Newsletter March 20, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Swami to Washington DC – Mar. 23 - 24

Swami Yogatmananda will conduct a weekend retreat on some lectures of Swami Vivekananda at the Vedanta Society of Washington DC in Silver Spring MD. Swami will return to Providence very late Sunday night

 

Day-long Retreat – Sat. Mar. 30 : Click here for more details.

 

Announcements:

Check out some new Sunday lectures (from January & February, 2013- Audio & Video), uploaded here.

 

Weather and Climate - Many people want to know the weather forecasts, but what about our "internal climate"? You can read this new post on our blog, at http://vedantaprovidence.blogspot.com/

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, March 22	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: : Bhagavad Gita class, Ch. 18 begins
Saturday, March 23	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00am – 12 noon: Guided meditation and singing 7:00PM – 8:00 PM: Aarati (singing two devotional songs, a reading and meditation)
Sunday, March 24	5:00–6:00 PM: 'The Cloud of Unknowing-2' by Bishop Paul, Celtic Orthodox Church, MA 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00 – 8:00PM - Aarati (Devotional singing), a short reading and meditation
Tuesday, March 26	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Ch. 45, p. 853

 

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
Evening :	7:00 – 7:15 PM: Aarti (devotional music), with a short reading from Swami Chetanananda's book: ‘Mahendra Nath Gupta ‘M’' 7:15 – 8:15 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

Sri Ramakrishna Puja/Worship Day – Sun. Mar. 17
From 11AM – 1PM, Swami yogatmananda performed ritual worship of Sri Ramakrishna. This was followed by flower offerings by devotees and distribution of prasad-lunch. The DVD ‘Kamarpukar-Jayrambati’ was shown from 2:15PM – 4PM, followed by the devotional music. From 5– 6PM the three-speaker symposium on the Life and Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna was organised. (see synopsis below); This was followed by singing of Aarati and chanting of Sri Ramakrishna Sankirtanam,and Prasad meals at the end. About hundred devotees attended various programs. 

Click to see photos.

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated.)

 

Bhagavad Gita class –– March 15, Friday

Introduction: In his commentary on the Gita, Sri Sankaracarya remarked that the whole essence of the Gita, as well as the essence of all the Vedas, is contained in the 18th chapter. Therefore, a deep and sustained study of this chapter is warranted for all sincere spiritual aspirants. In order to prepare ourselves to embark on a careful study of the 18^th chapter, we should briefly review the first seventeen chapters. At the beginning of the Gita, Arjuna is entirely despondent, being pulled in two different directions; on the one side lies his duty, and other side his attachments. Krishna advises Arjuna to give up his weakness and to perform his duty. After Arjuna seeks refuge in Krishna and is ready to seek advice from him, Krishna gives him intense spiritual wisdom, pointing out the transitory nature of all that surrounds him and explaining that there is an all pervading Self that is beyond all changes. In order to realize the Self, yoga must be practiced. Yoga is the conversion of theoretical and intellectual concepts into tangible practical experience. Although we all have our faults and limitations, we are all invited by Lord Krishna to practice this great science. By assiduously following the practical advice laid out by Lord Krishna in the previous chapters in the Gita and by contemplating their import, we can prepare ourselves to commence our study of the 18th chapter.

 

Symposium on the Life and Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna – March 17, Sunday

Chris Sparks: In the west, Swami Vivekananda preached about Sri Ramakrishna both explicitly, and implicitly, teaching by example. The main psychological and spiritual issue that Swamiji found in the west was materialism. He said that the first step is asking whether we really feel for our brothers. Sri Ramakrishna had this intense love for others, and he perceived the divine as more real than matter. Nothing will satisfy us until we see the truth for ourselves. Only those who experience spirituality can communicate it to others. When we practice renunciation, we see the harmony of religions.

Gloria Hernandez: Ashwini Kumar Dutta wrote to M that Sri Ramakrishna’s smile was “laden with nectar”. M records hundreds of times that Sri Ramakrishna smiled, in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The first time M saw Sri Ramakrishna, he was smiling. Sri Ramakrishna smiled when he was expressing difficult truths, when he was looking at Narendra, and on many other occasions. His smile expressed joy, compassion, and love. When asked whether he had seen God, he replied with a smile that he could only give a hint and when he was in a spiritual mood. Sri Ramakrishna’s smile showed both his human and divine sides, and was a window into his inner being.

Sheela Krishnan: Sri Ramakrishna is the man under the tree who ends the quarrel over the chameleon’s color by knowing that it can be all colors and none. Similarly, God has many attributes and none. Swami Vivekananda pointed out that Sri Ramakrishna lived, breathed, and spoke only of God. He put ideas into practice and tested the truth, by following teachers of different religions. Holy Mother said it was not Sri Ramakrishna’s intention to stress the harmony of religions, but that renunciation was his specialty. We need to yearn for God like the thief who cannot sleep when gold is in the next room. Spiritual realization was more important to Sri Ramakrishna than words.

Swami Yogatmananda: Swami Vivekananda was preaching about Sri Ramakrishna without always mentioning his name. Sri Ramakrishna didn’t come for his name, but for his message. Sri Ramakrishna was making connections with his smile. Sri Ramakrishna reached the harmony of religions through experience, and not just intellectually. When we renounce, we are only giving up our ego and the idea of ‘my religion superior to yours’ is also renounced.

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – March 19, Tuesday

Dr. Sarkar very bluntly asked Master during the course of their conversation, that if He believes that God alone dwells in Him, He is just a machine, then why does he have a desire to cure the illness.
Since we perceive the world with our senses, we believe that to be the ultimate reality. Sri Ramakrishna always saw that God alone has created this world and He has entered into this world. The best analogy given in Vedanta about this phenomenon is of the spider and its web. Similarly, God has created this world out of Him. If this is true then the same God must exist in us too. We do not realize the presence of God in us because our understanding gets clouded by ego. Ego gives rise to endless desires and duality - likes and dislikes, pleasures and pains etc. People of pure mind and pure intelligence realize that God alone exists. Master used to preach the same thing. Master replied to Doctor as long as God has kept His body, this little ego will always exits. This individual ego will be merged in absolute when the body is destroyed. We believe in this petty ego as our true nature. We can't see anything beyond this ego. Even if we get a glimpse of true nature for a while, we get confused in identifying the reality. With this background it is very difficult for us even to imagine that a human being like Master can exist who apparently looks like us, but has firm realization of his true nature. It was very difficult for Dr. Sarkar to accept such concept of ego at the outset and hence he asks more questions.