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Important Notice about Live Webcast of Tuesday and Friday Classes:
We have moved to a Twitter platform for streaming live our Tuesday and Friday classes:
https://twitter.com/vedantaprov

1. To just watch the video, you don’t need any login account.
2. If you want to watch the video full screen, you can click the video player on the twitter page and it will direct you to Periscope web-page (Twitter’s live streaming service). You can go to full screen mode there.
3. To comment or ask a question during the streaming, you can do that on the Periscope page by logging in through your Twitter or Facebook or Google account.

If you have any questions, please write to vedantasociety@gmail.com or just tweet us “@vedantaprov”.
For any personal queries or want to contact the Minister, please DO NOT reply to the above email address; instead email to:info@vedantaprov.org 

Upcoming Events

Swami Traveling to India
Swami Yogatmananda  is on a 5-week trip to India from  Oct 10 – Nov. 13.  Click here for his travel details.

Guest Lectures this Week:
Friday, Oct. 13, 7:30pm – Srikanth Srigiriraju will speak on: ‘My Pilgrimages: Outer & Inner’
Sunday, Oct 15, 5pm –  Swami Sarvapriyananda, Vedanta Society, New York, will speak on: ‘Open Secret’
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7:30pm –  Prithwish Basu will speak on: ‘Mahendranath Gupta ‘M’: Recorder of Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna’

Hath Yoga Classes with Roshni Darnal– Tuesdays, 5:30 – 6:30pm
Appropriate for all levels.
$10.00 per Class; $40.00 for a two-month session
Click here to see the flyer.

Vedanta Blog and Facebook:
Please consider posting your comments, thoughts, poetry on our BLOG and Facebook page.

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Past Events

Lectures by Bishop Paul, Celtic Orthodox Church, VA
On Sunday, Oct 8, he spoke on ‘Black Virgin: The French Mother Kali’
On Tue, Oct 10, he spoke on: THEOSIS (Process of Divinizing everything)
About 28 people attended this lecture.
Special guest: Archbishop Paul Joseph Richard, Holy Transfiguration Skite, Gardener MA
Please scroll down for the synopses of above lectures.
Click here to see photos.

Swami Yogatmananda visited Greenville and Durham-Raleigh in NC on Oct 7 & 8. He conducted a retreat and gave Vedanta talks.

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

Study Class on –  Jnana Yoga – Fri. Oct. 06
Class #71: Jnana yoga, the yoga of Knowledge, teaches that by removal of ignorance we will realize our true divine nature.  Realizing this will allow us to perceive that all names and forms are merely illusion and that we are one with the entire universe. Chit is that one substance that pervades all forms.  Our search, and that of philosophers, sages, and saints throughout history and across the world’s religions, is for this underlying one principle, that which Swami Vivekananda calls “God.”  Why do we seek oneness?  Because we are that.  According to Julian Huxley, who expanded upon Darwin’s theory of evolution, human evolution branches off from the physical to the evolution of spiritual and mind.  Why? The mind and spirit evolve so that we may find out the purpose of life.  When absolute oneness is discovered, at the experiential level, the life is fulfilled. God is G-O-D: “Ground of Our Dwelling.”  Someone asked Swamiji how he could continue using the “old” word, “God.”  He responded that the word derived its power from the saints and sages who first identified it and from all the hopes and aspirations of humanity which have been centered in this word.  We should recognize the power of the word and use it in the way it was intended.

Working towards a goal offers purpose to our lives. Human naturally point themselves towards achieving ultimate happiness.  But any and all worldly achievements are ultimately dissatisfying; we eventually tire of them and think, “What next?”  When we realize God, there is no “What next?”  We realize everything; we become everything. There is no “next.”  This is the goal. There is no more separation between “I” and “God.”

Guest Lecture – ‘Black Virgin: The French Mother Kali’ by Bishop Paul – Sun. Oct. 08
Mother Kali and the Virgin Mary are the same. Though Mother Kali has a fearsome form, when we get closer, we see that she is the compassionate Mother who protects creation. We can know God with the heart, and not with the head, or rational mind. Mother Kali combats the demons of ego and self-centeredness. The Virgin Mary, while seen as being sweet, is also a warrior. Mother Kali is the darkness from which everything is born. She is only dark when she is seen as being far away from us. Mother Kali showed Sri Ramakrishna that everything is consciousness. God manifests in all things if we have the eyes to see it. This is why Sri Ramakrishna gave consecrated food to a cat. Sri Ramakrishna said that Brahman (the essence) and Shakti (the manifestation) are identical, like fire and its power to burn. The purpose of a divine incarnation is to teach ecstatic love of God.

In the Middle Ages, particularly in France, there were black Madonnas. They were also in Greece, Egypt, the Celtic lands, and Mexico. They resulted from the continuation of pagan goddesses such as Artemis and Isis. The Black Virgins have healed people and defeated enemies. There is no split between Christianity and the older religions, except in the mind. The Virgin Mary represents that everything is alive and filled with God. She is called the mystical garden. Mary has been called Jacob’s ladder, a ladder from earth to heaven. Her true Self is at the top of the ladder. The sons and daughters of Mary no longer have to go through multiple states after death.

Guest Lecture – ‘THEOSIS (Process of Divinizing everything)’ by Bishop Paul – Tues. Oct. 10
Theosis is a transformative process whose aim is communion with God. That is the real goal of human life and not just getting rid of our sins. This can be achieved by merging our little ego in Christ. Everyone of us has the this potential of transforming into Christ rather than limiting ourselves to only salvation from the sins. The genuine yearning should be there for this communion with God. Human love can just give a little glimpse of infinite divine love. To experience that love one must go beyond the material desires and become prayerful and meditative. That attitude will divinize our lives. That is the only reason that we are on this earth.

Man was created in the image of God so that we can become one with the God. We can use Christ as a mold to attain to the complete knowledge of God. In fact we are a part of Christ. Christ constitutes of God and we are an image of God.

Adam and Eve were created as the most perfect, transparent and innocent beings wrapped around with God’s grace. There was no fleshliness in them. They were in complete communion with the God. But they slipped down the slippery slope of the world. They chose their own will over the God’s will and became material beings driven by self indulgence. Fleshly awareness forces one to lead a life of self indulgence. One must understand the difference between the body and the fleshliness. Body is the most beautiful gift given by God which can be transformed into Christ. Death is a blessing which facilitates the communion with God. Worldly life, life of self indulgence can’t lead to God. God, out of compassion gives the opportunity to go beyond the sins and improve our lives. Scriptures guide us to move from worldly life to the divine life.