Vedanta Society of Toronto (Ramakrishna Mission) 120 Emmett Ave. Toronto, ON CANADA M6M 2E6 Tel: 416-240-7262 Email: society@vedantatoronto.ca Website: www.vedantatoronto.ca Newsletter September 2014 Words to Inspire Great occasions rouse even the lowest of human beings to some kind of greatness, but he alone is the really great man whose character is great always, the same wherever he be.. - Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 1, pg 29. 'Swami Akhandananda, as we saw him' (compiled by Sw Chetanananda & translated by Sw Swahananda & Prasun De) SWAMI AKHANDANANDA MAHARAJ was the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission and was the Master's companion in his divine sport. Throughout Swami Akhandananda's life, he was engaged in the service of people. Now he has passed away, and in his absence many things come to my mind. When I first saw him, his calm and serene face impressed me. In February 1934 there was an earthquake in Bihar, and in a few seconds the foothills of the Himalayas were torn asunder in a terrible dance of destruction. Thousands of people lost their homes and were crying for their relatives. I felt that all the suffering of all those people had entered into the heart of this great soul. The whole day he would be lost in thought, and his loving heart cried in the great sorrow. During the Puja holidays that year, I had the good fortune of having the holy company of Gangadhar Maharaj. That year everyone at the Sargachhi Ashrama fell sick, and so there was no joy in the Ashrama in spite of the celebration for the blissful Mother. Seeing the sorrowful condition of the Ashrama, the Swami felt very pained. It was not merely the anxious state within the Ashrama that made him sad, but also the suffering of the faminestricken people from distant places that seemed to reach his ears. As he himself told us, it was as if Master were saying: 'Well, you are a friend of the miserable. I have kept you here for the service of the diseased and of those who suffer from famine and epidemics. So much suffering is here all around you. Don't you have any power to help them? How can you want your own happiness when others are suffering? You will not be able to enjoy that happiness, and it also will not befit you.' Truly, being a friend of the deprived was Gangadhar Maharaj's main characteristic. There was an ineffable softness and simplicity about him that kept his heart and mind filled with sweetness. In him I have seen the truth of the well-known saying, 'Harder than a thunderbolt and softer than a flower.' We saw the strictness he exercised in building up his disciples' character and also while teaching. At the same time, he would be very soft when he saw the anxiety of the devotees or the suffering of the poor. For building up a devotee's life we have heard him say, 'Mere blessings will not do. You will have to work hard. I have no forgiveness. If you do something wrong you must undergo the punishment.' Again, he reassured a boy who was anxious and afraid, saying, 'You have come to me, so what is there to fear?'. His devotion for his guru was incomparable. Regarding the devotion of his brother disciples to their guru, he one day said, 'If he had asked us to eat dirt, we would have opened our mouth.' So much faith he had in his guru! He would be annoyed to see pictures of the Master on a worthless book or paper and would say, 'Can't you manage without printing Master's picture on those things? You don't know where they will fall.' He saw Master as living in the picture, and so he would be afraid that it would be treated carelessly. When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low. - Sri Ramakrishna
Service and Liberation Based on a talk given at the Vedanta Society of Toronto by Swami Shantatmananda, Head of Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, India on May 18,2014 There is always a tremendous conflict, an eternal dwandva, which goes in our minds, as to which is higher, Contemplation or Action. Householders and monks are no exception to this. When we work we think of meditation and when we sit for meditation we start thinking of work. Is there a way, whereby we can transform the very nature of work into yoga, convert the work itself into a spiritual endeavour or sadhana. This is what Swami Vivekananda has taught us. Karma, which has originated from the Sanskrit word Kri or to work or to be in action. All of us are busy in our daily work from morning till night. We work incessantly and constantly want to escape this work, in order to find peace and harmony outside of this work. Several Executives take time off from work and go for vacation to different places. But most of them find that there is no real peace there. The reason is because, even if they are away from work, they carry work in their minds and constantly think of it. Let us see what our scriptures say about this. In the