Newsletter - September 2011

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September 2011

Calender Events of

August 2011  09 Tuesday - Ekadasi

Content

Page No.

 Calender Events and Contents

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 Sri Krishna Janmastami - A Report

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 21 Sunday - Sri Krishna Janmastami (After Evening Aarati)

 Ganesh Chaturthi

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 25 Thursday - Ekadasi

 Swami Abhedananda Jayanti

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 28 Sunday Swami Advaitananda Jayanti

 Swami Akhandananda Jayanti

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 Human Excellence Courses Schedule

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 11th Foundation Day Celebrations

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 Spoken English & Other Languages Admission Details

12

 Chronos of Ramakrishna Math, Hyd.

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 13 Saturday Swami Niranjananda Jayanti

Calender Events of

September 2011  01 Thursday - Vinayaka Chaturthi (After Evening Arati)  08 Thursday - Ekadasi  22 Thursday - Swami Abhedananda Jayanti  23 Friday - Ekadasi  27 Tuesday - Mahalaya & Swami Akhandananda Jayanti

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SRI KRISHNA JANMASTAMI A Report

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GANESH CHATURTHI On Thursday 1st September

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular of Hindu festivals. This is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. It is the day most sacred to Lord Ganesha. It falls on the 4th day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August-September). It is observed throughout India, as well as by devoted Hindus in all parts of the world. Clay figures of the Deity are made and after being worshipped for two days, or in some cases ten days, they are immersed into water.

Lord Ganesha is the elephant-headed God. He is worshipped and His names are repeated before any auspicious work is begun. He is the Lord of power and wisdom. He is the eldest son of Lord Shiva and the elder brother of Skanda or Kartikeya.

The following story is narrated about His birth and how He came to have the head of an elephant: Once upon a time, the Goddess Gauri (consort of Lord Shiva), while bathing, created Ganesha as a pure white being out of the mud of Her Body and placed Him at the entrance of the house. She told Him not to allow anyone to enter while she went inside for a bath. Lord Shiva Himself was returning home quite thirsty and was stopped by Ganesha at the gate. Shiva became angry and cut off Ganesha’s head as He thought Ganesha was an outsider. When Gauri came to know of this she was sorely grieved. To console her, Shiva ordered His servants to cut off and bring to Him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The servants went on their mission and found only an elephant in that position. The sacrifice was thus made and the elephant’s head was brought before Shiva.

The Lord then joined the elephant’s head onto the body of Ganesha.

Lord Shiva made His son worthy of worship at the beginning of all undertakings, marriages, expeditions, studies, etc. He ordained that the annual worship of Ganesha should take place on the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada.

Lord Ganesha represents Om or the Pranava, which is the chief Mantra among the Hindus.

Nothing can be done without uttering it. This explains the practice of invoking Ganesha before beginning any rite or undertaking any project. His two feet represent the power of knowledge and the power of action. The elephant head is significant in that it is the only figure in nature that has the form of the symbol for Om. Lord Ganesha’s two powers are the Kundalini and the Vallabha or power of love. The significance of riding on a mouse is the complete conquest over egoism. The holding of the ankusha represents His rulership of the world. It is the emblem of divine Royalty.

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Ganesha is the first God. Riding on a mouse, one of nature’s smallest creatures and having the head of an elephant, the biggest of all animals, denotes that Ganesha is the creator of all creatures. Elephants are very wise animals; this indicates that Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom. It also denotes the process of evolution—the mouse gradually evolves into an elephant and finally becomes a man. This is why Ganesha has a human body, an elephant’s head and a mouse as His vehicle. This is the symbolic philosophy of His form.

In the Ganapathi Upanishad, Ganesha is identified with the Supreme Self. The legends that are connected with Lord Ganesha are recorded in the Ganesha Khanda of the Brahma Vivartha Purana. On the Ganesh Chaturthi day, meditate on the stories connected with Lord Ganesha early in the morning, during the Brahmamuhurta period. Then, after taking a bath, go to the temple and do the prayers of Lord Ganesha. Offer Him some coconut and sweet pudding. Pray with faith and devotion that He may remove all the obstacles that you experience on the spiritual path. Have an image of Lord Ganesha in your house. Feel His Presence in it.

Take fresh spiritual resolves and pray to Lord Ganesha for inner spiritual strength to attain success in all your undertakings. May the blessings of Sri Ganesha be upon you all! May He remove all the obstacles that stand in your spiritual path! May He bestow on you all Bhukti (material prosperity) as well as Mukti (liberation)!

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SWAMI ABHEDANANDA (1866 – 1939) On September 22nd Thursday - Swami Abhedananda Jayanti

Swami Abhedananda, originally Kali Prasad Chandra, was a scholar in Sanskrit and had studied Western Philosophy. He was initially attracted towards Christianity but turned towards Hinduism after listening to the lectures of Brahmo leaders. Having become fascinated by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, he was eager to find someone who could teach him to follow the methods of meditation they prescribe. Born in a fairly well-to-do family, Kali had a great eagerness to learn yoga from his boyhood. He gained a good grounding in Sanskrit and English. At the age of 18, when he was studying for the school final examination, he went to Dakshineswar and met Sri Ramakrishna. Under the guidance of the Master, Kali practiced meditation and was soon blessed with several visions. Kali became a frequent visitor to Dakshineswar. He served the Master during his last illness. After the Master’s passing away, he joined the Baranagar Math and underwent sannyasa ordination, assuming the name Swami Abhedananda. At the Baranagar Math he used to shut himself up in a room and do intense meditation or study. This earned him the sobriquet “Kali Tapasvi”. He spent several years visiting places of pilgrimage on foot.

