Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
• • • • •

From Sayings of a Paramahamsa: Swami Satyananda Saraswati

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is said that the most important thing is peace of mind. When you think badly about others your mind is not at peace, and if you don’t have peace of mind, then you can’t have good meditation. You may have good concentration in meditation, but at the bottom the tempest is blowing, and it can blow out the light at any moment.
In order to attain peace of mind you must have the attitude of friendship for people who are happy and you must have compassion for those who are unhappy. You must be pleased with people who are virtuous and you should ignore those who are vicious. These are the four attitudes you should try to develop when you are dealing with the four different types of people.

Story:
Once a very good-natured person was taking a bath in the Ganges when he noticed a scorpion being swept along by the water. In order to save the scorpion, the man picked it up and held it in his hand. The scorpion bit the man, but he still continued to hold it. Again it bit him. A man who was witnessing this whole game asked the good man, “Why don’t you leave that scorpion to die?” Do you know what his reply was? “When a scorpion does not give up his nature, why should I give up mine?”

Satsang and Kusang:
if you want to eliminate negative thoughts, your whole nature must be changed. By attending satsangs you can transform your nature greatly, and this is most important. Satsang means association with people where positive things are being practised. You may be singing together or studying yoga together. You may be reading the scriptures or discussing the problems of day to day life. This is called satsang, and after it you start thinking very positively.
The opposite of satsang is kusang. Ku means bad, evil, negative or devilish, and sang means association. When you are in association with negative people or ideas, that is called kusang. So, in order to purify the human nature, the most important sadhana is satsang. If we cannot hold a satsang ourselves, then we can read a positive and inspiring book. When I was a student I frequently read a marvellous book called Imitation of Christ by Thomas a’ Kempis. Every time I read it I obtained some new light.