Vedanta Center of Atlanta: October events
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:
October 4th @ 11am
“My Spiritual Practice”
w/Steven Gold
Steven will speak on the topic, “My Spiritual Practice.” This personal narrative will discuss spiritual disciplines that are part of his daily life, and changes in his life that he attributes to his practices.
Steven J. Gold is the founder and director of Torah-Veda (formerly, the Yoga and Judaism Center) in Atlanta, GA. He has been a student, practitioner and teacher of spiritual self-realization and its related philosophy and psychology for over forty years. His background includes yoga, Vedanta, kabala, and eastern and western mysticism.
October 4, 11 2015
Speakers: October is a month for the study of Karma Yoga (the path of action). On October 4, 11, we will have a guest speaker from another faith tradition. They will speak on the topic, “My Spiritual Practice.” Oct 4 = Valerie Morvan.
October 10, 2015
Seva Saturday - Oct. 10th, (tentative!) 10am-2pm
Concert - Sunday, Oct. 11th, 5-6:30pm
Jerry Brunner & Cyndi Craven, in the Fellowship Hall
Durga Puja: Three Days of Durga - Oct. 16-18, 2015
Friday, October 16th
6pm - Special Arati
7pm - Talk: Significance of Mother Worship (acc. to Swami Swahananda)
w/Br. Shankara
Saturday, October 17th, 6:30-9pm
Our pujari, Dhruva, will chant the entire Devi Mahatmyam in Sanskrit.
Followed by refreshments in the Monastery.
Sunday, October 18th, 11am
Durga Puja Celebration, immediately followed by potluck prasad lunch. Please bring food you wish to be offered during the puja to the Monastery kitchen no later than 11am.
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October 13-23, 2015
Please take note of this message from Swami Sarvadevanandaji, Head Minister of Vedanta Center of Atlanta. He is introducing a new spiritual practice for us. — Br. Shankara (Resident Minister)
Navaratri Chanting of Sri Durga’s Name
Dear Devotees of the Divine Mother,
Ma Durga
The navaratri, the nine nights and ten days specially dedicated to the Divine Mother, are upon us again. Every year, many devotees make use of this auspicious time by pledging to do some extra sadhana. Specifically, many pledge to do japa of the Mother's name.
To join us, you may pledge daily practice during the 10 days of navaratri, chanting 100, 500, 1,000, or even more repetitions of the name. The daily total multiplied by 10 gives the overall total. I am requesting that you participate in this japa-yajña.
Swami Swahanandaji used to very much encourage this practice. He would say that 100,000 repetitions of the Mother's name will bring all the spiritual benefits of performing one elaborate Durga Puja itself. It will bring individual as well as global peace and joy.
So we invite all of you to participate in this "japa yajña” — by pledging to a certain number of repetitions of "Jai Sri Durga"—over and above one's regular daily japa. Together we will easily attain many 100,000 repetitions of the Mother's name.
This year the Navaratri is from October 13 to 23, 2015. You can start on the 13th and end on the 23rd. One day is extra according to the Vishuddha Siddhanta almanac.
The Sandhi Puja falls this year on Wednesday October 21 from 1:06 to 1:54 pm. This is also an auspicious time to repeat the Mother's name, because it represents the time when the demon was destroyed by the Divine Mother.
May Mother Durga bring all auspiciousness in our life and turn our mind towards Her so that Peace and Joy prevails in our heart always!
Yours in Mother,
Sarvadevananda
October 25, 2015
“Separation”
w/Br. Shankara 
This month we’ve been studying the yoga of action – Karma Yoga. Next month we’ll take up Raja Yoga, the yoga of meditation. Our last talk for October focuses on how these yogas can co-operate like the gears of two finely-designed machines. Together, they transfer the power of spiritual practice to your nervous system, to your muscles and sinews, and thereby transform the way you see and behave in the world of action and experience.
Today, you and I probably live as if we are pretty much what we appear to be: a body, which is host to a mind that is governed by our intellect and emotions.
However, India’s scriptures tell us something very different about ourselves:
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad a sage says, Aham Brahmasmi (“I am Brahman,” the Godhead).
The Chandogya Upanishad adds, Tat tvam asi —“You (also) are That” (Godhead).
These ancient mahāvākyas (“Great Sayings”) insist that, in fact, you and I are the Divine Being itself.
More recently, our teachers have put it this way:
“Each soul is potentially divine.” — Swami Vivekananda
“Your chosen (spiritual) ideal is you yourself, no different. Learn to feel that living presence.” — Swami Prabhavananda
“I do not exist, He exists” — Swami Sridharananda
Yet, due to a persistent illusion (maya), you and I live far apart from the truth of ourselves. This separation between the reality of our being and our way of life is the root cause of our anxiety and suffering. On Sunday morning, we’ll explore together how Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga can, slowly but surely, dissolve that sense of separation.