What is satsang?

"Out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field; 

I'll meet you there.

~ Rumi

☆ Tomas says this ~

Satsang is a kind of meeting in which people turn up to be with whoever is giving the meeting and to share that space in Truth, it's a meeting dedicated to this Absolute Truth. Depending on the slant the meeting takes which can be to do with the particular tradition or way of the Satsang giver or the whim of the moment, the meeting could take a variety of forms. If you came to Satsang with me you could expect there to be some speaking certainly, some questions & answers and lots of space given for silence. But Satsang is not a lecture or a debate, it can seem like it's just a talk but it's something else too. There's an idea that when someone wakes up they give Satsang and that consists of them turning up and speaking to a passive audience of people who are so glad to hear all this new found wisdom because they will have little or no idea about it. Perhaps that was the case in the past but it isn't any more, in any Satsang meeting these days there are likely to be some in the audience already fully awake and various others teetering on the edge of it, and almost no one completely clueless - perhaps no one on the planet is completely clueless!

True Satsang is a meeting in support of Awakening, for Awakening to arise not just in the time of the meeting but supporting any opening which is already happening for those that come. So, true Satsang requires as much from those that attend as from the one who gives and facilitates it. What makes the difference between a normal meeting and Satsang is the intention of Awakening with Presence anchored. The role of the Satsang giver is to be that anchor for Awareness which is what happens when someone awakens, Presence anchors itself. Without that anchor of Presence, which really is the holding of the space, there can be no Satsang, it would just be sitting in a group, maybe talking, maybe a debate. We are fortunate these days that even in a very small group there is likely to be a couple or more anchors for Presence in any Satsang – those who can hold that space because they are either already Awakened or beginning to open.

What happens in that anchoring of Presence is that grace can move; grace will move where there is an intention, which in Satsang is for Awakening. In that space, being in that anchored Presence, any question that comes will be answered by grace. Because that awake silence, which is Presence, is attentive whatever comes is noticed. It is really a creative space, the only place where true insight can come. If you work in any creative field at all you will already know this, I'm sure. Inspiration comes when you listen for it without trying too hard. An interesting thing is that grace also asks the question. When people sit in that anchored Presence the questions come in many forms, maybe in the form of words from someone who is in attendance, perhaps prompted by some fleeting event, traffic noise, anything. Whether it's a question from some one or simply speaking coming from the Satsang giver, it seems to bubble up out of nowhere and often there are several in the room who seem to be noticing the same question coming up. It's very evident that there's a common field of Stillness in the room and that whatever is needing to come up does so that everyone gets the benefit of both the question and the answer. The form of the answer is often an insight appearing from nowhere too, and often also just silence, the kind of silence which speaks volumes.

☆ Moni says this ~

Satsang is the name of a meeting where the focus of the meeting is on true nature, our essential essence. Satsang is an ancient sanskrit word comprised of two words. 'Sat' means Being. 'Sang' means 'in the company of'. It comes from sangha, which is a spiritual community. Satsang is a gathering of Being. That's what our true nature is. Beingness. Stillness. Consciousness. We gather together as our true self, our formless essence.

Satsang is a celebration of being. It's a feast. We deeply explore this that we are. The beingness. We feast on this essence. We give our complete and undivided attention to our formlessness self. This is what makes satsang so radical and transformative. Rather than focusing on the forms, the things that come and go, (which is what most of the world focuses on), we focus on what is always here, the constant. Beingness. We prove a Law of the Universe that says, what you focus on expands. Focus on formlessness and experience what happens. That is the experiment of satsang and the invitation. Focus on true nature. Then we experience the results. 

Just like everything else, satsang is an energy field. It's a live being. Unrehearsed. Unscripted. It's one with the flow of all Life. Not separate. Very potent. Very powerful. It holds a strong intention. It offers the possibility of a complete rest. A rest from living in time, from living in the thinking mind, from living as a separate one. It offers the possibility of a shift. A shift in perspective.  A shift in consciousness. The shift out of the ideas of what we think are or thought we are, or who we've been told that we are. The shift out of what we are not. It offers a shift into reality. Reality where there is peace and joy and love for no reason at all. Uncaused. Unconditional. 

It is very joyful to simply be together. To hold the space together. Being the space. Being consciousness of being. Stopping. Being still. Listening. Listening deeply. Listening to the true voice. The voice of wisdom, of knowing. Obeying. In obedience to the meeting, to why we were called together, to the formless One. Then we can truly be here in service. In service to each other. In service to the One. We can truly attend to whatever arises. We can give it the space to be. We have this ability. The capacity. We know ourselves as the space. The stillness. The beingness. The warmhearted expression.

There is only one reason why we meet. That is: to be our true self. To be conscious of who we truly are. That's the intention of satsang. We don't meet to get rid of things (thoughts, emotions, body things [aches, pains, discomforts], the mind, the ego) or to stop things (thoughts, the mind, the world) or to solve problems or to try to achieve certain states of consciousness. We meet to be conscious of the consciousness that is already here. Here right now. Not needing anything. Not needing anything to be different. In the midst of what's happening, here we are. The still conscious space. Conscious of being. Any answers that are needed, they appear. They come from the stillness, from the space. As does the creativity, the insights, the inspirations, the knowings, the revelations, the miracles.

Satsang is the space. The space to gather together and be. Be at home in the heart. It's not therapy or a social event or a networking event or a dating service. In satsang there is space. Space for being. Space for doing nothing (in the truest sense of doing nothing in the head). Space for true speaking, sharing, enquiring. Space for truly meeting. Space for silence. Gaps of silence. Not needing to fill up the space with useless thinking or useless speaking. Space for listening. And for being listened to. Space to honour the space, the essence, the One. Space to enjoy being. Resting here and enjoying. Enjoying the stillness that we are. Not the stillness that we'll be one day. The stillness that is, right now. 

Satsang offers possibilities. As an experiment, the results depend on one's intention, one's priority, on what's most important, on where the focus is. Hold a strong intention for coming to satsang, for being in satsang and get good results. The results can be more space, more stillness, more joy, more clarity, more peace, more love, a deeper resting, a deeper recognition of who we are. We claim our birthright (what we came here for) as a fully (100%) conscious human being. 100%.