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.

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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: Can you help, Sir?

Is it necessary to go searching everyone for help when keeping faith that "Baba will provide" is all that is required? Belittling unsolicited help or suspecting situations favorable during the hour of need is perhaps limiting Baba' omniscience because Baba manifests himself in several ways and in several situations to help the distressed. At the same time, raising unnecessary outcry over every hurdle big and small is not a hallmark of a faithful Sai devotee. Let us examine the following incident in the life of eminent Sai devotee Kakasaheb Dixit, as narrated by Pujya Sri B.V. Narasimhaswami ji.

As for Dixit's own financial position, there was, for a long time, a period of depression, but there was no positive distress. Contentment was ingrained in Dixit', and he was always saying to himself, "Tevile Anante, Tase Rahave", which is the same as "Alla Rakhega Vysa Rahena", "Maula Rakhega Vysa Rahena". This means, 'We must be content with the lot assigned to us by God.' So, he was generally contented and retained his mental peace in the midst of lack of funds and income. However, special occasions arose and his faith in Baba was tested and confirmed.

Some time after Baba passed away, Kaka had to meet a heavy obligation of Rs. 30,000 to be paid to a Marwadi. The day for payment was drawing near, and Kaka could not see how to get funds for meeting this large demand. One night, as he was sleeping, he had a dream, and in his dream, his creditor was pressing him for payment. In the dream, he assured the creditor, "Oh, don't you fear. I have my friend Sir Chunnilal, Sir Chimanlal etc., all of them knights, and they will provide the money". Suddenly, he woke up and remembering the dream, he bitterly repented his stupid folly in relying upon 'Sir' this and 'Sir' that who are just persons who will fail to help at the crucial moment.

He felt that the only person on whom he could rely for getting help was Baba, and cursed his folly in relying upon such useless human help. He resolved not to think of these 'Sirs' at all, and to rely confidently and boldly upon Sai Baba alone to furnish him with funds and that too in time. He sat up in his office room on a chair and was waiting and waiting until the actual date of payment came. Until the last moment, no money was forthcoming. However, at the last moment, a young man, the son of a rich friend of his, came asking for his advice. He said that after his father's death, he was managing his property, and had to find an investment for his money. He said, just then he had brought with him Rs. 30,000/- and wanted to know from Dixit what would be best investment. Kaka, after explaining the pros and cons of other investments, finally told him that he was in urgent need of Rs. 30,000/- and he would be glad to have it on any reasonable terms, but that it was his duty to explain to the lender that his practice had gone down, that his income was very low, though his properties in the shape of bungalows were there, and that it was his duty to point out the danger and disadvantage of lending to such person. The young man, however, made up his mind to lend the money to him on account of his being his father's friend, and thus the creditor of Dixit was paid in time.

(Written by: Pujyasri B V Narasimha Swamiji)

CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: Baba's personality

The most important thing in Sai baba divine personality that attracted all was the light in His eyes. The divine Bliss of becoming one with God emerged through His eyes. These two lustrous objects in His body were the source of inspiration, care, mercy and "Mukti" for all those who surrendered to Him. Everyone who came to Him for a wish heard his famous words "Allah Malik Hai". Sai Baba was a peculiar person indeed. He dressed like a Muslim, but used caste marks on His forehead like a Hindu. He quoted the Koran and the Shastras equally. He stayed in a Mosque but also permitted Arti and Puja to be performed before Him.

One of His special habits was to ask for "Dakshina" from the pilgrims who visited Him. Willingly every one gave Him the money that He sought, which He ultimately used for the poor. On one such occasion, one Kashinath came to Him, Baba asked for money, and Kashinath gave Him a black coin. Sai Baba said somewhat to Him "although you have given me the black coin, I will give you the real coin".

The spiritual journey according to "God Speaks" is divided in to seven stages of inner evolution also called the planes of consciousness. The lower planes are full of miracles while the seventh or the Highest plane is of God Realization, where one becomes one with God. Such realized Souls are of immense spiritual benefit. From among the God-realized, some souls become Perfect Masters and return to help other souls reach God realization.

