Category: Announcements

Upcoming Pujas-The Mother Season

Durga Puja Sunday, Sept. 28 11am-4pm

Here at Ridgely we celebrate Navaratri-the Nine Nights of the Goddess- With a puja/ritual worship  to the Devi in Her form as Durga. It is a very abbreviated version of the traditional multi-day worship performed in various places in India. Since it is a ‘short-form puja’ we often try to find ways for everyone to join in on some top the meditations and visualizations within the ritual. The format is first, the worship itself, followed by a flower offering, homa fire and prasad lunch.( Prasad means the food that is first offered to the Devi and then shared as a special blessing when the ceremony is complete.) As part of the  ritual there is often a recitation of the Devi Mahatmyam aka the Chandi which is the main text in which the stories of the Devi Durga appear.

All are welcome to attend all or part of the puja. If you wish to bring offerings please remember that the Devi should be the first receiver of anything you offer. Food must not be tasted, flowers remain unsniffed etc. If you would like to offer a song/bhajan, we welcome that too.

Kali Puja  Monday, Oct. 20 6pm-1am

Kali Puja is our complete, ‘long-form’ ritual worship of the Devi in Her form as Dakshina Kali. During this ritual the Devi DakshinaKali is invoked/invited to be present in a special way that cannot be explained in ordinary language.  We invoke Her presence in a particular way in the physical image/murti in a part of the ceremony called prana pratishtha You could think of it as bringing life to the image. We ritually open the eyes and infuse the limbs with the presence of both Kali and Shiva. Our image here is small but powerful! At the end of the ceremony the Mother is invited to return to the ocean of the Formless, Her true abode. As we do in all our pujas, there is first the ritual, followed by a flower offering, homa fire and prasad.

You are welcome to bring offerings-flowers, food, or anything else one would offer to a female deity-clothing, jewelry, make up, perfume, song. We have offered many different kinds of items in the past, the special offerings that people wish to give the Devi. If you are offering food, please be aware that we won’t allow you to prepare it here.

If you wish to spend the night here, you must register at least 5 days in advance. We do not ask for a donation for overnight stays on Kali Puja night.

All are welcome to attend all or part of this ceremony.

We are happy announce that Swami Yogatmananda, the Head Minister of the Vedanta Society of Providence, will be giving a retreat on the weekend of Labor Day on The Yoga of the Katha Upanishad. If you are a friend of Ridgely you know that we always reserve this time for him. He has been coming for many years . Our friends always look forward to his retreats.

Here is the schedule for the retreat:

Saturday, August 30: 10:30-5 (2 sessions and lunch)

Sunday August 31: 10:30-2  (one session and lunch)

You are welcome to join us for all or part of this retreat.

If you wish to stay overnight, please contact us soon. The overnight spaces will fill up quickly.

If you will be coming as a day visitor please RSVP as well. This is so we can get an accurate account of how many people will be joining us for the lunches.

Hope to see you then!

We are finally able to announce an upcoming retreat with Swami Sarvadevananda and Swami Atmajnanananda after a potential scheduling conflict disappeared. That is why we have not been able to give a lot of advance notice.

Swami Sarvadevananda is the Head Minister of the Vedanta Society of So. California as well as Vivekananda Retreat. Swami Atmajnanananda is the Head Minister of the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington DC. Both have been associated with the Ridgely for a very long time so you probably have already met them during the many retreats they have given here.

The text we will be exploring is the Ashtavakra Samhita-a small but dense text that is based upon pure non-dual Vedanta/ Advaita Vedanta.

Here is the schedule:

June 10 7:30pm. Session 1

June 11 10:30am Session 2

              12:30pm Lunch for all

               2pm Session 3 

               7:30pm satsang 

June 12  10:30am  Session 4

If you wish to stay overnight at the retreat please register asap. Day visitors need not register. There is no charge for this program other than the usual overnight suggested donations. We look forward to seeing you after a long winter.

