Loving Ganesha: Chapter 19 (section 4) - Singing to Ganesha--Ganesha Bhajanam

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font-family:Arial">Namaste all,

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>From http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/lg/lg_ch-19.html,

the fourth section of chapter 19; discussing the greatness and importance of satsanga.

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12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Om Shanti

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font-weight:bold">Association with Other Devotees

One of

the great benefits to be derived from bhajana is the association with

other devotees, others of your religion who believe as you do and whose

strength is added to your own. This is known as satsanga

italic">. Satsanga is the traditional

meeting of Hindu Truth-seekers, gathered often to read from scripture or to

receive upadesha

from a swami or their own satguru. The company of good men and women who

themselves exemplify the Hindu ideals, who are striving, who are devout and

virtuous, is to be sought after. Such association will immeasurably enhance

your own efforts.

It is

very important in the world today that Hindu people gather together and express

themselves in a religious way.

italic">Satsanga groups are formed all over the world

wherever Hindus are found. The greatness of Hinduism lies in its diversity, and

this diversity is also its greatest strength. This applies to the religion as a

whole as well as to various groups within it. No single satsanga group will be quite like another,

yet those within it must be in agreement on at least the major points of the

philosophy that it represents.

When you

join a satsanga

group, this becomes your religious experience and focus. It is different from

the experience of worship in the temple, and it is different from private

meditation and devotions in your home shrine. When you go to worship in the

temple, you are there alone even though others may be present. It is a most

sacred and individual experience, a time set aside for communion with your

personal Deity. Within the satsanga

group, however, within that kind of sanga

italic">, you are sharing your devotion with others. You temporarily

set aside your own mind, your karma, for a period of time and work your mind

within the context of the group, which is the combined mind or karma of those

present. This by no means should be taken to be a total involvement or

entangling of the various karmas, but is a temporary combining or merging of

karmas for those few hours each week when the satsanga meets together.

I have

often said that the individual helps the group and the group helps the

individual. This is to be clearly seen in the working of group devotions and

chanting in satsanga

groups. We are inspired, lifted above our personal concerns and able to give

our thoughts entirely to the high purposes of the satsanga

italic">; and with everyone present doing this, a dynamic vibration

is created, an environment that is conducive to further progress on the

spiritual path.

font-weight:bold">Sharing Individual Karmas

There are

many religious groups throughout the world sharing the same philosophy and

beliefs, chanting the same bhajanas

and meeting together regularly. Some of these groups are productive, while

others are unproductive. The actual results which manifest as a consequence of

the gathering of a satsanga

group are totally dependent upon the combined karma of the group as a whole.

The one

mind of the group is made up of both the positive and negative karmas of each

member. This does not mean that if a group is unproductive or unhappy that

certain members should be singled out and sent away, for that would only serve

to create yet a greater unseemly karma for the outcast as well as for the group

that inadvisedly cast him out. Rather this indicates

that the group must perform a deeper sadhana,

a greater disciplined effort, that it must make a special effort to feel

inwardly the meaning of the words as they are chanted and be in tune with the

extraterrestrial vibratory rate of the devonic world.

The group may also ponder whether the social period is excessively long,

whether too much emphasis is being placed on the foods being served and whether

one or more members are bringing their personal karmic implications and

involvements into the group rather than taking these matters to the feet of the

Lord. Above all, the group should realize that a problem exists within the mind

of the group, which is no particular individual's fault or problem. It is

simply an effect of accumulated and combined karmas of the entire membership

and must be faced in this impersonal way.

A

productive group is also a harmonious group, a useful group. Its members will

want to distribute religious literature as a natural overflow of the energies

that well up from within them during the satsanga

italic">. They will want to give food to the hungry. They will not

be able to neglect the needy. They will naturally want to host a Hindu family

newly arrived in their community, to visit Hindus in the hospital, to write

letters for them, talk to them and see that they are properly cared for. There

are so many practical things that a satsanga group can and should

involve itself with, but this is possible only when all members are of a one

mind, a one harmony.

If the

group is an unproductive group, it will be found to be a group that is

inharmonious and argumentative, one in which the asuric forces are perhaps more

prevalent than the devonic

forces. This must be dealt with positively, not run away from or avoided. If asuric forces

have penetrated the group, it is best to chant sitting in a circle, thereby

creating enough magnetism to lift the consciousness of the entire satsanga

simultaneously. If the group is a harmonious group, then all may sit, as at

traditional Hindu gatherings, with the women on one side of the room and the

men on the other. It is always preferable to sit on the floor, for that

releases certain forces from within the body that can greatly enhance the

spiritual life of man. When we worship in a temple, we receive individual

attention from the great beings of the Second and Third Worlds. That is our

time for personal communication with the inner worlds, with the inner realms of

our own being. But satsanga

is different, and that difference should be realized by all present. It is a

group religious experience. It enhances both the personal karma of every member

as well as the collective karma of the one mind which is the sanga itself.

I urge

each satsanga

group to look sincerely into its productivity and to seek creative ways that it

can be useful to its members and to the community in which it lives. It is

important that we use our energies well, that we do not waste energy, do not

waste our lives. Satsanga

groups can search out ways to help the many thousands of Hindus who have

migrated from the

13.5pt">Holy Land to all parts of the world and would benefit from a

kind word and a compassionate smile.

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font-family:Arial">Loving Ganesha by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

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font-family:Arial">Web sites: http://www.hindu.org/

& http://www.himalayanacademy.com/

email: contact (AT) hindu (DOT) org

Himalayan Academy

Kauai's Hindu Monastery

Arial">107 Kaholalele Road

Kapaa, HI 96746-9304

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