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Satsang

 

What do we mean by the word Satsang?

My teacher Pamela Wilson once described satsang the following way:
"In Sanskrit sat means truth and the sangha is the group of lovers of Truth. So satsang is literally truth-gathering - an informal get-together of people to sit with the truth of their being and, occasionally, talk about it.
It's also like a sacrificial pit or a recycling center. Things no longer required, if brought with sincerity - any suffering or confusion, identification or separation or old containers no longer needed - are left behind. Satsang is a gathering of mountains to discuss their mountain nature."

Satsang means being in the presence of your own divinity, being in the presence of your own consciousness. In ancient Sanskrit the word "sat" means truth, and the word "sang" represents the sangha, or community, so satsang is a coming together in a gathering of spiritual friendship to explore what it means to be a fulfilled human being, living the authentic openness of one's true nature - with the natural freedom and contentment that is our birthright. For most of us this may include a process of unlearning, or overcoming our conditioning, as well as exploring new ways of experience.

Years ago I was told of one allegorical understanding of the biblical story of Jacob's Ladder from the book of Genesis. This interpretation presented an image of humanity on the rungs of the ladder that extended from earth to heaven, and on each rung were people being offered a helping hand from the person above, and simultaneously they each offered their hand to assist those below. This is the way I visualize satsang - each of us being helped and each of us helping through an active interchange with each other. And, like in the original story, spiritual help is offered from above to guide our journey.

It was the open-heartedness and love that I experienced that kept me searching for new opportunities to join in satsang. Yes, there was meditation, learning, and opportunities for self-reflection, but the real draw I found was in the love and support I foudiscovered nd in spiritual community – and in myself. My heart began to open in unexpected ways and that is what I wish for you as well.

 

Quotes

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A disciple once said to the Buddha: I think 50% of the spiritual journey is about being with spiritual friends. (sangha). This is not true said the Buddha, it is 100%!

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Satsang, like any moment in life, is rich with opportunities to unplug from the stories of mind. Satsang allows an opportunity to view from a wider lens and understanding can come from this. More so there is an energetic transmission that is available at satsang if one is susceptible to an energetic change at that time. Having the willingness to let go of opinions and beliefs and to be generally loose within body and mind allows maximum transmission. Leave all resistance outside of satsang and without expectation sometimes something else can happen.

~ Jac O'Keeffe

 

Satsang means "gathering together to inquire into our true nature." It is an opportunity through inquiry and dialogue to discover that the love, peace, and happiness you have been seeking are available here and now. Satsang is a chance to finally rest from all seeking and struggle and to experience directly the completeness and perfection of your Being. 

~ Nirmala 

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The satsang is - within the mass culture - like little mushrooms here and there, and somebody, maybe a Christian and a Hindu and a Buddhist, come together; doesn't matter, because those are paths. They're paths to the One. But those satsangs are what the world needs. And as I say - heart to heart - that's what satsang is.

~ Ram Dass

 

Satsang is an invitation to step away from the unconscious captivity of your own thoughts; the purpose of these satsangs is to reveal who you are. 

~ Jac O'Keeffe 

 

You have to discover, or unclothe, your own Buddha Self, your own Christ Consciousness, your own Shiva Being. If you wish to know how, come to satsang.

~ Mooji

 

Satsang is your true and natural Being, the song of your heart singing, the light of your consciousness shining, the peace of your spirit resting. Satsang is your flight as freedom, a trackless movement through the stillness of your heart. Satsang is what you have been seeking all throughout this lifetime and the true answer to “Who am I.” Come … open to this sacred invitation to realize and Be who you truly are. In-joy this silent grace awareness, for you are this adoring One, now and always.

~ Katie Davis

 

Satsang is a direct path without any specific technique or method. All that matters is that you have the longing and willingness to see who you really are. The very heart of Satsang is the revelation of that which is already and always eternally silent and ever present. It is the recognition that this, your own true nature, is consciousness, beingness, peace. It is the realization: I am This! The Truth is not a matter of effort or belief. It is the graceful end of seeking and needless suffering. It is Freedom here and now. 

~ satsang.nl 

 

Satsang is not an invitation to get more for "me." There are many opportunities in the world for that. Satsang is about the ending of the preoccupation with "me-ness." Mysteriously, in the ending of the personal story, you experience completion and fulfillment. 

