The power of satsang

At a weekend retreat, our spiritual Guru spoke eloquently from his own experience about the deep divine knowledge drawn from his study of our shastras. He demonstrated this through his erudite teachings that he had received from his Guru in an august lineage and convincingly answered all queries from the interested audience. 

Our Guru, firmly entrenched in the Ultimate Truth, has always found it easy to guide others in the right manner, even in navigating the matters of everyday life. He has completely disassociated from the worldly pleasures to derive that everlasting inner peace by being with his own self that is evident in his demeanour.

It was at this satsang that a deep connected feeling sprung inside me. A feeling that did not waver even once during the satsang where it felt the world outside stood still and time and space had ceased to exist. Is there anything better than the company of like-minded people at a satsang guided by a saint? 

When you and I, seeking to understand the Truth in a spiritual path, partake in a satsang, the aura or such high energy fields will help calm the mind. A calm mind can think better to comprehend that outside pleasures are but fleeting and it is the infusion of Ananda that makes one cherish the satsang. However, shastras say that Ananda is one’s own nature.

The ‘sat’ aspect of Atman is the ‘Is-ness’ or ‘Being-ness’ that we live every nano-second and is experienced as ‘truth’ where the calmness is palpable and heard. The ‘sang’ is that act of singing the Bhajans, the hymns, the shlokas and discussions that extol the divinity of the God, in and around us.

This formed the crux of this satsang and a key takeaway for me.

Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya has stated that satsang is the boat that helps us to navigate the turbulent waters of samsara.

We get a clear understanding of the Ultimate Truth and the benefits of abiding in the same. A constant adherence will further that this universe including this body is nothing, but an illusion perceived by the five senses.

If we replicate this feeling even after the Satsang, then the divineness would be everlasting. Am I glad that this enabled me too to experience ‘Ananda’ in this satsang?!