How to increase (Shradda ) Faith towards Baba

SAI WORSHIP - SHRADDA (FAITH) (English Talk)

                                      Miracle Picture - Baba

How to increase (Shradda ) Faith towards Baba?

As humans, we have extraordinary gift given by Eeswara that is Intellect (Buddhi).  We use this intellect in everyday life to make our lives better. Do we trust our mind all the time? No, we analyze and dissect everything, that is presented to us and make sure that is good for us. Sometimes we have to choose between two good things.  We are filled with conflict in favorable situations and difficult situations.  We do not like that middle ground. Either we want pleasure or face sorrow. If we are in the middle, we keep feeling bored.

What makes us love, like and adore our children, our family and whatever belongs to us?

What pushes us away from certain things, certain people and certain situations?

Why we have preferences and what makes us choose objects, relations and situations?

If we can stay calm and try to understand these questions on an individual basis, we can find some answers. It might be difficult to answer these questions initially for some people but we have to dig deeper. Can we put our finger on these daily issues and start thinking!

How is this important in relation to Sai?

If we understand how and why we like certain people, objects and situations, then we understand ourselves. If we make our mind to think about God without properly understanding ourselves, our patterns and how we behave, you will not be able to succeed in this divine task. Of course, good deeds and karma will influence your path. But we are talking about people, who want to walk the path of Guru.

So Sai Bandhus, try to question your motives, patterns and how you react in different situations. What makes you react, what makes you love something and what makes you to stick with a particular task.

We all might differ to some extent but we all are human beings and we are wired the same way. The so called Maya (Illusion) will influence our thinking because we do not know the Dharma (Righteousness) and we don’t follow the commandments of God. It is a pity some times that we do not even know what this is.  We feel guilty, struggle and feel sorry for our lives because we cannot love Sai the way we want. Sometimes we drift away in this worldly ocean not knowing where we end up. Everything around us seems so real, we start making excuses first, and then slowly we rationalize our behaviors. 

Baba is watching us in these situations and he will guide us if we can establish relationship with him. That is called Runanubandha (Spiritual relationship).

Let us now go into specifics. Why I like anything in this world is because it belongs to me. We like our Country, state we live in, Town, our neighborhood, our house, family, finally ourselves. This is the hierarchy that we follow as a human being. Whatever we think that we own, we tend to love that. If it does not belong to us, we are not sure about it.

Love Sai Like your family member:

So to love Sai, make Sai your family member first.

Treat him like your family member; think that he is living with you.

 If you have a son, daughter, mother, father, brother, or any relationship that you adore, identify Baba in a similar way. Think for a moment how you treat your family and try to apply same emotions to this relationship also. If we spend some thing for our family do something for Baba also.

Perform your actions with Sai in mind:

You get up in the morning- Think that you are waking Baba also. Of course you take care of your children and apply similar principles. Whatever you do, keep Baba beside you both physically and mentally.  We can continue all the daily activities. This is the reason why our Hindu dharma kept puja (worship) system from morning to night in our temples. This is to remind us about God in every action that we perform. Mind always responds to routine and discipline.

If you are eating, try to offer the food first to BABA by a mental prayer and then eat.

If you are drinking, think that you are drinking Baba’s theertha (Blessed water).

When you feed your children, think that you are feeding Baba.

When you are in the community, reflect Sai’s teachings in your behavior.

Do not limit Baba to your Puja mandir or temple:

If we have a most revered person standing or sitting in your living room; how do we behave and what is our mental state. Can we be like that, most of the time!

 It might be difficult, we might feel difficulty initially, but it is fine. God will understand, he saw our behaviors for so many Janmas (Lives).

We need to improve gradually and ask Baba every time to give you the strength to change. Always think that Baba is watching you.

Learn to make small sacrifices in your daily life:  

We have wrong notion about Sanyasa (Renunciation) and it is definitely not just wearing saffron clothes and giving up family life. This is about giving importance to Parameswara, our Guru and experiencing God’s presence. This means, ultimately realizing that we are one with Paramatma that is Supreme Soul. These adjustments will create a positive relationship with Sai. Sai will shower his grace upon us.

Understand what discipline and regularity mean.

Time is essence;  Years go by very quickly and by the time you realize, your body gets old.

Start waking up little bit early. Have discipline with your sleep patterns.

Give up gossip time.

Do not encourage people to be negative around you.

