THE MEANING OF SATSANGA By Swami Sivananda

THE MEANING OF SATSANGA

by Swami Sivananda 

The word ‘Satsanga’ is the combination of the two words ‘Sat’ and ‘Sanga.’

 ‘Sat’ means existence absolute, which is Brahman. ‘Sat’ is the essential nature of Brahman which is permanent in things that change, which is the only reality that upholds the world of appearance.
The same ‘Sat,’ with the accidental attributes of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence is called Isvara or Paramatman. In brief, ‘Sat’ refers to Isvara as well as Brahman, both ultimately being the one and the same reality.

‘Sanga’ literally means company or union. 

To be always in the company of the Lord, or to be established in Brahman, is the literal meaning of the word ‘Satsanga.’

But, as long as ignorance or Avidya remains, the direct realisation of Brahman is impossible. When ignorance is destroyed by wisdom, the real nature reveals itself. This is the highest Satsanga.

The next possibility is to please God so much by our unflinching devotion that He has to sport with us assuming a gentle form according to our desire, even as He did in the case of the Gopis. But the means to the realisation of this blessed end is also called Satsanga or the company of the wise. The means being essentially not different from the end, is also named after the end.

Because the company of the wise leads to the realisation of Brahman (with attributes or without attributes), it is also termed as Satsanga.  In this sense, Satsanga means the company of the Satpurushas. 

Satpurushas are those who have realised truth as well as those who are aspirants after truth. Those people who have renounced egoism, greed, lust, etc., are Satpurushas. Those people who have attained equal vision, balanced mind, unflinching devotion to the Lord, are Satpurushas.
Those people who are endowed with peace, bliss, contentment, simplicity, fearlessness, humility, powerful voice, a face beaming with the glow of saintliness, etc., are Satpurushas.

Who Then is a True Mahatma?

 Neither through matted locks, nor through fiery lectures and erudition, nor through the exhibition of miracles does one attain perfection or knowledge.

He in whom the two currents of Raga-dvesha, egoism, lust and anger are destroyed in toto is ever happy and is a liberated sage or Jivanmukta.

Saints are those whose minds are unruffled, who are free from avarice, who haveconquered desire, and who have brought their senses and internal nature under control, who are devoted to the Lord, and who have no longing for anything, who are the same in pleasure and pain, who are free from attachment, who have the attributes of self-control, and who are content with whatever comes in their way.

If you find mercy and humility in a person, then alone can you know that that person is a Sadhu. His heart will melt at the suffering of others. Man has got a sin-hardened head; when this begins to melt, the Lord manifests Himself there. The Sadhu need not deliver lectures on Panchadasi. He need not necessarily be able to deliver eloquent discourses on the Gita. He may not be able to comment for three hours upon a single Brahma Sutra. But, a sweet aroma will emanate from him. This will attract you to him. This will give you Santi and an inner bliss when you approach him. All your worries and anxieties will disappear as you near him. His very look will elevate you. Each one of his words will inspire you, will engrave itself on the tablet of your heart. Your mature will be transformed. You will turn a new leaf in your life. Such will be his power. Such is the glory of true mercy and humility.

Grace of God Alone Makes Satsanga Possible

It is very, very difficult to come into contact with a Satpurusha or a saint. It is more so to recognise a saint. A man of wordly Samskaras (mental tendencies, impressions) wants to weigh the saintliness of a sage by his own conceptional balance, and finding him lacking in weight, discards him as a false saint and thereby he does not get the instantaneous benefit arising out of the contact of the sage. But, even then, the company of the saint exerts an inexorable influence on the person concerned, which he realises sooner or later. Bhagavan Narada says in his Bhakti Sutras: “The company of the great is very difficult, inaccessible, but infallible.” 

Companionship of the great ones is difficult of attainment. It is hardly possible to assign how and when men may be taken into the society of the great. But, once obtained, association with the great ones is infallible in its operation. Love of God is obtained principally and undoubtedly by the grace of the great ones, or in other words, from the touch of divine compassion. Companionship of the great ones is gained by the grace of God alone, because there is no distinction between Him and His men.

