Volume:13 Issue:9
Thursday, Jul 08, 2010
Quote:
“Those who are fortunate enough to get Baba's Udi should, after bath, apply it on the forehead and take some little of it mixed with water in the mouth as holy Tirth.”- Shri Sai Baba
Announcements:
Saibaba.Org announces the start of redesign project of its website. If you are a technical person and would like to volunteer, please fill out contact form.
Upcoming Events:
The full moon day(Pournima) of Ashada month (July) is desingated to serve the Guru, hence it is also referred to as Guru Pournima. Sai devotees accross the world will be celebrating Gurupournima celebrations either at home or temple. Mark your calendars for a day of prayer and service to Shri Sai. Share your story and picture with other devotees by clicking here.
Devotees Say:
Sai Devotee
Thank you Baba for helping me. Please ever shower your blessings on my family and me.
Sai Devotee
"Your Faith should give you total confidence in Me.You should have the implicit confidence that I will look after you,take care of you and provide for you.You should have the confidence that My grace is always with you and that I am always watching over you and protecting you.You should have trhe confidence that I will never let you down,that I am always there beside you,helping you,supporting you,comforting you and carrying you through troubles and hardships.Just as You lean against the wall knowing that it will not collapse,lean on Me and depend upon ME entirely.I will then look after you and take care of everything for you......If you depend upon ME with Complete FAith and Confidence,I shall Provide for your welfare and look after your needs in this World and the Next." - BABA
Ranna
I would like to thank Baba for helping my son get through his final exams, due to bereavement in the family my son missed an exam to sit for the 13th day pooja but even then with Baba's grace and blessing he passed.
Devotees Experience:
Ramesh
I have been Sai Baba devotee for almost 15 years and if I try to recollect how I became Baba devotee I can not think of anything other than Baba pulling me as mentioned in Sai Satcharitra. Reason no one ever really asked me go to Baba temple or told about Sai Baba greatness, I am one of those fortunate human beings who could be devotee of Baba with pure Baba\'s blessings.
I have been married for 8 years and I have very good relationship with my wife even though she has certain major complaints about me. We both love each other and neither of us can think of our life without each other. One of the major problems with me is that I would go to any extent to satisfy my ego and in that process I invited lot of unnecessary problems in my relationship. My wife went to India for vacation with heavy heart as she finds it difficult to being away from me, but at the same time she was missing her parents, as this is the first time she is staying away from her parents. So when she left she was very unhappy and wants to comeback as soon as possible once she spends sometime with parents. After spending 6 weeks she was planning to return to US and all of a sudden things started happening in unimaginable way just 2 weeks before her return. She started looking everything in negative way and whatever problems I invited earlier to satisfy my ego started playing devil\'s role and it has gone to an extent of she deciding not to return to me. I do not have words to express my shattered feeling as I was eagerly waiting for her return and without realizing the intensity of the situation I continue to bring my ego like earlier. Once I came to senses on what is going on I realized that there is no way I can convince her to return to me as she made-up her mind not to return. I try to convince my wife that I have not really done anything for her to not to return and it\'s just misunderstanding and people around are not letting her think clearly. Nothing yielded her to change her mind and I was left with no words to explain further.
Irrespective of intensity of the problem I pray to Baba and to my consciousness I have not done such a big blunder in my life that my wife would desert me. Being a staunch devotee of Baba, I always had a belief that whatever happens Baba would take care. Probably first time in my life I was experiencing such a shattered mind, still one thing I could do is I did not look at the day/time...just picked up Baba Marathi book and stood in front of Baba\'s idol and started singing Baba aarathi....while singing aarathi tears started flowing down...not sure could be due to uncertain life ahead or unable to digest what happened.....as soon as I completed aarathi some unknown relief came to mind...
This is when something unbelievable happened....8000 miles away my mother in-law who was reluctant to send her back, suddenly goes to my wife and tells her she can feel my prayer for her return and she persuaded my wife to travel immediately. No one in this world knows that I am standing in front of my god and praying as I am alone at home and I did not speak to anyone on what I am going through including my wife. All of a sudden I receive a call from my wife saying she is traveling next day. I did not ask why she changed her mind as I was really praying for her return and I thanked Baba for changing her mind. Only after her return when she explained what all happened back home, she tells only reason she is back is her mother told her to go back as she can feel my prayer.
When you surrender yourself completely to Baba, may be each and every one of us would be blessed with supreme bliss. With Sai Ram's blessings we are back together with lot more better understanding about each other and most importantly much lesser ego from my end.
