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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... Sai devotees staying in Singapore please refer above for Sai satsang details in Sai Activities section. Gurupoornima is celebrated on July 10th to 12th in Shirdi. The festival celebrating Sadguru Sainath Maharaj's love and grace is important to all Sai devotees. Please share with your fellow devotees the details of Gurupoornima celebrations planned in your community. The Question of the week is suggested by a devotee as follows: Q. What does Sai Baba say about the wealthy/rich? 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:
Only a few remain
Damu Anna had a question in mind. There are so many crowding to Sai Baba. Do they all get benefit from Him?. Baba replied lovingly, " Look at the mango tree in blossom. If all the flowers brought fruit, what a splendid crop it would be. But, do they? Most fall off either as flowers or unripe fruits. Very few remain. Yes, only a very few remain. It is said that resorting to Guru is a big fortune. Those who are at least to a little extent drawn towards Guru must consider themselves very fortunate. However, spirituality when viewed as a pursuit of intangible rewards renders the material minded to yield to the gravity of the mundane riches. If Sai Baba is seen as only a source that does miracles and will help in crisis, the very foundation of spirituality is rattled. Understanding the karmic cycle and its effects on our lives must be an important aspect of spiritual growth. A true yearning must in fact make one realize that this cycle affects only the physical being and the soul is untouched by Karma. Baba said, "the body may disease, but the soul has to be kept clean". Even for those, who completely realize the above truth, the realization evades in the ups and falls of the real world, a myth. Is saadhana (spiritual pursuit) difficult? Perhaps not, if one realizes the natural tendency of the physical self and its orientation towards the sensual. Saadhana may not be that difficult if we realize what makes the most of the blossom wither away. Saadhana may not be that difficult if the taste of its fruits is felt, even remotely. Saadhana may not be that difficult when the loving Guru takes ten steps towards us, if we take a step towards Him. Our heads may be turned away now, but let our feet lead the way. Let us be the very few that remain!
Contributed Article: Dasganu's plight!
It is our nature to enthusiastically share our convictions about Sai devotion with others and expect them to follow the same. Those who have seen the miracles of Lord Sai tend to wish that the grace that they have received should also be bestowed upon others. Thus, every Sai devotee is a Sai servant involving in spreading the love and message of Sai. While some indulge in Sai activities with voluntary willingness, others accomplish the same indirectly by sharing their experiences with Sai. It is natural that the good results of everyone's such actions depend on their capabilities and the extent of their involvement. However, what God wants is the true love and devotion but not the magnitude of their gross efforts! In the great epic Ramayana, the efforts put forth by the squirrel on the sand is considered equal to that of mighty Hanuman. Lord Rama looked at the specks of sands that squirrel contributed to the bridge with the same love and appreciation as that of the boulders moved effortlessly by the monkey God.
Occasionally, an intense participation in spreading God's words and involvement in such service leads some to believe that their service to Sai is superior and not those of others. This leads to feelings of jealousy and hatred amongst Sai children eventually leading to their spiritual downfall. Only Lord Sai, the merciful Sadguru can save those from such eventuality.
Once, Dasganu Maharaj had to face a similar situation. The one that inspired thousands of listeners through his spellbinding Sai gospel, Dasganu was averse to one particular female devotee in Shirdi Village. He used to criticize her in others' presence, some times in a very acrid tone. Once, as Dasganu was indulging himself in such a deplorable act, Sainath Maharaj summoned Dasganu and chided him for his behavior. Baba scolded Dasganu that people involved with God's work must not possess arrogance and that Dasganu should seek forgiveness at the feet of the woman devotee who was the subject of Dasganu's contempt. It was not easy for Dasganu, the most revered kirtankar of his times who commanded respect from his followers, to scoop down and fall at the feet of a woman. However, he had to obey the Great Master and in the process he was reformed to a humble servant of God and not an arrogant apostle who thought himself to be superior to others!
(Contributed by Source: "Sri Sai Gurucharithra" in Telugu with explanatory preface by Sri Sarathbabuji, based on Santkavi Dasganu Maharaj's works on Saibaba of Shirdi in Marathi)
Neetu Savitha Tanaz Subramanian Bharathi Arun Shilpi Ramanathan Rajiv Lakshmi Ravi Manish Arthi Jayanthi Laxman Shilpa Krishnakumar
Quotation of the Week:
Q. What does Sai Baba say about the Wealthy/Rich? A. by Rama Prasad We should be clear as to what we mean by 'wealthy or rich'. One may be endowed with material wealth but may be devoid of spiritual wealth. I think such persons are not really rich. Material wealth alone does not make a person rich or wealthy. Material wealth will result in ego, if not accompanied by spiritual wealth. As far as I understand, Sadguru Sai Baba of Shirdi did not give any importance to material wealth. Baba used to say that wealth serves the purpose when put to proper use. Here the word "proper use" means, being useful for larger causes such as amelioration of human suffering and larger social interests. In other words, if wealth is not put to "proper use", it becomes not only useless, but could be an impediment for spiritual progress of the person. Baba implicitly pointed out that material wealth used for excessive personal consumption and aggrandizement is wasteful, bad and spiritually degrading. He said that a person living a modest and simple life despite his being a king is really rich. A person possessing large material wealth should act as its custodian or trustee using the wealth for the welfare of the needy and society at large. Sai Baba set an ideal example himself in this regard. The sums of money that used to come to Baba as "dakshina" was very large. Sai Baba, however, neither accumulated it nor used it for His personal purposes. He used the money to distribute among those around Him. A part of the money was also used to renovate the local temples. Sai Baba kept His needs to the bare minimum and led the simplest life possible. He did not give any preferential treatment to the rich. Baba treated them no better than he would treat any one else. On one occasion of "Rama navami" a very large crowd was waiting for Baba's darshan. There were a number of rich people too in waiting crowd. Baba, however, sensed the difficulty of a poor old woman in negotiating the crowd to get Baba's darshan. He sent His attendant to escort the old woman in the crowd, while very rich devotees waited for His "darshan". Sai devotees know too well how He treated the rich and powerful British Officials viz., Sir George Curtis, his wife and MacLean who came to see Him. They were asked to wait till Baba completed His routine activities. Likewise, members of princely families visited Shirdi from time to time. In 1904 a princess of Gaekwad Royal Family of Baroda came for Baba's "darshan". She placed two plates, one filled with rupees and another with guineas, before Sai Baba; but He returned them without even touching them. The lady subsequently offered some guineas to Mahalsapathi who was sitting next to Baba. Baba told Mahalsapathi, "What do we have to do with guineas? Our poverty is good enough for us!" Of course, Mahalsapathi declined the offer of wealth. Among His devotees there were also a number of rich people like Gopalrao Buti, Hari Vinayak Sathe and Moreswar Pradhan who used their money for causes such as construction of "Wada" or lodge for the benefit of the devotees visiting Shirdi from far off places. Gopalrao Buti using his personal wealth for this purpose, as per Baba's instructions, built the beautiful "Samadhi Mandir", wherein the vibrant life size statue of Sai Baba was installed behind His "samadhi".
Gurupoornima at Shirdi Sai Temple, Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA Shri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, Minnesota Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Shirdi Sai Satsang, Bay Area, California Sai Satsang, New Jersey, USA Summer Sai activities for Children, Toronto, Canada Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada Shirdi Sai parivar, Vancouver, Canada Sai Satsangs in Singapore Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation, Malaysia
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