There is no difference between God and a realised Bhagavata. Both are identical. A sage is God Himself. The Upanishad declares: “He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman. ”The glow of a sage is infinite and eternal as that of Brahman.

Satsang in Sivananda's ashram -Rishikesh India

Satsanga Guards You Against the Unreal Glitter of Worldly Objects

 Forget not the goal. In order not to forget the goal, Satsanga is most essential. Satsanga keeps the fire of aspiration alive in your head. It is a shield to protect you from lapsing into lethargy, from gliding back into the old grooves of sense-cravings, from forgetting your goal. Satsanga is your best friend, your spiritual nourishment. Satsanga is greater than your parents; your parents gave the body, but Satsanga gives you spiritual illumination. Satsanga is one of the fundamental means for attaining God-realisation. 

Where there is Satsanga, Mahatmas and great saints assemble. They remind you of the Reality; they guard you against the unreal glitter of worldly objects; they save you from the formidable ocean of Samsara. Their glorious example inspires you; their soul-elevating Upadesa is your guide. From Satsanga you get practical lessons in control of mind, concentration and meditation.

The Real Satsanga Bhavan is in Your Own Heart 

The Satsanga Bhavan, the place where Satsanga is held, is Vaikuntha, Kailasa or Param-dham, in reality. The real Satsanga Bhavan is in your own heart. There dwells the Sat, the Supreme Reality, that Existence Absolute or Brahman. Control the mind by the practice of Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama. Make the mind one-pointed by the practice of Pratyahara and Dharana. Then meditate on the self, the Atman dwelling in your heart. 

You can enter into your own Satsanga Bhavan daily through self-analysis, introspection, enquiry into the nature of the Self. This will lead to Self-realisation, when you will for ever be one with that Sat, the infinite eternal Existence. This is your goal. 

Forget not, Maya is very powerful. With all your good intentions,you will forget this your foremost duty. Therefore, come to the Satsanga Bhavan and associate with saints and Yogis who will instruct you how to control the mind, how to practise Brahma-vichara (Self-enquiry), how to wean the mind from sensual objects, how to fill the mind with Sattva. Identification with the body and the mind is the cause for all sufferings. 

In reality, you are Satchidananda-svarupa; identification with this real Svarupa is the key to perennial peace and supreme bliss. "Ajo Nityah Sasva Purano": this Atman is unborn, eternal and ancient.

 Be regular in your meditation, Japa, Kirtan, prayer. People do kirtan for sometime, attend Satsanga for some time; and then they leave off. This is a sad error. Regularity is of paramount importance in Sadhana. Whatever you do, do regularly. Increase the period of meditation gradually.

 Do not be attracted by the tantalising tinsels of this world. Nobody has been benefited by material possessions. You may have crores of rupees in the bank, you may have a hundred motor-cars and a dozen bungalows; but,peace of mind you cannot have from these.You can have peace of mind only if you are regular in Japa, meditation, Kirtan and Satsanga. 

Only when you realise the Self (Atman) will you enjoy perennial peace. Construct the Satsanga Bhavan in your own heart through regular and systematic spiritual practice and realise Him, not in the unknown future, but right now this very second. Forget not the goal.

Let me remind you of the last word of the Upanishads. "Tat Tvam Asi": thou art that supreme, infinite, immortal Satchidananda Brahman. 

Have constant Nama-smaran; even when you are working, mentally repeat the  name of God*. Constantly  meditate on God. 

Be good. Do good. Be noble. Be gentle. Be generous. Attain Self-realisation through Satsanga,  (study of sacred texts), Japa, Kirtan and meditation. May Lord bless you all!

NOTE: Repeat the name of God that your is devoted.

Shiva: Om nama Shivay

Narayana : Om namo Narayanaya

Krishna: Hare Krishna,  Om namo Baghavate

Rama: Sri Ram jai Ram, jai jai Ram

Jesus: Om Jesus Christ , Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησον με (Kirie  Iisu Christe eleison me)

Allah: La illah illa

The Primacy of Shakti by Dr. David Frawley

The Primacy of Shakti

by Dr. David Frawley

The ultimate goal of human life is liberation or moksha, the realization of the Pure Self or Brahman beyond all time, space and karma . In that alone is complete and lasting peace and freedom. This is made clear in many great spiritual teachings since the Vedas.

