Newsletter April 03, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Swami's Programs on Sunday, Apr. 07

1) Swami will deliver a talk on ‘Vedantic Mysticism’  for the Swedenborg Theological Church, located at Bridgewater New Jerusleum Church, 2 Bedford St, Bridgewater, MA from 12 Noon – 2:00 PM.

2) In the afternoon, at Vedanta society, from 4:00PM – 4:45 PM, Swami will discuss basic Hinduism and Vedanta to a group of students from the Unitarian Church, Fairhaven, MA.

 

Special Lecture - Wed. Apr. 17, 7:15 - 8:30 PM

As part of the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebration of Swami Vivekananda, Philip Goldberg, the Celebrated Author of 'American Veda' will speak on - 'What Does Vivekananda Mean to America'

Author will sign the books at the end of the lecture. ALL ARE INVITED

Click here to see the poster of this event.

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Apr 05	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: : Bhagavad Gita class, Ch. 18
Saturday, Apr 06	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00am – 12 noon: Guided meditation and singing 7:00PM – 8:00 PM: Aarati (devotional singing, a reading and meditation)
Sunday, Apr 07	5:00–6:00 PM: 'That Happens Only in the Movies', by Swami Yogatmananda 6:00PM – 7:00PM: Soup Supper 7:00 – 8:00PM – Aarati (devotional singing) a reading and meditatione.
Tuesday, April 09	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Ch. 45, p. 854

 

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’' 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

Day-long Retreat – Sat. Mar. 30

About Sixty devotees attended this fortieth day-long retreat held at Vedanta Society. Swami Yogatmananda  delivered two discourses on: Songs of the Self’, using hymns & poems such as Ambhrani's Devi Sukta (a hymn from the Rigveda), a few verses from Bhagavad Gita, poems by Swami Vivekanand & Walt Whitman etc.
The retreat consisted of guided meditation, devotional singing, a tai-chi/yoga break, meals, a Question-Answer session, chanting of Sri Ramnam and Aarati.

 

Classical Violin Concert – Sun. March 31
Pundit Praveen Sheolikar, violin maestro of Classical Indian Music, performed from 6 PM – 7:30 PM, immediately after the Sunday Easter Service Lecture. Amit Kavthekar accompanied on Tabla. About fifty people attended.

Click to see photos of above events.

 

Bhagavad Gita class at Middletown, CT – Sunday, March 31
Swami Yogatmananda  conducted  the monthly Bhagavad Gita class (Ch.13 continued) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple (Middletown, CT) from 10:30-11:30 AM to about twenty devotees.

 

RI Voices of Faith - Wed. Apr. 03

Swami Yogatmananda participated in RI Voices of Faith from 8:30 - 11:30 AM discussing various topics related to interfaith work.

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

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

 

Bhagavad Gita class – March 29, Friday

Ch. 18: Verses 6-9: Arjuna’s leaning towards the external life of a monk is against his constitution and so Lord Krishna is imprinting the importance of giving up the fruits of action, while doing all the right and necessary actions dutifully. Krishna explains that the giving up of actions is of three types according to the constitution of the aspirant. Krishna then advises us to first give up the idea of not doing work: sacrifice, giving gifts, and austerity are three essential activities that are the hallmarks of a human life and are the basic tools by which we can purify ourselves, and therefore must be performed. While we perform these works, we must avoid getting caught in the work by giving up attachment and the fruits of the actions.  If we perform the correct actions with the right awareness, these actions become the means of our liberation. Krishna warns us not to give up the work which we are obligated to do; otherwise, we will be inadvertently giving up the very work which serves as the means of our liberation.  He also warns us not to give up work out of fear of troubles that may arise; to do so would mean to give up an opportunity that would help us evolve spiritually. By performing our work with detachment, giving up attachment and the desire for results, our work will help us progress towards our true goal in life, the realization of the Self.

 

Easter Service: The Parting Message of Jesus - Mar 31, Sunday

The message of an Incarnation of God being crucified and then resurrected is a great message for humankind. Jesus being seen by his followers after the crucifixion led to immense faith in divinity and has been a vehicle for the spread of Christianity. Jesus died not cursing his persecutors, but praying for them, because he knew they were doing it out of ignorance. We all pray for eternal life, and this must come from the spirit, and not the flesh, in which change and death are inevitable. We are all “on a cross” from our birth, because the moment we are born, we are heading towards death. We must rise above attachment to the flesh. We may think of heaven as having more intense pleasures than life on earth, but we are really taught that heaven is where we are in the spirit, and in God. Many want a life of both the spirit and the flesh, and just believing that Jesus died for you, but this is not the reality of the lives of Christian saints. Jesus pointed out that there is no compromise between the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. The attachment to the flesh must go because there is no enjoyment in it. We find happiness by letting the changing phenomena be crucified. We must ask whether the crucifixion and resurrection match what Jesus said earlier. He said not to lay your treasures down here, but to lay them up in heaven, which indicates that the crucifixion and resurrection apply to all of us. We crave for oneness that is the source of happiness, knowledge, peace, and true existence. Swami Akhilananda wrote about Jesus, saying that to think about death is not pessimistic, for when we are illumined, ignorance will vanish and then there will be no death. We have to be crucified in flesh and resurrected in spirit. This is the parting message of Jesus.

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – Apr 02, Tuesday

Dr. Sarkar used to strongly believe in logical reasoning and he was trying to use the same tool in spiritual matters too. Master was trying to fulfill the doctor's inquisitiveness in the manner he would like, as spiritual wisdom does not contradict reason. Master started to explain him the concept of divine incarnation through reasoning. Master said " according to the jnani - the person of ultimate knowledge, there is no incarnation of God." For others who do not have complete knowledge about the God, there are many incarnations in various forms. As a person evolves in his/her spiritual understanding the God is seen with lesser attributes, till at last he sees only Light and nothing else.
As per the Vedantic reasoning too, if one tries to analyze this existence, he/she will come to know that Brahman alone is real and the world is unreal. There are times when we all get a glimpse of this truth but the impact of ignorance is so powerful that we again plunge into the world. Master compared it with the after effects of a dream. Even though one realizes that the dream is unreal, it takes a while to come out of its impacts. Hence Vedanta takes the approach of 'Neti, Neti - not this, not this' to explain the true nature of Divine. Doctor was impressed with such logical explanation. He used to come to Master to see Him and to learn such wisdom from Him.

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