Vedanta Center of Atlanta: June 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:
6/7 - 11am-noon,
“The Spiritual Evolution of Shri Krishna!”
Speaker: Uma Majmudar
At the first hearing, the title of my subject today may sound a bit too brash in the sense that if Krishna is God or God-incarnate, how can we talk about His spiritual evolution!?
The term evolution, even if spiritual, is usually applicable to only humans who are seekers of truth or advancing onto the path of Self-realization. Shri krishna, however, is a Special Incarnation of God who has descended to earth for the specific purpose of teaching Arjuna and to all His devotees--how to live fully in each stage and move on to the next stage never losing sight of the ultimate goal of all human existence, namely, God-realization or Self-realization. No other God in the entire Hindu pantheon of gods vivifies and exemplifies this spiritual goal as endearingly as does Shri Krishna; right from His infancy and childhood full of pranks and heroic antics (as Bala-Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana) to his youthful days of romance and rasa-lila with Radharani (His divine Love) through his emergence into the "Purna Purushottama" Krishna--the fully incarnated adult Krishna--the diplomat, the peacemaker and teacher--the Yogeshvara Shri krishna of the Bhagavad Gita!
God plays all these roles for our sake; call it His divine lila or sport, Shri Krishna takes human birth to show us how to live through each stage, grow and evolve toward the ultimate goal of spiritual liberation.
6/14 - 11am-noon:
“Metaphors Be With Us!”
Speaker: Br. Shankara
So it seems fitting, on Flag Day, to explore the idea of metaphor and the role it plays in spiritual instruction. Great spiritual teachers often point us toward profound truths by telling what seem to be simple stories and parables.
This Sunday, Br. Shankara will discuss the use of metaphor by Sage Vasistha, Sri Krishna, Jesus Christ, Patanjali, and Sri Ramakrishna.
6/18 - 6:30pm: yoga: Jyothi (Elizabeth Yates) will lead a Hatha Yoga class at our Center beginning this Thursday, June 18th - Jyothi (Elizabeth Yates)* will start a Basic Asana class — appropriate for all levels — in the Center’s fellowship hall on Thursday, June 18. The class will be aligned with Patanjali's Classical Yoga, which includes practice of basic asana and pranayama and ends with a brief meditation. This introductory 3 week series will meet from 6:30-7:55pm each Thursday, June 19 through July 2. Depending upon response, a new 6 week series will begin soon afterward. Cost for the 3 introductory classes is $42. Please call Jyothi @ 404-210-6800 with questions. *Jyothi is a certified yoga instructor and a long-time devotee of our Center.
6/20 - 10am-2pm: Seva Saturday: Plan now to spend some time with fellow devotees and friends to help make your Center sparkle and shine. 10am-2pm ... free yummy lunch.. details in next week's e-newsletter, and on our website calendar.
6/21 - 11am: “Your Spiritual Father's Guiding Hand”
Speaker: Br. Shankara 
As a small child, perhaps you walked with your father in places where the path was uneven or narrow. Were you not more comfortable — less likely to fall — when he held your hand? If you held his, you might let go at just the wrong moment and take a tumble. When he held yours, that wrong moment was the time when he gripped your hand more tightly, making sure that even if you stumbled you would keep your feet.
Sri Ramakrishna used this relationship as a metaphor, encouraging us to offer our “hand” to our spiritual father. Religious literature is rich with this personalization of the Divine Presence, from the Hebrews’ God the Father to the Incas’ Tata Inti. Our cultural celebration of Father’s Day on Sunday, June 21 seems a natural time to discuss the Divine’s paternal aspect. This Sunday, Br. Shankara will explore with us the Fatherhood of God.
6/26-27-28: 3-DAY IN-HOUSE RETREAT, last weekend of June!! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, June 26, 27, 28 “PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY” w/ Pravrajika Vidyaprana (Hollywood Convent) Complete details here... Mark your calendars now and plan to attend this in-house weekend retreat at your Center!
Friday, June 26 2015, 7:15-8pm, followed by snacks and a film, ending at 9:30pm
Continues on Saturday from 10am to 4:15pm, including morning and afternoon breaks and a one-hour lunch (please bring your own bag lunch)
Dinner on Saturday will be hosted at their home by Uma and Bhagirath Majmudar (RSVP to shankara@vedantaatlanta.org for time, location/map and other details). You don’t have to attend the Retreat to come to dinner!
Retreat concludes on Sunday, with a talk from 11am-12:30pm. Please come to this talk even if you weren’t able to attend on Friday or Saturday.
Cost: There is no charge for any of our Retreat activities. Donations will be most gratefully accepted, to help cover Pr. Vidyaprana’s airfare and other Retreat expenses.
Description: Swami Vivekananda desperately wanted to introduce rationality into religion. In order to do so he went back to the Upanishads to find the purest expression of spiritual truths. The rationality of the upanishadic era is based not on the logic of logicians, but on the logic of life. This is what he promoted.
To this end he repeatedly put forth for western audiences Sankhya’s metaphysics of twenty four cosmic principles and its later, non-dualistic, Vedantic overlay.Using only what is readily available to any human being, Swami Vivekananda maintained that anyone should be able to follow this system of inquiry and arrive at the ultimate Truth.
Why did he do this? In his own way, using the science that was available to him at the time, Swamiji was attempting to reintegrate nature into our concept of who we are. In short, it appears that he was attempting to get us where we are now in the twenty-first century. That is, we are now realizing, globally, that the ‘man versus nature’ model has failed, will always fail, and must be replaced by an integrated world view.
In this retreat we will briefly review the twenty four cosmic principles, as the ancient yogis did, and concentrate on pivotal ones to explode our notion of who we really are. This study is intended to underpin, enliven, and infuse our inquiry into ultimate Reality.
Reservations: While space is not limited, your RSVP is required so that we can prepare properly. For a reservation contact only Br. Shankara atshankara@vedantaatlanta.org. Questions? Email Br. Shankara or call him at 818-913-0345.
Please BYO bag lunch for Saturday. Refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Detailed schedule
Friday 7:15-8:00pm Introductory talk in the Chapel, followed by snacks and a relevant film in the Monastery (Brian Swimme’s Journey of the Universe), ending at 9:30pm
Saturday, two sessions in the Chapel:
Morning 10-12:30, with a 20 minute break
Lunch in the Monastery, and stretching, 12:45-1:45
Afternoon 1:45-4:15, with a 20 minute break
Saturday evening — Dinner with the Majmudars
Sunday Summary talk 11-12:30, including commentary and Q&A: Hard-Wired Principles to Live By (followed by snacks and fellowship in the Monastery)
