Ardent Sai Devotee Lakshmibai Shinde
OmSaiRam
Lakshmi Bai hailed from a village near Yeola. At the tender age of thirteen, she married Tukaram Patil Shinde, and came to Shirdi. She was widowed at a very young age, so all the responsibility fell on her young shoulders.
Lakshmi Bai was working in the Masjid day and night. Except Bhagat Mhalasapati, Tatya and Lakshmibai, none was allowed to step in the Masjid at night.
On Vijayadashmi day in the year 1918 before Baba took Mahasamadhi, he put His hand in His pocket and gave her Rs.5/- then Rs.4/- totaling Rs.9/- indicating the nine types of devotion namely Shravana, Kirtana, Smarana, Charana Sevana, Archana, Vandana, Dasya, Sakhya and Atma Nivedana. (Ref: Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter 21 and Chapter 42).
Lakshmi Bai Shinde took Samadhi on 2nd June 1963. She died peacefully after Shej Aarti. Prior to her demise,
she asked her relatives to read aloud Chapter 42 of the holy Shri Sai Satcharitra.
How Yoga and Meditation Relieves Anxiety
Yoga and Meditation
For people suffering from anxiety, yoga and meditation can definitely be their lifeline. More and more doctors are recommending yoga and meditation as a complementary therapy to avoid anxiety problems.
Studies show that mindfulness meditation can reduce anxiety symptoms to some extent. Every time a person gets anxious, his mind is carried away with the constant worrying about the things that may happen. This makes it all worse and can even cause more symptoms like insomnia. Yoga and meditation help people counteract this tendency and stay in the moment while recognizing worries as they happen and preventing these worried thoughts from getting worse.
Even a 20-30-minute daily session of mindfulness meditation can go a long way to nurture an awareness of present-moment feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Other meditation types also work wonders like loving kindness that involves sending loving thoughts to others and to yourself. We also have the transcendental meditation that involves repeating a mantra to enable your mind to drift right into the non-thinking realm. Even the depressed and those who suffer from physical pain can find yoga and meditation safe and effective.
Your Brain on Yoga
Meditative practices calm your overactive brain. Anxiety involves worrying about the bad things that might never happen, and it’s so focused on the future. Thus, any practice that helps you be in the moment will go a long way. Yoga and meditation help you pay attention to how your body feels, and it holds your mind on the act of breathing in and out while firmly staying anchored in the present moment.
If you or someone you know is suffering from anxiety, encourage them to try yoga and meditation and share how the magic happens.
Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja
Most Divine Soul
Guru jii Sri.Ekkirala Bhardwaja...
Ekkirala Bharadwaja was born at Bapatla and was a post-graduate in English literature.
He left the Indian Administrative Service after having a profound spiritual experience at the Samadhi Mandir of Sai Baba of Shirdi, thereafter becoming a lecturer of English literature because that gave him opportunity to spread his master's teachings.
Bharadwaja researched the lives and teachings of several saints, travelling extensively and personally contacting many of them.
He insisted on the necessity of a Sadguru to direct devotees in their spiritual path.... The culmination of all this is a series of books on Sai Baba and many other saints.
He believed Sai Baba to be the matchless saint, a blend of all religions and the answer to all the questions of the present day and spirituality.
Sri.Gurujii Acharya Bharadwaja attained mukthi on 12 April 1989.
My humble Pranaams in his lotus feet....🙏🙏
Jai Sai Nath....🙏🙏
Baba's Photograph in Purandare's Home!!
*Baba's Photograph in Purandare's Home:*
*Baba himself gave this Photograph to Purandhare who venerated it and prayed to it daily. Often at times when he was in trouble he would sit in front of this photograph and cry his heart out and Baba would appear immediately and comfort him.*
*(Source: Baba’s Rinanubandh by Vinny Chitluri)*
Shirdi Sai Darbar!!
In this rare old photograph we can see how baba's darbarused to look in the early twentieth century...
Devotees some-times used to offer
sacred books to Baba to gain his blessings before embarking on a reading....
Here we see baba (seated) looking at a collection of abhangs (a type of lyrical poem) by Sant Tukaram - Tukaram Katha....
The picture of Baba (without the backdrop) ofthe mosque was published in the first edition of Sri Sai Sacharitra in 1930.....
Jai Sai Nath.....🙏🙏
Kaka Saheb Dixit's vairagya..!!
Kaka Saheb Dixit's vairagya developed steadily along with his love of the Guru....
His Guru both by example and precept showed him the absurdity of the worldly man's desire for much wealth and how little was necessary even to an ordinary sadhaka....
