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(Vachanamrut Sarangpur 15: Obstinate, Mediocre and Mature Gopis)
Extract:
On Bhādarvā sudi 4, Samvat 1877 [11 September 1820], Shriji Mahārāj was sitting on a large, decorated cot on the veranda outside the rooms of Jivā Khāchar’s darbār in Sārangpur. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. At that time, an assembly of munis as well as devotees from various places had gathered before Him.
…”Consider the following example: When it has not rained, the seeds of different types of grass cannot be seen anywhere on the earth. But when it does rain, so much grass grows that even the earth cannot be seen. Similarly, when one who does not possess the virtues of ātmā-realisation and vairāgya meets with bad company, though he may seem to have no desire for vishays other than God, he will begin to harbour desires for those objects. Furthermore, his mind will become corrupted, and he will not remember God in his heart.”
MORAL: As long as one isn't in the company of kusang, then one is ok. But when one comes into contact with kusang, he will be affected adversely, and will ultimately fall from satsang.
Discussion Points:
- What does the word satsang mean?
- Sat = True, Sang = Company. When we put them together, Satsang means true or good company.
- Anyone that helps you move towards Maharaj and Swami and towards Akshardham.
- Gunatitanand Swami has said in his Swamini Vato that Satsang = Satpurush = Mahant Swami Maharaj. He can give us moksh and take us all the way to Akshardham.
- Our santos, haribhaktos and our great mandirs also make up our great satsang.
- What does the word kusang mean?
- Ku = Bad, Sang = Company. When we put them together, Kusang means bad or wrong company.
- Kusang is someone or something that can take us away from Maharaj-Swami and Satsang. It can stop us from going to Akshardham.
- Once, there was a man who was walking through the jungle. It was very hot outside and he was tired. So he decided to take some rest. He found a tree nearby and sat under its cool shade. Slowly he closed his eyes. Suddenly he was woken up from his nap by a rude voice. A parrot living in the tree started shouting very loudly: “Catch it! Hit it! Cut it into pieces! Don’t let it get away!”The man became annoyed at the parrot. He got up right away and left the tree. He wondered to himself why the parrot was so loud and mean. Why was the parrot saying such things? Thinking about what just happened, he continued walking. He found another tree and decided to rest for a while. He thought to himself: ‘Hopefully, it should be quiet and peaceful here!’ He was woken up again from his nap. It was another parrot, but this time it was pleasant. This parrot was very nice, polite and had a sweet voice. “Hey there, you look very tired. It looks like you have been on quite a journey so far. Can I offer you some food and some water?” The man happily said yes. The parrot started flying and told the man to follow him. The man ran behind the parrot, wondering where the parrot was taking him. He finally reached an ashram. It was nice and peaceful. There, he met a holy sadhu who welcomed him. The sadhu offered some refreshing cold water to the thirsty man. The man was very pleased with the sadhu’s kindness and the parrot’s kindness.But the man was very confused. So he decided to ask the sadhu a question. Even though both of the parrots looked exactly the same, why was the first parrot so mean and rough? And why was the second parrot so nice and polite? The sadhu replied: “Look, both of those parrots are actually brothers. But the first parrot you met was caught by a hunter who kept the parrot with him all the time. A hunter is a bad person who chases after and kills innocent animals. Whenever the hunter saw any animal, he would say: ‘Catch it! Hit it! Cut it into pieces!’ The first parrot would listen to the hunter say this every single day. Therefore, the first parrot turned out to be mean and rough like the hunter. The second parrot, however, has been staying here with me in this ashram since he was small. And in this ashram, good people come here to do satsang, arti, seva and to listen to katha. Everyone here is so nice and polite to each other. They have lots of samp and unity. They bow down to each other. They help each other out. So the second parrot has been watching everything that goes on in this ashram since he was small and therefore, the second parrot has turned out to be very nice and polite.”This story tells us that if we keep good company, we become good balaks and balikas. If we keep bad company, then we become bad. In other words, if we keep friends with people who are honest, who respect their parents, who say good things, who study hard and who follow all of the satsang niyams, then we will become good like them. But if we keep the company of friends or people who say bad words, who lie and cheat, who watch bad TV shows, who talk back to their parents, who don’t follow any sort of niyams, then we will become bad like them.
- Kusang is one of those things that we don’t know where it is. What happens if one gets close to kusang?
- How can we best keep away from outside kusang?
- Gunatitanand Swami has said in the Swamini Vato that the mind tricks some people and some people can trick their own mind. We should think about this every day.Inside kusang is basically when our mind tries to trick us into not following our niyams. So maybe our own mind can fool us by saying: ‘Oh, it’s okay, you don’t need to do puja every day, you do it every day anyway. You go to sabha every week anyway - just go and play with your friends today. It is ok if you miss just one sabha.’
- How can we avoid this and keep away from inside kusang?
- What are our sources of good company?
Overcoming Darkness - Bal-Balika Sabha (watch from 17:23 to 18:44)
So, do we want to fall from Satsang and be in the clutches of Kusang? NO!
Let us pray to Shri Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj, Guruhari Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Pragat Guruhari Mahant Swami Maharaj to keep us away from kusang and keep us in constant contact with Satsang, ensuring that we get Mahant Swami Maharaj’s rajipo and leading us to Akshardham.
Every action, one question. IS MAHARAJ RAJI? IS SWAMI RAJI?