ONLY ONE LOVE

Prem Rawat's satsang to the premies in Montreux, Switzerland, 21 May 1976

Dear Premies, it is really beautiful that we had a chance to be able to come together to hear satsang. And when we say it's really beautiful, we mean that we experience love. The existence of any true love is completely undeniable, except for those people who have shut themselves off from it, who have developed a lot of resistance to that pure love. And that is the problem in this world - that as time passed by, everybody has learned to develop a resistance to that sincere and true love. Then what people start looking for, if only because it should be there, are substitutes for love.

That is the reason I'm going on this tour, trying to explain to the premies what it is. What does it really involve? This is where we have to turn to our own selves and say, "Listen, are we in fact looking for truth? Are we in fact looking for peace? Are we in fact looking for bliss? Are we in fact looking for something that we think is missing in our life?" This is where we come in. This is where the experience becomes even more individual. As I was saying in Italy, it becomes so individual that it becomes that basic thing to someone in the world, someone on the earth, who has two feet and walks, who's supposed to be a man, a human being. It crosses all racial problems, it completely crosses all age problems, it completely crosses all barriers and becomes so basic. Can we walk? Can we talk? Can we think? Can we understand? If we can, then as basic as that, we have to ask ourselves, "Well, are we in fact looking for something that is greater, that is the greatest, that is the ultimate?"

When we first come to receive Knowledge, the whole idea is just, "Let's find out what it's all about, let's just stop at every building, let's just stop everywhere." Okay. It's okay to search, but it's not okay to stop everywhere because that's wasting too much time. With a master, with the assistance of a master who can definitely take you to that beautiful, beautiful place, if you are going to end up stopping at every stop, then you're really wasting time. So we have to turn around to ourselves and say, "Listen, it's here, you know, it's now. Do I want peace? Do I really want peace? Am I even looking for peace?" Because if you're looking for cheese, then you're sitting in the wrong auditorium; this is not a cheese lecture. This is not a cheese satsang. This is satsang about truth. and that is the way it really goes, that we have to ask ourselves, because it is for us, it is not for show, it is not for exhibition. It is for ourselves that we have to ask, "Do I really want peace?" he reason why we should even ask ourselves if we want peace is because if we ask ourselves and if we ourselves realize the importance of it, then we're really going to work on it. If a little kid goes to school and the master says, "Listen, if you don't study math, if you don't study that, I'm gonna beat you up, so you really should and you really have to," then there's an automatic resistance put in front of you and you do it because you think you have to, not because you want to. But with peace, we really have to want it. We really have to want to experience peace, because it takes more than a very minor dedication, it takes a lot of dedication.

Today kids can say, "Listen," to the master, "don't tell me about things. My father is the one who entrusted me here, he is the one who pays the money. If it were my money, I wouldn't pay it to go to school. So don't talk to me, I'm not concerned about these things." Well, this is completely a different case, because here it is your money, it is your effort, it is your dedication that is required to really follow through on this path. And you have to be clear, you have to be really, really clear that you really want peace, because if you do, then it's really going to work out for you, then you're really going to understand, then you're really going to know, then you're really going to find out. But if somebody told you that you wanted peace, and therefore, you took your head and completely submerged it in that fact, just because everybody said so, just because you want to get a piece of the action, do you really want peace? No. So one part of it is that we have to want peace to be able to actually acquire it and take full advantage of it. That's the first part of it and we all have to go through that when we receive Knowledge, when we make the decision, "Yes, I want Knowledge, because I want peace." So that is the first phase, the first part of it.

Now comes the second part, "Well, why do we want peace anyway? What is peace really going to do for us? Okay, everybody says we want peace, we'd have peace, and so on and so forth. Well, what do I want peace for? It's like, if everybody is a non-vegetarian, that doesn't mean

I have to be a non-vegetarian, too. What is it going to do for me? I want to just stay a vegetarian." And so it just clicks, "Okay, what's really going to happen, what is peace really going to do for us?"

