Newsletter December 18, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

 

Sri Sarada Devi Puja/Worship Day – Sun. Dec. 22, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
11:00AM – 1:00PM: Sarada Devi Puja - Ritual Worship
1-2:00PM: Prasad luncheon
2:30 – 3:30PM: Video on Holy Mother
4:00 -4:45PM: Devotional Music
5:00 – 6:00 PM: Three-speaker Symposium on Sri Sarada Devi
6:00 – 7:00 PM:  Aarati, Chanting Sankirtanam & Prasad Supper
All are welcome to any/ all programs.  No entry fee.

 

Christmas Eve - Tues. Dec. 24
From 7:00 to 8:30 PM, Christmas Eve will be celebrated with mini worship of Jesus followed by readings, music, contemplation and prasad offerings. All are Welcome.

On Christmas Day, Dec. 25, morning meditation and evening Aarati programs continue as usual.

 

New on our blog, an interesting post on renunciation:

http://vedantaprovidence.blogspot.com/2013/12/spiritual-self-mutilation.html

There have been several engaging discussions about the posts on our blog lately. All are welcome to participate in the discussions; please see our blog for info on how to participate.

 

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Dec. 20	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Vedanta Study Class on ‘Karma Yoga’ by Swami Vivekananda
Saturday, Dec. 21	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00 AM – 12 noon: Guided meditation and singing 7:00 – 8:00 PM: Aarati (devotional singing), a short reading and meditation
Sunday, Dec. 22	11:00 AM - 7:00 PM: Sri Sarada Devi Puja Celebration; See details above
Tuesday, Dec. 24	7:00 PM - 8:30 PM: Christmas Eve Program

 

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 ‘SRI SARADA DEVI: the GREAT WONDER’ 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

 

1) On Thurs. Dec. 12, Swami  Yogatmananda spoke  about ‘care-giving, dying & death’ to about twenty sociology students at  New Bedford (MA) Community College. 
2) From Sat. Dec. 14 till Wed. Dec. 18, Swami Yogatmananda  traveled to Puerto Rico & Florida. He conducted a retreat and delivered talks at the  Puerto Rico Center Sunday and Monday, and returned  late evening, Dec. 18.

3) On Sat. Dec. 14, despite impending inclement weather, seven devotees participated  in the third 'Long Meditation Session' in the chapel from 12 noon until 8:00 PM.

 

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 - Dec. 13, Friday

We have so many works to do in life; which of these is really “our duty?” Defining “duty” is very difficult.  It’s a universal term, but is impossible to define objectively.  The general sense we have is that if something is our duty, we feel we must do it regardless of whether we enjoy it or not.  Swami Vivekananda explains that that which takes us “God-ward” is our duty.  This could be different according to the dictates of our conscience, which is shaped by our cultural or religious backgrounds, by our unique psychological dispositions, and by the structures of the society in which we live.  The simplest way to determine our duty is through our conscience.  We will feel good when performing our duty, like we’re “on the right track.”  If we shirk our duty, our conscience will let us know.  It is natural for us to not only use our conscience to judge our own works, but to also look at others and wonder, “Are they doing their duty?”  It is imperative that we are aware of how our personal prejudices color the way we see the actions of others.  We naturally feel that we are right and others are wrong; that we are performing our duty and others are failing to do so.  But because each individual’s conscience is informed by his or her unique set of influences (personality, upbringing, societal norms, etc.), we must learn to judge the actions of others by taking their perspectives.  Ultimately, however, we must bear in mind that duty is only a stepping stone by which we can free ourselves of duty altogether.  Even though it’s a useful tool, duty itself is a terrible bondage. It may be hard for us to fathom that there will come a time to put aside our duties.  We will explore this idea further in the next class.

 

‘ADVENT- URE’ - a talk by Chet Boncek – Dec 15, Sunday
Advent is the time of waiting for the day of the birth of Jesus, for Jesus’ presence today, and for the final coming of Jesus. It is a time of prayer, fasting, and repentance. Jesus is seen as a savior and judge. After the fasting of Advent, comes a period of joy. The early Christians expected Jesus to come back in one generation. Since then, there have been various prophecies concerning Jesus’ return. One point of view is that the date is not known, so we must be ready at all times. The mystic and esoteric view is that the cosmic Christ is within, so that the true second coming is an internal experience. This tallies with the Hindu view of Christ as an avatar, of whom people have an inner experience. The Romans used the church to control the population, and they called the gospels they rejected heretical. The Gnostic gospels were rediscovered in 1945. The Gospel of Thomas states that hidden knowledge needs to be revealed. Sri Ramakrishna reacted to seeing a picture of Jesus by becoming engrossed in Christianity for three days, after which a godman that he knew to be Jesus, embraced him and merged into him. The Lord will come when we least expect Him, so we need to be ready at all times.

 

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class: a talk by Abhijit Sarcar,  based on the book: 'Mahendra Nath Gupta (M)'  by Swami Chetanananda - Dec. 17, Tuesday
Abhijeet presented a slide show with an informative commentary on M’s life, his first meeting with the Master and the conversations with Master which are recorded in the Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna.
Mahendranath Gupta born  in 1854 in Calcutta. He spent most of his life in northern part of Calcutta. He was very intelligent and an avid reader. Along with the intellect he was also blessed with the soft heart with which he could appreciate poetry and literature. Master had a vision about him in which he saw M as one of the companions of Sri Chaitanya, in his past life. 
In his youth, he was drawn towards influential people like Keshab Sen and Michel Madhusudan Dutta. He had a very high opinion particularly about Keshab Sen. He got married at the age of 19 to Nikunjadevi, who was a niece of Keshab Sen. He had an ambition of travelling to UK to get his degree in Law but due to financial difficulties he could not do so and accepted a  job of a School Principal.
He took up a job in Calcutta in Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar's school. During that time he lost his mother and faced many challenges at family level. Getting disgusted by these family matters, he almost decided to commit suicide. In that depressed mood he visited the Dakshineshwar temple garden of Rani Rasmani. That was his first visit to Dakshineshwar and first time to meet the Master. This meeting proved to be a turning point in M's life.
On his second visit to Dakshineshwar, he received strong blows from the Master to remove his ego. After this visit M never argued with the Master. He kept on visiting Master compelled by the divine love he experienced in His holy company. He often spent his weekends and any long vacations in the holy company of Sri Ramakrishna. All the conversations which are recorded in Gospel are the outcome of his short notes taken at these times.
After Master left his body, M started a school in Calcutta. he used to stay in the same building. This is the place where he has recorded the holy book - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by meditating for hours together on the excerpts of Master’s conversations.