Newsletter April 16, 2014

 

 

Newsletter Archives

 

 

SPECIAL MUSICAL EVENT in MAY

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

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Day-Long Spiritual Retreat - Sat. April 26, 9:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Subject: ‘Let us be Spiritual’

Speaker: Swami Ishatmananda, Minister-in-charge, Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago

Prior registration required. Registration fee: $20.00 per person (Online Registration: $21.00 per person).

Click here for more information and to register online. (Schedule subject to change)

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Ongoing Weekly Classes

Walk-in Hatha Yoga – Sundays, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
Hatha Yoga classes are being conducted on Sundays, from 10:00 – 11:00 AM, in the Lower Level (LL), by a Vedanta devotee. Walk-in rate is $5.00 per class. For details, contact Pat only at:  pat.blake8-AT-gmail

Sanskrit Class – Sundays, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Sanskrit class resumes Sunday, April 20 from 3:00 – 4:00 PM, taught by Deepro Chakraborty, a Sanskrit-Studies PhD student from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a Sanskrit instructor at St Stephens College, New Delhi

 

Bharathnatyam Dance Classes – Sundays, 3:30 – 5:00 PM
To learn traditional South Indian Classical dance (age 5 thru adulthood), taught by classical dancer Anuradha, please call her only at 704-707-5430 for complete information

 

Sitar and Tabla lessons – Sundays, 4:00 – 5:00 PM
To learn to play beginner’s level sitar or tabla, taught by Koyel Ghoshal, please contact her only at koyelg-AT-yahoo.com

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, April 18	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class on ‘GOOD FRIDAY’
Saturday, April 19	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00 AM – 12 Noon: Guided meditation and singing   7:00PM Aarati (devotional singing, a reading and meditation)
Sunday, April 20	5:00 – 6:00 PM: ‘Frame and the Picture’ Swami Yogatmananda 6:00PM – 7:00PM - Soup Supper 7:00PM – 8:00PM – Aarati (singing two devotional songs, a short reading and meditation)
Tuesday, April 22	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Vedanta Study Class on the book, 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,' Ch. 47, pg 894 onwards

 

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. 4' 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 Brahmananda: As We Saw Him: Reminiscences of Monastic & Lay Disciples' (compiled/edited by Swami Atmashraddhananda) 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation

 

Check out some of the archived Sunday Lectures (from Jan. & Feb. 2014) on our website:

http://vedantaprov.org/lectures.html

 

Past Events

Visiting Swami Spoke - Thur. April 10
The head of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta Center, NYC, Swami Yuktatmananda, spoke on ‘Imperatives from the Bhagavad Gita’ on Thur. April 10 from 7:15 – 8:30 PM to about twenty-three devotees.

Click here for photos of the event

 

Swami travels – Sat. April 12 - 14
Swami traveled to Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC, Sat. morning, April 12, and conducted a retreat that day on ‘Kena Upanishad’ to about sixty devotees. He delivered the Sunday morning Lecture on ‘Advent of Rama’ to about one hundred twenty devotees, and participated in their Foundation Day Ceremony, with about one hundred twenty attendees. Swami returned Tuesday morning.

Walk-in Hatha Yoga – Sun. April 13
Five students attended the Hatha Yoga class from 10:00 – 11:00 AM, conducted in the Lower Level (LL), by a Vedanta devotee.

 

Sanskrit Class - Sun. April 13
Sanskrit class was cancelled; will resume Sunday, April 20.

 

Bharathnatyam Dance Class – Sun. April 13
Four dance students attended dance class taught by Anuradha from 3:30 – 5:00 PM.

 

Tabla-Sitar Class – Sun. April 13
Three students so far are being taught beginner tabla by Koyel from 4:00 – 5:00 PM. 

