Newsletter October 12, 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

Attleboro Interfaith Meeting – Thu., Oct. 06

Swami Yogatmananda and two devotees, along with nine other interfaith members, attended/participated in the monthly ‘Attleboro-based’ interfaith meeting, this month conducted at Grace Episcopal Church, North Attleboro, to discuss: “How has your upbringing had an influence on how you live your life and what you do?”

Swami Swahananda's talk – Fri., Oct. 07

Swami Swahananda, head of Vedanta Society, Southern CA Hollywood, viewed the new construction and performed a short blessing-worship before a garlanded Sri Ramakrishna (large photo) before the 7:00 PM Aarati. Two devotional songs were sung in the new chapel area. About thirty devotees attended. He spoke at 7:30PM – see synopsis below.Click here to see photos

Moses Brown H.S classes visit Vedanta – Thu. Oct. 06 & Tue. Oct. 11

Two high school ‘religion’ classes (twelve and sixteen students respectively) and their teachers visited Providence Vedanta Chapel to learn about basic Hinduism and Vedanta from Swami Yogatmananda and to ask questions.

Weekly Classes

Bhagavad Gita class – Oct. 07, Friday

Instead of the regular class, Swami Swahananda, the head of the Vedanta Society of Hollywood, CA, spoke on Bhagavad Gita in general. Click here to see photos. The synopsis of his talk:

Gita is the most important book in Indian literature. It presents the harmonization of the various Yogas: karma, bhakti, jnana, and raja. A special feature of Swami Vivekananda’s thought is that the four yogas should be practiced in combination, so that the character does not become one-sided. Swami Swahananda emphasized that the practice of seva yoga, positive service done in the spirit of detachment, is a pillar of spiritual progress. Sri Ramakrishna believed renunciation to be the most important part of the Gita. Tyaga (detachment) is the basis of every relationship. This is where we can see renunciation in practical life. Our relationships may be based on the needs of body or, at a higher level, the mind, but we must raise these relationships to an even higher level and connect with others in a spirit of loving service and detachment, seeing them as manifestations of Brahman. He gave the example of a mother who renounces her own comfort for the sake of the child. To create and sustain peaceful surroundings within the home, and in society at large, we must practice renunciation and serve people in a spirit of unselfishness.

Waiting to Die by Swami Yogatmananda – Oct. 09, Sunday

We wait for many things in life. While waiting, we're aware that something is going to happen. We feel sure of life and keep fighting the idea of death, thoughts of which may seem inauspicious and pessimistic. In a sequence of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Dreams," the characters confront the inevitability of their deaths when the nuclear reactors explode. There is no way to escape, yet they feel compelled to run anyway. The scientist of the group tells the others, "Waiting to die is not living." The teachings of Vedanta bring insight to this statement. The key is to discriminate between the changing and unchanging aspects of human existence: Every moment brings change that indicates death, while the unchanging aspect (the elusive part of the person that always stays "the same") never dies. Swami Vivekananda once gave the young Duke of Richelieu the "Love of Death," which he explained to the confused young man meant that he would transcend the fear of death. As a soldier in WWII, the Duke witnessed many deaths and remembered Swami Vivekananda's words. Then later, he crossed paths with Swami Nikhilananda, as they were both traveling together by boat. The Duke told the Swami that throughout this experience, he had felt the sense of Eternal Life around him and that he indeed did not fear death. Dying to a life of the senses and of names and forms, the fear of death goes away, but if we are identified with the body, then we are certainly just "waiting to die." If we know that we are not the body, then death has no meaning for us. It is thus most important that we shift the focus of our awareness from that which is changing to that which is unchanging (God; the true Self). Then we truly have Eternal Life.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class – Oct. 11, Tuesday

Holy company is very important in spiritual life. It is a sure remedy to cure our attachment to the unreal and connect us to the Real. But the holy company is very rare to find, primarily for two reasons. 1. Such great and pure souls are rare. 2. Minds are not tuned to connect with them easily. While reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna one should try to feel that s/he is in the holy company of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna was talking about non-dual Vedanta. The question is commonly asked why do we see duality if the Reality is non-dual? Non-dual Vedanta explains this perception of duality as a mistaken perception. The intrinsic quality of Reality is permanence. Anything temporary, changing can not be real. Everything in the world is changing and hence unreal. It feels to be real as the Reality is just reflected there. One has to get convinced about this truth. There are many approaches (Non-dual, dualistic etc.) available to understand this. The major role of any approach is to reduce the ego so that one can go closer and closer to the Reality. Sri Ramakrishna says: to realize God, one has to go beyond reasoning. The complete focus should be on God without any disturbances in the awareness. At that stage the Atman can be realized. As the dross of ‘I and mine’ is removed what remains is pure Atman. The perception of this world is created by so many interferences in the awareness due to which we perceive the multiplicity. If one focuses on God alone s/he will see God alone. Sri Ramakrishna continues the conversation with younger Naren. He says mere vision of God is not enough. One has to go beyond and experience the divine presence everywhere. He describes some of His profound visions at Varanasi. He continues, “God alone has become all this, but He manifests Himself more in certain things than in others.” This idea is difficult to understand. If God is everywhere, why is there any difference in His manifestation? This will be discussed in the next class. This discussion was followed by many questions and answers.