Home
The Ramakrishnananda Institute for Hinduism is a place dedicated to learning and exploring the timeless wisdom of the Hindu tradition, according to the vision of Avadhuta Sri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja or "Prabhuji" . The institute offers courses, lectures and seminars both online and at the Vishwa Dharma Mandalam centers.
Lecture: Preface of Yoga - Union with Reality
Posted: March 29, 2012  Lecture, given by Mukunda Das, on the Preface of the book "Yoga - Union with Reality" by Prabhuji. Lecture: Life of Sri Ramakrishna - Part 1 Posted: March 27, 2012  The Life of Sri Ramakrishna - Part 1. Bhagavad-Gita Lecture: Verses 28-35 Chapter 1 Posted: January 27, 2012  After Arjuna is overcome by pity from seeing all his relatives and friends ready to fight, we can closely watch his intense emotional reaction. He shares with his dear friend, Krishna, everything he is going through, starting by describing his bodily reaction and continuing by telling of his affected mind. We see Arjuna in a very high level of observation, which is not typical to a person in such an emotional state, thus expressing his qualities of an elevated being. Still immersed in deep illusion, Arjuna tries to express to Krishna how difficult, in fact impossible, this battle is for him. We know that Arjuna was a great man of Dharma and compassion, but facing these two powers within him, for the first time contradicting each other, left him no choice but to reach this terrible state of resisting his Dharma as a Ksatriya. At the same time, however, this situation fortunately enabled all of us to hear Sri Krishna’s divine instructions to any person in illusion. New Course: Hindu Deities and Their Worship Posted: December 29, 2011  This course will explore the main Hindu deities, their origins, symbolism as well as their worship. On the basis of Swami Ramakrishnananda’s writings and Holy scriptures of Sanatana Dharma religion, we will examine different paths, such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism, their principles, philosophy, practices and ways of worship of their primeval deity. As a part of this course we will learn how to perform Vedic puja, worshiping each one of these aspects of Divinity.Bhagavad-Gita Lecture: Verses 24-27 Chapter 1 Posted: December 27, 2011  In verses 1.24 to 1.27, we see how Krishna draws the chariot to that place between the two armies, at his beloved devotee’s request. This no man's land enables the best view-point for Arjuna to closely observe both armies. Krishna is not worried about arousing Arjuna's family affection. Not only does he place him right in front of Bhishma and Drona, to whom Arjuna had much affection, and with whom it would be most difficult for him to fight, but by naming him "the son of Pritha" and mentioning "all the Kurus are assembled here," Krishna actually intensifies Arjuna's difficulty. The spiritual master knows that only by facing our obstacles and limitations, we may transcend them and be free. Arjuna, looking with the eyes of the son of Pritha, no longer sees supporters of the evil-minded son of Dhritarastra, rather only relatives, friends, and teachers. Standing armed to his teeth, his hair curled up in small balls as the warriors’ custom… his Conch, Devadata, already blown, his Gandiva bow already lifted… driven in a divine chariot from Lord Agni, Hanuman on his flag, and even Krishna’s support in his presence …. he is exactly now… overpowered by pity and compassion! Like every ego when immersed in deep illusion, Arjuna's duties and commitment are forgotten, and he is totally absorbed in his personal, emotional reaction. Bhagavad Gita Lecture: Verses 20-23 - Chapter 1 Posted: December 25, 2011 
In verse 20, we witness Arjuna getting ready to actually fight by lifting his bow. Arjuna receives the name Kapi Dhvajah from Sanjaya, which indicates that he is the one who has Hanuman marked on his flag. The mark of Hanuman, the great devotee of lord Rama, implies the real relationship of Arjuna and Krishna which is of the lord and his devotee.
