Dwarkamai will be opening a new Sai Temple in Northborough, MA. Mr. Anil Naik,  based at Allentown PA is the spiritual guide for Dwarkamai.   An engineer by profession he is very involved in spreading the Sai message in Boston and other parts of US. He started the Sai Palkhi (Spiritual Walk) in Chicago and Boston in 2001.  Sai Palkhi has now become an annual event in many states around the US. He founded Dwarkamai (Sai Temple in Billerica ) in 2010. 

What motivated him to start Dwarkamai? “I met people from the New England area in  2001. Since then I have been regular visitor to the area.   The gathering in Boston used to be like Satsang. Gradually, these devotees asked me to mentor the spiritual activities. The interest began to grow and in 2010 we started Dwarkamai.”

Dwarkamai is now a national level organization with g activities across many different states in the US.  â€œThe mission of Dwarkamai is to have spiritual, educational, medical and technology services that can enable community development. Our services target Body, Mind and Spirit,” says Naik. 

What is the central message of Sai? “Faith and patience and love are the central message of Sai.  Love and devotion are intertwined.  Devotion is the highest form of love. It is possible you may love one person or deity and that love becomes so deep that slowly the very quality of love changes into devotion. Then that person or deity becomes your whole and soul and becomes the only window for you to take a jump into existence. Devotion is the ultimate stage of disciple-hood.  What is important is not the specific manner in which God is worshiped but the degree to which the devotee is filled with love and happiness in doing what he or she is doing as a service to God. Worship any God you feel is a God for you, go to the temple, surrender yourself with true devotion, and lead a life of purity, humility and selflessness. Address God with any name you are comfortable with and chant it while doing your daily chores,” says Naik. 

What is the value of temples? “The true temple is in your heart.  No one needs to go to a temple.  However for those who feel lost, the temple is lighthouse in the ocean of desires. A physical place to meet and doing Satsang will help and hence the need of temple. It can be likened to a tracks for a train.”

Naik considers faith and volunteerism as the twin pillars of any temple. “The temple is a place of holiness. It is the most sacred and holy place on earth and should be treated with the greatest degree of reverence and respect where a sincere prayer is answered by unfailing grace.”

For Naik the human body is the temple of the soul. God dwells in it. “If you truly treat your body like a temple, it will serve you long. If you abuse it, you must be prepared for poor health,” says Naik. 

Since health considered very important, at Dwarkamai there is free medical care for those who are uninsured plus there is alternate holistic medicine like Ayurveda, Yoga and meditation and Acupressure. They also organize blood drives and bone marrow drives. They even have sports tournaments that are used to raising funds for organizations like the Boston Children’s hospital. 

“Navavisha Bhakti or nine-fold devotion in the for m of Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories), Kirtana (singing of His glories), Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence), Padasevana (service of His feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana (prostration to Lord), Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and Atma nivedana (complete surrender of the self). Shravan(listening to the Divine name) is very central to Dwarkamai,” says Naik 

Seminars at Dwarkamai focus on a wide range of topics.  â€œWe even have a stargazing program for children.  We have purchased a high end telescope for this purpose . We have inter-faith people services.  We celebrated thanksgiving and Santa Claus is planning a visit to Dwarkamai Sai temple,” says Naik  

What message does he have for our readers?  

 

“Seva is very important. Dwarkamai’s focus is to build strong devotional families. We do not teach religion, we teach kindness. It is not how much we give to the community that is important but how much love we put into our giving that is key. Sai is in inside us. If we meditate, we can find Him.”