~ Gangaji 

 

The whole point of Satsang is to sweep your person aside so that God meets God inside the heart.

~ Mooji

 

Satsang is a tongueless teacher and headless students. So shut your head, let your Heart open, and Truth will reveal itself to you in Silence. Only pay attention to That with your open Heart. 

~ Papaji 

 

That's what's nice about satsang: there's no doing required. The innocence just gets uncovered by Grace. She peels us like ripe fruit. 

~ Pamela Wilson 

 

There comes a point in satsang when there is no other, no teacher, no student, no friend ... just one being looking at itself, one being recognizing its innermost.  In this moment, everything that obscures truth simply dissolves ... and all that is left is unbounded, uncontainable, untamable love.  Finally, we are home. And you see that you never had left home in the first place, you have always been here.  Nowhere else to go,nothing else to find, just this. 

~ Amoda Maa Jeevan

 

Whenever practicable seek Satsang. 

~ Sri Anandamayi Ma

 

The psychological mind, in Satsang, is like a piece of ice placed in a bowl of warm water. A melting is taking place, spontaneously. There is no effort on the part of the ice. There is no effort on the part of the water. There is a natural merging. The personalised consciousness is bathing again in the original water — the ocean of its own Self  and innumerable stale impressions are being washed away.

~ Mooji

 

So many of us spend a lifetime seeking love, happiness and power, whether this be through relationship, wealth, status, or even spirituality: but none of this gives us what we’re looking for.Satsang is an invitation to open to the possibility of the true fulfillment that is found by falling in love with life as it is. In saying yes to the maximum of your capacity in this moment, what unfolds before you offers the potential for deep intimacy and wholeness.The courage to get right up close to what is, turns you inside out to become a naked lover of life. It is a coming home to your true nature as awake love, in which there is nothing more to search for, just a radical embracement of this moment as it is.

~ Amoda Maa Jeevan

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Satsang is a meeting of people who are exploring the truth of who they are and of their place in existence.  Satsang usually takes the form of questions and answers.  However, it may also be more of a discourse, an open discussion forum, or a meeting in silence.

Apart from sharing our understanding with words, there is a more mystical energetic aspect to satsang, a resonance which occurs when we come together with a similar consciousness and presence.

~ Andy@abeing.org

 

Problems come to satsang. We put them under our chairs. They get drunk on grace, and keel over. Then people forget them as they leave.

~ Pamela Wilson

 

We come to satsang wearing this beautiful cloak that's woven through time, and it gets heavier and heavier. Leela has woven this cloak, and then Love - the same trickster Goddess - unravels it.

~ Pamela Wilson

 

In satsang we are exposing and discarding the unreal. When the unreal is discarded, you don’t have to go and search for the real. The real alone remains. It is ever here. You realize it never left. It is always here as your own Self.

~ Mooji

 

Satsang is really life itself, meeting the unknowable in every moment, being totally available for an intimate relationship with yourself, your true self. This is truly satsang and it is a sacred space. When people come to satsang I always invite them to leave everything they think they know at the door….to forget everything they’ve ever heard before or experienced in the past…. to come as a newbie, because this is what each moment is always asking of us.

~ Joi

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It should be for satsang that we go to spiritual centers. By going there, people who are involved in the world can attain peace and concentration. The concentration gained when one goes there cannot be achieved if one sits at home. Even though the breeze blows everywhere, coolness will be felt more if we sit in the shade of a tree. In the same way, although God is all-pervading, this presence will clearly shine in certain places more than others. That is the greatness of satsang. Satsang is the best thing for spiritual advancement.

~ Mata Amritanandamayi

 

Satsang is about deep Rest.  We can only be satisfied by what we are,  not by what we can achieve or attain.

~ Pamela Wilson

 

The true seeker never tires of being in satsang. They enjoy being vigilant and thus shine brighter and brighter as their being continue to absorb subtler and subtler truths. They delight in this inner refining until the ego is genuinely transcended. They alone secure their ever-lasting freedom.

~ Mooji

 

In Sanskrit sat means truth and the sangha is the group of lovers of Truth. So satsang is literally truth-gathering - an informal get-together of people to sit with the truth of their being and, occasionally, talk about it.

