Sai Vichaar for Thursday , June 15, 2006

Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org
Thursday , June 15, 2006 :: Volume 9, Issue 5
(In its nineth year of publication.)
Sai Vichaar is a Weekly newsletter distributed every Thursday and
is devoted to the life, philosophy and teachings of Shri Sai Baba of
Shirdi.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to your interested associates
in its original form.

IN THIS ISSUE:
FEATURE OF THE WEEK
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
DEVOTEES SAY
PRAYER CLUB
EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES
QUOTATION OF THE WEEK
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
SAI ACTIVITIES
FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD

FEATURE OF THE WEEK: To overcome negative experiences...
In his later role as a Sufi Master Sai Baba encouraged his visitors
to practice repentance, to turn away from the life they had been
living, and to practice devotion to God in whatever form they chose.
He admonished his devotees to give up bad habits such as addiction
to liquor, and exhorted that negative qualities such as caste rivalry,
pride of learning, greed, etc. should not be harbored. In answer to
a devotee's question concerning samsara (worldly activities), Sai
Baba observed:
The Shadripus (the six enemies - lust, anger, covetousness,
delusion, pride & jealousy) are all delusive. They make the unreal
appear as real. If a rich man wears a gold ornament, the poor
man gets jealous, and thinks he must have one. This is lobha
(greed). All are like this. So one must conquer the six enemies.
If they are conquered, waves of passion will not arise. Else they
will enslave you. If they are subordinated and reason made the
commandant, then the delusive pleasures and pains will no
longer hold sway over you.
Commenting to Nana Chandorkar, he said that of this jealousy
is the easiest to conquer:
Jealousy (matsara) is the inability to endure another's profit and
prosperity. If another gets fortune or power, we cannot put up
with it, we scandalize him. When he meets with loss, we rejoice.
But is this good? When that man attains prosperity, what loss
have we really suffered? But people do not consider this point
of view. If he attains good let us rejoice; let us attain or strive to
attain equal good. That should be our desire and determination.
One technique, which Sai Baba enjoined for overcoming such
negative experiences, was to repeat the name of God. He said:
"if others hate us, let us simply take to namajapa (recitation of
the names of God) and avoid them."
(Source: ."Shirdi Sai Baba in the Light of Sufism" by Marianne Warren)


CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba and Nana
Chandorkar (continued from last week) Nana folded his hands and
said, "I understand that but what puzzles me is this: why should
there be pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow? There cannot be these
if one gets rid of worldly affairs."

To this Baba said, "Pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow are illusions.
They are not real, although people think them to be real. Thanks to
his previous karma, one man feeds on delicacies; another feeds on
dry bread; a third gets only stale food or worthless left-overs. Those
who feed on stale food or worthless leftovers consider themselves
unhappy, while those eating good food say that they have
everything they need. The purpose of eating is to quench the fire
in the stomach, no matter what one eats delicacies or leftover.
Similarly, the purpose of covering one's body, whether with
delicate fabrics woven with gold thread or with rough garments
made from the inner bark of trees, is to protect the body; nothing
more. Thus, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure are simply ways
of looking at things. They are, as I said, illusions and you should
not be deceived by them. Illusory as they are, these feelings
cannot exist without a cause just as waves cannot exist without
water or light without a lamp.
The six enemies like desire, avarice etc. are the underlying
causes. These make one believe that the unreal is the real.
When a poor man sees a gold bracelet on the wrist of a rich
man, he feels angry. The anger in turn gives rise to envy, the
desire to own something belonging to another. One must
therefore defeat the six enemies. Once they are subdued they
cannot disturb you with joy or sorrow. You need not destroy
these enemies completely; you need only to learn to employ
them as your slaves, keeping them in check through
knowledge or rational thinking.

