Kali Mandir Satsang

Amavasya Kali Puja (14 September 2023)

New moon worship of Ma Dakshineswari Kali performed by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

”Reminiscences of Swami Muktananda” with Swami Chetanananda

Discourse by Revered Swami Chetanananda Puri Maharaj, senior monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis, given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 26 August 2023.  
Swamiji reads from his new book "Stories of Vedanta Monks, Vol. 2" as he remembers the life and message Revered Swami Muktananda, a disciple and Mahapurush Maharaj. _____________________https://kalimandir.org/https://vedantastl.org/

Devi Gita (class 21) RELOADED: ”We bow the Goddess” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Reposted scripture class on Devi Gita, chapter 1, verse 44, given by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati to students of Ramakrishna Seminary via Zoom on 7 September 2022.
नमो देव्यै महादेव्यै शिवायै सत्तं नमः |नमः प्रकृत्यै भद्रायै नियताः प्रणताः स्म ताम् || ४४ ||
namo devyai mahā-devyai śivāyai sattaṃ namaḥ |namaḥ prakṛtyai bhadrāyai niyatāḥ praṇatāḥ sma tām || 44 ||
44. "Hail to the Goddess, to the Great Goddess; to the Auspicious One always hail! Hail to Nature, to the Propitious One; we humble ourselves attentively before Her."
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Devi Gita (class 13) RELOADED: ”Like Ten Million Suns” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Scripture class by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati on Devi Gita, chapter 1, verse 27 & 28 given to students of the Ramakrishna Seminary at Kali Mandir on 15 June 2022 on Zoom.
चतुर्दिक्षु चतुर्वेदैर्मूर्तिमद्भिरभिष्टुतम् |कोटिसूर्याप्रतीकाशं चन्द्रकोटिसुशीतलम् || २७ ||
catur-dikṣu catur-vedair-mūrtimadbhir-abhiṣṭutam |koṭi-sūryā-pratīkāśaṃ candra-koṭi-suśītalam || 27 ||
"Praised on all sides by the four Vedas incarnate, It blazed like ten million suns, yet soothed like ten million moons."
विद्युत्कोटिसमानाभमरुणं तत्परं महः |नैव चोर्ध्वं न तिर्यक्च न मध्ये परिजग्रभत् || २८ ||
vidyut-koṭi-samānā-bhamaruṇaṃ tat-paraṃ mahaḥ |naiva cordhvaṃ na tiryak-ca na madhye pari-jagrabhat || 28 ||
"Flashing like ten million streaks of lightning tinged with red, that supreme lustrous power, shone forth encompassed above, across, and in the middle."
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”Life of Swami Saradeshananda” (part 7) with Swami Chetanananda

Discourse by Revered Swami Chetanananda Puri Maharaj, senior monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis, given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 12 August 2023.  Swamiji reads from his new book "Stories of Vedanta Monks, Vol. 2" as he remembers the life and message of the great ascetic Most Revered Swami Saradeshananda, a disciple and attendant of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. _____________________https://kalimandir.org/
https://vedantastl.org/
 
 

Reminiscences of Swami Saradeshananda (part 6) by Swami Chetanananda

Discourse by Revered Swami Chetananandaji Maharaj, senior monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis, given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 27 August  2022.  Swamiji reads from his new book "Stories of Vedanta Monks" as he remembers the life and message of the great ascetic Most Revered Swami Saradeshananda, a disciple and attendant of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. 
_____________________https://kalimandir.org/https://vedantastl.org/
 

”Ramakrishna’s Name and Words” Satsang with Rev. Swami Chetanananda

Discourse by Rev. Swami Chetanananda Puri, senior monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, and Minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis, given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 29 July 2023.

Short Reading: ”Dance in Ecstasy” by Swami Vishnudevanand Saraswati

Two Poems by His Holiness Guruji Swami Vishnudevanand Saraswati of Prayagraj~Allahabad (1904-1997), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati. Guruji wrote these poems in 1978 sitting on a bench in Central Park in response to a devotee's question: "What is vairagya?"
 
ADMONITION I
Oh Son of Immortality!
You are the Divine Dweller
You have come here as a stranger and a traveler
 
It is a domain of diversity and endless dilemma
Life is perpetually puzzling in its phenomena and panorama
 
Here there is always attractive and repulsive illusion
You may play or struggle but be detached from delusion
 
The life of sensuality is confused, deviated, and fallacious slavery
The habit of mundane greediness is temptation and bad beggary
 
Be free from this changing farce and absurdity of duality
Don't be blindly absorbed in this transitory sensuality
 
This mysterious dramatic stage is not your final goal
Play dispassionately and finish your ordained role
 
Go to the background of plurality, quality, and quantity
Know that Unity, Self-identity, and Inconceivable Divinity
 
There is neither darkness or light or nothingness
But Plenum, Superconsciousness, and Full Awareness
 
It is not a mental conception, imagination or hallucination
But Supersensuous Perception and Self-Realization
 
It is the culmination of culture and the consummation of wisdom
It is the life of emancipation and the Divine Freedom
 
ADMONITION II
Oh Dearest Soul,
Rise from animality; cross the realm of humanity
Taste the Immortality and realize the Eternal Divinity
 
