The Glory of Shirdi Sai Eighth Year of Publication - Published as Bi-Weekly www.saidarbarusa.org ~ an affiliate of www.saidarbar.org Y E A R
श्रद्धा CONTENT Satsangs of SaiBaNisaji
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गरु ु ब्रह्मा गरु ु र्विष्ण:ु गरु ु र्दे वो महे श्वर: |
गरु ु : शाऺात परब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगरु वे नमः:||
सबरु ी
FROM THE SATSANGS OF SAIBANISA JI CHANGE FOR THE BETTER WITH PRAYER
Shirdi Sai Baba's Sermon
In our life we do find things changing. There are people who like change and some who do not like change. But the main thing is, change is always for the best. So to achieve the best around us and to change our surrounding, we should change for the better. Instead of groaning away about life's unfairness or getting depressed upon every small defeat in life. we have to take the first step towards achieving something really good. Change does not happen all of a sudden, We have to work towards it and for it.
The Dreams Train
Does prayer change your present situation or sudden circumstances? No, not always, but it does change the way you look at those events.
Devotees Corner
Does prayer change your wants and desires? No, not always, but it will change your wants into what God desires!
Time Machine Significance of Meditation
Sai With Children Spiritual Gems From Sai Satcharita
Does prayer change how you view the world? No, not always, but it will change whose eyes you see the world through. Does prayer change your regrets from the past? No, not always, but it will change your hopes for the future! Does prayer change your life in ways you can't explain? Oh, yes, always! And it will change you from the inside out!
JAI SAI RAM
Sri Sai Baba has said in chapter 3 of Sai Sat Charita, " If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes, increase his devotion. And if he sings earnestly My life and My deeds, him I shall beset in front and back and on all sides. If anybody sings my leelas I shall give them infinite joy and ever lasting contentment.". This is the only way which leads to the positive change. Devotees are therefore requested to read it carefully and follow the advice of Sadguru Sri Sai Baba and be blessed with the change towards excellence.
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SAI’S NEWS FROM TIME MACHINE March , 1911: Tatyasaheb Noolkar, The Subjudge of Pandharpur ( at the age of 48 ) breathes his last in Shirdi . 1911: After Tatyasaheb Noolkar passed away , Megha took over the regular worship of Baba in the Dwarakamai. He used to stand on one leg while performing the Aarthi. Somadev Swami alias Haridwar Swami visited Shirdi.
SIGNIFICANCE OF MEDITATION How to Practice Concentration on God Daily
...Cleansing of mind and body is sure way to God’s feet….
"Due to worldly pleasures, you are unable to control your mind and senses in meditation. When the mind is purified, attachment of the mind for the perishable will go and your mind becomes pure. Mind can be controlled by practice and dispassion. Out of these two, for meditation, practice is more essential. When your aim is to realize God, concentration of mind in the meditation, is more essential. Then only you will go into trance. In that state there Is no affinity for object, then you can realize yourself and from there onwards there will be no deviation." "During meditation, if your body moves, your mind also moves. When the mind is unsteady, your senses, breath, and body get disturbed and thereby you will not get concentration. If you meditate by keeping your mind steady, you will get concentration. If you merge all your parts of your body in Atman, you will then get steadiness. Without doing any of these, you are unnecessarily getting worried that you are not getting concentration in meditation." (www.saidarbar.org)
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SHIRDI SAI BABA’S SERMON (Four Chapters on Shirdi Sai Baba by Dasganu Maharaj) The four Chapters are Chapter 31, 32 and 33 from Shri Bhakta Leelamrut and Chapter 57 from Shri Sant Kathamrut.
"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 their duties and at the same time remember the Lord, who is full of bliss. Will be continued….
