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Once upon a time, the Sages Vishwamitra and Vasishtha, debated the relative merits of tapasya and satsanga.  Vasishtha asserted that satsang is the most spiritually powerful path. Vishwamitra insisted that tapasya is supreme. 

Vishwamitra, burst into the Vasishtha's satsang, and demanded that they ask Ananta Sesha Naga to resolve this difference of views. Although the satsanga started only 10 minutes before this interruption, Vasishtha agreed to humor Vishwamitra.

Soon, they reached Ananta Sesha Naga, and asked for an opinion. 

Ananta Sesha said, "I am carry the burden of the Universe on my heads. This gives me a tremendous headache. Lend me the power that each of you acquired through tapasya and satsanga. I will try each in turn and decide which one relieves my headache better."

First, Vishwamitra gave Ananta Sesha all the spiritual power acquired through a lifetime of tapasya. The burden on the heads of Ananta Sesha did not appear to relieved even a little bit. His headache remained unchanged.

Then Vasishtha transferred the spiritual powers acquired in 10 minutes of the interrupted satsang. Suddenly the weight of the universe seemed to lift from the heads of Ananta Sesha. 

He smiled and said, “My headache is gone. The spiritual power of satsanga is supreme. When people gather in satsanga, the collective weight of their mental burdens vanishes. They transcend their minds, and move onto the spiritual plane attaining yoga with the Divine.”

In the Yoga Vasishtha, sadhu-sanga or satsang is affirmed as one of the four gatekeepers of Moksha. The others are self restraint, contentment and self awareness. Befriending even one of these gatekeepers is sufficient to enter into the kingdom of God.

The Shrimad Bhagavata Purana describes how the orphan Narada grows up in the company of saints. Merely through their association, he is blessed with a direct vision of God. As Narada Muni, he then travels the universe glorifying the Lord and sharing the benefits of his satsanga.

The Bible declares in Mathew 18 Verse 20: “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name,  there I am among them.”

The Bhagavad Gita states in Chapter 10 Verse 9: “The thoughts of My devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they blissfully enlighten each other about Me.”

In satsanga, one remains rapt and absorbed in the presence of God. The enlightened ones see the Lord everywhere in every rock and every heart. They dwell in eternal satsanga. As a sandalwood tree spreads its fragrance to all other trees around it, the enlightened saints spread spiritual fragrance, to all those who gather around them. 

These satsangis in turn, lovingly pull into the charmed circle, spiritual seekers among their near and dear ones. Thus does the love of the Divine spread through the universe. For one does not spray spirituality with water cannon upon the multitudes. One gently pours love of God from one  human heart into another.

To draw a seeker into the satsanga circle, his false ego is used as the hook. Before you break a coconut on the ground, you need to lift it high into the air. Similarly, the false ego is inflated by the satsangis as a preamble to its annihilation.

To pull the potential initiate into the spiritual chakravyuha, he must be romanced. He is seriously courted by a gaggle of admirers from the satsanga. Softened with compliments and flattery, entertained by poems and song, enticed through flirtation and coquetry, he is gently led into the spiritual honey trap. To avoid the more worldly implications of these activities, the process is purely a homo-romanticization by heterosexuals.

So begins the path of satsanga. On this path of evolution, the seeker with a natural history of autophilia, homophilia, heterophilia, ascends to the love of yogis, saints and Guru. Ultimately he reaches fulfillment in OMniphilia - the love of God who is in the heart of all things.

Courtesy: My spiritual Master S U N