True Association (Satsang) Shanti Sethi

Any religious gathering or a learned assembly has come to be called Satsang these days. In such gatherings the learned give their discourses and the pundits (priests) read scriptures and recite from them. The Satsang of the Saints is different. The discourses of the erudite and the scholarly, the speeches of the theologian and the expositions of the commentators are not Satsang. According to the Saints, Satsang is the company of that enlightened being who has risen above the limitations of mind and its delusions, has got connected with the inner Sound and has merged in the Ultimate. Sat (Truth) stands for the Lord. Satsang, therefore, means company of the Lord Himself or of His form as manifest in Saints.

Sat also implies existence. It is, therefore, necessary that only the company of a living Saint be called Satsang. To dwell on the pictures of past Saints and on images and idols of gods and goddesses is not Satsang. A discourse on the history of ancient kings and monarchs is not Satsang. Nor is it the narration of mythical legends. There is no place in the Satsang of the Saints for slander and criticism. Their Satsang deals only with the praise of True Name and the means to achieve it. In other words, the emphasis is on spiritual practice. Talking of Satsang, Guru Nanak says:

"Where there is the teaching of Name and its exposition, that alone is Satsang."

© "Message Divine" by Shanti Sethi, published by Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh 143 204, Amritsar District, Punjab. Website: www.rssb.org. Reprinted with permission.

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