Ramakrishna Sharanam 

Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of North Texas
119 W. Scotland Dr.
Irving, TX 75062
dfwvedanta@gmail.com
http://www.vedantadfw.org

Christmas 2010
 

Dear Friends and Devotees,

Through Sri Ramakrishna’s grace and revered Swami Swahananda’s guidance, the Vedanta Society celebrated its Third-Year Anniversary along with 130 friends and special guests, including Mayor Gears of Irving, scholars, and interfaith collaborators.

In 2010, the Vedanta Society invited six guest swamis to conduct retreats, free of charge. The Society also offered three lecture series on “Holistic Spirituality,” “Non Dualism,” and “Vedanta and the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions” and conducted one “Eco-Spiritual” day retreat and one “Gita and Lifestyles Skills” seminar. In 2010 the Vedanta Center continued to maintain its daily visiting hours and arati, weekly classes, and Sunday services, which included talks by twelve scholars and religious representatives. It also celebrated eleven special worships, open to the public.

In 2010 the Vedanta Society broadened its outreach within Dallas by collaborating with nine scholars from Southern Methodist University, UNT Denton, North Lake College, Texas Christian University, and the Center for Non-Dual Studies, Austin, as well as spiritual representatives in numerous academic and interfaith initiatives. We felt fortunate to be able to donate 16 boxes of rare books on Indian linguistics, culture, medicine, and agriculture to the UNT Denton library from the Kenneth Grisham collection. The Vedanta Society was also invited to speak at the Crow Collection of Asian Art to an audience of 150 people as well as to participate in Dallas’ sixth annual “Unity Day” Program – along with other spiritual and civic leaders – before a crowd of over 200 people in downtown Dallas.

This year the Vedanta Society was invited to become an official member of Dallas’ Thanksgiving Square Interfaith Council. And with the advent of Dallas’ bid for the 2014 World’s Parliament of Religions, we were also invited to join Dallas’ Interfaith Coalition for the Parliament and to serve as Advisor to the Steering Committee for the World’s Parliament.

Inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s ideal of service, the Vedanta Society launched its 3rd annual Mother’s Day Food Drive for the “Irving Cares” Food Pantry – deemed a huge success by the staff at “Irving Cares.” And our Vedanta Society volunteers continued, for the third year, to participate in its annual Homeless Feeding sponsored by the Lily Foundation, in downtown Fort Worth.

Due to this all-round outreach, the Vedanta work in Dallas has grown.  Today the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society’s website continues to receive as many as 400 visits per month. Sincere seekers – often newcomers – are invited to take advantage of the Center’s weekly Sunday services and observances, lectures and classes, growing lending library, and daily chapel hours for meditation. By offering these spiritual resources, we also feel gratified to see the growth of our spiritual family at the Vedanta Center.

And so with deep gratitude, on behalf of our Society’s Trustees and Advisors, I would like to wish each and every one of you a blessed holiday season and New Year! May the Lord continue to shower His Grace upon us all. And may His work continue to grow.

With prayerful regards,
Pravrajika Brahmaprana
Resident Minister