Satsang with Satyananda in Bristol

Last weekend my mum and I went to Bristol for Satsang with Satyananda. Satsang is where a group of people sit with a guru and discuss their questions or problems with him. Often questions or problems in Satsang are more about, "Finding one's self" and spiritual things like that rather than specific questions like, "I am studing for exams and I'm really stressed. What should I do?"

I had to wake up at six thirty in the morning to take the train to Bristol, which should have been fine, but I went to bed at eleven twenty or something, so I was really tired during the day. the morning was actually fine, but when we got to  Satsang later in the day I started to get really tired. Probably because we weren't walking around or rushing to get to places anymore, and we were sitting down in a really quiet room. It was so inconvenient that I was tired; I couldn't concentrate properly for some of the Satsang and I couldn't sleep either as the chairs weren't very comfortable. In the end I lay down half on the chair next to me and fell asleep. My mum had to wake me up when the first part (Which had lasted two hours) was over. We went to outside to the park across the road and ate our sandwiches. (BTW mine was fried salmon with chive Philadelphia cheese which I had been looking forward to for ages - and it was really tasty.)

I'm going to explain to you a bit about what Satyananda and other Satsang gurus teach. But I can only tell you what I understand.

Satsang is about finding yourself. Not the thinking, mind part, but the part that is actually YOU: The pure consciousness. The part that doesn't have a personality or judgements or a gender. That means really concentrating on YOURSELF - or rather, inside you. Finding the inner you. Which isn't finding a calm part of your mind, but finding something totally different from your mind. From what I understood, that means you have two parts: Your mind and your consciousness. You need to find the latter, be the latter. That might feel like leaving yourself behind, but what will happen is the two can fuse together - so you can still make decisions, but from a clear viewpoint, so you can see things neutrally. Maybe what you're thinking is, "But I am conscious - otherwise I wouldn't be able to think." But if you are conscious, that doesn't mean you are CONSCIOUSNESS. and this probably sounds really confusing, like I'm playing with language and not really helping you to get it. If you understand, great, but maybe a better way of explaining it is how Satyananda himself explained it; You do not find peace; you are peace.   That means that you're not with peace either, peace is you. and peace is not the mind because the mind is always busy - quite the opposite of peaceful. When you are peace you can make clear decisions because peace is not affected by the mind.

After the break we went back to Satsang, and I didn't fall asleep. Even if you don't go up to speak (I didn't) it's interesting to listen to what other people have to say. And sometimes funny too because Satyananda makes jokes.

Me and my mum couchsurfed that night, and the next morning went to the second half of Satsang.

The second part was better than the first (The chairs were comfier) especially when Satyananda talked about how you can change the past. You don't need a tardis. When you change your perception of the past, the past changes.

At the break I bought a cup of tea, then we sat drinking it for the second half.

When the Satsang was finished, we started making our way back to the train station.

The next Satsang with Satyananda will be in St Ives...