Then the teacher felt that what he said came back to him as a boomerang and he wanted to teach the student a good lesson. He went to the board and wrote "Guru Brahma", "Sishya Brahma" and "Sarvam Brahma" as two different words. When you look at these three, though Brahma is occurring as the same in all the three, the Guru, Sishya and Sarvam are different. Thus, until you are able to experience this oneness of all in practice, the student will remain a student, a teacher will remain a teacher, and there is no escape from the need for the student having to respect the teacher. The student understood that, "The basis is one but the containers are different".

Man can be differentiated from birds and beasts only when he realizes the fundamental 'I' which is the Atma Tattwa. Man is not just a creature with hands and feet, eyes and ears, head and trunk; he is much more than a total of all these organs and parts. These organs have to be ground, scraped, polished, perfected, smoothed and softened through the intellect, higher impulses, pure intentions and ideals. The impulses will be rendered pure and the intensions will be raised to the higher level if man decides to dedicate all his deeds, words and thoughts to the Lord. Then, Man becomes the ideal candidate for divinity, which is his real destiny.

Once the Truth of the Indwelling spirit is recognized, the awareness that the 'World is one family' dawns. After this, One is filled with divine love, which becomes the driving force for all of his actions. Then, Man turns away from the pursuit of endless desires to the search of peace and equanimity. Therefore, One has to understand that by converting the love for material things into love of God, one experiences the divine. So, Desires are to be controlled by developing the spiritual approach and by diverting, the mind from material objects to the divine seated in each one's heart. When a corpse is placed on a pyre and lit, both the corpse and the pyre are reduced to ashes. Similarly, the mind too disappears when the senses are negated. So, Control the senses but do not yield to satisfy the insistent demands of senses. When the mind disappears, delusion dies and liberation is achieved.

Spirit can be awakened and realized only through individual discipline and by the Grace of God. Faith in God is the best reinforcement for spiritual victory. When you revel in the contemplation of the splendor of the Lord, all material will seem inferior and only company of the godly and the humble alone will be relished. Therefore, Cultivate faith and surrender so that Lord's Grace will flow through you into every act of yours as every act of yours becomes his acts. All acts, words and thoughts will thereafter be pure, saturated with love and conductive to peace. Cleanse your hearts so that the Lord may reflect therein in his entire splendor in all his myriad forms. So, The faith is essential in "One Supreme intelligence" which conceives, conserves and consumes this entire universe.

One will acquire an equal-mindedness towards all beings only when he turns his vision inward and realizes his essential divinity. Out of that feeling of oneness, he will experience the bliss i.e., divinity. So, Always remember the principles, Eswara Sarva Bhutanam (God is the indweller of all beings) and Isavasyam Idam Sarvam (the entire universe is permeated by God). Do not develop attachment to the world, Instead, Cultivate spiritual attachment and live in harmony with your fellow human beings. Then you will experience unity between man and man. A real devotee is one who realizes this unity. Therefore, Unity leads to purity, which in turn provides the experience of divinity.

(Contributed by Sathyanarayana)
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Experiences of Devotees:

Rebecca
I run a business and am always beset with problems and stress, to the extent that my doctor has told me I have some actual brain damage from constant stress over many years. The other day, I had a fellow from an ebay company over to pick up a piece of equipment I wished to sell. He asked me for the manual for this machine, as he wanted to tell any interested parties that it was available.

"I know exactly where it is," I said. I knew I had left it on the desk in my office, which is up three flights of stairs. Up I ran, but it was not there! I went up and down stairs several times looking for it and got all confused and tired and my legs hurt, as I am not as young as I used to be. The ebay guy was waiting patiently in the basement. Finally, on about the third trip up to the office, I put my head down on my desk in exhaustion and prayed, "Baba, please help me find this stupid manual." I looked around again, but still did not find anything, so I gave up and went downstairs to the living room.

We have a glassed-in porch on our house and hanging outside the windows are several bird feeders. One of these feeders was empty and a chicadee had crawled under a glass partition and was trapped inside. With a sigh, I went over to the window, moved a bunch of plants, opened the window and let the little bird out. I turned around to open the big barrel of sunflower seeds, and there on the table was the manual I had looked for so hard.

This little incident made me very happy. It reminded me of the story where Baba said he draws his devotees to Him like little birds with a string around its foot. Perhaps He is active in my big problems, too. I feel, somehow that the karma is more problematic than finding a lost object, and it takes longer.

Deepak
I am a great believer of Sai, but my wife is not. But an incident changed my wife's views and thoughts. On 1st December, 2005 my Boss told me that his wife with some of their guests would be going to Shirdi. In the evening, I told this to my wife. After this, I went to take a bath. While taking a bath suddenly it struck me that, I should also pay a visit to Shirdi. While having dinner, I told my wife that we all should go to Shirdi on my birthday i.e. 18th December. To my utter surprise, my wife told me that while cooking food she also had the same thought that we all should go to Shirdi, on my birthday. But she was little apprehensive in telling this to me, as we had just come back from leave and if she told me to take leave again I might get annoyed. While cooking the food, she took the name of Sai Baba and said she would believe in Him if we visit to Shirdi on my birthday could be made possible and luck could have it, I was the person who said lets go to Shirdi. " Sai Baba is Great". We have planned to visit Shirdi on 18th December 2005.
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Devotees say...