When we look around us, we really experience and we really see how this world is getting more and more

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The only thing in the world that takes our true dedication and our true determination is peace. That's what we want, that's what we need.

crazy, how it's caught in a predicament that we have never wanted to get caught in. It's like a mob, a crowd of 300,000 people and they're proceeding towards a building and we are in the very center of the whole mob, completely caught. Everybody is moving and therefore we have to keep on moving. Then all of a sudden we realize that the front of the mob is turning around and running the other way, and if I don't turn around right now and run, I'm just going to get run over. So I turn around and I see all these people still walking in that other direction, and I say, "Oh no, this is going to be a big massacre, because those people are trying to go backwards and these people are still moving forwards and I'm caught in the middle." As soon as I get into that predicament, what will I do? Just yell as loud as I can, "Help!" I have understood that I'm completely caught in the middle of a predicament, that I can't move, that I'm completely locked in.

Okay, maybe you are not sitting on top of the world all the time. But you know one thing. You can look around yourself, and this is exactly what's happening, you're caught in the middle of this exact predicament where half the population is moving one way, and half the population is moving the other way. You want something but you don't know what it is. What is going to happen? Which one is going to take over? Which country is going to do what? What's going to happen? Are we going to live tomorrow? Are we not going to live tomorrow? Are we going to live right now? Is the United States in fact going to decide to destroy the world? Is Russia going to destroy the world? Are those countries in fact going to settle down and make peace with each other? Is everybody going to become peaceful? Is God going to manifest today? Is Revelations going to take place first and is Christ going to show up later? It's like we're stuck. So now, not only are we caught like that physically, but we are caught like that mentally, too.

If you're just a ghost sitting around in this hall, then you're not caught like that, but if you're not a ghost and even if you don't want to have anything to do with the world, still you are caught in it. You didn't want to be; you were the person who was just waiting for the ice cream cart to come by and all of a sudden you discovered yourself caught in a mob. You didn't want to have anything to do with it, but you're caught! And now you have to do something to protect yourself from it. You see more and more that this mob is turning around both ways and both halves are going in opposite directions and you are the person who's going to be the innocent bystander being butchered. Then you'd click and say, "No, wait!" Then you'd try to make your way out, but you can't make your way out. And that is when the time comes that we all have to just open up and say, "Yes, yes, I definitely want something."

It's very easy to just make a list of everything there is in this world, then to just run through the list, and you'll find out that's not what you want, even though it is all physically possible. But the one thing that is not possible just by our own effort, which has to have a little bit of another effort, and which is also the only thing in the world that takes our true dedication and our true determination is peace. That's what we want, that's what we need. This is the second part of it. Maybe this example doesn't fit you exactly word for word, but you should try to get its meaning, you should try to understand the message that I'm trying to relate to you so that you can understand what I really mean, so that you can see how in your life, yes, that was the predicament that really made you understand, that really made you think, that really made you realize, "Yes, in fact I want peace."

That predicament still exists. And so we all have to look for that in our lives, to say, "Yes, I want peace and this is why I'm going to do meditation, this is why I'm going to do satsang, this is why I'm going to do service, because I want to get there, because I want to, because I know I have to, not because my friend told me to and now I'm just caught in the middle of that, no."

In this world, where happiness does not really exist, it is just something to talk about. Yet in this time, by , Knowledge is available to us. That is what is so beautiful. Then, what do we really do? Okay. You start from the first phase and you say, "Yes, we need Knowledge. Why do we need Knowledge? Because we want peace." And the second phase is, "Well, why do we want peace? It's because we understand that it is the missing piece, it is the missing link that we're looking for." Okay, then we go to the third phase. "Well okay, now here we are, we have received Knowledge, now what do we do?" So now comes the part where we do satsang, service and meditation. But, this is such a process that to be able to actually do satsang, and service and meditation, because everything revolves around Knowledge, you have to go back to the second step and say to yourself, "Am I really going to put my effort into this? Do I really need peace?" You have to ask yourself again. "Am I really going to get it together inside of me and realize Knowledge or am I going to just let it linger all my life long and not realize anything?"