Visiting Ridgel

Ridgely is no longer restricting tours to Saturday afternoons BUT you must call us at least 2 days in advance to schedule a tour. We live in the spaces you will tour so it is not possible to see the place on your own. We don’t have a person whose full time job is to give tours. Our staff members juggle many responsibilities. We will confer with you to find a convenient time for a tour.

As always, our shrine room is open every day from 6am to 7pm. Group meditation/prayers are held at 7am and 6pm. If you have never visited Ridgely before and only wish to meditate in our shrine please call us to schedule a short orientation. After that you Arte welcome to come and go any time during open hours. Our roads and shrine trial are open for walking during daylight hours.

Visitor Information

During April and May we will only be giving tours on Saturdays at 2pm. During this time we won’t have the staff to arrange tours on other days. You must call us at least 3 days in advance to register for a Saturday tour.

Our staff members have many responsibilities here at the retreat. We don’t have someone whose only job is to give tours. Staff members have to rearrange their busy schedules in order to give tours. We do not give impromptu tours to visitors w/o prior notice.

THE RETREAT WILL BE CLOSED TO ALL VISITORS APRIL 16-19. That includes people who just wish to visit the shrine. The Vedanta Society of New York is holding an intensive retreat here during this time.  This retreat is full and closed to all  people except those who have already registered.

OVERNIGHT STAYS: We are taking reservations for overnight stays. You must book a retreat at least 5 days in advance. Please note that we do not allow children under the age of 17 to stay overnight here.

You are welcome to use the shrine and walk on the grounds w/o making a reservation. The shrine is open from 6am to 7pm daily. The grounds are open for walking during daylight hours only. If it will be your first time using the shrine room, please call us in advance so we can give you a very short orientation. After that you are free to use the shrine during open hours.

ORGANIZED PROGRAMS/RETREATS

We are working on finalizing the 2025 schedule. We will announce those programs as soon as the schedule is finished

Ridgely News

This winter has been a challenge for us here at the retreat. As usual, the weather has been the main problem. It turned very cold earlier than usual, forcing us to close the retreat early. The weather has remained cold, which means we have spent more of our budget keeping the houses heated. In February our area experienced an ice storm that covered everything w/ a very slick sheet of ice for more than a week until it finally melted. Walking outside was downright dangerous. Even being extraordinarily careful, we slipped and slid but, fortunately, no-one was hurt.

 We also had 3 incidents where large trees/tree limbs crashed down on our power lines. In two of the incidents, the huge crashes also broke our power poles. In our area the utility company does not deal with ‘customer-owned power poles’. We had to have a company replace the poles and hang the lines back up. Fortunately for us, the company we use is very quick to come and finish the work so we did not have to go for days w/o power in the middle of the winter.  Unfortunately for us, replacing the poles etc. was expensive. Replacing all the other lines-internet etc., took many days.

We have been short-staffed most of the winter due to vacations and the flu that caught all 3 of our caretakers. We will continue to be short-staffed until the middle of May.

The good news is that it is now spring here. Hallelujah! The leaves are just beginning to appear, the daffodils are starting their bloom and the grass is turning green. Spring is gorgeous here. It also is our most labor intensive time as we clean up the property, take down the deer fences and all the other jobs that we must do to get ready for our ‘on’ season. We have a work/ seva crew that meets every Saturday morning. The crew usually works outside, weather permitting, focusing on the shrine trail maintenance and our vegetable garden. If you would like to join us, we will welcome you! As you know, the maintenance here at the retreat is huge and we frankly need all the help we can get!

We are not open right now due to snow and ice on our internal roads, making walking and driving dangerous. If conditions improve in January we may re-open. We will post here when we re-open.

Saturday, October 5: 11am-4pm Durga Puja

We will be celebrating Navaratri on this day with a puja, homa fire and prasad meal in honor of the Goddess Durga. All are welcome to attend all or part of the celebration. If you wish to bring an offering, we would suggest that you bring flowers or desserts.

Thursday, October 31: 6pm-11pm Kali Puja

This is our elaborate annual celebration in honor of the Goddess Dakshina Kali. As always, it includes a full, many part worship, homa fire and prasad meal. All are welcome to attend all or part of this celebration. Suggested offerings: flowers, perfume,incense,jewelry, bath oil, desserts.

