Swamiji TV

Other links



Podcast details

The Two Paths: Uṭhān and Patan

A satsang discourse on the two spiritual paths of upliftment and decline.

"Both begin from one point, like when we put one seed in the earth. The seed sprouts and two leaves come out. This point where it begins is known as saṅgha—society."

"Where there is love, there is no distance. And if there is no love, then even the neighbor's door is very far away."

The speaker explains the concepts of uṭhān (development) and patan (disaster), both originating from one's society or company. He emphasizes the critical importance of satsaṅg (good society) for cultivating wisdom, contrasting it with kusaṅg (bad society). The teaching is illustrated with an anecdote about Śrī Holy Gurujī's youthful, determined journeys to attend satsang, highlighting the power of divine love.

This evening is dedicated to satsaṅg. There are two paths with different destinations: one is called uṭhān and one is called patan. Uṭhān means development, achievement, and fulfillment. Patan means disaster, distraction, and darkness. Both begin from one point, like when we put one seed in the earth. The seed sprouts and two leaves come out. This point where it begins is known as saṅgha—society. It is where we spend our time and with whom we are; it is our companion. Sat means the truth. Satsaṅg means good society. Kusaṅg is a bad society. In kusaṅg, we learn many bad habits and acquire negative qualities which will destroy our human life. In satsaṅg, we learn wisdom, good qualities, and inspiration—the aim of our life and our achievements. As we heard from Śrī Holy Gurujī, he used to go for satsaṅg at night, in the dark. There were no roads like nowadays, only footpaths through dense forests with wildlife. Now, unfortunately, people have destroyed the forests. When a young person goes somewhere, parents become a little scared, wondering what will happen to their child. So, the parents did not like the idea of Holy Gurujī going for satsaṅg every day. But his love was so great—his love for God. When everyone was sleeping, he would get up at the age of fifteen or sixteen years and walk three or four kilometers through the night to attend the satsaṅg. Early in the morning, before the others could get up, he would return and go to his room. In one way, it may not be good to hide from parents, but on the other hand, he had no other choice. Why did he go? For the satsaṅg. Where there is love, there is no distance. And if there is no love, then even the neighbor's door is very far away. The teachings of Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, Holy Gurujī, and many other holy saints—whom we call realized persons, God-loving hearts—finally come to this instruction: go to satsaṅg. It is not about how you will be beautiful, how you will be more healthy, or how you will be this or that. It is about keeping something which will make your body, mind, and consciousness healthy. That is satsaṅg.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel