Prayer to Shirdi Saibaba

1.    Dear Saibaba, you are my God, my Sadguru, my Saviour.  Baba I Love you, I honour you and I put my complete faith in you.  With utmost humility and total surrender, I place my completely shattered and bruised ego at your divine feet and pray for your help and guidance in my day to day life situations. 

2.    I have fully understood that whatever I am facing in my life, is my own creation.  I take full responsibility for all my actions.  Today I confess and accept that I have committed millions of sins and errors and have hurt innumerable souls across various lifetimes through my own actions, words and thoughts. In the process, I have entangled myself with countless souls who have suffered because of my thoughtless blunders.  Now, I find myself trapped in my own self-created web and am unable to come out.  I am in agony because  I am unable to bear the burden of huge pile of rinanubandhs (karmic debts) that have been following me since various past lifetimes.  The grief and insecurity is excruciatingly painful. Only you can help me Baba.

3.    Today I am ashamed of all my countless wrongdoings, that I do not even remember.   I repent each and every one of my sinful actions.  Whatever I did, it was because of my own faulty judgement made out of my swollen  pride and hollow ego.  Saibaba, I am guilty and unable to face you.  With deep regret in my heart, I beseech you in desperation and seek your help.  Baba please forgive all my misdeeds, whether done knowingly or unknowingly.  I did everything foolishly, without understanding its effect in the lives of others, and most of all its consequences in my own coming births.  I caused pain to others and today I am deeply hurt as I am repaying for the same.  

4.    I know that today all my failures, sufferings, pain and grief are a result of my reckless behavior in the past and yet I am continuing to incur more and more errors in my present life too.  The stock of my bad karma continues to pile into an enormously huge mountain under whose burden I feel helpless and crushed. I regret I caused hurt, I instigated hurt, I approved and supported actions causing hurt.  I admit I judged each and everyone around me and forgot that all are the creations of God and that all are right in their own perspective.  I forgot your teachings that nothing moves unless God wills it.  I prided on my intelligence and thought that things will move only when I will do something.

5.    Time and again I have been taking credit and doer-ship forgetting that Only God is the Doer.  I did wrong and, therefore, today I stand before you with folded hands and sincerely apologise from the bottom of my heart.  Baba, kindly forgive me and promise to protect me and my family always, life after life.

6.    I am an ignorant, bewildered and lost Soul.    But, I am your child Baba.  Right in this moment,  I offer and surrender myself to you with all my imperfections.  My body, mind and Soul is clouded by Maya all around me.  I cannot find my way within or the way out.  Please help me focus my attention on truth and bring clarity to my thoughts.  Kindly take mercy on me.  Help me stay in peace, contentment and in your gratitude forever.  

7.    Today I know that you have always looked after my welfare even without my asking.  No words can express my gratitude and thanks to you.  Thankyou Baba for disconnecting me from the turbulence of outside world and bestowing me with courage to open my heart out to you.  My permanently restless mind is finally at peace in your presence.  With my eyes cast down, and hands folded, I request you to forgive all my negative actions, of past and present.  Saibaba please watch over me and my family and bless us with ‘abhaydaan’ (fearlessness).   

8.    Let fellow humans forsake me, but my Sadguru Saibaba, please promise to be by my side always.  I have no other place to go.  I am lost without you.  Baba bless me with your divine vision, unconditional love and wisdom.  Make me caring, compassionate and detached.   Only you know what is best for me.

9.    Baba, keep the feet of this sparrow tied with the strings of your love and protection.  Continue holding my hand in your old, ancient firm grip and don’t let me wander away.  Be strict with me and scold me but please Keep me on right path.  Shower me with your divine grace and humility so that I can foresee my own faults and stop myself from hurting any living being with my thoughts, words or action.  Give me strength and courage so that I do not repeat any of my old mistakes again.  Stop me from making any new mistakes.  Never leave me alone.  I am forever dependent on you Baba.  Work on me internally.  Help me, balance my energies, heal my body, mind and soul and make me healthy and fit for rest of my life here on earth and also thereafter.  Kindly Help me, HELP MYSELF so that I always remain your worthy devotee. 

10.    Dear Sai, I seek shower of your divine grace to feel and experience my own divinity so that I may be connected to Thine Bliss.  Reveal thyself to me Baba.  Very humbly, lovingly, I invite you to come and be seated permanently, on the throne, in the Shrine, deep in the depth on my heart.  Baba kindly Bless and oblige me & my Home with your pious presence.

Vandana Mulchandani

Noida

June 16, 2020

During this lockdown, I am in company of my Sadguru Saibaba.  I am thankful that there are no useless worldly duties to be done.  Morning, afternoon, evening and night, its all Saibaba.  When my Baba is with me, then no lockdown can lock me down.  I am myself after so so very long.  I am free and flying in my Baba’s glory.  Stay Home Stay Safe and Remember Saibaba.

Meaning of Shraddha & Saburi

Saibaba advised his devotees to have Shradha and Saburi always.

Sadguru Shirdi SaiBaba often said that ‘Shraddha’(Faith/Trust) and ‘Saburi’(Patience/ Endurance) are mines of virtues. If his devotees could develop these virtues in themselves, they will cross this ocean of worldly existence without the least trouble and easily.

We are devotees of Saibaba. Have we ever truly introspected to check whether we have been able to develop these twin virtues of ‘Faith’ and ‘Patience’ in us?

I often thought that I had Shraddha but I lack in Saburi because I have an impatient personality. But as I introspected, I realized, I did not have true faith either.

Thinking deeply I realized that these two mines of virtues are very deep and what they contain is beyond value. Faith and Patience together hide the formula for our Freedom. If we practice both, we will experience what we came to experience on earth, our aim of taking human birth – the ultimate Sat-Chit-Anand.