Note: We will not be giving tours Oct. 4-6 or Oct.30-Nov.2

This summer of 2024 we have had many more visitors than ever before. While we enjoy having visitors,  trying to accommodate all the requests has sometimes stretched our small staff to the limit. I am taking the opportunity to re-state the procedure for visiting Ridgely. Please read and follow:

Please plan your visit in advance. You need to schedule a visit with us either by phone or by email. Phone is better. (845) 687-4574 . Read on for instructions:

Overnight Vistors: All overnight visitors need to schedule at least 5 days in advance. We do not allow children under the age of 17 to stay overnight at the retreat. This is for insurance reasons and also because of our local health dept. classification. If you have children you can book a local hotel room and visit us as a day visitor.

Day Visitors: You need to schedule a visit at least 1 day in advance if you want a tour. We do not allow people to wander around our houses unguided as we also live in these houses. Ridgely is not like a museum where self-guided tours are possible. Our tour guides also have many other responsibilities here. If we tell you that a certain day or a certain time is not possible, instead of pleading or arguing, please try to find a mutually convenient time. Please do not get into your car and then call us, saying “We are coming”. WE WILL NOT GIVE TOURS TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT MADE A RESERVATION  ONE DAY OR MORE IN ADVANCE. WE WILL NOT GIVE TOURS TO PEOPLE WHO JUST SHOW UP W/O NOTICE.

Meditators and Walkers: If you are coming only to sit in our shrine room or to walk on our property, you do not need to let us know. The shrine is open from 6am to 7pm except Sunday, when it closes at 4pm. If you have not come to sit in our shrine before, please give us a call so we can give you a very brief orientation when you arrive. After that you don’t need to tell us when you come and go, If you are walking on our property, please do so only during daylight hours. Please observe the Private signs that mark our neighbor’s property. Be aware that we are located in an area where ticks are known to carry Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and dress appropriately.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Pravrajika Gitaprana

We are happy to have these three swamis for another retreat here at Ridgely. Swami Sarvadevananda is the Head Minister of the Vedanta Society of So. Calif. Swami Tyagananda is the Head Minister of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Boston. Swami Atmajnanananda is the Resident Minister of the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington DC.

The topic for this retreat is not finalized yet. Here is the schedule:

June 11 7:30-8:30pm. Session 1

June 12 10:30-5pm. Sessions 2 and 3 (lunch included)

June 13 10-11am Session 4

All are welcome to attend all or part of this retreat. There are limited spaces available for overnight guests. If you wish to reserve an overnight stay please do so ASAP. These spaces will fill quickly.

Day attendees need to register as well. For the purpose of providing lunch, we need to know how many people will be present.

Swami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order currently posted at The Vedanta Society of Southern California. Many of you may know him through his books, INFINITE PATHS TO INFINITE REALITY and SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’S VEDANTIC COSMOPOLITANISM. You might also be acquainted with his talks and classes posted on YouTube. We are happy that he has made the time to stop by Ridgely to give an in-person retreat.

To accommodate his schedule the retreat hours will be different than our usual weekend programs. Here is the schedule:

        Thursday April 25

         1pm Lunch

         2:30-4:30 Session 1

2:30-3:30: Talk: “Sri Ramakrishna’s Philosophy of Vijnana Vedanta”

3:30-4:30: Gospel class (“Is the world unreal?”)

         Friday April 26

         10:30-12:30 Session 2

10:30-11:30 am: Talk: “Service as Worship”

11:30-12:30 pm: Gospel class (The Problem of Evil and Suffering)

           1pm Lunch

As of March 11 all the overnight spaces have been filled. You can find accommodation at a local hotel and attend as a day visitor.

If you wish to attend as a day visitor, you also need to register.

Register by calling us (845)687-4574 or emailing gitaprana@ridgely.org

As Shuddhatmaprana, our usual cook for the retreats, will not be here during this time, we are looking for volunteers to bring lunch for 1 day. We expect about 25 people. Please contact Gitaprana if you would like to be of service in this way.