The inner journey to attain bliss begins from where you are. There is no other starting point. As you are, you are in deep slumber. Not the ordinary sleep that you enjoy every night, but a spiritual sleep. In other words, you move about doing your daily things almost unconsciously. Basically, one needs only five to ten percent consciousness to fulfill one’s daily duties. And, that is all most of us use. The rest is all unconscious. In this state we are almost asleep. We are perhaps just a shade better than a somnabulist who walks and talks in his sleep.
What is this sleep?
Gurbani describes it in detail:
Nainoh neend par drisht vikar.
Srawan soye sunn nind vichar.
Rasna soyee lobh meethey saad.
Mann soya maya bismaad.. 1..
Iss greh meh koi jagat rahe.
Saabat vasat oh aapni lahe..2.. rahao..
Sagal saheli apne ras maati.
Greh apne ki khabar na jaati.
Musanhar panch batwarey.
Sooney nagar parey thaghaarey..
(Gauri Guareri Mahalla 5, Page 182)
Eyes are asleep looking at others’ possessions
Ears are asleep listening to criticism of others
The tongue is asleep eating foods of all sorts
The heart is asleep indulging in illusion.
In this house there is someone awake.
He takes care of the real thing.
All the friends are lost in their own things
They have no concern of their house
The five senses are the robbers
They attack and rob the vacant house.
When man is lost in such deep sleep, no friends or family members can awaken him. If there is anything that can pull him out of such a state of complete oblivion, it is only satsang, the company of the pious.
This sleep is induced by the five senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. We are born with these senses and they are our only contact with the outside world. As we grow we sharpen our senses to become capable of dealing with the world and whatever life sends our way. The more we sharpen our senses the deeper we drift into sleep. Yet, paradoxically, it is only through sharpening the senses that we can some day awaken from this slumber. All that is required is a light nudge, a slight jolt, the sound of an alarm or someone calling you. And, you rub your eyes and look around!
This slight nudge comes through satsang. Satsang means the company of those people who have seen a ray of light and are moving towards it. They may be as much in darkness as you are, but, in a flash of lightning perhaps, they have seen something and have found a direction. No matter how dark the road or how far the destination, they know that they are moving in the right direction. These are people who have seen the satguru from a distance and have heard of him, and will someday come face to face with him also. If you join them, you too may arrive.
Thus, the first step of the journey in satsang is to be in the company of such people. But, that is just the first step; it is the first rung of the ladder, whereas the journey is long and arduous and you have to keep moving on and on. If you become stagnant, you will reach nowhere. Satsang can benefit you only if it brings you close to the master, the satguru. In fact, satsang implies being gurmukh or sanmukh or facing the satguru. However, just physical proximity alone is not enough. You can be facing the guru and yet thinking your own thoughts. This is as good as being manmukh or vemukh or sitting with your back towards the guru.
Being sanmukh is an inner state. It happens sometimes in satsang. It does not happen by your wish or will. Your desire is, in fact, the only obstruction. It stands between you and the guru. It happens on its own when you stop wanting it to happen, when you stop trying and let go. You need patience, infinite parience. Just be in satsang totally and forget about everything else.
Thus, satsang leads you to satguru. And what does satguru do? He throws you back to your self. He tells you to go in. A true guru will not welcome you in his fold to enhance his following. He will send you back to yourself. He will show you the path that leads you to yourself, for that is the path that is least explored. It is unfamiliar and frightening. The satguru will help you in every possible way but you have to take each step yourself. Satguru can only guide you but cannot walk on your behalf. If you are thirsty, you have to drink water. Only then your thirst will be quenched. No one else can drink for you and quench your thirst. So, it is a purely personal matter. Only when you are alone and by yourself, satsang can happen. It cannot happen amidst crowds no matter where they are gathered. The temples and gurudwaras are relevant in the first stage only when you need someone to nudge you and disturb your sleep. After that it is a journey of the alone to the alone.
In other words, satsang in the third stage is being in the company of self. When you are with yourself, you are in satsang. This is the beginning of the inner journey. It is like digging a well. When you begin searching within, you will be astounded by the millions of thoughts and emotions. It is frightening. That is why people avoid being alone and idle. They devise ways and means to run away from themselves and get busy in doing something or the other. You need a strong will power and lots of patience to go on watching your thoughts. Then, some day, you will find them thinning down and once in a while, you might experience that the thoughts have disappeared for a second. That is a good sign. Catch hold of that moment and be grateful. Soon there will be more such moments. Now, you are beginning to be in satsang with your self. This is when the observer becomes the observed.
The final stage of satsang is a-sang, non-attachment. This is the state of being when you become only a watcher, a witness, a sakshi. This is the state of being disidentified with the body and mind. You can clearly see that you are not that which you are witnessing but aloof of it. Now, you see that the observer is detached from the observed. Your identification with the body and mind is broken. You stand alone as a watcher. You observe yourself like you see everything else. You are grounded in your self. You are at the centre, and you observe the circumference from this centre. You see all the activity at the circumference, staying unmoved at the centre. This is the stage when you come face to face with who you are.
