06 Jan 2009
People take the word Satsanga[1] to mean a meeting of a few devotees who sit together and enquire about God and other aspects related to God. If all people who are born blind sit together and discuss about the sun, their conclusion is that the sun is black because they always experience darkness alone and do not see even a trace of light. They can never ever turn to the right direction in spite of intensive and very long discussions. If a person having eyes that are in good condition gets associated with them, then alone can they understand something about the sun. At least by his preaching, they can understand that the sun is not black. Of course, they cannot experience light even after his preaching. Hence, he will not speak about light at all. He can remove their ignorance but cannot impart the correct knowledge about the sun. Hence, Shirdi Baba said that preachers speak about ignorance and not about knowledge (Upadekshyanti te ajnaanam). For these blind people, the light is unimaginable because they have never experienced light since they are born blind. Similarly, people could never imagine the unimaginable God in the past and they can never imagine God even in the future. They will certainly conclude God to be some imaginable item in the world because they have experienced and imagined only worldly items in their lives. They cannot even think of the fact that God can never be imagined by humans and hence all the worldly imaginable items cannot be God. Such ignorant people will invariably conclude that God is some item that they have experienced in the world.
Some people imagine God to be all pervading power or energy because they were able to imagine power or energy. Some imagine God to be light and some imagine God to be a specific energetic form[2] existing in some upper world. Some imagine God to be self-awareness, which is nothing but nervous energy i.e., a specific form of work resulting from the conversion of the human body’s inert energy after entering the functioning nervous system. This generation of awareness (work-form) by converting inert energy through the nervous system is just like the inert electricity entering a grinding machine which is doing a specific work called grinding. All these imaginable items like power or energy, energetic forms, light or awareness are thought to be God because they are items of the world that are experienced by different people according to their differences in liking.
When these ignorant people come in contact with the Sadguru, who is God in human form, they will at least understand by His preaching that God is not any one of these imaginable items (Neti Neti…—Veda)[3] even though they will not be able to understand or imagine the real nature of God. The people who were born blind could at least understand that the sun is not dark by the preaching of a person with good eyesight even though they could not experience light. Similarly, these ignorant people by the preaching of Sadguru, can understand that God is not any imaginable item of the creation even though they can never experience the real nature of God (Andhenaiva…—Veda). The Satguru [Lord Krishna] in the Gita, preached to the ignorant people that no one knows God (Mam tu veda na kashchana…). He did not give any positive answer about God that explained the real nature of God. He only gave a negative answer about whatever is understood about God[4]. Similarly, the person with eyesight preaches to the born-blind people that the sun is not black. He will not preach to them that the sun is light because these born-blind people can never even imagine light. Since, the real nature of God is beyond space and as our intelligence and imagination can never go beyond the three-dimensional space, we can never imagine the real nature of God. Hence, regarding the real nature of absolute God, only a negative statement of denying whatever is known is the possible way of preaching. Therefore, the Vedas also gave only a negative answer by negating everything that is imaginable to us (Neti Neti…—Veda). The Vedas gave several statements about the reason for such an answer, which reveal that God is unattainable to words, mind, intelligence and logic.
The Most Important Step: Meeting the Sadguru
Therefore, Satsanga does not mean discussion about God by devotees because it will be just like the discussion of born-blind people about the sun. ‘Sat’ means Satguru or the absolute God in human form, who can alone explain about the unimaginable God, at least by negating whatever is so far experienced. ‘Sat’ means the absolute reality, which is nothing but absolute God (Parabrahman), who is unattainable by any one even through imagination. ‘Sanga’ means the attainment of that absolute God. This is self-contradicting because the unattainable God can never be attained. This contradiction can be removed because the absolute God mediated in a human form is only attained and not the absolute God[5]. The devotees only recognize the existence of the absolute God in the human form. They never recognize the real nature of God. Only the existence of God is experienced and not His real nature (Asteetyeva…—Veda). Therefore, even in the experience of the contemporary human incarnation of God, God still remains unimaginable. Here, you have attained the medium of God and not God directly. Therefore, God always remains unattainable. Thus, Satsanga means the attainment of the contemporary human incarnation of God, who will preach to you at least that God is not any item that is imaginable for human beings. He will at least make you experience the existence of the unimaginable nature of God so that you will say that God exists. This experience of unimaginable nature of God is called as the experience of absolute God (Brahmaanubhuti or Brahmajnana).
If you catch the Sadguru, you are moving in the right direction towards God. This is the real Satsanga, which leads you to salvation finally, without any effort. Catching the Satguru is like putting your foot on the first step of an escalator as said by Shankara (Satsangatve…). Attaining the Sadguru is the final step of your effort and Shankara stops by this step (Mahapurusha samshrayah). The power of the preaching of Sadguru is so excellent that it will lead you to decision and practice[6]. Practice (karma) must give fruit. This means that the attainment of the Sadguru will directly bring you the fruit since the intermediate steps, like hearing His knowledge, coming to a decision by the power of His knowledge, the decision leading to practice and the practice giving the result, are spontaneous.
[1] Satsanga literally means the association or company (sanga) of God or the Truth (Sat)
[2] An energetic form is a form made out of energy or light. Angels and gods in the upper world have such energetic forms instead of physical or material forms that are found on earth.
[3] “Neti Neti” in Sanskrit means “This is not God; That is not God”. This is a logical process which informs us that nothing in this creation (nothing that humans can imagine) is God. Thus the only inference is that God is beyond the imaginable creation i.e. God is unimaginable. This is an indication through negation. It does not reveal the true nature of God.
[4] The only knowledge we have about God is that He can never even be imagined i.e. He is unimaginable.
[5] Mediated God is God who has expressed Himself through a medium. The absolute unimaginable God uses the human body as a medium and enters it. This particular human being is called a human incarnation of God. This is mediated God. This form of God can be attained. We can approach the incarnation, learn from Him, love Him and serve Him.
[6] The culmination of the Sadguru’s excellent knowledge is a strong decision, conviction or determination. This conviction itself is devotion. It will automatically lead to the service (practice) of the Sadguru.
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