If you are near a spiritually oriented person, you are in satsaḿga. Satsaḿga means "good company" — a powerful practice that gives a strong push at the beginning of the spiritual path.
If you are near a spiritually oriented person, you are in satsaḿga. "Satsaḿga" means "good company," and it is a very powerful practice that gives a strong push to one's growth at the beginning of the spiritual path.
Sátsaungena bhavenmuktih asatsaungeśu bandhanam. >If you keep the company of good people, it leads to liberation, whereas the company of immoral people leads to still greater bondage.
Let us look at the term "satsaḿga" more deeply. "Sat" means "eternity" — that which does not change. "Saḿga" means "to be in union with the eternal."
Satsaḿga can be external, which means conversations between people about divine things. Conversations about courage, nobility, creativity can be called divine. Humanity, kindness — all this is divine. How can one live one's life to the fullest, with the greatest benefit? Conversations about the great personalities of the past in the field of spirituality, about successful, progressive social figures and entrepreneurs, are important. Studying their lives through outer communication, you learn from them, make contact with the eternal, and think about your own higher purpose. And then comes the understanding: we need to move forward toward great goals, toward fulfilling a great mission.
Everyday chatter, gossip about who quarreled, who had a baby, who got married — this is asatsaḿga, that is, association with degenerating people. In this case our energy is destroyed as the mind sinks into the stale world of pettiness.
The second kind of satsaḿga is internal. It is a connection with the Supreme, when you remind yourself of great ideals. As you repeat a A sound or set of sounds that, repeated with its meaning in mind, carries the mind toward the Infinite., the soul opens up — this is internal satsaḿga.
How to find yourself in satsaḿga
Satsaḿga can be found through reading spiritual literature, coming into contact with the ideas of a realized master. The most important internal satsaḿga is meditating together. The practitioners concentrate on one lofty idea; their energies join together and resonate. This is the very best satsaḿga. Usually, after group meditation there are spiritual talks that consolidate the elevated state of mind.
It is very important to try to see the divine in everything, even when it seems there is nothing divine in it. If you change your mental attitude and see the divine in every person, you will find yourself in satsaḿga.
But if you are not able to do this, you will not find satsaḿga anywhere, because you will always be dissatisfied with something and will find something to pick on. You have a very good, pure, powerful source of satsaḿga, but you cut off your own access to it with your ego, your pride, and your judgment.
What kind of person is worthy of satsaḿga? One who is inwardly grateful. For example, you are in satsaḿga with a fellow traveler on the spiritual path. Like all of us, this person is imperfect, but you are very grateful to them for striving to support you. You think: "I am grateful to you for the spiritual path, for inspiring me; you make efforts, and sometimes things don't work out for you, but even the way you fall and then get up again inspires me." Such a grateful thought is very important.
Try every day to dwell in the rays of external and internal satsaḿga. This will change your life qualitatively, and happiness and well-being will come into it.