Newsletter November 28, 2012

Newsletter Archives

 

Announcement

Swami Yogatmananda visits INDIA – Thurs. Nov. 15 through Thurs. Dec. 20

All 'daily- meditation & prayer schedules' and 'weekly- classes schedules' will continue as usual, with several guest speakers. Please check monthly announcements and weekly newsletters for ongoing ‘lecture-titles & speakers’.

Click here for his itinerary.

 

Weekly Programs

Friday, Nov. 30	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on ‘Sri Ramakrishna and Gita’ by Vrishali Pal
Saturday, Dec. 01	8:30 – 10:30AM:Karma Yoga/cleaning 11:00am – 12noon: Guided Meditation Program (overhead guided meditation CD while swami is away); and singing 7:00 – 8:00PM: Aarati (devotional singing), a short reading from Sri Sarada Devi The Great Wonder and meditation
Sunday, Dec. 02	5:00 – 6:00PM: Swami Tyagananda (Vedanta society, Boston) will speak on ‘To Drive or be Driven? ’ 6:00 – 7:00PM- Soup Supper 7:00 – 8:00PM – Aarati (music, a reading and meditation
Tuesday, Dec. 04	7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study class on 'Songs in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Songs by Kamalakanta, by Sukalyan Sengupta

 

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

1) The birth anniversary of Swami Subodhananda and Swami Vijnanananda, direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed on Sunday, Nov. 25 and Tuesday, Nov. 27, respectively, with a morning chant and a song, a biography reading and prasad in the evening.

2) Interfaith – Nov. 08 - one devotee and eight other interfaith leaders/members of the monthly 'Attleboro-based' interfaith group assembled at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Attleboro MA to discuss - "Share a personal story of a meaningful experience you have had with the power of forgiveness".

3) Guest speakers conducted weekly classes at the Vedanta Society, Providence.

Click here to see photos.

Synopses of Last Week's Classes

Nov. 23, Friday - No class was held; Thanksgiving break.

 

Culture, Identity and Spiritual Life - a talk by Dr. Kumar Murty – Nov. 25, Sunday

Cave paintings were found near in Central India that are over 30,000 years old, and depict scenes not related to survival or hierarchy, but culture. Culture can be defined as an intimation of immortality, an expression of uniqueness and distinctiveness, and portraying membership in the community. Some people consider deviation from one’s culture as sacrilegious. Immigrants face the decision on how much to integrate with the new culture, and how much to adhere to traditions that sustained them. Swami Vivekananda spoke of America as the land of the free, yet he was the victim of cultural bigotry there, by otherwise good people. Civilization evolves with culture. Samuel Huntington wrote ‘The Clash of Civilizations’, in which he predicted that social clashes will be cultural in nature. Mahatma Gandhi said that the British occupation of India would end when British culture was no longer seen as superior. Swami Vivekananda felt that Indian culture was artistic, while Western culture was utilitarian, and that we need a combination of the two. Edward Said mentions that not realizing interdependence of cultures, leads to clashes. Identity on cultural basis gives us cohesion and strength. We are accustomed to acknowledge our identity based on our physical existence, which keeps on changing. Vedanta says that our true identity is the innermost core of our personality, the Self, beyond body and mind. Economist Amartya Sen feels that a singular identity leads to bigotry. Conscious identity is driven by the will and unconscious identity by imagination. Psychologist Emile Coue believed that imagination makes us act, rather than the will. We need to sublimate rather than suppress undesired tendencies. Studying and practicing the teachings of great spiritual teachers, we should develop intellectual conviction about our true nature, strong enough to color our culture and identity. Then we may understand better our own culture, get benefited by other cultures and grow towards our spiritual ideal.

 

Songs in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Songs by Rabindranath Tagore

- a talk by Prithwish Basu – Nov. 27, Tuesday

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Kathamrita) has a total of 267 songs out of which seven were composed by Rabindranath Tagore. These songs were presented and played to the audience. All these songs were sung by Narendranath. The locale and the context of each song in Kathamrita were discussed. A brief biography of Rabindranath Tagore was also presented.