(Contributed by Soundarya)

DEVOTEES SAY:

Deena
In 1996, during a brain operation, I had an 'altercation' with Baba, which convinced me of His Powers. I dreamt that I had died on the operation table, during that same time He came into me and instructed me to go back to my family, and an old man, who was my dad, all of whom were awaiting news of my operation. It was clearly not my time to die. I am now recovering from a second brain operation, which I am happy to say, as informed by my surgeon as to be 100 percent successful. I had carried Baba's picture with me.

Usha Bala
Thank you for answering my prayers. My husband was very sick for the past few days. He was not even able to move around and was terribly weak. He had headache and severe fever accompanied by severe stomach pain. Though he took medications, it did not resolve. Then on last Wednesday, I prayed to Baba to cure him and promised to read Satcharitha from the following day and complete it within seven days. No sooner I made the vow, the fever, stomachache and headache began to subside. By his grace, my husband got well and today I finished reading it successfully. Thank you Baba for answering my prayers. Bow to Shri Sai and peace to be all! Shower your blessings on all as you are doing now!

Gayathri
Om Sai Ram. Baba thank you very much for your blessing. I am 7 weeks pregnant now. We were trying to have baby since 5 years. I was reading Sai Satcharitha regularly since one and half years. I had promised to send this letter to Sai Vichaar once I become pregnant. Thanks a lot Baba. Please bless us a wonderful and healthy baby.

Ratnakumari
I am very thankful to my Sai. I requested Baba to get visa to my brother. He got the visa. My family members are very happy. So we all are very thankful to Baba for the blessings giving by Him.

Sai devotee
My wife and me are married for more than 5 years. We could not have a baby. We tried several doctors and finally my wife has to undergo IVF treatment to get conceived. Doctors said that the chances of getting conceived in first cycle are 36 percent. IVF treatment is a painful treatment. We prayed Baba to make my wife conceived in the first cycle itself so that there is no need to undergo the agony again. Baba is omnipresent and omniscient. He heard our prayers and my wife is now five months pregnant. Thanks to Sai Baba who relieved us of the mental pain and blessed us by making us parents to twin babies. Baba, please take care of mother and the babies. Please bless the mother and babies with good health and nice growth. Om Sai, Sri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai. May Sai Baba bless us all.

Srilakshmi
Thank you Sai Baba for making my mammogram results come out good. I am posting this as said in the previous Sai Vichaar. Be with us.

PRAYER CLUB:

Vidya
Thanks Sai, thanks so much for your miracle. Sainath, my life is changed suddenly and we are facing difficulties in all fronts - financial - professional - personal. Please help us to overcome these problems soon. Deva, please bless my daughter, my husband, my parents, in-laws, each and every member of my family and friends. Please be with me always and see that I do not forget You for a single second. I love you Baba.

Sriram
May I request Baba'a devotees to pray for my wife who has a very bad infection in her spine. Please pray for her to have good healing of the bone and disc without any complications. Baba has blessed us in all times of trials and tests. I sincerely pray that this time too He will shower His grace. We surrender to Him and seek His blessings. Jai Sai Ram.

Madhu
Dear Sai, You who know all, know well the situation that my aunt, uncle and cousins are facing. Having complete faith in Your vibuthi, I have with Your grace given it to my cousin. Please heal my aunt so that come July, with your grace, I will be able to invite her and she will be able to make it to my wedding. I promise to write about this as soon as my request to You is granted. I beg You for the alms that I am asking of You Baba Sai.

Sai devotee
Saibaba bless our family with Your grace. Baba for the last one week I am very worried as my husband's blood test showed that he has hypothyroidism. He shows no symptoms of that and so we got the blood test done the second time. The result came up again that he has hypothyroidism. He went for a complete blood test again and we are waiting for the results. Baba I know if You shower Your grace on him, the result will be normal this time. I read Shri Sai Satcharita in one week that all the results should be fine and normal. Baba bless him with excellent health. Baba these days he is not very happy with his job and worries a lot as he is not being paid according to his expereience. Try to bless him with a wonderful job that he likes working with .This unhappyness of his job is effecting him physically and he has been feeling about this for many years now. Baba we believe in You heart and soul and I know You will make him happy some time. We have a son and we are planning to add another kid to our family. Please bless us with another child. Baba, we have full faith in You, please take care of our family all the time and bless us with good health. Bow to Shri Sai. Peace be to all.

