Satsang: Sat (truth), sang (company)
My first encounter with Satsang was by invitation around the year 1984 with a group dedicated to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Christ, Buddha and numerous other sages. I didn’t have an idea of what to expect or a reference point for this type of meeting. This first meeting was an initiation to the core wisdom of who I am. I knew I had fallen upon good fortune. I continue to cherish the tradition of Satsang and it has expanded my consciousness to include all of life. There is not a meeting, encounter or living thing that is outside of Satsang. The purpose of Satsang is to dissolve the imagined walls of separation. The fire of truth within each being ignites itself every time the truth is spoken. This has nothing to do with time, location, or character. Satsang supports truth telling, the deep recognition of who and what you are, and to let this light of discovery dissolve any barrier to being lived, not as an individual, yet as spirit blooming with impersonal love and wisdom.
Mahaprajnaparamita: Maha (great), prajna (wisdom), paramita (teaching)
The paramitas are spiritual teachings that are meant to take us over the sea of samsara (suffering) to the other shore of nirvana (bliss). The prajna paramita is the sixth teaching of liberation pointing to the wisdom of no other. This means that there is not a source of love and wisdom outside of yourself – you are the ground in which nirvana and samsara are one and the same – happening in you. Once this is directly understood, nothing else is needed, as this realization levels opposition. This is initiation of the bodhisattva vow.
From This By H. W. L. Poonja
Whatever comes let it come,
what stays let stay, what goes let go,
always Keep Quiet, and always adore Self.
This is the essence of living skillfully
in the world of appearance.
During all activities of life
always know that you are the Self.
The way to live a happy beautiful life
is to accept whatever comes
and not care about what does not come.
The true Teacher has no students,
all is Being and only Silence speaks.
The perfect Teacher has no teachings
because he knows that you are Free already.
So the true Teacher's non-teaching
is that there is no Teacher, no student, no teaching,
and that Nothing has ever existed.
This Teaching must be without words
and must land in your Heart.
If you try to understand, it will only land in your head.
Paraphrased from Words of Sri Anandamayi Ma:
A state of being exists where it is immaterial whether Brahman (God or Truth) assumes a form or not. What is, is That. In this case, what is there to express in words? At a certain level the Self may reveal itself to itself. At the same time, Brahman does not reveal himself at all: to whom is she to reveal herself? Where there are neither forms nor attributes, what is to be put into language? Where nothing is excluded, how can oneness be obstructed? Here nothing is seen as separate from what you are. What is, Is. So what can be said or left unsaid, since it is entirely beyond words!
In the realm of phenomena there is much differentiation, such as above and below, ascent and descent. If you speak of ascent and descent, it is implied that there must be a place to descend to. But where could you go? To yourself alone, of course. Ascending and descending are one and the same thing, and she who ascends, is she who descends, and the acts of ascending and descending are also yourself. Although you speak of divine descent, God does not become divided. You see fire flare up here and there, but this does not affect its unity; fire as fire is eternal. There is nothing whatsoever outside of that and you are That. From this point of view, ponder over this.
We inhabit the same ground
You pretend not to know me
I pretend not to know you
Neither of us can actually grasp
What is, we simply are
Still this talking happens
just like breathing
just like hearing
just like seeing
Forever more clearly into
The eyes of Love.
~ Prajna [more...]