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It's like the person who never comes out of the cave. He knows the sun is out and he knows the necessity of the sun. He knows that he needs sun, but he always hides in the cave, because, for no apparent reason whatsoever, he just doesn't want to go out. All you can say to that person is that he is completely crazy because there is something very beautiful, there is something that will take care of his need, that he's been searching for such a long time, but he's too afraid to go out.

So, we come to the conclusion that, "Yes, in fact, I am going to realize Knowledge, I am going to do satsang, I am going to do service," then you come back to the third part again, which is satsang, service and meditation. Because, "Yes, to realize Knowledge I'll have to do satsang, service and meditation." Now let me discuss those three things again: satsang, service and meditation. What does satsang really do for us? And what does meditation really do for us? And what does service really do for us?

Well, satsang is the flow. See, there is a very big difference between an ocean, a dam, a river, and a lake. They all contain water, but there is a difference. A dam is an artificial control of something. A lake is a lake. Maybe the water just constantly comes in, but it doesn't really go anywhere. And then there is the river, which is constantly flowing, constantly flowing, constantly flowing. And it is constantly flowing because it's got a constant source. As soon as that constant source stops, it'll stop flowing, and as soon as it stops flowing, it won't be a river anymore. In the same way, if we aren't doing meditation, then we have no experience to talk about. Then there is nothing to flow from us to other premies, to other people, then there is nothing beautiful to talk about. Then, what sat- sang ends up as is somebody coming up to the stage, taking the microphone, and saying, "Premies, jai satchit anand, ah …" This is the same exact example I've been giving all during this tour. It's like, "Gee premies, I don't know what to say, thank you very much, jai satchitanand, bye bye." Because there is no experience to flow.

And what is the necessity to even hear satsang? Of course, to hear satsang, we're grasping that experience, we're hearing about that experience. Then what is the necessity of actually giving satsang? When I give satsang, I don't know really how much benefit it's giving to you individually. I mean you don't have a gauge sitting on your head that goes, "boop, boop." But it is doing wonders for me. When I'm giving satsang, I'm not only giving satsang to you, but I'm also giving satsang to myself because I can hear myself. There is an experience which just starts flowing, and it keeps on going, keeps on going, keeps on going. It becomes really beautiful, and it is really beautiful. If a person has ever given satsang, then he knows what I'm talking about. If you haven't given satsang, well, you don't know what I'm talking about because you haven't got something to back up that experience.

0f course, there are people who get up on the stage, they make up a nice story, they rap a whole rap and they give it to you and it's like, "Ah, yes, ah, yes and no, and yes and no, no," but it's just really no experience, it's not satsang, it becomes something very fake, it becomes something very strange. But satsang is satsang. Satsang only can really happen when there is in fact an experience of truth behind it, because that is what you want to talk about. Satsang means "company of truth," but that is really not going to happen unless you do meditation. Because no meditation, no experience; no experience, no satsang.

So, those two things don't work without each other. And no satsang, no flow; no flow, and it's almost like

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That one sincere love is towards Knowledge, is towards that truth and we have to really experience that, we have to really realize that, and start putting ourselves into it.

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taking a person and cutting his leg off, or like taking a cow and cutting one of his legs off. He really needs to have four legs; you really need to do satsang, service, meditation and darshan. Because they all revolve around Knowledge, and it's just a circle.

Then what is meditation going to do for us? That is the question that has been answered a lot of times, "Why should we do meditation?" We should do meditation because if we want to experience something of that Knowledge, then we'll have to do meditation. But remember, on the other hand, you've got satsang. If you're doing meditation but you're not doing satsang, it's like you're taking one link out of the chain and it's not really going to work. So please don't try it, because it's just something you just don't try. And why not? Because it really pertains to your life. There is somebody who has mastered this subject who is telling you, "Don't do this." Why? Well, it's probably only going to take you about a week to find out that if you stop doing satsang, something's missing. But if you're smart, you're also going to realize that a week is a time which will never come back again for you, so why use that week in experimenting about something? Why not use that week in actually going full-speed ahead with satsang, service and meditation, because that is going to be much better for you than doing small experiments like that. Or what happens if I keep doing satsang and meditation and quit doing service? Well, what happens is that you just start goofing more and more. And that's when mind starts coming in and completely taking over.

o you know why we really need meditation? Because Knowledge is infinite and we are not. We need a transformer, we need a system where two things - infinite and finite - can be plugged together simultaneously. That is why we need those three things: service, satsang and meditation - because of the flow, the experience, the love, the , the energy of Knowledge.

