Principles of Spirituality

Path Of Guru's Grace (Gurukrupayoga)

One should conscientiously practice points A through D to be blessed by a Guru and all points excluding A for the constant bestowal of His grace. Once a Guru blesses one, point B is modified to, 'Chanting the Name imparted by the Guru' from, 'Chanting The Lord's Name'.

A.	Worship of the principle of the religion we are born into (or family deity - Kuladevata)
B.	Chanting The Lord's Name
C.	Satsang (holy company)
D.	Service of the Absolute Truth (satseva)
E.	Being blessed by a Guru (guruprapti) and service unto the Guru
F.	Sacrifice
G.	Spiritual love (priti) for others
H.	Mission after attaining Self-realization (dnyanottar karya)

Satsang (holy company)

Definition

Satsang means the ‘sang’ (Company) of ‘Sat’ (The Truth). ‘Sat’ stands for the God or Brahman principle. Thus, ‘satsang’ refers to a spiritual meeting, which is an environment conducive to experience God through spiritual practice.

The Bliss obtained through chanting The Lord's Name< is experienced automatically without chanting at a satsang (spiritual meeting). Such an experience is obtained at a spiritual level of 50% and above (on a scale of 1 to 100, a spiritual level of 20% depicts that of an average individual whereas 100% depicts that of one who has merged with God). Due to the cumulative sattva (purity) component of all the seekers at the satsang, everyone attending it is benefited, as his raja and tama attitudes begin to decrease gradually. It is much easier to experience Bliss by increasing one's sattva component through satsang, than through chanting alone. Hence, a seeker diligently attends satsangs as often as possible. If a spiritually evolved seeker conducts the satsang, it proves to be even more beneficial. Since the sattva component of an evolved person is higher, the frequencies of Bliss emanating from him are greater; consequently, other seekers in his presence experience more Bliss.
The following story illustrates the importance of satsang.

Once an argument took place between the Sages Vasishtha and Vishwamitra, on the relative superiority of Satsang and penance. Sage Vasishtha proclaimed satsang to be superior whereas Sage Vishwamitra was in favour of penance. To decide the winner of the debate, They went to God. The Lord said, "Only the divine serpent, Shesha will be able to settle the dispute". So, the duo went to Shesha. When they asked Shesha the question, He replied, "Please lighten the load of the earth on my head. Then I will think it over and answer your query". So, Vishwamitra made the following resolve, 'I offer the benefit acquired as a result of a thousand years of my penance, may the earth above Shesha's head shift a little'. Yet, the earth did not stir. Then Sage Vasishtha expressed His resolve, 'I now offer the benefit gained as a result of being in satsang (holy company) for half a ghatka (twelve minutes), may the earth lighten the load.' The earth immediately moved upwards.

Benefits of Satsang

Most people do not believe in Spirituality, its practice, etc. They either speak against it or ridicule its practice. As a result of this, the faith of a seeker in the initial stages may waver. Doubts in a seeker's mind are overcome as he attends satsangs regularly.
One of the benefits of group medical therapy is that competitiveness to recover faster develops among the patients undergoing therapy, leading to speedy recovery. Attending a satsang gives similar benefits to seekers.
Through discussion at the satsang, seekers gain useful practical information about the nature of obstacles faced by fellow seekers and their resolution. Seekers' doubts and misconceptions about Spirituality are also clarified at the satsang.
The proportion of the sattva (purity and knowledge) component is higher in seekers than that in the general population. The cumulative effect of the sattva component in all the seekers attending the satsang creates a sattvik environment. This further assists in increasing the proportion of the sattva component in the individual seeker.
The sattvik environment at the satsang results in improving the seeker's spiritual practice (chanting, meditation, etc.).
Sometimes, positive energies (deities) manifest around people with a sattvik temperament. Seekers attending satsang benefit from the presence of the positive energies, too.
Another benefit of being in satsang is the feeling one develops that the other attending seekers are his brethren. Hence, even the younger generation of seekers starts living amicably with the older generation of seekers, forgetting the generation gap between the young and the old. Eventually, from this very feeling of kinship towards other seekers, develops the concept that 'the entire universe is my home'.

Importance

In terms of spiritual progress, the total importance of chanting the Lord's Name with effort is 5% whereas that of attending satsang (being in holy company or the company of the Truth) is 30%.

A campfire made by one person can keep all those gathered around it warm. Likewise, a satsang spiritually nourishes all those that attend it. Just as air helps keep a fire burning, satsang encourages one to continue spiritual practice.

Types of satsang in the decreasing order of quality

Satsang with God.
Satsang with saints or a Guru.
Satsang with Evolved seekers.
Reading holy texts written by saints.
Visiting holy places, for example, a site of Mother Mary's apparition.
Visiting places of worship, for example, a church, temple, etc.
Attending spiritual discourses.

Satsang is the first step in collective spiritual practice.

(See Issue 18) Spiritual practice usually follows the following pattern:

Individual spiritual practice: Progresses from physical worship (ritualistic) to mental worship (chanting the Lord's Name).
Collective spiritual practice: Progresses from attending satsangs to performing satseva.

How long should one continue attending satsangs?

Until one is intellectually convinced to do (individual) spiritual practice.
Until one gets a Guru's grace.
Until one can start conducting his own satsangs as a part of the Guru's mission or as the next step in his spiritual practice.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

Seekers in the initial stages of spiritual practice (less than one year) can repeat The Name of the Lord as per their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for details).
Seekers who have been doing regular spiritual practice for over a year or so can determine the appropriate chant for them from the experiment given in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section.