It's also like a sacrificial pit, or a recycling center. Things no longer required, if brought with sincerity - any suffering or confusion, identification or separation or old containers no longer needed - are left behind. Satsang is a gathering of mountains to discuss their mountain nature.

~ Pamela Wilson

 

Satsang means that which reminds you of who you are - to keep association with the highest company, the holiest company, and they are like a mirror, they remind you of who you are.

~ Mooji

 

What is satsang?

You are all divine beings.

Everyone here is a replica of God.

There are no exceptions.

Whatever you do whatever you don't do, you're God incarnated.

Whether you have sins of omission or commission makes no difference. You can never be separated from God or consciousness that is impossible. Therefore you can only say, "God made you do it." True! For there is only God. Who else would do it? There is only consciousness, absolute reality. Every move you make, every step you take, every action you take, is nothing to do with you, it's all consciousness. Therefore what do you have to fear? What is there to be afraid of? You are the one. You are the holy one. Rejoice! You have to love yourself, to worship yourself, to bow to yourself. . . . Never take yourself for granted. You are the one. Never mind what the physical form shows you, the world shows you, what people show you, do not take these things seriously. Look to your Self! Abide in the Self! Find the absolute reality, this is you. You are that. 

What is satsang?

Most of us do not have any idea what satsang is.

You know what satsang is, but not what satsang is not.

Satsang is not a philosophy where you come in and have a debate over points of religion.

Satsang is not a sermon.

Satsang is not a place where you make casual relationships, meet new people, new friends. Satsang is not a place where you come to emulate the speech. . . .

Sat means consciousness, being, the absolute reality is sat. Sang is a getting together of people sitting at the feet of the sage. Sangha the holy temple. If one comes into satsang they should be quiet, still, for they're in the presence of the Self. The holy one. You are that. In satsang there may be bhajans where you sing together, kirtans where you chant together, silence where you do nothing, just sit. Questions once in a while. This is what satsang is all about. It really makes no difference what I say. Whether I talk about God or I talk about chocolate, makes no difference what I talk about. It's not the words. . , . This is what satsang does, it opens your heart, totally and completely, absolutely. If your heart is to be opened, you have to have a tremendous humility, tremendous surrender. When you're surrendering, you're surrendering your ego, your past karma, your dogmas, your preconceived ideas, all these have surrendered to the Self in satsang. Remember this all the time, what satsang really is. Just being here is the same. The world has you the rest of the time influencing all kinds of ideas, nonsense. To get away from the world and come to satsang is refreshing, like a gentle breeze that comes along, takes away the heat from you. Makes you calm and cool and collective and peaceful. 

~ Robert Adams 

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I get clear openings into the truth of who we are (I am)

then they evaporate , like steam

not to be reconstituted

leaving me unable to tell you, or even myself, this liberating discovery

and so

but let me try

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Most of us have learned by now that the word satsang is derived from the ancient sanskrit terms sat, meaning truth, and sanga, a group of spiritual aspirants. Thus, satsang is a gathering of people interested in discovering the truth about themselves, their true or spiritual nature. Originally associated with various Hindu assemblies, satsang is now commonly used in reference to modern nondual gatherings. Before attempting to describe more about satsang it might be useful to indicate what satsang is not.

 

Satsang is not philosophy, religion or theology

Satsang is not social gathering

Satsang is not about becoming better, smarter, or happier egos

Satsang is not about following rules

Satsang is not adopting new beliefs

Satsang is not about self improvement

Satsang is not therapy or healing

Satsang is not about psychic phenomena

Satsang is not about fixing the world

Satsang is not about immortality

 

The orientation of satsang might be summarized as follows:

 

Satsang is about pointing toward the truth of who and what you are

Satsang is about freedom from the prison of your egoic, conditioned thoughts and beliefs 

Satsang is about awakening to your true nature

Satsang is about oneness, or nonduality

Satsang is about awakening to your natural happiness, love, contentment, peace and beauty 

Satsang is about self knowledge, self realization, knowing yourself as true nature

Satsang is about ease and naturalness

Satsang is about realizing your freedom to be an expression of creation

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~ Dick

 

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