Announcements:

• The Tuesday & Friday online live-streaming of classes will now be from our YouTube channel (instead of Twitter). Please follow the link:
  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFof5116HcBYIpUFvKet1Uw
• Volunteer Work: Cleaning, Maintenance, webcasting of lectures, etc.
• Vedanta Library and Bookstore: Open 30 minutes before every class/program.

Upcoming Events

Swami travels to North Carolina: Oct 27-29
Swami will leave for Greenville, NC to give lectures on Sat and Sun at the Hindu Temple there and will then come to the Vedanta Society of NC, to speak there on Sun evening and on Monday too. He will return to Providence on Tue afternoon.

Hatha Yoga Classes – Every Tuesday, beginning Oct 02, 5:30-6:30 PM
Fee: $40 — PREPAID For 2 Month Course, $10/Per Class
Contact Vedanta Society by phone or email or contact Roshni Darnal at 401-226-5421

Weekly Schedule (in addition to Daily Schedule given below)

Past Events

DURGA PUJA CELEBRATION – Sat, Oct 20, 11 AM-7:00PM
In connection with the mythological story of coming of Divine Mother Durga to earth to help Rama to kill the powerful demon Ravana, a yearly worship of Durga is arranged. The Puja at Vedanta Providence started at 11 am with the regular worship ritual that went on till 1 pm. There was the distribution of the offered food (Prasad) to assembled devotees. About 75 devotees participated. Then some scenes of the Durga Puja at Belur Math were shown with explanatory comments. A beautiful Durga-dance performance by the students of Prafulla Velluri followed. There was then more devotional music and program ended with prasad-distribution. Overall attendance, through various programs, was over 100.

DURGA PUJA AT THE VEDANTA SOCIETY OF CONNECTICUT – Sun, Oct 21
The Swami, along with a few devotees went to Canton, CT, where Vedanta Society of Connecticut holds monthly gatherings, to perform a short Durga Puja. He also gave a lecture on Mother-worship and forms of Durga. 27 attended. He returned to give the Sunday talk at the Vedanta Providence.

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

Friday Study Class: Svetasvatara Upanisad – Oct. 19
Class 5: Who am I? What is life’s purpose? How can I get peace in this life? It’s easy for us to forget these deeper questions in our mundane existence, but for the brahmavadins,seekers of ultimate truth, these answers become the most important sought-after things in life. The body, intellect, and senses are not the right tools for acquiring this knowledge.  We are addicted to these tools though; so we don’t immediately recognize other possibilities. We must feel confident that we can push these tools aside. The sense organs don’t bring any new knowledge. We have to look directly at the source of all knowledge, the great Self which is responsible for the multitudinous reflections in the world.  Meditation allows us to transcend the kaleidoscope of the body, sense organs, and mind. The sages have done this.
They have given the analogy of a very huge, complex wheel as a representation of the worldly existence. There is one felly (rim), which represents Nature (includings maya, prakriti, shakti, etc.). The rim of the wheel is one, but is connected to the center via many spokes. The wheel has three tires, which represent sattva, rajas, and tamas. Another way of looking at the tires is representing time, space, and causation, or also the triputi of Vedanta: avidya (ignorance), which creates desires (kama), which in turn leads to work (karma), in search of satisfying those desires. Then, in the model of the wheel, there are sixteen extremities. These are the eleven organs– sensory and internal organs, plus the gross elements. The wheel of samsara has fifty spokes, including misconceptions, disabilities, satisfactions, and perfections. Depending on how our minds are, we get attached in different ways. This makes it more complicated to resolve a psychological problem than a physical problem. Then there are twenty counter-spokes, which refer to the ten senses and the ten objects. The wheel of samsara is immensely complicated; yet, when we see the truth, all the complications are gone.

Sunday Talk – ‘Durga – Killer of the Ego-Demon’ – Oct . 21
The Chandi has 700 verses on Ma Durga, and the Devi Bhagavatam has 18,000. The ego covers our Divinity. Sri Ramakrishna said that when the ego is gone, all problems are solved. The demon Rambha, who was enraged at his brother’s death, performed austerities for a thousand years to get a powerful son who can take revenge. The thousand years represents the need to have patience. Often, people say they are meditating and nothing is happening; but they need to have more patience. Rambha’s son, Mahishasura, was born as a buffalo, indicating great power. Mahishasura performed austerities for thousands of years, and got a boon from Brahma that no male animal or male human being would be able to kill him. He did not worry about females, thinking that they would pose no threat. Mahishasura then went on to wreak havoc in the universe, decimating the demigods, or devas. The devas prayed to Lord Vishnu to stop Mahishasura. Lord Vishnu said that they would have to create a female deity by uniting all their powers, which is symbolic of the unification of the mind in yoga and meditation. Due to his powers of concentration, Swami Vivekananda, could remember details of volumes of an encyclopedia, and said we all can do this. The huge goddess that was created by the devas was called Mahalakshmi. She was compassionate, and yet full of vigor, to be able to kill the demon. The goddess killed the demon in a fierce fight, the fierceness of which indicates the need for intense practice and patience for the spiritual aspirants. When the demon or ego is killed, there is peace in life.

Tuesday Study Class: Sri Ramakrishna & His Divine Play – Oct. 23
Page 428-29: Bhava, Samadhi and Darshan
Harinath, who later became Swami Turiyananda had tremendous inclination to study Vedanta since his boyhood. His strict discipline to study was such that even going to meet Sri Ramakrishna was secondary for him. The Master, out of compassion, explained to him that just intellectually knowing the principles of Vedanta is not enough. One must practice to give up the attraction to worldly objects which are unreal with a conviction that it is unreal. To bridge the gap between understanding and the experience one must practice renunciation. Otherwise, one will become a hypocrite. One must feel the sense of urgency to renounce in order to realize the Truth. The scriptures prescribe three methods – Shravan – to listen, Manan – to remember what is heard, Nididhyasana – to constantly meditate on the principle, to imbibe the truths of Vedanta in our practice. Such practice will lead to realization.
All the devotees of the Master were connected with each other with a cord of love. They always took pleasure in meeting with Sri Ramakrishna whenever he visited Kolkata. On one such occasion, Harinath went to visit the Master at Balram Bose’s house. The Master picked up the conversation about how spiritual practices (Sadhana) and grace. One must understand that there is a limit up to which Sadhana can take us. One has to sincerely take ardent efforts and then wait patiently for the Grace of the Lord. But, one must be careful not to disregard the importance and necessity of Sadhana. Sadhana must be done; it is immensely necessary, but realization comes with the Grace. After the due and sincere efforts, the grace sets in. At that point the ego disappears and one merges with the One Reality.