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Newsletter May 04, 2016
Upcoming Events
Day-long Meditation - Sat. May 07, 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.
DAY-LONG RETREAT - Sat. June 04, 9:30AM –7:00PM
Topic: 'KATHOPANISAD' by Swami Sarvapriyananda, Vedanta Society, Hollywood CA
Prior registration required; can register at the Vedanta Society or online.
Fee: $30.00/person ($20.00 if registered and paid by May 20, 2016)
Click here for more info & online registration.
Great Courses Video – Thurs. May 05
Video showings of Great Courses continues from 8PM – 9PM in the Lower Level (LL).
Tuesday Hatha Yoga Classes
Suspended for now.
Hatha Yoga 6-week Course - Wednesdays Apr. 06- May 25
There will be NO YOGA class THIS Wed, May 4. 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
Check out some new Sunday lectures (videos) added to the archives.
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, May 06 |
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, May 07 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing, a short reading) & Meditation |
| Sunday, May 08 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM: ‘Do Not Get Scared’ by Swami Yogatmananda
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| Tuesday, May 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 51, pp 962 |
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 'THE STORY OF AN EPOCH: Swami Virajananda and his Times', by Swami Shraddhananda 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation |
Past Events
Swami at La Salle Academy – Mon. May 02
Swami gave 4 classes about general principles of Hinduism and answered questions at La Salle Academy on the morning on Mon, May 2.
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class on 'Jnana Yoga’- Apr. 29, Friday
Class #26, Chapter 5- Maya and Freedom
This chapter, Maya and Freedom, is very important. It shows us how to lead our lives so that we are able to break through Maya, in which each and every one of us is caught. We are running, chasing, trying to find a way out, but there is no hope of escape. The bondage of Maya can be seen in our own lives and in the relationships all around us. A mother loves her son more than all other children, and even if he becomes a drunk and abuses her, she loves him even more. We label this ‘the unselfish love of the mother’, but really it is her bondage! She is enslaved and cannot get away from it.
In one story of Narada, the great devotee of Krishna, asks him show what is Maya. Krishna asks him to fetch some water, as he is feeling thirsty. Narada goes to some water, but falls in love with a village maid, raises a family and, twelve years after leaving his master, loses his family in a flood and is washed up on the river bank where Krishna scolds him for taking half an hour to fetch the water. This confusion of how much time had gone by, whether it was twelve years, or half an hour, illustrates the confusion of memory, perception, and connectivity. We can see this in our own lives when we dream. In a dream, years and years might pass, but we have actually only been asleep for a few seconds.
There are two ways of dealing with this problem: One is to seize whatever pleasures we can, and try to make the best out of a terrible situation. The other way to deal with the situation takes much more patience and training: to learn to hear the inner voice of God, the voice of Freedom. Usually this voice is drowned by the din of our mind and senses, which are much much louder. The bondage of Maya is an unavoidable truth, but we should not let it make us morose. We must see the truth and acknowledge it, and then methodically go about dealing with it. Release from Maya hinges upon holding onto that which is not subject to Maya—God.
Sunday Lecture -'Where is the Soul’ – May 01, Sunday
We listened to the song Khachar Vitor Ochin Pahki by the Sufi saint Lalon Fakir, about the unknown bird in the cage; how does it fly in and out? We are looking for that bird (the soul) and want to know how to catch it. The dictionary defines the soul as the hidden active essence in everything. It is similar to electricity, which is the same in all light bulbs. Gross space is on the physical level, psychological space is in thoughts and dreams, and there is the space in deep sleep that cannot be pinpointed. In all three states, there is the same awareness of ‘I’. If we are not identified with any of these three states, there is no space. With the advent of relativity theory and quantum mechanics, the observer is seen as a participator, because the process of measuring affects the thing that is measured. To find the soul, one of the methods Hindus use is the method of elimination, ‘not this, not this’, and what remains in the end is ‘this’. The body and mind cannot be the soul because the soul is eternal and cannot be objectified. Bodies and minds create distinction. The soul is One without a second. To find the soul, we must free ourselves from the instruments of the sensory organs and mind, because they can only see outside. To see the sun, we must raise our gaze from its reflection in the waves. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that, to go from the known to the Knower, he must acquire virtues like becoming egoless, loving and living life with restraint. Then, he will be able to see the soul.
Study Class - 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' - May 03, Tuesday
April 21st 1886
Narendra says that there is no such thing as God. He is undergoing a phase of skepticism towards God. His statement is to be understood along with what he says at some other times. For example, just three days back, Narendranath says that human birth, yearning for liberation and holy company are gifts which shows kindness of God. Narada says (in Bhakti Sutras) that holy company is very rare. It is rare partly because holy people are rare but more so because most of us are not even looking. So many people saw Sri Ramakrishna but very few of them benefited from his holy company. Narada further says that once you get holy company, its effect is unfailing and highly penetrative and definitely leads to transformation. However, its effect cannot be rationally understood or explained, as this transformation has no cause-effect relationship with other factors.
M told Narendra skepticism is a stage in the path of God realization. One has to go through these stages before realizing God. During this phase, a number of doubts keep assailing an aspirant. A number of skeptics ask for the proof of someone who has seen God. The key challenge is - how are we to verify if someone has seen God? There are no external signs of God realization. One must have significant spiritual capability to even understand what it means for someone to see God. When Sri Ramakrishna was asked if He had seen God, he did not answer in the affirmative to everyone. Only when he saw the yearning and the capability to comprehend, did he answer in affirmative – as he did with Narendra when he asked him this question.