Gadhpurdham Atlanta

"The Swaminarayan Sampraday has its roots in the Vedas. It follows the Vaishnava tradition and to its followers represents a form of Hinduism. The faith focuses on salvation through total devotion (or bhakti) to the God developed through virtues (dharma), spiritual wisdom (gnana) and detachment (vairagya). The Swaminarayan Sampraday is devotion-focused and advocates God within the disciplines of virtues. Swaminarayan propagated a philosophy called Vishistadvaita, which says that God is supreme, has a divine form, is the all-doer and is completely independent. He simply stated that souls (jiva) never merge or dissolve into God and neither are they part of God, but are always subservient to God. Redemption consists in the realisation of ekantik dharma, comprising righteousness, right knowledge, detachment and devotion to that God."
Harji Thakkar asked Shreeji Mahãrãj, “Some have been practising satsang for quite some time, yet they do not have the intense love for satsang as they do for their own body and their relatives. What is the reason for this?”

Shreeji Mahãrãj explained, “Such a person has not fully realised the greatness of Bhagvãn. When a sant, by whose association the greatness of Bhagvãn can be fully realised, talks to him about his svabhãv, the person is not able to change his behaviour. Instead, he develops hatred towards the sant that has advised him. It is due to this sinful act that he does not develop intense love for satsang. After all, sins committed elsewhere, are washed away by association with a sant. But sins committed against a sant, are washed away only by the grace of the sant himself, not by any other means. - Vachanamrut Gadhadã I-1
Shreeji Mahãrãj said, “A person should perform dhyãn upon Shree Krishna Bhagvãn together with Rãdhikãji. If he cannot hold the murti within the heart whilst performing dhyãn, he should not lose faith and stop the dhyãn like a coward. Those who are persistent in this way will earn the immense grace and darshan of Bhagvãn. Moreover, Bhagvãn will be bound by their bhakti.” - Vachanamrut Gadhadã I-5