Especially after Baba had assumed all his responsibilities, he noted how needless it was for him to spend attention and time or energy as before to acquire or preserve wealth.....
On one occasion when he came to Shirdi, he came along with a trunkful of rupees (may be Rs. 1000), which he earned in a Native State....
He came to Baba, placed the trunk before him, showed him the rupees, and said, 'Baba, all this is yours'. Baba at once said, 'Is that so?' and plunged both his hands in the box full of rupees and gave away heaps of rupees to the people that crowded round him like bees for honey...In a few moments, the trunk became empty....
This incident is narrated by Garde,
a Sub Judge friend of H. S. Dixit,
who was watching all the time the face of Dixit to study the reaction on his face to the rapid scattering of his hard earned money by Baba.....
Though any other person in his position would have felt the loss of money very bitter. Kaka Saheb was unmoved.....
That showed how he had hardened in his vairagya at the feet of Baba.....
He learnt again that the silver so highly valued by the world was but mud to the Sadguru, who was a "Sama loshta asma Kaanchanah" i.e. one to whom a cloud, a stone and gold were equally indifferent....
Satguru Sri Sainaath Maharaaj ki Jai.
Baba’s out stretched hand supports an old lady.
*Baba’s out stretched hand supports an old lady.*
Padmavati Vaid a resident of Pune states, “My entire life revolves around Sainath, and I can’t live a moment without him. A short while ago I had gone to Mumbai to visit my son, and a day later I fell ill. My son got me treated by his physician and two days later I was quite alright. During those two days I missed going to Baba’s temple. As soon as I recovered I visited a temple near by and was very happy there.
The next day while I was walking in the passage to enter the hall I slipped and was about to fall, when I saw a hand reached out and hold me by my shoulder. The hand was clad in a white kafni, and it supported me till I sat on the floor. I looked back to see who had assisted me while I fell but no one was there. I would have stretched out my own hand as I fell, but feared I would fracture it as I am 80 years old. A friend of mine who is as old as me fell and both the bones of her wrist were broken and I know how she suffered. And because Baba supported me during my fall I didn’t experience the same pain and agony.
Upon my return home I went to have a check up by my doctor. He said I was alright despite the fall. Then he said, “It’s a miracle that you didn’t have a compound fracture of your wrist, for if you did you would surely have had surgery”
I thanked Baba for his kindness, and thought when Baba is there with me what can destiny do. For when I was destined to fall Baba turned destiny around and saved me. Every day I pray and ask him to take me home when I pass away and never leave me”.
Ref Sai Prasad Magazine Deepavali issue 1996.
*Source : Baba’s Divine Symphony compiled by Vinny Chitluri.
The Tortoise Tile in Dwarakamai..!!
Sai Satcharitha....
The tortoise tile in Dwarkamai, Shirdi - Tortoise is regarded as one of the God incarnations in Hindu religious philosophy.....
On the floor of the mosque, about two-thirds back from the steps, you will notice a white marble tile with a tortoise carved in relief....
The tile is said to mark two things : the place where Shyam Sunder used to bow down to Baba, and the original location of the stone on which Baba sat, which was moved when the mosque was extended after Baba’s mahasamadhi.....
According to Hindu mythology, it is a tortoise which bears the weight of the world on its back.....
As it is already underfoot, it cannot be defiled by being trodden on, so is an appropriate symbol to use here....
Please share this post, so that more people may know the importance of this place and image.....
The next time any of us would visit Shirdi would surely take notice of what looks like a small and insignificant statue....
Jai Sainath!!!
Saibaba is a gift from God..!!
Sai Baba is a gift from God, your devotion to him is not a random occurrence. His compassion is as alive today as it was when he was embodied. He wants to be involved in your life, surrender to the Guru his job is to bless you. Your part is to seek him with faith and devotion in your heart. Let Sai Baba do miracles in your life.
