The literal meaning of Satsang according to Wikipedia is ‘Sat’ meaning Truth, and ‘Sang’ meaning Company, hence ‘Satsang’ can be translated as ‘Company with the highest truth’, or in Indian philosophy ‘Company with someone that has realised the highest truth’.
Throughout many years, especially during my twenties and early thirties whilst the work with my teachers took place, Satsang played an important part in my life. After that, by having gone through the void and gotten used to the pang of separation, the external Satsang somehow gradually internalised by channelling the longing caused by the separation with my teachers into more meditation practice and continuing the ‘work’ through conscious effort. Thus, this process that extended over a very long period of time allowed me to experience that the very same deep peace that used to penetrate throughout my whole being in the company of my teachers, does not necessarily require an external source, yet under the right circumstances and conditions, can be met and experienced within oneself as well, once a strong sounding ‘want’ had been established.
Hence, there are two different forms of Satsang we can come in contact with.
- External Satsang; which is a gathering of people that discuss, contemplate, meditate and assimilate teachings that transmit knowledge of the truth. This should preferably take place in the company of a teacher that has experienced parts or even the full scale of the truth, or at least possesses some knowledge and some experience of of truth the other members of the gathering don’t possess.
- Internal Satsang; which according to the teachings is a much higher form of Satsang were we rest within the dwelling of what we truly are in essence. The ancient schools and philosophies call this kind of communion with the truth in us ‘realisation of the self’, in non-dualism ‘non-self’, or in some Buddhist teachings ‘the unchanging nature’. In more contemporary approaches it is known as ‘self-remembering’, as well as ‘real ‘I’ or permanent ‘I’. In Christianity it is known as ‘salvation’, or ‘Christ consciousness’.
This gives rise to the question, why is external Satsang necessary?
Everything we know in life is acquired through external influences and incoming impressions. The knowledge of higher learning or any craft we study, is usually transmitted by a teacher or mentor. They are a living example of their craft or field of expertise and are usually highly experienced in imparting actual knowledge and how to transform it into personal experience. Their sheer presence is enough sometimes to induce a state of awe in us, and we value every moment we can spend in their company and absorb their depth of knowledge. And the same is true with teachers or facilitators that impart the knowledge of transformation.
Most of the knowledge embedded in the universal teachings needs to be told. This particular kind of knowledge reaches us from a different level of consciousness we do not posses in our ordinary state of mind. We can only truly understand and know a subject or a thing when we have risen onto a slightly higher level of understanding from which we not only understand and know about the different ‘parts’ that are keeping us on the level of multiplicity, but can get a glimpse of understanding of the whole, in which the different parts can be seen as a unity. Hence, as much as we can only understand the whole by understanding the parts, we only can understand the parts by knowing the whole, and the teacher possesses the tools and the knowhow we can then utilise, by putting things into action, which ultimately will get us there.
However, even a person that has received a substantial amount of higher knowledge and has applied it and practiced it for a long period of time, might not succeed and lose the acquired knowledge again without Satsang. The reason therefore is, that the ‘work’ and the teachings are easily forgotten due to the powerful influences and demands of life. Another regular occurrence is that our practice becomes mechanical and looses its meaning, due to the lack of new impressions and inspiration. For example, like we make sure to regularly participate in continuous professional development programs that are known as CPD’s, to be able to keep up with the newest developments and skills in our field of expertise, similarly we derive new inspiration and meaning through the impact of being in the company of people that by simply being in their presence, make us ‘remember to remember’ the real purpose of our inner journey.
So, unless we have developed enough strength and gravitas within ourselves (that is derived from the actual experience of the knowledge we have received, acquired and assimilated in whichever respective field of expertise we ‘work’), the great value of Satsang should not be underestimated.
Copyright © Alexander Filmer-Lorch January 2014 All Rights Reserved
