Satsang: Gather to Speak about Truth
Find others who share your aim to reach God-consciousness and gather together. I know this sounds daunting; it goes far beyond anything one could call an exercise. To commune with others involves commitment and a willingness to expose your deepest aspirations. It requires stepping out of conformity with society and finding souls you can align with, even if you have no other social ties.
Many seekers choose not to meet these challenges. They attempt to walk the path in isolation, feeling suspicious of religious movements and shy about exposing their vulnerability in public.
I think a great deal of this reluctance can be overcome by discarding the model of religion. To gather together on the path isnt the same as forming a sect. There is no need for dogma, prayer, ritual, priests, or official scripture. No one is to be elevated above the rest.
If the word spiritual connotes any or all of these negatives, you are conflating religious doctrine with spiritual growth. The two arent the same, and we have an undeniable need to gather together for spiritual purposes.
My instinct is to follow the model of Satsang, which is a simple gathering for the purpose of speaking about truth. In church, people are included if they conform to a body of rules and beliefs. In Satsang, anyone can attend who has a love of spirit; there are no obligations because there is no official organization with an agenda.
A Satsang can even be silent, or it can combine a period for meditation and a period for talking. In the form I prefer, one person is assigned to talk, another to comment, and then group discussion begins. There are no debates and rebuttals, no sermons, and no attempt to proselytize. The purpose is to let spirit expand, and words are useful only to that extent.
Adapted from The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).
