Annadaan This Guru Purnima

Annadaan Service or Narayan Seva (Drop Off 25th July 2010 )

Baba Going For Alms

Annadaan or food giving has been recommended as a means of  best charity since ancient times.

Baba  said, “ Sitting in this masjid (Dwarkamai) I shall never speak untruth. Take pity on me like this: first give bread to the hungry and than eat yourself. Note this well”... Shri Sai Satcharita

Shri Sainath  further said, “Know for certain that he who feeds the hungry, really serves Me with food. Regard this as an axiom truth.” … Shri Sai Satcharita

Keeping that tradition alive, Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, Canada (Toronto)/Shri Shirdi Sai Mandir (Toronto) has been performing Annadaan service by participating in Charitable food drive since 2005.

The support group and volunteer at Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, Canada (Toronto) is now pleased to start “Provide a Meal Program” starting Guru Purnima 2010 to help a Centre in Toronto, striving to promote and protect human dignity by serving people struggling with homelessness and poverty. Services are offered in a spirit of compassion, trust, acceptance and respect. The Centre serves anyone in need, without charge or distinction.

Today, the Centre receives 600 to 800 visits from needy people every day. People turn to the Centre for meals, clothing, medical care, shelter, showers and supportive programs.

How You Can Help:

Our very humble request, please join in this holy cause and receive Baba’s Blessings. This our first very small step towards the objective of uniting all Shirdi Sai Devotees and Humanity at large as one Forum on One Platform – The EARTH…as One Piety under on Umbrella – The SKY. As Baba always said – “ ALLAHA MALIK – GOD IS SUPREME”

There are many ways to help.

Organize Provide – A - Meal program.

• Volunteer at the Centre. If you are 15 or older, you can join a serving

team, make beds or staff the drop-in or clothing room – ( Call Shirdi Sai Sansthan, Canada)

• Organize a drive at work or school for items on the Wish List.

• Organize a fundraising event like a car wash, a bazaar or a dress down

day, contribute the proceeds to help the homeless.

You can also donate:

• Any of the items on the Wish List below;

• Surplus prepared food from events;

For more information call (416) 294-4804 or email saileela99@gmail.com

ring only Non – Perishable items on the 25th to the temple - To support the cause you can also volunteer to run a drive at your work place or in the neighbourhood...call us for details at 416-294-4804

Baba Bless You Ever!

Guru Purnima Celebrations In Toronto

SHRI SHIRDI SAI BABA SANSTHAN, CANADA (Toronto)

Cordially Invites All To Join In Celebrating

Shri  Guru Purnima Celebrations

Sunday, July25 2010 from 3PM. – 7:30PM

AT

...Chinmaya Mission Toronto - Shivalaya

9796 Dufferin St.,

Maple, Ontario

L6A 1S2

Program highlites:

Shri Guru Archana Puja - Guru Mahima Recital - Palaki procession - Annadaan - Naivedya Offerings - Preeti Bhoj. For program details and directions to the nearest Location to you for celebrations, please send us an email at saileela99@gmail.com or call 416-294-4804

For Offerings or to Volunteer your service, please contact/register: www.shirdisainath.org - 416-294-4804

Daily Message

UDI

It is well-known that Baba took Dakshina from all, and out of the amount thus collected, He spent a lot on charity and purchased fuel with the balance left with Him. This fuel He threw in the Dhuni - the sacred fire, which he kept ever burning. The ash from this fire was called Udi and it was freely distributed to the devotees at the time of their departure from Shirdi.

What did Baba teach or hint by this Udi? Baba taught by His Udi that all the visible phenomena in the universe are as transient as the ash. Our bodies composed of wood or matter of the five elements, will fall down, after all their enjoyments are over, and be reduced to ashes. In order to remind the devotees of the fact that their bodies will be reduced to ashes, Baba distributed Udi to them. Baba also taught by the Udi that the Brahman is the only Reality and the universe is ephemeral and that no one in this world, be he a son, father or wife, is really ours. We come here (in this world) alone and we have to go out alone. It was found and is even now found out, that the Udi cured many physical and mental maladies, but Baba wanted to din into the devotee's ears the principles of discrimination between the Unreal and the Real, non-attachment for the Unreal, by His Udi and Dakshina. The former (Udi) taught us discrimination and the latter (Dakshina) taught us non-attachment. Unless we have these two things, it is not possible for us to cross over the sea of the mundane existence. So Baba asked for and took Dakshina, and while the devotees took leave, He gave Udi as Prasad, besmeared some of it on the Bhaktas' foreheads and placed His boon-conferring hand on their heads. When Baba was in a cheerful mood, He used to sing merrily. One such song was about Udi. The burden of the Udi song was this,"Oh, playful Rama, come, come, and bring with you sacks of Udi." Baba used to sing in very clear and sweet tones.

So much about the spiritual implication of Udi. It had also its material significance. It conferred health, prosperity, freedom from anxiety, and many other worldly gains. So the Udi has helped us to gain both our ends - material as well as spiritual...Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch.33

Living With Sai ...Music Album

Music album Living with Sai Sai Ke Sath in which lyrics & music is composed by Shri C. B. Satpathy Ji.

