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Have a Question ?
If you have questions regarding spiritual life, Vedanta, Hinduism etc, you can email us at answers ATvedantaprov.org
Newsletter December 04, 2013
Upcoming Events
Day-long Spiritual Retreat - Sat. Dec. 07, 9:30AM - 7:00PM
Sub: Towards The Goal Supreme
Speaker: Swami Kripamayananda, Vedanta Society, Toronto, Canada
Prior registration required. Registration Fee - $20.00 per person; For online registration - $21.00 per person
Click here for more information and to register online. (Schedule subject to change)
Bhagavad Gita class at Middletown, CT – Sun. Dec. 08
Swami Yogatmananda will conduct the monthly Bhagavad Gita (Ch.14 cont.) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple (10 Training Hill Rd, (Middletown, CT) from 10:30-11:30 AM. All are welcome.
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, Dec. 06 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Vedanta Study Class on ‘Karma Yoga’ by Swami Vivekananda |
| Saturday, Dec. 07 | 9:30 AM – 6:00PM: DAY-LONG RETREAT |
| Sunday, Dec. 08 |
10:00-11:00 AM: Walk in Hatha Yoga Class 3:00 – 4:00 PM: Sanskrit class |
| Tuesday, Dec. 10 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: study class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Ch. 45, pg 869(cont.) |
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, Vol. 3 7:00 – 7:25AM – A short ritual worship/Puja. Open to all. |
| 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
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
KARMA YOGA (based on the book by Swami Vivekananda) class - Nov. 29, Friday
Without understanding the secret of work, we are easily bound by the impressions created by works. The secret lies in cultivating detachment from our actions and their results. An intermediate step in becoming detached is to form “good bondage,” which takes the place of “bad bondage.” If we start doing good to others, our evil tendencies will gradually give way to positive tendencies. However, we must not get “stuck” at this level; there is a still higher state to achieve, the state of liberation. In the example of the thorns, when the painful thorn has been removed, both thorns are thrown away because both are no longer needed. In the same way, we must eventually give up both the “good” and “bad” forms of bondage. Our spiritual ideal of self-realization is more than just, “Be good, do good.” The spiritual ideal is the go beyond, to realize the true Self. Swami Vivekananda said “by work alone” we can achieve realization like that experienced by great souls like Buddha or Jesus. This emphasizes the efficacy of work and assures us that, even if we are practicing no other spiritual disciplines but are working in the right fashion, we can achieve liberation. Swamiji explains that in order to work in a detached way, we must learn to use our senses and mind as doors and not as holes. That is, we must develop control over what thoughts and impressions we allow to enter our senses and mind. No thoughts should be able to seep into our minds without our knowing consent. This (and not insensitivity) is what is meant by becoming unattached. Let us not be slaves and work to free ourselves using this great science of karma yoga!
‘Discovering Equality' – Dec 01, Sunday
Equality is one of our most prominent urges. The Declaration of Independence says that it is self-evident that all men are created equal. Yet there is a countervailing urge in which we feel that we are superior to others. In socialism, economic equality is the goal because people like Karl Marx believed that money has the most power and thus equal distribution of money will bring equality. That theory obviously did not succeed because of the overemphasis on money and disregarding other aspects of human endeavor.
We are not equal in our bodies or minds. So as we transcend physical and intellectual differences, we are all equal in our essence. The Bhagavad Gita says that Yoga is to see the sameness in everyone. The same divine essence is in a human, an animal, a plant, and an inanimate object, so all are of equal worth. On the level of names and forms, we are not equal, and appearances are to be respected at the level of appearances. The idea that all are equal but I am special is hard to shake off. The feeling of superiority goes away when we see that I am divine, God Himself, or the Supreme. Then, there is no conflict with equality, because each soul is equally divine. Religious figures as diverse as Ibn Arabi and the Buddha have taught this equality in the divine and all religions help to teach this.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class - Dec. 03, Tuesday
In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, M has recorded all the conversations with Master without any alterations. This book is a result of M’s deep contemplative recording of Master’s message. If we concentrate on these conversations and meditate on the message given, we can feel the connection with Sri Ramakrishna even today.
One message which has been repeatedly given in this book is:- God realization is the goal of human life. When one properly understands this and is convinced of its truth, then his/her life is transformed. God realization becomes the topmost priority in life. Such transformation can be witnessed in Dr. Sarkar's life who was Sri Ramakrishna's physician. M was appointed to give Dr. Sarkar, updates about Master's health every day. On one such visit, during the conversations, Dr. Sarkar was condemning strongly the idea of Incarnation of God. He, due to his strong scientific orientation, could not comprehend the idea of Incarnation of God. Master has said to him - "Your 'science' does not speak of God's Incarnation; therefore you say that God cannot incarnate Himself as man."
We are so deluded by the sense perception, that we can’t perceive anything beyond the scope of our sense organs. We do not believe in facts unless we can verify them with our senses and hence straightaway reject them. We blindly believe in our sense perceptions without asking for any credentials even after being cheated by those perceptions from time to time. Most of scientific facts are believed in without any refutations. But when it comes to existence of God we look for credentials/evidence. Master has ridiculed this tendency of so called learned people by saying – “a certain man who refused to believe that a house had collapsed, because it was not published in the newspapers!"