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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
GURU WORSHIP:
Guru means the dispeller of darkness or ignorance. Guru may also be
defined as one who imparts information or gives training to another. The
object of seeking a Guru may be temporal or spiritual. Persons who lead
highly moral lives naturally affect their neighbour hood, and all persons who
corns in contact with them rise in their grade of morality and spirituality.
Some of them may get into the position of Gurus for others, in Baba's marga
called the Guru Marga, the Guru provides everything, including food, safety
and protection to the sishyas. A person is likely to make a very good
advance: alike in temporal and spiritual matters if he has perfect faith even
in an ordinary Guru. The most important thing is the faith of Sishya and not
so much the merit of the Guru. Books do not solve. Surrender to a loving
Guru and love towards that Guru alone can solve problems. Faith in him is
the thing needful. Studies do not sacrifice-without a guru, there is no
realisation, when the Bhakthas are fit for further progress, they will get their
gurus. It is not the truth that sishyas always go out to find the guru. The
reverse is often true.
SAI WORSHIP IN PARTICULAR :
The worship of Sai Baba expanded and assumed vast proportions during his
life time. This however did not stop with 1918 but continued to expand
further and further not merely as to the forms and modes of worship and also
in respect of the populations and areas covered and further extended in its
inwardness and heightened its results. There arc over a hundred institutions
named after Sai, carrying on Sai Pooja, Sai Bhajan, Sai Prachar etc. called
often Sai Samajs or Sammelans, Bhajan groups etc. Most of them have Sai
Mandirs. In Madras city alone, we have the Mylapore All India Sai Samaj
Mandir. the Guindy Sai Mandir, Sai Baba Bhaktha Samaj Mandir at Shenoy
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
not himself perform the fuse namaz everyday he encouraged the orthodx
muslims to do so at his place Baba was displeased when any religious
Intolerance was exhibited Baba expressly declared that when devotees
were quarrelling amongst themselves, he was feeling great pain whereas if
they all put up with each other and pulled on amicably, he felt happy. His
message was t:Love one another even as I love you". Baba's love and
wonderful power of reading and controlling hearts was mainly responsible
for the almost perfect concord between Hindus and Muslims that always
reigned at Shirdi. When Baba's picture was carried in procession through all
the streets including the neighbourhood or the muslims, no one felt the least,
repulsion or objection. To many a Hindu Baba was identified with various
Gods or Avataras. Each man saw in Baba, sometimes the very forn of the
deity that he wanted to worship. He was Sai-chit-Ananda. Thus he was
Shiva to Mehga, Rama to South African doctor and Madrasi Ramadssini,
Krishna or Vital to Krishna Bhakthas, Maruti to Maruti Bhakthas, etc. Baba
on the other hand allowed people and even directed people to go to
particular temples to worship the images there and he presented lingas,
padukas, coins and pictures to devotees as fit objects of worship-especially
his own pictures. While unifying India on that basis, he is the grantor to
millions of individual devotees of all their cherished or most ardently longed
for objects.
BABA'S MISSION AND UNIFICATION OF INDIAN FAITH:
The term 'Mission' is drived from the Latin root 'Mitto' meaning 'send'. So a
missionary is one who is sent with a message or direction by God Jesus's
mission was. by his own death sacrificing himself on the cross to absolve
mankind from hereditary or original sin. His death was considered a
sacrifice on behalf of entire humanity. The idea of missionary is practically
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
that of an agent. In the case of Sai Baba, he declared "God has agents
everywhere. They have great powers" Baba added "I also have great
powers" implying thereby that he also was an agent of God. He also
expressly told D.S, Rasane "I can do nothing except what God orders". Baba
had by concentration on God practically every siddhi that one can think of.
So his possession of vast powers, was always utilised for the benefit of
mankind, promoting individual benefits that were obvious, seen and well
understood and general benefits. In Sai Baba's life, we see one marked
difference between his life before 1816 and the life thereafter. Before 1886,
the main strees of his activities and views appears to be on doing good to
those who were near him and connected by rinanubandha (prenatal
obligations). He achieved other things also than doing good to the immediate
comers. The benefits derived by others, consist in (1) The development and
spread of Sai Faith intensively and extensively all over the country. (2) The
unification thereby of dharma and religion regardless of existing
diversification and divisions of religion, caste, creed, etc. (3) The main
benefit is the unification of the Hindu Faith within itself and of Islam within
itself and by purification and refine meant on both, the building up of one
common central religion or Faith that is fitted to be the world faith.
Baba's passing away from earthly life and the return to it in 1886 only shows
that his mission remained unfulfilled and therefore he had to get back into
the same body to work out the remaining portion of the present life-Baba's
influence tends more and more to the removal of hatred and the spread of
mutual love between religions and groups.
CONCLUSION-RESULT OF WORSHIP
We should cultivate the habit of doing worship to God and Guru right from
childhood. It does'nt matter whether we follow any particular mode of
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
worship or not. We must set apart at I east a few minutes of everyday both
in the morning and evening for silent meditation and worship. This habit
will gradually improve our system of worship with concentration and
devotion, Within a few years, we will find a notable good change in us
which will lead us to be in the company of good persons only, Finally, we
will attain our goal and get ourselves free from all sins. Regarding the
mode of worship, we may choose any of the nine modes of worship
mentioned earlier. Today, in our busy and mechanical life, we may not be
able to adopt a particular mode of worship and follow it earnestly
everyday. Various problems, worries and other difficulties in our daily life
are to be solved. Then only we can peacefully sit for sometime to think of
God and meditate. So the easiest and best way of worship is to surrender
completely and whole heartedly to our samartha sadguru Sainath
Maharaj who will lead us in the correct path and guide us in all walks of our
life. He will certainly give us material and spiritual help finally granting us
salvation. .In this connection we must, remember some of Baba's moral
teachings by strongly sticking to Nista and Saburi (Faith and patience with
perseverance) "Do not quarrel, retaliate or bandy words against others.
Others words will affect them alone and not you. Speak the truth and trmh
alone. Observe silence and do your duty. Allah malik God alone is our
protector. His will be done and He will lead us to Salvation".
Sai devotees follow different modes of worship in various parts of our
country. In south India, devotees sing songs in praise of their Ista deva (Kula
Deivam) doing abhisekam (Mangala snan) archana and arathi calling sai as a
Krishna Sai, Rama Sai. Govinda Sai, Sainatha Subramanyara etc. In Andhra
Pradesh, non stop recitation of Sal's Name "Om Sai, Sri Sai Jaya Sai"
musically, fitting to any raga is carried on and sung for 7 days or any
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WORSHIP AND DEVOTION
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