Newsletter March 18, 2015

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

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.

 

George Parker: Wake & Funeral - Thurs. Mar.19 & Fri. Mar. 20
George Parker, an initiated devotee of Vedanta coming regularly to most classes and services for 40-years plus, passed away last Thursday, March 12, 2015 in Wrentham MA. George continually donated books of various religions to the Vedanta library and bookstore. Any 'newcomer' always received a hearty: 'welcome- to-Vedanta-you -won't -hear- this-stuff-in-any-other-church' and a book.  Even stormy weather never deterred George from faithfully attending Vedanta classes through the years. He also volunteered for 'Meals on Wheels' for over forty years and received award for that.
The wake for George Parker is Thursday, March 19th from 4PM - 8PM at RJ Ross Funeral Home, Wrentham MA. The funeral will be conducted on Friday, March 20 at 11AM in the Trinity Episcopal Church, East St Wrentham. In lieu of flowers, please donate in his memory to: Meals on Wheels, 70 Bath St Providence RI 02908. 

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, March 20	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 21	10:00 AM – 7:00 PM: DAY-LONG RETREAT; See information above.
Sunday, March 22	5:00 – 6:00 PM: A talk on 'Chemistry of Consciousness' by Swami Yogatmananda 6:00 – 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation
Tuesday, March 24	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 922-

 

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

Bhagavad Gita class, Middletown CT - Sun. March 15, 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Swami Yogatmananda conduced the monthly Bhagavad Gita (Ch.18 cont.) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple to about twenty devotees.
Hatha Yoga Resumes - Tues. March 17
Hatha Yoga( $ 5.00 walk-in)  resumed Tuesday evenings from 6PM - 6:45 with Hannah Resseger. 3 students participated.

 

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

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

 

Study Class - 'Kenopnisad' - March 13, Friday
In the Kathopanisad introduction, Sankaracarya explains the term 'upanisad' - no books are meant: The suffix 'sad' refers to the knowledge which removes, or at least loosens, one's bondage and thereby makes the mind go to the truth. The term 'upanisad' indicates that knowledge by which one overcomes the duality of "I" and "world" as experienced in ignorance. Because one considers oneself to be a limited entity, which undergoes birth, development, and death, all sorts of bondages come in life.  In ignorance, one wrongly perceives "I" and "world" as separate entities. This misperception causes one to desire and subsequently seek the objects of the world. In this way, desire forces us to perpetually work: desire is the outcome of ignorance and work is the outcome of desire. When work is performed with attachment to the results, one wraps one more chain around oneself. Unless one consciously tries to free oneself from the bondage of work, the work keeps expanding. Now, since the ignorance is the cause of bondage, knowledge is the solution. Upanishad is that knowledge basically, not a book or text. The book which has this knowledge becomes upanishad in a secondary sense. That is, if by the study of a book we are marching towards liberation, then alone that book becomes upanisad for us. Who is eligible for the study of the upanishad? The eligibility is decided, not by someone's whims, but by the nature of this knowledge that the self alone is. If one seeks worldly enjoyments, one cannot receive this knowledge. With long, sustained practice, repeated attempts, and a sense of tremendous urgency that God must be realized, the bondages in life will be removed and the mind will go to the truth.

 

'Reverse Engineering a Sage' - March 15, Sunday

In reverse engineering, we learn how something is made in order to replicate it or improve on it. We use reverse engineering when there is real need to get the object, and the object is not easily available as a complete whole. We need to be able to separate the essential from the nonessential components. A sage is a living example of peace, contentment, equanimity and blissfulness. We, on the other hand, don't find the peace we seek. We could use forward engineering to find peace, but we often feel disbelief due to restlessness we feel during meditation and not seeing the connection between meditation and peace. But we do see this peace in the sage and may ask how he or she became a sage, and what components he or she used to do so. Vedanta says religion is a science that has exactness, meticulousness, and replicability. We each have the potential to become a sage. The Bhagavad Gita talks about the Science of a Person established in Wisdom. Arjuna asks how such a person functions. Lord Sri Krishna replies that the important characteristics of such a person are that he or she has no desires and is full of bliss in the Self. If we seek happiness from an object, then we will not get it when we are not connected to the object or when we get tired of it. When seek happiness from the Self, we will always have it because we are always with the Self. The sage has equanimity and doesn't get irritated or elated toward either friend or foe. The sage withdraws the organs from sensual pleasures because he or she knows that going out to grab them is a trap and leads to enslavement.

 

Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - March 17, Tuesday

Sri Ramakrishna had moved to Shyampukur in Calcutta due to his ill health. This made it easier for people to visit Him. These people benefited from his Holy presence. Holy presence works like spiritual osmosis, the spiritual current enters the devotees quite inconspicuously. It is like a good fragrance, it enters us even if we don't want it. In holy company our minds automatically turn towards God.
In one of the Indian customs, the devotees take the dust from the feet of the holy men. The idea behind this custom is that even the dust from the feet of a holy person is very holy and purifies the devotees. It takes humility and devotion for the devotee to do this. True devotion goes well beyond such humility and leads to extreme selflessness where the devotee is not concerned even about self-preservation - as the love of Gopis for Sri Krishna, where they were willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing in deference to the comfort for their beloved Krishna.
Sri Ramakrishna's life shows that God incarnates as a human being. This fact is very difficult for us to accept. We are more inclined to worship and respect someone who is no longer living. But, to think of someone with human frailties as God, does not come easily to us. In our narrow mindedness, we think that it is not possible for God to incarnate as a human being. We do not realize that in doing so, we inadvertently make the mistake of limiting God's powers - not realizing that God is omnipotent.