By listening repeatedly to discussions and discourses on [spiritual] topics, the path to first-hand knowledge of what has been heard gradually opens out. You know, it is as when water uninterruptedly dripping on a stone finally makes a hole in it, and then a flood may suddenly surge through. –Sri Anandamayi MA

Attending satsang–a talk or a discussion led by a spiritual teacher–is considered to be one of the fundamental practices within many Indian traditions. During satsang, the teacher talks informally on some topic or, as did Ananadamayi MA, answers questions.

Satsang is spontaneous and free-flowing. Just like life. You never know what might happen in a satsang. Satsang was the primary way in which teachers interacted with groups of people before Westerners invented “the workshop.” It still is among many, largely Indian teachers.

Satsang is usually translated as “in the company of the wise.” I prefer to translate it as “being in Reality together.” Any time we are in the presence of a true teacher, Reality is a little more available to us. The teacher’s state of being is a gateway to a freer, more present form of life. So, we spend some time together participating in life with more openness. This is satsang.

People recently have got the shaktipat bug. Everyone wants a special ritual (short, please) and some extraordinary “buzz.” Satsang is like taking a gentle, or sometimes not so gentle, bath in the state of the teacher. Satsang is transmission. This is why MA says that the path to first-hand knowledge of what is being said can open out as a result of attending satsang. In a transmission situation students are more open to being transformed by the shakti of words.

During satsang, people laugh, talk, cry, get angry, relax and, in the best situation, experience wonder and relief. For a time, people are relieved of the tension that maintaining a defensive posture against life entails. Even when satsang is over, we retain some of this experience, and slowly, slowly, the rock of our defensiveness is worn into sand.

Several of my teachers have used satsang as their main vehicle for communicating with students. These are modest people who simply show up at some pre-arranged place without any fanfare or special props and make themselves available to students. Sometimes they attract crowds; sometimes they don’t. But by teaching in this rather effortless, natural way, they demonstrate a great deal of trust in life. Whatever needs to happen in the moment–a comforting hand, a piece of advice, an initiation, the sharing of prasad, the explanation of a text, the giving of dakshina, or a wag of the Guru finger–all can be accomplished within this simple context.

In Matriseva,
Shambhavi

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