Sai Satcharitra Chapter V
"There was a wrestler in Shirdi, by name Mohdin Tamboli. Baba and he did not agree on some items, and both had a fight. In this Baba was defeated. Thenceforth, Baba changed His dress and mode of living. He donned Kafni, wore a Langot (waist band) and covered His head with a piece of cloth. He took a piece of sackcloth for His seat, sackcloth for His bed and was content with wearing torn and worn out rags. He always said "Poverty is better than Kingship, far better than Lordship. The Lord is always brother (befriender) of the poor." Gangagir was also very fond of wrestling. While he was once wrestling, a similar feeling of dispassion came over him, and at the proper time he heard the voice of an adept, saying that he should wear out his body, playing with God. So he too gave up Samsara and turned towards God-realization. He established a math on the banks of the river near Puntambe, and lived there with disciples. Sai Baba did not mix and speak with the people. He only gave answers when he was questioned. By day he always sat under the Neem tree, sometimes under the shade of a branch of a Babul tree near the stream at the outskirts of the village. In the afternoon, He used to walk at random and go at times to Nimgaon. There He frequented the house of Balasaheb Dengale. Baba loved Mr. Balasaheb. His younger brother, named Nanasaheb, had no son, though he married a second wife. Balasaheb sent Nanasaheb for taking darshana of Sai Baba, and after some time with His grace, Nanasaheb got a son. From that time onwards, people began to come in numbers to see Sai Baba, and His fame began to spread and reached Ahmednagar; from thence Nanasaheb Chandorkar and Keshav Chidamber, and many others began to come to Shirdi. Baba was surrounded by His devotees during day; and slept at night in an old and dilapidated Masjid. Baba’s paraphernalia at this time consisted of a Chilim, tobacco, a "Tumrel" (tin pot), long flowing Kafni, a piece of cloth round His head, and a Satka (short stick), which He always kept with Him. The piece of white cloth on the head was twisted like matted hair, and flowed down from the left ear on the back. This was not washed for weeks."
Love to Sai Baba and Babaji🙏
What is meant by Samadhi state??
SAMADHI means the fixing of the MIND.. free from all IMPULSES & AGITATIONS, on the LORD, or on one`s own REALITY..It indicates the state in which one is in one`s own REAL NATURE..
Samadhi is when one is FREE from all DUALITY..The mind will be UNSHAKEN by dual experiences..
It is UNMOVED / UNMOVABLE.. like having to thread a needle..have to be intent on the job and the end of the thread has to be kept straight & pointed..
SIMILARLY.. to enter the GRACE OF GOD, which is subtler than the subtlest, the mind has to be STEADY & the EYE and the SENSES have to be CONCENTRATED on the same process..
Benefits of reading Sai Satcharitra
Waves of attachments beat high against the bank of bad thoughts and break down trees of fortitude. The breeze of egoism blows with force and makes the ocean rough and agitated. Crocodiles in the form of anger and hatred move there fearlessly.
Our Sadhguru is the boat, which will safely take us across this ocean.
Let this work (Satcharita) be in every house and let it be studied daily. Let it ward off the calamities of those, who study it regularly with reverence.
If you dive into the sea of Sai's stories, and then give them out to others, you will get an ever-new flavour of them and save the hearers from future misery.
If anybody, after bathing, reads this with love and faith, and completes it within a week, his calamities will disappear, or if he hears or reads it daily and regularly, all his dangers will be warded off.
📕Epilogue - Shri Sai Satcharita
Silence -- The best way of Praising Sadhguru.!!
In reality, the observance of the vow of silence is the best way of praising the Sadhguru.
It is Sai Baba Himself who inspires these stories and gets them written, as He desires.
Our duty is to surrender completely to Him and meditate on Him.
Practising penance is better than pilgrimage.
We have, therefore, to chant Sai's name think over His sayings in our mind, meditate on His Form, feel true love for Him in our heart, and do all our actions for His sake.
He remembered his Guru's saying that, "That is our abode and place of rest, where the mind is most pleased and settled."
"That our mind is fickle by nature, it should not be allowed to get wild. The senses may get restless, the body, however, should be held in check, and not allowed to be impatient. Senses run after objects of desire but we should not follow them and crave for them.
Sai Satcharitra Stories :- *_Cholkar's Sugarless Tea_*
#SaiSatcharitraStories :-
*_Cholkar's Sugarless Tea_*
*Initially, Baba was known in Poona and Ahmednagar Districts, but Nanasaheb Chandorkar, by his personal talks and by Dasganu, by his splendid Kirtans, spread the fame of Baba in the Konkan (Bombay Presidency). In fact, it was Dasganu - May God bless him-who, by his beautiful and inimitable Kirtans, made Baba available to so many people there. The audience, who come to hear the Kirtans have different tastes. Some like the erudition of the Haridas; some his gestures, some his singing, some his wit and humour, some his preliminary dissertation on Vedanta, and some others, his main stories and so on; but among them, there are very few, who by hearing the Kirtan get faith and devotion or love for God or saints. The effect of hearing Dasganu's kirtan on the minds of audience was however electric, as it were. We give an instance here*
*Dasganu was once performing his Kirtan and singing the glory of Sai Baba, in the Koupineshwar temple in Thana. One Mr. Cholkar, a poor man serving as a candidate in the Civil Courts in Thana, was amongst the audience. He heard Dasganu's Kirtan most attentively and was much moved. He there and then mentally bowed and vowed to Baba saying - "Baba, I am a 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 Feet and distribute sugar-candy in Your name." As good luck would have it, Mr.Cholkar did pass te examination and did get the permanent post and now it remained for him to fulfil 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. As is well said, one can easily cross over Nahne ghat in Thana District or even the Sahyadri Range; but it is very difficult for a poor man to cross Umbareghat, i.e., the threshold of his house.