Be positive about your interactions.  

It might be easier to talk about these things and practicing them could be much more difficult. When we need something in our lives, either it is exam, job related or family related issues, we make adjustments. All we need to do is convince our minds that this is the important thing in your life. There is nothing more that you want.

Are we that busy that we do not have enough time to thank the Supreme who gave us everything?

The air to breathe; Wait until you need oxygen when you cannot breathe anymore!

Body that functions in a perfect way; What if we are unable to eat, we cannot digest the food or eliminate the food. 

What if our heart stops beating?

The harmony of the Nature: What if the earth stops rotating and there is no Sun?

So where are we running; stop and think for a while!!!!!

This will definitely make you love God more than anything. We thank so many people in our lives but we take it for granted these natural things. This kind of thinking will inculcate devotion, love and gratitude towards God.

Try to associate yourselves with people, who have similar thinking (Satsangh):

All the scriptures emphasized the importance of company of great and saintly people. This is called POSITIVE ASSOCIATION (Satsangh).

 If we associate with people who do not have this kind of inclination and no appreciation for God, it is called NEGATIVE ASSOCIATION. We will take negative energy from the negative situations and this drains us both physically and psychologically. Some days you do not know why you feel tired and the reason is obvious.

   

 If we have company of like minded people, we will feel positive and we can feed off from each other. This will help us love God more and feel bliss and peace in everyday life.

So Sai bandhus, let us understand these principles and get closer to Sai by having Shradda (Complete Faith).

Let Sai bless all of us. 

OM SAI RAM!

                 

How to Worship Baba & Love him more

How to worship Baba (English Talk) Click here

1) Accept him as your “Only Guru”, God and your savior:

Shirdi residents were really blessed; they worshiped him and constantly thought of him while eating, drinking or sleeping.

They were singing his glory while working on the farm, or being in their backyard, grinding, husking or churning buttermilk and sing the praises of Sai all the time.

There were those who never thought of any deity other than Baba and who continuously remembered him while sitting, eating or sleeping.

We also need to think about Sai all the time.

2)Understand him through devotion:

Because of the devotion of the devotees, the “ Nirakar ” (that which is without form) has manifested in Shirdi in the form of Saakara -Sai.

Understand that; SAI means “Saakshat – Eeswara”. If you worship Sai, you are worshipping Supreme God that is Paramatma.

  

Show utmost devotion, Shradda (Faith) and Sabhuri (patience) towards Sai and you will be saved by Sai at every step.

3) Understand his nature and qualities:

He is the embodiment of the six virtues;  

He shines with success, wealth, non-attachment, intelligence, prosperity and generosity. These are the Supreme God’s qualities. Like Sri Krishna is a Sampoorna Avatar (Pure & Total Incarnation), Sai is also Sampoorna Avatar in the form of Guru.

Baba’s restraint is extra – ordinary. He himself does not possess anything. Though he is formless, he takes the form to grant grace to his devotees. He is the embodiment of mercy.

4) Understand that we are very lucky to have Sai as our GURU:

The collective good deeds (Punya karmas) of the devotees have borne fruit completely at the opportune time. In Sai’s form, they have sprouted and borne fruit at Shirdi.

That, which is mute, breaks into speech;

That, which cannot be born, has taken birth;

That, which is near death, came alive;

That, which is disease prone, became healthy;

That, which is in difficulty, became free;

That, which is abstract, has taken a form from the very mould of the essence of mercy.

5) Understand and learn from Baba’s humble attitude:

Baba loves his devotees so much, and his words spoken with great humility present that evidence.

“I am the humblest of your servants. I am your debtor. I have come here to have your darshan. This is a great favor of yours that I have been able to reach your feet. I am a maggot in your excreta. I consider myself blessed thereby”.

What humility Baba showed when he said these words. We can learn so much from this. It should inculcate a desire in us to be humble in our daily life and this has to be a practical Sadhana. This is better than any other worship.

This will help us in getting rid of the Ego (Ahamkara).  

6) Recite Sai’s name all the time:

If speech has become impure;

If the sin of hearing is to be avoided;

If the sin of all five senses to be avoided;

Let us recite Sai’s name continuously. It will cleanse the sins of all.

*So Sai Bandhus incorporate Baba in to your daily life and in every action you perform.

This is the best way you can have a perfect relationship with Shirdi Sai.

