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If you have questions regarding spiritual life, Vedanta, Hinduism etc, you can email us at answers ATvedantaprov.org
Newsletter October 07, 2015
Upcoming Events
Day-long Meditation - Sat. Oct. 10, 12noon – 8:00PM
This is a continual long meditation session, starting with guided meditation at 11:00 AM. Must be IN bldg by 12 noon when entry will be locked; Can leave any time, but cannot re-enter until 6:30PM. Simple Veg. lunch-food will be provided. Doors open at 6:30pm for the 7:00pm singing Aarati, then meditation resumes.
Monthly Program at CT - Sat. Oct. 10, 3:00 - 5:00PM
Vedanta Society of Connecticut - monthly program will be held at 660 Prospect Ave. Hartford, CT on Sat. 10, 3:00 - 5:00PM. Swami Yogatmananda and devotees will join. All are welcome.
Bhagavad Gita class, Middletown CT – Sun. Oct. 11, 10:30 - 11:30AM
Swami Yogatmananda will conduct the monthly Bhagavad Gita (Ch.18 cont.) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple (10 Training Hill Rd, Middletown, CT). All are welcome.
Salutations! – Mon. Oct. 12
The birth anniversary of Swami Akhandananda, direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, will be observed on Monday Oct. 12 in the morning with a chant and in the evening with a song, a biography reading and prasad.
Hatha Yoga classes:
1) ‘Walk-in’ ($5.00) Hatha Yoga class will resume on Tues. evenings from 6:00pm – 7:00pm with Hannah Resseger, beginning: Tues.15. Contact Hannah only AT: key2life-AT-gmail.com
2) New 6-Weeks Hatha Yoga Course - Sept. 30 - Nov. 04, 5:00 - 6:30PM
Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 30, a six-week ‘Mindful Flow’ Hatha Yoga class will be conducted at the Vedanta Society by Ellen Schaefer of One Yoga Center, RI, from 5:00 - 6:30PM. The 6-week course will be $30.00 Pre-paid; and $10.00 per class walk-in. Contact Ellen at 401-368-9647.
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, Oct. 09 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class #4 by Swami Yogatmananda on 'Jnana Yoga’, a book by Swami Vivekananda |
| Saturday, Oct. 10 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing, a short reading & continued meditation |
| Sunday, Oct. 11 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM:A talk on -A talk on - 'The Rise and Fall of the Universe' and Q/A |
| Tuesday, Oct. 13 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Ch 49, pp 939 |
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. 6' 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
DAY-LONG RETREAT - Sat. Oct. 03, 9:30AM –7:00PM
About fifty devotees attended the day-long retreat on: ‘Spiritualizing Our Relationships’ by Swami Arupeshananda, Ramakrishna Monastery, Trabuco Canyon, CA. The day consisted of two lectures by the Swami; 'Vedantic Tales' by Swami Yogatmananda; guided meditation; Yoga/Tai-chi stretch session; an hour-plus Q/A session; meals/snack-breaks; Aarati, and chanting Sarada Nama Sankirtanam.
Sitar & Tabla Concert – Oct. 04, Sunday
Immediately following the Sunday Service Lecture/Q&A session, about fifty music enthusiasts attended a Sitar Concert, from 6:45PM – 8:15PM, performed by Partha Bose (who has trained since age six under Maihar Gharana and currently under Pt. Monoj Shankar). Indranil Mallick (teachers include Sri Uttam Chakraborty, and Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri) accompanied on Tabla.
Click here to see the photos of above events.
Just Kids! : Children’s Time - Oct. 04, Sun. 4 – 6PM
Children participated in the Just Kids! Children’s program, (which meets first Sunday monthly under direction of Prof. Dorothy Abram) : learning a Saraswati-chant; discussing & working on a word puzzle on Dashavatra(Vishnu); and singing/learning verses of ‘This Little Light of Mine’ & ‘Namaste’ with Peter T & Chet B. playing guitars.
