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Newsletter Nov. 16, 2016
Upcoming Events
CT Vedanta Monthly Satsang – POSTPONED to SAT. DEC. 03
The monthly gathering of the Vedanta Society of Connecticut is POSTPONED to SAT. DEC. 03
Memorial Service - Sun. Dec. 04, 11:00 AM –1:00 PM
Triveni Popat, a long time devotee of Vedanta Societies of Providence and Boston, died early Sunday morning Nov. 06. She was a lifelong student of Vedanta, and remained active in the Vedanta Centers until late in life.
Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service to honor her life, at Providence Vedanta Society, on Sun. Dec. 04 from 11:00am –1:00pm. Her family and Vedanta Society encourage everyone to share a memory, story, anecdote, song of/for Triveni. For complete obituary and life history, please see:
http://www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/DYERLA1/memsol.cgi?user_id=1873842
Weekly
Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, Nov. 18 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Jnana-Yoga Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda |
| Saturday, Nov. 19 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma Yoga/Cleaning 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing, a short reading) & Meditation |
| Sunday, Nov. 20 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM: Lecture: ‘Where Do I Go When I Sleep?’, by Swami Yogatmananda 7:00-8:00 PM - Meditation |
| Tuesday, Nov. 22 |
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 969 |
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
Guest Lectures – Fri. Nov. 11, Sun. Nov. 13
1) On Friday, Nov. 11, 7:30 – 8:30pm, Dr. Pritwish Basu spoke on : ‘God in Everything as Seen by Sri Ramakrishna’.
2) On Sunday, Nov. 13, 5:00pm – 6:00pm, Chester Boncek spoke on: ‘God’s Rules for Gambling'.
Please scroll down for the synopses of these talks.
Swami Travels – Oct. 28 - Nov. 13
Swami Yogatmananda traveled to San Francisco, CA and was one of the speakers at the inauguration of their bldg expansion. He then traveled to Australia, where he delivered lectures in five cities. From there, Swami went to Indiana where he conducted a retreat on Sat. Nov. 12 and delivered a lecture on Sun. Nov. 13 before returning to Providence late Sunday night Nov. 13.
Synopses of Past Classes
‘God in Everything as Seen by Sri Ramakrishna’ - a talk by Dr. Pritwish Basu- Nov. 11, Friday
'God is in everything' is not a fairy-tale, but the truth (aaptavakya) experienced by the sages of all times. The infinite reality cannot be grasped through the finite senses. Swami Vivekananda aptly says, 'This universe is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of the finite'. Let us start our spiritual journey with Sri Ramakrishna who is seeing God everywhere and can help us attain that realization. The degree of manifestation of divine power is different in different beings, in human beings more than the others, and among human beings, the highest, in the incarnations of God. The process of manifestation is both evolution and involution. Sri Ramakrishna says that God himself evolves from the Absolute to this phenomenal world, evolving from the state of Samadhi through the web of time, space and causation and all names and forms are involved again in the Supreme Reality, Satchidananda as is the case when the mind merges in Samadhi. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is replete with the descriptions of how he perceived the animate and inanimate objects as nothing but Consciousness. In the temple, he saw the Divine Mother has become everything, the image of the deity, the walls of the temple, the articles of worship, etc. On the streets of Calcutta, even the prostitutes and drunkards were the very manifestation of the Divine Mother for him. He saw the indivisible Satchidananda both inside and outside and by his mere touch imparted this knowledge to the devotees, as it happened on the Kalpataru Day, Jan. 1, 1886.
His cardinal teaching, based on this realization, is - 'Shivabhave Jivaseva' – Service to God is Service to Humanity. We too can experience 'God in Everything' by following Sri Ramakrishna's teachings, by deifying our actions, emotions and interpersonal relationships.
'God’s Rules for Gambling' – a talk by Chester Boncek– Nov. 13, Sunday
This talk is about the probability of success in spiritual life. In Vedanta, the goal of all conscious entities is to evolve back to our source, and attain permanent happiness. Even people who take their own lives, or who do evil, believe that it will make them happy. Mathematician and writer on probability Richard von Mises says that the usefulness of science is in its benefits to humankind and in that it brings order to multiplicity. The rules of probability are that there must be repeated trials of truly random events, and that the probability can be calculated, which means that the gambling establishment or insurance company always wins. Vedanta says that existence, knowledge and bliss are our true nature. Why don’t we experience them as intrinsic? The “rat race” in which we participate is due to a flux of emotions. The search for the ideal begins in the outer world where it will never succeed. Union with other manifested objects leads to tragedy and comedy, like the lower bird on the tree in Hindu mythology. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj sat with “I am” in the mind, upon which, all disappeared and only peace remained. He told a devotee that the false makes us suffer. He said that the mind is an abyss and the heart crosses it. He added that in a dream, we love some and not others, but when we wake up, we are love. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that the yogi never falls to destruction in this world or the next, so success in spiritual life is assured.
Study Class - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Nov. 15, Tuesday
Page 969 – April 22, 1886
The path of spirituality leads to knowledge, bliss, perfection and immortality. It requires a strong resolve to follow this path. There is a very high probability that one may waver from this path by getting fascinated by various worldly attractions. Hence, a Guru is needed to guide and protect us on this path. The guru acts like a medium through which one can perceive the unlimited and infinite divinity. The study of Sri Ramakrishna’s life and teachings is helpful to bring this spiritual illumination to our lives.
Sri Ramakrishna was conversing with Hirananda, M and the other devotees. He was suffering due to the advanced throat cancer. But even at that point, he was experiencing that the body is the mere frame, the true indweller is God alone. His body was very pure and free from any desire, passion or worldly attachment. No distinction existed for him as his body and the outside world. He experienced the Indivisible Satchidananda everywhere.
We see this illusory world full of various names and forms to be real and God as a very distant entity. The essential substance behind these external forms is God alone. These attributes, qualities and differences get superimposed on the world due to our ignorance. It is said that ignorance mixes the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss (Asti-Bhati-Priya) into the name and form (naam-rupa) to create this world. The moment ignorance is gone the name and form vanishes and Existence-Knowledge-Bliss alone remains.