Sridhar
Baba, You know what a rough patch I am going through, I admit that I made several mistakes, but then please forgive me and allow me to become bread winner for my family. Please Baba let me get change of status and final waiver from INS. If I get these two then I will study hard and complete my MS and sacrifice everything for my mom, dad, brother and my loved ones and also help needy persons in the society. Baba please fulfill my desire. Baba my mom has worked hard, let me satisfy her by making some money and bring a smile in their face.

EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES:

Karpagam
I have wanted to write this experience for quite sometime now but never got to do it. The boss to whom I was working for in my job accused me of something, which I did not do. She was also at fault in many things. I was very worried about losing my job and reputation. I prayed to Sai that I would write my experience if things got cleared. Believe it or not! My boss lost her job within a few weeks this incident happened. I thanked Sai profusely for His kindness.

Narasimha
I am very happy to express my feelings here. One year before, I was searching for a job. While studying my BE I used to go to Saibaba temple every Thursday, after completion of BE I forgot Shri Sai Baba. After 5 months, I realized and afterwards I started to read Sai Satcharitha book. Then Saibaba showed His grace on me, I cleared the all exams, and finally I got a very good job in Bangalore. Now daily I am reading Sai Satcharitha book. Here I have to tell my experience in job. We were debugging one issue four days. But I did not get any solution for that issue. One day I did not get sleep also. So I prayed to our God Saibaba. Next day the problem was solved by me and I got very good impression from my boss. So I strongly believe Saibaba is with me and He is helping the devotees from his Mahasamadhi.

Latha
This happened to me when I was abroad and we were in the process of shifting our house. Just before shifting, I wanted to have a small pooja in the house on a Thursday and then move into it. The owners were Indians and there was still a week's time for them to vacate the place. We requested them that we would do the pooja before we could shift. They agreed and handed over the keys to us and in their absence, we had to go to their place. When I had been to see the house, I remembered seeing Lord Ganesh's idol in the kitchen and so I thought there was no need of taking Ganeshji's idol for the pooja. But I wanted to take Baba's photo but was hesitating thinking that the owners may not like me taking full advantage of the opportunity, as they had not vacated it completely and bringing back the idol immediately after pooja is not a good sign. On the way to the house, I was thinking of just this that I did not take Baba with me and was feeling bad for it. I opened the door and proceeded towards the kitchen to clean the place for the pooja. To my astonishment, I saw Baba's beautiful idol there. I just could not believe my eyes with this miracle. I just do not know how I missed to see Baba when I had been there the first time. It is indeed a miracle. This is my second article and I pray to Baba that He gives me many more such experiences to share with all the Sai devotees here.

Sandhya
I was looking for good job. I was not prepared for interview and was expecting that they should not ask me any questions. Exactly it happened what I was expecting. I got a job in a good company without any questions. There were so many problems for getting a suitable life partner. Since 5 years, we were searching for a guy. I got a good life partner according to me and my family's expectation. It happened exactly what I had imagined (wanted). This guy is BE (Electronics) very handsome and from a cultured family. I will be getting married in next month. Just it is a miracle. Everything happened exactly what I wanted and what I had imagined without any compromise. I have read twice Sai Satcharitha and really had a good experience. I pray Baba since childhood. It all happened just because of Sai Baba's blessings. Everything was possible just because of Baba. I had said to Baba that if it will happen I would write my experience.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

"The wise are cheerful and content with their lot in life".-Sai Baba

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Q. Name any incident during the life of Baba which made a lasting impression on you

A. by Raj Nair

Who soever offers to Me, with love or devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of love of the pure and self-controlled man is willingly and readily accepted by Me.- Lord Shri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, IX-26

This quote from Bhagavad Gita has been experienced by one of the devotees of Sai Baba. In one of an incident Sai Baba showed that He would accept with appreciation, any small things offered with love and devotion. To elucidate this point further, one of the incidents of a devotee that made me impressed was the story of Mr.Cholkar. This gentleman was serving as temporary employee in the civil court in Thane. He was leading a very simple life. One day he happened to hear Das Ganu's keerthan. There and then, he vowed to Baba, saying "Baba I am poor man unable to support my family. If by Your grace I pass the departmental examination and get a permanent post, I shall go to Shirdi fall at Your feat and distribute sugar candy in Your name". He was successful in his probationary examination, and now it remained for him to fulfill his vow, the sooner the better. Mr.Cholkar was a poor man with a large family to support and he could not afford to pay for the expenses of a Shirdi trip. Therefore, he stopped taking sugar in his tea in order to save money for his visit to Shirdi. After he was able to save money in this way, he came to Shirdi, took Baba's darshan, fell at His feet, offered coconut along with sugar candy, as per his vow. When he prostrated in front of Baba, Baba told one Mr. Jog to give lots of tea with lots of sugar to Cholkar. Hearing these significant words Mr.Cholkar was much moved and wonder struck. His eyes bedewed with tears and he fell at Baba's feet again.

