December 2000 Program

December 2000
Vedanta Society of Portland
The following are the Society's services and special events for this month.
Except where noted, all lectures are given by Swami Shantarupananda.
All are welcome.

Sunday	Mon.	Tuesday	Wed.	Thursday	Fri.	Sat.
			1	2	1	2
3 11:00 AM Service Spiritual Talk Swami Aseshananda (video)	4	5 12 Noon Special Celebration Swami Premananda 7:30 PM Scripture Class *The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna* *and "The Mahabharata" (DVD show)*	6	7 7:30 PM Scripture Class Viveka Chudamani	8	9
10 11:00 AM Service Holy Mother	11	12 7:30 PM Scripture Class *The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna* *and "The Mahabharata" (DVD show)*	13	14 7:30 PM Scripture Class Viveka Chudamani	15	16
17 11:00 AM Service Christ We Adore 6 PM Special Celebration Sri Sarada Devi	18	19	20	21 12 Noon Special Celebration Swami Shivananda 7:30 PM Scripture Class Viveka Chudamani	22	23
24 11:00 AM Service Shivananda-A Knower of Brahman 6 PM Special Celebration Christmas Eve	25	26 7:30 PM Scripture Class *The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna* *and "The Mahabharata" (DVD show)*	27	28 7:30 PM Scripture Class Viveka Chudamani	29	30
31 11:00 AM Service God As Kalpaturu-A Wish-Fulfilling Tree 7:30 PM Special Celebration New Years Eve

Personal

Swami Shantarupananda gave a talk on "Hinduism" at the PacificUniversity on Thursday, November 2.

Swami Shantarupananda will give a lecture on "Hinduism —It's Theories and Practices" at the Evergreen High School, Vancouver, Western Washington, on Friday. December 1.

Swami Shantarupananda will visit Houston, Texas from Saturday, December 2 to Monday December 4.

Special Celebrations

Swami Premananda

An energetic devotee has placed many pages on Vedanta and the Ramakrishna Mission on his web pages on GeoCities. Visit here for his page about Swami Premananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

Sri Sarada Devi

On December 17, at 6 pm, we will celebrate the birthday anniversary of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother. Visit
here for a description of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, on the website of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, from Swami Nikhilananda's book "Holy Mother and the Ideal of Indian Womanhood."

Swami Shivananda

Visit here to learn about Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and second president of the Ramakrishna Order.

New Booklet

The Last Disciple of Holy Mother: Reminiscences of Swami Aseshananda,
by Swami Shantarupananda.

It is a short booklet on the life of Swami Aseshananda written with depth of feeling and insight. Those who knew Swami Aseshananda will be reminded of his dedicated life, and those who never met him will be charmed by reading about his simple life permeated with depth of spirituality.

Price $2.95. Postage extra.

New Publication

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Vedanta Society of Portland.

Chronology of Swami Vivekananda in The West

A graphic presentation of the history of Swami Vivekananda's visits to the West,
Based on: Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries, by Marie Louise Burke,
complied by Terrance D. Hohner and Carolyn B. Kenny (Amala)

Price $19.95, plus postage and handling of $4.00.

What is Vedanta?

Vedanta is a sanskrit word which literally means 'the end of the Vedas' - the Vedas being the scriptures of the Hindus. The Vedas are divided into two main portions: the work-portion, which describes how one should work and do worship, and the knowledge-portion. Included in the knowledge-portion are those books which deal with spirituality and philosophy. These books are called the Upanishads, or the Vedanta. Veda means 'knowledge'; therefore, Vedanta also means 'the end of knowledge,' or 'the highest knowledge.' It is claimed that at least six thousand years ago this body of spiritual knowledge was experienced and discovered in India by its sages and seers.

The principles of Vedanta are impersonal, universal and eternal. They are about God, soul, and the world. Vedanta teaches that each soul is potentially divine - the infinite ocean of Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. The goal of human life is to manifest this innate divinity through meditation (Raja yoga), devotion (Bhakti yoga), selfless action (Karma yoga), and discrimination (Jnana yoga). Vedanta preaches the unity of the Godhead and accepts every faith as a valid means to realize God. As the Rig Veda, the oldest scripture of the Hindus, declares, "Truth is One; sages call it by various names." Vedanta is a religion, a philosophy, and a way of life.

In modern times the eternal vedic truths were re-experienced and re-discovered by Sri Ramakrishna (1836 - 1886). He also practiced other religions and came to the same conclusion as is mentioned in the Rig Veda, that "As many faiths, so many paths."