Author: thakur

New Schedule For the Retreat This Year

We have modified our weekly schedule for this year.

 Saturdays 9:30-1  VOLUNTEER MORNING

One of the reasons we are doing this is to try to encourage our friends who visit us to consider volunteering on Saturday morning here at the retreat. We will work as a team, usually on one of 2 never-ending projects: prepping and painting sections of the outside of our 3 houses, and working in the various gardens. These are actually simple jobs that anyone can do. Please consider joining us. We are giving so many tours that we are not always able to get to our work here. If you do intend to help, PLEASE come dressed appropriately. That means long pants socks and good shoes, not sandals.If you have helped us that morning then please join us for lunch!

2:30-3:30pm  SVETASHVATARA  UPANISHAD CLASS

This will be an intensive, verse by verse study of the Svetashvatara Upanishad with Gitaprana, including group discussion and other activities. We may be podcasting this class.

SUNDAYS 9:30-10:30am CHANTING-DEVI MAHATMYAM AKA CHANDI

We will resume our Sunday activity of chanting/reading the Devi Mahatmyam and commentary.

10:30-12  BHAGAVAD GITA CLASS

Our ongoing Bhagavad Gita class is led by Gitaprana. It is a group-oriented study rather than a lecture series that moves verse by verse in an in-depth manner, focusing on what each verse has to say for people living today.

Vivekananda Retreat Will Open Saturday March 11

Weather has kept us from opening the retreat. We hope to open on March 11. Please see our calendar section and blog for schedule information. Please remember: YOU MUST CALL US TO SCHEDULE A VISIT.  Ridgely is our residence as well as a retreat. It is not a museum where one can walk freely through the buildings. You need one of us to take you on a tour! We are more than happy to do that if tours are scheduled in advance.

Ridgely will be closed starting December 16

Dear Friends,

Every year the winter weather creates conditions that make it necessary for us to close the retreat to all visitors. Right now we already have snow and ice building up on our roads. Another snow followed by ice is expected this weekend. WE ARE CLOSED TO ALL VISITORS. Please do not try to come anyway. Right now I am not sure about our Christmas Eve celebration. We will post again if we are going to re-open.

Nov. 8-9 Retreat w/ Swami Sarvadevananda and Swami Atmajnanananda on Inner Peace

Join us for a 2-day retreat on finding inner peace, a topic we chose specifically because of election day! Here is the schedule:

Nov. 8 10:30 -4:00

10:30-12:30   Swami Sarvadevananda-talks on finding inner peace, session 1

12:30 Lunch

2-4  Session 2

Nov. 9 10:30-4:00

10:30 Swami Atmajnanananda-talks on finding inner peace

12 noon- mini puja in honor of the goddess Jagaddhatri

1pm  Lunch

2-4 final session w/ both swamis

As always, there is no fee for the retreat unless you wish to stay overnight. Please remember that we require several days notice for overnight stays and that we cannot accommodate children under the age of 17.

Kali Puja on Saturday, Oct. 29 10pm

This is our big, elaborate, all-night traditional worship of the Mother in Her form as Dakshina Kali. And the good news is, this time it’s on a Saturday night! So please come one and all! As always, we will provide places to rest after the puja, waiving the usual overnight fee. We hope to see you here!

The worship will begin at 10 when Gitaprana will explain a little about the process and the symbology of the puja. The worship itself usually requires 3-4 hours to complete. It will be followed by a homa fire and prasad. Again we invite all our singer/kirtan wallah friends to make offerings of music. And again, you may also bring other offerings-food (which you cooked at home or bought), flowers, perfume,make-up, jewelry. During this ceremony we offer these items to the Mother.

PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO USE OUR KITCHENS. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BRING FOOD, YOU MUST PREPARE IT AT HOME.

OUR FALL SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, OCT. 8 DURGA PUJA 11am -4pm

NOTE: We have changed the date from Oct. 9 to the 8th in case you noted it from our earlier emails.

We will worship the Divine Mother in Her form as Durga Devi with a simple puja/ritual worship, followed by a homa fire and then prasad. As always, music/bhajans/kirtan is provided by you, the attendees! Inviting all singers to make music offerings. You can also bring offerings of food or flowers provided that they are new. The idea here is that the goddess should be the first enjoyer of the taste, fragrance, form etc. If you are going to bring offerings please bring them at the beginning of the puja. All are welcome.

