Announcements and reminders:

Upcoming Events

Daylong Retreat – Sat. Oct. 13, 9:30am – 5:00pm
– by Swami Chetanananda, Vedanta Society of St. Louis MO
Topic: ‘Stories of Vedanta Monks’
Fee: $30.00; Discounted fee $20 if paid  by Oct. 03 (Fees are non-refundable)
Prior Registration Required; Can be done online or at the Society’s office, or by mail.  For detailed information and online registration:
https://vedantaprov.org/schedule/

DURGA PUJA: Sat. Oct. 20, 11:00am – 7:00pm
11:00 am: worship-ritual, 12:30 flower-offering & Prasad-lunch, 3:00-5:00 Video, 5:00-6:00 Special Durga dance,  6:00-7:00 Singing and 7:00 Supper-prasad

Hatha Yoga ClassesEvery Tuesday, beginning Oct 02, 5:30-6:30 PM (Please note the change in day)
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

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Fri. Oct. 12 7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation.  
7:30 – 8:30 PM: Study Class by Swami Yogatmananda, class #4 on: ‘Svetasvatara Upanishad’ 
Sat. Oct. 13 9:30 AM– 5:00 PM: DAYLONG SPIRITUAL RETREAT
6:00pm – 7:00pm – Aarati (devotional singing) & meditation
Sun. Oct. 14 5:00 – 6:00 PM: Lecture: Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi by Swami Chetanananda. Followed by Arati and soup-supper
Tue. Oct. 16 7:00 PM: Aarati (devotional music) & meditation
7:30 – 8:30 PM:  Study Class – Swami Saradananda’s book – ‘SRI RAMAKRISHNA & HIS DIVINE PLAY’: Sri Ramakrishna As Guru(Tr. Swami Chetanananda)

Daily Schedule

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
7:00 – 7:25 AM: A short ritual worship/Puja. Open to all, but one must enter before 7 am
Evening 7:00 – 7:15 PM: Aarti (devotional music), with a short reading from ‘BOOK OF DAILY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS’ by Swami Paramananda 
7:15 – 8:00 PM: Meditation. Open to all.

Past Events

Swami’s Trip to Atlanta and Augusta, GA: Oct 06-08
Swami went to Augusta, GA on Sat. Oct. 6 to speak at the Interfaith Meeting organized to celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. There were 8 representatives from various religions. About 80 attended.On Sun, Oct 07, he gave a lecture on ‘Vedanta and Psychology of violence’ at the Hindu Temple of Augusta, it was attended by 20. He then gave talks on ‘Imitation of Christ’ at the Vedanta Society of Atlanta on Sun and Mon evening and returned by Tue afternoon.

Day-long Meditation: Sat. Oct. 06 – Was participated in by 5-6 devotees, for various lengths of time.

Monthly Children’s Program: Sun. Oct. 07
5 children participated in learning to make cookies and other activities.

Synopses of Past Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated)

Friday Study Class: Svetasvatara Upanisad – Oct. 05
Class 3 – Verses 1-2: As humans, we start thinking about the ‘causes’ of everything around, the secrets hidden in our experiences of the world and ‘I’. This is a special trait of human beings, not available to other creatures. We want to know the ‘why’, ‘wherefrom’, ‘when’, ‘by whom’ about the nature of the world and ‘I’, or the meaning of life. Commonly, even human beings do not occupy themselves with these questions too much. They get (even when they arise occasionally) submerged under the worries about the mundane animal existence – where to get food, shelter, enjoyment etc -, but in some rare souls these fundamental questions become intensely important. They have seen that the there is no lasting satisfaction and happiness in sense enjoyment. They are called ‘Brahmavadins’ – interested in finding and experiencing the ultimate reality. They approach the teacher with devotion, proper question and try to do the service to the teacher as expression of their adoration. Their questions and possible answers have been given in the first two verses. ‘What is the Ultimate Cause? Is it Brahman? Wherefrom do we emerge and wherein do we survive? Where do we finally end up? Who governs the distribution of happiness and misery?
They have already pondered over the causes like ‘Time’ or ‘Nature’, ‘Fate’ etc; but none of these or their combinations seem to be satisfactory. So, they have been asked to go deeper. There lies the solution.

Sunday Talk -Profiting from the Prophet, – a Talk by Chester Boncek – Oct. 07
Prophets are intermediaries between the Divine and us. Communion with the supreme Spirit is common to all religions, such as with Avatars. What is the best use of our time with a prophet or sage? In the Gita, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna about the characteristics of someone endowed with spiritual wisdom. The bible says to beware of false prophets. Swami Vivekananda tested Sri Ramakrishna, before accepting him as his Guru. Josephine McLeod said that Swami Vivekananda was the biggest spiritual force ever to come to earth. The Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan had little formal training, and attributed his mathematical discoveries to divinity. Swami Yatiswarananda, in the book Meditation and Spiritual Life, lists eleven stages of spiritual unfoldment: 1) an ordinary man is drawn to a holy Personality, 2) he sees more glory in Him, 3) he realizes that He is a higher manifestation, and he a lower manifestation, of the same Reality, 4) he see himself as a point of pure consciousness which seems more real than the circle of pure consciousness, 5) they both seem equally real, 6) the circle seems more real, 7) the point is lost in the circle, 8) the circle is seen to manifest as many souls, 9) the highest Reality manifests as all beings, and the man is particularly focused on his Ishtam, 10) the One Spirit is manifesting as many souls, and 11) he is One without a second, or the Absolute. This is the foundation of all religious teachings.

Tuesday Study Class: Sri Ramakrishna & His Divine Play – Oct. 09
pages 425-427 : In the study of the life of divine personages the motivations behind the actions are more important than the actions and facts of their lives. These motivations are completely different from common people as they lack even a trace of selfishness in them.
Spiritual evolution in man is associated with the rising of kundalini (dormant spiritual energy). As the kundalini rises and moves through various centers, it leads to the evolution of our awareness of ourselves and that of the world around us. The contradictions in the lower planes get resolved in the higher planes. At the three lowest centers, our awareness is that we are this body. At the level of the heart we get divine experiences. At the level of the throat, we reach the conviction that we are not the body. At this stage one can only talk of God; one feels repulsive in talking about secular matters. At this stage one needs to be vigilant as there is a risk of falling to lower planes. Once the kundalini reaches the 6th center, there is no fear of falling below heart-level (4th). At this stage we go from conviction of divine Reality to perception. Once the kundalini reaches the 7th center then one merges in Reality and the body of an ordinary soul drops off after 21 days. Sri Ramakrishna used to be in various Bhavas depending on the level of his awareness. Sri Ramakrishna directly experienced these various states and did not develop this understanding through reading books. Hence, Sri Ramakrishna’s life and teachings are reflections of His direct experiences and highly beneficial for spiritual aspirants.