Volume:13 Issue:14
Thursday, Aug 12, 2010
Quote:
“Those who are fortunate and whose demerits have vanished; take to My worship. It is My special characteristic to free any person, who surrenders completely to Me, and who does worship Me faithfully, and who remembers Me, and meditates on Me constantly. I shall draw out My devotees from the jaws of Death.”- 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 Hindu Ashada month (July 25th) 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:
Raj
Baba, Thanks for the mercy you have shown on me till now. There were plenty of instances you have helped me and fulfilled all my wishes. Please bless my kid and my wife. Please be with her while delivery is taking place.
Sai Eshwari
Devotees are invited to join & participate in Shirdi Sai Abhishek, Namavali,Bhajans,Palki Seva & Aarthi every Thursday at Shri Durga Mandir located 7750,#210,128th St,Surrey,British Columbia.Monthly Kirtans are also being conducted at the Mandir.For more info,please call 604 329 7858 or 778 319 1476 or email at shridurgabhameshwarimandir@yahoo.com
Devotee
Thank you very much Sai Baba for approving all are Green Cards. Thank you for helping me through the long journey.
Devotees Experience:
Ranu
Although there have been testing times in the past few years, my family and me has faith in Sai Baba\'s blessings. Every time I have prayed earnestly, my prayers have been answered. All through the struggles that life has posed, having Baba besides us and above us has been like a strong post to hold on. When I got married 7 years ago, my husband was still studying. With Baba\'s blessings, he got a job and things started getting better. I was able to complete my studies and am now in a job that offers flexibility to take care of my family, for which I sincerely thank Baba everyday.
However, one of the most precious gifts that Baba has given us is our daughter. After going through years of heartache and sufferings, our prayers have been answered by Baba. Her beautiful smile makes us forget all the pain that we had to go through and it seems that having her in our life now is worth all that we went through. She is almost 4 months old now and we sincerely pray for Baba\'s blessings on her and our family.
We pray to Baba to give us not what we want, but what is best for us. During our worst times, it is very difficult to see why we have to go through the pain. But we have realized that there must be some deeper reason for the delays and that there is a right time for everything to happen. This time was right for us and so we have been blessed.
Adi
I came to USA to pursue master's in mechanical engineering and I always had the dream of pursuing Robotics as my specialization. Generally, the students have to choose a professor with whom they have to work with. There was just one professor in our university whose field of research is Robotics. I tried to negotiate with that professor but he was not ready to accept me as he usually takes only IITians as his students and that too who would want to pursue PhD. But, I was enrolled for master\'s and so he was not willing to take to me and hence I did not get a response from him. I prayed to Baba to somehow help in this matter and make the professor agree to take me as his student. It was already six months by that time and there was not much time for me to get some professor to work with. So I thought I should leave Robotics and pursue some other topic like Heat, Fluids, And Fuel cells etc. But, Baba has showered his faith on me. I came to know that three new professors were joining the Department that month and I saw that one among them was a Robotics professor. I approached him and he has willing to accept me as his student after few weeks of talks. I Thank Baba for all his blessings he has on me. Please continue to shower your blessings Baba.
Weekly Question:
Q. Out of devotees of Sri Saibaba depicted in Sri Saibaba literature who do you like most and why?
A. by Vandana
The only character in the Sai satcharita for whom Sai Baba is like a GURU, FRIEND, PHILOSOPHER is SHYAMA..And this is the character I like the most. Even Shyamaji reacts like a close friend to Baba and every time they fight like kids for small things. This shows how much Baba likes his devotees and his love towards his devotees just cannot be explained in words to be publishes here. Only when we surrender to him we can experience his true love.
Q. Out of devotees of Sri Saibaba depicted in Sri Saibaba literature who do you like most and why?
A. by Kirti
Out of devotees of Sri Saibaba depicted in Sri Saibaba literature I like Shama the most. Shama had heart of a child. Whatever he thought he spoke without considering the circumstances he was in. With Baba, he behaved like a child just like a child would act in presence of his/her mother. I like this innocence in Shama. For Shama Baba and Dwarkamayi was everything, he did not feel the need of visiting Saptshringi Devi, his family deity, just because Baba was his whole world. I like this unconditional devotion and faith Shama had in Baba.
