Vedanta Center of Atlanta: December events
Time: There is silent meditation in the Chapel from 10:30-11am, before each Sunday’s talk. After the talk, devotees and friends meet in the Monastery from noon to 1:30pm, for tea, coffee, snacks and a continuation of our spiritual fellowship. Please join us!
PS: Please be on time. The service starts promptly at 11AM.
Venue: 2331 Brockett Rd, Tucker, GA 30084
Contact: (770) 938-6673 ; http://vedantaatlanta.org, http://vedantaatlanta.org/calendar-of-activities-events/
See Calendar for details about any particular Sunday.
Dates:
12/7 - “Holy Mother's Last Message” with John Schlenck
12/14 - “Holy Mother's Advaita Vedanta” with Swami Atmarupananda; then Reception 12:30pm to 2:00pm
12/21 - "Christ the Messenger" - Br. Shankara
12/28 - "Ramana Maharshi & Nisargadatta Maharaj" - Br. Shankara
12/28:
"Ramana Maharshi & Nisargadatta Maharaj" - Br. Shankara ,,,the lives and teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj.
12/21: 
“Christ The Messenger”
with Br. Shankara
“… (T)he three years of (Christ’s) ministry were like one compressed, concentrated age, which it has taken nineteen hundred years to unfold, and who knows how much longer it will yet take! … But mark this giant that came; centuries and ages pass, yet the energy that he left upon the world is not yet stretched, nor yet expended to its full. It goes on adding new vigour as the ages roll on…” — from Swami Vivekananda’s Christ the Messenger
Vivekananda said, “Jesus Christ was God — the Personal God become man. He has manifested Himself many times in different forms and these alone are what you can worship. God in His absolute nature is not to be worshipped… We have to worship Jesus Christ, the human manifestation, as God. You cannot worship anything higher than the manifestation of God…” — from The Divine Incarnation or Avatara, CW Vol 8
In early 1900, Vivekananda was in Southern California. On January 7, in Los Angeles, he spoke on Christ the Messenger. He said: “Suppose Jesus of Nazareth was teaching, and a man came and told him, ‘What you teach is beautiful. I believe that it is the way to perfection, and I am ready to follow it; but I do not care to worship you as the only begotten Son of God.’ What would be the answer…? ‘Very well, brother, follow the ideal and advance in your own way. I do not care whether you give me the credit for the teaching or not … I only teach truth, and truth is nobody’s property … Truth is God Himself. Go forward…” — CW Vol 4
Worship of the Personal God — following the ideal that Truth is God Himself; two very different practices. Vivekananda said that Jesus taught, according to the capacity of his listeners, three spiritual paths: dualistic, qualified non-dual, and non-dual. That, and Christ’s modern apostles, will be the topic of this Sunday morning’s discussion.
12/14:
Swami Atmarupananda will speak to us on Mother’s Advaita Vedanta. He will explain in convincing detail why the devotional (bhakti) path, which Holy Mother prescribed for many of Her disciples, is in fact a non-dual spiritual practice.
Swami Atmarupanandaji is now working in India, helping edit the new English language edition of Swami Vivekananda’s Complete Works. Formerly he was Abbot of the Ramakrishna Monastery in Trabuco Canyon, part of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He lectures frequently and gives retreats on Vedanta topics in the United States and worldwide. Swami Atmarupananda also served as resident swami at Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely in Stone Ridge, New York. Previously, he was assistant to the editor of Prabuddha Bharata (1977-1981), and has written many articles for Vedanta journals.
SPECIAL EVENTS:
HOLY MOTHER PUJA
Saturday, December 13th
Worship of Holy Mother, 11:00am to 12:00pm
- Dhruva will again be our pujari -
Potluck Prasad Lunch, 12:30pm-2:30pm
Sunday, December 14, 12:30pm-2pm
Reception for Swami Atmarupananda
following his 11am talk on "Holy Mother's Advaita Vedanta"
CHRISTMAS EVE
Wednesday, December 24thWorship Service in the Chapel, 7:30pm to 8:30pm
Fellowship in the Monastery, 8:30pm to 10:00pm
Br. Shankara will lead our commemoration of the birth of Jesus. Join us for this happy occasion — we'll sing Christmas carols in the monastery afterwards. Enjoy some Christmas treats and wassail, and if you can stay, a reading of A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. All are welcome!
NEW YEAR'S EVE
Wednesday, December 31st
Midnight Meditation in the Chapel, 11:30pm to 12:15am
Fellowship & Refreshments in the Monastery, 12:15am to 1:00am
NEW YEAR'S DAY
Thursday, January 1st
Kalpataru Day Observance, 2:30pm to 3:30pm
