Newsletter February 13, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Salutations! – Thurs. Feb. 14

On Thursday, February 14, the birth anniversary of Swami Trigunatitananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, will be observed with a morning chant, and in the evening with a song, reading of his biography and prasad.

 

Monthly announcement of CT Class schedule change:

The Middletown CT monthly Bhagavada Gita class (at Sri Satyanarayana Temple) will be conducted on Sun. Feb 24 (regular 10:30AM time) instead of Sun. Feb 17 listed in the monthly announcement.

 

Vedanta Society Blog

The blog of Vedanta Society has interesting posts and comments. All are invited to post and comment on this blog. Please read here the rules and regulations for this blog.

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Feb. 15	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Class on Bhagavad Gita Ch. 17
Saturday, Feb. 16	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00am – 12 noon: Guided meditation and singing 7:00PM – 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing two devotional songs, a reading and meditation)
Sunday, Feb. 17	5:00 – 6:00 PM: ‘Putting Everything on the Altar’ by Swami Yogatmananda 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM: Aarati (devotional music) and meditation
Tuesday, Feb. 19	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Ch. 45, p. 850

 

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 – 8:15 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

On Tuesday, February 12, the birth anniversary of Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed with a morning chant, and in the evening with a song, reading of his biography and prasad.

 

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

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

 

NO BHAGAVAD GITA class was held on Friday, Feb. 08 due to snow blizzard.

 

Kingdom of Heaven – Sunday, Feb. 10

Kingdom of Heaven (=Kingdom of God), is where/when all contradictions are resolved. In the New Testament, Matthew alone uses the phrase ‘Kingdom of Heaven’; Jesus’ other disciples used ‘Kingdom of God’, both of which mean the abode of God, an internalized state of everlasting peace and bliss that evokes being with God.  The phrase ‘repent ye’ refers to the changing of one’s ways; it is not about bemoaning sins, wailing, crying, brooding, etc. For, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; one just needs to begin the inward journey. In Bhagavad Gita, ‘vi-yogam’ means to become disconnected from worldly/ earthly pleasure and attachments. One’s mind always lies with what one considers their ‘most-valued treasures: career; spouse; children & relatives; politics; personal ideas; vacations; hobbies, etc. By running after earthly desires, one can never fulfill those desires; nor become one with God-Truth. If one strives for God-Truth, then, with Heavenly Fulfillment, one becomes Complete (no need for earthly desires). One can never catch a shadow-(impermanence). ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ means eradicating the ego, which is the main cause of one’s separation from Reality. Even beseeching prayers are not a guarantee into ‘Kingdom of God’; but one who Does the Will of the Lord shall be with and within the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.  Follow qualified saints & sages and receive inspiration from their scriptures and holy messages.

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – Tuesday, Feb. 12

Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar used to get updates about the Master's health from M every day. At that time they used to discuss about the spiritual message given by the Master. On one such occasion, M happened to read a book in Dr Sarkar’s library by Sir Humphry Davy- a renowned scientist, where he mentioned the necessity of Divine Incarnations. Divine incarnations are necessary to help human beings understand the Divine Truth. Otherwise it is difficult for the human mind to comprehend the idea of infinite, ever pure and ever perfect God. The Divine truth gets appreciated by human beings only when it is presented as human truth. It is also mentioned in that book that real knowledge is faith. Master was very happy to hear these things.
After that M told the Doctor about Master's thoughts about doing good to the world. Aspirants who become restless for the divine realization find such things like doing good to the world, secondary. They would like to devote all their time and energy for God realization. Life is very short and uncertain. Hence it is important to prioritize and put all the energy and efforts to achieve the true goal of life.
Master asked M what else did he discuss with the doctor. M talked about the Master's comment to Girish – “ the doctor has not been able to surpass you."  Girish Ghosh was a well known and influential personality in Calcutta due to his work and knowledge in the field of theater. He declared Sri Ramakrishna as an Incarnation of God. Dr. Sarkar was also keenly interested in Girish. Still it took him some time to digest the fact proclaimed by Girish that Master was a divine incarnation. Due to the grace of the Master his personality was transformed gradually.