Swamini Svatmavidyananda, teacher at Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam in Atlanta and an internationally known lecturer on Vedanta and interfaith understanding, will be speaking at the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama near Huntsville, Ala., on Saturday and Sunday, April 11 and 12, 2015. (Courtesy/Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam) Internationally respected religious teachers will present back-to-back religious retreats in English at the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama on April 11 and 12 and April 18, 2015. Both retreats are free and open to all.
Speaking April 11 and 12 will be Swamini Svatmavidyananda, a disciple of Pujya Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Swaminiji is a teacher of Vedanta and the archarya, teacher, at Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam in Atlanta. Swaminiji is invited regularly to teach both nationally and around the world on Vedanta, a Hindu philosophy based on the Upanishads. She is also a regular speaker on interfaith activities.
Swaminiji will be speaking Saturday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m., on “Inner Growth.” The lecture will include time for questions and will be followed by a vegetarian potluck dinner. On Sunday, April 12, at 10:30 a.m., she will lecture on “Grace and Prayerfulness,” a lecture that will be followed by time for questions before the community prayers to Lord Jagannath.
On Saturday, April 18, 2015, from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., with breaks for tea and lunch, Swami Ishitmananda from the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago will lecture on the Bhagavat Gita, the Upanishads and Pantanjali Yoga.
Swami Ishitmananda is in charge of the Vedanta Society of Chicago. For 12 years, he worked with Advaita Ashrama in Kolkata, India, an English publication center of the Ramkrishna Order. He received sanyasa, the renouncement of worldly material life, in 1986 by Srimat Swami Gambhiranandaji Maharaj, the 11th president of the order.
Swami Ishitmananda is the founder of the Ramkrishna Mission on Andaman Island, where he built a home for the destitute and orphans. His discourses on the Bhagavat Gita have been published as a set of 14 DVDs.
The Saravajana Mandir, the Temple for All, is on the upper floor of the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama, 14800 Vishnu Way in Harvest, near the intersection of Old Railroad Bed and Capshaw Roads. All are welcome. Dress is modest, and all are expected to remove their shoes before entering the temple, where most of the seating is on the floor.
For more information, call temple president Puspa Sahu at 256-233-4247 or Krishna Srikakalapu at 256-783-4522, or visit the temple’s website at HCCNA.com.