Newsletter December 03, 2014

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Day-long retreat on Sat. Dec. 06, 10:00am – 7:00pm.
Sub:'Covering Everything with God' and 'Be a Witness' - by Swami Atmajnanananda (Vedanta Center, Wash. DC)

Reg. Fee $20.00 per person. Prior Reg. required. Register by mail or at the Vedanta Society or online. Click here to download reg. form or to register online.

 

Bhagavad Gita class, Middletown CT – Sun. Dec. 07 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Swami Yogatmananda will conduct the monthly Bhagavad Gita (Ch.17 cont.) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple (10 Training Hill Rd, Middletown, CT). All are welcome.

Children’s Sunday ‘Spiritual-Arts & Storytelling’ Class – Sun. Dec. 07, 4:00 – 6:00PM
The monthly ‘Just Children!’ program will meet from 4PM – 6PM in the children’s room.

Veena, Mridangam & Violin Concert – Sun. Dec. 07, 6:00 – 7:30PM
Durga Krishnan, primary disciple of lengendary veena player Dr. Chittibabu and degree holder of ‘Sangeetha Vidwan’ will perform Veena in Lower Level (LL) immediately following the 5 – 6PM Sunday lecture. Gaurishankar Chandrashekhar will accompany on Mridangam and Sri Surya Sundararajan on Violin. All welcome. Donations kindly accepted.
 
Sri Sarada Worship/Puja Day – Sun. Dec. 14
From 11AM to 7PM, there will be worship-puja; prasad luncheon; devotional singing-music; a video; multi-speaker symposium from 5PM – 6PM; and sankirtanam. All welcome to any or all programs.

 

NOTICES:

1) Sunday Morning Hatha Yoga: 10AM – 11AM - $5.00 walk-in; Contact Pat: pat.blake8-AT-gmail.com
2) Tuesday evening Hatha Yoga: 6:00PM – 7:00PM - $5.00 walk-in; Contact Hannah: key2Lyfe-AT-gmail.com 

3) Bharathnatyam Dance Classes – Sundays, 3:30 – 5:00 PM; Contact Anuradha: 704-707-5430

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Dec. 05	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Class #16 on ‘Bhakti Yoga’ (based on the book by Swami Vivekananda)
Saturday, Dec. 06	10:00 AM – 7:00 PM : Day-long Retreat; See info above.
Sunday, Dec. 07	5:00 – 6:00 PM: A talk - 'BE HAPPY' by Swami Atmajnanananda, Vedanta Center, Washington DC 6:00 – 7:30 PM: Veena Concert; See info above.
Tuesday, Dec. 09	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class on 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Ch 47, Pg 911

 

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

 

Past Events

1) Swami to Toronto, Canada – Sat. Nov. 29 – Mon. Dec. 01 
Swami Yogatmananda traveled to Toronto, Canada to  conduct a retreat on: 'Reincarnation' to about one-hundred devotees. On Sunday, swami delivered the lecture on: 'Doing Business' and conducted three other classes with children group; adolescent group and another adult group. Swami returned  to Providence late afternoon Monday.

2) On Sun. Nov. 30, The birth anniversary of Swami Premananda, direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed Sunday morning with a chant, and in the evening with a song, a biography reading and prasad.

3) Swami at local High School – Tues. Dec. 02
Swami participated, along with three other clergy of varied faiths, in four ‘round-table’ question sessions with students (five in each group), at Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School in ProvidenceRI from 9AM – 11AM. Each group will present their ‘findings-observations’ to each other’s group  next week.

Click here to see photos.

 

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

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

 

No Class was held on Friday, Nov. 28.

 

Shanti Ashrama: First Vedic Hermitage in America– a talk by Prof. Sukalyan Sengupta – Nov. 30, Sunday
The Shanti Ashrama was a pioneering experiment. Established in 1899-1900. Swami Vivekananda asked Swami Turiyananda, to come to the West. He at first declined because he led a wandering, contemplative life, and did not like to preach. One of Swami Abhedananda’s students, Miss Minnie C. Boock, offered 160 acres of land in the San Antonio valley, for a monastery, which was needed because people were taking monastic vows. Swami Vivekananda convinced a reluctant Turiyananda to go. He told him to (1) Forget India; (2) go to the land; (3) establish the center; (4) Mother will do the rest. The journey was very difficult and there were no amenities when they got there. The first meal they had was merely boiled rice and brown sugar. When Swami Turiyananda asked: “Mother, what have you done?”, devotee Agnes Stanley replied: “Have you lost faith in your Mother? She will make everything alright.” Swami Turiyananda encouraged the devotees to overcome body-consciousness by meditation. He advised the devotees: ''In matters of opinion, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand firm as a rock.'' When the devotees gossiped, he said: “Useless talk causes much trouble. . . Be curious only about Mother and how to love Her.” One day after meditation, Swami Turiyananda’s hand and arm swelled due to a bug bite. There was no doctor for miles around, but just then, a doctor happened to drop by, or he would have died. When the devotees did not want Swami Turiyananda to go back to India, he encouraged them to carry on, saying, “I have told you everything. I have kept nothing hidden from you.” He then went back to India and resumed his itinerant life. Today, the Shanti Ashrama is managed by the Vedanta Society of Northern California.

Study Class 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - Dec. 02, Tuesday
Dr. Sarkar had been visiting Sri Ramakrishna for a little while now and his thoughts were evolving higher. The expression of his spiritual quest was in his rebellious questions. Different people approach God differently based on their nature. However, as time passes their ideas evolve towards higher truths and they voluntarily renounce lower truths. The culmination of all knowledge is when the distinction between subject and object is eliminated.

Sri Ramakrishna uses the term “Vijnana” to express this intimate experience of the Truth. Normally we don’t see God, who is real, but only see the variety in the world that is not real. Perception of variety is actually due to ignorance. In ignorance, impermanent appears as permanent, non-existent thing appears as existent - we attach reality only to the waves but not the underlying ocean. Slowly our experiences from impermanent objects and relationships and futility of our attempts to seek happiness from them make us question their reality. We seek to determine the underlying unity behind the variety. We then get convinced about the reality of the ocean and transitory-ness of the waves – the variety in the world. But, it is not yet a matter of experience. That’s why we continue to get attached to transitory things like body, relationships etc. even though we are intellectually convinced that they are impermanent. “Vijnana” is the state of intimate experience where the underlying unity is seen as a matter of fact. No more cogitation and convincing is required – it is now a matter of experience that is infallible. Once this experience dawns then no attachment to impermanent things is possible.