This supreme reality of pure unity is not hard to describe and the quest for it is something that we know in our hearts, where we seek oneness with all. The important and difficult question that arises, however, is how to get there? That pure Self is so far removed from our ordinary life experience that it requires a radical change of our entire way of life to even approach.

Brahman is nirguna (devoid of qualities), nishkriya (beyond action) and nishkama (beyond desire).

It is extremely difficult to access even for those with the sharpest minds and the purest life-styles. Brahman, moreover, is beyond all paths, all efforts and all striving. It is outside of time, space and causation and cannot be produced by anything. The very one who seeks it must himself disappear before finding it. Yet even having that thought about its ultimacy does not take one there or even insure that one is going in the right direction.

Only if our minds can be fully concentrated within the heart can we know That Supreme Being. Those whose minds are clear and internally focused can certainly enter into that formless Brahman. But if there is any unfulfilled desire, we cannot reach it, or if we touch it, we cannot abide in it. The problem is that we are full of desires, even if our minds are strong. Desire is the essence of all that we do and the very force behind our lives.

We do not live in Brahman or the unmanifest beyond time and space but in the manifest realm of life experience, filled with its energies, attractions, repulsions and attachments. In our ordinary minds and emotions, we are products of time and space. We are caught in place, person, form and karma as the very foundation of our personal and social reality.

We cannot go beyond this manifest realm unless we first recognize the power behind it. It is not within our power to go beyond the realm in which we exist and of which we are a product. Only the power that has created us can do this for us. So the real question, what is the power behind the universe, behind our bodies and minds and how can we work with it to reach the Ultimate?

The real power behind this manifest universe is Shakti or the energy of the Goddess, which is Brahman´s force of expression and manifestation. Shakti or the power of creation controls everything that occurs within her field. The formless Brahman beyond creation has no concern about this realm or anything that we do within it. It can neither help us nor hinder us in any way. From its point of view, there never has been any birth or death, individual or cosmos, bondage or liberation. Even our seeking of liberation has no meaning for it.

Our lives depend entirely upon Shakti, which grants us vitality, feeling and awareness, through which we operate on all levels and can set in motion both our outer actions and inner sadhana or spiritual practice. Shakti controls the entire manifestation, just as electricity allows all appliances to work. She rules over the processes of birth and death and the unfoldment karma. She provides our souls with the bodies and minds and the worlds in which to experience life. All that we eat, breathe, perceive, feel or know consists of some portion of her energy and an aspect of Her dynamic processes that surround us on every side. All that we seek to acquire for sustenance, happiness, knowledge or growth is part of Her and comes from Her.

Yet Shakti also controls the way beyond manifestation, the return to Brahman. Even to seek Brahman, to seek what is beyond Shakti, we must work with Shakti. Shakti provides us the power of meditation and the discriminating insight through which we can transcend time and space. This means that the best means for both spiritual realization and for gaining all the other goals of life is to worship Shakti, to work with and for the Goddess. There is no other way as effective, if there is any other way at all. If the Brahman is the goal, the Shakti is both the path and the power to traverse it. We can awaken and follow her current to Brahman, or remain asleep and get caught in her outside streams that move in different directions.

Therefore, the issue is not Brahman, which is beyond everything, but Shakti that manifests everywhere. Shakti is all around us, flashing forth in everything, whether we recognize Her play or not. The issue is how to gain the grace of that Shakti - How to ally ourselves with the right Shaktis to facilitate our development as a soul.

We must recognize the primacy of Shakti, or few if any of us can ever come to Brahman, or even successfully gain the ordinary goals of life. Even great Vedantins first worshipped Shakti, as in the case of the great teachings of the text the Tripura Rahasya, or had to recognize Shakti eventually, as in the case of Tota Puri, the guru of Ramakrishna.

