An Online OMniAwareness Retreat with Swami Ishatmananda and Pravrajika Vrajaprana on Nondual teachings and practices of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on Saturday, April 9, 2022

This retreat/workshop will focus on Sri Ramakrishna’s and Swami Vivekananda’s teachings on Nonduality with two sessions of guided meditation and group discussions to clarify teachings. This is a great way to get a quick introduction to Nonduality, deepen understanding of Sri Ramakrishna’s and Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, and learn how to practice Nondual meditation.

• Swami Ishatmananda will share Sri Ramakrishna’s Nondual teachings and practices.
• Pravrajika Vrajaprana will share her insight into Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and Nondual realizations.
• Guided Meditation sessions with Pravrajika Vrajaprana and Swami Mahayogananda to help assimilate teachings.
• Questions and Answer sessions with Pravrajika Vrajaprana and Swami Ishatmananda to clarify doubts and deepen understanding of concepts.
• Group discussion to learn from other’s experiences, and share additional reference material on Nonduality.

About the Teachers

Swami Ishatmananda is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order and serves as the President of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago.

Swami Ishatmananda served for twelve years at Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, India—the English publication of the Ramakrishna Order. He has worked at the well-known educational institution of the Ramakrishna Mission in Purulia, West Bengal, India.

Since the beginning of 2013 he has been serving the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago as its President. Under his leadership the society observed the 150th Birth Anniversaries of Swami Vivekananda in 2013 and Sister Nivedita in 2017.

Pravrajika Vrajaprana is a nun at the Vedanta Society of Southern California’s Sarada convent situated in Santa Barbara.

Pravrajika is a well known speaker and scholar on Vedanta and she speaks frequently at Vedanta centers, colleges, universities and interfaith gatherings. She is the author of several books including Vedanta: A Simple Introduction (1999), and she is the editor of Living Wisdom (1994).

Links to few of Pravrajika Vrajaprana and Swami Ishatmananda talks on YouTube:

• Pravrajika Vrajaprana “The United States of Swami Vivekananda”
• Pravrajika Vrajaprana “Explaining the Meaning and Essence of Vedanta”
• Swami Ishatmananda “Spiritual insights from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
• Swami Ishatmananda “Purification of the mind“

About the Topic

Swami Ishatmananda and Pravrajika Vrajaprana will delve deeper into Sri Ramakrishna’s and Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and practice of Nonduality.

A couple of quotes from Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on Nonduality:

Sri Ramakrishna said “Know yourself and you shall then know God. What is my ego? Is it my hand or foot or flesh or blood or any other part of my body? Reflect well and you will know that there is no such thing as ego. The more you peel off the skin of an onion, the more skin only appears – you cannot get any kernel; so when you analyze ego, it vanishes into nothingness. What is ultimately left behind is the Atman – the pure Chit (Knowledge Absolute)” (Words of the Master by Swami Brahmananda)

Swami Vivekananda said “The Vedas cannot show you Brahman. You are That already. They can only help to take away the veil that hides the truth from your eyes. The first veil to vanish is ignorance, and when that is gone, sin goes; next desire ceases, selfishness ends and all misery disappears. This cessation of ignorance can come only when I know that God and I are one. In other words, identify yourself with the Atman, not with human limitations. Disidentify yourself with the body and all pain will cease. This is the secret of healing. The universe is a case of hypnotization; dehypnotize yourself and cease to suffer” (Inspired talks by Swami Vivekananda)

Amazon links to teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda that you may want to read:

• Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
• Complete works of Swami Vivekananda

Logistics

• This is an online-only retreat. Participants from across the world will be able to join an interactive Zoom meeting either via a desktop or a mobile app. We suggest that you create a retreat environment at your home (or wherever else you join from) with minimal distractions through the day.
• Timing/Schedule: The One Day retreat will be on Saturday, April 9, 2022 from 9:30 am US Pacific Time i.e. Los Angeles or West Coast Time (calculate your local time). Complete hourly schedule can be seen at the bottom of this page.
• Exact meeting details and instructions to join will be emailed to registered participants closer to the retreat date. Please download and install the Zoom app on your preferred device before the meeting. Please also review the system and internet requirements that you should ensure at your end for a smooth experience:
  • Desktop devices (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  • Mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android)

Registration Policy

• Pricing:
  • One ticket is $36. Two or more tickets are available at $25 per ticket.
  • Supported pricing is also available. To be considered please submit an application.
• Every ticket will receive a unique link to join the meeting. Sharing the link is not allowed.
• Cancellations: Registrations can be cancelled for a full refund (minus the card processing fees of 2.9% + 30c) up to 3 days before the retreat start date. No refunds will be issued for cancellations after April 7, 2022.

Please contact us in case of any questions.