Daily Readings from the Works of Swami Venkatesananda


Insights and Inspirations (Venkatesa Daily Readings Vol 2) — Svadhyaya, Study of Scriptures

March 21, 2024

 

Radha Speer & Swami Venkatesananda at Satsang      While practicing some kind of enquiry - mental tapas - the masters say it is essential that there should be an intelligent understanding of the truth. Therefore they recommend svadhyaya study. Otherwise it is possible that I undergo life's experiences and think I am learning from life but I am getting the wrong message. We need some guidance. It is here that we realize the great importance of both the scriptures and the teacher. Together they form what I would call the railroad. They will not take me to the goal, and what is even more important, they will not push me on it; but if I have the energy and the application they provide a sense of direction. It is the scripture which keeps us on the track and prevents us from reading false lessons from our life's experiences.

       We read some scriptures during the satsang. If these are not read continuously some people will pick up the same chapter again and again. They are in love with that one chapter and go on reading that, not the others, saying: "These are inspiring," but it may be more necessary to expire! How do I know when I am reading through a scripture that I am giving proper emphasis to all those factors to which I should pay attention? How do I know that I am not skipping what is inconvenient to me? It is the teacher who is our safeguard here. So svadhyaya (study of scriptures) and the teacher become tremendously important if you are seriously practicing yoga.


      We do this study in satsang. The word itself means 'sat' - good, 'sang' - company. 'Sat' also means truth or God. So, to keep good company or to keep the company of truth or God is satsang.

        Swami and friends at SatsangYou'll notice something very strange - we keep rereading the same scriptures. You'll be surprised to discover that every time you get some new inspiration from the same chapter. It is possible that we overlooked that passage in the first reading; it is also possible that in the meantime we have matured a little bit. So the svadhyaya continues, the satsang continues, and we mature, maybe imperceptibly, but surely. In the absence of the teacher, the satsang is equally powerful. The satsang doesn't hit you on the head as a teacher might, but what happens is almost equal to that. You go on hearing in a receptive mood, and you are not allowed to argue or to shout back, so you are receiving; and the message goes right into your heart.

      One can of course do all these readings by oneself at home; but in a group, in the satsang pattern, the same reading seems to have a tremendous effect - even if the group is small and the satsang is brief. This gives our practice of yoga the right direction.

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