A lot of times we try to wonder, though many people don't even wonder about this, but sometimes we keep on saying, "Yes, Knowledge is infinite," and we keep on saying, "Yes, we are finite. ' But we never really look at ourselves and say, "Well, if Knowledge is infinite and we are finite, how do we get to it?" We need a transformer, we need a way, a method, and that is what satsang, service and meditation are: to get to that experience, to be able to safely live and have that experience brought to us now in our lives. Not a raincheck, that, "Here, you do service for us, and here's a raincheck and as soon as you go up to heaven, boom! you'll have the experience of your life." No! We want that experience now.

So why do we need service? Because we are servants. And again, to be able to do service, first of all we have to be completely surrendered; we have to surrender. It's like I said; we're not surrendering to some Joe Blow, we're surrendering to the person we should have surrendered to and who we have surrendered to, but we do not know it. It is to that person that we really have to surrender. It's not going to just anybody and doing this, but it's going to that supreme thing. If we have surrendered, then we become a servant; and when we become a servant, then we can do service.

It's all like a chain. If we have not realized Knowledge and we're not listening to and giving satsang, then we really can't surrender. And if we can't surrender, then we really can't do service. If we can't do service … then of course, it goes on. If we can't do service, then we really can't do meditation. And if we can't do meditation, then we really can't do satsang. Then it goes back again. If we don't really do satsang, it's just not a flowing experience, and therefore meditation just starts becoming even more and more slow for us. Our experience is not the way it should be, and then automatically, if you're not going to surrender, you won't be able to do service. It all adds up to the point that if you're not going to do satsang, service and meditation, you're not going to realize Knowledge. So the reason I'm giving this sat- sang now, and the reason why I'm on this tour is to be able to tell premies that this is no joke, okay? This is really, really no joke. This is all serious business from top to bottom. And it's us, and only us, who are involved.

It's an individual experience, and it's really beautiful that it is an individual experience. Because, if it were not an individual experience, can you imagine? Like, Swiss people are really into cheese and chocolate. Can you imagine if there were only one person who was elected by the whole country to have chocolate and cheese for everybody in the whole country? That person would get all the pleasure of eating the chocolate and the cheese and everybody else would be just working, working, working, working, working.

We don't realize it, but it's like if you look at a person who is being fed through his veins, not through his mouth. To him there's no taste, there's just all that stuff going through him to keep him alive. And in the same way, because Knowledge is a beautiful experience, for people who have not really put their everything into it - because this is something that you have to put your everything into - those people almost wish somebody had to sit there and do satsang, service and meditation for them, because they don't want to do all that, they just want that beautiful experience. But a person who really puts his whole self into it is going to get that experience.

That ultimate experience, that ultimate love, is only one love. We try to imitate it by doing this and by trying to do that, but there is sincerely only one love, though we have, of course, found lots of methods to imitate it. But that one sincere love is towards Knowledge, is towards that truth and we have to really experience that, we have to really realize that, and start putting ourselves into it.

The reason I'm giving this satsang is because I want all the premies to get together, really get our lives together, really understand, really do satsang, service and meditation, really do become a premie and really have that experience within inside of us now which is so beautiful. Because the whole thing is now, and it is possible now. So realize it now because it is realizable and do it now - get your lives together now.

You can do it, you know. What I mean by getting your lives together is not get your car together, get your house together, get your wife together, get your kid together, but what I'm trying to say is, get your life together. Decide if you are really going to dump it, and if you're not going to dump it, then what are you going to do with it? And that means really, really decide for yourself, are you in fact going to realize the ultimate experience of life that you are supposed to, or not? If you are, then do satsang, service and meditation. And if you aren't, then have a nice sleep. But you can't even sleep if you're not constantly alive within inside of you, and Knowledge is what really keeps us alive. r

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