Vedanta Center of Atlanta: October events

10/26/2014 10:30 AM

Vedanta Center of Atlanta: October 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:
10/12 - "Gandhi & the Gita" - Dr. Uma Majmudar
10/19 - "The Samkhya Philosophy and 24 Principles of Creation" - Br. Shankara

10/19 - also, 5 pm: Sacred Song Circle
10/26 - "This Instant!" - Br. Shankara

Oct 12, 11am
“Gandhi & the Gita” with Dr. Uma Majmudar

GandiNo other book or scripture influenced Gandhi, shaped his character, and transformed his life as profoundly and permanently as did the Bhagavad Gita. Among the many books he read, the “Gita” alone became his constant companion; it proved to be his unfailing source of solace, his “spiritual reference book” in everyday life.

In this talk, we’ll examine: why Gandhi esteemed the Gita as his “eternal mother;” when was he first introduced to the Sanskrit text of this great philosophical poem called, “the milk of the upanishads;” and most importantly, how he experimented with the truth of the Gita’s teachings in his own life, and only when completely satisfied, he endeavored relentlessly to practice its precepts into the everyday life situations.

Note: 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!

Sunday’s Talk, Oct 19, 11am
“Samkhya Philosophy and the 24 Cosmic Principles” with Br. Shankara

Kapila

Kapila

Samkhya is a Sanskrit word that, roughly speaking, means counting. As a philosophy, Samkhya offers a comprehensive explanation of how the reality we perceive and interact with arises. Using a system of 24 individual categories, the post-Vedic sage Kapila begins his explanation with the Great Cause (Mahat, Cosmic Principle #1). By the time he gets to the Five Gross Elements (Principles 20-24), Kapila’s Samkhya can tell us why everything we experience exists and persists.Sri Krishna said, “Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and of the sages among the demigods I am Narada. Of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.” — Bhagavad Gita 10.26

Very little is known about the life of Maharishi Kapila.* He is believed to have lived in the Indian subcontinent, some say around 500 B.C.E.; other accounts give earlier dates. He is thought to have preceded Buddha by at least several generations.

*Though Kapila is regarded as the founder of the Sāňkhya (Samkhya) philosophical tradition, the classic texts that formalize Sāňkhya are dated much later. Isvaraksna’s Sāmkhya-karika was written in the middle of the fifth century C.E., and the work traditionally ascribed to Kapila himself, the Sāňkhya-sutra, cannot reliably be dated earlier than 1380-1450 C.E.

Note: Some text adapted from New World Encyclopedia

Also Sunday, Oct 19, 5pm to 6:30pm
SACRED SONG CIRCLE   

Birds singing

 

Please come, if you like to sing or play music that lifts the soul, or if you just like to listen. No formality — the Circle is not for “performance.” It’s for the sheer enjoyment of offering music to the Divine, in yourself and in others. If you play an instrument, please bring it. We’re mostly acoustic or a cappella, but we can plug you in, if that’s how you like to play. Meet us in the Monastery library!

 

Sunday’s Talk, Oct 26, 11am

"This Instant"
with Br. Shankara

Freedom ... 'This Instant!'

 

 

This instant! This instant! This instant! In each instant, what are my thoughts, actions, and speech affirming? Is it the Truth, or something less? “God alone is Real, all else is illusory.” According to Sri Ramakrishna and other Great Teachers, that is the Truth. “Tat Tvam Asi! (That Thou Art!),” one rishi taught. “Aye! Aham Brahmasmi! (I am Brahman),” echoed another.

From that point of view, last week we heard a thorough, profound description of the limited being that we are not! (The Samkhya System’s 24 Cosmic Principles) This Sunday, we will discuss Samkhya’s definition of Purusha — “… a reality within us which is by nature free and possesses the power to escape limitation. In the words of Swami Vivekananda: ‘The Soul [identical with Purusha] is free, and it is its freedom that tells you every moment that you are free.’”
(Swami Prabhavananda, Spiritual Heritage of India, p221)

We also will review what Maharishi Kapila* and other teachers tell us about how to shed our limitations and live in that freedom — this instant!

*The sage Kapila … is generally regarded at the founder of Samkhya Philosophy.” — Prabhavananda


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