A Letter From Guru Maharaj Ji
Dear Premies:
Some of you recently might have been experiencing a lot of problems concerning Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji. This has become very serious and I am sending out this letter in order to clarify this situation.
It has turned out that Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji have denied in every way to cooperate with Me in doing prachar, spreading this Knowledge. They have refused to obey My agya and have tried to deceive many premies. This might sound ridiculous but, unfortunately, this is true. I want to warn all the premies because until now this situation has brought a lot of confusion and controversy. I want that no premie should cooperate with such people, for if they are not following My agya, they just become an obstruction in the spreading of this Knowledge. It is essential for every premie to recognize that there is one source of agya. No premie, it does not matter who he is or what he does, if he has denied agya and has started following his own mind, he is right back from where he started. That is why it is so important for premies to be in agya.
At this time Mata Ji, through an abuse of the legal authority entrusted to her on My behalf, has appointed ten new trustees to the governing body of the Divine Light Mission in England. This action was not taken by My agya. I feel that this action is detrimental to this mission's operation now and in the future. If people who are not appointed by My agya come to control Divine Light Mission, I do not want premies to cooperate with them or support them in any way but rather to continue to propagate the Knowledge of Truth under My agya. It is not unusual for people to oppose the work of the Perfect Master for either selfish or ignorant reasons. Premies who have understood the importance of this Knowledge should not be affected by those who seek to confuse or distract you from the practice of service, satsang and meditation under the agya of the Perfect Master.
I hope you all understand the importance of this message.
Blessings to you all.
ABOUT MAHARAJ JI'S LETTER
When Guru Maharaj Ji wrote this letter and was about to release it to the premies, several months ago, Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji asked him not to print it, claiming they wanted to stop all of their antagonistic behavior and do whatever Guru Maharaj Ji wanted. Guru Maharaj Ji felt that if they were devotees, truly repentent and ready to surrender to his direction, he would be completely open to it.
During the past few months, Maharaj Ji has given agya to both Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji on several occasions. As of this date, they have not done anything that Guru Maharaj Ji has told them to do. In fact, they have deliberately refused.
So, at this point, for the protection of all of the people who might become associated with these three members of Guru Maharaj Ji's family, Guru Maharaj Ji has asked that we go ahead and publish this letter.
An open letter to all premies from Mike Donner.
Dear Brothers and sisters,
Many of you have heard bits and pieces of the story of "Maharaj Ji's family lila." It's been hard to tell the whole story until now, because Maharaj Ji himself has been trying to give everyone involved enough time to digest the changes that have taken place and join him once again in unity and cooperation. Maharaj Ji loves us all - and because of that love he always gives us enough rope to either tie ourselves to his Lotus Feet or hang ourselves.
Historical Account
In early spring, Raja Ji married Claudia. The marriage, held with Maharaj Ji's complete consent and knowledge, was a private ceremony. Mata Ji knew of Raja Ji's love for Claudia long before this marriage and was against their relationship from the start. A month or so following their wedding day, Raja Ji and Claudia, after consulting Guru Maharaj Ji, decided to go to the residence in L.A. and announce their marriage to Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji and to ask their blessings as is the custom in India. They went and were greeted not with blessings but rather with anger and raised hands and were driven from the house. This upset Maharaj Ji because he had blessed the marriage and Mata Ji knew that Maharaj Ji approved. Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji's anger was so great in fact that Maharaj Ji called Bob Mishler and myself to L.A. to ask Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji to leave the country, to return to India. It's hard to understand why such a simple and beautiful marriage - although not traditional - should have caused such a commotion, except in the context of Guru Maharaj Ji's own marriage.
Bal Bhagwan Ji, at least, saw the handwriting on the wall and strongly suspected that Durga Ji would soon be our Lord's wife. At one point he even flew secretly to Denver from Australia to try to persuade Guru Maharaj Ji to return to India, behave more traditionally, and denounce Raja Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji asked Bob and I to meet Bal Bhagwan Ji at the Denver airport and have him return to India. We spent hours with Bal Bhagwan Ji that night trying to explain to him that as far as we were concerned Guru Maharaj Ji was Guru Maharaj Ji and could do what he wanted and didn't want to be pressured into behaving according to someone else's norms and customs, etc.
He left for India (not very convinced), after Guru Maharaj Ji suggested that if he returned to India Guru Maharaj Ji would consider going to India on May 20th. Ironically, May 20th was that very blessed day for all Guru Maharaj Ji's children. On that day, rather than returning to India, Durga Ji became Guru Maharaj Ji's blessed wife. In a sense, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Maharaj Ji said there was no turning back at that point and everyone, including his family, just had to follow him to Heaven.
By now, most premies were beginning to learn to let go of their concepts and ideas about how it was going to be. For some, more caught in tradition, it was difficult to make such rapid changes. It was a time of great stress for many older devotees. Because it was so hard, Guru Maharaj Ji was extremely patient. The things Bal Bhagwan Ji said about Guru Maharaj Ji during that period are still too harsh to repeat. But Maharaj Ji listened and hoped that time would heal the wounds.