 If we can do this Baba will show his grace and lead you to ultimate goal.

  

Let Sai bless all of us!

OM SAI RAM!

The Good and the Pleasant (Teachings to Change lives)

శ్రేయం -ప్రియం 

Whatever we like may not be good for us. Whatever is good for us, we may not like it. Our lives revolve around good and pleasant. This tussle will provide us with a personality of its own. This personality may be at times meant only for the society. There is so much conflict behind this kind of presentation. We do things for our family, friends and society even if we really do not like them. We suppress our feelings and sacrifice our likes in the process. Due to this, there develops some kind of dejected feeling which in turn produces sorrow and pain. Lot of us in this world could be in this kind of predicament. 

There is other spectrum where people do not care for society, or others and they would like to do what is best for them. They might appear to be enjoying everything but they will have insecure feelings inside. These feelings will make them divert from the righteousness. They will lack discrimination to differentiate real from unreal.

As light and darkness are inter-related to each other, still they are separate from each other, the Good and the Pleasant are similar to them. We have been struggling to choose between good and pleasant and we are unable to differentiate the two entities. We forgot the path that was shown by our saints. That’s why human life became miserable. We are all running towards the senses and their enjoyment. One whose mind runs after the Pleasant, he deteriorates because of selfishness. Sai’s teachings always reiterated this kind of moral in every story.

What is “Good”? What is “Pleasant”?

Whether it is the Good or the Pleasant, even if both are understood in the right way, it is difficult to bring the Good into practice, even for a person who is independent in his thinking. However, if both are available, it is difficult to select or see which is right.

The Good deals with pure knowledge.

Pleasant is false knowledge.

Wise men are never attracted towards the Pleasant.

But the Good is disliked by the ignorant.

Till such time that wealth and women are available, the senses indulge in pleasures and no thought is given to self-denial or non-attachment. The Pleasant is welcome. The Good and the Pleasant are inter-mixed like water and milk. But the Swans of Manas Lake drink only the milk.

Similarly, those steadfast by nature, wise, self-controlled and fortunate ones only hanker for the Good and shun the Pleasant. But look at those dullards who are only keen about caring for their body, cattle, children, wealth, status and wellbeing! They acquire the Pleasant only.

Inconceivable are the whirlpools of the mundane existence which rotate incessantly, twenty-four hours of the day. Man suffers the harsh miseries of the three-fold tribulations. Because of them (whirlpools of mundane existence), extreme miseries befall and man is harassed or tormented. Then he tries to discover easy means of pleasure to avoid them. The whirlpool of mundane existence is unbearable. How can it be stopped? Could there be a means to do so? He starts thinking thus.

Initially, one should definitely be able to understand wherein lays the Good. Afterwards if there are obstacles in the way, one would be able to avoid them entirely. Our scriptures emphasized the right path and we have to understand what is real and what is unreal. To attain this knowledge we need God’s (Guru’s) grace.

In a dream, if innumerable hail stones of gold shower and are collected with effort, thinking that they will prove useful in time of need, they disappear on awakening. Knowingly and unknowingly, fate, destiny, passion, hope, desire or covetousness can always be the obstacles – remember this! And uproot them at the outset. That which even sunlight cannot penetrate, and from which the intellect returns defeated, and where the Vedas and Shrutis cannot get a foothold, the Guru leads you to it. Passion and anger, these are the two emotions, which come in the way of true knowledge. They shatter the power of understanding, concentration and samadhi very skillfully. If a flame and camphor come close together, is it possible for them to push away from each other? No sooner than they come together, the camphor starts burning due to the flame.

A person, who is always restless, perturbed from within, driven crazy by being caught in the clutches of the senses, cannot attain wisdom.

He, who is contented, calm and constant in his search for his True Self, and above all, obedient to his Guru is full of wisdom.

He will not be satisfied whose mind is restless. He has no entry in the realm of the supreme state of salvation and thus cannot avoid the cycle of birth and death.

How the precious body is wasted! Wealth and pleasures are like the afternoon shadows, short-lived. Understand that this is a powerful illusion created by God and surrender at the feet of the Saints.

Sai took charge to help us with this task and all we have to do is show faith in him and learn to be patient. Sai Maharaj knows what is best for us and we have to let him show the path. Then we can cross this maize of good and pleasant. This is only possible when we have the blessings of great Gurus like Shirdi Sai.

OM SAI RAM!    