Radha
I took a vow few months' back to publish my experience if Baba helped me. As He always does, He did grace me with his blessings but I totally forgot about my vow. I was reminded only after reading about a devotee's promise that was published on 10th November. I lost my diamond nose ring 2 yrs back which was bothering me quite a lot sentimentally because it was presented by my parents 21 yrs back as part of my wedding. I searched in all possible places including safety lockers both here and in India. I prayed to Baba Sai that I shall do Satcharitha parayana in a week and requested him to please bring back my ring to me. Also I took a vow to publish this miracle and tell everyone if it happens. I went to India for a short break to visit my parents and during my visit to the safety locker over there I found my ring in the locker. It is to be mentioned that it was not seen before when I did a thorough check earlier. I could not believe with my own eyes and tears were flowing thinking the kindness of Baba. What else can I say about this. All Baba is asking us is for Shraddha and Saburi, which we all should implement in our life, which will facilitate us to cross the samsara sagara.

Madhavi
Baba, thank you very much. With your blessings, Sweta got Visa to USA for her higher studies. Looking at various cases of rejection, we all were much tensed. We all were just counting on you. And as always, you were by our side. Thanks again Baba.

Mani
Dear devotees, Ohm Sri Sairam, Sai Satcharithra is for parayana. Just read once in life time whenever anyone is in problem. Every day read few chapters to complete it in one week time. It will be easy to understand and is also available in many languages. Those who read earlier had seen miracles in their lives including me.

Sai devotee
In the Bagawath Geetha, Lord Krishna clearly declares that He is everything from the smallest to the biggest. To get this birth as a human we might have taken millions of birth and come to this stage. Parents know the priorities of a child, similarly the all knowing creator knows what to give us. Therefore we should not pray for small material things. Again you will get what you ask for and eventually you will also suffer as a consequence. He has given you the intelligence to judge and decide for yourself. This freedom is not given to the species of lower birth and therefore He controls certain actions of the lower births. There is the 'karmic law' and we have to suffer the consequences of our own actions in the past which we do not know. He may show mercy on us and take the suffering himself. So it is better for us to leave it to Him and He will do the best.
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Prayer Club:

Sai devotee
Sai Baba, please help my first brother. You know all his problems Baba. Please show us the right path to solve all his problems. Help him join a good job and help him get married to a nice girl who can fill his life with happiness and peace. Please help us Baba.

Harish
Oh Sairam! our Koti pranamas to You and we bow to Your lotus feet. Thanks for answering our prayers. Now I am requesting one more important prayer to Lord Shirdi Sainatha. Oh Shirdi Baba! please bless my wife's pregnancy to be normal one and also carry out successful delivery with your presence in hosptial. Also bless with good health and long life to both my wife and our child. We surrender everything to Your lotus feet and give us good strength and calm mind to pray always.

Sai devotee
Dear Baba, Koti Namaskarams to Your lotus feet. I have started reading Sai Satcharitra, please help my husband to get a job and guide him to go to job regularly and get salary. Actually we are living seperately because of so many problems. You guide him to lead a responsble life. Baba guide my children to study well.
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Quotation of the Week:
"Generally, the worldly parents give birth to the body but death invariably follows life; but Sadguru does away with both life and death and so he is more kind and merciful than anybody".-Sai Satcharita
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Question of the Week:

Q. Should Sai devotees believe in Astrology and Palmistry?
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Sai Activities:

Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Shirdi Sai temple is open daily from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m (Winter hours). Daily program includes Kakad Arathi at 8 a.m followed by Abhisek. Madhayana Arathi at 12 noon, Dhoop Arathi at 6 p.m and Shej Arathi at 9 p.m. 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.

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.

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of DFW Metroplex is located at 2109 West Parker (Parker Plaza), Suite 212, Plano, TX 75023. For temple hours and activities please call the temple office at 469-467-3388 or visit the website www.shirdisaidallas.org.

Shirdi Sai Satsang, Bay Area, California
Shirdi Sai Parivaar invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 7:30 pm at Odd Fellows Temple, 20589 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. For details please call 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu@yahoo.com or visit www.ShradhaSaburi.org.

Shirdi Sai Satsang, Toronto, Canada
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan invites all to join for satsangs every Thursday 7:00 pm at Sai Dwarkamai, 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham, Ontario, L6C 2N4, phone 416-402-8089 or email: saileela99@yahoo.com. To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends and family for any occasion at your residence, please call. Devotees can request udi or Holy water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba by sending us an email or by phone.

Sri Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada
The Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham Road, Scarborough, ON M1X 1L5 (Intersection of Markham and Nashdene) is open Monday to Friday from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m and Saturday to Sunday from 10:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m. Dhoop aarti at 7:30 p.m everyday and Bhajans on Saturday from 5:00 p.m onwards. For other temple activities and information please call 647-444-4724 or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com.

Shirdi Sai Satsang in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Shirdi Sai parivar in Vancouver invites you for bhajans, every Thursday (6:30pm - 7:30 pm) at 8571, 118A Street, Delta, V4C 6L2. For further details contact Ritu (604)592 4182 or email at sai_ish@hotmail.com.

Sai Satsang, Singapore
To all Shirdi Sai Baba devotees in Singapore, Sai Sansthan, Singapore is organizing Shirdi Sai Baba prayer session every Saturday between 18:30 hrs to 20:30 hrs at 2nd floor function hall, Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman temple, (opp. to Sinda), 555, Serangoon Road, Singapore-218174. We invite you all to participate and seek Baba's blessings. For further details, please visit www.saisansthan.com.
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