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If you have questions regarding spiritual life, Vedanta, Hinduism etc, you can email us at answers ATvedantaprov.org
Newsletter March 04, 2015
Upcoming Events
Swami to Indianapolis, IN – March 07 - 08
Swami Yogatmananda will travel to Indianapolis, IN early Saturday March 07 to conduct a retreat in the Indianapolis Hindu Temple; and will also deliver Vedanta lectures on Sunday. Swami will return late Sunday evening.
Day-long Meditation - Sat. March. 07, 12noon – 8:00PM
The monthly 'Day-long Meditation Session' begins at 12noon, immediately after the 11am – 12noon ‘guided meditation & chant-singing hour’. Please be IN the building before 12 noon, as entries will be closed. Doors open again at 6:30 for 7pm – 8pm Aarati. All welcome to participate.
Simple Vegetarian lunch will be provided.
Daylight Savings Time - Sunday, March 08, 2:00 AM
Turn Clock-Times AHEAD 1 hour Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Children’s Sunday 'Spiritual-Arts & Storytelling' Class – Sun. March 08, 4:00 – 6:00PM
The monthly ‘Just Children!’ program for children from ages five (5) to twelve (12) only, will meet from 4PM – 6PM in the children’s room under the guidance of Prof. Dorothy Abram. Please direct queries to: Dorothy.Abram-AT-jwu.edu
Salutations! – Tue. March 10
The birth anniversary of Swami Yogananda, direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, will be observed on Tue. March 10, in the morning with a chant, and in the evening with a song, a biography reading, and prasad.
Day-long Spiritual Retreat - Sat. March 21, 10:00AM - 7:00PM
Sub:'Dis-covering The Self'- by Swami Yogatmananda
Reg. Fee $15.00 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.
NOTICES:
1) Hatha Yoga( $ 5.00 walk-in) will resume on Tuesday evenings from 6PM – 6:45 with Hannah Resseger. Regarding exact Beginning Date, etc, contact Hannah ONLY at: key2life-AT-gmail.com
2) Bharathanatyam Dance Classes – Sundays, 3:30 – 5:00 PM; Contact Anuradha: 704-707-5430
A new post on our blog compares the merits of an ideal and a role model:
http://vedantaprovidence.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-ideal-and-role-model.html
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, March 06 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on 'Kenopnisad', a Vedanta Upanisad Text. |
| Saturday, March 07 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 12noon – 8:00 PM: LONG MEDITATION SESSION (must be IN bldg by 12 noon when entry will be closed.) 6:30 PM: Front Door opens for Aarati
Daylight Savings Time - Turn Clock-Times AHEAD 1 hour Saturday night or early Sunday morning. |
| Sunday, March 08 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM: A talk on ‘Yoga: The Union of the Outer and Inner Journey’ by Chester Boncek 6:00 – 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation |
| Tuesday, March 10 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Ch 48, pp 914- |
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. 5' 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
Students visit Vedanta – Sat. Feb. 28
Five ‘Global Religion’ students from Providence College and their professor met with Swami, and participated in the 11am – 12noon ‘guided meditation & chant-singing hour’ in the Vedanta Shrine.
Sri Ramakrishna Puja-Worship Day – Sun. March 01, 11:00AM - 7:00PM
About seventy devotees attended the ritual worship. Prasad luncheon followed. A Video 'Documentary on Belur Math' was shown. Due to severe snow & icy road conditions, the 5pm symposium was pushed ahead to begin at 3:30pm. three speakers participated. Swami Yogatmananda provided the concluding comments. Aarati, chant-singing of Sri Ramakrishna-naam-Sankirtanam, and prasad dinner immediately followed.
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class - 'For Seekers of God' - Feb. 27, Friday
The book For Seekers of God is addressed to those rare individuals who sincerely desire the realization of God.Very few fortunate souls see that God alone can grant ultimate bliss and peace. What we actually seek is God, but we do so in a mistaken way.
