Newsletter January 02, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Sri Sarada Devi Birth Anniversary  - Sunday, Jan 06
Worship: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM; Prasad-lunch: 1:00-2:00 PM; Video: 2:15 -3:30 PM; Music: 4:00-5:00 PM; Three-Speaker Symposium: 5:00-6:00 PM; Chant-Music & Meditation: 6:00-7:00 PM; Dinner.  All are invited to any or all programs.

 

Salutations! – Tues. Jan. 08

The birth anniversary of Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, will be observed with a morning chant, and in the evening with a song, a biography reading and prasad.

 

Vedanta Society Blog

We are happy to announce that Vedanta Society has created a new blog http://vedantaprovidence.blogspot.com/. All are invited to post and comment on this blog. Please read here the rules and regulations for this blog.

 

Check out some new Sunday lectures (from November & December, 2012- Audio & Video), uploaded here.

 

Weekly Programs

Friday, Jan. 04	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on 'Bhagava Gita, Ch. 16'
Saturday, Jan. 05	8:30 – 10:30AM:Karma Yoga/cleaning 11:00am – 12noon: Guided Meditation and singing 7:00 – 8:00PM: Aarati (devotional singing), a short reading from Sri Sarada Devi The Great Wonder and meditation
Sunday, Jan. 06	11AM – 7:00PM: SRI SARADA DEVI WORSHIP/PUJA DAY See above for details 5:00 – 6:00PM: Three-Speaker Symposium on ‘Sri Sarada Devi, The Holy Mother’ 6:00 – 7:00PM- Aarati, chanting of Sri Sarada Sankirtanam (108 names to Sarada Devi) and meditation 7:00---Prasad Dinner
Tuesday, Jan. 08	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Ch 44, pg 844

 

Daily Programs

Morning :	5:45 – 6:45 AM: Meditation 6:45 – 7:00 AM: Chanting followed by a short reading from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Evening :	7:00 – 7:15 PM: Aarti (devotional music), with a short reading from Swami Chetanananda's book: ‘Mahendra Nath Gupta ‘M’nn 7:15 – 8:15 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

Kalpataru Day program - Tues. Jan. 01, 2013

From 11:00AM - 2:00PM, Kalpataru Day (Wish-fulfilling Tree Day) program was celebrated with a puja and flower offering by devotees, music, readings (Sri Ramakrishna as I saw Him and Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play), reflection-comments by Swami Yogatmananda & Potluck Lunch. About fifty devotees attended.

Prayer-Vigil – Tues. Jan. 01

From 4PM – 4:45PM, a prayer vigil (concerning the recent assault/rape case in India), conducted by members of RI India Association, was held in Providence Vedanta Chapel on Tues Jan 01. Up-to-date information was detailed, music, audience comments and words of consolation, citing verses from Bhagavad Gita, were spoken by Swami Yogatmananda.

One Voice Interfaith Vigil – Wed. Jan. 02

From 3:00PM  – 4:00PM, Swami Yogatmananda along with  clergy of various denominations and advocates, participated in the Fifth Annual ‘One-Voice Fighting Poverty with Faith’ at the State House Rotunda, Prov. RI, gathering  with one voice to call upon all elected legislators and community leaders to effectively utilize their legislative posts to reduce poverty/homelessness in RI. Three main speakers from the Coalition first spoke, as well as Governor Lincoln Chafee. The program began this year with a ‘One-Voice Fighting Poverty with Faith’ banner walk from Gloria del Rei Lutheran church to the State House with participating clergy, speakers and advocates.

Click here to see photos.

 

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated.)

Bhagavad Gita Class - Dec. 28, Friday

Ch. 16 Verses 1-5: In the sixteenth chapter, Sri Krishna offers practical advice for spiritual life: within each of us are the seeds of both divine and demonic tendencies, and both need to be remembered and properly studied in order for us to achieve Realization. Demonic tendencies need to be checked and eliminated with great effort; divine tendencies, which lead to spiritual liberation, must be cultivated. Even if we know that we should nurture spiritual qualities within ourselves, fear often gets in our way. This is why Swami Vivekananda encouraged aspirants to be fearless. Among the positive qualities we should cultivate, are the following: We must have purity of heart, we must not get attached to things which are impermanent; however, we should not confuse love with attachment.   Removing our attachment will bring the freedom that we seek. One must strive to reduce and eliminate anger, that stand in our way on the spiritual path. There should be sacrifice and restraint in one's life, which help to cultivate a steadfast commitment to our spiritual path. As aspirants we should read scriptures, follow the teachings of the guru, and perform regular spiritual practices as instructed by the guru to connect to our inner divine nature. We must be straight-forward and non-injurious in our dealings with others, and avoid anger in thought, word, and deed. We must also practice renunciation, which is a true measure of spiritual progress; the more renunciation we have, the more spirituality that is being manifested within us. We must avoid covetousness, wanting to possess what other people have. Finally, we should develop firm resolution, which will increase our self confidence. If these positive, divine qualities are not developed by us, spiritual development is not possible. In the next class, we will look more closely at the demonic tendencies as outlined by Sri Krishna.   

 

What is the Use? – Dec. 30, Sunday

We find something useful when it brings us pleasure. But what appears to bring us pleasure may not actually do so, or it may soon vanish. When we do our duty, or practice austerities, we may do something even though its immediate result could be to bring us pain. We cannot make everyone in the world happy at the same time. No two people can agree on what is the greatest good for the greatest number, the goal of Utilitarianism. Swami Vivekananda pointed out that supposing a spiritual truth had no use, it would be no less true. Most of us measure the use of something by whether it brings us money. We all have different desires, and some may desire things that harm others. When we acquire spiritual knowledge, we will know what is really desirable, and what really brings pleasure. We may get more happiness by thinking of having an object than by actually having it. Freud thought that all of our actions aim towards satisfying the sex drive. Adler thought the ultimate aim was power. Jung thought the ultimate aim was self-expression. Vedanta feels that the ultimate aim is Oneness. Our ignorance is due to our delusion that I and the world are separate. We cannot really say where ‘I’ begins and the world ends, or vice versa. When we eradicate ignorance, we find we are One with the whole of existence. All pleasure is included in this Oneness, including the candy of the baby and the sex drive of Freud, yet in this state, there is no need for a reaction of repentance. In this Oneness, we have expressed ourselves to the utmost, and have all the power in the universe. In this state of Oneness, we become the ideal ethical person, because we do not hurt anyone. Nothing is more useful than this state of Oneness. To the extent that something leads to knowledge of Oneness, it is useful, and to the extent that it takes us away from this knowledge, it is not useful.

 

No Class on Tues. Jan. 01 - New Year’s Day