JOIN USA seeker, perplexed by the unprecedented circumstances prevailing due to the pandemic wrote, “what is the use of satsang? People are dying due to inadequate medical infrastructure. Does satsang help us any which way in overcoming the problems we are facing now?” Her question mirrored how unstable and shaken youngsters are feeling in the current circumstances. It was also a reflection on the common perception that people have about satsang. I replied, “Satsang does what it is. It keeps us with the truth.
Moreover, the solution to any problem begins by knowing its true nature and shouldering our share of responsibility in solving it truthfully.” She was not amused. That stirred my mind. Was she looking for some peppy story or high sounding words with sprinkled quotes from exotic thinkers instead of a solution? Was she really looking for satsang?
Unfortunately, people equate spiritual gurus to motivational speakers while they are as different as chalk and cheese. But how has this perception come into being in society? Has it come because some spiritual gurus have reduced discourses to motivational speeches or even to entertainment? Who is responsible for this adulteration? The idea behind asking this question is to remind ourselves of the responsibility of spiritual discourses. The purpose is to provoke ourselves to ask this question instead of blaming others. Therefore, ‘how to correct it’ becomes the more important question.
First of all, the field of spirituality should not be confused with the field of psychology. Psychology limits itself to the study of the mind. Psychology does not acknowledge the existence of any other higher field of consciousness than the mind. While spirituality asserts, acknowledges and reiterates the existence of four fields (stages) of consciousness: the body, the mind, the self and the soul, respectively. Satsang aims to realise the truth and become one with it. Interestingly, inspired by the data which emerged from number of case studies, some psychologists began to study para normal phenomena like extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis and out of body experiences and named it para-psychology. Para-psychology may be seen as the twilight zone between psychology and spirituality.