Newsletter May 12, 2010

Past Events

1) On Sat. May 8, Swami Yogatmananda travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana and gave a retreat on ' Means for Developing Bhakti' to about 35 participants. On Sun. May 09, he gave a talk on 'Control of Mind according to Bhagavad Gita' to an audience of 200. He returned Sunday evening, May 09.

2) Two representatives of Vedanta Society of Providence participated in the morning session of 'One Voice To Reduce Poverty Conference' organised by RI Interfaith Coalition at Roger Williams Park Casino, Providence, RI and discussed various issues related to children in poverty.

Synopsis of last week's classes

Friday, May 07 - Bhagavad Gita (Ch. 6, Verses 25-27)
Training the mind is of utmost importance for our spiritual development. We need to bring the mind under our control for focusing it on God alone. Controlling the mind and not destroying it, is what we need. It is a real challenge! Rather than putting intolerably great pressure and strain on mind and breaking it in the process, we should gradually bring the mind under control. We must work gradually and according to our own individual constitution. Perseverance, determination, and great patience are the hallmarks of this practice: The aspirant must be determined to reach the goal of God Realization. He must not give up, even when the mind runs rampant and it seems like he will never reach the goal. When the mind is drawn toward external objects, he must pull it back and re-focus. Finally, he must not expect Realization to come quickly and without great effort. How can we be happy to spend 15 years working towards a high school diploma, yet expect spiritual wisdom to come quickly? This is foolish and unscientific; we must be patient! With determined practice, the mind will gradually come under control. Only then will we be able to experience the supreme Peace and ultimate bliss that comes with living a God-centered life.

Sunday, May 09 - Sri Ramakrishna and Christianity - Father Paul Dupuis
Although Sri Ramakrishna did not have any direct connection with Christianity, he did have a very deep experience of union with Jesus Christ. He described Jesus as the Master Yogi and the Love Incarnate. 'M', the chronicler of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna describes this incident as the 'Son of Man' embraced the 'Son of Divine Mother'. There are many similarities between the life of Sri Ramakrishna and that of Jesus, such as social circumstances and family condition at the time of their birth; both were austere and sincere; practiced and upheld renunciation of lust and greed in high esteem for divine realization; both were seen to be transfigured at several occasions; both had intense love and devotion for God; both were accepted as divine incarnations during their lifetime; both showered their mercy on poor and fallen. Spiritual instructions given by both of them are very similar. The Father in heaven of Christians is very similar to the 'Brahman' or 'God without form' of Hindus; and the concept of 'Christ' is similar to the concept of 'Isvara' or 'God with form' of Hindus. Christians believe that the Creation took place at one moment and was in a pristine form; due to sin, it has fallen away and our work is to return to that pure state; whereas Hindus think of Creation in a cyclic form and believe that liberation comes to a person when all the Karmas acquired by the person are exhausted. So these are two different concepts of going back to the original state. In Christian theology, Christ is a spiritual entity active throughout the world. Both Hindus and Christians accept the One spirit of God and believe that at the beginning of the time the same Truth manifested differently. Christ and Sri Ramakrishna both identified themselves with God, as Christ says - Father and 'I' are one and Sri Ramakrishna says - Mother and 'I' are one. God's knowledge comes only from God and both of them distributed this knowledge freely through out their life. Christ taught that Kingdom of God is within you. St. Paul says that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit and we are the part of the physical and mystical body of the Christ. Christ taught that this world is not true; the real treasure is within our spirit. The Ramakrishna movement began on the Christmas Eve when Swami Vivekananda and his brother disciples took the vow of renunciation and service of the humanity.

Tuesday, May 11 - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna was able to live on two planes: the plane of the Absolute wherein he would merge totally in The One without a second and the plane of Lila =Divine play where he could see the variety. In the latter, he was like an actor playing various roles on stage. He never lost sight of the fact that he was Brahman, the Existence, Consciousness, Bliss Itself. As easy as it was for the Master to go into samadhi, it was quite difficult for him to come down to relative plane. He was here to impart the knowledge that we are not really this body or mind; in essence we are immortal. The devotees were gathered and soulful singing commenced about Radha and her love for Krishna. The Master couldn't help but go into deep samadhi during the song. Radha is a symbol, representing the individual soul longing to merge with ultimate reality, or Krishna. It's the merging of the finite into the infinite we all crave. A picture of Krishna is shown to Radha and it evokes that sense of her beloved, the one who will never leave her, and love her unconditionally. Another song is sung about two brothers who distribute the love of God. The sages could see the divine presence in all things. When that happens, even ordinary human love is enhanced. Sri Ramakrishna talked of Hazra and the hypocrisy of spiritual practice. Narendra defended this friend of his even though he had serious flaws of character. He would be disoriented and would often need help getting his bearings.

Top