MARCH 2002 SCHEDULE

Minister: Swami Swahananda

Resident Minister: Swami Atmajnanananda

Ramakrishna Order of India

Sunday Lecture 11:00 AM

3 Swami Brahmarupananda

Austerities III

10 Swami Brahmarupananda

Austerities IV

17 Lecture canceled

(Sri Ramakrishna Puja on 16^th)

24 Swami Atmajnanananda

Holy Pilgrimage

31 Swami Atmajnanananda

Spiritual Rebirth

Friday Class 8:00 PM

1 Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

8 Bhagavad Gita

15 Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

22 Swami Vivekananda Study Circle

29 Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Virginia Class: Sat 3-5 PM

9 Swami Brahmarupananda

Bhagavad Gita Chapter III

Location: To be announced

Special Programs

A short worship will be performed at the Vedanta Center at 7:30 PM, following evening arati. At the conclusion, offerings will be made and prasad served to all.

To get there from the Vedanta Center: Go east on Bel Pre Road. After crossing Layhill Rd, Bel Pre Rd turns into Bonifant Rd, and after crossing New Hampshire Ave, it turns into Good Hope Rd. Continue straight on Good Hope Rd, cross Briggs Chaney Rd. and make a right on Rainbow Drive until you reach the school.

To get there from the beltway: take the New Hampshire exit and go north to Good Hope Road. Make a right turn, cross Briggs Chaney Road and make a right on Rainbow Drive until you reach the school.

To get there from Baltimore: Take 29 South to Briggs Chaney Road. Make a right on Briggs Chaney Road, then a right on Good Hope Road and another right on Rainbow Drive until you reach the school.

Ram Nam

Ram Nam will be held at the Center on Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 PM, immediately after our evening worship service and meditation. All are invited to join in the singing and to stay for potluck dinner following the program.

Youth Group Meeting

Directions to the Center

From the Beltway (495), exit at Georgia Avenue North (Wheaton). Go north on Georgia for 5.5 miles, then make a right onto Connecticut Avenue. Make a right at the next light (Bel Pre Road). Go past one light (Homecrest) and make an immediate left into the driveway at 3001 Bel Pre Road.

Daily Schedule

The Vedanta Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 PM to 8 PM, and also from 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturday (see Karma Yoga). Evening worship (arati) is open to the public and begins at 6:30 PM, followed by meditation. The Center is closed on Monday.

Web Site

Please visit our Vedanta Center website at https://vedanta-dc.org, and also let us know if you would like to start receiving your monthly bulletins by e-mail.

Karma Yoga

We invite all of you to join us Saturday mornings from 9 AM to 1 PM in performing the various weekly chores of the center: maintenance, gardening and landscaping, cleaning, office work etc.

Social Service

SOME: There will be no program at SOME this month. We will resume our regular volunteer service in April.

ASSISST: Those who would like to help serve the elderly through visitations, transportation to doctor’s offices, grocery shopping, etc. should please contact the Center or call the ASSISST office at (301) 687-1441 for more information.

Food Coupons

We urge all of you to take part in our food coupon program. Food coupons for Giant, Shopper’s and Magruder’s may be purchased at the Center following the Sunday lecture or during visiting hours. This is an important part of our monthly income and a way to support the Center at no cost to you. Those who would like help in the sales of coupons should contact Ranajit Pal at (301) 330-1634.

Interviews

Those who would like to come to the Center for a private meeting with one of the resident swamis or a visiting swami may schedule an appointment either by phone or in person.

M. (humbly): “How, sir, may we fix our minds on God?”

Sri Ramakrishna: “Repeat God’s name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God’s devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practices meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle.

“To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest. And you should always discriminate between the Real and the unreal. God alone is real, the Eternal Substance; all else is unreal, that is, impermanent. By discriminating thus, one should shake off impermanent objects from the mind.”

M. (humbly): “How ought we to live in the world?”

Sri Ramakrishna: “Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God. Live with all—with wife and children, father and mother—and serve them. Treat them as if they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not belong to you.

“A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her master’s children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as ‘my Rama’ or ‘my Hari’. But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all.

“The tortoise moves about in the water. But can you guess where her thoughts are? There on the bank, where her eggs are lying. Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God.”

**Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna**