Glory of Satsang – The Divine Life Society

Sri Swami Sivananda

This article is a chapter from the book Siva’s Doon Lectures.

Speech at the Gita Mandir Dehra Dun, on 7th March, 1954

This is a dream within a dream. They say that the world itself is a long dream. This is a dream within a dream. My health does not permit me to tour about. I like to go about; I like to work. I want to do intense work. But my present health does not permit this kind of touring work. Yet remaining in my Kutir in Rishikesh, I try to do very good work. I am very fond of selfless service. I wish to tour throughout the world. Nowadays the physical condition compels me to confine myself to my room. However, through correspondence and at heart, I am in touch with the whole world.

I did not know that I was coming here. My disciples cheated me. They said: let us go to the Leper Colony in Rishikesh. I like to go and meet sick people. So I agreed. Then I found that they had arranged for a Prabhat Pheri. I like Kirtan. So I joined them. Kirtan is a very good tonic; it is the best Makaradhwaja and Chyavanprash. In this Kali Yuga the Lord’s Name is our sole refuge. To destroy all your old sins, the old Vasanas, a single repetition of the Lord’s Name, of Ram-Nam, is enough. But, because there is a great accumulation of evil Vasanas, it requires a great number of repetitions of the Lord’s Name in order to attain perfect purity of mind and heart.

I visited the Leper Colony. I think that social workers and leaders should frequently visit these places and acquaint themselves with what is going on there, what sort of arrangements are made for the lepers, for their comforts and treatment and what they need. When we go there, we can find out their grievances, and the authorities also take more interest in their welfare.

Then we went to the Vishwanath Bagh. From there we went to the Shivalaya. Then suddenly I found myself in the Gita Mandir!

I am very happy to be in your midst. Sohanlalji has invited me to the Gita Mandir several times. But I was pleasantly surprised to see Sohanlalji and others come towards the car with garlands! I did not know who informed the people of Dehra Dun that I was coming! But I am glad that I have this opportunity of serving you all. This opportunity has been granted to me by my senior most disciple and now the great “cheat” Sri Swami Paramanandaji! God is the greatest cheat! He is One, but appears to be many. He is all Ananda, but has projected out of Himself this universe of birth, death and misery.

Let us all repeat Ram-Nam. Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Rama Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram. Even during work, go on repeating Ram-Nam. It is a great tonic. It will destroy the Pancha-Kleshas; Avidya, Asmita, Raga-Dwesha and Abhinivesha. There is a great power hidden in Ram-Nam. It will bestow bliss upon you. Do and experience it yourself!

Just as in order to derive the maximum benefit from a medicine you are taking, you have to observe some dietetic restrictions also; so also, if you are to derive the maximum benefit out of Japa and Kirtan, you should side by side observe some Niyamas. You should never utter falsehood. You should not become angry. Purification of the heart is necessary in order to get quick results from Japa and Kirtan.

Sri Sohanlalji is a great Kirtanist. Perhaps you think that we belong to that great association known as the Mutual Admiration Society: he sang songs in my praise, and now I glorify him! But, no! I know him from the days when he was at Rawalpindi. He does wonderful Kirtan. He has also composed many songs. He had a great desire to construct a Gita Mandir; and it has sprung up here!

This is a great need of the hour. Many people can gather together. When people join together and sing the Lord’s Name and pray, a great spiritual force is generated. That is the glory of Satsang. If you shut yourself up in your room and do Japa and meditation, you may not progress so fast; if you form a small Satsang group and all of you do Japa together and meditate together, the spiritual force generated will help you all. You will make rapid and wonderful progress. When you attend a Satsang, you will forget the worries of the world. You are in an entirely different atmosphere.

It is Satsang alone that can transform man in these days. Sublime ideas must be constantly dinned into the ears of man. Then only will his heart be transformed. Pundit Thakur Duttji said during the course of his speech at the Parliament of Religions that nowadays there is such dishonesty in business that every article is adulterated. Adulteration of foodstuffs is rampant everywhere. Man is selfish and has no sense of duty. At the moment of death, your conscience will prick you. You will have no peace of mind either now or at the time of death or ever afterwards. Dishonesty kills your conscience; it is worse than Atma-Hatya. It is like killing yourself. Be honest. Have a pure heart, clean mind and clear conscience. Even if you are poor, you will be happy. If you are honest, the whole wealth of the world will belong to you. A man is not rich because he has a lot of money in the bank; only that man is really rich whose heart is rich. Each virtue is worth more than a crore of rupees. Cultivate a charitable heart. You are spending a lot of money on the clothes for your wife and children; give plenty of money in charity, for the construction of temples and Satsang Bhavans! They are great assets for the whole world. Through your charity, there must be a Gita Bhavan in every town, in every Mohalla. What a wonderful thing it will be! There will be Satsang everywhere. In those Satsangs people will learn of Dharma. They will be transformed. The entire society will be transformed. Sublime ideas and ideals will enter the hearts of people. Dishonesty will disappear. Dharma will reign supreme. People will become ‘Sarvabhutahite ratah’(devoted to the welfare of all beings), feeling that the entire world is one family.

One life, one consciousness, one Self, dwells in all; just as one sun and one moon shine over the whole world. But the power of Maya shows everything as different. The scavenger and the cobbler are your own Self. It is Maya that makes you feel “This man is inferior and the other man is superior.” Vedanta speaks of unity. All are one. This truth has to permeate your entire being. That can be done only through Satsang.

You should constantly hear and dwell upon such sublime ideals. Some Vedantic students go about saying, “there is no world in the three periods of time.” But, if there is a little less salt in their dal or less sugar in their milk, they would be upset. This lip-Vedanta will not do. You have to be practical Vedantins. You can become practical Vedantins only through constant Satsang.

You must learn the principles of real life, through Satsang. Real life is living for others. You beautify yourself by wearing diamond rings and Banares Sarees. Is there beauty in diamond rings and Banares Sarees? Seva-Bhav, charity, is a real diamond! You dress yourself nicely and see yourself in a mirror a thousand times; does that give you beauty? Beauty is within. Infinite beauty dwells in the chambers of your heart.

Jyotishaamapi tajjyotistamasah paramuchyate
Jnaanam jneyam jnaanagamyam hridi sarvasya vishthitam
(B.G.13/17)

(That, the Light of all lights, is said to be beyond darkness: knowledge, the knowable and the goal of knowledge, seated in the hearts of all.)

You spend all your time in beautifying this body! In the morning you have a shave. In the evening you have another shave. This is all waste of precious time, precious life. You must learn to utilise time properly, through Satsang.

Love all. Embrace all. Be kind to all. Help the down trodden brothers. Instead of having six or seven shirts for yourself, give a shirt to the poor man. Thus only can you evolve. Thus only can you realise the Atma which is the One Self that dwells in all.

Serve Sohanlalji. Don’t try to find faults in him. He is nearer to God than many others, for he sings the Lord’s Names. Whatever his state may be, he who recites the Names of the Lord becomes pure very quickly; his heart is purified very quickly. He is close to God. All people will not be able to understand his sublime divine nature. Try to see good in everybody. Do not develop the Dosha Drishti, faultfinding nature. Your evil mind, your lower nature, will try to ignore the good qualities that are in a man and try to see only his defects. You will have to cultivate the eye of discrimination. Position, a little wealth and a few titles intensify your egoism and thicken the veil of ignorance. A little education and position give you two annas of egoism; cultivate the eye of discrimination! Human nature is such that man tries to see only defects in others. You will even superimpose evil upon persons in whom such evil qualities do not exist. Through Satsang and study, you will have to eradicate this nature; you will have to cultivate the habit of seeing only good in others. Then only you will be able to unite with all, and you will be able to recognise the goodness in all. You won’t have hatred, etc. You will have to cultivate this habit through Satsang.

What spiritual benefit you cannot get in five years of study, you can have in one Satsang. You have experienced it now. I am not deceiving you. You actually feel it: Aparoksha Anubhuti. When you sing Kirtan here, you have forgotten the world. What made you forget the world and rise above body-consciousness? It is Kirtan of Lord’s Name, it is Satsang.

Only in Satsang will you be vigilant. You will enter into Bhav-Samadhi here. But when you attempt to do Japa in your own room, you will get another kind of Samadhi—deep sleep! One man wanted to know the easiest way of controlling and annihilating the mind. The preceptor said: “Take rice and sour curd to your bellyful. Lie down on a good bed, soft and comfortable. Have good pillows for your head and feet. Relax. Breathe deeply. You will go beyond the mind.” That is deep sleep. That is what you will get if you sit alone in your room and try to do Japa and meditation. When you are in Satsang, you are vigilant; and you get the help of the spiritual vibrations of the entire gathering.