Vedanta Center of Atlanta: April events
Vedanta Center of Atlanta: April events
Times:
10:30am-11am: silent meditation in the Chapel before each Sunday’s talk.
11am-noon: talk and worship in the chapel.
noon-1:30pm: devotees and friends meet in the Monastery 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.
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.
Spiritual talks and classes are open to the public and free of charge.
Br. Shankara had a surgical procedure on Wednesday that went well, and is now home recuperating. He had hoped to give his talk on "Yoga of Christian Mystics" on Sunday but feels it best to take a little more time to heal. So instead, there will be an Open Forum this Sunday (April 14) in the Chapel at 11am on the topic of Raja Yoga (facilitator TBD).
Also, Seva Saturday is postponed until next Saturday, April 20th.
April 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.
April 6 @ 9-10am (Sat)
Chandi Hymns in Sanskrit.
April 7 @ 11am
Talk: Self discovery. Self actualization. Self realization.
w/ Br. Shankara
Self realization is one way to talk about the goal of all spiritual practices. It is the entire focus of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. You can think of progress toward that goal in three steps:
First, self discovery: What does it means to be fully human? If you are bold, you begin to find this out during your student years, and the early part of householder life— up to about age 30. It’s a time of exploration, definition, adventure. If you’re blessed to be a spiritual aspirant, it is also a time of breaking through inner boundaries, learning to feel the Living Presence that animates you.
Next, self actualization: In this phase you bring the talents and attributes you have discovered, and the spiritual treasures you’re finding, to ever-greater manifestation. From about age 30 to age 60 you unfold your career, and also may have a successful marriage and bring up one or more children. This is very demanding and challenging! As Sri Ramakrishna said, you are heroes!
And finally, Self realization: Sometime during that period of self actualization — after you have been practicing spiritual disciplines for a number of years — you start to realize the life you have been living is merely the surface appearance of what you are. You become aware that your outward self, no matter how accomplished or successful, is merely an expression of, and evidence for a far greater Being that lies within, who empowers all your activities, thoughts, and experiences. You begin to think of yourself as that Living Presence, and know your True Original Nature — in raja yoga, the Atman.
On Sunday we’ll discuss all this in more detail.
April 13 @ 10-10:30am (Sat)
Chandi Hymns in English.
Palm Sunday April 14 @ 11am-12pm (Sun)
Open Forum on the topic of Raja Yoga
April 20 @ 10am-2pm (Sat)
Seva Saturday for April.
So much needed work gets done when you show up! We need your commitment to our success! Come and stay as long as you can; a delicious lunch will be served at 12:30pm.
Easter Sunday
April 21 @ 11am-12pm (Sun)
Talk: Christ the Yogi
– Br. Shankara
Yoga means both union and detachment. Jesus Christ said, “I and my Father are one” … perfect union. And he said, “I have overcome the world” … complete detachment.
Jesus also experiences what the sage Patanjali describes as a yogi’s final test. In his book Raja-Yoga, Swami Vivekananda discusses this sutra: “By giving up even (omnipotence and omniscience) comes the destruction of the very seed of evil, which leads to (independence).” — Yoga Sutras, Ch. 3, Sutra 51
Vivekananda comments, “When one gives up even the ideas of omnipotence and omniscience, there comes entire rejection of enjoyment, of temptations. When the Yogi has seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the goal (freedom from all limitation) …”
According to the New Testament, Christ clearly had reached that goal. Here’s the story of the Temptation of Jesus, as told in the Book of Luke:
Jesus … was led by the (Holy) Spirit in the wilderness for forty days … And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”And (the devil) took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him …
On Sunday we will discuss all this in more detail.
April 26-28 (Fri-Sun)
Weekend Retreat with Swami Nirakarananda
Mark your calendar for a weekend Retreat at the end of April. Swami Nirakaranandaji of the St. Louis center will be here from Friday evening Apr 26th till Sunday morning on the 28th, offering us his wisdom about Raja Yoga.
DETAILS:
Apr 26 Friday, 7-8pm: Talk: The Spiritual Journey
w/ Swami Nirakarananda in the Chapel
8:15pm Potluck supper and Reception for the Swami in the Fellowship Hall
Apr 27 Saturday, starting at 10am: Workshop on Raja Yoga
w/ Swami Nirakarananda in the Chapel
Schedule:
morning session 10am-12:30pm;
lunch break from 12:30-2pm;
afternoon session 2-4:30pm
Apr 28 Sunday, 11am-12noon:
Talk: The Significance of Worship
w/ Swami Nirakarananda