Demeaning (Putting down) people: (Teachings to change Lives)

హేళన వద్దు -నమ్మకం ముద్దు 

Wasted are the words of a speaker if by listening to them, a listener is not affected and does not show the sign that he is overwhelmed with emotions and gets goose pimples. A narration is worthless if the listeners are not in an ecstasy, not choked with emotions and if their eyes are not filled with tears of happiness.

Baba’s speech was captivating. His style of teaching is exceptionally good. His arguments were unique. Saibaba reveals something new at every step. Saintly people always wanted to show us the clear spiritual path but it is up to us whether we will catch that or not. Baba in his own style gave us a good teaching through the story of Pandharpur Pleader.

We need to understand Baba’s omniscience and his endeavor to guide towards the divine path.

Pandharpur Pleader story:

Once a lawyer came and went to the Masjid, the moment he arrived. He took Sainath’s darshan and bowed down at his feet. He then gave dakshina, without being asked, and went and sat nearby. He felt like listening to Sai’s conversation, with respect. Baba, then, turned his face and uttered words which were meant for the lawyer. The words pierced his heart and the lawyer was repentant. “What frauds people are! They touch my feet, offer dakshina also, and abuse me in the heart of hearts. How queer are their ways!” Having heard this, the lawyer kept quiet. But he fully understood the significance. He realized that the words were meant for him only. The essence of the words penetrated deep into his mind. Later on when he went to the wada, he told Dixit that Baba’s cutting words had hurt him but they were true. “As soon as I arrived, he fired me. But that was a kind of warning to me that I should never indulge in mocking or back biting anybody. As our Munsif was not keeping good health and he was restless, he took leave from the office and stayed on peacefully here to improve his health. While we were in the chamber of the lawyers, the discussion turned around the Munsif and though we were not directly concerned, conjectures were made. “Without medication, just by following Sai, can the physical ailments be cured? Does it befit him who has risen to the status of a Munsif (to behave in this superstitious way)’

While he was being thus reviled, Sai was also belittled. I was also part of all this and that fault of mine was pointed out (by Baba). It was not a scolding but a blessing in itself.

One should not unnecessarily participate in useless discussion, malign or criticize others and pass bitter remarks behind the backs of people and should refrain from indulging in these bad habits.”

Besides, this is proof that even if there is a distance of a several miles, Sai is omniscient and knows the heart of every person. Be it so. From that day onwards, the lawyer decided that in future he would never criticize or utter ill words. That was his vow. ‘Wherever and whatever one does, cannot remain unknown to Sai’, became a firm conviction. The bad habit was given up. He became conscious of doing good deeds because he knew that Sai, as it were, was watching him from all sides and who can be capable of deceiving Sai? He was thoroughly convinced of this.

Though the story concerns the lawyer, it was meaningful in all respects, at all times, and for everybody! The lawyers, the listeners, the speakers and all the devotees of Sai should also take the same vow. I truly pray thus. When the cloud of Sai’s Grace showers upon us all, we will be contented. There is no doubt about this. All those who are thirsty will quench their thirst. What can we learn from this teaching?

       Sai is omniscient and knows the heart of every person:                                                           Moreover, one more matter became clear that intervening hills and mountains could not hide anything from Sai. Securely hidden secrets were all open to him.

      We have to respect other people’s faith:                                                                                          We have different kinds of people living around us and they all have different kinds of believes. They have different ways of living and these methods are unique to them. They attain mental peace with these ideas. We may not understand or make sense out of that but at least we have to respect their belief system.

      Do not demean the faith of other people:                                                                                         We may not respect the faith of other people but we can definitely respect their opinions and faith. We may derive some pleasure by demeaning them. But our real nature is bliss, love, and completeness. By doing these kinds of acts, we are digging our own graves. We don’t understand the implications of these misdeeds. There are consequences for every action either in this life or next. Baba does not want us to suffer and that’s why he tries to change our lives. Sometimes we question God “Why this particular difficulty came in to my life? I have been good and I do not deserve this”. What we need to understand here is we made so many mistakes in the past lives and we have to bear the consequences.            

We have to cement Sai’s teachings in our minds and apply them in daily life.

Inexplicable is Baba’s greatness; unfathomable is the meaning of his stories;

Boundless are the limits of his biography (Sai Satcharita).

He is the incarnation of the Supreme Brahman.

OM SAI RAM!