LIVESTREAM: Vedanta Center of Atlanta
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During May and June we have guest speakers offering us talks, using the Zoom app. We are happy to report that on May 24th, Br. Dhruva will talk with us, via Zoom, about Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Gita. And on June 14th, we’ll hear from Ryan NeuCollins about her experience as a householder, following the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Sunday, April 19 @11am to noon
Corona: Truths from the Tragedy
w/ Dr. Bhagirath Majmudar
Join us via Zoom at:
https://zoom.us/j/613293408
VEDANTA CENTER CALENDER OF ACTIVITIES:
https://vedantaatlanta.org/calendar-of-activities-events/
Vedanta Center of Atlanta offers Zoom Classes
New Saturday morning class, 11am - 12:30pm
We are adding the class offered in Athens to our lineup of online meetings. Click here https://zoom.us/j/ 959321510 to join the meeting, this coming Saturday morning at 11am. We are reading and discussing Realizing God, a collection of talks by Swami Prabhavananda, the head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from the 1930s to the 1970s. Prabhavananda was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda (Raja Maharaj), the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi. The book is available from vedanta.com and other sources, including our bookshop.
You’ll need the ZOOM app on your computer, tablet or phone. If you don’t already have it, the link above has instructions on how to sign up. It’s easy and it’s free. Many devotees and friends are already using ZOOM to attend our Tuesday and Wednesday evening classes (8-9pm), and Sunday morning talks (11am-noon). The description of each online meeting, below, has a link you can use to join us.
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.
Coronavirus:
3/17/2020
*The Chapel will be open for Arati and accessible for meditation at other times. If you come to the Chapel we ask that you wash your hands before and after entering the Chapel, and that you give others who may be present plenty of space (at least six feet). Do not come to the Center if you are sick or feeling poorly.
Classes and Sunday talks WILL CONTINUE via Zoom, an online meeting program that has been set up on Br. Shankara's computer in his office. All you need to do to watch and listen, and even participate if you wish, is:
1) register with Zoom (it's free and very easy),
2) install the app on your desktop, laptop, tablet or phone, and then
3) join the talks or classes using the links we provide in your eNews.
Classes
Tuesday Evening, 8-9pm
Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play
Please join us for this inspiring study of Holy Mother’s life. We’ll meet ONLINE VIA ZOOM to read and discuss this definitive biography of Sarada Devi by Swami Chetanananda, which is available in the Center’s Bookshop. Informal, no prerequisites, everyone is welcome. Class is led by Br. Shankara.
Join us for this class at the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/437771560
The Tuesday night class will always use this link.
The Song of God (Bhagavad Gita)
translation by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
We are reading Bhagavad Gita, a foundation of our spiritual lives. We’ll meet ONLINE VIA ZOOM to read and discuss the Prabhavananda-Isherwood translation, titled Song of God. Books are available in the Center’s Bookshop. Informal, no prerequisites, everyone is welcome. Class is led by Br. Shankara.
Join us for this class at the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/915076724
The Wednesday night class will always use this link.
Thursday Evening, 7:30-8:45pm
Sanskrit Class
* this class is suspended until further notice *
Sunday Mornings
TALKS, 11am-noonThis month's Sunday topics are listed below by date.
ALL TALKS WILL BE HELD ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Join us for Sunday talks at: https://zoom.us/j/
March 22 @ 11am
- Restraints and Observances of a don Juan Apprentice, Part 2
w/ Br. Shankara
March 29 @ 11am
- “Not-Doing” and the Gathering of Power
w/ Br. Shankara
April 5 @ 11am
- “Stopping the World” and the Journey to Ixtlan
w/ Br. Shankara
May you stay well and in bright spirits,
Br. Shankara
You can still see the Sunday talks on your computer, phone or tablet: They will be live-streamed on both our YouTube channel [HERE] and on Facebook [HERE].
In case you want more information about what may be best for you and yours, here’s a link to a short piece from the New York Times [HERE].
May you stay well and in bright spirits,
Br. Shankara
Thursdays, 7:30pm: Sanskrit class
Sun Mar 1, 10:30am: Sri Ramakrishna’s Birthday Celebration and Puja
11am-12:30p
Sat Mar 7, 9am-10am: Chandi Hymns (in Sanskrit) - led by Rita Bhandarkar Mathew.
