Hatha Yoga Classes Start Again: First Class held yesterday!
Every Tuesday 5:30-6:30 PM from May 02
Fee: $40 — PREPAID For 2 Month Course, $10/Per Class
Contact Vedanta Society by phone or email or contact Roshni Darnal at 401-226-5421
Day-Long Meditation – Sat. May 06
This is a continual long meditation session, starting with guided meditation at 11:00 AM. Must be IN bldg by 12 noon. Luncheon/snacks provided. No Cell phones; electronic devices allowed.
*Front door opens at 6:30 for (public entry) singing Aarati & continued meditation.
Swami to Wayne, NJ – Sat. May 06
Swami will travel to Vivekananda Vidyapith, Wayne NJ, in the afternoon, to deliver a lecture there from 5PM – 8PM. He will return Sunday about noontime.
Children’s Program – Sun. May 07
Children’s program (ages 6-12 only) will meet from 4PM – 6PM. All young children welcome.
Musician at Vedanta – Thurs. May 11
Ram Deshpande, classical vocalist from Mumbai, will sing devotional songs here at Prov. Vedanta next THURSDAY MAY 11, from 7:15 PM – 8:30PM, immediately after 7PM Aarati. All are welcome. No entry Fee.
Daylong Spiritual Retreat – Sat. June 3
– by Swami Kripamayananda, Vedanta Society of Toronto. Theme: Loving God.
Prior Registration Required; Can be done at the Society’s office, or by mail or online.
Fee: $30.00; $20 if registered by May 21. (Fees are non-refundable)
(For online registration, $1.00 additional)
Click here for schedule and online registration.
Weekly Programs (in addition to Daily Programs given below)
| Friday, May 05 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation 7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on Jnana Yoga (based on the book of Swami Vivekananda) |
| Saturday, May 06 |
8:30 – 10:30 AM: Karma Yoga/Cleaning
11:00 AM – 12 noon: Guided meditation and Chanting/singing 7:00-8:30 PM – Aarati (devotional music) & Meditation |
| Sunday, May 07 |
5:00 – 6:00 PM: Lecture: Lecture: ‘Parables of Buddha’by Swami Yogatmananda
6:00 –6:15 PM: Aarati |
| Tuesday, May 09 |
7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation
7:15 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda on ‘The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna’, Ch 52, pp 990 |
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, Vol. 7’ 7:00 – 7:25AM – A short ritual worship/Puja. Open to all. |
| Evening : | 7:00 – 7:15 PM: Aarti (devotional music), with a short reading from ‘THE STORY OF AN EPOCH: Swami Virajananda and his Times’, by Swami Shraddhananda 7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation. Open to all. |
Past Events
Salutations! – Sun. April 30
The birth anniversary of Shankaracharya was observed with a chant in the morning, and sweet prasadam (food-offering) in the evening.
Music Concert – Sun. April 30, 6:00-7:30pm
Famed SITARIST, Shakir Khan, and TABLA virtuoso Amit Kavthekar performed from 6:15 – 8:00PM to about sixty-five enthused music enthusiasts.
Click here to see photos.
Synopses of Past Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)
Study Class on ‘Jnana Yoga’ – Apr. 28, Friday
Class #60: (Chapter – UNITY IN DIVERSITY)
This world, as we perceive it, is full of contradictions. One is the issue of existence and non-existence. When we are faced with the death of someone we know, we wonder how our friend was here one moment, and gone the next. What happens when we die? As children are fond of asking, where were we before we were born? What is the most essential, inner self? According to Vedanta, that which always exists is the true Self, or God. Sri Ramakrishna assured his disciples that God can be directly experienced, but an aspirant truly has to want to see God. One impediment is that we perceive diversity, rather than unity. The organs of perception (the senses and mind) generate the illusion of variety, beginning with “I and the world.” Our perception depends on a very clear-cut distinction between the perceiver and the perceived. And yet, where the subject ends and object begins is impossible to demarcate, actually. Our misperception is not static; we react to the perceived diversity with feelings of either like or dislike, and these are changeable. We must remember that diversity is an illusion, and the unity behind it is THE reality. In the metaphor of the movie screen, we can see pictures come and go on the screen, but the screen itself is unchanged. It is possible to see the screen itself without the pictures, but we cannot see the pictures without the screen. The screen makes those pictures possible. The screen alone is real. The Upanisads say that a wise person sees that which changes as unreal, and discards it, and sees that which is unchanging as real, and holds fast to it.
Sunday Talk – ‘Seeing Clearly -Way of Shankaracharya’ – Apr 30, Sunday
Sankaracharya created a synthesis of the different schools of Vedantic philosophical thought. He took to monastic life at 5 years of age, walked from deep southern India to about a thousand miles away in Central India to find his Guru, who was waiting for him, and finished his wondrous philosophical writings at 16 years of age. Because of our desires, we get confused, and do not see things clearly, even in this world. We should not see things only in isolation, but in context, such as what they are for, and how they affect us. Everything we experience has two aspects: the perceiver and the perceived. They are mutually conflicting. The superimposition and confusion of ‘I’ and the world is the root cause of all suffering. We have to keep on lovingly adoring the God within us. The world, which comes and goes, will not give solace, and is not real. Only the Self does not go away. Our relations last as long as they serve our convenience. We may be more concerned about our own devastation, rather than the other person, when we lose someone. In the human birth, unlike other animals, we have the faculty of reason, and we journey toward a destination, which should be to realize our divinity. If we pamper the body, we cannot reach the goal, so we should use the body as an instrument. The Self alone exists, and desires for anything else cannot be fulfilled, because they give rise to more desires.
Study Class – The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – May 02, Tuesday
Saturday, May 7, 1887 (continued to Sunday, May 8, 1887)
Spiritual help is the greatest help in the world. The exemplary lives of the great saints teach us that the spiritual progress is possible and also depict how that can be done. The conversations recorded in the Gospel are coming directly from an incarnation of God and they belong to the relatively modern times. It is easier for us to relate to those conversations and grasp the message given through them.
M used to visit the Baranagore monastery often to enjoy the bliss in the company of Master’s direct disciples. During this visit the disciples were reading a scripture called Yoga-vasistha. That scripture advocates the pure non-dualistic philosophy very powerfully. Master did not encourage the householder devotees to study that book. It is not very easy to grasp the concept of non-duality especially by those who have strong identification with the body and mind. That may create confusion in the spiritually immature minds. People who are identified with the body can’t comprehend the all-pervading God. For such people the attitude of a servant towards God is very helpful and advisable. This attitude helps in removing the ego and shining forth the God consciousness in the mind.
People with intense attachment to the body are entangled in Maya. They bind themselves with the concept of space and time which give rise to multiplicity. Once these constraints are removed, Brahman alone is seen.