Sai Vichaar for Thursday , December 07, 2006

Sai Vichaar www.saibaba.org
Thursday , December 07, 2006 :: Volume 9, Issue 30
(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: Sai Baba's Sacred
words to Abdul Abdul was amongst Sai Baba's
close devotees and lived with Sai Baba in Shirdi
for a continuous period of twenty nine years before
Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi and then remained in
Shirdi for a further thirty six years until his own
samadhi in 1954. Abdul wrote down some of
Sai Baba's utterances and explanations and over
the years these notes accumulated into a small
volume.
After Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi, this old notebook
manuscript became very precious to Abdul as he
made use of it, according to Sri Narasimhaswamy,
as a 'Book of Prophecy' through which Sai Baba's
message and guidance could be obtained.

Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Marianne Warren, Abdul's
notes have been fully translated and published in her
book - "Unraveling the Enigma - Shirdi Sai Baba in
the Light of Sufism" published by Sterling Publishers,
India. In foreword to the book Dr. N.K.Wagle of
University of Toronto says: "Dr. Marianne Warren's
work is the first scholarly attempt to provide a
historical context to Sai Baba's teachings. An
equally original point argued convincingly by Dr.
Warren concerns Sai Baba's knowledge of Islamic
Theology.

Dr. Warren has translated the Saibaba manuscript in
which Sai Baba gave discourses on Islamic history
and thought to his pupil, Abdul, his personal attendant,
whose tomb rests near Sai Baba's shrine". For
Devotees who want to advance spiritually, and are
looking for gems to collect as Baba used to say, these
sayings are invaluable and should be taken as word
personally spoken to each one of us without any
prejudice, argument, discussion or controversy. Abdul's
notes on Sai Baba's teachings: Page 12: The religious
emotion is purely spiritual. Only secondarily it relates
to the material world. O Parvardigar! - Universal
Sustainer. O God! O Habib! - My Beloved! What we see
in this material state is not real because you cannot
understand it through the intellect or by inference.
Those who consider the spirit as without beginning,
this opinion is incorrect because thinking itself is
not permanent. And life is the real thing. The body is
subordinate to it... Page 14 : To understand the true
form of God is difficult. In the Qur'an, it is forbidden
to picture God with form. If you walk on the path of
righteousness, then you will not feel the need for it. It
requires great effort to walk on the path [of righteousness]
i.e. tapas. When a person practices taps (riyajat), divine
insight (ma'rifa) will automatically come. A sura from the
Qur'an says something to this effect, Ajjain jahidu fina
tabulana riyajat - He who performs tapas, I regard him
to be on the path. It would not be proper to give him full
knowledge about it. But before you proceed on the path
of Allah, you must discipline the mind. It is strategic to
strengthen the defenses, with fortifications. If an army
does not move how can the war of righteousness be
fought. O dear friend! Know this that the body is the
kingdom of the heart. Do not think that the heart has
many armies. The Qur'an says: Maya alam rabbuk
janud ilahu - The army of Allah, do not think that it
has to besiege the mind/heart. The heart is created
for the realization of God. To find the way to attaining
a vision of God is a man's true task. For the vision of
God, divine sight is necessary.

