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Newsletter June 22, 2016
Notices
1) Beginning MONDAY morning, June 20, the Center's 'ordinary' daily and weekly activities will be suspended until Saturday, September 10.
Click here for the Summer Programs in and around Vedanta Society.
2) During the Summer break, Newsletters will be posted once monthly - July 27 and August 31.
3) The LIBRARY and book-store will be open only on Tuesday evenings (July 12 – August 23) through the summer.
4) Daily and Weekly programs resume from Sunday, September 11, 2016.
Upcoming Events
Swami to Pittsburgh, PA - Thu. June 23 thru Sun. June 26
Swami will travel to Vedanta Society Pittsburgh, PA, early Thursday morning, where swami will conduct a retreat and deliver Vedanta talks. Will return to Providence together Monday, June 27, early morning.
Vedanta Blog and Facebook:
Check out Vedanta upcoming and past activities on Vedanta Facebook and participate in writing your comments, thoughts, poetry, and musings in Vedanta "BLOG."
Some Dates for Summer Programs:
1) Young Adult Retreat – Fri. July 22, 6:00PM -- Sun. July 24, 1:00PM
2) Adult Silent Meditation Retreat – Fri. July 08, 6:00PM -- Sun. July 10, 1:00PM
3) Guest Swami Lecture – Sun. July 10, 5:00PM – 6:00PM
4) Guru Poornima – Sun. July 17, 11:00AM – 1:00PM
Followed by Shuchita Rao Music Program 2:00PM – 4:00PM
5) Children DAY Camp – Tue. August 09 – Sat. August 13
6) Morning Melodies Concert by Dattatreya Velankar – Sun. August 21, 9:00AM – 10:30AM
7) Krishna Festival – Sat. August 27, 11:00 AM – 4:00PM
Other Summer Programs Include:
'Independence Day' Program – Mon. July 04, 11:00AM - 2:00PM
At Vedanta Society of Providence. Open to all.
Vedanta Study Class – Each Tuesday July 12 thru August 23, 7:00PM – 8:30PM
Prayer, Meditation, Study and Discussion on: 'Cloud of Unknowing: Part 2' … All Welcome.
To Honor ‘M’ Gathering – Sat. July 16, 11:00AM – 2:00PM
At the home of T.K. Roy, West Wareham MA. Please RSVP at 508-748-9797 or [email protected] only.
Canton, CT Vedanta Society – Sun. August 14, 10:00AM – 4:00PM
Daylong Retreat on: 'Imitation of Christ' at 100, Cherry Brook Rd, Canton, CT
Vedanta Retreat, Rochester, NY – Wed. August 03, 6:00PM to Sun. August 07, 1:00PM
Five-Day retreat on MANDUKYA UPANISAD at Hindu Heritage Summer Camp, Rochester, NY.
For registration Visit www.omhhsc.org
Past Events
CT Vedanta Society – Sun. June 18
Swami Yogatmananda delivered a Vedanta talk at the Vedanta Society CT at 100 Cherry Brook Rd, Canton, CT, from 3:00PM – 5:00PM. Gatherings here will resume in Sept/Oct.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga with Ellen Schaffer met Wed. June 22 for its final class until next session is decided upon.
Sun. June 19 - General Annual Meeting 2016
Thirty members attended the Annual general Meeting.
Swami Yogatmananda welcomed everyone after initial prayers. Joan Chadbourne chaired the meeting and delivered a wonderful poetic lecture. Reports were read by Ann Gnys, Chet Boncek and A. Vishwanath. A ten-twelve minute power-point of many of the years’ events was shown, with musical background attached. Swami concluded the meeting by thanking everyone for their contribution in running the activities of the Society.
Click here to see photos.
Synopses of Last Week's Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class on 'Jnana Yoga'- June 17, Friday
Class #33, Chapter 5 - Maya and Freedom (Concluded)
All religions are expressions of our fundamental, irrepressible urge to become free from bondage. Swami Vivekananda asserts that Vedanta begins when we make the realization of God our goal in life. This realization will reveal that our bondage is not external, but internal; our bondage comes from our association of the self with this heap of flesh, blood… . Similarly, freedom does not come from some external savior, but from within. Many doubts and insecurities will crop up along our journy toward God realization. We may think, “I probably won’t realize God in this life, so there’s no point in trying. It’s too late for me in this lifetime.” It is maya that creates these thoughts. Yet realization of God can happen in an instant. Sri Ramakrishna said that a room might be in darkness for a thousand years, but when a light is brought in, the illumination is instantaneous. Hence, we must keep striving for realization until we eventually, inevitably, achieve it. No one can tell us how many years we must practice spiritual disciplines. It’s a matter of quality, not quantity. The departure of ignorance is a process, a journey, a transformation, which ends when we realize that the voice of freedom is within us, that the divine is the Self of our own self. When a person no longer identifies with the body, that person knows that he is Brahman, I am that. When this knowledge dawns, “I” becomes associated not with the body, but with the universal divine effulgence. This person does not see others as “good” or “bad,” but sees the same Self in all. It is God who is behind everything, the one real Self in all.
Sunday Lecture, June 19 –'Getting a Crystal Ball’
This was followed by the delivery-meeting of the Annual General Meeting, then Aarati, Sup Supper & Meditation
Getting a Crystal Ball – June 19
At one time, a crystal ball was used to find out what will happen in the future, and what is happening somewhere else. We want to know the future so we can plan our actions accordinly. As an example, see the game theory that is used in various fields to make predictions. Albert Einstein proved that time is the fourth dimension, and a component of everything, along with length, breadth and height, the three dimensions of space. Even though a person may have changed in appearance and outlook after many years, we say he or she is the same person. If we saw the four dimensions together, past, present and future would disappear. Time goes only in one direction, while in space, we can go back and forth. Sages have found the only solution to the desire to know the future, through going into timeless awareness. People may sit for hours for a football game, but not for meditation, because they concentrate on the football game, which makes time go by quickly. In the highest concentration, which is samadhi, time stops moving, the intellect stops, and all becomes the eternal present. Maurice Nicoll quotes many sages, saying that the Divine is seen as holding time together. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he doesn’t have to worry about the future for that is already arranged by God, in fact ‘has already happened’. As the end of a play is already in the script, the future has already happened in God-consciousness.