Newsletter October 26, 2011

The New Chapel construction work is progressing well as per plans. Heating and Ventilation duct work, the electrical connections, plumbing is in different stages of completion. The sprinkler system installation is completed. Acoustic and Video system wiring is also in progress. The elevator installation has begun and it is continuing. The front porch construction is progressing as well. A few windows have already been placed. Click here to see New Construction - Updates and Photos.

Past Events

Swami's travel to NJ and PA – Sat. & Sun., Oct. 22 & 23

Swami travel to Berlin, New Jersey on Saturday, October 22 to conduct a talk on ‘What is Yajna?’ to about twenty-seven devotees, and on Sunday, October 23, he discussed ‘Sri Ramakrishna: The Ideal for Householders’ to about thirty devotees in the Philadelphia, PA Vedanta group. Swami returned to Providence to conduct the Sunday 5:00 PM lecture on October 23.

Weekly Classes

Bhagavad Gita class – Oct. 21, Friday

Chapter 11: Verses 42-55

By studying the Gita, we have the opportunity to re-discover our true nature and realize that we are not limited by time and space, are not subject to the decay of the body, but are in fact limitless. The dividing line between “I” and “the world” can be removed through spiritual practice and study. However, we must work hard for it! We must cultivate a firm conviction that all is One, not just a belief that this is so. When we have conviction, then the Truth will start transforming our lives. Because the experience of this divine truth requires great strength of the nervous system, cultivating physical and mental strength is a requirement of spiritual life. In the 11th chapter, Arjuna experiences this vision of God and the overwhelming shattering of the ego that accompanies it. He experiences great joy, but also great fear as his individuality starts to fall away. He begs Lord Krishna to return to His benevolent familiar form. Because of our ignorance and false association with the body and personality, we don’t want to loose ourselves and merge into God. This is a time when we must call upon our strength and press on boldly. In the final verse of Chapter 11, Krishna tells Arjuna that only those who have devotion can get this Divine Vision of Him. Those who are truly devoted consider God, not themselves, as the doer of all their actions. This attitude transforms all of their actions into work done for God. The true devotee is not attached to anyone or anything in the world. S/he performs familial duties to the best of his ability, but knows that his relatives do not belong to him. S/he feels no enmity toward anyone.

Rhyme and Rhythm by Swami Yogatmananda – Oct. 23, Sunday

Rhyming, the repetition of certain sounds at particular intervals, captures the mind and helps us remember things; for example, many of us learned about geography and counting through rhymes. In rhymes, there must be similar words (but not all the same words) with different intonations. Similarly, rhythm has a time-cycle that includes sequence of variations but maintains a cyclical pattern. There is something about similarity that catches the mind, but why? Rhyme and rhythm attract us because the unity expressed through them is the nature of Truth. When we discover the unity in variety, the mind gets fixed on it, and we feel happy. Even in science, satisfaction comes from the discovery of generalization of facts which then get called ‘laws’ that express the unity in variety. The Katha Upanishad says, ‘one who discovers the indestructible reality behind the changeable, the one who sees the Life Principle in all, one who sees the One in many -- that person experiences Eternal Peace. Recognizing Oneness (Pratyabhijna) gives the sense of happiness. But when we try to create oneness by destroying variety, we continually fail and feel frustrated. The Self is the same in everyone, even though we are all in different bodies. By going to the inner core, we find that we already are all the same at that level; thus we don't need to make everyone the same. As Swami Vivekananda stated, "The whole universe is a play of unity in variety, and of variety in unity." The distinctions are always present, and so we must see the existing Oneness in all things in order to attain peace and happiness in life.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna class – Oct. 25, Tuesday

Gopal Ma (= Mother of Baby Krishna; her actual name was Aghormani) led a very dedicated and devotional life. She worshipped God in the form of Baby Krishna. After many years of austerity, she started to have visions of Gopal merging in Sri Ramakrishna’s body. She had a very wonderful relationship with Him. Relationships are of two types – Human and Divine. Human relationship binds an individual while divine relationship liberates. Love for God cannot be developed easily without establishing some relationship with Him. Sri Ramakrishna had many women devotees. But He never encouraged too much interaction between His men and women devotees for their own spiritual well-being. He asked His men devotees to stay away from "woman and gold". Here, "woman" symbolizes all worldly enjoyments, which drag an aspirant down; and "gold" symbolizes greed. To his women devotees he cautioned similarly to stay away from men. Younger Naren asked a philosophically important question – “Do we have free will?” All of us come across this question many times. Do we really have a choice or are our past impressions dictating our present choices? Sri Ramakrishna’s answer is very profound. He answered – “Do your duties as if you were the doer, but knowing all the time that God alone is the doer and you are the instrument.” As an individual develops spiritually s/he gradually understands this truth. There was an interesting discussion related to Free will in the class.