Vivekananda Retreat Ridgely page

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Vivekananda Retreat Ridgely page

Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely is a retreat center affiliated with the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. For more info, see www.ridgely.org

Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely is the organization that owns Ridgely Manor, the former estate of Francis H. Leggett and family, closely associated with Swami Vivekananda, who stayed at Ridgely on three occasions during his visits to the U.S. It is a retreat center open to anyone of any religious or spiritual tradition who wishes to take a contemplative break from their busy life.It is also a pilgrim

age center for those who are inspired by the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. We will be using this page to share events happening at Ridgely, links to podcasts of our classes and retreats and other thoughts and ideas.

12/26/2023

Happy Holidays from a foggy morning on our shrine trail.

06/07/2021

We are happy to announce that Vivekananda Retreat will open to DAY VISITORS ONLY on July1. (If that goes well, we will open for overnight stays on August 19.) We look forward to seeing you! Of course, this could change, as the pandemic is not over yet.

PLEASE NOTE THESE REQUIREMENTS:

-At this time VACCINATION IS REQUIRED. This means that, for the time being, unvaccinated adults and children may not visit the Retreat. Proof of vaccination required the first time you visit. Our staff is fully vaccinated.

-We are limiting tours to 8 people or less. YOU MUST CALL US AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE TO SCHEDULE A TOUR. Our phone:(845)687-4574. Our tour hours are 2-5pm.

-MASKS: REQUIRED

-SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIRED IN THE SHRINE

-NO DROP-IN VISITS. As stated above, you must call us at least 24 hours in advance.

FOR OUR MEDITATING FRIENDS:

If you are only coming to use the shrine for meditation.

The Manor House will be locked. You will need to ring the doorbell. During the group meditation times the door will be open.

GROUP MEDITATION TIMES:
6-7am
6-7pm

THE RETREAT CLOSES AT 7pm SHARP.

People have many reasons for not getting the Covid vaccine.We recognize that. Here is the reality for an organization like Ridgely that relies on the support of our visitors and friends: The Covid restrictions that currently exist for places like ours are all waived for the vaccinated public but not for the unvaccinated. That makes it possible for us to re-open on a limited basis only. We will do this, unless the pandemic takes another unforeseen turn. We look forward to the day when all restrictions will no longer apply. That day, realistically speaking, won’t be anytime soon.

With all the above in mind, and because we have enjoyed meeting new friends via Zoom, we will be continuing our Zoom classes- the Wednesday Gita class and the Sunday Ask the Sisters class, both every week at 5:30pmEDT.

07/29/2020

Dear Friends,

Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely will remain closed throughout the month of August, 2020. I have to admit that the question of how safe it is to open the retreat has hijacked many of my morning meditations. It has really weighed on my mind. Many people have asked us when we are going to open. Understandably they want to escape the city and visit a beautiful, quiet place such as Ridgely. As I mentioned last month, I am following the other local religious/spiritual centers that have a situation similar to ours- places where living space is shared, meals are communal, and visitors are moving through the same spaces where the staff lives. These centers remain closed and so will we. This is the reality of the pandemic. In my hijacked meditations when I weigh the lives of the staff and visitors against the need for a drive in the country to get away, the choice is clear. We are not open.Unfortunately, this could last much longer than we imagined back in March.

03/19/2020

Dear Friends,

As most of you know, Vivekananda Retreat has been closed during the winter. Now, due to the Covid -19 pandemic, we will remain closed until the CDC determines that it is safe to return to normal social interactions. This means no visits to Ridgely at all! The Manor House will be locked, the shrine not available. I am working on a plan to live-stream our Sunday class, either using Zoom or our Facebook business page.

I would like to offer some of my thoughts regarding the coronavirus pandemic:

In KARMA YOGA, the chapter on self-abnegation, Swami Vivekananda talks about how the thoughts that we think go out into the world, and are picked up by other minds on a similar ‘wavelength’. I like to think of these categories of thoughts as bandwidths. If you know me, you have heard me talking about the ‘Anger/Hate Bandwidth’ and the ‘Blessing Bandwidth’. Now we must include the Fear Bandwidth. Right now I feel the greatest service any one of us can render to the world is 1) Stay at home and 2) Get your mind out of the Fear Bandwidth and place it in the Blessing Bandwidth.

What do I mean by the Blessing Bandwidth? We join our minds and hearts with the great ones of every religion/spiritual tradition, in every part of the world, in every time who have been praying for the benefit of all beings. They are bodhisattvas, isvarakotis, mahatmas, saints, shamans and, yes! , they are US. When we choose to put our minds on the Blessing Bandwidth we all become great ones and that is what the world needs right now. It does not need more fear and panic. Anyone can do this!

This uncertain situation is a chance to practice kindness and compassion towards those we meet in whatever way we can. There are many people who are suffering from this massive upheaval, not only the sick. In the town where we live, for instance, some of the restaurants are providing free meals to the children/families who rely on the schools for their meals. The restaurant owners are doing this even as they worry about the financial survival of their business. Why? Because it’s the right and kind thing to do. Take every chance to help in whatever way you can, even if it is just being friendly or smiling at another person. On the news you will see all the altercations, the panic shoving and the like. We need to ignore that and keep our equanimity. Just do the next right thing, the next right thing and the next right thing without projecting your thoughts into the future, ending up on the Fear Bandwidth.