Getting intellectual meaning of these two words is easy. We all understand what these words mean. BUT DO WE REALLY PRACTICE? Do we trust SaiBaba like a child trusts his parents and relaxes completely?

If we trust SaiBaba, it means we believe that he will take care of all our problems and help us out of all our so called troubles. We should become completely stress free. Having placed our Faith in SaiBaba means, we are now free from worry, fear, guilt, anxiety, our as well as security of our family, social position etc. Why? Because we have faith in SaiBaba and he is taking care of us. However, we still worry, feel stress, get confused, feel inner conflict, feel out of control, get angry and annoyed.

If we REALLY have Faith in Saibaba than why do we behave like this? These problems should not be bothering us. Isn’t Saibaba taking care! Here is the Catch. Either we do not trust Saibaba or our faith in him is only namesake.

SaiBaba advised his devotees to do all the duties of the respective stations of their lives with honesty and not to bother about the results because these are in the hands of Almighty. Lord takes action impartially. He is kind and compassionate and takes care of all without any discrimination. Even when we feel abandoned, He is still there. If we cannot see or feel him, it is because we are focusing on what is going wrong and not what is going right. If only we could focus on what we still have rather than what we lost.

If there are some tough times, God must have given them to us to help us grow in strength and character. None likes to pass through tough times, faith shakes, we want to know, how Saibaba helped my friend in trouble but not me in the same situation. Only Saibaba knows the answer to this. If I believe in Him and Trust him fully, I should be confident that He will take care of me at the most appropriate time. Now when will this ‘appropriate time’ come, only HE knows. I don’t have to worry about it. I place my request before him and let him do what he wants to do. I don’t have to repeat my requests everyday to remind him. He hears me the first time itself. I have to practice Saburi here.

When there is a delay from his side, we want to find out the answer and get restless and miserable. We fret, we pray out of fear(which is just a formality), we consult astrologers to find out when and how our bad phase will end and why did this happen to me only. When SaiBaba is our helmsman than why are we worried and running here and there? Where is our Shraddha? Where is our Saburi?

Wise men say that sometimes it is better not to know than to know. Ignorance is Bliss. Why are we trying to find out the reasons if we have genuine ‘Shraddha’ in SaiBaba. We should feel gratitude that we are devotees of the One who knows All. Why not accept what he does with our lives with all peace and calm? Have we not placed our Faith in him. We should not love Saibaba only for what He can do/has done for us but we must love him for what He Is. Faith is always unconditional. Through our faith, God checks whether we trust HIM in our ‘not knowing’ reasons for all things going wrong in our life and our environment. If we knew answer to everything happening in our lives, we won’t need a Sadguru.

SaiBaba said ‘Cast your burden on to me and I will bear it’. If we have cast our burden on SaiBaba with faith, why are we feeling burdens in our daily lives. Why do we get stressed, depressed, tense, insecure and fearful everyday. Our diabetes, BP, heart problems, headaches, upset stomachs are results of stress we have kept in our lives and we are not even aware of it. SaiBaba told us to do our duties to the best of our abilities but he never told us to worry and fret.

Saibaba referred to ‘Saburi’, as sister of ‘Shraddha’ who go hand in hand. Why? By this He is trying to teach us that once we have placed our unshakable and firm faith in our Sadguru, we must be patient enough to wait for the results because some results may be to our liking and some may disturb us. Only God knows what is good for us. Did not Das Ganu get this lesson from maid in Kakasaheb’s house? Whatever happens in our life is ultimately for our own good. Therefore, we should be patient enough to accept it, endure it and overcome it without disturbing our peace of mind. Be happy no matter what the circumstance is because trust in God is answer to all the problems we have. Once I have placed my faith in God, I should stop asking reasons for things not happening as to my liking.

We are in a hurry to have things happen our way. But God has his own ways. He knows what is good for his devotees. He may not be telling us but we should have firm belief that he is taking care. World may go topsy turvy but my faith should not shake. If we did not get what we wanted than it was not meant for us. What is ours, comes to us. What is not ours, why bother at all. We are free to feel joy and peace in our lives despite problems once we have put our trust in God. Now we have to wait patiently for God to take appropriate action with belief that it will be for our benefit. We feel doubtful if we do not have answers to our problems. It is at this time the sincerity of our faith and patience are tested.

A true devotee who has Trust in Him will wait Patiently with the firm belief that He will take care when the time is right. We have to learn to do right things even when the results may turn out to be ‘wrong’. As they say “Do your Best. God will do the Rest”. Only He know why things are happening the way they are happening. Our job is to act wisely as per the voice of our conscience and then feel free because HE is in control. This is what ‘sarvasva sharanagati’ is all about.

A true devotee practicing faith and patience knows that Saibaba will always provide a way out of tough situations at the right time for only He knows what time is right for each and everyone. Some may get results fast, some may have to wait for years. We have to stop finding answers to problems that only God can answer.

Trust sets us free from everything – worry, past mistakes, addictions, bondage, what people think about me, promotion, money, security, fears, expectations, strained relationships, diseases, grief, pain, loss of a loved one etc. When we trust we are free from botheration of finding out why this is happening to me, my family or to the society. Patience gives wings to this freedom, adds joy to the peace, gives strength of character, and connects us to the ultimate source of power.

God loves us unconditionally, when we feel pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow, mine and others, we create barriers between us and God. When we think we are separate from God and others, we suffer. Shraddha and Saburi are those virtues which will dissolve these barriers. When there will be no wall of separation, we will be able to feel presence of our Sadguru SaiBaba around us always, we will be able to see HIM face to face and understand how much He loves us.

Vandana Ritik

New Delhi