Sun Mar 8, 10:30am: Talk: Don Juan Matus - a brujo's explanation with Br Shankara
This month we will depart from our usual routine of taking up one of the four yogas for detailed study. Instead, we’ll introduce a parallel tradition of spiritual unfoldment, as taught by don Juan Matus. A Yaqui Indian, don Juan was a brujo of the Toltec lineage. The first talk in this series is this Sunday.
A brujo or bruja is a person who is in command of power. An accomplished raja yogi could be called a brujo — yet, as we’ll see, the comparison is approximate. Don Juan Matus was a great brujo and had many apprentices, both female and male. One of these was Carlos Castaneda, who wrote several books about his training by don Juan. The book we’ll draw on for this series is Journey to Ixtlan.
Castaneda wrote: “… I must first explain the (brujo’s) basic premise … as don Juan presented it to me. He said that for a brujo, the world of everyday life is not real, or out there, as we believe it is. For a brujo, reality, or the world we all know, is only a description … a description that had been pounded into me from the moment I was born. He pointed out that everyone who comes into contact with a child is a teacher who incessantly describes the world to him, until the moment when the child is capable of perceiving the world as it is described. … From that moment on … the child is a member. He knows the description of the world; and his membership becomes full-fledged … when he is capable of making all the proper perceptual interpretations which, by conforming to that description, validate it. For don Juan, then, the reality of our day-to-day life consists of an endless flow of perceptual interpretations which we …have learned to make in common.”
Don Juan taught his apprentices how to overcome the limitations of that description, how to free themselves from the entrapment of their inherited membership. He called this achievement “stopping the world.” This coming Sunday we’ll define and explore that idea, and the ways — some familiar and some new to us — by which Castaneda learned to “stop the world.”
Castaneda, Carlos. Journey To Ixtlan. Washington Square Press.
Sat Mar 14, 8:30am-9:15am: Chandi reading (in English)
Four Hymns from the Chandi (Devi Mahatmyam) are read in English every 2nd Saturday (unless otherwise noted) from 8:30-9:15am. Please join us in the Chapel if you can — these hymns are deeply informative about the nature of the Divine Mother, and therefore about the universe and the world we share. Led by Br. Shankara
Sat Mar 14, 10am-2pm: Seva Saturday
Join us any time between 10am and 2 pm on the 2nd Saturday of each month; lunch at 12:30. Please help make your Center more beautiful, functional, and welcoming. We do need your help! You can also offer service on any day, as suits your schedule.
Sun Mar 15, 10:30am: Talk: Restraints and Observances of a Don Juan Apprentice w/ Br. Shankara
This month we depart from our usual routine of taking up one of the four yogas for detailed study. Instead, we are introducing a parallel tradition of spiritual unfoldment, as taught by don Juan Matus. A Yaqui Indian, don Juan was a brujo of the Toltec lineage. Our second talk in this 4-part series is this Sunday.
A brujo or bruja is a person who is in command of power. An accomplished raja yogi could be called a brujo — yet, as we’ll see, the comparison is approximate. Don Juan Matus was a great brujo and had many apprentices. One of them was Carlos Castaneda, who wrote several books about his time with don Juan. For these talks, we’ll draw from Castaneda’s Journey to Ixtlan.
Castaneda says a (brujo’s) basic premise is that the world of everyday life is not real, or out there, as we believe it is. For a brujo, reality (the world we all know) is only a description — our day-to-day life consists of an endless flow of perceptual interpretations which we have learned to make in common.
Don Juan taught his apprentices how to overcome the limitations of that description; he called this achievement “stopping the world.” This idea is not new to us. In the Mandukya Upanishad it is spoken of as the “cessation of all phenomena” (Mantra VIII). And in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra the goal is kaivalya — independence, through detachment from all thought forms.
Patanjali starts a yogi’s journey to kaivalya with yamas and niyamas (restraints and observances); they are the first two of his eight “limbs” of yoga. Don Juan’s apprentices also practiced a system of restraints and observances as they learned to “stop the world.” This Sunday morning we’ll explore the physical and spiritual disciplines that began Castaneda’s journey to Ixtlan.
Castaneda, Carlos. Journey To Ixtlan. Washington Square Press.
Sun Mar 22, 10:30am: Talk: Restraints and Observances of a Don Juan Apprentice (Part 2) w/ Br. Shankara
Sun Mar 29, 10:30am: Talk: “Not-Doing” and the Gathering of Power w/ Br. Shankara
Sun Apr 5, 10:30am: Talk: “Stopping the World” and the Journey to Ixtlan w/ Br. Shankara