 |
 |
Newsletter March 02, 2016
Upcoming Events
Day-long Meditation - Sat. March 05, 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.
Just Kids! : Children’s Time – Sun. March 06, 4PM – 6PM
The Just Kids! Children’s program (ages 6-12 only) will meet from 4PM – 6PM. All young children welcome.
DAY-LONG RETREAT - Sat. Apr. 02, 9:30AM –7:00PM
Topic: 'Yogi and Bhagavad Gita' by Swami Prapannananda, Vedanta Society of Sacramento, CA
Prior registration required; can register at the Vedanta Society or online.
Fee: $30.00/person ($20.00 if registered and paid by March 21, 2016)
Click here for more info & online registration.
Om Namah Shivay: Maha-Sivaratri will be observed on Monday Mar. 7 evening; there will be a special singing or Samkirtan of Shiva after the evening Arati.
Restarting Tuesday Hatha Yoga Classes beginning Mar. 08
‘Walk-in’ ($5.00) Tues. evenings from 6:15pm – 7:00pm with Hannah Resseger.
Hatha Yoga Course - Wednesdays Feb. 10 - Mar. 16
Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 10, a six-week ‘Mindful Flow’ Hatha Yoga class will be conducted at the Vedanta Society on every Wednesday 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 401-368-9642
Every Thursday, for continued time (unless cancellations due to snowstorm etc.), there will be showing of the DVD series ‘GREAT COURSES’ from 8:00PM -8:45PM, following the 7:00PM Aarati, short reading & meditation. All welcome.
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, Mar. 04 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on Jnana Yoga (based on the book of Swami Vivekananda) |
| Saturday, Mar. 05 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 12 noon – 8:00pm: Day-Long Meditation 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing, a short reading) & Meditation |
| Sunday, Mar. 06 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM: A talk on 'Work Hard, Work Smart' by Swami Yogatmananda
|
| Tuesday, Mar. 08 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', Ch 50, pp 957 |
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 |
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class on 'Jnana Yoga’- Feb. 26, Friday
Class #19: Adherents of social evolution, often posit that the overall amount of good in the world is increasing and the overall amount of evil in the world is decreasing. But can it ever be proved that evil is decreasing and good is increasing? The answer is decidedly, No. Good and evil coexist throughout creation and this is Maya. As we ‘progress’ more avenues become available for pleasure, but more avenues also become available for pain. The gifted musician derives more pleasure from music than the layperson; however, he also derives more pain when the music fails to satisfy his expectations. This, too, is Maya. Let us remember, Maya is not an attempt to explain, it is just stating the facts as they are. Everything, in a given context, may be good, and, in another context, is bad. We should be bold to accept these contradictions as an integral part of our world; otherwise, we may become pessimistic. Many mistakenly think that Maya states that the world is unreal. The Vedantic conception of Maya states that the world is neither real nor unreal: it is a superimposition. The important idea is to feel the reality beyond these contradictions and to then strive to go beyond them. Given the fact of Maya, should we stop doing good? Not at all. We must strive to do good with the utmost zest. The knowledge of Maya frees us from the mistaken notion that what we are doing is good and what others are doing is bad. Knowing that duality is a fact of existence, we must cling to the intention to do good and purify our understanding such that these fictitious lines dividing good and bad, progress and decline, life and death, etc. vanish.
Sunday Lecture - 'Hiss but Don’t Bite' – Feb. 28, Sunday
We ask how we can practice nonviolence when people out there are plotting against us. Every religion gives the advice to be peaceful. We respect the advice of Jesus: love your enemies, but what if they are killing us? How difficult, not to get angry at them? Shankaracharya said that forbearance is bearing without complaint, the sufferings that come our way. When we are angry at someone, we meditate on what they did to us, and we are not able to think of God. Reading the scriptures and practicing hours of meditation is of no use without learning to practice nonviolence. Yet, Swami Vivekananda pointed out that if even a few thousand practiced the idea of ‘turning the other cheek’, there would be chaos in the world. In a story told by Sri Ramakrishna, a venomous snake learned from its Guru to be non-violent, not to bite; whereupon the local boys abused it. Its guru then told it to hiss, but not bite. Protecting ourselves is a part of the discipline of nonviolence, or else we will die. If we harbor enmity toward others, it hurts us as well. The self here and the self in another body are not different. The source of our happiness, love, and peace is in the one Self, and does not depend upon others. When our teeth bite our tongue, we don’t break the teeth. Lord Krishna encouraged Arjuna to fight without being inimical, because people were anyway going to die. When we reach the ultimate goal, there is no other being to hiss at or bite.
Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - Mar. 01, Tuesday
Date: April 16, 1886 : Page 956-7
We study the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna as they are coming from that state where the Truth spontaneously reveals Itself. Sri Ramakrishna explains that one moment the mind soars high into the spiritual ideas and the next moment it comes down as it is mired in lust and greed. It lacks the strength to go beyond the pulls of lust and greed. Our minds need to develop tremendous strength to overcome this force . This requires long, regular and disciplined spiritual practice through firm resolve and self-control. This is the essence of spiritual life. Spiritual life is not a matter of emotional effervescence.
Prashnopanishad (Upanishad in the form of questions) describes key aspects of “upasana”, or spiritual practice. It says that an aspirant must take up spiritual practices as a matter of discipline and commitment and perform them with vigor and enthusiasm irrespective of whether we like them or not. Our desires are not to be trusted as they change from time to time and even if they are realized, they do not lead to fulfillment as new desires crop up as older ones are fulfilled. This is because worldly desires are no real desires, they are only shadows. The only real desire is the desire for God realization.
Many aspirants have theoretical understanding of the unreality of sense enjoyments, not a practical conviction. Sannyasi is the one who is convinced of this truth, has given up on sense enjoyments and money (shadows) and is focused entirely on God realization (the real desire).