Weekly Question:
Q. Does Shirdi Sai tatva fit into Guru parampara? Explain why? Or Why not?
A. by Lorraine Walshe-Ryan Sydney, Australia
I love Shama for his intimacy with Baba, he never held back and spoke from his heart. Baba did state that Shama was with him for 72 generations. I love Shama's questioning of Baba, his idle threats to Baba i.e. "I will break this coconut on this Diva's head if you do not bear a child within a year", as related in the Sai Satcharita, Shama's fearlessness but his great love of Baba. Baba loved it too.
I feel very close to Shama, my life with my Baba is just filled with love and adoration for Baba, no fears, many tears (longing for Him always). Some of the funny things that Baba and I get upto is exactly that humourous; for Baba has such a wit about him. Last year when I went to Shirdi, prior to arriving, we drove the back for I love viewing the sugarcane fields. I was so excited about reaching Shirdi and looked at the fields ahead. I clearly saw Baba, Shama and me running through the fields together. This was no dream, but a reality. My driver could not understand my animation nor my language, but my Baba heard my heart.
With due respect to all Baba's devotees, I also love Abdul Baba. I have always been drawn to his abode whenever I am in Shirdi and his relations never fail to bless me and were kind enough to allow me to hold one of Baba's satka's as well as His zoli that they have in an old tin box. Likewise with Mhalsapathi and Khandoba temple. I feel like I literally know them all. Must not leave out Megha either, love him too. Namah Shivaya. Baba bless us all.
Sai Vichaar Vol 13, Issue 8
Feature: Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram
Truth is the power and the manifestation. Truth is eternal and indestructible. Truth is the most beautiful and the brightest. Truth is silent because it does not need a voice. Truth remains at the core of the conscience, the abode of Sadguru. Every spiritual aspirant has to confront the entity of Truth, the biggest obstacle. Conquering falsehood, most tiring of all the battles, is the beginning of Baba's expanse. It becomes at one point the task of utmost relevance, to distinguish Truth from the set of other operable facts, the premise under which everyday dealings are carried out, material and even spiritual!
Are being devotional and having faith in Sadguru all what on needs? Faith and patience are sure what Baba demanded from His children. However, just faith and having patience did not win the heart of Sai. Stories are plentiful in Sadguru Sainath's abode where Baba whipped up the conscience of those that he wanted to bless. Those who seek Him could never resist the piercing eyes of the compassionate father; the eyes that know the past, present, and the future. The eyes not that of the punishing policeman, but of the benevolent caretaker longing to lead one from the convenient facts to everlasting contentment, Truth!
How could one trying to realize that Baba is the indweller of all beings even attempt to either lie to the self or to others? Baba never lied to anyone. He always spoke of parables; some of them were literally true while some were figurative. They were the individualized instructions that Baba provided to those who deserve it and none else.
Lt. Col. M.B. Nimbalkar in his book "Shri Sai Baba's Teachings and Philosophy" wrote as follows: "Sai Baba was always practical and realistic in his teachings. He never told his devotees to lie and asked them always to speak truth. The devotees knew that Sai Baba was antharjnaani (knower of the secrets of every being) and he would certainly catch them if they told a lie. Hence they dared not speak untruth in his presence. Hemadpanth in his original Marathi Shri Sai Satcharitha rightly says: Untruth does not work before Sai and Sai cannot be procured with untruth. Untruth means downfall. Untruth in the end takes you to hell"
Let us on this beautiful Thursday remind ourselves of that benevolent caretaker longing to lead us from the facts of convenient nature to Truth which is everlasting contentment
Contributed Article: Topsy-Turvy
"In bliss supreme I was. How can a fool like Me describe the joy I experienced?". This was Baba's reply to His guru for the question as to how He felt hung feet tied and head downwards in a well for five hours. This is one of Baba's important parables.
Hemadpanth described further on this account as follows: "We think that this description of the topsy-turvy position in the well for 4 to 5 hours should not be taken too literally; for no one can be at ease and feel bliss if he be suspended with a rope-head down and feet up in a well for hours together. On the contrary it might amount to torture. This seems to be a figurative description of the trance or Samadhi state. There are two sorts of consciousness, (1) Sensual and (2) Spiritual. When our senses and mind, which are created by God with an outgoing tendency, meet their objects, we get the sensual consciousness, in which we feel pleasure or pain, pure or mixed, but not bliss supreme or happiness. When the senses are withdrawn from their objects and are given opposite or topsy-turvy direction, i.e., when they are introverted and fixed on the self, we get the other, i.e., spiritual consciousness in which we feel unalloyed joy or bliss which is ineffable. The words, "In bliss supreme I was, and how can I describe the joy I felt?" indicate that the Guru put Him in a trance and kept him above or aloof from the waters of restless senses and mind."
(Source: Sai Satcharitha, English translation by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji, Chapter XXXII)