Bhagwad Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna, Why should I involve in this bloody war and kill my own relations, why should I involve in this action. Instead I feel that I should become a monk and remain inactive and achieve liberation through contemplation or Jnana marga? Instead of agreeing with Arjuna, Sri Krishna says that both these paths Jnana yoga and Karma yoga are prescribed for liberation. Jnana yoga is for the Samkhyas (one whose mind is not fluctuating or unsteady), and Karma yoga is suited for the yogis (one who enjoys to be in action). Both these paths, intense action and remaining contemplative, lead to the highest realization. But between these two paths, the better path, as Sri Krishna says, is the path of action. So here clearly Karma yoga is one of the paths that Gita advocates for most of us, since our minds are unsteady. Sri Krishna says that we cannot be free from activity even for a second. As soon as we are born, we are compelled towards activity by Prakriti, or nature. No one can escape here, not even the Man of Knowledge. None can say that I will not be involved and remain inactive, that will be hypocrisy. Externally we may act to appear as inactive, but internally our minds will be constantly working and leading us from one activity to the other. Sri Krishna further says that - You have the right to work but you don t have any right to claim the fruits of your action. But you cannot stay away from action, in order to stay away from the fruits of your work. Do not become attached to non-action. But different Acharyas interpreted the Gita in their own ways, especially the Advaita Acharyas, and they led to the interpretation that work can lead us only up to a certain stage of spirituality, chitta-suddhi or purification of mind, but not Self-realization. Actually this happened because the people of that time, had started paying too much attention to the rituals like yagyas and tapas, with desires of fruit in mind. But this led to bondage, so the Acharyas started prescribing against work. They did not mean that persons should be attached to non-work, but work without any desires. Even in the Upanishads it says, that while working with the right attitude, you can lead your life to its fullest. Swami Vivekananda came to the scene to stress this idea of liberation through work without desires of fruits. When he went on Bharat parikrama wandering across India as a monk, he saw the degenerated state of the people in general. He felt that the nation which was one of the foremost in the world at one point of time, had degenerated to such an extent, the main reason being that the religion was confined to the cooking pots and dogmas. He felt that there was a need for a complete reform in terms of understanding the religion and make it practical in our daily life. That is why he said Vedanta should be brought to the market place, should be made part of our daily life, that is how we will make progress in spiritual life. He clearly saw that work as explained by Vedanta has the capability of transforming our lives. He said that work without desires will lead to the purification of mind. Truth is bound to reflect in such purified mind. Every spiritual school of thought says that Moksha is the final goal of life. Swami Vivekananda also said that the work done without desires, leads to worklessness, karma leads to naiskarma, which finally leads to realization. But initially we have to be careful, the work has to be done without desires of fruits. This is difficult to achieve. Let us see what Swamiji prescribed to attain this state. All these Acharyas prescribed the path as per the necessities of their time. Sankaracharya saw that all people were bound to the rituals without trying to reach the ultimate goal of life. But Swamiji saw that the world was in state of immense activity, changes taking place through Science and Technology. How can he prescribe a path which will lead the people away from work, it would mean to lead them in the path of Tamas. He had learnt the idea of Service of God (Shiva) through service to man (Jiva), at the feet of his guru Sri Ramakrishna, a concept which was not considered for spiritual path. Spirituality was treated completely different from doing work. When he established the Ramakrishna Math after he returned back from the West, the logo he chose had the words Atmano Mokshartha, Jagad Hitayacha First one s own
