Newsletter October 24, 2012

Newsletter Archives

 

Upcoming Events

Spiritual Retreat - Sat. Oct. 27, 9:30 am - 7:00 pm

Main Speaker: Swami Ishtananda, Vedanta Society, St Petersburg, Florida

Subj: Dealing with EGO

Prior registration required. Registration Fee $20.00 per person (For online registration: $21 per person)

For more information and to download registration form OR Online registration: http://www.vedantaprov.org/spiritualretreat.html

 

Weekly Programs

Friday, Oct. 26	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class on Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 15
Saturday, Oct. 27	9:30-7:00PM: Spiritual Retreat Regular Sat. Morning Program will resume on Nov. 03
Sunday, Oct. 28	5:00PM – 6:00PM: Swami Ishtananda will speak on ‘Thou Art That’ 6:00PM – 7:00PM- Soup Supper 7:00 – 8:00PM – Aarati (singing, a reading and meditation)
Tuesday, Oct. 30	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class, Ch. 44 (Pg 841)

 

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

Durga Puja – Sun. Oct. 21

A day to honor Sri Durga (the Divine Mother), from 11:00 AM until 7:00 PM, was celebrated at the Vedanta Society of Providence on Sunday, October 21. Ritual worship conducted by Swami Yogatmananda was from 11:00 AM - 1:15PM (including flower offering by attendees) and Prasad (luncheon) was observed/participated in by about one-hundred thirty devotees. From forty-five to fifty-five devotees participated in the remainder of the day’s programs, which include: viewing of the video/live-stream from Belur Math, India on Durga-Puja; Devotional-Music Hour; 5PM-6PM Sunday lecture on ‘Songs of Mother Durga’; and Aarti, chanting, and meditation at 6:00 PM, followed by Prasad (food) offering.

Click here to see photos.

Synopsis of Last Week's Classes

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

Bhagavad Gita - Oct. 19, Friday

Ch 15 Verses 7-9: Our goal in life is to realize our true self and to find out who we really are. In order to achieve this goal, one must become a seeker, a sadhaka. A sadhaka is one who overcomes the bondage of attachment by remaining firmly resolved that the goal of life is to realize the Self and who makes concerted efforts to that end. Truly we are in and through the Divine, but due to ignorance we feel separated from God and falsely think that we are each an independent self. Operating under this delusion of separateness, the embodied soul, seeking unity, acquires the internal (mind) and external (sense organs) instruments required to express its desires. The internal and external instruments can be compared to the software and hardware of a computer respectively; the internal instruments contain the information which expresses itself through the external instruments and guides their particular functions. It is important for the spiritual seeker to bear in mind that just as a computer is utilized by a user, so too are the mind and sense organs used by the embodied soul.  These external instruments (such as the human body) are not very permanent. When the embodied soul leaves the body, the information which was expressed through the external instruments is taken out and put in a new body just like ‘wind takes the fragrance from a flower’. The topic will be further discussed in the next class.

 

Songs on Mother Durga - Oct. 21, Sunday

The first song was from the Chandi, which has 700 verses, which are recited by many during the 9 days of Durga Puja, and by some, every day. The abstruse truths of Vedanta are presented in stories, so we will be able to take them in. The Divine Mother is praised by the gods as one who never gets defeated. The gods are about to lose all to the demons, and their prayer is from the depths of their hearts. The Divine Mother is the deluding power of Lord Vishnu, and is one with God. The Divine Mother is in every being, human and animal, living and nonliving. Whatever we think we can or cannot do is a manifestation of the Divine Mother. Sri Ramakrishna compares it to vegetables dancing in boiling water, which only dance due to the fire underneath them. We all have sraddha, or faith, and it is actually Her manifestation. The Divine Mother is that which classifies, stores and sorts our memories. The Divine Mother also manifests as the motherhood in all; she is the primary mother, and our propensity to create is Her manifestation. The Divine Mother is the consciousness that pervades the universe. The second song refers to the symbolic story of the fight between the Divine Mother and Raktabija, a demon who, multiplies with every drop of his blood falling on the earth. This is symbolic of desire, which, when we try to satisfy, actually goes on multiplying. The third song is from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It addresses the doubt that one gets: our past sins are so overbearing, that there is no use in trying to change; so no use trying. The answer is that no matter what our past is, if we die with the name of the Mother on our lips, we will attain liberation. A room that has been dark for 1,000 years will light up right away when a match is lit. The last song was about the Divine Mother waking up in our consciousness. 

These songs were sung by Rahul & Swapna Ray and Sravani Bhattacharjee.

 

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class – Oct. 23, Tuesday

The conversations recorded in the Gospel Sri Ramakrishna are full of knowledge of Brahman. The specialty of this knowledge is, by acquiring this knowledge one becomes the Brahman. This is not true with any other secular knowledge. The knowledge and the knower are two different entities. By knowing Brahman one becomes that. The moment one realizes his/her divine and infinite nature he/she will become infinite. We percieve ourselves to be limited by body and seperate from the rest of the world. But that awareness does not change the Truth. Vedanta philosophy calls this distorted perception as - Vivarta. As soon as the knowledge dawns the distorted perception vanishes completely and the Reality appears in its entirety.
An argumentative visitor asked to Sri Ramakrishna about rebirth. Master answered in the light of Gita that everyone would get the next birth depending upon the thoughts at the time of death, like Bharat who got next birth of a deer as he was thinking of a deer on his deathbed. The rationale behind this is the most intense tendencies will come up at the time of death. The next birth will be obtained to fulfill those tendencies. Many a times ego or Maya come in the disguised forms of love, compassion or duty. They cast a spell on human life resulting into tremendous attachment and bondage. Hence it is essential to cultivate good tendencies throughout the life so that they  remain ever predominant in our mind.
The man asked the Master about the eyewitness of rebirth. Master discouraged this question as such information does not have any practical significance for an aspirant's life. As an aspirant one must try to develop incessant love for God. All these are secondary details. Such conversations do not add any value to the knowledge of an aspirant.