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Significance of "Sai Ram"
mantra
The reason behind calling Sai
Baba as Sai Ram
Avatars are described in the Hindu scriptures as promoting human
welfare. They combine human and divine features. Especially in the
case of Sri Rama, the seventh Avatar, the human features come out
so as to enable the Rama personality to be of great service to us,
spiritual and temporal. Rama dhyana, Rama smarana and Rama Lila,
in general are found to be very useful for spiritual and temporal
purposes alike on account of the human element in Rama. Similarly
in Sai Baba, who is often termed Sai Rama, partly because Ram
Navami was chosen by Baba to be the day for his Urus to be
celebrated at Shirdi and partly because he showed himself as Rama.
His human elements and divine elements are both mixed up so finely
as to help us to understand him and approach him.
Source: HH Pujyasri B.V. Narasimhaswami, Life of Sai Baba, Vol. 4
When you meet each other, do
not shout hello or bye-bye, or some silly chatter.
Let the moment of meeting be sanctified by the remembrance
of God.
Say, Ram Ram, or Om, or Hari Om, or Sai Ram.
Sathya Sai Speaks X, Chap. 14
The quote from Swami (above)
states in a nutshell why we greet someone with "Sai Ram". It is a
remembrance of God, the one God that IS the other person and
ourselves.
In Bavaria, southern Germany,
many people greet each other with "Gruess Gott", which means "Greet
God". Same idea!
When greeting someone with "Sai
Ram", try to think of greeting not only the worldly body that you
see but our SAI in that person. We could use any name of God; it
is the intent and feeling that counts. We have happened to choose
"Sai Ram" because of the universal appeal of that name as a mantra.
(Some devotees do repetition of the Name --namasmarana--
with "Om Sri Sai Ram", repeating "Om Sri" on the inbreath and "Sai
Ram" on the outbreath.)
The word "Sai" can be split into
two: "Sa" and "Ai". We have been told that "Sa" means universal
father, while "Ai" stands for universal mother. Sathya Sai Baba,
our Sai, is our mother and father.
"Ram" can be viewed as a
shortening of "Rama". One interpretation of this word is that "Ra"
is the Fire Principle, which burns all to ash, while "ma" stands
for maya or illusion, so together,
they mean the destruction of illusion.
Sai Baba has said also that
"Rama" means "He who pleases, fills with bliss, causes delight",
that "Rama" means the joy that comes from love.
Source:
http://www.sathyasai.org/devotion/sairam.htm
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