Satsang is a strange affair. When I am giving satsang, it would be more accurate to say that it is happening through me. Sometimes the words coming out of my mouth take me by surprise. Today was such a day. For the first time, a zen stick came into play.
In times gone by, perhaps even today, the zen masters of the East would have a heavy wooden stick to hand. If the master felt that a monk was thinking too much during a meditation, or perhaps dozing off, he would sneak up behind the monk and thwack!, the zen stick would come down hard. The monk received such a shock that for a few moments, his entire being was energised and alert, and yet no thoughts were in the mind.
The satsangs here in Tiruvannamalai had been quite playful and light in feel, even when serious subjects were being investigated. Today though, a young man came who was very attached to thoughts and ideas. Barely had he asked a question when... thwack! – the zen stick struck. I think it took me as much by surprise as the young man sitting in front of me.
Of course, I was not using a physical stick, more’s the pity. Yet the energy in my response was exactly that of the zen stick. And so it continued, wherever his mind wanted to go... thwack! I am not sure if this treatment had any beneficial effect on the man sitting in front of me but it certainly reminded me that satsang, like life, is full of surprises.