 

Click here for some past event photos

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 - April 11, Friday

(Last Class)

The ideal of karma yoga is not to effect change on the world, but rather to realize our true divine nature and know that the world is illusory and unreal.  Human beings have an innate desire for equality and equilibrium in the face of nature, which we perceive as chaotic.  Swami Vivekananda explains that life is the struggle of human beings to manifest themselves against the forces of nature.  We struggle to exert our will on the world around us; we want to bring order to the chaos presented to us by nature.  Inequality is necessary for creation itself, and the desire for equality is also necessary.  The conflict between these two creates the force which causes humans to act.  Swamiji calls this “wheel within a wheel” (inequality/equality) a “terrible mechanism.”  The goal of life, spiritual liberation, allows us to get out of this “wheel within a wheel.”  Our thirst for equality will actually come to fruition when we experience spiritual realization and grasp the truth that everything is one with God, that all of existence is the same, equal.  The sage doesn’t feel the need to make things equal, to exert his will on nature and try to control it, because he sees that everything is intrinsically equal.  Without having to struggle in this way, this person is never really “working,” but is always at rest.  He is a yogi, a liberated person.  The science of karma yoga presents us with a clear path to spiritual realization and to this experience of equality: unselfish work.  Whenever we perform a good work (one without an ulterior motive), it breaks one of the existing links of the chains that binds us.  Unselfish action by unselfish action, link by link, we are certain to reach our goal of spiritual realization. 

 

'Rama-Lakshmana Dialogue'– Prof Sukalyan Sengupta , UMASS Dartmouth - April 13, Sunday

(Before the talk, Anuradha Tata danced the Paluke Bangaramyena (a prayer to Sri Rama), and Koyel Ghosal played a piece on the Sitar)

Avatars come to set an example so we won’t lower our ideal. Rama was the ideal son, brother, husband, and king. He filled such roles without losing his sense of divinity, and we can too. Avatars show how we should not conflate love with attachment. In the Ramcharitmanas, Lakshmana asks Lord Rama to instruct him on how to adore God to the exclusion of all else. One must be fully surrendered to the Lord to be prepared to ask a question. Lakshmana then asks to know the difference between God (Isvara) and the individual soul (jiva). Lord Rama replies that I and mine, and you and yours is maya. Vedanta states that what is processed through the senses is not real, because the senses themselves are limited. The real is the eternal. Sri Ramakrishna said that we have to overcome maya by transforming avidya maya (ignorance) with vidya maya (knowledge), and then get rid of both. Lord Rama explained the nine-fold path of bhakti yoga. A story was told of an uncultured man who resisted hearing of Rama, but then was elevated when he finally paid attention to the play featuring Rama. In the Adhyatma Ramayana, Lord Rama says that the Paramatman is the object of the quest. The illusion of I and the world creates fear in the cycle of birth and death, because I can be threatened by the world. Fearlessness leads to liberation when we know we are not a limited identity.

Click here for photos of above event

 

'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' Class – April 15, Tuesday
Master, Dr. Sarkar and Girish were having an intense conversation about free will and the Will of God. Dr. Sarkar had a firm conviction that free will exists and each individual can make his/her own choices regarding the thoughts and the actions. Whereas Girish and Master were explaining him how we all are controlled by the will of God. Even when we think that our decisions are made on the basis of free will, on further introspection it is discovered that we are compelled to think or act the way we are. These compelling or dragging emotions drive all our actions and not the free will. Even in case of duty, one is undertaking the duties because he/she feels happy after responsible completion of these. The drive behind every action is the desire for happiness. An ignorant person will think that he is the doer of every action but a realized soul knows that God alone exists and He makes one do things. Due to ignorance, one feels the separation between I and the world. There are two paths, in front of such a person - right and wrong.  The right path - Vidyamaya is governed by knowledge that God alone is real. There is other path which apparently looks very pleasant but not necessarily right. When the tendency for happiness overrides the idea of knowledge it is called Avidyamaya. A person who has realized God, he is beyond both knowledge and ignorance. He is completely free but has no will. He sees that God alone is the doer and he is an instrument at His hands. The individual awareness has been completely merged in the Supreme awareness and hence there is no will. Dr. Sarkar was still not convinced that there is no free will as such. This conversation continues amongst the devotees and the Master.