Due to the coronavirus, your Center is closed to visitors except for the Chapel (the building closest to the parking lot) which is open for evening Arati, private meditation, and to visit the self-serve bookstore. Other than to visit the Chapel, please not visit the Center without speaking with Br. Shankara beforehand. You are welcome to contact him at shankara@vedantaatlanta.org. Thank you for helping us make every effort to keep our congregation, friends and residents of the Center safe and healthy.
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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS This Weekend!!
Set your clocks BACK 1 hour before going to bed Saturday Night.
Sunday's Online Talk & Discussion
Nov. 1, 11am to 12noon Out on a High Limb! Patanjali's Yoga
w/ Br. Shankara
November is a month for study of Raja Yoga, a spiritual path often called the yoga of meditation. As a raja yogi, you use ancient, proven spiritual techniques to quiet your mind and gain control of your attention.
Regular daily practice of Raja Yoga increases your ability to concentrate, and may lead to meditation. This can unite you with the Divine Presence, the source of your being, and liberate you from the cycle of rebirth and death. In the vocabulary of the raja yogi, this state of liberation is called kaivalya — independence.
Last Sunday, we talked about how Raja Yoga integrates with the practice of Karma Yoga. Discussion of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras touched on the first two limbs (techniques) of his methodology — the Yamas (restraints) and the Niyamas (observances).
The purpose of the Yamas is to help you “clean up your act” — to withdraw from a self-centered, confrontational relationship with the world. The Niyamas are, at the same time, guiding you toward a more positive way of living. Regular, thoughtful practice of the Yamas and Niyamas offers you a life that is calmer, more inward-focused. From there, you are able to better understand and practice the next four limbs of Patanjali’s yoga.
Your efforts can achieve this result:
“Yoga is the control of thought-waves in the mind.” (Patanjali Chapter 1, Aphorism 2).
This Sunday we will explore and discuss limbs 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Patanjali’s system: Asana (posture), Pranayama (control of your life force), Pratyahara (withdrawal from the senses), and Dharana (concentration).
All spiritual aspirants can make faster progress when they use these techniques. Devotees who practice them intensely may, after some years, find themselves so far out on a high limb they can no longer take seriously what they once believed was the ground of their existence.
November is a month for study of Raja Yoga, a spiritual path often called the yoga of meditation. As a raja yogi, you use ancient, proven spiritual techniques to quiet your mind and gain control of your attention.
Regular daily practice of Raja Yoga increases your ability to concentrate, and may lead to meditation. This can unite you with the Divine Presence, the source of your being, and liberate you from the cycle of rebirth and death. In the vocabulary of the raja yogi, this state of liberation is called kaivalya — independence.
11/1 - Out on a High Limb! Patajali’s Yoga
w/Br. Shankara
11/8 - Swami Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga
w/Br. Shankara
11/15 - I Will Tell You a Secret
w/Br. Shankara
11/22 - Giving Thanks
w/Br. Shankara
11/29 - Are You the Reflected Glory?
w/Br. Shankara
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