FEATURE OF THE WEEK: continued.....
Page 20: [Similar to page 12 but longer and written
at a different time] Religious emotion in full is purely
spiritual. It is not material. Secondly it means that
you will see the world as material or only relatively
real (until you have a vision of God). Parvardigar!
O Dear One!., O Dear One! the material (relative
state) world is unreal. There is no place for intellect
and inference. Those who regard the spirit as without
beginning, this is not true. It is wrong to address the
spirit because it is dependent on others. The real form
of man is prana - life force. The body is under the
control of prana. The people who equate the spirit
with the body are wrong. The body is impermanent.
Animals also have a spirit, which is also impermanent,
called dil or heart, which seeks the mercy of God.
(Source: Unraveling the Enigma - Shirdi Sai Baba in
the Light of Sufism by Dr. Marianne Warren)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Baba's mission
The term "Mission" is derived from the Latin "Mitto"
meaning "to send". So, a missionary is the one who is
sent with a message or direction. As used in the
Christian literature, a mission was the most valuable
characteristic of the lives of such great Prophets as
Moses, Jesus, and others. Jesus' mission was by His
own death to absolve mankind from hereditary or original
sin, that is, the sin derived by being the descendents
of the first sinners, Adam and Eve.
His death was considered as a sacrifice on behalf of
entire humanity. Others' mission, for example, Moses'
was to lead the Jews from captivity in Egypt on towards
the Promised Land. The idea of a missionary is
practically that of an agent. In the case of Sai Baba,
he declared, "God has agents everywhere, they have
great powers". Baba added, "I also have great powers",
implying thereby that he was also an agent of God. He
also expressly told D.S. Rasane, "I can do nothing
except when God orders". He did not give a kupni to
G.G. Narke saying, "The Fakir (God) has not permitted
me to give you a kupni", i.e., the rope of a sanyasi or
begging fakir, as G.G. Narke was to be a family man,
an earning Grihastha, according to God's plan and not
a beggar. As an agent, he said that he had vast powers.
The powers and the mission have a close relation. The
mission has to be worked through the powers given
and the powers are given only for carrying out the
mission. Baba had by concentration on God practically
every siddhi (Great Power) that one can think of.
Srimad Bhagavadgeetha says, "What power is there
that can not be got by concentration on God with
conquest or control of mind and senses and breath?"
Baba's vast powers were always utilized for the
benefit of mankind, promoting individual benefits that
were obvious, seen, and well understood, and general
benefits which were not so equally obvious or well
seen and understood. We have to consider the
mission of Baba based on the possession of His
powers and notice what general benefits were
conferred on the country or mankind, though these
are not yet obvious to most people.
From "Baba's Mission" by Pujya B.V.Narasimha
Swamiji as appeared in "Sai Prabha"
dated October 1987)

(Contributed by From "Baba's Mission" by
Pujya B.V.Narasimha Swami)

DEVOTEES SAY:
Nandini
I thought I will post in Sai Vichaar if my sister gets
her visa. With Baba's grace she got her visa without
any problem and I am very happy and thankful to
my Baba for that.

Chaya
Koti pranams and thanks to Sairam for helping and
guiding my husband to get results in his research
work which was stuck up. It was possible only by
Your kripa. We are very thankful to You.

Namrata
Baba I have no words to thank you for what u have
done. Baba, I had given up hopes when I came to
Shirdi and you were my only hope. Baba, I feel
blessed. Always shower your blessings on me
and my family. Love you Baba.

Ram
Baba, please kindly forgive all our mistakes and
bless us. Baba, You stood by your son and helped
him pass his exam, how can I thank you. Baba,
always take us under Your kind shadow, and help
us love everyone and be loved by everyone.

Swapna
Thanks a lot to our beloved Guru Sri Sai Baba for
granting visa to my parents. Please continue Your
blessings on all your devotees.

A Sai devotee
With Saibaba's blessings my son was able to buy
a condo. He did not have much financial resources
but Saibaba was there with us and we were able to
overcome all the difficulties one by one. I know he
is there with us all the time. I want to share this
experience with others. Have faith.

Jayanthi
Recently I had done a mistake in my work, which
later I came to know where no correction could be
made. I was frightened so much where my superior
will take to task; I was afraid where I will loose job
also. I prayed to Baba to solve this problem. When
that mistake was told to the superior he easily took
the matter and never told anything. I was so much
relaxed after that. Thanks for your help Baba very
much.

Vaishali
From last two weeks my one year old daughter had
stopped eating food and drinking milk. I was too
much worried as she lost lots of weight. I pray to
Baba everyday to make everything normal.
Yesterday evening when we were doing prayer in
prayer room my daughter picked up Prasad (she
picked up one of the almond) and tried to put prasad
in Baba's mouth. I was very thrilled to see that
scene. Now I know in my heart she will get back
to normal routine very soon. I thank you very much
Baba for being with us all the time and taking care
of us.

PRAYER CLUB:
Rajiv
Please bless me with concentration. I am not able to
concentrate on things as I used to be. Please bless
me and improve my financial condition. Please bless
my brother in law to clear his CA final exams this
time.