spiritual evolution, but in that process there is a possibility of doing good to others. He wanted to experiment that through the stages of spiritual evolution, the monks will work for the welfare of mankind, and this was extremely successful. Swamiji said An ideal monk will be that person who will dive into deep meditation this moment, and next moment he would go to the market to buy the produce. He will not be tied to work so as not create bondage. The same applies to a householder as well. The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda philosophy is all inclusive, for everyone irrespective that the person is a monk or a householder. The ultimate goal can be reached by all. This reminds us of the story where a king used to call and asked the monks & householders Who is great, the householder or the sanyasin. In case of not getting proper response, the kind used to either ask the monks to embrace householder life or throw the householders in prison. Finally a monk arrived and told the king to follow him. They reached another kingdom, where the princess was supposed to marry by selecting her chosen groom. One bright young monk arrived on the scene and the princess put the garland around his neck. The monk threw the garland and walked away. The king ran and offered the monk half his kingdom. The monk immediately rejected the offer and said that he had nothing to do with the princess or the kingdom. The princess ran after the monk, who managed to disappear in the jungle. The king and the other monk followed the princess, and since it became dark took shelter under a tree. It was cold so they lit a bonfire to warm themselves. A family of birds lived on top of the tree. The head of the family decided that since these people taking shelter under their tree were their guests, decided to throw himself into the fire to appease their hunger. The wife bird and followed by her youngster chicks also joined her husband in the fire and sacrificed their lives for the sake of their hosts. Showing this to the king, the monk said Each person is great in his own place. If we are monk, we must follow our dharma and not get attached to either wealth or lust. If we are householder then we should live a life full of sacrifice for the welfare of others. Again Swamiji says The world is not in need of you or your donation in the least. It is for your own selfpurification, for evolution that you should give. The highest idea of Karma yoga is self-abnegation, even to the point of death you should serve selflessly. The question arises How can we look upon Jiva as Shiva? Sri Ramakrishna has categorically told us not to negate this world as maya, but to include it within us as a manifestation of God. This was not mere theory. At one point of time, He could not walk on grass, feeling them throbbing with consciousness. When two boatmen started quarrelling in the boat on Ganga and one boatman hit the other on the back. Hriday, his nephew saw a mark on Sri Ramakrishna s back. So unless we look upon this world as manifestation of God, it is difficult to serve the people. We have to develop our thoughts to give our service not to any human being, but a representative of God. Swami Vivekananda, who was adept in meditation by birth, a Dhyana siddha, once asked Sri Ramakrishna to grant him to always in Samadhi, but Sri Ramakrishna negated his idea saying that his advent to the world was to remove ignorance. So he must see the divine in all humanity and serve them, by seeing God with open eyes. We will end this with the real life experience of a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, Bonbihari Maharaj, who lived in the Sevashram, Benares. He was a very simple monk, not much education. His guru Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, send him to Benares and told him to go and serve the people in Benares and he will get everything. The hospital there had bare minimal facilities. The Swami was given a small desk with a pair of scissors and some bandages and asked to serve the outpatients. He would start dressing the wounds of the patients from 8am till about 3pm, standing all the time. Thereafter he would go to his room and eat the little Prasad kept and then do spiritual practises. Day after day, be it summer, winter or rainy seasons, he continued this. In the process he developed such a pair of hands that whosoever s wounds he dressed got cured. People would come from far distances to be cured by him. This Swami had tremendous faith in his guru s words. He became so famous that people used to call him Chalata Vishwanath Moving Vishwanath or Shiva. He worked like this for about 40 years. Standing like this continuously damaged his feet to the extent that he could not stand. He took help of a wheel chair and went to the hospital. Then finally when he could stand no longer, he took rest from activity. A look at his face would explain Swamiji s words of achieving the highest spirituality through desire less action. There are many such examples in the Ramakrishna Order. Spiritual evolution does not come so easily, one has to work hard with tremendous zeal for years, holding onto the ideal and we will surely reach the highest spiritual goal of life. ***** VOLUNTARY SERVICE is looking for volunteers to enable to continue its activities. Volunteers are required to work for 2 hours to prepare soup & salad. Please drop in on Tuesdays at 9:30 am & on Saturdays at 10:00 am.
