Upcoming Events

Sat, Oct 03, Noon to 8:00 pm: Day-long Meditation.
We are beginning this monthly program after a 6-month COVID break.
Please remember :
Entry open from 11:30-noon. Of course face-masks are a must.
(Due to Covid, people wanting to attend this are to bring their own lunch. Tea/coffee/snacks will be available. One can meditate as long as one wishes, but once s/he leaves the building, will not be able to come in till 6:45 pm)

ALL REGULAR PROGRAMS (DAILY MORNING & EVENING MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS, TUE & FRI VEDANTA CLASS, SUN SERVICE LECTURE) STARTED & OPEN FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, WITH CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS.
Lectures are also webcast on our Youtube Channel Now.

Entrance door remains open for limited times as follows:

• Tue & Fri lectures:   6:45 – 7:35 pm
• Sun services:  4:45 – 5:05 pm
• Morning meditation :   5:45 – 5:55 am
• Evening meditation:  6:45 – 7:15 pm

 All lectures/classes will continue to be webcast LIVE on our YouTube channel.

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Past Events

Sun Sept 27, 10:00-11:00 am:Vedanta Society of Providence and Annisquam Village Church together presented an event to honor Swami Vivekananda. The event was on zoom. Swami spoke there on ‘Religion is Realization’. There was inspiring music contributed by the Annisquam Village Church and Vedanta Society of Providence.

Sun, Sept 27, 7:30-8:30 pm:Swami Yogatmananda spoke on ‘Stop Not Till The Goal Is Reached’. This YouTube talk was mainly for the devotees in the Queens-Bronx area of NY, but many others joined too.

Mon, Sept 28, 8:00 am to 10:00 am:Swami gave 2 classes for the Salve Regina University World Religions class. It was on zoom.

Synopses of Past Classes
(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda)

Friday, Sep 25 – Stories from Srimad Bhagavatam,
Class 24 – Vidura meets Uddhava
The goal of life is to experience The Truth. Perception of forms creates differentiation. Giving a name to that form sustains the differentiation. Through intense and regular meditation, one can transcend the realm of name and form and reach the supreme Truth. Each story in the Srimad Bhagavatam is a meditation on the supreme Truth. As King Parikshit listens to the Sage Suka, the sage explains that the king’s questions about the nature of the universe are to be answered by meditating on the Divine Lord, who alone is Real. Suka now narrates the story of Vidura, an exemplar of one who is deeply devoted to the Lord. Vidura was often insulted by the evil-intentioned sons of Dhritarastra. At last, when his wise counsel to King Dhritarastra was met with angry outburst from Duryodhana, he left the city. Though Dhritarastra was literally blind, his attachment to his sons further “blinded” him to Vidura’s counsel. Vidura calmly left the city and embarked on pilgrimage to many places made holy due to the special manifestations of Lord Vishnu’s divine sport. Vidura had been working as an advisor; now being free from that duty, he decides to practice austerities and to live a life full of pure and disciplined devotion. After visiting Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, and many such places, he reached Prabhas. Prabhas is even now a great place of pilgrimage owing to the fact that Lord Krishna dropped his body here. At Prabhas Virdura learns that all members of his clan were destroyed in the fratricidal Kurukshetra war. The Yadavas, like all empires, became prosperous due to hard work. but suffered a downfall due to egoism, showiness, complacency, and internal strife. Wandering like a hermit, Vidura reaches the regions of river Yamuna and was overjoyed to see Uddhava – the constant companion of Krishna.

Sunday Sept 27 – Forget and Forgive
The opening song was To a Friend, from a poem by Swami Vivekananda, performed by Peter Travisano.

We can forgive by invoking love and seeing that one Self pervades all. It is neither possible nor desirable to forget an incident. We need to forget the accusative aspect of an incident. The person who did the act was only an instrument, and we would have gotten the result from one person or another, as that was our karma. We got it because we deserved it. If we keep the accusative aspect, it keeps us tied to suffering, wounding ourselves. Once, a jealous staff member at Dakshineswar kicked Sri Ramakrishna, and Sri Ramakrishna made a vow not to reveal it to anyone, to protect the person from harm. Jesus prayed for those who crucified him. In these cases, there was no need of forgiving, because there was no accusation. If we see the same Self in everyone, there is no question of someone wronging us. Sri Ramakrishna told a story about an honest man who was imprisoned by mistake, and the man said it was all due to the will of Rama. If we cannot stop accusing, we should meditate on it, thinking that everyone has done similar things, including ourselves. When our own thoughts are not enough, we should pray to God: Please help me to forgive. When we accuse ourselves, we should acknowledge that we made a mistake, and realize that no one makes a mistake deliberately. We would not learn if we did not make mistakes.

Tuesday, Sept 29 – Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play
Sri Ramakrishna as a Guru – Part 2, Chapter 1 – The Story of Vaishnavacharan and Gauri
Page #547- 549
Many spiritual aspirants from Bengal and northern states of India found the source of bliss in Sri Ramakrishna and received the fulfillment, long before prominent people from Kolkata started to know Him through Keshv Chandra Sen.
There was nothing physically attractive about the Master. He was not even considered as an intellectual. But still individuals with earnest spiritual yearning rightfully found Sri Ramakrishna as a teacher and benefitted from His spiritual wisdom like bees gather when flowers bloom.
One can’t preach without appropriate authority. One must have God realization before imparting spiritual wisdom. Spiritual wisdom is not related to worldly learning. Worldly learning makes one egotistic and forgetful of important questions of life which lead to realizing our true nature. God alone can teach how to become free from misery.
Sri Ramakrishna practiced first and then preached. His life was full of self-control and renunciation. He considered Himself to be an instrument at the hands of the Divine Mother. His belief manifested in His life and teachings.
Before Bhairavi Brahmani’s arrival, Mathur Babu and others thought that due to the overdose of spiritual practices Sri Ramakrishna lost his mental balance and was also suffering from physical abnormalities and was in need of medical help. Bhairavi Brahmani was the first one, who asserted that Master’s physical symptoms were due to His extraordinary devotion to God. She compared Him to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srimati Radha, but there was not a slight trace of ego in Him. Brahmani not only asserted that but was also very confident that her opinion is accurate and can be validated with the best spiritual pandits who were well versed in scriptures.