Satsang (Deoghar)

Satsang is a philanthropic organization founded by Thakur Anukulchandra. It is one of the major spiritual and cultural movements in India started in the early 20th century.[1][2][3] Satsang was originally registered in Pabna (British India) in 1925 as a public charitable institution. However, after the Independence and partition of India, it was again registered in 1951 in the Indian Union under the Societies Registration act of 1860.[4][5][6]

Satsang
Logo of Satsang
MottoDadaatu jeevana-vriddhi nirantaram smritichidyute
("")
( Give me Being and Becoming with Ever Conscious Mind )
Formation4 April 1951 (1951-04-04) Deoghar, India
FounderThakur Anukulchandra
TypePhilanthropic Organisation
Purposeservice to mankind
HeadquartersSatsang Ashram, Jharkhand, India
Coordinates22.37°N 88.21°E / 22.37; 88.21
Area served
Worldwide
Websitewww.satsang.org.in

Its headquarters was established as Satsang Ashram at Deoghar, Jharkhand (then Bihar) after Thakur Anukulchandra moved to Deoghar from his birthplace in the Pabna District of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) on September 2, 1946.[2] At present Satsang has more than two thousand branches located in India, Bangladesh, Burma, Europe, Middle East, Africa and America.[6]

The Founder
Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra.

Anukulchandra Chakravarty (1888–1969) a physician, a philosopher, a guru and the founder of Satsang, was born in the Himayetpur village of Pabna district of British India which is now a part of Bangladesh. Sivachandra Chakravarty and Monomohini Devi were his father and mother respectively. As a young medical student in Calcutta, Anukulchandra started serving and treating the slum dwellers in 1911. After six years of study, he came back to Himaitpur and began to practice medicine.[6][7]

In 1913, Anukulchandra was spiritually initiated by his mother. After his initiation, he along with his friends and companions started doing intense kirtan. During kirtan, he often went into a state of trance, fell on the ground unconsciously and uttered messages in that condition. His going into trance during kirtan, delivering holy messages during trance and the devotion of those around him started attracting many more people. As a number of people came to his village to visit him began to settle permanently, gradually his village home was converted into an ashram.[6]

Anukulchandra Chakravarty's service to the people as a doctor, his speaking in tongues in a state of trance as well as his advice and guidance to his followers helped him secure a position as a religious leader. The personality, life and teachings of Thakur Anukulchandra mediates between science and spirituality, personal affirmation and self-transformation, individualism and social commitment has put him in the class of prophets or avatars of the Indian religious tradition.[6] His devotees address him as Yuga Purushottam or the Prophet of the modern age.[3]

Philosophy and teachings

Anukulchandra Chakravarty's teachings and philosophy is based on the Being and Becoming of every living creature. According to him, science and Dharma are not opposed to each other. He says, the stay of all existence is dharma.[6][8] His philosophy teaches individuals how to approach the life's problems in a balanced, dynamic, rationalistic and scientific way. According to him, the formula of spiritual enlightenment is to lead and practice a simple but meaningful Ideal centric life, i.e. making a realized living ideal as the guide or center of one's life.[7] According to him, "Ideal means- who enrich the past, enliven the present and enlighten the future."[7]

He opined that, everything that humans do both individually and collectively must be beneficial to the human existence in their entirety. According to him-[9]

“The source of all 'isms' is existentialism – no existence, no 'ism'."

Anukulchandra Chakravarty has put forward his views and solutions on almost every aspect of life, be it individual, conjugal, family, social and universal. Most of his messages were dictations revealed primarily in Bengali and English in the form of passages, simple rhymes and poetry and extensive discourses with his disciples and visitors. His messages cover the topics of dharma, religion, spiritualism, ideal, love, service and activity, society, education, philosophy, science, psychology, health and hygiene, economics, industry, commerce, politics, law and administration, varnashram, culture and tradition, eugenics, genetics, heredity, marriage, woman, conjugal life, Universal laws and others.[10]

His discourses with people were primarily compilations of him answering to the questions of individuals and groups during his meetings on a daily basis. Several volumes of the discourses have been published by the in-house publication house of Satsang. About the answers to the questions asked to him, Thakur Anukulchandra clarified as below:[10]

"I have answered to thy quest
what I see, what I think and what I know
to be beneficial to our life and growth
with every blazing outspoken reply
as far as I conceive."
Statue of Sree Sree Thakur in Thakur bungalow, Satsang Ashram
Entrance of Satsang Ashram, Deoghar
Satsang Vihar Badlapur, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Satsang Vihar Delhi
Satsang Vihar Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Hyderabad Satsang Vihar, Telangana
Satsang Vihar Bengaluru
Satsang Centre, New York, USA
Satsang Vihar Chennai

The motto and the principles

Satsang was established solely on the principles and ideals of Thakur Anukulchandra. It is a non-sectarian organization as revealed by the Guru himself in his hand written book Satyanusaran originally in Bengali and later translated in to many languages including English as 'The pursuit of Truth'.[8][6] In this book, he writes, "Oh Mankind! If you desire to invoke your good, forget sectarian conflict. Be regardful to the past prophets. Be attached to your living Master or God and take only those who love Him as your own. Because all the past Prophets are consummated in the divine man of the present".[7] He again writes, "Dharma never becomes many. It is always one. There is no variety of it. Views may be many- even as many as there are people. In my opinion, to speak of Hindu Dharma, Christian Dharma, Mohammedan Dharma, Buddhist Dharma etc. is wrong; rather they are so many views".[8]

As a result, people from all faiths including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims came to Thakur Anukulchandra and accepted him as their realized guide, Guru and living ideal, without diluting their identities. He always preached and guided people of different faiths who came to him to become a true Muslim, true Christian or a true Hindu according to their own faiths and practices. Satsang at present is one of the fastest growing spiritual lineage in the world with more than 80 million members across the globe. It accepts members from all walks of life without discrimination and distinction. The members of Satsang are called Satsangees.[7][3][8]

In one of his verses, Thakur Anukulchandra puts forward the motto and ideals of Satsang in its entirety as below:[11][12]

Satsang wants man
  in the name of the One Supreme Creator
  of all beings,
  God, Khoda or Existence,
  Whatever you call Him.
  Satsang does not think in terms of
  Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist ;
  regarding each and everyone
  as a child of Him alone,
  Satsang wants to make all
  submissive to that One.