THE DREAMS TRAIN (Dreams Of Saibanisa after Undergoing Bypass Surgery on 17-5-1996) Compiled by Saibandhu Raghu Raman Satulury
13-09-1996 Sai appeared as a priest in a temple and said: It is only due to the parental blessings, you are able overcome the difficulties and reach the temple. Otherwise there are many who lost their lives under such difficulties. You are luckier to have climbed the steps to reach God. Why do you want to leave the job when there are many jobless undergoing all sorts of miseries *I shall destine you to retire and engage in spreading my philosophy at an opportune time. Till then continue with the present job. Keep aloof from those people engaged in earning money by fraudulent means. Clean the dirty linen of past sins with Sai smaran and follow the path of righteousness. Cleansing of mind and body is sure way to God‟s feet. *Saibanisaji has accordingly opted for voluntary retirement from Government Service in the month of March 2000 and dedicated himself in Service of Shirdi Sai – Raghu Raman.S
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DEVOTEES CORNER DEVOTEES EXPERIENCE DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES by HH Pujyasri B V Narasimaha Swamiji Appaji Sutar, Shirdi says:
“What you sow, you reap. What you give you get ”
I had in S. 1851, (i.e.) in 1929, boils on my leg, weeping eczema, it seemed. I spent Rs.200 on Kopergaon Government doctors for cure, but in vain. Shama (i.e.) Madhava Rao Despande also gave me medicines but to no purpose. Nasik Hospital, to which I then resorted, gave equally no benefit to me. When I was an in-patient there for 8 days, one night Baba came to me in my sleep. He said: "Go back to Shirdi to read puran." But I replied that on account of my suffering from eczema, I had come to Nasik. Baba replied: "Go on reading my puran and apply udhi, you will be cured." I then returned to Shirdi. When I came to Shirdi, Vittal Rao Mahratte was reading Pothi, and he had to go to Siruval. As I got down from the bus on my return to Shirdi, he came to get into the bus and told me that there was none to go on with Pothi in Baba‟s presence, during the time he stayed away at Siruval and he asked me to read Pothi. I undertook to do it (i.e.) to read Jnaneswari by Eknath Bhagwata, Adhyatma Ramayana and Sai Satcharitra by A. Dabholkar, Thenceforward, I read these before Sai Baba daily and applied his udhi. In seven days‟ time, I was completely cured of my eczema. Another experience of mine is this. I owed Rs.350 to a Multan Fatechand Marwadi of Shirdi. He was threatening to sue me and arrest me for the debt in 1932. I was frightened. Then Baba came in my dream. He asked me and four others repeat stanzas from Gita one after the another. They did so and I repeated stanzas in my turn. Then Baba asked me "What do you want?" I requested that he may be pleased to relieve me of my debt. He replied that the debt would be removed. Next morning, my creditor came to my house and wanted me to build a house for him; and he gave me a written agreement that on my building the house for him, my bond would be returned. I executed the work in a month or so; and he returned my bond. I tore it up and cast away the pieces.
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ARTICLES FROM DEVOTEES What is most valuable in this world? S.Laxmi (sathya sai shree lakshmi) sriluck18@gmail.com Some people ask, “Birds in the sky and fish in the water are moving freely. Why can‟t we too move about freely?” It is true that birds and fish are moving freely. Wild animals are also moving freely in the forests. We too can be free. Birds are enjoying the freedom of birds. Animals are enjoying animal freedom. Since we are human we may enjoy human freedom. Being a human it is not right to enjoy animal freedom. Being a human we want to move about freely like an animal. In the name of freedom men are moving about like animals. A man‟s freedom should not be against righteousness or wisdom. It should be in a truthful path without any ego, attachment and hatred. What is the reason behind the good or bad in us? Depending on the people around us we turn good or bad. Human life depends on attachment and hatred. Man should be able to command himself. He should understand the nature of his mind and keep it under control. Do not consider life as a water bubble. Body may be a water bubble but not life. Life has a goal. A person who has no faith in it can never improve himself. A person with ruchi is an animal and a person with abhiruch is a human. But man is behaving like an animal. He doesn‟t have faith in the fact that he is more valuable than the materials that he has earned. Forgetting his own true nature and assuming that the worldly life is permanent he is facing lot of problems. He is unable to realize the truth that the divine power is immanent in him. Only a person who proves divinity in humaneness is a „vyakthi‟ not all can be called so. The day he understands that the body which he thinks as his own is not actually his, he will attain fullness. We have called ourselves human. But just calling ourselves human is not complete. Please understand that saying I am man is only half truth. What is the other half of the truth? I am not an animal is the other half truth. These two must be combined to make one full truth. Just as negative and positive come together to produce current these two must be combined. These days people keep calling themselves humans but behave like animals. This is no good. For an animal to behave as an animal is natural but a man should not behave like an animal. This is what we have got to learn. Jai Sai Ram
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“..Always think of GOD, and you will see what He does.”
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SAI WITH CHILDREN Dear Children, This story is a story about a rabbit that leads the entire forest into a panic. There are many times in life where one has to follow other. But this does not mean that one must blindly follow them. Seek out the truth for yourself and make the proper judgment according to the facts.
..seek out truth for yourself and make proper judgement..
The Foolish and Timid Rabbit (Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com) ONCE upon a time, a Rabbit was asleep under a palm-tree. All at once he woke up, and thought: "What if the world should break up! What then would become of me?" At that moment, some Monkeys dropped a coconut. It fell down on the ground just back of the Rabbit. Hearing the noise, the Rabbit said to himself: "The earth is all breaking up!" And he jumped up and ran just as fast as he could, without even looking back to see what made the noise. Another Rabbit saw him running, and called after him, "What are you running so fast for?" "Don't ask me!" he cried. But the other Rabbit ran after him, begging to know what was the matter. Then the first Rabbit said: "Don't you know? The earth is all breaking up!" And on he ran, and the second Rabbit ran with him. The next Rabbit they met ran with them when he heard that the earth was all breaking up. One Rabbit after another joined them, until there were hundreds of Rabbits running as fast as they could go. They passed a Deer, calling out to him that the earth was all breaking up. The Deer then ran with them. The Deer called to a Fox to come along because the earth was all breaking up. On and on they ran, and an Elephant joined them. At last the Lion saw the animals running, and heard their cry that the earth was all breaking up. He thought there must be some mistake, so he ran to the foot of a hill in front of them and roared three times. This stopped them, for they knew the voice of the King of Beasts, and they feared him. "Why are you running so fast?" asked the Lion. "Oh, King Lion," they answered him, "the earth is all breaking up!" "Who saw it breaking up?" asked the Lion. "I didn't," said the Elephant. "Ask the Fox--he told me about it." "I didn't," said the Fox. "The Rabbits told me about it," said the Deer. One after another of the Rabbits said: "I did not see it, but another Rabbit told me about it." At last the Lion came to the Rabbit who had first said the earth was all breaking up. "Is it true that the earth is all breaking up?" the Lion asked. "Yes, O Lion, it is," said the Rabbit. "I was asleep under a palm-tree. I woke up and thought, 'What would become of me if the earth should all break up?' At that very moment, I heard the sound of the earth breaking up, and I ran away."
