Palace of Fine Arts, February 23, 2013

Palace of Fine Arts, February 23, 2013

Palace of Fine Arts, February 23, 2013

On Saturday, February 23, 2013, the Vedanta Society of Northern California held an all-day program “Exploring Yoga and Freedom” in honor of  Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birthday at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco. The morning session was a panel discussion on “Yoga and the American Quest for Freedom.” The panel consisted of Michael Krasny, senior editor of KQED-FM radio’s award-winning Forum, a presenter as well as moderator, Jacob Needleman, a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University, Ann Louise Bardach, writer-at-large for Newsweek Global/The Daily Beast, and Swami Tattwamayananda, assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California.

The afternoon session was an audio-visual presentation entitled “Freedom:  The Song of the Soul” with slides of Swami Vivekananda, places, and people associated with his stay in America, interspersed with narration by Pravrajika Virajaprana, a nun at the Vedanta Society of Northern California, readings from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda by Bidyut Bose, a longtime student of yoga and Indian philosophy, and music from Swami Vivekananda’s works composed and conducted by John Schlenck, secretary of the Vedanta Society of  New York, and performed by a quartet of professional singers.  In the lobby of the theatre, there were photo displays of Swami Vivekananda encompassing both East and West, and a bookshop featuring books on Swami Vivekananda, as well as the Complete Works and photographs of the Swami. In addition, a souvenir booklet on Swamiji’s life and universal message was distributed.