WHAT IS DARSHAN?
In Sanskrit, we have one word: Darshan. Most of you must have heard that word where people visit a holy person, and that person might not even say a word. Buddha’s most excellent teachings were done in silence. If you are near or within the radius of the power emanated by the blissful person, it will somehow be felt.
That is why people on the spiritual path are always urged to be in holy company. It helps their spiritual path. It shows some form of Light; even if the mind does not understand it, something happens, and we partake of that Bliss.
THE PERFUME FACTORY ANALOGY
If we go and spend half an hour in a perfume factory, even without rubbing perfume on us, we will come out of the factory smelling like perfume. Commonly, they say, it rubs off. Bliss, though intangible, has its tangible aspects, and we can experience this in many other ways. We, for example, go into a church, and the church has built up such an atmosphere there because of the good thoughts that have always been there. Because the name of the Lord has always been praised there, we feel a specific difference in us; a certain calmness descends upon us.
Likewise, it is always good to be in the Bliss company. Unfortunately, as the sweetness of sugar cannot be defined but experienced, the quality of Bliss that is experienced defies all definitions. But those around a blissful person can share the joy and Bliss he experiences.
BLISS REQUIRES TOTAL INTEGRATION
To attain this, Bliss requires total integration—the integration of body, mind, and Spirit. The most powerful element between body, mind, and Spirit is the spiritual element, and the nature of that spiritual element is Bliss.
It starts permeating the mind, every thought, and every cell in a person’s body so that the intangible quality of Bliss can have its mental and physiological counterpart. The mind and the body could be used to convey that inner Light, Bliss.
Therefore, we call people who have reached self-realization “illumined”; they are lit up.
… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: Satsang US 1977 – 10