Baba then said, if you spread your palms with devotion before Me, I am immediately with you day and night. Though I am here physically, still I know what you do beyond the seven seas. Go wherever you wish, over the wide world, I am with you. My abode is in your heart and I am within you. Always worship Me who is seated in your heart as well as in the hearts of all beings. Blessed and fortunate indeed is he, who knows Me thus. What a beautiful and important lesson Baba has imparted to Mr.Cholkar. Also to us. Om Sai Ram.

Q. Name any incident during the life of Baba which made a lasting impression on you

A. by Geeta

The presence of Sai Baba in our life gives us so much confidence and makes us fearless. Whenever I travel by any auto, taxi, or go to any shop for any purchases, there are photographs of Sai Baba over there. Even when I go to meet someone, photograph of Sai Baba in the house blessing everyone is a real good sight. Such events make me remember Sai Baba's promise given to his favorite devotee, Shama (Madhavrao Deshpande) - Satcharitha Chapter XLVI. The line reads as "After doing Kashi and Prayag He would be ahead of Shama". There were two functions, one at Nagpur and one at Gwalior for which invitations were given to Shri Sai Baba and Shama. Sai Baba's devotee Kakasaheb Dixit had decided to perform the thread (Upanayan) ceremony of his eldest son Babu at Nagpur. At about the same time Nanasaheb Chandorkar also decided to perform the marriage ceremony of his eldest son at Gwalior. As Sai Baba's representative, Shama after taking the permission of Baba, decided to go to Nagpur and Gwalior for these functions, ceremonies, and thence to Kashi, Prayag and Gaya. Appa Kote also accompanied him. After finishing Kashi and Prayag, Shama and Appa Kote went to Gaya. In the train, they were uneasy hearing that plague was prevailing in Gaya. But the priest in the Dharamshala, Gayawala, asked them to be free of fear and anxiety and see the situation for themselves. Then they went with him and stayed in his house which was a big and commodious Wada. Shama was pleased with the accommodation provided for him, but what pleased him most, was the beautiful big portrait of Baba fixed in the central and front portion of the building. Seeing this portrait, Shama was overwhelmed with emotion.

He remembered Baba's words, viz. "After doing Kashi and Prayag He would be ahead of Shama", and burst into tears. The story behind this portrait was - The Gayawala had been to Shirdi 12 years back and had taken Baba's darshana. There he wanted Baba's portrait hung in Shama's house and with Baba's permission, Shama gave it to him. This was the same portrait. Shama then remembered this former incident. The Gayawalas's joy knew no bounds when he learnt that the same Shama who obliged him before, was his guest then. Then they both exchanged love and service and were most delighted and happy. The Gayawala gave him a right royal welcome. He was a very rich man. He sat in a palanquin, made Shama ride an elephant, and attended to all his comforts and conveniences. This incident comes to my mind, every time I see Baba's photograph, and I feel as if he is saying, when you go somewhere, I will reach before you and take care of all your problems and bless you in whatever you do. Bow to Shri Sai, Peace be to all.

Q. Name any incident during the life of Baba which made a lasting impression on you

A. by Praveen

The Story of Doctor Pillay suffering with Guinea worm disease (chapter 34). The first time I read this story I burst into laughter. I was able to imagine the whole scene in the masjid as I was reading the story. Dr Pillai pleads baba to distribute the suffering he was going through to the next 10 births. For which baba says why should you suffer for 10 births when I can take care of it in 10 days. Baba also says," Take off the bandage, a crow will come and peck you and you will recover". While this conversation was going on, Abdul turns up in the masjid and while attending to his work, his foot accidentally falls upon the stretched leg of Dr. Pillay. The leg being already swollen and when Abdul's foot fell upon it and pressed it, all the seven guinea worms were squeezed out at once. The pain was unbearable and Dr. Pillay bawled out loudly. He began to laugh and cry at the same time. Then Pillay enquired when the crow was coming and peeking. Baba said, "Did you not see the crow? He will not come again. Abdul was the crow. Now go and rest yourself in the Wada and you will be soon all right."

