Newsletter October 05, 2011

The New Chapel construction work is progressing well as per plans. The major outer wall-work is finished and internal walls are getting done now. The electrical connections, plumbing work, the installation of door and window frames, the elevator and ducts for heating & cooling system is in progress. Click here to see New Construction - Updates and Photos.

Past Events

Durga Puja at Brown University – Sat., Oct. 01

Swami Yogatmananda guided a Durga Puja/worship for about 22 Hindu Student Association students who gathered for worship, devotional singing and Prasad on Saturday evening Oct. 01 from 8 – 9:00PM.

Sri Durga Worship Day – Sun., Oct. 02

Sri Durga Puja was conducted from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Sunday, October 02 at Vedanta Society in Providence. More than 70 devotees attended/participated in the ritual puja; about 35 attended each of the remaining programs of the day. The DVD entitiled ‘Belur Math: The Heart of Ramakrishna Movement’ was viewed, and ‘Mahisasura Mardini Stotram was chanted at Aarati time. Prasad dinner concluded the worshipful day. Click here to see photos.

Weekly Classes

Bhagavad Gita class – Sep. 30, Friday

In the previous class we attempted to understand the magnitude and intensity of the radiance of Arjuna’s divine vision of Lord Krishna. In order to mentally withstand this vision, Arjuna must rely both on the grace of God and the mental strength he has cultivated. Eventually, however, the intensity of his perception becomes difficult for him to withstand. Just as an electric wire is able to carry only a certain amount of electrical current depending upon its size and quality, so are our minds able to withstand only a limited current of spiritual energy. In time, Arjuna’s vision of Sri Krishna overwhelms and terrifies him. Because we are attached to our sense of “I and mine,” the vision of Reality, in which I and mine are impermanent, is terrifying. Many of us are too frightened to give up our comfortable, false conception of reality in exchange for what is Real, because in doing so we are forced to acknowledge our own impermanence. But whether we choose to accept it or not, that which we call living is an inevitable march towards death. Arjuna acknowledges this when, in his vision, he sees his fellow warriors rushing headlong towards death, into the frightening, tooth-filled mouth of the Lord. There is only one way to escape the inevitability of death; that is for us to wake up to what is Real, to identify ourselves not with the body and little ego, but with Existence itself. With firm footing in Reality, we will have no fear of death or of anything else.

Four Famous Hymns to Durga by Swami Yogatmananda – Oct. 02, Sunday

Mother Durga, protector and guide, is difficult to attain, but one must do so to reach the goal of life. The significance of Divine Mother is expressed in Chandi, Durga Saptashati, the 700 verses that are read throughout the nine days of her special manifestation. Many of these verses convey sublime, penetrative, and effective stories about Divine Mother, bringing out the devotional aspect. Four prayers/hymns in Chandi are regarded as especially important. Divine Mother, in the first hymn, is the ‘Yoga-sleep’ of Lord Vishnu. Brahma is being pursued by two demons (representing ignorance) and extols the Queen of the Cosmos (in the form of Vishnu's sleep) to help him. Lord Vishnu awakens and, fighting for 5,000 years with the demons, ultimately kills them, when they tell him to ask for a boon and he asks for their death. This symbolically expresses that no mercy should be shown to ignorance (ego). In the second hymn, a buffalo-shaped demon Mahishasura becomes very powerful and takes all of the demigods' possessions. The demigods then start praying to Divine Mother, giving their powers to her, asking for Mahishasura's defeat, which she accomplishes as Mahishasura Mardini and then they praise her. The hymn represents how even when one prays to remove obstacles to enjoyment, awakening gradually comes through the acceptance of a Divine Power. In the third prayer, demons (Sumbha and Nisumbha) are once again bothering the gods, who appeal to Divine Mother to help them, by saluting her and praising her as the power that resides in every being in the forms of sleep, hunger, intellect, and energy. The fourth prayer is a special hymn to Mother Durga after she has helped the gods kill the demons. Many pray earnestly when in the midst of fear and trouble, but abandon their earnestness once the calamity is over. This hymn conveys that it is important to remember Divine Mother with gratitude all the time, and not just in times of trouble.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class – Oct. 04, Tuesday

According to Sri Ramakrishna, ignorance causes us to draw a line between “I” and “the world,” when, in fact, such a line does not exist. There is only the One Reality; all names and forms come and go and are but manifestations of that all-pervading Reality, which is God. This truth is difficult to grasp, but meditating upon this idea will help it to become increasingly firm in our awareness. As awareness of Reality grows ever-stronger in our minds, our lives will become more based on Reality rather than on appearance. Thus, instead of only getting the appearance of happiness, we will attain happiness itself. Vijnanis are those who experience this Reality, whose lives are enriched by absorbing and putting this truth into practice. They see the forms of the world as part of a passing show and do not associate them with what is Real. Vijnanis accept both the conception of a personal God (with form) and an impersonal God (without form). Only an infinitesimally small number of people can imagine God without form. Ramakrishna makes it clear that in order to reach the Absolute, we must go beyond forms. We must enter the state of Samadhi, in which the instruments of the body and mind, mired in subjectivity, are left behind. This is the state in which we experience objective knowledge.