Recent Developments
Now time has passed, and the gap is still present. I cannot say why people act as they do. Who can say why such a time can be such a tremendous experience of love for some and such a time of pain for others. One of the most recent developments concerns Bihari Singh Ji, a long time close disciple of Guru Maharaj Ji. In the course of the last few months Bihari Ji has been acting as liason between Guru Maharaj Ji and the other members of his family. Through his contact, however, he became more and more involved and "tried to figure it out," as Maharaj Ji put it - and became confused. Bihari Ji has since moved in with Bal Bhagwan Ji and Mata Ji.
There is a lesson here for all premies. The lesson is that we must all personally experience this Knowledge. No matter who we are, how close we are to Maharaj Ji physically, we must experience this Knowledge for ourselves.
Guru Maharaj Ji held off circulating his letter that you see on this page in hopes that Bal Bhagwan Ji, Mata Ji, and Bhole Ji would tire of the folly that Guru Maharaj Ji is too young to lead us; in hopes that they would tire of the delusion that Guru Maharaj Ji is caught in "Western" maya and cannot be trusted; tire of the joke that the Perfect Master is being controlled by the DLM administration. As we all know, Guru Maharaj Ji is in complete control of all levels of life.
But they have persisted in spreading this confusion until Guru Maharaj Ji has no choice but to speak the embarrassing truth about his own family.
Commentary
So why do I take the time to write this lengthy letter to all of you? Because Guru Maharaj Ji has asked us to keep everyone informed so that no one can confuse any of our family any longer. There are some common questions that arise from this lila.
"Why does Guru Maharaj Ji allow such things to happen if he is Lord?" I can really only speak for myself, but everything Maharaj Ji does is for me. I can't begin to express the endless lessons I've learned in the short time of this play. Guru Maharaj Ji is taking us beyond our mind and concepts to a place where we can have the pure experience of love. Just love; love unfiltered by any idea of what it is. We cannot experience love with our minds so Guru Maharaj Ji takes us beyond our minds. These situations are the tools he uses to explode our concepts to take us further down the path of devotion and surrender.
And further, he makes it clear that such things happen to help us see that we have to personally experience this Knowledge. No one else can realize it for us. As he said in his Paramount satsang in Denver, "It doesn't matter who received Knowledge before you or after you. You have to experience it for yourself." It doesn't matter what Mata Ji's role or relationship is to Guru Maharaj Ji - ultimately it doesn't affect what I must do to get close to Guru Maharaj Ji myself.
So, many more lessons have come from this situation. I can only serve one Lord, not five. Guru Maharaj Ji is one, not five. Agya comes from one point, not five, etc. etc..
Some ask: "If Guru Maharaj Ji can't have peace within his family, how can he bring peace to the world?" Guru Maharaj Ji has made it clear that all his devotees are his holy family. His family is a spiritual family that crosses all boundaries of creed and tradition. Guru Maharaj Ji is in fact bringing peace to the world through the peace brought to the lives of millions of devotees - us! Knowledge is the key and we must practice Knowledge to be experiencing the peace that he has promised. Peace comes when we surrender totally to the Lord no matter who we are, surrender is the path to peace. A few persons being too proud to surrender to the relationship of Lord and devotee doesn't negate the experience that the rest of us are having of Guru Maharaj Ji's love.
"Aren't Bal Bhagwan Ji and Mata Ji just realized souls playing their part in
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Mike's letter continued
his game perfectly?" Not necessarily. Guru Maharaj Ji is making it clear that if they were experiencing this Knowledge, they wouldn't be hindering his movement and purpose. Experiencing and not experiencing Knowledge is the difference between night and day. In fact, many premies still do not understand this and that is why Guru Maharaj Ji has published his letter of October 26, 1974. He knows that such ideas make premies easy prey for the confusion that Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and others bring with them. Guru Maharaj Ji is our only Lord and by serving him only, he will take care of all the rest.
"Shouldn't we try to bring unity in the Family?" We shouldn't try to do anything but realize the Knowledge, practice meditation and serve Guru Maharaj Ji. If we direct all our energy to that one point, with no concern for the result of this selfless action, then Guru Maharaj Ji - like a magnifying glass - will burn away all the separation that keeps real unity from manifesting.
Most of us know from our own experience with our own family and friends that only Guru Maharaj Ji can bring them into his love. We can try and try, but until we give up that desire to do it we only make matters worse with our personal desires and lack of trust. Obeying the agya of Guru Maharaj Ji and tending to our own spiritual growth is good advice.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, no one said that the path was simple - but actually it is simple if we get down to the simple agya of Guru Maharaj Ji. When we do satsang, service and meditation, then we experience the Grace, the peace and the joy of seeing Guru Maharaj Ji's plan unfold perfectly for this world. [The physical life of Guru Maharaj Ji is here to make our lives easier -- but if our mind doubts then that same life -- His style, etc. -- will throw us into confusion. This sentence was not published in the Divine Times]
Guru Maharaj Ji is the Supreme power who is taking care of everything in this world. If we relax and remember to remember that Guru Maharaj Ji is conscious of all life, then our life becomes full of peace and bliss.
I hope this letter helps you some. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to write to me.
Jai Satchitanand.
Your brother in his Love,
Mike Donner