Posted on: 22 Oct 2022
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Paadanamaskaaram Swami, please enlighten me about how an ideal and fruitful 'Satsang' should be? How many devotees can be involved? Should we take a sanskrit scripture as the reference and discuss our personal understanding about the concept? Or Should we take the spiritual discourses given by past human incarnations and discuss our understanding? Or Should we take the knowledge given by the contemporary human incarnation alone so that we can further clarify our understanding with contemporary Sadguru? If I am already convinced with the perspective given by a learned devotee in Satsang, is there a need to clarify it again with my Sadguru? I feel that I am unnecessarily disturbing my Sadguru with repeated questions but my Sadguru (Swami) alone can give the correct answer. Swami, could you please tell me when I should ask a question to You? Should I ask You before asking any other devotee? Should I ask You only if I am not convinced with the answers given by learned devotees? Please enlighten me.]
Swami replied: It is not the question of your satisfaction about the answer given by a devotee regarding a specific spiritual concept. Sometimes the satisfaction can be achieved by the consciousness contained and contaminated with worldly thoughts because the wrong answer given by the devotee is also in the same worldly plane and both frequencies may coincide. Suppose a devotee is very very fond of earning money, another devotee may advice that any sin can be done to earn money because money is the most fundamental necessity of worldly life. He may further say that even spiritual life is based on worldly life and hence, the earning of money by anyway is the most important to get the salvation as well. Since the receiving devotee is also very fond of money, this advice from another devotee may give perfect satisfaction. If you measure the accuracy of the concept based on your personal satisfaction alone, it is not a wise way. The accuracy of the concept is known when you discuss with several other learned devotees or with the Sadguru, if available. The personal conclusion is not valid as said by Shankara that the experience of two moons in the sky to the eyes of a person having defect in vision can’t be valid (netra taimirika doṣasya dvicandra darśanavat) even though that single person is fully satisfied and is really experiencing (because experience or anubhava is said to be the final authority). Here the experience of a single person is not the final authority because the same experience of several learned persons is considered to be the final authority (vidvad anubhava siddham). Hence, the final verification of the concept with a Sadguru or many learned scholars is necessary before coming to the correct conclusion.
Q. Please clarify that “association with a limited number of devotees is always the best”.
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, it is said in the Naarada Bhakti Sutrams that "He, who lives in solitude, uproots worldly bondages, goes beyond the three gunas [sattva, rajas, and tamas] and renounces the idea of obtaining the objects of the world or their preservation [crosses the ocean of delusion]" but in Datta Vedam, Swami said, "You should be neither alone (your mind jumps here and there when you are alone) nor should be with many people. Association with limited number of devotees is always the best." Please clarify this contradiction, Swami.]
Swami replied: The meaning of the word loneliness need not be complete absence of any second person. Very minor association of sugar with water is considered to be ordinary drinking water only and is not considered to be sugar syrup. Little of something else is always considered to be loneliness because only a lot of quantity of something else needs to be considered. Suppose you have gone to somebody with two or three ants moving on your shirt. You will say that you came alone and will not say that you are three in number along with the other two ants. Hence, a negligible number is always considered to be loneliness only. Moreover, the presence of promoting devotees is helpful in your spiritual progress. Due to this reason only, Shankara told that Satsanga is the starting step. He did not say that loneliness is the starting step. Even if more number of good devotees exist, it will only promote your spiritual progress. Even if one bad worldly person exists, the entire Satsanga is spoiled like a pot of milk mixed with a drop of poison. Hence, here the point is not about the number of people associated with you, the point is about the quality of the associated persons.