{"id":932,"date":"2019-11-14T04:17:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T04:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/?page_id=932"},"modified":"2019-11-14T04:32:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T04:32:35","slug":"watch-november-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/watch-november-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: November 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"InThisEdition\">In this edition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"#InUpComingEvents\">Upcoming events<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#GeethaVahini\">Geetha Vahini<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Himself\">Birthday Discourse on November 23, 1968<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Rama\">Sabari&#8217;s Sadhana<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#DevotionalActivities\">Devotional activities in Chicago and suburbs<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"InUpcomingEvents\">Upcoming Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Daily Group Sadhana: From Oct 20th to Nov 23rd: Everyday preferably at 9 PM<\/strong><ul><li>Every family member is encouraged to chant Gayathri 21 times preferably at 9 PM. This is a special offering from all of us to Swami as a group Sadhana on the occasion of Swami&#8217;s 94th Birthday.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday November 02, 2019: Special service project at FMSC, Schaumburg<\/strong><ul><li>Time: 07:00 PM &#8211; 09:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: FMSC, 740 Wiley Farm Court, Schaumburg, IL 60173<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday November 09, 2019 &#8211; Sunday November 10, 2019: Global Akhanda Bhajan<\/strong><ul><li>Chicago Land all centers event<\/li><li>Time: 06:00 PM &#8211; 06:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: Manav Seva Mandir, 101 S. Church Rd., Bensenville, IL <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday November 23, 2019: 94th Birthday celebration of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba<\/strong><ul><li>Guest speaker, SSE presentation, Ladies day program, Birthday cake cutting<\/li><li>Time: 10:00 AM &#8211; 5:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: Sant Nirankari Mission: 1S750 IL-59, West Chicago, IL<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"GeethaVahini\">Geetha Vahini<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Every single act of yours must be carried out with this Jnana (wisdom) as its background. That awareness of the Atma will guide you in both the out-moving and in-drawing paths, the Pravritthi Marga and the Nivritthi Marga. It will not block action but fill it with purpose and meaning. It will build up faith and moral life, it will take man to the realm of deliverance along the road of Nishkama Karma, the renunciation of the fruit of action, and not of action itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em> For the achievement of Liberation, Jnana is the direct road. Therefore, it is declared to be incomparably sacred. And, naturally, it follows that Ignorance is indubitably the most despicable. \u201cSee the Universal in the Particular; see the Particular in the Universal; that is the essence of Jnana,\u201d said Krishna. \u201cAll Kshetras (bodies, fields) know only one single Kshetrajna (knower of the field or body). And, who is that? The Atma, that is to say, you yourself, your own self! Know this and you become a Jnani. So realize that the Atma is Paramatma (creator, universal soul); that is the Vijnana (wisdom).\u201d Krishna, who is All-knowing, began to teach Arjuna this Yoga, in order to cast off all doubt from his mind. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cArjuna! I\ntaught this sacred Jnana Yoga to Surya, then it was handed down from one\ngeneration to another till Manu and Ikshvaku and from them, Rajarshis came to\nlearn it. Then it (got) lost in the world. That ever-existing Yoga had to be\nrestored to the world, and so I had to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will not fail to notice the discrepancy of the Yoga being described as ever-existing and the statement that it was lost! Of course, the statement was not made without thought. The indestructible is here spoken of as having been destroyed! It is called indestructible for two reasons. Its origin is the Veda, which is free from decline. This Yoga on account of passage of time, neglect and disuse, was forgotten. That is to say, it disappeared, it was lost to view, and it declined. \u201cLost to view\u201d is the sense in which the word \u201cdestroyed\u201d is used in a general way. That is how you have to interpret it, for the Lord will never devise a thing that will suffer \u201cdestruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reference\nto Surya also merits consideration. The people of Bharath are intimately\nassociated with the Sun god. The heroes of Bharath, the Kshathriyas, are from\nthe beginning attached to Surya. Even for ordinary men and women, Surya is so\nhighly sacred that He has been raised to the status of the Great Guru. The\nsacred scriptures and legends of India have not assigned a status of similar\nglory to anyone else. It is a unique position that Surya occupies. Why, for the\nwhole world, the Sun is the visible manifestation of the Lord. And the Sun is\nthe source of Time. Surya is the father of Time (Kala) as the Sastras declare.\nThe Sun limits and regulates the number of years each one lives. The Sun diminishes\nevery day a fraction of the allotted span. So the Sun is the supreme arbiter,\nthe maker of man\u2019s destiny. Whether one wills or not, every deed of his is\nperformed under His auspices and dedicated to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Above all,\nconsider the service the Sun does to this world! That is within the daily\nexperience of all. Everyone is witness for that. The Sun is the source of all\nlife, plant and animal, upon this planet. Without His rays, it will be a desolate\nwaste. He draws up into the sky the waters of seas and lakes, and from the\nclouds He pours rain on the crops. He is ever the Dharmadevatha (God of\nRighteousness), scattering His rays equally on all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surya is the\ngreat Thyagi for unequalled renunciation. He is the great Yogi. Without a\nsecond\u2019s thought of His own glory or of rest, He performs His Duty without\nthought of reward. He is humble and steady in work. The service He does is\nsomething no one else can fulfil. The happiness He contributes is something no\none else can confer. But He has no pretensions to pride. He moves above\nunconcerned with the consequences of His energizing mission of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><strong>-Excerpts from Geetha Vahini<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Himself\">Birthday Discourse on November 23, 1968<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil-doers and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I incarnate from age to age. Whenever disharmony (asanthi) overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning peace (prasanthi) and to reeducate the human community in the paths of peace. At the present time, strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, the society, the religions, the cities, and the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The arrival of the Lord is also anxiously awaited by saints and sages. My main tasks are fostering of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) and fostering of the devotees. Your virtue, your self-control, your detachment, your faith, your steadfastness: these are the signs by which people read of my glory. You can lay claim to be a devotee only when you have placed yourself in my hands fully and completely with no trace of ego. You can enjoy the bliss through the experience the Avatar confers. The Avatar behaves in a human way so that mankind can feel kinship, but rises into his superhuman heights so that mankind can aspire to reach the heights, and through that aspiration actually reach him. Realizing the Lord within you as the motivator is the task for which he comes in human form.