Newsletter Dec 6, 2006

Holy Mother's Birthday Celebration - Sat. Dec 9

Puja (worship) will be from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM and consists of chanting, ritualistic worship, flower and food offerings followed by Prasad luncheon. In the evening, there will be a devotional music program dedicated to the Divine Mother from 7:00 - 8:00 PM. All are welcome.

 

Middletown, CT classes - Sun. Dec 10

Swami will conduct a youth class (ages 12-24) on personality development from 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM at Sri Satyanarayana Temple, 11 Training Hill Rd, Middletown, CT. This will be followed by the monthly Bhagavad Gita class (Ch 4 cont.) from 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM. All are welcome.

 

Past Events

1) On Nov 29, Swami Yogatmananda met with the Brown University Student Hindu group on campus at 8:00 PM.

2) Swami is conducting discourses on Hindu Psychology, 'Aum', and varied Vedanta topics at the St Petersburg Vedanta Center and Vedanta group in Miami, Florida from Sat. Dec 2 thru Dec 6. He will return on Thursday, Dec 7. See photos.

Synopsis of Last Week Classes

Friday - Raja Yoga Class - Dec 1

Aphorisms 3:36-38
The confusion between the self and the Sattva aspect (the purest of the Sattva-rajas-tamas) of the matter gives rise to enjoyments & their inevitable counterpart, suffering. The Sanskrit word 'bhoga' includes both - enjoyment & suffering. Commentator Bhoja clarifies that the mention of only Sattva should be understood in the sense 'even the identification with the purer aspect results in bhoga - what to speak of the identification with the impure rajas & tamas aspects? When the concentration (samyama) is made on the Self, one knows the real self. This leads to the destruction of all the bondages; for bondages are the result of identification of the self with matter.
With the knowledge of the Self as separate from and controller of the matter, one gets control of the body and mind; and thus the relative perceptions of such person become more profound,
The so called 'powers' are powers in the worldly progress; they are obstruction in the path to Samadhi.
Many interesting questions were discussed after the talk.

Sunday - Just Being - Swami Tyagananda - Dec 3
Our present society values 'doing' more than 'being'. Work oriented culture has made people 'empty' inside and hence along with lot of success, people are facing anxiety, stress and illness. Spirituality addresses the divide between 'doing' and 'being'. According to Vedanta, spirit (Atman) alone is eternal, perfect and source of power and bliss. Anything else is deceptive, fleeting and limited. How am I connected to the Spirit? In reality, Spirit and 'I' are one and hence spiritual life means being my True Self. Our real identity is the innermost core of our personality, the 'Atman'; body, mind, intellect are just the coverings. The more one goes deeper, the more power and beauty manifest.
One way to connect with the divine is by remembering always the real 'I'. Another is the theistic approach - considering oneself as child, servant or a part of the divine being. The time one spends in the awareness of divine, one is spiritual for those moments only. Truly being spiritual means having the divine awareness while performing daily activities. There are hurdles in this process, but they will melt away by the heat (of austerities) as we cultivate devotion and purity of body, mind and spirit. If spiritual life means 'doing' something then factors like time, space and energy matter; but if its just 'being', then that awareness will not interfere with what we are doing. If one maintains this awareness, then s/he cannot be jealous or dishonest with others; but truthful and has loving concern for others. Then one can discharge secular responsibilities in a better way. In the beginning one can practice this awareness in a quiet place just for 5 mints while doing some daily work. Slowly increase the time. Gradually one will be able to do it always without any forceful attempt and life will be transformed. Everything around will get spiritualized. The gap between 'doing' and 'being' will vanish forever.