This soothing album created by Him reveals devotional ecstasy in the form of prayers, especially targeted for the todays youth in India & whole world where Shri Shirdi Sai Baba is spreading like a phenomenon. The musical renditions carry the listeners to the world of Sai, establishing a divine communion with Shri Sai Living with Sai. Prominent singers like Shri Suresh Wadkar, Ms. Sadhana Sargam, Shri Shankar Mahadevan, Shri Sukhwinder & Ms. Shilpa Rao in a great gesture have rendered their voice for the album as a service to call the youth across the world to the Holy feet of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba.

"Bhhasha Bhava Ki Abhivyakti Hai - Language is literary manifestation of emotion." When there is bhava in the heart of writer & composer of any song or music, then the lyrics & music created are of an exceptional quality, taking the listener to an all-together different dimension. If such a person also has a background of music along with spiritual experience then music created by such a soul is truly original & truly connecting. If the lyrics are written for a deity to whom the poet & composer has surrendered, then the renditions are like a breath of fresh air. Shri Chandra Bhanu Satpathy Ji is such a spiritual soul who has created an album Living with Sai Sai ke Sath where lyrics & music are composed by him. This album is a milestone in the history of spiritual music for times to come.

This album represents emotions not only towards Shri Shirdi Sai Baba as a Master but is also a prayer offered at the Holy feet of all Gurus or Masters anyone worships. These renditions are an offering to the divine cosmos with Shri Shirdi Sai Baba as the symbol of Eternal Bliss. The proper nexus between the theme of lyrics, the musical compositions, choice of singers & the use of instruments in an appropriate sequence makes the listeners float on a cloud of ecstasy towards communion with ones own master. All the numbers in this album are a reflection of a spiritual journey experienced by a devotee on its way to "Living with Sai...Sai ke Sath".

NEW YEAR MESSAGE OF SHRI C. B. SATPATHY

Birth and death are the two terminal points of human life. To be born is to die. In the cosmic period of time, human existence is like a bubble of moments. All embodied souls, be it human beings or any other species, will have to go through this short journey of a lifetime. Such embodied souls are known as ‘Jivas’ or life forms. There are millions of such life forms, both visible and invisible on this earth. Many of these forms are known to human civilization due to research and others are yet to be known. Their body forms, capabilities, intelligence level and periodicity of existence between birth and death are different and too numerous to be codified. However, the main principle of these manifested life forms is that once they are born, they must die after carrying out certain activities in accordance with their inborn capacities.

Once they die, that is, when the life force holding the body elements together departs from the body or stops functioning in the form of a pulsating heart beat, the body elements separate from each other. The earth goes to earth, water goes to water and air goes to air. Hindu philosophy holds that ‘Panch Bhutas’ (Five elements) of nature merge with their primordial elements, once the life force departs from a living organism.

Then comes the next question as to what happens to the ‘Jiva’ without the body? What happens to the life force that holds the body together? Do the ‘Jiva’ and the life force (Prana) have any existence and significance after separating from the body? Some spiritual thinkers define the life force (Prana) as the manifested dynamics of the soul (Atman). According to some religions and philosophies the ‘Jiva’ after death is re-born again and again. According to others, there is no re-birth or re-incarnation of human souls. This series of re-births continues till the ‘Jiva’ reaches the stage of ‘Moksha’ as Hinduism believes or ‘Nirvana’ as Buddhism states. Therefore every Hindu, from his very childhood, is taught to commit good deeds and avoid evil deeds. Like Newton’s law of motion of matter, which states that every action will have an equal and opposite reaction, Hindus believe that every good or evil act committed by a human being shall have an equal and opposite reaction. The only difference is that, in the case of human beings committing such acts – good or evil, the reaction may not manifest in a single lifetime. It can stretch over to the next life or lives. Therefore, it advises each human being, to be prepared to enjoy or suffer the results of his good or evil deeds respectively in future lives to come. This is known as the famous ‘Karma’ theory, as propounded so meticulously in ‘Geeta’ and other Hindu scriptures.

One often hears of Hindu teachers and pupils speaking in terms of ‘Moksha’ as a panacea to the unending series of painful births and deaths. Such people give donations to temples, feed the poor, perform numerous ‘Poojas’, visit places of religious significance (called ‘Tirtha’s) with the wish of achieving ‘Moksha’ or less than that to go to heaven (Swarg), a place of unhindered and absolute enjoyment and receive benefits for their so-called good deeds during life time. Many such activities are programmed like a modern corporate system – investment and profit, in this world and in the nether world doing noble jobs like feeding the poor and rendering services to the needy people is considered good. The problem is that, such an approach contradicts the other root principle of Hinduism which holds that such acts should not be performed with a desire, as desire creates a series of births necessary to fulfill these desires. Shri Geeta advises desireless (Nishkama) activities against desired (Sakama) activities.

 ‘Shri Sai Satcharitra’ and other literature on Shri Shirdi Sai Baba indicate that Shri Sai believed in re-birth of human beings. He in fact revealed to some of His devotees about their past lives and about His relationship with them during such past lives. He always advised His devotees to follow the righteous path of sacrifice, tolerance and faith in God, with patience. He has never spoken anything about ‘Heaven’. His devotees were asked to cleanse their minds of evil or negative thoughts and fill it with pure and divine qualities and serve others without the wish to get returns.

In the backdrop of what has been stated hereinbefore, it is for each devotee to examine whether his approach towards such religious activities is in accordance with the dictates of the Master. If confused, they should sincerely submit to Baba and pray for an answer.

I believe that answers are there if the questions are genuine. May Shri Sai bless us all.

Shri C. B. Satpathy, New Delhi