Satsang

Satsang: The spiritual practice of being in the presence of someone who has realized the Self. Association with truth (Sanskrit सत्सङ्ग sat = true, sanga = company)

Mahakavi Jainacharya Gyansagar

Now what is truth or Self cannot be explained by words, and anything that is said about the truth or the Self is not true. Any knowledge about it is a contradiction in the mind. Talking about it is only a play of light (at best, satsang can show you who you are not — something known as Neti-Neti). Only in silence is the real truth revealed. That is why our satsangs have almost no teachings and are mostly in silence, as the Self lies in the emptiness of knowledge and the dissolvement of who you think you are.

Realizations come no matter what teachings are given or not. Realizations are beyond the mind and will take place whenever they have to take place. However, if the mind does not know what to do or if you really want a teaching to hold on to, you can remember this:

If this is not enough and you want to know more, you only have to read one book on the subject. No other books are required or needed or even useful after reading this book. It is called Silence of the Heart by Robert Adams. It is the start and the end of what satsang and darshan are all about.

Silence of the Heart has at its core the meditation practice called Self-inquiry.

Ramana Maharshi

Beginners in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana Maharshi to put their attention on the inner feeling of ‘I’ and to hold that feeling as long as possible. They would be told that if their attention was distracted by other thoughts, they should revert to awareness of the ‘I’-thought whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered...

The 3 Main Inquiries

1) Who am I? When you meditate on "who am I?", you will find that all you can feel, experience, and sense as you will dissolve and you will end in silence...

2) Emotions and Karma: When you meditate on all emotions, stresses, and karma, you realize that everything is pure universal consciousness...

3) Desires and Love: Meditate on desires and resistances, and you will find love at its core. Meditate on love, and you find yourself as life itself...

Darshan

Darshan in simple terms is the act of merging someone’s mind with the divine or emptiness by looking into the eyes of an enlightened person, thereby releasing all stress encountered until nothing remains—including the feeling of “I.” It can be received via an image or sculpture of an enlightened master from the past or directly in live darshans around the world.

Stress comes in many forms, such as emotions, problems, desires, out-of-ethics habits, or traumas. It is all stuck energy that remains in place until fully experienced. It can even persist after the body dies, which explains why some people recall past lives. At its core, stress is identified as YOU—"I am afraid," "I want this, not that," "I feel guilty," "I feel shy," and so on.

Here you can see how darshan is directly related to satsang, even though they are entirely different. Both work hand in hand to release stress, bringing you back to your true self. All effective healing methods are based on releasing stress. The more precise and faster the method, the more effective it is. In our search, darshan has proven to be the best and fastest method. That is why we have dedicated our website to connecting seekers with various darshan masters, alive or not.

Darshan is not the only method to release stress. Tantra (stress release through sex), when practiced correctly, is also effective and can lead to the Self. Other energy work practices, such as Reiki, shamanism, qigong, or reconnection, also focus on stress release. Once stress is released, it is experienced as energy flow or channels opening, hence the term "energy work."

The main channel connecting all others is called the sushumna, which runs vertically through the spine and beyond. Darshan aims to open this channel, as it is the most effective for releasing stress. This opening is referred to as kundalini awakening. We have dedicated a complete webpage to this awakening as it is a vast subject.

There is a great quote from Osho about satsang:

Meister Eckhart was once sitting alone in a grove of trees. A friend passing by saw him and said, “I saw you sitting all alone and thought I would keep you company.” Eckhart replied, “I was with myself, but now that you’ve come, I am all alone.”

Are you ever in your own company like this? This is satsang. This is prayer. This is meditation. When I am alone within myself, with no thought of anyone else, I am in the company of my Self. In that solitude, pure being and truth are realized, for in your innermost being, you are that truth.

-Osho