Guru Purnima was celebrated on Saturday, July 12, 2014, around 200 devotees attended. SUMMARY OF PAST EVENT Sri Krishna Janmashtami was held on Sunday, August 17, 2014, around 250 devotees attended. SPECIAL EVENTS DURING THE MONTH Annual Seminar on Sep 13 at 9am, Informal Talk by Pravrajika Vrajaprana at 7:30 pm on Sep 13, Special Sunday Service by Pr. Vrajaprana on Sunday Sep 14 at 11 am. Sri Sri Durga puja will be celebrated on the following days: Thursday Oct-2, 2014 Maha Ashtami from 6:30pm SCRIPTURE CLASS: Every Friday at 7:30 pm, following the regular evening prayer at 6:00 pm. VIGIL: A vigil consisting of japa and meditation is observed from 6:00am to 6:00pm. For the date of this month s vigil, please see the Calendar of Events on the next page. To participate, please call the Centre. RAM NAM: For the date and time of the monthly Ramnam, please see the Calendar of Events on the next page. INTERVIEWS/INSTRUCTION: Swami Kripamayananda will be happy to give interviews to those interested in knowing more about Vedanta and meditation. Individual interviews are also given for spiritual instruction. Appointments for interviews should be made in advance with the Swami at 416-240-7262. DAILY MEDITATION: Meditation is observed at the Centre every morning from 6:00 am to 7:00 am. Devotional singing and UPCOMING EVENTS REGULAR PROGRAMMES IMPORTANT NOTICE Volunteers Appreciation Day on Sunday Sep 21 at 11 am. Puppet Show on Swami Vivekananda at SVBF Auditorium, 84 Brydon Dr, Etobicoke M9W 4N6 on Friday Sep 26 at 7:30 pm. Friday Oct-3, 2014 Maha Navami from 6:30pm Saturday Oct-4, 2014 Vijaya Dashami from 11:00am. meditation is held in the evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. DAILY BREAD FOOD BANK: Many less fortunate families are dependent on the food bank for their daily nutrition. Please help us by contributing non-perishable food items that we may pass along to the Daily Bread Food Bank. SOUP KITCHEN: The is cooked at the Vedanta Society and offered serving meals at Syme Woolner Neighbourhood & Family Centre, 2468 Eglinton Ave W, Unit 3, Toronto, ON, M6M 5E2. Please contact the Centre, if you are interested in participating. Donations for the will be highly appreciated BOOK STORE: The Book Store is open after Sunday Services and special programmes, and arrangements can be made by phone for weekday and Saturday visits. We carry selected titles from the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature, as well as other Vedantic materials. Parking on the road beside the Vedanta Society which is a Fire Route and which belongs to the West Park Hospital, is strictly prohibited. West Park Hospital have informed that they are going to give tickets @ $250.00 for illegal parking on the road as well as in their property other than the designated parking area.
Vedanta Society of Toronto Minister and Teacher - Swami Kripamayananda, Ramakrishna Order of India CALENDAR OF EVENTS September 2014 Sunday Mon Tuesday Wed Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 9:30am 7 11am Sunday Lecture: Transforming Work into Worship 14 11am Guest Lecture: Hidden Spring: Role of Vedanta Societies in the West by Pravrajika Vrajaprana, Santa Barbara 5pm RamNam 21 11am Lecture: Role of Volunteers Volunteers Appreciation Day 6:30 pm MAHALAYA: A Presentation 8 9 9:30am 15 16 9:30am 22 23 9:30am 28 11 am Video Lecture 29 30 9:30am 10 11 9:30am 17 18 9:30am 12 7:30pm Scripture class: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna 19 7:30pm Scripture class: Vivekachudamani 24 25 26 7:30 pm VST BUILDING RENOVATION PROJECT Puppet Show on SWAMI VIVEKANANDA at SVBF Auditorium 84 Brydon Dr, Etobicoke 13 9am-2pm SEMINAR: Science and Human Values 7:30 pm Informal Talk by Pravrajika Vrajaprana 20 9:30am 6am to 6pm Vigil 27 9:30am As the funds for the planned Expansion of the Society were inadequate, a Renovation project has been considered instead, which consists of upgradation of the existing facility to improve the shrine area, create more space to accommodate more devotees during celebrations, improvement of accommodation for the resident swami and guest swamis, increase the number of toilets for the devotees and reduce utility costs by optimizing existing fixtures. To utilize the summer recess, the Renovation work is planned to begin in May 2015 and will be completed in three to four months.