SUMMER BREAK OVER

ALL REGULAR PROGRAMS LIKE DAILY MORNING-EVENING MEDITATION-PRAYERS-READINGS (5:45AM & 7:00 PM), TUE & FRI EVENING VEDANTA CLASSES (7:30PM) RESTARTED FROM SEPT 08.

Upcoming Events

Swami Travels to Princeton, NJ, Sat Sept 21: He will give a lecture at a devotee home, spend the night there and come directly to Canton, CT for the monthly Satsanga of Vedanta Society of CT.

Daylong Silent Meditation: Saturday, Sept 21. From noon onwards to 8pm. One can meditate as long as one wishes, but has to be there before noon. The doors are then closed till 6:30 pm. Then they open for the Arati.

Monthly Satsang of Vedanta Society of CT. Sun Sept 22, 10 am to noon. At 100 Cherry Brook Rd, Canton, CT. The Swami will speak on ‘Ways to Think of God’ based on 10^th Chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

Just Kids: Sun Sept 22, 4-6pm. Children about 7-12 years age are welcome to join a fun-filled learning in arts, listening to stories and have some snacks.

Durga Puja: Sat Oct 05; 11 am to 7 pm. There will be Puja ritual, flower-offering by devotees, devotional music, Prasad-lunch, video, dance on Mother Durga.

Daylong Spiritual Retreat: Saturday, Oct 19, 9:30 am to 7:00 pm.
Swami Ishadhyanananda from Vedanta Society, Sacramento, CA will give classes on 2^nd Chapter of Bhagavad Gita. Prior registration required. Registration can be done by email, mail or in person in the book-store. Reg fee $30 ($20 if paid on or before Sat Oct 12).
Click here for Online Registration  and more information.

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Past Events

Ayurveda Conference: Sat and Sun, Sept 14 and 15:
In collaboration with Center for Indic Studies University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Vedanta Society of Providence organized an Ayurveda Conference involving experts of international repute form different countries.

On 14^th, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm was the seminar at  Woodland Commons, UMASS Dartmouth. The theme was: Ayurveda and Modern Healthcare Practices. Experts Avinash Lele, Bharati Lele, Suhas Kshirsagar, Manoj Nesari, Jose Rugue discussed many methods of Ayurvedic Diagnosis, which are different from the regular allopathic system, the life-style, food/spices. Dr Jay Glaser coordinated the panel-discussion as the last part of the the day’s proceedings.

Sun, Sept 15, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at IBES, 85 Waterman St, Room 015 Brown University, Providence, the theme was about mindfulness and Healthy and Happy Living.  Gita Desai, who has made a detailed, comprehensive documentary on Ayurveda (yet to be released), showed parts of it and explained some key features of Ayurveda.

The last session – 4:30 to 6:00 pm was at the Vedanta Society of Providence. The discussions in that are summarized below.

Click here to view photos.

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

Friday, Sept 13  – Study Class on Svetasvatara Upanisad
Class 37 – Recapitulation:
During the previous sessions on the Svetasvatara Upanishad, we covered the first four chapters. We are now ready to embark on the study of the fifth chapter. The study of spiritual literature requires serious attention and engagement, and is not over until it culminates in the realization of the truth. The Upanishadic portions of the Vedas convey knowledge that deals with the most important questions about life. We ask the question ‘Why?’ when something occurs that we believe shouldn’t have happened. We know deep down that multiplicity is not our proper, unquestionably true state of existence. So the perception of multiplicity makes us ask, ‘where from has it come?’
The most important verse in the Svetasvatara Upanishad states that through deep meditation we can discover the underlying cause of the universe, and realize the “God of religion, the Self of philosophy, and the energy of science.” Meditation is the process of discovering our true identity. It is learning to realize our true, infinite, all-pervading, ever-perfect, ever-blissful true nature. Why is this meditative process so important? The senses and intellect only show characteristics of difference or multiplicity. They can tell us nothing of oneness. Reality is perceived when we are able to merge the senses and intellect in consciousness to achieve genuine mediation. Through meditation we will see that we are one with everything. We will not get happiness, but we will become happiness itself.

Sunday. Sept 15 – Ayurveda Conference, Concluding Session
Prof. Dr. Avinash Lele, Vice Chairman, International Academy of Ayurveda, spoke on Management of Psychiatric Problems: While he studied both Ayurveda and modern medicine, he says that the main reason for disease is not bacteria or viruses. We have to take a step back from physical problems, and consider the body, mind, and spirit. One patient came with the problem of acidity, and no one could solve it. Dr. Lele asked her what was going on, and he found that the patient was worried that her son would die from rabies from a dog bite. When it was found that the dog was healthy and the woman’s son would not die, her problem went away. If we have hatred, jealousy, stress or fear, they climb on our body too; we cannot separate the body from the mind. Anxiety and depression are common problems he encounters. He works with his patients on diet, a daily regimen, good sleep…. A person who is disturbed needs a good atmosphere. There are problems from both getting what one desires and not getting what one desires. Massage can help in mental disorders.

Dr. Jose Rugue, Jr., MD, Chairman, Calaysa Ayurvedic Clinic and a cardiologist in Brazil, spoke on Management of Neurological Problems: Sri Ramakrishna was his first guide in life. Nervous disorders come from an imbalance of vata. Millions of people in the world die from stroke (mostly in low and middle-income countries), have epilepsy, have dementia, and have migraines. Neurological disorders are managed by herbal and mineral preparations, and panchakarma therapy, which includes light diet, sudation, and purgation. When he started using Ayurveda, the prognoses of his patients changed completely. He increases the zest of his patients for life. Ayurveda has good results with or without modern medicine.

Manoj Nesari, Advisor, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, spoke on Ayurveda in Increasing Environmental Pollution: There is a connection between the mind, neurological issues, and environmental pollution. We often cannot see pollution, but we can feel it. The individual, the population, the community, the ecosystem, the biome, and the biosphere all affect each other. If the external environment is not clean, then the internal environment is not clean. The environment affects all of us. We create pollution in the air, the soil, the water, and thermal pollution. Seasonal pollution can be very dangerous. Pollution starts from adharma, not following our duty. Air pollution leads to extreme hurricanes and excess heat. Ayurveda says that we are responsible for our deeds. Ancient Ayurveda said that each person should plant five different kinds of trees in his or her life. For an individual, heat and oil remove toxins. Cow urine is a natural insecticide. Neem is an example of an air-purifying plant. Sunflowers reduce pollution. Turmeric protects from radiation.

Aparna Joshi, Complete Wellness Solutions, spoke on How Ayurveda is Practiced in America. She looks to connect with her clients. She sees many examples of back pain, shoulder pain, and eye strain, from working with computers. Panchakarma is like a power wash for the body. Aromatic medicines can help with ADHD, bipolar, and PTSD.

Tuesday, Sept 17 – Study Class on Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play
Early Manifestation of His Power as a Guru – Pages 459-460:
All actions performed by Sri Ramakrishna are for teaching humanity and not for a selfish purpose. It is hard for us to fathom this because our actions are driven by our selfish desires, due to lacunae in our lives. We have a fractured awareness of this world – I and rest of the world – that causes these lacunae and the desires. We don’t realize that nothing in the world really belongs to us, the only thing that is truly ours is God. Even if we try to forsake God, God doesn’t forsake us as our nature is verily Divine. We are happiness itself, nothing needs to be added to us to make us happy. With Sri Ramakrishna this basic knowledge was always present; so, his actions were not prompted by desires. His life is therefore called “Lila” – a Divine Play. True learning from this biography comes when we understand the underlying mental attitude of Sri Ramakrishna behind his routine actions. That is why this biography describes both.

The biography is divided into 4 parts: Sri Ramakrishna as a child, as a spiritual aspirant, as a teacher and as a manifestation of all his Divine powers. His teachership – “Gurubhava” – was the largest aspect of his life. Sri Ramakrishna was a perfect Guru because he could clearly see the contents of everyone’s mind, understand the underlying problems and recommend solutions. The disciples should take Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings and practice them with patience over a long time with great persistence and dedication. Only then will some results manifest gradually.

God takes human form (an incarnation) to provide us true Knowledge that is the only way to remove suffering. Incarnations are a different class of persons with extraordinary capabilities and their advent is a huge blessing for us. Take away the incarnations like Jesus, Buddha, Rama, Krishna and Ramakrishna and what is left of religion? Lives of incarnations are like “gourds and pumpkins which grow fruits first and then flowers”. They already have the knowledge of the Truth but they appear to do tremendous effort to realize the Truth in order to teach us. This teachership is manifest in the incarnations since their childhood. When Sri Ramakrishna was about 9-10 year old he was once listening to a debate among the scholars that wasn’t getting resolved. He suggested a solution that seemed to satisfy everyone. While He demonstrated this teachership so early in His life, only a few people from His village recognized that He is an incarnation of God.