Newsletter June 02, 2010

Past Events

1) Annual General Meeting - Sun. May 30

Immediately after the Sunday Service, Annual General Meeting of the Vedanta Society of Providence was held in the chapel at 6:00 PM. The meeting was presided by George Parker, a senior member and attended by about forty-five to fifty people. Board members read respective reports. Swami Yogatmananda gave the progress of the design of the new construction project and said that the construction could begin in coming July. Richard Leheny, a long-standing devotee and a construction-expert presented the audience many salient features of the new construction, using the architectural drawings and answered the questions. Joan Chadbourne, who has been an important pillar of the Society for many decades, has decided to partially move to Colorado. A farewell was arranged for her. The meeting was followed by soup-supper.

To see the report of the activities and the summery of accounts for year 2009 - please click here.

See the Photos of the meeting here.

2) Swami Yogatmananda participated in the Brown University Commencement Baccalaureate Service at the First Baptist Church, Providence, RI on Sat. May 29th.

Synopsis of last week's classes

Friday, May 28 - Bhagavad Gita (Ch. 6, Verses 29-31)

A person who has realized God will see the Self in all beings, and all beings in the Self. The great sages like Jesus and Buddha are all-loving because they recognize the Oneness in all beings. The skeptic might point to differences in individual appearances as a proof that we are not all the Self. But the body is not the Self; likewise the mind is not the
Self. The spiritual aspirant should direct all actions towards this goal of seeing the Self in all. When a person sees the Sameness in all things, all hatred, anger, and blaming will vanish. Thus, this person sees all as Brahman; he loves all beings without expectation or
conditions. The one who practices this can experience REAL love because he cares not whether the love is returned or appreciated. The love we have for our families and partners is not this real, unconditional love, since we see that our love turns to hatred when we feel wronged by these people. The aspirant who sees the Self in all--whether he is a monk or a householder--never loses sight of God, and God never loses sight of him either.

Sunday, May 30 - Following the Enlightened One - Swami Yogatmananda
Buddha was an extremely rational and yet compassionate teacher. He attainted enlightenment by analyzing the experiences- rejecting the objects (however pleasant they may be) that bring suffering and bondage and accepting that which bring freedom and ultimate bliss. He taught that 'Buddha' (enlightenment) is a state and each and everyone has the potential to attain to it. Once his disciple Ananda with other assembled disciples, asked him - why, even after intellectually understanding the things, do we fall in the ignorance that binds us to the cycles of birth and death and how to get emancipation from it? Buddha replied that this world is as unreal as the 'blossoms seen in the sky' and is conjured by the sense organs and mind. The existence of 'I' and existence of 'world' depend upon each other. Thus the way is to remove the attachment to sense organs and the world conjured up by them and merge in the essence of both. To further elaborate the concept in a concrete way, Buddha took out a handkerchief and tied six knots to it - each one corresponding to the five sense organs and mind. Then he asked 'what is the knot? - nothing but handkerchief.' Then he said that if you untie these knots what remains is the handkerchief, which was there all the time. So also the reality is One; we tie the knots of separate existence onto it and further number those knots in a consecutive order to create an illusion of connectedness. However, in truth, these knots come and go; they do not have any existence at all. Vedanta calls this the knot of existence and nonexistence (chit-jada granthi). When delusion of sense conceptions is destroyed, what remains is the true essence of mind (i.e. the handkerchief in the above example). As the untying of the knots has to be done in a reverse order one after another, similarly first untangle the misconception of ego-personality and next - the attachment to personal attainments. When these two entanglements are utterly destroyed and never again permitted to rise to defile the true essential mind, then one attains enlightenment. The false 'I' tied with body and mind and hence tied to the world through ego is not real. Sri Ramkrishna says that 'I' and 'mine' is the bondage that makes us suffer. By following the teachings of the enlightened one, we ourselves become enlightened.

Tuesday, June 01 - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

When realization of God or Samadhi occurs, the ego is annihilated. The "I" consciousness - the sense of "I", "me", "mine" is the reason for our bondage. Sri Ramakrishna's answer to Mahima's question, 'can a person return to the ordinary world after samadhi' explains that once one achieves samadhi, the ego vanishes. What remains may look like ego, but is something totally different. He refers to this as the 'ego of devotion' or the 'ego of knowledge'. These correspond to two paths to follow: Jnana and Bhakti. Jnana, the road of knowledge, is analytical, rational approach of examining the experience and rejecting what is not real. Continuing the process of relentless examination and rejection (Viveka & Vairagya), the God alone remains. The path of devotion.is another approach, which is psychologically more soothing for most people is emphasizing the love of the God - the creator and essence of the world. The Master says that path of knowledge brings out the 'BRILLIANT' aspect and that of devotion 'SWEETNESS' aspect of God.
A devotee Bhavanath asks a question that used to bother the Master as well: "What does it mean that the Divine Mother kills all beings?"
The Master explained that it was her Lila or divine play. Both creation and destruction are God's Maya. Some things aren't meant to be questioned. There are just certain arbitrarily made rules such as in soccer, football, etc. that must be followed if you want to play. There is no 'why' to these rules; you may change them if that makes the game more enjoyable.

Top