Salutations! – Oct. 06, Tuesday
The birth anniversaries of Swami Abhedananda, direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed on Tues. Oct. 06, in the morning with a chant and in the evening with a song, a biography reading and prasad.
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class - 'Jnana Yoga’ (a book by Swami Vivekananda) - Oct. 2, Friday
Class #3:Religion originates from our struggle to transcend the limitations of the senses. Jnana Yoga teaches us to overcome the drag towards the so called sense-“pleasures” in life by pointing out the essential unreality of the subject/object relationship, which makes the sense objects deceptively appear attractive. As we deepen our understanding that the true peace and happiness we seek lies not in sense objects but entirely beyond them, we begin to acutely feel the necessity of religion. When this feeling of necessity is awakened, we begin to practice religion. All organized religions declare that their founders discovered the truths of religion in a superconscious state, a state that was neither dream nor waking. This superconscious state is a state in which the limited perceptions of the sense organs are transcended. Our search for truth, if it is a genuine search, naturally takes us beyond the boundary of the senses. We all want peace and happiness. Do we find it in the world of the senses? The answer is a definitive “No.” Therefore, we need religion, which teaches us to go beyond the bondage and limitations of the sense organs. To say we don’t want the superconscious state is equivalent to saying we don’t want happiness, we don’t want peace. Since we intrinsically desire happiness and peace, we must sincerely desire the superconscious state. When we achieve the superconscious state, we will get peace.
Why am I the way I am? – Swami Arupeshananda, Trabuco Canyon Monastery, CA - Oct. 4, Sunday
The same quality that is seen as good in me, I feel reprehensible in others. If I identify myself with my work it is difficult to be detached and to think of God. Some monks run toward a problem and some monks run away from it. Some people are unselfish and some are selfish. Swami Vivekananda said that unselfishness is religion. Swami Brahmananda said that man cannot get knowledge unless the Divine Mother reveals it. We ask: Why does one person attain godhood and another does not? The answer is outside the domain of reason and requires spiritual practice. To the unattached worker, all work is equally good. Lord Krishna said to “offer all fruits of all actions to Me.” Swami Vivekananda said to renounce the fruits of our labor, and not to grumble. If we grumble about one job, we will grumble about another. If we have no control over our mind, we are slaves to the stimulus-response pattern and to the moods of our mind. We may ask: Why do people have different qualities and abilities? Doing our duty cultivates unselfishness. We need to do the duties stemming from our qualities and abilities, and higher duties will come. Sri Ramakrishna said that our preferences are due to our inborn tendencies, or samskaras. Swami Vivekananda told that you are the almighty cause of the universe, identifying yourself with reflections in mud puddles. When we find all is in vain, we beat a retreat to the place from which we came. One monk was sharp-tongued, but made a vow never to complain, and became very gentle. Swami Vivekananda said that misery cannot be cured by mere physical help. Our nature must become pure.
Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - Oct. 6, Tuesday
At Kashipur, Sri Ramakrishna was at an advanced stage of throat cancer that caused him to be in significant pain and emaciated body. But, he was always blissful. Suffering is due to our limited awareness that we are body. The only way to discard suffering and experience bliss is to renounce bodily attachments and desires and be established in our true nature. This is a matter of practice. Even with a little awareness that we are spark of divine, a little renunciation of desires, the world does not appear to be a place of constant torments. M asks Sri Ramakrishna if the desire for God is not another desire? Sri Ramakrishna explains that the desire for God is to be cherished and not renounced. Desire for God removes all other desires.
Narendra was experiencing dire poverty at this time due to his father’s death, and cheating by his relatives. This and similar catastrophes raise the question of why bad things happen to good people? Just as a movie screen is not affected by the happy or terrible events of the movie, Brahman (God) is the substratum of the whole world but is not affected by it. As compared to large cosmic events, earthly catastrophes are minor but attachment makes us think that bad things are happening to us. It is in ignorance (an illusion, Adhyasa) that God appears as the world to us, God doesn’t undergo any transformation to become the world. We have to practice this truth.