Newsletter October 23, 2013

 

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Sanskrit Language Classes: - Beginning Sun. Oct 20
Beginning Sun. Oct 20 from 3:00PM – 4:00PM, Shanthi (www.yogaforhappiness.com) will teach an eight (8) week class ($ 65.00 fee) on Sanskrit grammar, simple sentence conversation and pronunciation skills illustrating from Gita verses, stories & songs. This is for verbal/reading skills. Recommended Prerequisite: Knowledge of any Indian Language. Contact Vedanta Society.

Bharathnatyam Dance Classes – Sundays 3:30 PM – 5:00PM
To learn traditional South Indian Classical dance, taught by classical dancer Anuradha, please call her only at 704-707-5430 for complete information.

 

Day-long Spiritual Retreat - Sat. Dec. 07, 9:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Sub: Towards The Goal Supreme

Speaker: Swami Kripamayananda, Vedanta Society, Toronto, Canada

Prior registration required. Registration Fee - $20.00 per person; For online registration - $21.00 per person

Click here for more information and to register online. (Schedule subject to change.)

 

Check out our blog for this entry: Would it be better to be "Slavish or Self-driven?" on one's spiritual journey? A new post on the Vedanta Society of Providence blog addresses this question: http://vedantaprovidence.blogspot.com/

 

Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)

Friday, Oct. 25	5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Hatha Yoga class 7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: study class to begin on ‘KARMA YOGA’ (based on the book of Swami Vivekananda)
Saturday, Oct. 26	8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma yoga/cleaning 11:00 AM – 12 noon: Guided meditation and singing 7:00 – 8:00 PM: Aarati (devotional singing), a short reading and meditation
Sunday, Oct. 27	10:00-11:00 AM: Hatha Yoga Class 5:00–6:00 PM: A talk on: ‘Quanyin or Avalokitasvara, by Swami Yogatmananda 6:00 PM– 7:00 PM: Soup Supper 7:00PM – 8:00 PM: Aarati (devotional singing, a reading and meditation)
Tuesday, Oct. 29	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: study class on The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Ch. 45, pg 865

 

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. 3 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 Swami Chetanananda's book: ‘Mahendra Nath Gupta ‘M’' 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation

 

Past Events

La SalleAcademy – Fri. Oct. 18
About a dozen LaSalle Academy High School teachers/administration personnel attended a 1 ½ hour discussion and Q/A session on Vedanta/Hinduism that Swami Yogatmananda conducted at the La Salle Academy, located in Prov., RI.

Swami Yogatmananda to North Carolina – Sat. Oct. 19
Swami traveled early Saturday morning  to Greenville/Raleigh, North Carolina to deliver Vedanta talks. He returned late Monday evening, Oct 21.

 

Pravrajika Gitaprana, Resident Minister, Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgeley Manor, New YOrk, conducted the Sunday Service and Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Class on Tuesday.

Click here to see the photos.

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

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

 

KARMA YOGA (based on the book by Swami Vivekananda) class - Oct. 18, Friday

In Chapter 1 of Karma Yoga, we saw that there is no need to change the work we’re doing but rather the attitude with which we approach our work.  We should perform our work unselfishly, without attachment. This shift in our attitude towards work will bring about a change in our character; our understanding of who we are will become clearer.  In addition, the work will get done more efficiently, because we will not be tangled in it.
The second chapter is entitled, “Each is Great in His Own Place.”  From the perspective of Karma Yoga, though, each work is great in its own way because it provides the doer with the potential for spiritual development.  The reason that different works are suitable to different people, Swami Vivekananda explains, is because of differences in our constitutions and our propensities of the three psychological attributes-- sattva, rajas, and tamas.  Each of us has a characteristic combination of these three forces, and learning how to “employ” each of them will improve our work. We must respect our own svadharma, or individual path, and not covet the work assigned to others.  Human society is a graded organization; standards of morality differ between individual people, cultures, and time periods. When we try to hold others to our moral standard, it creates conflict.
Two other points that were shared in the Q&A:
1) If we’ve worked on a job for a long time, we may not want to stop that work, because we feel that we are essential to the success of the organization.  However, often when we are forced to step away from the work, we see that things are going on just fine (maybe even better) without us!
2) You know a job is suitable for you if it comes to you.  Do the work that you’re presented with.

 

Songs on Divine Mother - Pravrajika Gitaprana - Oct. 20, Sunday
Shakta tradition of spiritual practice worships Divine Mother as the power (Shakti) associated with the unbounded, transcendental Consciousness called Shiva. Although very similar to Vedanta philosophy, the Mother tradition does not reject the universe perceived by the senses as mere illusion (as Vedanta does), but accepts it as actual, deliberate transformation of the Divine; the Divine Mother expressing herself through all of us and everything around. Indian saint Jnanadeva, a follower of the school of Kashmir Shaivism, in his poem of 'Union of Shiva and Shakti' says that - Shiva and Shakti are the primal parents of this universe, and live together even in the smallest particle of this universe; when the Master of the house sleeps, the mistress plays the role of both and when he awakes, the house disappears. This explains the duality of the universe which the Mother is enacting as all of us and the non-dual nature of the ultimate reality. Durga Saptashati, a text from the Shakta tradition, describes Divine Mother as the warrior and slayer of the demons. The demons here allegorically represent our ego-bound emotions and thoughts, that separate us from the ultimate reality. Divine Mother, the Self of all, slays them and liberates us to realize that we are none other than the Divine Mother herself. Shyama-sangeet, a group of devotional songs in Bengali language, describes the glory of Divine Mother in the form of Durga and Kali. Shakti-sadhana as described in some of these songs tells us that whatever actions we do, let us perform them as an offering to the Mother. She is everything, bestower of happiness as well as suffering. Accept everything as her play. Dive deep in spiritual practice and experience the Mother as the Self of all.

A couple songs were sung by two devotees and their translation was read.

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class by Pravrajika Gitaprana - Oct. 22, Tuesday

Sri Ramakrishna tells the author of the Gospel (“M”) that while he can hold fast to his conviction that God is without form, he should not think that this alone is true. God with form is just as true. Due to human limitations, we tend to think in the pair of opposites (form/formless, hot/cold etc.). However, all duality comes from the realm that transcends duality.
Sri Ramakrishna urges aspirants to keep going further in their spiritual quest and not stop at intermediate steps.

Unless we are careful and keep going forward, there are a number of things that will prevent progress and tie us to where we are. Initially these will be external things, then it will be our own thoughts, opinions and emotions. When we go deeper we discover that our conception of God holds us back and needs to be transformed.

The Gospels help us in this transformation. The words come to us from Sri Ramakrishna who belong to the transcendental realm. These words and teachings point us to this Truth and are relevant for anyone who is interested in realizing It. We should not study the Gospel and similar literature as statements of historical facts or merely as matters of intellectual comprehension. We should study them in a much deeper sense of meditating on their true meaning and assimilating the underlying truth (Nididhyasana). Such in-depth meditation may lead to spontaneous realization at any time - even when one may not be meditating.