INTRODUCTION

   

 

 

Invariably, all our Ashtothra Sada Namavalli's serve three purposes.

 

Firstly, they always start with OM and thus they make the Sadak, chant the Pranav mantra OM 108 times. This gives all the benefits of chanting and meditating on OM.

 

Secondly, depending on the level of the   spiritual development one seeks realisation by focussing on the Brahmam, God or Guru while  meditating upon each one of the Namavali, i.e., through Gyan, Bhakthi, and Karma paths of spiritual journey.

 

Thirdly, they make the immediate task of steadying the wandering mind easy, through some visible attributes of the manifestation of the Brahmam, God or Guru described in the Namavali.

 

About six years back, when I started attending the Thursday evening Arthis for Shirdi Sai Baba, He blessed me with a thirst to understand the meaning of each one of them, meditate on each one of them, and co-relate each one of them to Baba's life , His sayings and His miracles while reading Shri Sai Satcharita. I found my experience was something worth sharing with other fellow travellers in our spiritual journey.

 

As a result, 108 Flowers blossomed to be offered to Baba. These Flowers were offered in my Blog in," Flowers of Fragrance".in the forum of Indus ladies for 108 weeks continuously. These are presented in the following Blogs with necessary  modification and changes where I considered necessary.

 

The meaning of each Namavali is taken from the website of  " Shirdi Sai Trust".

 

As I thought that the spiritual exploration expands or contracts  according to the Sadaks own interest and inquisitiveness, most of the meditation part is intentionally left indicative and not all inclusive, encouraging the reader to meditate and continue.

 

The incidents, life, sayings and miracles of  Baba, relating to each Namavali have been quoted from Shri Sai Satcharita. I have avoided drawing from any other source, though Baba continues to bless His devotees  with miracles  every day even today.

 

Every Flower takes not more than about five minutes to read. But I believe, it has the potential to strech your thought and time to infinity depending on your thirst to explore the Self in you, the Brahmam. Good luck.

 

May Sai Baba bless us all.

 

Om Sai Ram.