Nalini
Baba, please save me sisters married life. Please
change her husband's mind. Please bless us.

Padma
Baba, I have an important account that I am
negotiating. Please let the other party agrees to
work with me on the project and please give me
your blessings. I need this project very badly in
order to succeed in my career.

Sharma
Please see that Sailakshmi's health should be
good. Please Saibaba, see that tomorrow I should
pass the test.

Sarita
Pranaam Saibaba. Please cancel my trip this time.
I don't want to go. Shower your blessings on me.

Alka
Where should I go? Pleas give me life partner. I
am praying You from bottom of heart. Please
show me the way.

Monica
I am traveling to India with my kid. I have a few
issues to be solved in India. Please shower us
with Your blessings.

Vasanthi
Please bless my husband to get the lease for
the location close to home and hold on to it.
Please bless my daughter to be of good character
and study well and come up in life.

Praveen
Om Sri Sai Ram, Baba please help us in the
problems what we are facing now in the business.
We don't know why it is happening, kindly help us
Baba. Nothing is hidden from you, even we work
efficiently the fruits are not coming. Please come
and help us in the problems to solve.

Chakry
Dear God, I am depressed for past couple of months
especially due to the Visa pending process. My
research and entire career is at stake and is totally
frustrating. My follow up for expediting the Visa
process is of no use. Please help to get over this
problem and move on into the spiritual journey.

Sai devotee
Baba I am very depressed, I am really tired Baba,
you know what is going on in the family. Every time
I try to talk he shouts at me saying that I have loud
voice, he keeps on calling names. Baba please see
that he changes and it is effecting the kids and me
a lot. Please see that we buy a house in India,
Baba, see that I have a good job and a better pay
so that I can save some for the kid's future. I am
really lost, please show me a way. You are the
only one.

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

Srinivas
I want to share some of my experiences where Baba
has come to my rescue. I had an accident a few years
back whereby I had a fracture in both my hands. After
a lot of pain and time, and physiotherapy, I got healed
and started to live as normal. But within three months
of this accident, I again met with an accident. This
time I was hit by a truck from behind while I was riding
my bike. I fell down and felt that the truck would go
over me. In that instant, I just remembered Baba and
prayed him earnestly to save me. It all happened in a
flash, the accident, the prayer and I could see the truck
go beside me damaging my bike and I escaped with a
few bruises. I believe it is because of Baba, I am alive
today. Thank you Sai.

Roy
Sai has helped me in more ways than one. I had prayed
that I will post my experiences if they come true. I had
started Sai Satcharita Parayan on Thursday and got an
interview call the very next day. Though the final offer
came almost twenty days later, I got the confirmation
on Thursday. This was the much-needed break for my
career for which I am extremely grateful to Sai. Also, I
believe Sai was instrumental in getting my sister-in-law
married. She was over 30 and was facing huge problems
in her marriage. It seemed like a distant possibility,
because of which there were immense problems at home.
I faced so much mental agony even during my pregnancy
and would cry regularly to Sai. It was then that we met a
Divine Soul who helped us sail through our problems. I
would like to thank Sai for standing by us and I pray
that he help me get closer and closer to Him.

Sreenath
This happened when I was in USA. It was April 2006. I
was looking for a suitable job in Salt Lake City in Utah State.
One day, I received an e-mail from an Operations & Trading
Manager of an Investing Company based in New York. The
Manager said in his e-mail this is a part-time job which
involves wire transfer of funds from a Western Union location
in Salt Lake City to his agent in London. A few days later,
he sent a Bill Check for $3,744.00 by mail. I cashed it in
a Wells Fargo Bank. I wire transferred around $3,400.00
from a Western Union location in Salt Lake City to his
agent in London. Around June 1st week. I received my
Wells Fargo Bank Statement. It showed I had a Bank
Originated Debit of $3,744.00 on June 1, 2006 in my
Checking Account. This meant I owed $3,744.00 to
Wells Fargo Bank. I was shocked and disturbed. I didn't
have any savings to pay the debt nor was I having any
earnings. I prayed to Baba crying to help me come out
of this crisis. I swore to Baba that if he bails me out of
this crisis, I would publish my experience in Shri Shirdi
Sai Baba Sansthan's web site. Subsequently, I received
my Wells Fargo Bank Statement which showed I had a
balance of -$3,807.91 as on 07/26 in my Checking Account.
It also showed the closing balance on 08/01 was $0.00. I
was overwhelmed by Baba's greatness and thanked him
for bailing me out of this crisis.

