Swami Sarvapriyananda Gives Enlightening Series of Lectures in Houston

Joy of the Vedanta Society of Greater Houston (VSGH) devotees knew no bounds when Swami Sarvapriyananda was in their midst from Jan. 17-19.

Published: January 28, 2015 10:53 PM IST

By Voice of Asia Online

Swami Sarvapriyananda

Swami Sarvapriyananda

voice of asia online

By Sanchali Basu

Joy of the Vedanta Society of Greater Houston (VSGH) devotees knew no bounds when Swami Sarvapriyananda was in their midst from Jan. 17-19. Swami Sarvapriyananda is a dynamic young monk of the Ramakrishna Math. At present he is an acharya at the monastic probationers training centre at Belur Math. His interests are in the fields of spirituality, philosophy, management science and education. His reputation as a speaker preceded him and some of the YouTube links to his lectures have drawn more than 350,000 hits.

His series of lectures began with, “Spiritualizing everyday life” on the evening of Jan. 17 where he emphasized that by knowing the infinite being, one can transcend death and suffering. If one deifies the world, one has an uninterrupted vision of God. Once work is spiritualized, one can concentrate and meditate, and it is important to remember that “Work is Worship.”

The morning of Jan. 18 was dedicated to the worship of Swami Vivekananda to commemorate his birthday. Sw. Sarvapriyananda performed the puja with extreme devotion and the devotees got to enjoy the melodious singing accompaniment by the VSGH choir. A delicious lunch followed and the perfect weather allowed the devotees to savor the food sitting outdoors on the veranda.

“Practical Vedanta” was the topic of the lecture the same afternoon, where he mentioned that the source of knowledge of the Upanishads is Vedanta. Vedanta has to enter every part of our lives, not just the spiritual, and one has to elevate one’s life to the ideal and not drag the ideal down.

He stressed that, “To labor is to pray, and having a goal in life is very important.”

Jan. 19, Monday morning, he conducted a class on “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,” where he discussed that one can purify the mind only through “Nishkama karma.” Then one can meditate on the eternal truth and bhakti – the love for God which overcomes worldly desires.

“Who am I,” concluded the first round of his series of  talks the same evening and drew a significant crowd considering it was a weekday evening. The central teaching of Advaita Vedanta that, “You are divine” was elaborated by quoting mahavakyas from the four Vedas and four Upanishads. Eight verses of the Panchadashi were used to explain Sat-chit-ananda, the definition of Brahman (God). If chit (existence) is sat (an intrinsic property), ananda (bliss), the atman, a continuous source of the greatest happiness, will last forever.

The next series of lectures restarted on Friday, Jan. 23 and included a four-session retreat on the text, “Drg, Drsya, Viveka,” and a lecture on “Managing stress”

The main attraction of his 2 week visit will be the Youth Convention held at the center on Jan. 24 from 1 -7:30 PM. A talk on “Education and Powers of Mind,” followed by an interactive group discussion session and a guided technique of concentration. A multimedia presentation contest by two youth groups was judged by a panel of three judges. Prizes were handed out at the end of the contest and dinner was served. All information is available at www.houstonvedanta.org.

This story originally appeared on Voice of Asia.

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