Good and Bad Company

By keeping the company of pious people, man gains more than even meditation in solitude.

In virtuous company, even without effort one rises higher, and by bad company, even without doing anything, he falls.

Without giving up the association of unholy, there is no obvious gain from good company.

Mere listening does not make Satsanga, Good company means, establishing a link with Sat and giving Sat (truth) importance.

To see in everybody the all-pervasive God is Satsanga (the link with Sat).

To have love for God, is also 'Satsanga'. Giving up attachment for the perishable, is also Satsanga.

Just as food is essential to sustain a body, so is Satsanga, necessary, for spiritual life.

Just as human form cannot be granted repeatedly, so even on receiving human body, Satsanga is not repeatedly possible.

Satsanga is not available easily by own efforts but only with the grace of God.

Where there is selfishness, then it is not a Satsanga, but only its opposite.

Under all circumstances, one learns the art of happiness only through Satsanga.

To accept truth by itself, is Satsanga.

Just as, if there is limited heat in the body, food is not digested, so if there is no inner desire, then the good ideas (Satsanga) are not imbibed.

To obtain Satsanga is a sign of special divine grace.

In business both gains and losses take place, but in good company or Satsanga there is only profit, never a loss.

By giving importance to ideas at Satsanga, thoughts are purified and morbid feelings get destroyed.

The more attachment is for sense pleasures, the more inertness arises in the intellect, by which even matters of essence read or heard in pious company. become incomprehensible.

With the desire to gain something from the world, bad company begins.

It is bad company, to accept one's relationship with the body and the world.

Bad company in itself does not harm, but in accepting bad company, it becomes detrimental.

Non-believers in God, the other world and righteousness (Dharma)-such an athiest's company would cause the worst downfall to man.

Where there is inner weakness (faults) in a person, only then there is impact from external bad company. The reason is, that likes attract and unlikes do not.

Pious company, good thoughts, holy scriptures and sorrow all four, are able to dissolve the linkage with the world, for a discerning person.

If after practising and seeking for years, that Truth is not achieved, it is possible to realise it soon, by Satsanga.

To practice devotion, is like earning wealth, and to be in pious company, is like being adopted by a person of wealth. Just as an adopted one succeeds to the adoptor's wealth, similarly by joining in spiritual meetings, even without practising devotion, dedication results.