It also implies that as Hanuman was victorious in his battles for his beloved lord, so Arjuna will be victorious in the battle of the Kurukshetra. We learn that Hanuman did not merely appear as a symbol on the chariot’s flag, but he actually supported Arjuna in his battle. We then see how Arjuna asks Krishna to draw his chariot between the two armies so he can observe them. Since Krishna was Arjuna’s lord, we would not expect him to serve his devotee, but looking deep into the beauty of the intimate, loving relationship of the lord and his devotees, we discover that the lord actually takes pleasure in serving his devotees. As Swami Ramakrishnanada says: “Pure love is such a powerful force that it can conquer the impossible, even… captivate God”. The fact that Arjuna is interested in seeing -rather than blindly following the mass- and that he desires to be in a neutral place -between the two armies, where he is in nobody's side and hence has no identification- reveals to us that he is a true spiritual seeker. Bhagavad-gita Lecture: Verses 15 to 19 - Chapter 1 Posted: December 5, 2011  Going through verses 15 to 19 of the first chapter, we see how Sanjaya lists all the great warriors on the Pandavas’ side who blow their special conch shells. This is contrary to the description of the army of the Kurus, when the individuals who blew their conch shells were not described, with the exception of Bhishma, and rather, there was a massive description of the entire army. Now, however many warriors receive special attention from Sanjaya. One by one, he names eighteen heroic warriors, including the auspicious conch shells of some of them, projecting to Dhrtarastra that although the Kauravas may have had a greater army in number, there is no comparison to the quality of the Pandavas’ army. With this, he implies that the victory of the Pandavas, is promised.Bhagavad Gita Lecture: Verses 11 to 14 - Chapter 1 Posted: December 4, 2011  In the 11th verse of the first chapter in the Bhagavad Gita, we see how Duryodhana calls the entire Kaurava army to protect the grandsire Bhishma. In this discourse, we will examine the various motives that could have driven him to come up with such a statement. We will then witness the compassionate reaction of Grandfather Bhishma to Duryodhana’s fearful state, in an effort to please him by blowing his conch shell. Following Grandfather Bhishma, all the Kaurava warriors blow their conchs and so, although it was not his intention, the sounding of Bhishma ‘s conch marked the beginning of the war. After the terrible noise that is sounded from the Kaurava side, with various instruments such as drums, trumpets and horns, we see the appearance of Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandava’s side. In a celestial chariot led by white horses and enveloped in a divide mood, Krishna and Arjuna blow their conchs, as the most appropriate action. New Course: Bhagavad Gita Posted: November 25, 2011 This course is dedicated to reviewing this holy text verse by verse, examining the situation on the battlefield, and of each and every character involved. It will also go deep into the instructions that Sri Krishna gave to his distressed disciple Arjuna. These divine instructions are always relevant, to every human being, and in every situation. As Swami Ramakrishnanada says: “The Bhagavad-gita holds a new message with fresh meanings for each new generation, because Lord Krishna has not spoken his eternal message just to one particular man in a specific era, but to all of humanity in every epoch, country and generation.” We will try to look at the words through the various lenses of different schools of thought within Hinduism, and see that while all of them accept the Bhagavad Gita as authoritative, they have different angles from which they look at the same scripture, which express their particular view of Vedanta and reality. Through the verses, we will review and go deep into various fundamental topics of the Santana Dharma religion, and explore the four main paths of Yoga: Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and karma yoga, as well as reflect on Swami Ramakrishnananda’s teachings in the light of the Bhagavad Gita. New Lecture: Ramanuja - Vishishta-Advaita School Posted: November 10, 2011  This lecture focuses on the philosophical school vishishta-advaita founded by Ramanujacarya (1017-1137 A.C). His message is complete devotion to Vishnu. Ramanuja developed the concept of bhakti and combined the rich spiritual experiences of the Alvars with the practical methodology of the Pancharatras giving them a solid philosophical basis. His works expound upon the qualified monist accepting Brahman as the single reality with these three categories: Brahman or Īśvara, the soul or cit and matter or acit. Among these three categories, Brahman is the absolute and inductive reality, without which nothing could exist. Souls and matter or the world are the attributes of the Lord. In this lecture we will deepen in the way that Ramanuja explains the same absolute Truth and will understand the differences from the perspective of the Advaita school of Shankaracarya. |
