Upcoming Events

Swami will be participating in the Symposium on Indian Family System & Traditions on Sat May 18, 9:00a-5:00p at UMassD, Dartmouth, MA. Please see for details http://inads.org/indic/sis_pdf/Family%20Traditions.pdf

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.

SPECIAL LECTURE BY SWAMI TADANANDA, FIJI, TUE, MAY 21, 7:30-8:30pm
He will speak on Mantra Sadhana.

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

• Fri-Sun -June 28-30 – Retreat at Vedanta Pittsburg
• Thu, Jul 4- Independence Day Celebration
• Fri-Sun Jul 5-7 Silent Meditation Retreat
• Sat Jul 13- ‘M’s Birthday Celebration at Tridib Roy’s Home
• Sun Jul 14 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
• Sun Aug 11 – Retreat at Tushar-Mukta’s Place NJ
  Sat Aug 17 – Vedanta Connecticut Retreat
• Sat Aug  24 – Krishna Festival
• Sun Aug 25 – Special Service commemorating Vivekanananda’s Lecture at Annisquam Village Church. Annisquam, MA
• 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

Music Concert on Sun May 12, 6:15-7:30: Well-known vocalist of Agra tradition of the Indian Classical Music, Ustad Wasim Ahmed Khan performed with Pt. Ashis Sengupta on Tabla and Dr Vinay Mishra on Harmonium. About 35 attended.

Spiritual Retreat by Swami Atmajnanananda, Vedanta Center, Gr Washington DC: Sat, May 11, 9:30 am to 7:00 pm on Parliament of Religions (Christianity and Sikhism).
The Swami first spoke on the Mother Teresa and the Dark night of the Soul. Then, in the second lecture he elaborated on Guru Nanak and the tradition of Sikhism. In the morning, there was guided meditation, Hatha Yoga; in the afternoon, devotional music and Vedantic Tale by Swami Yogatmananda, followed by question-answer session and Shyama Naama Samkirtan.
Click here to see photos.

Swami Yogatmananda gave the commencement invocation at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA on Mon, May 13 afternoon.

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

Friday, May 10 – Study Class on Svetasvatara Upanisad
 Class 30 Verses Ch 4, # 5
Through the practice of meditation, one can realize that “I am not in truth this limited being.” According to Vedanta, the body, mind, etc. are limiting adjuncts, or upadhis. However, the true Self is in no way limited by the apparent limitations of the upadhis anymore than our bodies are limited by the wearing of an outer garment. By undertaking spiritual practices, the unripe ego can become the ripe ego. The goal is to connect with the ultimate reality in whatever way we can. While it is natural to ask how and when the universe was created, the Vedantist holds that the question itself is illogical. If we are seeing a bear where there is a log, does it make sense to ask when the log became a bear? Similarly, for Vedantists, the universe never really came into existence, but nonetheless we are seeing it. For the Samkhya the universe is composed of the three gunas: saatva (equanimity, truth, calmness), rajas (activity, desires), and tamas (laziness, frustration, obstinancy). The three gunas combine and recombine to form all created things in the universe. The Samkhyas describe a spark of consciousness as separate from the matter. The conscious beings (which, according to Samkhya are infinitely many) are bound as they enjoy the matter. By giving up the matter, the soul becomes free. Vedanta maintains that there are not many free, because many-ness is itself bondage.
The point of sadhana is the transformation of consciousness from the enjoyer to the one who has given up enjoyment after seeing the emptiness of all so-called enjoyments. With courage and the conscious spirit of resistance we can achieve the freedom we seek.

Sunday Lecture, May 12 – ‘The Horseman Hidden in the Dust’ –Swami Atmajnanananda
The Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi wrote: “Again within the heart there is a heart hidden, like a horseman hidden in dust; The stirring of the dust is caused by the horseman—it is he who caused this dust to dance.” In this verse, there is not a moment when Divinity is not there. The heart that is hidden in the heart is the higher Self. We need to get the horseman himself to show us his face. Like Sri Chaitanya, Rumi was at first proud of his learning. Then he met Shams-i-Tabrīzī, who transformed his life. When his teacher disappeared, Rumi wrote about 70 thousand verses out of grief from the separation. At this point, he cared only for the love of God. His principles were: the heart yearns for union with the Beloved, which is our real nature; the path to Oneness is through ecstatic love and longing; and after attaining union, return to serve the whole of creation, with no distinction between creeds, etc. If the Lord is in the heart as our very own Self, why don’t we know it? The Kathopanisad says that the mind has a tendency to go outward. We do not see because the Self is not an object. What we are trying to find is the one who is trying to find it. All this happens through Maya, which is inscrutable. And then again, nothing really happened at all.

Tuesday, May 07 – Study Class on ‘Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play
Sri Ramakrishna As Guru: Pg. 454-455
Identification with the body, is the cause of our suffering. When we give up this false notion of being a body, then we see that we are infinite. Incarnations assume body of their own accord with the purpose of teaching others. They are at liberty to leave the body when they so please. They are not bound by it. Only such a person can become a teacher. It is the character of such a person that touches us, not just His words. Sri Ramakrishna taught us that God realization is the goal of human life, through the example of His own life. Nothing else gives us fulfillment.
What is the logic for believing in a human guru? In reality, we do not have the capacity to connect with the formless and abstract power. We need a human being to make that connection. So, we should approach a human guru as a source of divine power, not as a mere human. We make one of the two errors: either take a guru as merely human and miss the divinity or we think of guru as completely divine and fail to make the connection. Lord Krishna laments in Gita that people don’t understand Him – thinking of Him as human, they miss everything. We cannot separate abstract from the concrete. We should approach the concrete and through it, we get the abstract. As the time progresses the adoration for the human form develops. We develop tremendous devotion for that from which got our goal fulfilled. Saint Jnaneswar says, when the sun of guru rises in our life, the darkness of the world completely vanishes and the lotus of the Non-dual experience blooms.