2455 Bowditch Street, Berkeley, CA 94704; 510-848-8862
San Jose House, 1376 Mariposa Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126; 408-493-0665
Email: society@vedantaberkeley.org ; Website: www.vedantaberkeley.org
March 2020
People of different faiths, as well as those who have no particular belief, can benefit from the lectures. Vedanta is impersonal and rational; it is not a particular creed but includes all creeds and affirms that they are different expressions of One Truth.
Annual General Meeting - 81st Annual General Body Meeting of the Members of the Vedanta Society Berkeley will be held at the sanctuary of the Society at 2:30 pm on Sunday, March 22, 2020. Members are welcome.
Lectures are delivered by Swami Prasannatmananda at the sanctuary of the Vedanta Society Berkeley every Sunday at 11:00 am.
March 01 : Special Worship at 3:00 pm March 08 : No Lecture (San Jose event)
March 15 : Spiritual Knowledge as Illumination March 22 : A Miracle Of Sri
Ramakrishna (Guest Speaker) March 29 : Spiritual Maturity
Srimad Bhagavad Gita classes are conducted by Swami Prasannatmananda at the sanctuary of the Vedanta Society Berkeley every Thursday at 8:00 pm.
March 05 : Srimad Bhagavad Gita
March 12 : Srimad Bhagavad Gita
March 19 : Srimad Bhagavad Gita
March 26: Srimad Bhagavad Gita
Classes and 'Yogadharana' guided group meditation sessions are conducted by Swami Prasannatmananda at San Jose House every Sunday and every Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Classes every Sunday evening are held after a short vesper service, arati, and meditation. Ramanama Sankirtanam is held on the first Sunday of every month at 6:30 pm.
March 01 : No Lecture (Berkeley event)
March 08: Special Worship of Sri Ramakrishna at 6:30 pm
March 15 : Universal Love of Sri Ramakrishna(Talk)
March 22: No Lecture
March 29: Inspired Talks (Regular Class)
LIBRARY
Vedanta Society Berkeley maintains libraries both in Berkeley Center and San Jose House. Books on Vedanta Philosophy, Religion, and Other Philosophical Systems and Religious Traditions of the world are available for the members to borrow.
Books on Vedanta and Indian Religious literature are sold at the bookstore in the foyer of the Berkeley Center after Sunday and Thursday lectures. And at San Jose House before and after the Wednesday ‘Yogadharana’ and Sunday evening lectures.
Prayer & Meditation
Those who like to spend some time in prayer, meditation, and to attend vesper service are welcome to do so at the sanctuary of Berkeley center from 6:30 to 8:00 pm every evening except Sunday and Wednesday; and
at San Jose House every Wednesday and Sunday at 7:30 pm and 6:30 pm respectively.
Interview and Practical Instructions
Swami Prasannatmananda is glad to confer with those who are interested in knowing more about Vedanta or with those who want to discuss their spiritual interests with him. The Swami requests that appointments be made after lectures or classes or over the telephone 510-848-8862.
Above are the photographs from the meditation session 'Yogadharana' conducted by Sw. Yogatmananda at San Jose Hosue on Wednesday, Feb. 05, 2020, at 7:30 pm.
Special Yogadharana conducted by Swami Yogatmananda
Swami Yogatmananda, Minister in-charge of the Vedanta Society of Providence, Rhode Island, conducted a special guided meditation and guest lecture session at San Jose House of the Vedanta Society Berkeley, at 7:30 pm, on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.
More than forty devotees attended this Yogadharana session where Swami Yogatmananda guided devotees to leave all negative vibrations and to feel the vibration of love and consciousness within us. Swami Yogatmananda also urged devotees to meditate with open eyes, in a way to see that the same self exists in all of us. Identifying ourselves with our bodies and minds, the impermanent aspects of ourselves, takes us away from spiritual life, the Swami said.
In a very lively question and answer session, Swami Yogatmananda provided responses to several topics that were posed by devotees. The evening with a guided meditation session, lecture, and discussion was truly a fulfilling experience for all devotees.
Above are the photographs from Special Worship of Maha Shivaratri held at the sanctuary of Vedanta Society Berkeley on February 22, 2020.
Mahashivarathri Worship at Vedanta Society Berkeley
Vedanta Society Berkeley observed Mahashivarathri with special worship at the sanctuary on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at 7 pm. Swami Prasannatmananda conducted the worship ceremony. Sumita Chakraborty, Alokparna Deb, and the chorus group from the San Jose Vedanta Center chanted hymns and sang bhajans on Lord Shiva while the pooja was performed. Eighty people attended the special pooja celebration. Rudra Prasna, Shiva Mahimna Stotram, Chandrasekharashtam, and beautiful compositions by Swami Vivekananda on Lord Shiva were some of the hymns and bhajans that were sung. Pooja ceremony ended with arati as singers, chorus groups, and devotees sang Ramakrishna Sharanam. The highlight of the pooja was devotees performing milk abhishekam and offered flowers to Shiva Lingam. After the worship, all devotees relished delicious prasad. The celebration is available on YouTube.
Swami Vivekananda:
Always Alive
To him (Swami Vivekananda), the heavens had opened. He had touched the feet of Shiva. He had to hold himself tight, he said afterward, lest he "should swoon away". .. How strangely near fulfillment had been those words of his Master, "When he realizes who and what he is, he will give up this body!" "I (Swami Vivekananda) have enjoyed it so much!" he said half an hour afterward, as he sat on a rock above the stream-side, eating lunch with me. "I thought the ice Linga was Shiva Himself. And there were no thievish Brahmins, no trade, nothing wrong. It was all worship. I never enjoyed any religious place so much!"...And to me he said, "You do not now understand. But you have made the pilgrimage, and it will go on working. Causes must bring their effects. You will understand better afterward. The effects will come." [Excerpt from ‘Notes of Some Wanderings’ taken from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Jan. 1997, Vol. IX pg.388]
Vedanta Society Berkeley
2455 Bowditch Street, Berkeley, CA 94704; 510-848-8862 society@berkeleyvedanta.org
San Jose House, 1376 Mariposa Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126; 408-493-0665; society@vedantaberkeley.org
