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Newsletter Oct. 05, 2016
Upcoming Events
Day-long Retreat – Sat. Oct. 15, 10:00AM-7:00PM
Topic: '700 Verses on Divine Mother', to be presented by Swami Yogatmananda.
Prior Registration necessary.
Registration Fee:
On or before Oct. 08: $15.00 per person;
If registered and paid after Oct. 08, Fee: $25.00 per person;
(For online registration, $1.00 additional)
Registration can be done online or download reg. form and mail the check.
Click here for more information.
Sri Durga Puja/Worship Day – Sun. Oct. 09, 11AM - 7:00PM
From 11am–1pm ritual worship, readings, devotional singing, Aarati and prasad luncheon. From 3-5pm will be a Video. From 5-6pm there will be a Kuchapudi Dance performance with Prafulla Velluri & students; followed by Samkeertanam (chanting) and supper. All are welcome; No entrance fee.
CT Vedanta Monthly Satsang – Sat. Oct 08, 2:00-5:00PM (Note – Venue Changed)
This month Vedanta Society of CT will have its Durga Puja celebration at Suvosree Chatterjee’s home at 27 FENWICK DR, AVON CT. (Worship, Music, Discussion with Swami Yogatmananda) from 2:00pm – 5:00pm. All are Welcome.
Wednesdays Hatha Yoga – Sep. 14 - Oct. 19, 5PM –6:30PM
Six-week series of Hatha Yoga classes, on Wednesdays from 5pm –6:30pm, taught by Ellen Schaefer of One Yoga Center, Foster RI will be conducted at the Vedanta Society. Cost is $30/for 6-week session or $10.00 walk in per class. Please contact Ellen only at: 401-368-9642
Weekly
Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, Oct. 07 |
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, Oct. 08 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing, a short reading) & Meditation |
| Sunday, Oct. 09 |
11:00AM – 7:00PM: DURGA PUJA/WORSHIP DAY 5:00 – 6:00 PM: Kuchapudi Dance Program with Prafulla Velluri & students This will be followed by Samkeertanam (Chanting) and Supper. |
| Tuesday, Oct. 11 |
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 968 |
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. 7' 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. Open to all. |
Past Events
Day-long Meditation - Sat. Oct. 01 from 12:00Noon – 8:00PM
About six devotees participated in this monthly day- long meditation session, starting with guided meditation at 11:00 AM.
Swami at Prabasi Durga Puja in MA – Sun. Oct. 02
Swami performed Aarati and spoke on Mother Durga during a program at Prabhasi Durga Puja from 11AM – 1PM. About forty-five devotees attended.
Children's Monthly Program – Sun Oct 02
Six children attended the Monthly program. Activities included: reciting and discussing the meaning of the Gayatri Mantra followed by a short meditation.
A few games of Chess were played and a group arts and craft project was completed each student contributing pieces to complete a felt flower bouquet.
….Next month… the group may use their Moon Trackers to measure the altitude of the Moon. The planet Mars and the 12th brightest star Altair may also be visible.
Music Concert - Sun. Oct. 02, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
About sixty music lovers attended the classical vocal concert with Padmini Rao, accompanied on Tabla with Nitin Mitta and on Harmonium, - Ravi Torvi.
Click here to see photos.
Synopses of Past Classes
Study Class on 'Jnana Yoga' - Sept. 30, Friday
Class #35
A fundamental spiritual conundrum arises from the fact that we are thinking, discussing, and questioning on a plane in which there exists duality of subject and object, yet the truth we are seeking exists beyond this duality. The constraints of space, time and causation are like a program that has been installed on our brains and, although they have no existence in and of themselves, they bind us and cause suffering because they separate us from the Truth. Helpless to do otherwise, we superimpose our limited view of reality onto the Absolute, and thus we keep asking inappropriate questions. Our language itself is bound by space and time and cannot adequately express the truth of the Absolute. Common questions, like “where,” “why,” and “who” all depend on an acceptance of duality but these questions cannot bring us closer to understanding the non-dual reality. We seek to understand through determining cause and effect, but “causation begins after the degeneration of the absolute into the phenomenal.” What precedes is called cause, and what succeeds is called effect. This depends on presumption that time is constant, which is not true. Hence causation is also relative, because the cause and effect relationship depends on that which is relative—time.
In addition, our wills and desires are situated in the phenomenal world. German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who studied Vedanta, identified will with the Absolute, but Swamiji shows that will, too, belongs to the phenomena. When the Divine wills, it is no longer absolute, and it is known as ishwara, not Absolute Brahman. Willing is an act; there has to be something there to do the willing.
Our understanding of the impersonal is based on our personal view of the impersonal, therefore our understanding will always fail to grasp the impersonal. However, through the personal practice of spirituality, one can remove the ego and then eventually grasp the impersonal. Swami Yogatmananda ended the class encouraging listeners to continue to deeply think about these topics not just during classes but in between classes.
Sunday Lecture –'A-Himsa (Non-Violence)' – Oct. 02, Sunday
It is the birth-day of Mahatma Gandhi who brought ahimsa in the socio-political dialogue. Although all religions embrace ahimsa, religions have been the cause of violence due to selfishness, cravings, greed, and the search for power. Ahimsa is not a passive principle, but implies love for everyone. Yet it is better to resist than succumb to oppression due to fear; otherwise we will be cursing people, and that is not ahimsa. Ahimsa is derived from the feeling of ‘one-ness’. If our teeth bite the tongue, we don’t break the teeth. Himsa, or jealously, hatred and the desire to attack, come naturally; no one needs to cultivate these. Patanjali said we attain control over himsa by practicing the opposite tendencies. When we feel hatred, we see only the bad things about the other person, which bothers us, not him or her. We need to deliberately look for the good in the other person, which we know is there because there is God in him or her. This will set the mind at peace, while hatred comes back to haunt us as guilt.
Non-violence practice differs from person to person, depending on the spiritual evolution. Swami Vivekananda said that if the majority of people practiced Jesus’s advice to turn the other cheek, although it is the highest principle, civilization would collapse. Arjuna, in the Gita, was using the concept of ahimsa as a covering for feelings of attachment and cowardice, so Lord Krishna encouraged him to fight. The intention is important in determining whether an act is ahimsa or himsa.
Study Class - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – Oct. 04, Tuesday
Page 967, April 22, 1886
Narendra sang Nirvanashatakam - the six verses composed by Sankaracharya-, which explains the true nature of the Self which is, The Existence – knowledge – bliss Absolute. Ignorance bifurcates it into ‘I’ and ‘world’. This unreal separation is the primary cause of all our desires and the bondage. We must practice constantly the awareness of our true nature of absolute existence, knowledge and bliss – the Shiva awareness.
Chanting of this sacred hymn filled the atmosphere of the room with divine awareness. Hirananda remarked that one may connect with the true nature with the attitude of divine oneness saying ‘I am He’ or with an attitude of a servant. These are two different approaches to realize the supreme goal.
At Hirananda’s request Narendra sang the Five Stanzas on Kaupin (the loin cloth of the sannyasi). Loin cloth represents monastic life full of renunciation. How such a person is always in a blissful state even though he/she does not have any belongings or any so called certainty in life. Such a person lives as Vedanta prescribes, survives on the alms, cares the least about the physical appearance, relies completely on God for everything but always enjoys the absolute bliss and peace. On the other hand, a person running after various temptations in search of real happiness faces more sufferings and bondage. To avoid the sufferings and bondage, one must make a clear choice between a life of discrimination and renunciation and a life running after the impermanent happiness.