Everything is controlled by Shakti. Shakti is closely connected to all aspects of life that we depend on, which attract us and keep life going and developing. Think about it carefully. Birth, reproduction and sexuality are all through Shakti. Food and nourishment are another play of Shakti. Breath, life (Prana), emotion and feeling are all owing to Shakti. The great elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether are all forms of Shakti, which is their underlying energy. The prime gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are root forces of Shakti. Or successes, gains, goals and achievements in any endeavor are only possible because of Shakti or the power to accomplish them that we have been able to discover how to work with.

Energy, science and technology are means of working with Shakti on an outer level and have transformed our world. The mass media is a play of Shakti in the field of communication, which has broken down barriers of communication everywhere. The Earth itself with its rich diversity of life is Shakti in manifest form as the land on which we live. The stars are the flashing forth of the cosmic Shakti through the unbounded expanse of space. Even subatomic particles are alive with powerful subtle forces of Shakti, which forms the ocean or matrix from which they dance in and out of.

All the things that we are attached to or involved with are forms of Shakti or are rooted in Shakti. Whatever we love, seek or desire is some aspect of Shakti that endows forms with color, beauty, charm and delight. It is not the object, person, place or experience in itself that is the real source of our fascination with them but the energy, rasa or essence, the Shakti working through it. We are under the allure of Shakti in one way or another, whether we recognize that underlying Shakti or not.

We cannot get beyond anything unless we first honor the Shakti behind it, which means to touch its core energy in consciousness. You cannot renounce anything that you are really attracted to, however hard you may try. But you can recognize the Shakti behind it and following that out, get beyond the limitations of the form, like the bee that can gather the pollen and does not remember the form. The Shakti within any individual object or experience is ultimately the same Shakti within all.

We cannot get out of the realm of Shakti unless we recognize and honor the Shakti, which is both in this realm and beyond - unless she decides. If she is not willing, our efforts will be in vain. If she is willing, then we will be guided along the way and she herself will lead us forward. We can then just follow her flow and need not calculate or push our way onward, carried forward by her flow. Yet for this to occur we must first learn to look within and discover the deepest movement of the Shakti inside ourselves. This we will discover as our own most inward seeking of truth and divinity.

Shakti is the way to God or Brahman. Even if you only want to practice Yoga, you must awaken and honor the Kundalini Shakti to take you forward. If you are devoted to God or the Goddess in any form, you must have that Shakti of devotion to take you forward. For any yantra, puja or mantra to work, its Shakti must be first be invoked in order to give it power.

Even if you are wholly dedicated to Self-realization or Jnana, it is only possible through the grace of Shakti and her power of knowledge, her Buddhi Shakti through which the higher discrimination works. Without that Shakti supporting you any efforts towards Self-realization or statements of Self-realization that you may make will have no energy, strength or conviction.

In that primal Shakti there is no duality between the manifest and the unmanifest. It is the same Shakti in its active and inactive modalities. That Shakti holds the formless Brahman in the world of form, not by limiting it but as part of its overflow which is her dance. So whether a devotee worships Shakti for home and happiness or for the highest liberation, it is the same movement of Shakti on different levels and in different ways.

Even if you want to change the world through political action, you must first gain the Shakti or power to do so. If you want to be a great artist, you need the corresponding capacity of Shakti, the power and skill in art. Everything has its key Shakti, which contains not only the energy but the code of its manifestation like DNA, both its motivation and the energy to bring it about.

So during whatever spiritual practices you choose or whatever in life you seek that will bring you peace and happiness, do not forget the primacy of the Shakti and you will never lose your way.

The true Shakti will gather all the outer Shaktis and lead you to your inner goal.

There are two main ways of working with Shakti. The first is to recognize the different Shaktis in the universe, externally and internally, their qualities, energies and movements and how to work with them. This is like a doctor learning the powers of healing on different levels, including both those of diagnosis and treatment.

