Even a golden vessel needs polishing occasionally. Unmaintained it gathers dust and dirt and loses its lustre. Similarly, even a good person or a sádhaka needs proper maintenance, for in a world of constant change, care must be taken that the change be always towards the better or the higher. Keeping good company is essential for this positive development. While bad company strengthens the bondage of the soul, good company is conducive to liberation and salvation. The keeping of good company is conducive to liberation and is known as satsauṋga in Sanskrit. When satsauṋga is followed, either physically or mentally or both, the subconscious mind, and thus the conscious mind, are charged with better and higher influences. This change will move the follower forward towards higher and better goals. The alternative is asatsauṋga, the keeping of bad company, which leads one into greater and greater bondage. It has been said:

Satsaungena bhavenmuktirasatsaungeśu bandhanam;
Asatsauṋga mudrańam yat tanmudrá parikiirtitá.

This means that through satsauṋga one achieves liberation; whereas asatsauṋga leads to greater bondage. [And the meaning of the second line is: “The mudrańam – shunning – of bad company is called mudrá sádhaná.”]

There are two types of satsauṋga – external and internal. Just as the best medicine is Parama Puruśa Himself, the best satsauṋga is also Parama Puruśa. Internal satsauṋga is the satsauṋga of Parama Puruśa, that is, the thought of Parama Puruśa during all the [waking] hours of the day, even when the bodily organs are engaged in worldly activities.

Internal satsauṋga is absolutely essential. Those practising internal satsauṋga may, as far as practical, attend external satsauṋga also, but if they cannot do so at any time, there will be no harm. But mere external satsauṋga, that is, the mere sitting among good persons while the mind forgets Parama Puruśa or remains engrossed in undesirable thoughts, is not good.

The importance of satsauṋga lies in the subconscious mind. In the realm of the conscious layer of the mind, processes are natural and mostly alike between human and animal, and no pápa [sin] is incurred. The unconscious layer is beyond the sphere of the active mind. The subconscious layer of the mind is of basic importance because it affects the conscious as well as the unconscious minds. It is like a two-way flow from the subconscious mind. The flow is swifter downwards, that is, towards the conscious mind. It is slower upwards, that is, towards the unconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is subject to three processes, namely, smarańa, manana and nididhyásana.⁽¹⁾

Strictly speaking nididhyásana takes place mostly beyond the subconscious mind, but the subconscious leads to it.

Smarańa means the recollecting and rethinking of what was heard earlier.

Manana means the recollecting and the rethinking of what was imbibed earlier through the other sense organs. This rumination which is involved in smarańa and manana influences the conscious mind and activates it into causing actions, good or bad, depending upon the nature of the impressions recollected and rethought during smarańa and manana. Moreover, the unconscious mind is also concerned. Thus satsauṋga, where one hears, sees, smells, etc., desirable things, leads to desirable smarańa and manana and to good actions, while the reverse is the result of bad company. When the subconscious has desirable smarańa and manana, and if they are collected and directed one-pointedly through the [subconscious] mind to Parama Puruśa, that is known as holy smarańa and holy manana. And if the subconscious smarańa and manana are focused through the unconscious onto Parama Puruśa, there is nididhyásana. Here again lies the importance of satsauṋga.

The human body is a machine moved by fifty propensities (vrttis) in the mind. These propensities are dharma, artha, káma, mokśa, avajiṋá, múrcchá, prashraya, avishvása, sarvanásha, kruratá, lajjá, pishunatá, iirśá, suśupti, viśáda, kaśáya, trśńá, moha, ghrńá, bhaya, áshá, cintá, ceśt́á, mamatá, dambha, viveka, vikalatá, ahaḿkárá, lolatá, kapat́atá, vitarka, anutápa, śad́aja, rśabha, gándhára, madhyama, paiṋcama, dhaevata, niśáda, oṋm, hummm, phat́, vaośat́, vaśat́, sváhá, namah, viśa, amrta, apará and pará.⁽²⁾ These mental propensities are regulated by certain glands in the body. This bodily machine can be manipulated at will by one who can control these glands. Control over the glands will control the propensities and this will in turn control the bodily functions.

[This was demonstrated by Bábá by taking control of certain glands in the bodies of two avadhútas.]

Footnotes

(1) And three indispensable points “in order to return home”, i.e., to attain the Supreme, are shravańa [hearing about the Supreme], manana and nididhyásana. (“Mantra Caetanya” in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 11, 1990, or Discourses on Tantra Volume 1, 1993.) –Eds.

(2) For further information about the vrttis, see “The Subtlest Propensity” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 30, 1996; “The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet” in Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell Part 8, 1988, or Discourses on Tantra Volume 1, 1993; or “Plexi and Microvita” in Yoga Psychology, 1998. –Eds.