"There is, however, one real joy and one real sorrow. Being
caught up in the cycle of births and deaths is the real sorrow;
getting liberated from the cycle is the real joy. All the rest
is illusion.
"How then, should one conduct oneself in the world? Listen
to what I say carefully. One must be contented with one's
lot in life; one must not keep worrying over it. If riches come
to you, accept them but be humble, like the trees which
bend on being loaded with fruit. It is good to be humble, to
be kind and polite but not to everyone. You should learn to
tell rogues, who take advantage of the kindness of the rich,
and be stern with them. Do not forget, however, that wealth
is but the noonday shadow. Do not get puffed up with the
power of wealth and harass others. Instead give in charity
according to your capacity. One should never borrow and
be extravagant. The world may be an illusion but your
destiny is not: it is real. You need wealth to conduct your
worldly affairs.
Wealth is essential but one should not get entangled in it.
Do not be a miser. Be generous but not over-generous.
Remember no one will care for you once your wealth is
spent. Generosity combined with extravagance is
dangerous; avoid it by all means. While giving in charity,
consider how suitable is the recipient. Ask yourself: "Is
he worthy of your help? Is he in real need? and only if the
answer is yes, must you give. The sick and the disabled
are worthy of your charity; so are orphans. All public
welfare projects are deserving of financial help: so are
scholars of merit. Try and help, if you can, poor and
deserving women in labor.
"There are three types of feedings: mass feeding, regular
feeding and occasional feeding. Mass feeding is feeding
people in thousands. You may do this if you are very
wealthy and your intentions good. When you mass-feed,
you need not differentiate between caste or between good
and bad people; all are worthy. Feeding in the name of
the Lord also falls in this category. However, you should
not undertake some feeding if you have to borrow and get
into debt.
(Contributed by Continued......)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba
and Nana Chandorkar (contd.)
Regular feeding, on the other hand, calls for discrimination.
Only way farers, mendicants, the worthy poor among
students who live by begging their bread, and the hungry
deserve to be fed regularly. "Then there is occasional
feeding - feeding on occasions like weddings, festivals
and the completion of the observance of religious vows.
On such occasions you may invite your good friends and
relations and feed them. These are the three types of
feeding and the reasons behind them. The same holds
good for the offering of clothing as well.
"Try to help those in distress whenever your purse permits.
When in power, do not misuse it. Do not take a bribe while
sitting in judgment on a case. Whatever responsibility is
given to you, carry it out well and with due care. Do not
dress overly and show off. Do not, without proper reason,
insult anyone. Know the bad and the wicked and deal
carefully with them. If you are blessed with sons, daughters,
servants and maids, treat them all affectionately but do not
take pride in these blessings, for such pride is the cause of
the cycle of births and deaths. We must finish up with our
past store of karma so that nothing is left for us to carry
forward. Blessings like sons, daughters etc. are meant for
this life only. Where, for instance, are the friends and
relatives we had in our past lives? They ceased to be when
the lives for which they were meant ceased to be. Desires,
on the other hand, bind us from birth to birth and bring
about the next birth. Do not therefore take false pride in
your progeny, relations or friends. Only then will you get
everlasting bliss. We go to a hotel to take shelter there for
a short while. We do not get attached to such a temporary
dwelling. The world too is but a temporary abode for us.
"Everybody should perform his duties and at the same time
remember the Lord, who is full of bliss.
The one God created all children on earth but your own child
is your responsibility. You must bring him up properly,
educate him, give him some money and leave some wealth
for him. Do not, however, take pride in his upbringing or
education or the wealth you have left him. Do your duty and
give the Lord the credit for doing it. Give the Lord the fruits of
your duty too. This will help you to remain aloof and detached
from worldly activities. Use your intelligence and knowledge
to differentiate the good from the bad, accept the good and
discard the bad. Take up good projects and make all possible
efforts to complete them. You must by no means be
apathetic towards the affairs of this world. Do your duties
proudly but cast off this pride as soon as they bear fruit. "As
long as life exists, one must take good care of one's body
but one should not weep over death. After death nothing
exists for you to cry over. Wise men are unmoved by death;
it is only the foolish who give vent to their feelings in times
of death. The body until its death is a loan from the five
elements, which the life force repays. On full and final
repayment of the loan, air mixes with air, fire with fire.
Thus, the five elements go back to their respective places.
The body belongs to the earth and as such its loss is not
a matter for mourning. Similarly the birth of a child need
not be a cause for rejoicing, birth being as natural a
phenomenon as death. One must simply stay calm,
unmoved by birth and death, O Narayan! The earth bears
the seed, the cloud waters it and the sun helps the seed
to germinate. When the seed germinates, do the earth,
the cloud and the sun rejoice and start dancing? Whether
the sprout turns into a big tree or it dries up and withers is
something that should cause neither rejoicing nor sorrow.
If we act in this manner, how can there be any misery or
cause for lamentation? The state of absolution is the
absence of misery and lamentation.
(Contributed by Source: Sri Sai Gurucharithra: Collected
works on Saibaba by DasGanu Maharaj)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Conversations between Baba
and Nana Chandorkar (contd.)
Baba then told Nanasaheb that we would receive from him
more 'upadesh" later. Nanasaheb was very pleased to hear
this. His eyes moist with tears of joy and his body full of
goose pimples, he caught hold of Baba's feet and said in a
voice overwhelmed with emotion."O generous Sai: you have
redeemed me. Your "upadesh" has washed away the dust
of nescience that had gathered over me. I am deeply
grateful to you." Nimonkar was equally overwhelmed. They
both fell at Baba's foot and left for their respective homes.
(Contributed by Source: Sri Sai Gurucharithra: Collected
works on Saibaba by DasGanu Maharaj)

