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

The Founder

Anukulchandra Chakravarty 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.
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.
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. His devotees address him as Yuga Purushottam or the Prophet of the modern age.

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. 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. According to him, "Ideal means- who enrich the past, enliven the present and enlighten the future."
He opined that, everything that humans do both individually and collectively must be beneficial to the human existence in their entirety. According to him-
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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.
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:
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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'. 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". 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".
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.
In one of his verses, Thakur Anukulchandra puts forward the motto and ideals of Satsang in its entirety as below:

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.

Activities

The principal workers of the organization are the disciples and followers of Thakur Anukulchandra. The activities of Satsang covers the following areas:
Satsang has its own administrative office, free community kitchen, charitable hospital, school, college, publishing house, pharmaceutical laboratory, engineering and mechanical workshop, carpentry unit, garage, Goshala 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.

Religious and spiritual activities

A number of functions are celebrated by Satsang throughout the year. The birth anniversaries of Thakur Anukulchandra, his wife, his eldest son and the current Acharyadev 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.