Mahapurushji is with Swami Achalananda. Mahapurushji prays: “O Lord give us pure devotion; not sham devotion.” In Maya the desire for devotion can become confused with the desire for recognition. People may be fooled by sham devotion, but God certainly is not. The fruit of genuine devotion is greater love for God. A devotee approached Mahapurushji seeking spiritual advice since he has very little time to meditate. Mahapurushji advised him to devote some time to meditation, even if it’s only for five or ten minutes, but the meditation should be done with one’s whole heart and soul. If one prays and meditates with great sincerity, gradually one will devote more time to spiritual practices. The devotee then told Mahapurushji that he was married. Mahapurushji responded by imploring him to practice spiritual disciplines whole heartedly, no matter what one’s situation is in life. Through the practice of spiritual disciplines, one gradually develops the capacity to discriminate between the permanent and impermanent. By taking refuge in the permanent, all our bondages will be destroyed.
Symposium on the Life and Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna - March 1, Sunday
Ankur Chiplunkar: Sri Ramakrishna said that the goal of life is to realize God. Just as we don’t see stars in the daytime, we may not always see God, but He is still there. Bhakti is intense love of God, through scriptural injunctions, and then through supreme devotion. Jnana is negating all that is not real. Sri Ramakrishna’s ideas on the harmony of religions were based on experience rather than speculation. All religions are not the same, but they lead to the same goal.
Patricia Blake: As a child, Gauri Ma would play that she was worshipping God. When she was nine years old, a holy man initiated her. She later found out that he was Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna told her brother that you can’t keep a yellow bird in a cage. At ten and thirteen years old, she refused to be married. At eighteen years old, Gauri Ma underwent severe austerities. Balaram Babu tried to convince her to meet Sri Ramakrishna, but not knowing who he was, she said she wouldn’t unless he pulled her to him. He did pull her to him, and when she saw him, she realized he was the same holy man she had met as a child. Sri Ramakrishna told her to stop her austerities and do service to women. Sri Ramakrishna gave her formal initiation into monastic life. She started the Sri Saradeswari Ashram, which was dedicated to the Holy Mother. The four purposes of the ashram were education, organizing women, giving shelter, and having women live virtuous lives.
Sukalyan Sengupta: Sri Ramakrishna is the guru of all, but he didn’t like to be called guru. He said God alone is the guru. Before he became a guru, he practiced intense sadhanas and many bhavas in which he merged into Hanuman as a servant of Rama or Radha as the beloved of Krishna, for example. First he would cry that he hadn’t seen God, and then he would cry that he hadn’t seen his disciples. He was a hard taskmaster. He would make sure to wake up the Holy Mother at 3 a.m. each morning. He told the future Swami Turiyananda, who was reading advaitic texts, to stop attaching to the unreal. He molded Narendra by letting him experience aspects of God for himself. He told one disciple to give up weakness and another to give up anger, when they had been in similar situations.
Swami YogatmanandaSpoke briefly summarizing important points told by the other 3 speakers.
Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - March 3, Tuesday
Sri Ramakrishna was revealing to the devotees that He did not need to meditate much these days, the vision of Absolute was continuous with Him. We usually see things as separate from each other - as distinct objects and fail to see the connection between them. Sri Ramakrishna distinctly saw the Oneness that connects all the worldly objects. For Him, the objects were mere forms in undivided Brahman. While we may occasionally get a glimse of this reality through intense spiritual practice, this was Sri Ramakrishna's usual experience. In Samadhi, the forms too disappeared and only the experience of Brahman remained.
Devotees saw Sri Ramakrishna in a perennial state of Bliss. Just as the the sweetness of sugar is not changed by its circumstances, Bliss of Brahman is continuous. It does not wax or wane as do the joys of the world. Our attachment to certain joys occasionally make us absent-minded towards other worldly objects. This is very different from divine intoxication in which exuberant love of God makes one forgetful of the world. He advised His devotees to renounce lust and greed to directly experience the divine unaltered Bliss. The joy of the world is only a delusion and is never obtained through the things that you have but is only a vain hope of something that you might obtain in future but that never materializes.