Sri Ramakrishna said it is important to practice in solitude. This is a wonderful chance to practice sadhana. How many times have we thought, “I don’t get time to meditate!” Prayer! Japa! Study of the spiritual scripture you have been putting off for years.

If you are tech-savvy you can organize a group online to chant for the benefit of the world, or read a holy book together. A wonderful sadhana would be to reach out by calling, texting or video chatting to someone who might be feeling depressed or fearful.

Please remember that the whole world is experiencing this coronavirus uncertainty. We are all interconnected. As Swami Vivekananda said, what we think goes out into the universe. Choose the Blessing Bandwidth and not the Fear Bandwidth for your own sake and for the good of the world. That is my request, with love, to all of you. Stay home. Stay Safe. Stay interconnected with kindness and compassion.

Jai Ma,
With love,
Gitaprana

12/03/2019

Many apologies for neglecting our page. Now it is winter and we have more time. This morning, more than 1 foot of snow. That means the retreat is now closed until winter conditions improve. Our internal roads are dangerously slippery and ,as you can see, the snow is piled high. We won't allow any visitors for a few weeks. Or, depending on the weather, it could be spring before we open again.

03/29/2019

We have re-opened the retreat to day visitors. On April 1 we will open up for overnight visitors. The usual requirements apply: please call in advance if you wish to visit the retreat as a day visitor. Please make reservations via our website for overnight stays at least 5 days in advance. If you are coming just to sit in our meditation room and have visited before, then you do not need to let us know. We have many friends who use our shrine room between the hours of 6am and 6pm. We have group meditations from 6-7am and 6-7pm after a short vespers service.

Retreat with Pravrajika Gitaprana Saturday May 4 Puja/Ritual Worship Intensive

Ritual plays an important role in every religious and spiritual tradition. It is a way to link the individual seeker with Divine Reality in a particular setting, using an established ritual structure.
In India, the ritual usually is called ‘puja’ and has been practiced in various forms for millennia. Over this vast amount of time puja, in addition to serving as a focus for devotion, has come to include layers of nuanced philosophy and what might be called ‘yogic technology’ for lack of a better term. Puja in the Hindu tradition centers around the idea that the infinite, all-pervading Divine, the source of all being, can choose to appear in one particular place, and image when invoked/requested by the one who performs the puja and the ones who attend.

There are many kinds of puja. In fact, in the wonderfully eclectic and inclusive Indian spiritual tradition, there are many ways of doing the same puja! In this intensive we will be talking about the puja associated with the Divine Mother. We will talk about the power of mantra and the sound universe, the subtle forms of divinity known as yantra/mandala, the 2 very powerful meditations that are part of the puja, and the order and meaning of the parts of the puja. We won’t be teaching you how to do it yourself as that usually requires formal initiation by a qualified teacher. Please come and join us if you are interested in entering into the world of the Divine Mother and her worship.

If you wish to attend this retreat as a day visitor please register by sending an email or calling us. Email: [email protected] Phone: 845 687-4574

If you wish to register as an overnight guest please go to ridgely.org and fill out the overnight application.

June 13-15 Retreat with Swami Sarvadevananda
We will announce the topic and schedule next month.

01/31/2019

This could be done at Ridgely this morning. We are wearing our outdoor clothes in the house. Even with the furnaces blazing away it's only about 49degrees inside in most rooms. Grateful that we do have a warm place to stay unlike so many others.

01/25/2019

This week we have been living in a world of ice crystals. Our internals roads are like ice-skating rinks so Ridgely will be closed for awhile now. It's winter.

01/21/2019

Moonlight and ice here at the retreat.

01/20/2019

This morning: 6 inches of snow and a layer of ice with freezing rain still falling. That means Ridgely is closed to all visitors until further notice. Right now it is dangerous and will get worse as it flash freezes later today. But pretty!

01/10/2019

Ridgely's shrine on Christmas Eve. Ridgely , like Advaita Ashrama, does not do daily puja/worship here. We have morning and evening meditations. In the evening a simple arati. Local meditators from all kinds of spiritual backgrounds can and do sit in the shrine anytime during the open hours.

Meditation tip #3: Another set of concepts to forget. Drop the notions of past and future when you sit down. The passing of time is an illusion. Drop everything from the past and all expectations of the future. That includes the notion, "If I sit here I will be....." No. Whatever your form of meditation, just focus on that.

01/05/2019

Sunrise, but not today!
Meditation tip #2: Number one was to drop the concepts success/failure. Number two is to drop the concepts 'right/wrong'. You might have a set of formal instructions from a teacher...still drop these notions. We might be focusing on our meditation INSTRUCTIONS rather than our meditation when we sit.

AND, speaking of meditation- we will resume our Sunday group meditation at noon tomorrow 1/6, following the Bhagavad Gita class. Our group meditations usually include some chanting as well and a small offering.

Address

101 Leggett Road
Stone Ridge, NY
12484

Telephone

(845) 687-4574

Website

http://www.ridgely.org/

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