The second and simpler way is simply to worship Shakti directly, seeing the supreme Shakti in all things. If one honors the Shakti behind all Shaktis then one will gain their support as well as learn to understand their specific forms. Yet these two aspects of working with Shakti are related, by learning to discover the unique Shakti in each thing, one also touches the supreme Shakti that is everywhere.

SOURCE: www.vedicsociety.org/

True Happiness / summary By Sri Swami Chidananda

True Happiness
Sri Swami Chidananda

In a mind devoid of peace how can there be happiness? Happiness depends upon peace of mind. It is in a calm, tranquil state of mind alone that happiness arises, for essential true happiness is your inward spiritual state.
Desire and want which arise from the prime delusion, destroy all peace of mind.

Try to evaluate objects as they really are. To lead a proper life here on earth, one has to assign a limited value to objects.

Simplicity of life is the true secret of happiness. Unhampered experience of joy which lies within comes out of simplicity. Your life should never be complicated with too many things.

Have contentment. Have the capacity to derive joy out of whatever situation you may find yourself in. Assert: “The situation has not the power to alter my experience. My experience is alterable only to the degree to which I allow it to be altered.

A simple and contented life depends more upon God-made things than upon man-made objects. There are hundreds of things that can fill you with happiness if you only have the eyes to see.

Learn to experience joy from the happiness of others. Instead of envy, become filled with joy whenever you see others in happiness. Feel happy by beholding the happiness of others. Train yourself to derive happiness out of bringing happiness into the lives of others..

Try to derive joy out of the beauty of all things, not only from those things which you possess. In this way you will develop an impersonal capacity for happiness.

Learn to accept the experiences that come through life. There is no use fretting and fuming and making yourself miserable over them. You, perhaps, may just add more misery to the misery which these experiences already bring. Have calm and wise resignation. There is one Supreme Intelligence that is guiding the lives of men here and these experiences that come from that Source, learn to accept like human beings.

Be friendly to all. Feel oneness with all. With those who are inferior to you in status, in health, in strength, in beauty, have an attitude of kindness, love and compassion. To those who are troublesome, wicked, unpleasant and nasty, be indifferent

Above all, do not give way to anger. Anger, more than any other single factor in this world, destroys happiness. 

Maintain a rational restraint over the senses. The urge towards carnal enjoyment is the natural part of the human being, but it pertains to the mental and physical part of your nature only. We have to recognise this as such. However, it is the prerogative of every individual, being endowed with a high intelligence, to hold a reign over the senses. By that way they cannot destroy happiness. If they are allowed to hold a sway over you, then while you are thus unrestrained, you cannot have any happiness. This is the Law of the Universe.

Base your life upon virtue, upon Truth and upon purity. Happiness fills those who base their lives upon virtue. Virtue is a direct emanation from the Divine, just as happiness is the quality of the Divine.

Even more important, keep close to the Great Inner Source of all happiness, all joy, all bliss! Call It by whatever name you choose—I do not want to give It a name. Make That the centre of your being. That is the Eternal Thing that supports your life, which is your alpha and omega, your all in all, your supporting substratum and your destination and goal. Keep close to It by developing love. Love the Supreme. Always remember the Supreme. Great Ones who have immersed their lives and become absorbed forever in the supreme blessed state of happiness and bliss have told us one great secret which provides us with an unfailing method of attaining happiness.

Happiness, in the truest sense of the term, is that changeless experience right within you. It is that awareness which being present enables you to derive sweetness out of all other things, and which being absent, deprives you of all the sweetness from anything. That is the most important fact.

All things gain the capacity for giving happiness only in the presence of this One Being. Make Him the centre of your life. Make Him the most important and paramount Thing in your life. Then you will never be taken away from your happiness even for a single second. No one will be able to take you away from it, for you are yourself that happiness.

In God lies happiness and within me He is and He and I are One.

Within lies the perennial fount of eternal happiness. May you live your life in this Truth. Then I assure you that your life will become a stream of happiness. May your life thus flow forth not as a vale of tears but as a perennial stream of infinite happiness. This is my prayer.

May your life become radiant with joy and happiness.

Supernal Happiness—may That be yours!

extract of his book:  Bliss is Within