In 1896, Swami Vivekananda brought him to London for Vedanta work. From there he went on to New York after a year and took charge of the Vedanta Society. He stayed in America until 1921 teaching and lecturing. His profundity of scholarship, incisive intellect and oratorical power elicited widespread admiration, and people thronged to listen to him. He was also a prolific writer and his books on life after death, etc. are famous. He was the author of several books: Reincarnation, How to be a Yogi, India and her People, Atmabikash, Vedantabani, Hindu Dharme Narir Sthan. He edited a monthly magazine Viswabani for nine years.

After his long and successful work in America, Swami Abhedananda returned to India in 1923 and established his own Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Society. On a visit to Darjeeling in May 1923 he greatly benefitted by the beauty of the place and its invigorating climate. The following year he returned and bought a cottage on a piece of land and established Ramakrishna Vedanta Ashram, with an attached primary school, a charitable dispensary and memorial building in the name of Sister Nivedita, who had passed away there in 1911.

Though he set up a separate Vedanta Society, he maintained cordial relationship with his brother monks at Belur Math which he visited occasionally. He remained a trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission all through his life. He presided over the Parliament of Religions at the Town Hal, Kolkata, as a part of the celebration of the Birth Centenary of Sri Ramakrishna. He introduced himself as “I stand here not as a delegate from any institution nor as the president of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Calcutta, but as a humble child of Sri Ramakrishna.”

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He left the mortal frame on 8 September 1939. Towards the end of his life, this great austere Vedantin told his disciples: “Tapasya or austerity enhances the willpower. Have faith in yourself. Think: I am a child of Immortal Bliss. The infinite power is playing within me. If you have this conviction, you will conquer the world.�

Of all the contributions that Swami Abhedananda made to Ramakrishna Movement, the most widely appreciated and enduring one is his composition of sublime and beautiful hymns (in Sanskrit) on Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi. His hymn to Holy Mother beginning with Prakritim paramam abhayam varadam, which is sung in many ashramas and homes, is unrivalled in the depth of conception and felicity of expression.

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SWAMI AKHANDANANDA (1864 – 1937) On September 27th Tuesday - Swami Akhandananda Jayanti

Life ‘I do not covet earthly kingdom, or heaven, or even salvation. The only thing I desire is the removal of the miseries of the afflicted!’ If these words of Prahlada, the great devotee, could be found truly reflected in anyone’s life, it was in the life of Swami Akhandananda, the third President of the Ramakrishna Order. The Swami, known as Gangadhar Ghatak before ordination into Sannyasa, was born on the 30th September 1864 in Calcutta. Even in his boyhood days Gangadhar was deeply religious and orthodox to the point of being dubbed as ‘oldish’ even by Sri Ramakrishna himself! As a corrective measure Sri Ramakrishna introduced him to Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) who was, for all outward appearances very heterodox, but inside him he had nothing but God. This acquaintance matured into a deep and lifelong friendship between them.

After the demise of the Master, Gangadhar, who took monastic orders and became ‘Swami Akhandananda’, led the unfettered life of a wandering monk. For three years he roamed in the Himalayas and visited Tibet also three times. Because of his experience in the Himalayas, Swami Vivekananda took him as his guide in his sojourn there.

Swami Vivekananda’s burning words to do something for the poor and illiterate masses, inspired Swami Akhandananda to do some good work for the education of poor children both in Khetri and in Udaipur. Finally he started an orphanage at the village of Sargacchi in the Murshidabad district of Bengal where he had gone to conduct famine relief work. He and the institution grew up with each other.

On the death of Swami Shivananda, Swami Akhandananda was elected as the third President of the Ramakrishna Order.

The Swami had a flair for learning languages, which brought him into intimate contact with the people wherever he went. His childlike simplicity endeared him to one and all. His austerity and scholarship were a source of inspiration for many. He breathed his last on February 7, 1937.

A few years before passing away, the swami told a monk his life’s philosophy: “The Master has still kept me alive for his work. Distribute your Self among others and bring other souls within yourself. You will see how much joy you will get from it. On the other hand if you are always busy about yourself, you will be entangled within yourself, you will kill your Self and you will die. The more you disseminate yourself among the people, the more you will attain bliss and that will lead you to Self-realisation.”

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Teachings The spiritual path for the present age lies through the harmony of all paths of earlier ages— harmony of knowledge, devotion and selfless work. We must have knowledge, devotion and service. It won’t do to have only one.

In this age of Kali, one thing that counts is the Lord’s name. Go on repeating His name, that will bear fruit in time.

No work should be considered degrading. All works are His. Swamiji himself scourged the vessels. When you sweep the floor or dress vegetables, think that you are doing His work.

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Vivekananda Institute of Languages New Admissions - Spoken English

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New Admissions - Other Languages

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Chronos

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Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna : (open to all, except for children below seven years) 5.00 a.m to 12 noon & 4 p.m to 8.15 p.m; 5 a.m - Mangal Arati 9.30 a.m - Puja , 6.45 p.m Arati and bhajans (After evening Arati, there will be Ramanamam Sankirtana on Ekadasi days, and Special Bhajans Programme on Saturday, Sunday and other festival days.)

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Basement Hall of the temple

: Telugu weekly discourse & Meditation Saturday (5.45 p.m to 6.45 p.m)

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Vivekananda Auditorium

: English weekly discourse Sunday (5.45 p.m to 6.45 p.m)

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Office

: 8.30 to 12.00PM - 4.30 to 7.30PM

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Book Stall

: 9.00 a.m to 1.00 p.m & 4.00 p.m to 8.00p.m (Book Stall adjacent to Gita Darshan Building is open on all days from 9.00 a.m to 8.00p.m)