Retreat With Swami Atmavidyananda Oct. 15-16 on Creation

Swami Atmavidyananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order who lives, works and teaches at the Vedanta Society of So. Calif. and in the Los Angeles area. He is a multi-talented individual who combines Vedanta, science and music into his spiritual path. The retreats and talks that he gives incorporate this lifetime of study in wonderfully unique and interesting ways. We hope you will be able to attend all or part of this retreat and hear for yourself!

Please note: to accommodate Swami Atmavidyananda’s schedule the retreat will start Saturday afternoon instead of our usual morning start time.
Saturday, Oct. 15 3-5pm
Session one. Mythological models and Vibrational models
Part 1 Comparing world mythologies on creation.
Part 2 Seeing how sound, music, and vibration in general can be useful as a model of the universe and how this model influences spiritual practice.

Session 2.  7:30-9pm  – The Apparitional Universe – the Dobsonian Model
Part 1 Starting with the idea that we have mistaken the infinite, undivided unchanging Brahman for something else, what kind of a universe would we expect?
Part 2  What kind of spiritual practices fit with an apparitional universe model?
Sunday, Oct. 16 10am -noon

Session 3.  The Consciousness Model of the universe
“sarvam khalvidam brahma” All this is Brahman and
” prajñānam brahma”  Consciousness is Brahman.

Part 1  Problems with the materialist view of consciousness
Part 2   The Hindu view of consciousness and seeing consciousness everywhere.

12:30 Lunch

SATURDAY, OCT. 29 KALI PUJA 10pm-4am

This is our big, elaborate, all-night traditional worship of the Mother in Her form as Dakshina Kali. And the good news is, this time it’s on a Saturday night! So please come one and all! As always, we will provide places to rest after the puja, waiving the usual overnight fee. We hope to see you here!

The worship will begin at 10 when Gitaprana will explain a little about the process and the symbology of the puja. The worship itself usually requires 3-4 hours to complete. It will be followed by a homa fire and prasad. Again we invite all our singer/kirtan wallah friends to make offerings of music. And again, you may also bring other offerings-food (which you cooked at home or bought), flowers, perfume,make-up, jewelry. During this ceremony we offer these items to the Mother.

PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO USE OUR KITCHENS. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BRING FOOD, YOU MUST PREPARE IT AT HOME.

NOVEMBER 8-9

SWAMI SARVADEVANANDA and SWAMI ATMAJNANANANDA RETREAT
topic to be announced

Schedule For Pravrajika Vivekaprana and Swami Yogatmananda

Aug. 30th – Sept 2nd: RETREAT 1: “The Relationship Between Sri Ramakrishna and Narendranath”. Text for study The Great Master, Part V: Chapters 6 -7 by Swami Saradananda.
Sept. 4th – 5th: SYMPOSIUM: “Inspired to Action: Western Women and Swami Vivekananda”. Guest speakers are Pravrajika Vivekaprana who will speak Sunday morning on “How Sister Nivedita Presented the Message of Swami Vivekananda in The Master as I Saw Him” and Swami Yogatmananda who will speak Monday morning on “Swami Vivekananda and Western Women Disciples”. The Symposium ends after lunch on Monday.
Sept. 8th – 11th: RETREAT 2: “Action or Karma as a Path to Freedom”. Text for study Action or Karma as a Path to Freedom by Pravrajika Vivekaprana.
Sept. 12th: Open Forum: “Conversation with Pravrajika Vivekaprana” All are welcome.

Sept 12: Open Forum “Conversation w/Pravrajika Vivekaprana”
Sept. 14th – 17th: RETREAT 3: “Vishwarupa – The Universal Form And The Path Of Devotion”. Text for study by the same name, by Pravrajika Vivekaprana.
Sept. 18th: Open Forum: “Conversation with Pravrajika Vivekaprana” All are welcome.

Sept. 18 Open Forum “Conversation w/Pravrajika Vivekaprana”

There are no overnight spaces here or anywhere in the area for the Labor Day program. You may attend as a day visitor. There are a few spaces left during the retreats being held 9/8 through 9/17. All programs begin at 10am.

Retreat w/Swami Sarvadevananda Sunday, Aug. 21 10am-4pm

Swami Sarvadevananda, the Minister-in-Charge of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, will be giving a one-day intensive on meditation and other spiritual practices. There will be talks alternating with different types of meditation . PLEASE NOTE: The time has been changed from 9am to 10am. There will be tea and snacks but no lunch will be served. You must bring your own lunch. This is an intensive retreat. That means we are trying to really spend time in practice and study. We find that food and its preparation is a huge distraction, so we are requesting that you bring all your food with you, fully prepared.  If you wish to stay overnight for this retreat you must remember to give us at least 5 days advance notice. All are welcome. You don’t need to be familiar with meditation to join us.