DEVOTEES SAY:
Savitha
I want to thank you Sainatha for Your grace on my family and
me for all these years. As per my vow to You I am writing in
this newsletter to spread the bhakthi that indeed you are with
everyone who believes in you. Please continue to bestow
Your grace on everyone. Om Shri Sai Ram.
Vijay
Thank you Sai because of you my brother got good job.
Thanks for every thing, please shower your blessings on all
your devotees and my family.
Suresh
I have prayed with Sai Nath that if I receive last months salary
from my company I will publish this in Sai Vichar as the
company was not in a position to pay salary and I received
salary only with Baba's blessings. I thank you Baba.
Jyothi
A many thanks to dear Sai, You have gifted me a with a baby
boy. After I lost a baby last year I thought I would never have
any child but by Your grace and love for Your children You
bestowed upon me this great gift. You also got my husband
a job in India and now a new home. I just can't believe that
everything is happening so soon. Once again I would like to
thank you and request You to keep me ever chanting Your
name. Sai, O Lord, this time my mother has some health
problems, kindly help her recover without any trouble.
Thank you O Lord, thanks a lot.

PRAYER CLUB:
Prakash
Due to poorvarjita karma, I am trapped in a serious debt
problem. Though You have blessed me and my family with
a good salary, all my earnings are getting drained out in
repayment of debt. You are the only solace and help me in
getting out of this problem as soon as I can. Though You
are aware about my problems, I am making a request to
you specially like a baby requests his mother for food.
Karnad
Sai Baba, please help my son overcome all his doubts
and wavering mind and to concentrate on his studies.
Punam
Om Sai Ram. By Baba's grace my IUI was done. I prayed
and requested to Baba that please bless me with a baby.
Already my 4 IUI were failed, but I know Baba can do
miracles any time. Everything is in Baba's hands. So please
Baba, take care of me this time. I request all Sai devotees
to pray for me.
Neetu
Baba, You what I am going through. Please Baba tell my
husband to come back soon. Please Baba tell him that
we are missing him very much. Baba please have mercy
on us.
Swaminathan
Baba please solve our problems and give us some peace
and happiness. Please forgive my mistakes and bless us.
We are trying our best bit still the results are not in our
favor. We are keeping all our faith in you. Only your help
can save us.
Srinivas
Please, see that I don't lose my Job. I will perform well
Baba. With your grace, I will perform definitely well. Please
provide your blessings to me. I always recite your name
wherever I am.
Hemisha
Forgive for all mistakes committed in my life and please
Saibaba shower your grace on me and my family and
assured to me to get a good job.
Shai
I don't know whether I should go ahead with my idea of
changing my career path should I just be patient and see
what Baba has stored for me. I feel so confused. Please
guide me my Mentor.
Nikhil
Please pray for my mother, she has got airthritis from
past five years. Baba please help her, give Your heeling
touch Baba. Take her problems away. Baba give Your
love to my family.
Zinda
Please bless my brother with a child. Please help my
sister's son to get admission for Engineering. You are
taking good care of me and my family. Help my husband
in his job and take care of our health.
Reshma
Baba, please help my husband to get a job. We have
relocated interstate and it is increasingly difficult for him
to get back in the lecturing or teaching profession. Also
Baba my son who is very bright but tend to get careless
with his studies. Please guide him to concentrate in his
school work for this is such an important year for him. I
beg you Baba please show my sixteen year old the right
way. He must not get sidetracked. Thank you very much
Baba for everything. Om Sai Ram

