From a satsang with Pt. Dr. Umesh Persad, Spiritual Leader, SWAHA Gyaan Deepak Kirtan Mandali
Aadi Shankara, the renowned Indian philosopher, deciphers the world, its changing and impermanent nature and asks, if these things do not last, could they provide us with permanent happiness or peace? He advises that we should seek Govind, the Supreme Consciousness. He says that our intellects are deluded and that we are foolish because we are ignorant of who we truly are. He teaches, just as the Ramayan does, that we should engage in satsang, that is, we should seek the company of good and holy people. From this, we will develop the quality of non-attachment and then freedom from delusion, which will lead to self-settledness. That will lead to jivan mukhti or liberation.
We may be happy in life but some circumstance occurs that brings us pain or suffering. When we experience suffering or sickness, we begin to question, why is this happening to us? We wonder what we should do to extricate ourselves from such situations. Often, we need the assistance of others if we are suffering. When there is sickness, we go to a medical doctor; if there is concern about a personal situation, we go to the scriptures or our guru. The starting point, according to Aadi Shankara, is satsang or ‘true association’ with the wise ones who have both spiritual and intellectual knowledge, gyaan.
There are three requirements for beginning spiritual life:
- A guru or spiritual preceptor who has both the knowledge and the experience of spirituality
- Scriptures, which we should try to read on a daily basis
- The inner guru, our own intellect, which must be developed.
These three work together so that as devotees, we can advance along the spiritual path. Satsang is the environment in which we put ourselves. If we live surrounded by people who are more experienced and better than ourselves, they will pull us up to their level of spirituality. If we cannot associate with holy ones in person, as is happening in these present times, we must read the scriptures.
Good association then leads to non-attachment. Attachment is the root cause of all our problems in life because we think that something or someone in this world will make us happy. Such attachment leads to an expectation or desire. If desires are fulfilled, we want more; if we do not get what we want, we become angry and a whole host of negative emotions arise. This is how we live our entire lives. Enjoying the things of the world is fine; however, we must realise that they do not provide that lasting happiness and peace that we seek. It is not something that must be acquired or obtained; instead, it is our natural state that we must uncover. We must learn to become non-attached mentally to possessions and relationships; we can then enjoy the world without craving the things of the world.
Having realised non-attachment, this leads us to freedom from delusion and then self-settledness. In this state, whatever negativity happens, we will remain unperturbed in our mind and emotions. After that, we achieve liberation, which means living in the world without being attached to anything in it. Then, we are totally free and enlightened.