The beauty of the story for me is Baba saying that a crow will come and peck the wound instead of saying that Abdul will come and puts his leg. It is like diverting a kid before giving injection. Baba makes it quick and painless. Baba's ways are unique. Om Sai Ram Jai Sai Ram.

SAI ACTIVITIES:

Shirdi Sai Temple of Chicago and Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Shirdi Sai temple is open daily from 7:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m (Summer hours). Daily program includes Kakad Arathi at 7 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.

Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, Minnesota
Regular Sai activities in Minneapolis, St.Paul area are being conducted at Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center, 725 Lake St NE, Apt #139 Hopkins MN. For details, please contact hamaresai@yahoo.com, or call Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center at 952-938-2983, and to read the monthly newsletter Sai Sandesh, visit www.hamaresai.org.

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 Satsang, Bay Area, California
Shirdi Sai Parivaar invites all to join us for Satsang every Thursday 7:30 pm at Odd Fellows Temple, 20589 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. For details please call 408-564-6704 or send email to saibandhu@yahoo.com or visit www.ShradhaSaburi.org.

Sai Satsang, New Jersey, USA
Shirdi Sai Dham, Inc regularly conducts Sai bhajans followed by Aarti and Prasad on every 1st Saturday of each month at Durga Mandir, Kendall Park, New Jersey. The next bhajan is on June 3rd 2006 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. All are requested to kindly come and receive Baba's blessings. For more information, please call us at 609-275-1334 or visit www.shirdisaidham.org or email us at shirdisaidham@hotmail.com.

Shirdi Sai Satsang, Toronto, Canada
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan invites all to join for satsangs every Thursday 7:00 pm at Sai Dwarkamai, 147 Winston Castle Dr. Markham, Ontario, L6C 2N4, phone 416-402-8089 or email: saileela99@yahoo.com. To request a pooja for yourselves, your friends and family for any occasion at your residence, please call. Devotees can request udi or Holy water (Abhishek Jal) from the Holy bathing of Baba by sending us an email or by phone.

Shirdi Sai Mandir, Scarborough, Canada
The Shirdi Sai Mandir located at 2721 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario, M1X 1L5 (Intersection of Markham and Nashdene) is open Monday to Friday from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 10:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m. Dhoop Aarti is at 7:30 p.m. everyday. Bhajans are on Saturday from 5:00 p.m. onwards. For other temple activities and information please call 647-444-4724 or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com.

Shirdi Sai Mandir, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Effective May 10th, 2006 the Shirdi Sai Mandir has moved to a new location half mile north of existing premises. Address- 7674 Sawmill Rd, Dublin, OH- 43016. It is just adjacent to Amul India restaurant. Mandir opens everyday 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with scheduled four aaratis. Bhajans are perfomed every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. followed by prasad. Please visit www.saibaba.cc for more details or call 614-799-8411 or send an email to sssb_temple@yahoo.com.

Sai Satsangs, Seattle, WA
We are happy to inform all the devotees that we are organizing Sri Sai Baba Satsang program at HTCC Temple, Bothell (Seattle), WA from 4.00 to 6.00 P.M. on Sunday - 7th May, 2006. Please join in and get the Blessings of Sadguru Sri Sai Baba. For further details please visit HTCC temple website: www.htccwa.org

Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation, Malaysia
We have regular gatherings, bhajans on Thursdays at Sri Shirdi Sai Akshaya Meditation Centre, Brickfields, Kualalumpur, Malaysia. For more information please call 60322606030 or send email to daewanand@yahoo.com.

FROM THE EDITORS KEYBOARD:

Gurupoornima is celebrated on July 10th to 12th 2006 in Shirdi. The festival celebrating Sadguru Sainath Maharaj's love and grace is important to all Sai devotees. Please share with your fellow devotees the details of Gurupoornima celebrations planned in your community.

A devotee suggests the Question of the week as follows:

Q. What does Sai Baba say about the wealthy/rich?

Humbly Yours,
The Editor

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