Vedanta Study Circle of Huntsville

The next meeting of Vedanta Study Circle will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2022, 3:00 pm CST. The meeting will be virtual through Skype. Please click the following link to attend: Vedanta Study Circle of Huntsville Skype.

 
  •  We met on Saturday , March 19th, 2022, 3:00 pm CST , for our biweekly Vedanta Study Circle meeting, via Skype. The study circle format was as such : * Vesper chant of Sri Ramakrishna. Reading from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, by Swami Nikhilananda. The reading continued from the Chapter 26, FESTIVAL AT ADHAR’S HOUSE . The reading started out with the continuation of the conversation with Hazra about Naren, Latu and Harish. A lengthy conversation ensues between Sri Ramakrishna and M. He asks questions about his ego, state of ecstasy, Kali and Krishna being the same, goal is to reach God, renunciation, lives of worldly people. Master ask about Haripada and Niranjan and praises their qualities . Master also talks about how parents think that getting their son married, will bring peace and relief to them, as their son will be taken care of by his spouse. Pages read 505-507. This was followed by 2 minutes of silent contemplation on material read. * Hymn of Sri Sarada Devi, Prakritim Paramam. Reading from Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play by Swami Chetananda. Reader started with chapter 7, Holy Mother's Reminiscences of the Master. The chapter consists of Holy Mother's reminiscences as recorded by her disciples on different occasions. The subheadings read were ; Source, talking about the origin of The Master from Gaya. An Ideal Husband ; How the Master was interested in nothing but God. Ramakrishna's Vision and Samadhi; how, During the years of his sadhana [spiritual practices], the Master wouldshrink through fear at the sight of various objects of temptation. Ramakrishna's Childlike Nature; which describes the incidence of Rakhal’s feeling hungry and Masters calling about food. Rakhal's Parents . The Red Flower ; how a girl bitterly cried about a beautiful red flower and it’s very dark leaves, and how Master consoled her . Pages 121-124. This was followed by two minutes of silent reflection, on the reading. * Song on Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda Vandana Stotram. Reading from The Life of Swami Vivekananda: By His Eastern and Western Disciples, chapter 11, Cossipore and The passing of the Master. The portion read talks about Narens , going home to study for the exam and rushing back to Cossipore , devotions himself completely to meditation and spiritual practices. He would engage in higher and deeper spiritual conversations with his brother disciples. They all meditated together. On the command of the Master, one day,they begged for food from door to door, afterwords cooked all that and Master partook of it. This portion narrates the incidence of Sashadar Pundit, who asked SRI RamaKrishna, to ask Divine Mother , to cure him of his disease. Naren kept imploring the Master to do so. The final answer from Master was , Mother had showed him, that he eats through all of them. What a fine realization of the truth of Advaita ! This was followed by 2 minutes of silent meditation on material read. * Followed by singing of Ramakrishna Sharanam. The evenings highlight was a beautiful program to celebrate SRI Ramakrishna’s Punya birth tithi ( actual date was March 4th). “Jayatu Jayatu Ramakrishna”. It was celebrated through hymns, songs and narrations. Hari Om Tatsat. OM shanti , Shanti, Shanti.Vesper chant of Sri Ramakrishna. Reading from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, by Swami Nikhilananda. The reading started out with the continuation of the conversation with Hazra about Naren, Latu and Harish. A lengthy conversation ensues between Sri Ramakrishna and M. He asks questions about his ego, state of ecstasy, Kali and Krishna being the same, goal is to reach God, renunciation, lives of worldly people. Master ask about Haripada and Niranjan and praises their qualities . Master also talks about how parents think that getting their son married, will bring peace and relief to them, as their son will be taken care of by his spouse. Pages read 505-507.The reading continued with the Chapter 26, FESTIVAL AT ADHAR’S HOUSE. The section read was Master's singing of 5 beautiful songs, three on Godess KALI. Master goes into samadhi and regaining partial consciousness, talks to Mother. After regaining full consciousness, he talks about renunciation, prema, bhakti. Pages read were 505 - 507. This was followed by 2 minutes of silent contemplation on materials read.

    • Hari Om Tat Sat. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.