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"Then," said the Lion, "you and I will go back to the place where the earth began to break up, and see what is the matter."So the Lion put the little Rabbit on his back, and away they went like the wind. The other animals waited for them at the foot of the hill. The Rabbit told the Lion when they were near the place where he slept, and the Lion saw just where the Rabbit had been sleeping. He saw, too, the coconut that had fallen to the ground near by. Then the Lion said to the Rabbit, "It must have been the sound of the coconut falling to the ground that you heard. You foolish Rabbit!" And the Lion ran back to the other animals, and told them all about it. If it had not been for the wise King of Beasts, they might be running still.
SPIRITUAL GEMS FROM SATCHARITA ~ CHAPTER 37 Contributed by: swamy@saimail.com
Chavadi Procession In this chapter Hemadpant after making some preliminary observations on some points of Vedanta, describes the Chavadi procession. Sai Ram. Chavadi procession is celebrated even now in Shirdi and is worth seeing. Sai Ram. Preliminary Blessed is Sai's life, blessed is His daily routine. His ways and actions are indescribable. Sometimes He was intoxicated with Brahmanand (divine joy), and at other times content with Self knowledge. Doing so many things sometimes, He was unconcerned with them. Though He seemed at times quite actionless (doing nothing) He was not idle or dozing; He always abided in His own Self. Though He looked calm and quiet as the placid sea, He was deep and unfathomable. Who can describe His ineffable nature? He regarded men as brothers, women as sisters and mothers. He was a perfect and perpetual celibate as everybody knows. May the understanding (knowledge), we got in His company, last long unto death. Let us ever serve Him with wholehearted devotion to His feet. Let us see Him (God) in all beings and let us ever love His name. Sai Ram. Since He was not confined to His body, mind or ego, He was free from all actions or inaction and the results of those actions or inactions. His celibacy was natural and not forced (suppressed desire). To see Him in everyone and everything needs clear vision (Sudarsana, The Third Eye that burns our own desires and purifies our mind). Let us remember His name at all possible instants and let us hope that He showers His grace on us. Sai Ram. Hemadpant, after making some lengthy dissertations on some topics of Vedanta, which he himself considers as a digression, goes on to describe the Chavadi procession. Sai Ram. If indeed they were digressions, why did he leave them in the book and why did he not delete those portions? As mentioned in the beginning of Sri Sai Satcharitra, Sai asked Shri Hemadpant to surrender his ego at His feet and be a mere instrument in His hands. So, what is written by Shri Hemadpant or for that matter, what is being typed now by this servant of Sai, is not ours but is His to do as He pleases. Sai Ram. Will be Continued‌.
Disclaimer: The editor does not accept any responsibility for the views expressed in the articles published. This e-magazine is intended for private circulation only. Information contained in this email is about Sri Shirdi Sai Literature and Sanatana Dharma. You have received this magazine because you are either subscribed to this directly or through one of the email groups receiving "The Glory of Shirdi Sai". To Subscribe: You or your interested friends and family members can subscribe for THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI by sending an email with the subject line ‘Subscribe’ to members@saidarbarusa.org. To Un-subscribe: If you are a direct member and do not wish to receive this e-magazine in future, please email to members@saidarbarusa.org with the subject line ‘Unsubscribe’. Please send your feedback to feedback@saidarbarusa.org From the Editor’s Desk “If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes, increase his devotion. And if he sings earnestly My life and My deeds, him I shall beset in front and back and on all sides. If anybody sings my leelas I shall give them infinite joy and ever lasting contentment." - Shri Sai This is the easiest of methods to attain His “Shri Charan Kamal”. Sai devotees may continue to write about their Sai-related activities, essays, articles or poetry and send to the email id editor@saidarbarusa.org. We shall put in our best efforts to include them in the upcoming newsletter. Unless the author of the articles explicitly instructs not to publish his/her email id, we will publish them as a matter of routine practice. JAI SAI RAM Publisher and Editor: Badri Narasimhan Editorial Team: Radhika Nistala, Kanchana Kumar, Sumathi VijayBhaskaran, Sneha Narasimhan Email: editor@saidarbarusa.org
BOW TO SHRI SAI ~ PEACE BE TO ALL