Sai Baba Of India - Sai Darshan

Dollar bill

One day, a one dollar bill and a hundred dollar bill got folded together and began talking about their life experiences.
The hundred dollar bill began to brag:
"I've had a great life," he said. "I've been to all the big hotels, Donald Trump himself used me at his casino, I've been in the wallets of Fortune 500 board members, I've flown from one end of the country to the other! I've even been in the wallet of two Presidents of the United States, and once when Princess Diana visited the US, she used me to buy a packet of gum."
In awe, the dollar humbly responded, "Gee, nothing like that has ever happened to me, ...but I have been to church a lot!"

The Secret
One day, one friend asked another, "How is it that you are always so happy? You have so much energy, and you never seem to get down."

With her eyes smiling, she said, "I know the Secret!"

"What secret is that?"

To which she replied, "I'll tell you all about it, but you have to promise to share the Secret with others."

"The Secret is this:
I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy.
I must depend on God to make me happy and to meet my needs.
When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do.
He has never let me down.
Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy."

The questioner's first thought was, "That's too simple!"
But upon reflecting over her own life she recalled how she thought a bigger house would make her happy, but it didn't!
She thought a better paying job would make her happy, but it hadn't.
When did she realize her greatest happiness?
Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, playing games, eating pizza or reading a story, a simple gift from God.

Now you know it too!
We can't depend on people to make us happy.
Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that.
Trust HIM!
And now I pass the Secret on to you!
So once you get it, what will you do?

YOU have to tell someone the Secret, too!
That GOD in His wisdom will take care of YOU!
But it's not really a secret...
We just have to believe it and do it...
Really trust God!

A Scorpion Moment

There was this Hindu who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again.

A man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him.

But the Hindu said: "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?"

Don't give up loving.
Don't give up your goodness.
Even if people around you sting.

"I know in my heart the person who stole this purse was blessed."
I was at a meeting when I heard this incredible story told by a woman who really rose to the challenge of one of God's toughest teachings. "Love your enemies."

One day, her daughter called from school, very upset. Someone had stolen her purse from home room. She had a brand new pair of glasses in the purse along with her I.D., the notes for a term paper due that day and all the money she had raised as part of her responsibility as home room rep. What a disaster!

Both women were certainly angry about it, but after calming her daughter, this mother decided to sit down and pray. She took out her rosary beads and , remembering Jesus' instructions to pray for those who do us harm, she decided to pray for the person who stole the purse instead of asking for the purse to be returned. As she prayed, she thought about how terrible it was for a person to be already involved in petty crimes at such a young age. Maybe it was awful to lose the purse and its seemingly precious contents, but what about this person's soul?
Could anything be worse than losing eternal life?

Later in the day, her daughter called to report the joyful news - the purse had been found! Only the money was gone. Her glasses, ID and note cards were intact and the purse was found in just enough time for her to hand in her assignment!

This mother later wrote me, "I know in my heart the person who stole the purse was blessed, and my family's faith was strengthened because of how everything turned out." But the really interesting part, she says, is that the purse was found in a remote area where people rarely go, and it was found by a teacher with whom her daughter had been having difficulties. "The finding of the purse was a bonding experience for them, and I think it helped make the rest of the year easier."

Jesus assures us that God will show us the same mercy we show to others. In this mother's case, her pleas for an adversary's soul brought an abundance of blessing upon her own!

(above story sent to SBOI by May smith)

"suitable hiding place"
An old Hindu legend says there was a time when men were gods. But they abused their divine powers so much that Brahma, the master of all gods, decided to take these powers away and hide them in a place where they would be impossible to find. All that remained was to find a suitable hiding place.

A number of lesser gods were appointed to a council to deal with the issue. They suggested this: “Why not bury man's powers in the earth?” To which Brahma replied, “ No, that will not do because man would dig deep and find it.”

So the gods said, “In that case, we will send their divinity to the deepest depths of the ocean.“

But Brahma replied again, “Sooner or later man will explore the depths of the ocean and it is certain he will find it and bring it to the surface.“

So the lesser gods concluded, “Neither land nor sea is a place where man's divine powers will be safe, so we do not know where to hide it.“

At that moment Brahma exclaimed, “This is what we will do with man's divinity! We will hide it deep within him because that is the only place he will not think to look.“

From then on, according to the legend, man searched the world over; he explored, climbed, dove, and dug in search of something that was inside himself the whole time.