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avatars like Rama and Krishna had to kill one or more individuals who could be identified as enemies of the righteous (dharmic) way of life, and thus restore the practice of virtue. But now there is no one fully good, so who deserves the protection of God? All are tainted by wickedness, so who will survive if the Avatar decides to uproot? Therefore, I have come to correct the intelligence (buddhi). I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand by as a friend and well-wisher to all, so that they may give up evil propensities and reach the goal. I have to reveal to the people the worth of the Vedas. If you will accept me and say &#8220;Yes,&#8221; I too will respond and say, &#8220;Yes, yes, yes.&#8221; If you deny and say &#8220;No,&#8221; I also echo &#8220;No.&#8221; Come, examine, experience, have faith. This is the method of utilizing me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do not mention Sai Baba in any of my discourses, but I bear the name as Avatar of Sai Baba. I do not appreciate in the least the distinction between the various appearances of God: Sai, Rama, Krishna, etc. I do not proclaim that this is more important or that is less important. Continue your worship of your chosen God along lines already familiar to you, then you will find that you are coming nearer to me. For all names are mine, and all forms are mine. There is no need to change your chosen God and adopt a new one when you have seen me and heard me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Every step in the career of the Avatar is predetermined. Rama came to feed the roots truth (sathya) and righteousness dharma. Krishna came to foster peace shanti, and love prema. Now all these four are in danger. That is why the present Avatar has come. The righteousness that has fled to the forests has to be brought back into the villages and towns. The anti-righteousness that is ruining the society must be driven back to the jungle.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have come to give you the key of the\ntreasure of bliss ananda, to teach you how to tap that spring, for you have\nforgotten the way to blessedness. You have come to get from me tinsel and\ntrash, the petty cures and promotions. Very few of you desire to get from me\nthe thing that I have come to give you: namely, liberation itself. Even among\nthese few, those who stick to the path of spiritual practice (sadhana) and\nsucceed are a handful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The establishment of righteousness (dharma):\nthat is my aim. The teaching of dharma, the spread of dharma: that is my\nobject. These miracles, as you call them, are just a means toward that end.\nSome of you remark that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (an Indian saint) said that\nyogic powers (siddhis) are obstructions in the path of the spiritual aspirant\n(sadhaka) Yes, yogic powers may lead the spiritual aspirant astray. But the\nmistake lies in equating me with a sadhaka. These yogic powers are just in the\nnature of the Avatar. Creation, preservation, and dissolution can be\naccomplished only by the Almighty &#8230; no one else can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\">&#8211;<strong>Baba&#8217;s Divine Discourses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Rama\">Sabari&#8217;s Sadhana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sabari had a very tender,\ncompassionate heart. Her parents arranged her marriage, and as was the custom\namong the Adivasis a goat was to be offered to the tribal goddess. When Sabari\ncame to know about this slaughter, she wept, and fell at the feet of her\nparents, praying them to save the goat. But, the father pushed her aside and\nproceeded with the cruel rite. That night, Sabari stole out of the den of\ntorture and hid herself in the depths of the jungle. Mathanga rishi gave her\npermission to stay in his hermitage. He told her that God in the form of Sri\nRama was coming to the hermitage someday, since He had been exiled into the\nforests for 14 years. Rama was proceeding from one region to another, with His\nconsort Sita and His brother Lakshmana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From that day Sabari had no\nthoughts other than of Rama, no other desire than the desire to have the\ndarshan of Rama, the chance to touch His Feet and to speak with Him. Her heart\nwas saturated with the Ramarasa, the sweetness of the Rama principle. She spent\nher time, preparing for the visit of Rama to the hermitage; just as she cleaned\nthe paths, she cleaned her heart, too. She walked through the under growth and\nremoved overhanging creepers, for she imagined Rama would not have combed His\nhair and it might get caught. She gathered fruits from the jungle every day,\nfor no one knew when Rama would arrive! She tasted every fruit, so that Rama could\neat the best. She smoothed the surface of all stones that lay by the side of\nthe tracks in the jungle for she hoped that one of them would rest on one of\nthe rocks. Thus, her heart became Rama hridaya! (Lord Rama became the resident\nof Sabari&#8217;s heart).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"DevotionalActivities\">Devotional Activities in Chicago and Suburbs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Every Monday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Aurora Shirdi Mandir from 07:00 PM &#8211; 08:00 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Every Wednesday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Hoffman Estates from 07:30 PM &#8211; 08:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Every Friday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Oak Brook from 08:00 PM &#8211; 09:00 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>First Saturday of the month<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Glenview from 10:30 AM &#8211; 11:30 AM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday November 16, 2019<\/strong><ul><li>Paduka Puja in Bolingbrook from 10:30 AM &#8211; 12:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this edition Upcoming events Geetha Vahini Birthday Discourse on November 23, 1968 Sabari&#8217;s Sadhana Devotional activities in Chicago and suburbs Upcoming Events Daily Group Sadhana: From Oct 20th to Nov 23rd: Everyday preferably at 9 PM Every family member is encouraged to chant Gayathri 21 times preferably at 9 PM. This is a special &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/watch-november-2019\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Watch: November 2019&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-932","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":940,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932\/revisions\/940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}