To Be In Satsang
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
We are grateful to Rupali Bhuva for offering this hand-made painting for this reading.
We meet here together to recognize the Truth that is eternal. To be in satsang means to be in association with Truth. In satsang you will ask “Who am I?” or “What am I?”, without any script or role, without the story about who you are. Our roles and stories are not what we are. Truth is who you are without your story or script, right now. Awakening is a radical shift in identity. You think you are you, but you are not. You are eternal being. The time to wake up is now. Not tomorrow. Now.
The blessing here is to be disarmed without any advantage, without any script. The mind itself is clueless when it is totally disarmed. “Me” is the actor that is acting out this up to now. We look and search, but we cannot find anything or anyone behind the “me.” There is only an empty echo. In this way when you let go more and more you will not find any actor behind the role. This is wordless experience of being. What you are is prior to your idea of you. Those who know who they are, are the ones that are awake without a script or a story.
Even an experience of awakeness can be claimed by the mind in order not to be further disarmed. So even the most sacred concept can be used as a subtle defence against the state of being, which cannot be fixated in a concept. “Who am I” is the living state of being that you always have been and are right now. You are not a human being, you are being appearing as human. The more you experientially enter the unknown, the more you become disarmed. Right in the middle of the unknowing there is a vivid radiant awakeness. By allowing the recognition of that awakeness in you, you can awaken as that.
The awakeness, which is in you, has an agenda of its own. It could not care less about your agendas. It is moving according to its own movement. So be grateful about it.
In these circumstances of being totally disarmed and letting go of all concepts and scripts, you might think that you benefited nothing from this awakening. It does not solve any problems. It does not get you anything. The important thing is that you no longer cared. In satsang one awakens to what one is eternally and one can have a true life.
Adyanshanti is a world-renowned meditation teacher. More about his awakening journey can be read here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does being in satsang mean to you? Can you share a personal story of a time you no longer cared about your agendas? What helps you experientially enter the unknown?