Satsang does not think in terms of
  Pakistan, Hindustan, Russia, China, Europe or America either-
  Satsang wants man, every individual of mankind—
  whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist or whatever—
  to be gathered in His Name
  at the clarion call of Panchabarhi*
in pursuit, nurture and fulfilment,
  in elevating offering,
  in mutual compassionate co-operation
  and in an uplifting, efficient and industrious go of life
  so that everybody by proper work
  earning their food and clothing can survive,
  maintaining distinctiveness of being
  and moving in the way of becoming,
  so that everyone can understand
  that everyone belongs to him,
  so that no one can think
  that he is helpless, penniless, shelter less,
  so that every single person can say courageously
  with active co-operative zeal of love
  "I am everyone's
  and everyone is mine".

Satsang wants the greatest co-operation
  between states
  so that there is not the least flaw
  in anyone's existential becoming
  and so that each and everyone
  can move on freely
  in this world
  in one accord
with self-elevating, efficient and active,
  progressive go of service,
  growing in integration
  that is mutually fulfilling—
  being illuminated with the inspiration
  that cultivates the good,
  with an eye to fulfilling that Ideal man
  being meaningful in that unparalleled One.
  -Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchnadra (Dhriti Bidhayana, Vol-I, p394)

Branches and centers

The headquarters of Satsang, known as Satsang Ashram is located in the city of Deoghar, Jharkhand, India. The establishment of the Ashram was started in 1946 after Thakur Anukulchandra moved to Deoghar. All the major activities of the organization are administered by the Ashram administrators.

Apart from the Satsang Ashram, there are more than two thousand branches of Satsang located not only in India but also Bangladesh, Burma, Europe, Middle East, Africa and America. These branches are known as Satsang Vihars and Satsang Kendras. At most of the Satsang Vihar premises, temples have been built dedicated to the Guru, Thakur Anukulchandra. All the spiritual, charitable, and social activities are carried out at these centers on a local scale. In India, Satsang Vihars have been set up in almost all the states and major cities.[6]

Activities

The principal workers of the organization are the disciples and followers of Thakur Anukulchandra. The activities of Satsang covers the following areas:[13]

  • Philanthropy
  • Education
  • Health care
  • Cultural activities
  • Industrial and engineering activities etc.

Satsang has its own administrative office, free community kitchen (Anandabazar), charitable hospital, school, college, publishing house, pharmaceutical laboratory, engineering and mechanical workshop, carpentry unit, garage, Goshala (cowshed) and museums etc. Most of the related institutions are established in the premises of Satsang Ashram, the headquarters of the organization. The Ashramites work at these centers for the purpose of service to their Guru.[14]

Religious and spiritual activities

A number of functions are celebrated by Satsang throughout the year. The birth anniversaries of Thakur Anukulchandra, his wife (Sree Sree Boromaa), his eldest son (Sree Sree Borda) and the current Acharyadev (Ashoke Chakravarty) are being celebrated in the Satsang Ashram. Other festivals related to the life events of Thakur Anukulchandra, Ritwik conferences are also being celebrated. Lacs of devotees from around the country and abroad arrive at the Ashram to attend the celebrations. Eminent personalities usually attend various Utsavs and functions at the Satsang Ashram.[15][16]

  • Satsang Vihar Bihar Sharif, Nalanda
  • Satsang Vihar Anandapur, Odisha
  • Satsang Vihar Sonamukhi, Bankura, West Bengal
  • Satsang Vihar Guwahati, Assam
  • Satsang Vihar Surat, Gujarat
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References
  1. "Incredible India | Satsang Ashram". www.incredibleindia.org.
  2. "Jharkhand governor inaugurates Deoghar function | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  3. "SATSANG - Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra - The Official site of Satsang, Deoghar". www.satsang.org.in.
  4. "Satsang And Anr. vs Kiron Chandra Mukhopadhyay And ... on 18 July, 1972". indiankanoon.org.
  5. "NGO Darpan". ngodarpan.gov.in.
  6. "International Journal of Research in Social Sciences" (PDF). ijmra.us.
  7. "Diamond Scientific Publication" (PDF). dpublication.com.
  8. "Satyanusaran". satsang.org.in.
  9. "Ideas of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra on Individual and Society" (PDF). Historicity research journal.
  10. "Educational philosophy of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra and its relevance to modern Indian education, PhD Thesis". Shodhganga: A reservoir of Indian theses.
  11. "Bliss". books.google.co.in.
  12. "Souvenir-US_2011" (PDF). satsangamerica.org.
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satsang_Ashram
  14. Panorama, Eastern. "Satsang - A novel plane of living". Eastern Panorama.
  15. Automation, Bhaskar (October 11, 2019). "सत्संग नगर में ठाकुर अनुकूल चंद्र का जन्मोत्सव मनाया". Dainik Bhaskar.
  16. "Jharkhand governor inaugurates Deoghar function". timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
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