Sai Vichaar Vol 13, Issue 14
Feature: Worship procedure of Baba
The worship of Baba when He was in flesh and blood was an unheard of phenomenon in the history of any religion. The fakir who went around begging for His food, was seated on a throne like a king at the end of the day, and was taken in procession with grandeur every alternate day! More mystic was the power He wielded over His devotees, Hindus and Muslims alike.
Muslims considered Baba to be a great Saint or Aualia. For Hindus Baba was Guru and God. While Hinduism permits Idolatry or worship of Guru as God, Islam completely forbids worship of any idols. Therefore, the Muslims of Shirdi had to endure the disturbance of Baba's worship by their Hindu brethren. One day, they hatched a plan to prevent Mahalsapathy to enter the masjid and worship Baba his usual style. They stationed themselves at the entrance of the masjid and prevented frail Mahalsapathy from entering His abode. Now, let us hear about this episode from Prof. C.R. Narayanan in his own words, taken from "Shirdi Sai: The Supreme" by S.P. Ruhela.
"So, one day when as usual Mahalsapathy came to do his usual puja of Baba, he started to find his way barred by a few stalwart Muslims. Being meek and gentle by disposition Mahalsapthy retired to the wall of the masjid and from there started his worship of Baba seated in the masjid. When Baba saw this, He asked His bhaktha as to why he offered his worship from a distance. The masjid being small was visible and audible from anywhere. Mahalsapathy pointed out to the Muslims guarding the entrance of the masjid to prevent his moving in.
Now let the reader prepare himself or herself for another "chamatkar" from that God presiding over in Shirdi. His eyes flashed fire and taking His satka dashed it on the floor, and addressing Mahalsapathy asked him to walk into the masjid, do his puja even to the extent of anointing His entire body with sandal. The sound of Baba's satka was like a peal of thunder to the Muslims who trembled at its sound and were made mute by Baba's words. The gentle devotee Mahalsapthy walked majestically into the masjid and did his usual worship of his living God.
Here is the actual miracle of Baba or His leela. The group of Muslims could have easily over-powered the little goldsmith (Mahalsapathy) just by a whiff from their mouths. The same Muslims could have overlooked the person of Baba sitting in the Masjid. Why did these not happen? It was because of the mystic power of God Baba was seen at its zenith. The walking in of Mahalsapathy into the masjid is a scene worthy of being recorded by a Poet Laureate. The Muslims designed to bar him, were reduced to pitiable objects and Baba of Shirdi shone like the sun in all its splendor".
Contributed Article: Sai Baba of Shirdi as A Sufi Saint (Continued)
In the Vedic tradition, the guru is visible God. God reveals Himself through the guru. The guru thus becomes the linking factor, a channel for putting the wandering, lost individual Soul, back into contact with its source, God, the Universal Soul. And just as the guru is a channel for the individual soul to re-link itself with God, even so, if we can create a channel between ourselves and our guru, then that channel will become the effecting means of receiving from the guru guru-kripa, all that the guru is the knowledge of the guru, the sanctity of the guru, the purity of the guru, the spirituality of the guru. And that channel is called guru-bhakti. That is why the Svetasvatara Upanishad states:
“If you have supreme devotion to God and the same kind of devotion to your guru, then to you, the essence, the subtle truths of the scriptures becomes revealed.”
Thus it is that through guru-bhakti the seeker, the disciple, creates an effective link, a connection, a channel which enables the guru to share with the disciple what the guru has been endowed with from God. So, we have to provide a way for the guru to give what he wishes to give. And that is through guru-bhakti, devotion, where there is no place for the ego. If the thought comes, “I have got great guru-bhakti,” then finished, that bhakti becomes cancelled, it is nullified. You yourself must become the very embodiment of that love, that devotion. There should be no awareness of some being, some person having that quality of devotion. Then it becomes a subtle spiritual ego. The very purpose of the existence of the guru is to remove the separatist consciousness, the consciousness of being a separate being or entity, and if guru-bhakti becomes a means of boosting and sustaining that ego, egoism, then it loses its purpose and becomes self-defeating. Thus true guru-bhakti is egoless, humble. The gopis of Vrindavan did not know that they were great devotees of Krishna. They said: “All we know is that He is the one object to be adored. We don’t know anything else. We cannot do anything but adore Him. We are that adoration. It is our very self. We are not different from that. Take it away from us and we will die, we will cease to exist.”
They were filled with that love, not with egoistical awareness of that love. The greater the growth of devotion and the greater the reverence for the guru, the greater is the inflow of the guru’ s grace. The greater the desire to carry out the ideals and principles of the guru in life and the greater the keen eagerness and firm determination to carry out the instructions of the guru faithfully, meticulously, day after day, in one’ s daily activities and life, the greater is the inflow of the guru’ s grace. Remember that “Obedience is better than reverence”:
A disciple was asked to take the guru’s cattle to pasture. He had to be with the cattle all day. The guru did not ask his wife to prepare any lunch for him, and he did not have permission to drink milk from the cows. So the whole day he went hungry, only quenching his thirst with water. Days, months, years passed this way.
This is the type of guru-bhakti the Hindu scriptures talk about. It is not mere sentiment. It is true guru-bhakti which has immense strength and sattvic (pure, higher) determination, behind it. Guru-bhakti is divine power, it is divine force, not merely silly human sentiment, not merely emotion. Vivekananda came down heavily upon mere sentiment and emotion.
Sai Baba of Shirdi as a Sufi Master
Sai Baba is an incredible enigma. Baba, who some devotees call the CEO among Perfect Masters – never advocated any general spiritual rules. This was in the larger interests of catering to humanity at large i.e., to devotees at different stages of evolution. Baba had a rich repertoire of spiritual skillsets and was an epitome of compassion. The spiritual remedy he prescribes to his devotees in Shri Sai Satcharita (the Holy Book of Sai devotees), be it performing a full weeks recitation of Gods name, or reading of a holy book, or feeding an animal etc. is tailored to the spiritual needs of the individual devotees and is absolutely context-specific. Furthermore, while Baba himself was a nonvegetarian, a Yogi and celibate, yet there is no general rule arising from his own life. For example, for some he recommended celibacy, while for others the life of a householder. Baba did not believe in fasting at all.
Loving Devotion
Baba’s path was a simple one free of any rituals that required love and devotion to him. This could be expressed through reading, hearing or singing about his Leelas his divine stories written in Shri Sai Satcharita.
Baba’ s words are pregnant with meaning and never hollow. Hear his stories with respect, and think and meditate on them, assimilate them. This is the way of happiness and contentment and will also lead to direct benefits. Baba says: “If My stories are listened to, all the diseases will be got rid of”. Baba’s name is the best purifier of our mind. Chanting Baba’s name (“Sai, Sai”) is the easiest spiritual practice. Feel real love for Baba and do all our actions for his sake. Pursue formless meditation or on his form.
Two of his key sayings are:
“Allah Malik Hai” (God is the Master).
“Shradha Saburi” (Have Faith and Patience)
In Sai Baba’s own words: “Those who are fortunate and whose demerits have vanished; take to My worship. It is My special characteristic to free any person, who surrenders completely to Me, and who does worship Me faithfully, and who remembers Me, and meditates on Me constantly. I shall draw out My devotees from the jaws of Death.”
The many miracles which continue to happen to devotees all over the world, so many years after his Maha Samadhi (the day he decided to leave his mortal body), are testimony to his spiritual stature. Hence, we must take Baba’ s teachings to heart and practice what he told us. Sai Baba is an agent of God. In the Sufi tradition, the devotee attains God through merger with Baba – Guru is God! (concluded)
(Contributed by Shri Shirdi Saisansthan, Singapore (www.saisansthan.com)