As Mr. Cholkar was anxious to fulfill his vow as early as possible, he resolved to economize, cut down his expenses, and save money. He determined not to use sugar in his diet; and began to take his tea without it. After he was able to save some money in this way, he came to Shirdi, took Baba's darshan, fell at His Feet, offered a coconut, distributed it with a clean conscience along with sugar-candy as per his vow and said to Baba that he was much pleased with His darshan and that his desires were fulfilled that day. Mr. Cholkar was in the Masjid with his host Bapusaheb Jog. When the host and the guest both got up and were about to leave the Masjid, Baba spoke to Jog as follows:- "Give him (your guest) cups of tea, fully saturated with Sugar." Hearing these significant words, Mr. Cholkar was much moved, he was wonderstruck, his eyes were bedewed with tears, and he fell at Baba's Feet again. Mr. Jog was also curious about this direction, regarding the tea-cups to be given to his guest. Baba wanted by His words to create faith and devotion in Cholkar's mind. He hinted as it were, that He got the sugar-candy as per his vow and that He knew full well his secret determination not to use sugar in his diet. Baba meant to say, "If you spread your palms with devotion before Me, I am immediately with you, day and night. Though, I am here bodily, still I know what you do; beyond the saven seas. Go wherever you will, 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 was thus imparted by Baba to Mr. Chokar !*
#shiridisaibaba.in
*OmSaiRam*
Ashtavakra
*Ashtavakra.....*
*The first incident happened before Ashtavakra was born...*
*Nothing is known of what came afterwards but this is an incident while he was still in the womb...*
*His father, who was a great scholar, would recite the Vedas every day while Ashtavakra listened from the womb....*
*One day a voice came from the womb saying,*
*“Stop it! This is all nonsense.*
*There is no wisdom whatsoever in this.*
*Mere words — just a collection of words. Is wisdom found in scriptures?*
*Wisdom is within oneself. Is truth found in words? Truth is within oneself.”*
*Naturally his father was enraged....*
*First of all he was a father and on top of that a scholar....*
*And his son hidden in the womb was saying such things!*
*Not even born yet!*
*He exploded in anger, became engulfed in fire:*
*The father’s ego had been hit...*
*And a scholar’s ego…*
*He was a great pundit, a great debater, knowledgeable in scriptures….*
*In anger he uttered a curse:*
*When born, the boy would be deformed; his limbs would be bent in eight parts.*
*Hence his name:*
*Ashtavakra means one whose body has eight bends. He was born crippled in eight places; eight places hunchbacked like a camel. In a rage his father deformed his son’s body....*
*Ashtavakra is a messenger, a messenger of consciousness, of witnessing.....*
*Pure witnessing, just watching....*
*If there is unhappiness, observe it...*
*If there is happiness, observe it....*
*In unhappiness don’t become identified with unhappiness....*
*In happiness don’t become identified with happiness....*
*Let both come, let both go....*
*Night has come, observe it....*
*Day has come, observe it....*
*At night, don’t think you have become night.....*
*In the day, don’t think you have become the day......*🙏🏻
Nobody is the victim...!!
*The Fakir....*
*Thoughts and Prayers....*
*Nobody is the victim....*
*There are no preys and no hunters....*
*Fill yourself up with God and selfless love and you shall be the shadow of the God....*
*Fill yourself up more with the Creator and after a while you will merge with God....*
*Fill yourself further with the Maker and a time shall come when you too shall become God, as there shall be no difference between you and your Maker.....*
*The One who makes the thunder roar, also hears a butterfly sigh.....*
*We all are entwined in karma and in God....*
*Don't hurt or hate or abuse anybody as you don't know, you may be hurting your dearest and most beloved, but you cant recognize it as the soul is wearing a different body in this particular lifetime....*
*Satguru Naatha Maharaaj ki Jai* 😃🙏🏻
