Satsang. What is that? It is the slim passage-way connecting the courtyard with the main hall, the passage way of Thirukkovalur. Space for one to sleep, two to sit and converse, three to stand and chant. May be the fourth, the Divine Couple may join. It is the space of consciousness. When devotees gather, divine presence has already arrived. The first gate of spirituality is satsang. Measuring its greatness is futile. Sri Adisankara sings : By satsang all other connections snap; when the mind is devoid of worldly contacts delusion stops. When no illusion is there, Reality shines. When Reality is full and bright it is Liberation even in one's own life.
Satsang has the ability to fetch the Beyond back over here. Satsang is the Krishna's feet on the heads of our Ahankara, the dreadful Kaliya. Satsang opens the sealed cover over our inner eyes. May be we can understand the greatness of Prema, the Divine Love then. or we can understand the power of Divine Name or perhaps see the divine reality hidden from our domestic banal eyes. Puri Jagannath, the rice prasad of which is called mahaprasad, is such a great place for Sri Ramakrishna. For us may be another tourist spot. But the sage of Dakshineswar saw the two brothers of Krishna Consciousness, viz., Gauranga Nityananda, dancing, singing Krishna when he visited the place. May be when we visit, we see the monkey over there at work in breaking a shell against a hard stone. At the most we will like to see the Beyond as only an extension of our well familiar daily life, drawn with a big brush. But the secret is the reverse. It is learning to see our domestic daily as derivation of the Beyond. Perhaps satsang is a good way to hiss a clue over to that secret if we care enough to pay heed.
A poet sings in Tamil :
Let the blossoms bloom and open
Let the time of dawn come at last
Let the divine petals of thine eyes be graceful
Yea such moments are inevitable when the time comes. Perhaps satsang quickens such a moment who knows!
Srirangam Mohanarangan
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