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If you have questions regarding spiritual life, Vedanta, Hinduism etc, you can email us at answers@vedantaprov.org
Spring AHEAD! Daylight Savings Time - Sat. Mar. 13
Don't forget to turn your timepieces AHEAD (Forward) 1 hour tonight(Sat) or
early Sun morning for those of you in EST.
Bhagavad Gita class, Middletown CT - Sun. Mar. 14
Swami Yogatmananda will conduct the monthly Bhagavad Gita class (ch 7 cont) at Sri Satyanarayana Temple, 11 Training Hill Rd, Middletown CT (860-346-8675) from 10:30AM -11:30 AM. All are welcome.
Sitar Concert - Sun. Mar. 21
From 6:00PM - 7:30PM, immediately following the Sunday Service Lecture, there
will be a Sitar concert performed by Srinivas Reddy from California, accompanied
by Sameer Gupta on Tabla. All are welcome. $10.00 Donation at door is requested.
Swami Atmarupananda from California at Brown University - Mar.
21 & Mar. 22
1) On Sunday, March 21, from 1:00PM - 5:00PM, Swami Atmarupananda, from Vedanta
Society of So. CA, Trabucao Monastery, will conduct a contemplative retreat
on: 'The Search for The Self' (meditation techniques from the Hindu tradition
that shed light on various aspects of consciousness) in J. Walter Wilson Hall,
Room 411. Enrollment is limited to twenty persons. This is a Brown University
program. Please e-mail Robert Coolidge @brown.edu for registration. (NOT Vedanta
Society).
http://blogs.brown.edu/other/india/2010/03/interlandi_contemplative_retre.php
2) On Monday evening, from 7:30 PM - 9:00PM, in Saloman Hall 001, Swami Atmarupananda
will discuss: ''Who am I? The Search for the Self', as part of the sixth annual
Mary Interlandi '05 Memorial lecture. All are welcome to attend. No Fee.
http://blogs.brown.edu/other/india/2010/03/swami_atmarupananda_who_am_i_t.php
Weekly Programs at Vedanta Society of Providence
| Friday, March 12 |
7:00 PM
- Aarati (devotional music); Chanting of Shiva-Nam-Sankirtanam |
| Saturday, March 13 |
8:30 AM
- 10:30 AM - Karma Yoga - Cleaning |
| Sunday, March 14 |
5:00 pM
- 6:00 PM - A talk on 'Follow the Yellow- brick Road' by Swami
Yogatmananda |
|
Tuesday, March 16 |
7:00 PM
Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 - 8:30 PM - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Ch 39, Pg 751 (cont) |
Daily Programs at Vedanta Society of Providence
| 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 I |
| Evening | 7:00
7:15 PM: Aarati (devotional music), a short reading from 'The
Spiritual Quest and the Way of Yoga' (The Goal, the Journey and
the Milestones) by Swami Adiswarananda 7:15 8:15 PM: Meditation |
1)On Thursday, March 04, the birth anniversary of Swami
Yogananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was observed in the morning
with a chant and in the evening with a song, a biography reading and Prasad.
2)Hindi School Students (HARI )visit Vedanta - Sun. March 07
On Sunday morning, March 07, about twenty elementary-age students (also
teachers and parents) from the HARI School, situated on the Brown University
campus, visited Providence Vedanta Chapel at 11:30 AM to learn about basic
Hinduism, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Click
here to see photo.
3) Monday evening, March 08, Swami Yogatmananda met with the Brown
University Hindu student group to discuss current concerns.