Meera
With Baba's grace I have been able to get admission in LLM
in Canada. Not only did I get a Visa and flew from India on
Thursday but I also got a job along with on Thursday. Baba
takes good care of his devotees. In addition to these miracles,
when I arrived here I was desperately looking for a job. I
prayed to Him and He would constantly make me read
some pages of a book by Kher wherein devotees sacrifice
sweet food till such time that their wishes are fulfilled by
Baba. So that was a signal to me and I decided to quit
sweets till such time that I get a job and I decided once I
get to know about it, I would go to temple with halwa. It had
barely been a week and one night I dreamt that I am making
halwa with lots of almonds in it and next day I told my aunt
that I think I will get the job. It was Wednesday morning and
by the time I checked my email, it was late night and there
I see an email stating that I have been selected. Baba had
his own way of telling me that he would fulfill my wish.

Lakshmi
I have been looking for a job for nine months. Finally, I thought
that I will do sapthaham and pray to Baba. And lo and behold
I have started working from today! I had interviewed in many
places and always had problem finding a position - internal
promotion, job was removed, etc. I am so thankful to Sai.
Now please bless my husband the same way and bless us
with a son as well.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:
"Oh mother, My Guru never taught Me any Mantra, then how
shall I blow any Mantra in your ears? Just remember that
Guru's tortoise-like loving glance gives us happiness. Do not
try to get Mantra or Upadesh from anybody. Make Me the
sole object of your thoughts and actions; and you will, no
doubt, attain Paramartha (the spiritual goal of life). Look at
Me whole-heartedly, and I in turn look at you similarly"
-Saibaba to Mrs. Radhabhai Deshmukh

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Q. Baba said, "What is our duty? To behave properly.
That's enough!" Comment?
A. by Meera
Dwarkamayi is the place where Baba used to spend most of his
time. It is not relevant why he chose Masjid to be called
Dwarkamayi, we should look at the fact that 'Mayi' is added to
the word, signifying mother. This is the reason that whenever
a devotee would go to Shirdi, he/she would find peace in
Dwarkamayi as one finds in mother's lap as a child. We all
are Sai's children and by calling it Dwarkamayi he made it
clear that he would be there as a mother in Dwarkamayi. Some
people may draw irrelevant inferences that he chose masjid to
be called Dwarkamayi as he wanted to show superiority of
Hindu religion or to show his inclination towards Hindu
religion. But that is a myth to be broken. If he had lived in
temple, he would have offered his prayers like he did in Masjid.
For him and for his devotees, there is only one God. What is
important is that Dawrkamayi is the place where Baba would
appear like a mother to us. He would sit and talk to us, smile
at us, shower his love on us and he does that every time we
step in Dwarkamayi.

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.

Shri Saibaba Mandir, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Saibaba activities in Minneapolis were conducted at
Shirdi Saibaba Prayer center since the year 2002. Now,
with the grace and blessings of Baba and the support of
devotees, a new Saibaba Mandir has begun to function
at 1835 Polk St NE, Minneapolis from July 11th 2006.
Please visit www.hamaresai.org for all details.

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 Center in Bay Area, CA
By Baba's grace, Shirdi Sai Parivaar is pleased to
announce the grand opening of Shirdi Sai Center in
Bay Area. The center is located at 897-B East Kifer
Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. For more information
please call 408-564-6704 or 408-705-7904.


FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:
Sai Vichaar thanks you for your support for the
Question of the Week feature. This feature is intended
to initiate useful discussion on topics related to Sai
philosophy, His message, and Sai devotion. Please
participate by sending your contributions as well as
suggested topics for the same. The "Question of the
week" for this week is,
Q. Baba said, "What is our duty? To behave properly.
That's enough!" Comment?
Humbly Yours,
The Editor