Refrain from ignorant sensuality; know your Self-Identity
Dance in ecstasy in the the innermost field of felicity
 
Go beyond the changing pleasure and pain, timidity, and knavery
Control the stubborn mind and be free from empirical slavery
 
Through the inner senses enjoy the innermost Light and Sound
Transcend this profane world; recognize the Provident Profound
 
Internal Existence is the embodiment of Peach, Bliss, and Wisdom
External perception is hallucination, delusion, and bad boredom
 
The external force is the field of mysterious phantasmagoria
It is a tantalizing puzzle spreading like infectious bacteria
 
How wonderful is the Perennial Peace of Celestial Scenery
Is the fruit of Yogic Meditation and Spiritual Discovery
 
Be heedful and free from the live of corruption and pollution
Realize the Self and attain Everlasting Joy of Blissful Liberation
 
Go beyond good and evil, mind and speech, and the sensual bound
Dive deep into the River of Rapture; reach the Divine Ground
 
If you be desireless, in the nothingness you may find
The Ubiquitous, All-knowing, the Superconscious mind
 
The Self knows no anger, hate, nor enmity
Self remains unchanged from infancy to maturity
 
He is beyond space and time; He has no form or hue
He is you whom you seek; He seeks all of you
 
He is the Creator, Destroyer, and Inner Ruler
He is the All-sustainer and Cosmic Controller
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

{{REPOST}} Devi Gita (Class 36):”Maya and Vimarśa in Kashmir Shaivism” with George Barselaar of the Lakshmanjoo Academy.

Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati is joined by special guest scholar George Barselaar, a disciple and attendant of the great master of Kashmiri Shaivism His Holiness Swami Lakshmanjoo, live from Swamiji's ashram in Srinagar, Kashmir. We are continuing the discussion we started last week on verse 2.10:
विमर्श इति तां प्राहुः शैवशास्त्रविशारदाः |
अविद्यामितरे प्राहुर्वेदतत्त्वार्थचिन्तकाः || १० ||
10. vimarśa iti tāṃ prāhuḥ śaiva-śāstra-viśāradāḥ |
avidyāmitare prāhur-veda-tattvārtha-cintakāḥ || 10 ||
"Those versed in Shaiva scriptures (Shaivites) declare Her to be vimarśa (reflective awareness), while those who contemplate the doctrines of the Vedas (Vedantins) declare Her to be powerful avidya (ignorance).”
 
 

Short reading: ”Our Thoughts are Filled With the Divine Mother” by Swami Chidananda Saraswati

A short exert from "Advice for Spiritual Living" by His Holiness Gurudev Swami Chidananda Saraswati (1916-2008), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati. 
"Blessed Immortal Atman!
"It is now the holy period of Navaratri as I write this. The atmosphere is surcharged with deep devotion to Maha-Devi and vibrant with the fervor of worshipfulness, adoration and prayer. Our thoughts are filled with the glorious Divine Mother, and Her Blessed and wondrous manifestation as Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswati. She is the great Mystery, the inscrutable Power of the Supreme Brahman, who holds in Her Hands both bondage and Liberation.
"The grace of the Divine Mother it is, that enables you to walk the path of Divine Life. Through Her benign blessings you are able to shine as a sincere spiritual seeker and a man of dharma. To worship the Mother with devotion is to be immediately uplifted by Her strength and power. She works within your inner being as the triple force of destruction, evolution and illumination. Destroying the impure and vicious aspects of one’s lower nature, the unworthy, base, and bestial in the individual personality, and helping evolve the human nature into sublime heights of goodness, nobility and the purity of beauteous virtue. She illumines the jiva with supreme divine wisdom. Thus the Divine Mother is the very life and support of the aspirant’s spiritual sadhana. She makes your quest fruitful with attainment. The Divine Mother grants kaivalya moksha or eternal release and immortality.
"To worship and to adore the Blessed Mother is to welcome Her divine help in working out your highest good and everlasting welfare. When you thus seek Her divine aid, Her compassionate response is immediate. She sets to redeem you in Her own way. She sends experiences both pleasant and painful, through trials and difficulties. She molds and strengthens you, through sorrow and suffering, She refines and purifies your nature. She enriches and blesses you with spiritual experience and raises you to exalted heights. She makes use of your very life and its experiences to make you perfect and bestow upon you divine peace and joy and the Illimitable splendor of Self-realization. Therefore, O beloved seeker! learn to accept the joys and sorrows, the temptations and the trials of your life with wisdom and understanding. Seek to recognize their hidden meaning and purpose for your own evolution and supreme good. Find Her divine hand behind all occurrences and see the Mother’s will working through them. Then will you behold your entire life as the expression of the Mother’s immeasurable love for you.
"Resolutely overcome all defects, faults and wrong tendencies in your nature and behavior. Develop noble character. Grow in virtue. Ever walk upon the path of perfect righteousness. Seek the immortal, Be thou an embodiment of Divine Life. Let the sacred name of Gurudev Sivananda be glorified by thy true discipleship into him. Personify his ethical and spiritual teachings. May the world find in you a source of inspiration. Let thy presence elevate all. May the Divine Mother shower Blessings upon you! Jai Sivananda!