Synopsis of last week's classes
Friday, Mar. 05 - Bhagavad Gita (Ch. 6, Recapitulation
& Verse 1)
Tonight's class reviewed the essential teachings of the first five chapters
of the Gita before embarking upon the study of the sixth chapter. The Bhagavad
Gita is a practical guide for living a meaningful life. Through Lord Krishna's
conversation with Arjuna we learn that all human suffering springs from
of this attachment to body and the objects of the world, the sense of "I
and mine." the true nature of the soul is immortal; therefore, we never
really die. Our bodies are just cast off like old garments that have worn
out. Although we may grasp this Truth at the intellectual level, the question
remains: How can we apply it to our everyday experience? 'Yoga' is the answer-the
perfect union of theory and practice. The only thing that will bring us
true and lasting Happiness is the realization of the Truth. We can realize
this Truth in our very lifetime, through the practice of detachment, renunciation,
and control of the mind and personality. The more efforts we put into this
practice, the greater will be our results, the larger will be our Happiness.
The first verse of Chapter Six introduces the study of abhyasa yoga,
the yoga of practice. It explains the nature of true Yogi who is also true
Sanyasi (renouncer). "One who performs the works which need to be done
without craving for the results; not the one who merely takes up the external
signs of a monk, like giving up all the duties."
Sunday, March 07- What Happens When I Die? - Swami
Yogatmananda
'Death of somebody' is quite different from 'death of I' in the sense that
while someone else's death may affect us, it is accepted as a fact,
whereas 'death of I' is very difficult to imagine. The 'Questions of Yaksha'
in Mahabharata, narrates the most astonishing fact in the world as: Even
though we see people dying around us every day, we think we are going to
be there forever. Somehow intrinsically we associate death with death of
'body' and not with the death of 'I'; 'I' is always thought as changeless
(immortal) part of our personality. Ego, deeper layer of our personality
doesn't die with death of the body; rather it manufactures another suitable
body and rebirth takes place. Scriptures mention that sleep is one type
of death that we experience everyday. In deep sleep, 'I' is not perceived
and hence the universe which revolves around the pivot of 'I' also vanishes.
The idea of death has its root in ignorance. Ignorance or the fictitious
divide as subject and object forces the 'I' to see itself separate from
the world. Death of ego (or ignorance) wipes off this separation; in a true
sense, the Self never dies and hence never is born. In Bhagavad Gita, pointing
to this fact, Sri Krishna says that a person passes through different stages
such as childhood - youth- old age, the next link in that chain is death
and hence one should not be grieving on the death of the body. Kathopanisad
says that perception of the 'multiplicity' takes us from death to death.
When one dies to one's desires, possessions, then the eternal life begins.
In the state of Samadhi, a person wakes up to the Knowledge and the dream
of this universe vanishes and along with that vanishes the idea of death.
Since the biggest obstacle - ego, which was standing between us and God
- dies, what remains is God alone, the all pervading reality. Tolstoy's
novel 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' narrates the story of an ordinary person
who realizes at the hour of death that he has lived an artificial life -
life of self-interest and not the authentic life - the life of compassion
and empathy. Suddenly, he sees the death of his artificial life and feels
sorry for others who would continue their artificial lives fearing death.
Tuesday, Mar. 09 - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
The words of Sri Ramakrishna remind us that we are immortal.
A devotee asked the Master 'What should we do (to realize God)?'
Ramakrishna told 'cultivate intense dispassion'. These attachments are like
a stranglehold and it is so very hard to get loose. Through the practice
of detachment and looking at names and forms and the attraction and repulsion
that accompanies them as unreal, one makes progress. If we don't get there
in the first attempt, say "I am not able to do it NOW". Never
say, "I can't do it", because this is a defeatist attitude.
The Master says we need strength of mind like a dacoit who shouts, "loot,
kill" before looting a house.
Through devotion to God, the dispassion comes easier. By doing that, you
won't have to give up directly. In Narada's Aphorism on devotion, he writes
that love to God increases all the time. Human love, on the other hand,
is more of a conditional affair. How much I love that person depends on
whether S/he is acting the way I want. Is that really love? Vivekananda,
in Bhakti Yoga, touches upon the same point and we learn that God will never
ditch us. He is always there for us and we can always depend upon Him. So,
weaving our sense organs, motor organs and mind around God and not around
the names and forms, we come to feel more and more love for God and that
will automatically remove the love of the world.