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:
Ambika
I am 22 years old and Baba came into my life in the year
2002. For me it was complete belief and love from the
beginning, no doubts, no questions. Since then Baba has
given me loads of beautiful experiences, not once has He
let me down at every step He has held my hand and helped
me walk through life without which I have no idea whether I
could even take a step forward but the experience I am about
to relate is absolutely unbelievable. It's a miracle. I still feel
that I experienced something so beautiful and perfect very
early in life, I've got much more than I deserve. I mean after
loads of prayers and good deeds not many people witness
something like this. I still don't understand the reason behind
Baba choosing me. I always try to be his perfect daughter but
I don't think I've really always managed it. But as they say He
has His reasons or probably Faith does move mountains. But I
am so thankful to Baba for choosing me. I study in Pune and I
have been offering Baba a glass of water and prasad as Naivadya
everyday since September 2005.This is generally how we all
express our love to Baba. Just that I did it a little differently, every
time while offering water I always took a drop of water from the
glass on my finger and put it on the lips of the Baba's murti I have
with me. It was just my way of making Baba drink water and as
expected the drop would either trickle down to the chin or just
stay on the lips and dry up in some time. So on the 27th
February 2006 night at around 11 pm (which was rather late than
usual) when I did my regular offering I as usual put the drop of
water on Baba's lips. And to my utter surprise the drop
disappeared immediately in front of my eyes. I was shocked,
actually too shocked to believe my eyes. So I took another drop
and put it on the lips of my Baba's murti. And that within
seconds disappeared too.
continued...
I decided I will do the same once more and if it happens for the
3rd time I'll go and call my masi (who was the only elder person
at home at that time). I did it for the third time and Baba seemed
to have drank that drop too. I immediately went and called my
masi and I showed her the miracle. And she was shocked to no
bounds. She immediately took a drop from the glass and put it
on Baba's lips. And that disappeared too, we were so happy with
the miracle that we alternately made Baba drink water from the
glass for an hour till the water in the glass was over. By the time
we finished the glass and brought more water my brother sister
and their friends were home. And Baba accepted water from them
too. In fact their friends who are not really Baba devotees were
too shocked to believe what was happening. But that was Baba's
way of drawing them closer to Him. As a result all of them took
the first bus to Shirdi two days later in order to take Baba's
darshan. After around one and a half hour (that is at 12:30 am
approx Baba stopped drinking water). This miracle was something
none of us had ever dreamt of. I was so shocked that there was a
point of time when I thought probably the clay of the murti was
absorbing the water so I put a drop of water on the murti's head.
And that just stayed there, it was only when we put it on the lips
did Baba drink it. It was not the clay it was Baba for sure. After
that day till today whenever I offer water to Baba I put the drop on
His lips and as usual the drop remains on his lips. Guess that
was the day Baba wanted to literally drink water from my and the
other's hands accepting our love and devotion for him. I really don't
know how to express my love and gratitude to Baba for everything.
All I can think of telling Him right now is 'I Love You Baba'.
Charul
I would like to share my experience with all Sai devotees. My 4
year old son was hospitalized on 3rd April, 2006 as he was
suffering from severe gastroenteritis. He developed severe fever
that reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. He had not eaten since the
morning so he couldn't take in the medicine for reducing his fever.
The medicines that were being injected into his bloodstream were
having little effect. The cold strips treatment to lower his temperature
was leading to nowhere. My poor child was also having convulsions
from time to time. The doctors suspected meningitis but weren't sure.
I was crying bitterly to Sai and praying to Him to take care of his child.
All of a sudden we heard the sounds of Jai Mata Di from the
neighboring temple, as these were the Navratras days going on. We
all prayed to our Sai Mata to bless our little baby and all of a sudden
his temperature reduced to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, much to the
surprise of everyone including the doctors around. He started talking
normally as if nothing had happened! Thank you Sai for having saved
the life of our son.
Arun
Thanks a lot Sai, I promised Sai that I will publish this once my
brother gets a job. I started reading Sai Satcharita and committed
to complete it in 7 days with request to Sai to give my brother a job
who is being idle after our set back in business. I completed reading
Sai Satcharita in 7 days, there was no news of my brother getting
any job, I was disappointed and thought that Sai did not bless me.
I was depressed, but within a week my brother got an offer for job
and they asked him to join from Thursday itself. My belief in Sai is
reconfirmed and felt Saibaba's presence in my life is always there. He
does not leave His devotees in middle. Thanks a lot Sai, have Your
grace on my family and me always.


QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:
"Wholesome food will bring good health. A man of restraint is better
than a man of indulgence".-Shri Sai Baba


QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Q. What does Sai Baba say about the wealthy/rich?
A. by Prakash
God descends from the heaven in the form of Yuga Purusha to protect
the Dharma from evil spirits. We read about Shri Rama and Shri Krishna
in our great epics. Even though they were taken the human form, they
stood above the human traits. This shows how one can raise to the level
from Manava to Madhava.
The riches are the accumulated fruits of the past good deeds. By virtue
of being rich due to one's own good deeds in the past, one should be
humble and do good deeds even during the present life also. Sainath
always teaches the humility and the path of renunciation. He always
recommends and believes in the Karma theory. Sainath never teaches
running out of the responsibilities of Grihastashrama. There is a Sanskrit
saying that "Vidya dadati Vinayam, Vinaya dadati patratam, patratvat
dhanamapnoti tad dana dharma tatah sukham". Which means, education
brings the humility and humility brings the capability and the capability
brings the money. Out of the money you earn through these means, first
you do some good deeds by donating some portion of your earnings to
the poor and needy (Daridra Narayana Seva- which pleases our beloved
Sai Sadguru) and then utilize the balance for your personal well being.
This should be the ultimate aim of all. This is exactly what Sainath
preaches to all the riches to bring down the parity between the haves
and have-nots. During the divine presence of Sainath in the human form,
he never gave importance to money. All that he used to get in the form
of Dakshina used to be distributed among the needy devotees. Taking
dakshina from the devotee is an indication of the movement towards the
path of renunciation. This is the real lesson, which Baba used to say it
to all the wealthy/rich. "Sainathaya Namaha".