Vedanta Society of Portland

Minister: Swami Shantarupananda
Ramakrishna Order of India

Weekly Services, Activities

Swami Shantarupananda gives Sunday morning lectures and conducts Tuesday and Thursday evening classes in Vedanta scriptures, in addition to leading special worships and other activities. The following calendars show current schedules:

May Program

Past programs are also available:
• 2002: January, February, March, April
• 2001: January, February, March, April, May, June, July-August, September, October, November, December
• 2000: January, February, March, April, May, June, July-August, September, October, November, December
• 1999: January, February, March, April, May, June, July-August, September, October, November, December
• 1998: January, February, March, April, May, June, July-August, September, October, November, December
• 1997: April, May, June, July, October, November, December

Interviews

(Interviews are by appointment only)
Swami Shantarupananda will be glad to grant interviews to those who wish to know more about Vedanta. Individual instruction and guidance are given by the Swami to those who wish to practice prayer and meditation.

Membership

Membership to the Society is open to all who are in sympathy with the universal teachings of Vedanta as demonstrated in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Email List We would like to create an email list as a way to send notification of updates to the website as well as an additional method of letting our members know about special events. If you would like to be included on this email list to be used by Swami Shantarupananda or at his request only, please send an email to Swami Shantarupananda at: swami@vedantasociety.org

Library

The Society's library contains a collection of books on Vedanta and other philosophical and religious systems of the world. The library remains open before Sunday Services. Only members can borrow books from the library.

Bookstore

The Bookstore remains open before and after Sunday Services. Books, incense, holy pictures, images and other articles of the Shrine are available.

The Way of a Holy Man, Videotape of Swami Aseshananda's Memorial Service.
On November 24, 1996, a unique event in the spiritual history of the Pacific Northwest took place in Portland, OR. Ten swamis of the Vedanta Societies of USA and Canada along with over 300 friends and students of the Vedanta philosophy assembled to pay their homage and tribute to Swami Aseshananda, the former Head of the Vedanta Society of Portland for 41 years. Intimate glimpses of a holy man were shared in an atmosphere charged with loving and personal memories. This 3-hr videotape captures the proceedings of this rare event and includes candid photos of Swami Aseshananda through 45 years of his life in America. The videotapes are $25 each, plus $4 for postage and handling.

Glimpses of a Great Soul, a Portrait of Swami Saradananda, a biography and reminiscences about one of Sri Ramakrishna's direct disciples and the first General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Order by Swami Aseshananda, who served as his personal secretary and attendant for many years. Price $6.45. Postage extra.

What Swami Vivekananda Means to Me, a collection of essays commemorating the Centenary of Swamiji's coming to America. By devotees associated with the Vedanta Society of Portland. Price $5.00.

Audio Cassette Tapes of Swami Aseshananda Tapes of the Swami's lectures are $5.99 each or $60 for the entire set of eleven titles. Titles available are:  

Holy Mother

Steps to Illumination

Three Great Blessings

Katha Upanishad

Raja Yoga

Holy Company (evening readings)

Companion of Sri Krishna (Reminiscences of Swami Brahmananda)

Divine Life (Reminiscences of Swami Shivananda)

The Message of Swami Yogananda

Divine Love (Reminiscences of Swami Premananda)

A Knower of God (Reminiscences of Swami Vijnanananda)

New Audio Cassette Tapes of Swami Aseshananda Tapes of the Swami's lectures are $6 each or $60 for the entire set of eleven titles. Titles available are: Conquest of Fear Sadhana for Enlightenment Evolution and Perfection Don't Seek Him, See Him Power of Purity Divine Incarnation Calmness of Mind Swami Saradananda- Birthday Function Swami Akhandananda Samsara and Nirvana Message of Wisdom

World Thinkers on Vedanta

"What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through a purer stratum free from particulars, simple, universal. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far summer stratum of the sky." - Henry David Thoreau "Philosophy in India is what it ought to be, not the denial, but the fulfillment of religion; it is the highest religion; and the oldest name of the oldest system of philosophy in India is Vedanta, that is, the end, the goal, the highest object of the Vedas." - Prof. Max Mueller "In all nations there are minds which incline to dwell in the conception of the fundamental Unity. The raptures of prayer and ecstasy of devotion lose all being in one Being. This tendency finds its highest expression in the religious writings of the East and chiefly in the Indian Scriptures, in the Vedas, the Bhagavat Geeta, and the Vishnu Purana." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation for mankind is an Indian way. The Emperor Ashoka's and the Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence and Sri Ramakrishna's testimony to the harmony of religions; here we have the attitude and the spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family..." - Arnold J. Toynbee "In the whole world there is no study, except that of the originals, so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Oupnekhat (Upanishad). It has been the solace of my life; it will be the solace of my death." - Arthur Schopenhauer