Upcoming Events

Sun, June 09: 10am to Noon: Vedanta Society of Connecticut Monthly Program at 110 Cherry Brook Rd, Canton CT. Swami Yogatmananda will do the short worship, and give a talk on ‘Surrender in Bhagavad Gita. Music and Prasad-food.

Sarod-Tabla Concert: Sun, June 16, 6:15 to 7:45pm by Indrayuddh Majumder and Nitin Mitta

Spiritual Retreat by SWAMI KRIPAMAYANANDA, Vedanta Society, Toronto, Canada: Sat, June 15, 9:30 am to 7:00 pm on Harmonizing our Faculties.  Prior Reg Required. Reg Fee: $30. ($20 if registered and paid by June 05)
Click here for online registration.

SCHEDULE FOR THE SUMMER PROGRAMS (Jun 28- Sept 02)

• • Fri-Sun -June 28-30 – Retreat at Vedanta Pittsburg
  • Thu, Jul 4, 11a to 1p – Independence Day Celebration
  • Fri-Sun Jul 5-7 Silent Meditation Retreat
  • Sat Jul 13, 10:30a-noon- ‘M’s Birthday Celebration at Tridib Roy’s Home. 216, Blackmore Pond Rd, W. Wareham, MA 02576, RSVP 508-748-9797
  • Sun Jul 14, 11 am to 4pm Guru Poornima
  • Fri-Sun Jul 19-21 Swami goes to Ottawa & Toronto Canada
  • Fri-Sun Jul 26-28 Young Adult Retreat
  • Thu-Sun Aug  1-4 Rochester Retreat
  • Tue-Sat Aug 6-10 Children Summer Camp (Details TBA soon)
  • Sun Aug 11 10:00 am to 5:00 pm– Retreat at Tushar-Mukta’s Place NJ
    Sat Aug 17, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm – Vedanta Connecticut Retreat. Topic: Spiritualizing Life.
  • Sat Aug  24, 11 am to 4pm – Krishna Festival
  • Sun Aug 25 – Special Service commemorating Vivekanananda’s Lecture at Annisquam Village Church. Annisquam, MA 10 :00 am to Noon More details will be announced later
  • SPECIAL TUESDAY CLASSES: TUE JUL 09 TO AUG 20. TOPIC: Meister Eckhart – The Christian Vedantin
  • Sat-Sun Aug 31-Sept 1 Labor Day Retreat at Ridgely on ‘Hafiz’s Poems of Divine Love’.

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Past Events

Daylong Silent Meditation, Sat Jun 01: 8 devotees participated for varying time

Just Kids Children’s Program June 02: Activities included reciting the Gayatri mantra, its translation and meaning. A painting project on geometric patterns, mandalas, and synthetic butterflies followed. The evening concluded by sharing soup-supper. One child participated.

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

Friday, May 31 – Study Class on Svetasvatara Upanisad 
We must give up our false awareness which makes us think that we are the “little I” and which keeps us unaware of our true, divine nature. If we come to accept that the attachment to the world is the source of suffering and bondage, we will want to be rid of it.
Spiritual practice itself is also an illusion, since there is no “working towards” God, if we are already one with God. But it is a helpful illusion, vidyamaya. We are caught in avidyamaya, the ignorance that binds; the cure is the ignorance that liberates. We might wonder whether God is also bound by this Maya, but this is not so. God is free, like the spider who spins the web but does not get caught in it. Our true nature is free, but we are bound in Maya. We must hold onto the idea that we are the child of God, and give up fictitious connections with the world. Instead of forming connections with the world, we must forge connections with God. Reinforce these connections with God will develop increased divine awareness and peace within us. When we connect with God, all surrounding distractions subside and we are filled with peace. Otherwise, we can be in the most remote location and still not feel peaceful.

Sunday. Jun 02 – Craziness Passing for Wisdom
Peter Travisano led the opening song: This Little Light of Mine.
Seeking something which is mere appearance, is considered to be crazy. What is conducive to our good is wisdom, and what is temporarily titillating is crazy. Vedanta directs our life to realize the permanent. Sri Ramakrishna said that God alone exists, and all else is appearance. A man’s parents protested that their son who wanted to become a monk would not have anything to eat, whereupon he replied that even those who have something to eat end up dying one day. If we are slaves to money, then money uses us. As the sage Yajnavalkya was renouncing the world, one of his wives took her share of his money, while the other asked what she would do with money if it did not help her become immortal. Truth is not determined by the majority. We may fear that if we seek the truth, we will be left out of society. People called Sri Ramakrishna crazy, yet he was the wisest of people. A sage had buried a touchstone, and the man he told about it realized that the sage had something more important than the touchstone, so the man threw it away. Sri Shankaracharya said that God is our real relative, but people do not believe him. When the ego becomes stronger, it brings more suffering. Thomas à Kempis said that the greatest wisdom is to seek the kingdom of heaven.
A Poem of Hafiz says in his poem ‘You Don’t Have to be Crazy Anymore’ that we should give up the craziness of bringing pain to ourselves and join with God, who is everything.

Tuesday, June 04 – Study Class on Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play
Sri Ramakrishna As Guru Page No. 456
The separation between I and the world is the cause of the bondage.  We are tied to the changing awareness forgetting our limitless all-pervading existence. This book is a very special biography of Sri Ramakrishna which explains the unique meaning behind His life and actions.
When our perception towards the Guru changes, it brings conviction in the Guru’s words. Then the teachings of the Guru steer our life in the correct direction. Guru’s understanding is transmitted to the disciple and gradually their awareness becomes one. The first stage is developing conviction in the words of the Guru, then dissolving one’s ego to absorb the teachings of the Guru, and lastly, transform the understanding to the Guru’s understanding. This transformation in awareness takes place very subtly. As the water flows from the higher level to the lower level and the flow stops when both the levels come together, similarly, the knowledge transfer between the teacher and the student happen until there is a difference in the awareness of the teacher and the student. When both the awareness become one there is no difference between the student and the teacher.
Guru is only one. But the Guru Bhaava is manifested through many entities. Each of us plays the role of a teacher and a student in the conduct of our daily lives. It is our responsibility to become a fit instrument to receive the message of the Guru as a student and to transmit the positive vibes to others around us. One must make deliberate efforts to learn good things and also to transmit good things. If you have devotion and conviction towards the Guru, then even a clay image has the potential to impart the knowledge. This can be witnessed in the story of Eklavya and Dronacharya. But along with the devotion and conviction one must undertake the spiritual practices sincerely. That makes the disciple a fit instrument to receive the knowledge from the Guru.