Dear premies, it's been really beautiful, I think, to be able to come to this program. Because to us, as I have said before, we just need a slight excuse to be able to come together. It doesn't really have to be that reasonable either. We just need a very slight excuse to be able to come together, because something that we have understood, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, is far more greater than any reason in this whole wide world. And when we come -- not to celebrate anything -- but when we come to accomplish that purpose, that motive, that we have understood, that's greater than anything in this whole world. It's fulfilling a destiny.

You know, 10,000 people came to this program, and about 6,000 people came to the program in Malaga. About 8,000 premies were at the program in England. And every time that that happens, that many lives fulfill an aspect, fulfill a purpose. And it's just so wonderful. That's the feeling that we get, that's the feeling that we just want to celebrate. That's all we really want to celebrate. That's all we want to really experience all the time; the fulfillment, the accomplishment of that purpose of why we are really here, getting fulfilled.

Because as soon as we can do that, we know, we feel it. No words have to be put out. I know that a lot of initiators have gotten up and said, "Oh, this is beautiful. This is wonderful. This is incredible." And it is! There's no doubt about it. But if everybody in this hall was to get up and put in their own words what we feel and how beautiful this is, it still wouldn't, in any way, reflect how beautiful it really is. Because it's not words. It's your own understanding. It's your own fulfillment. That is the most important thing. And that's why we always come and we have satsang.

Because in our mind we have so many concepts. And every day, regardless of knowing for a fact that concepts only deteriorate us and do not fulfill the purpose, we make more and more barriers in our life. We still very gladly accept concepts. We still very gladly accept anything that's put in front of us. It's like, for some reason, we think we're always hungry.

Today a very funny thing happened. We were driving. We were coming from the residence to this program. And you see, every time we are in a car, Wadi doesn't quite enjoy it. We were in the motor home. Every time we go somewhere and it's a long way, we just carry on a conversation like, "Oh, look at the red light, and the red light means stop and the green light means go."

And today, just out of the blue, she asked, "Well, mama, what is a red light?" And Marolyn said, "Well, red light means that you should stop. And

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when it turns green, it means you can go."

And they were just having this conversation. And I just all of a sudden barged in -- because I was sitting right next to Marolyn -- and I said, "Wadi, red light stands for danger. Red stands for danger. And every time a red light goes on, that means that there is something very dangerous, if you were to cross against that red light. And then when green goes on, that means it's okay. And automatically on the other side the red light goes on, which means there's danger. It means cars are crossing."

And then I started thinking: Why does red stand for danger? Our blood is red, that doesn't stand for danger. Or there's so many things that are red; they don't stand for danger. Why does red stand for danger? And then I just started asking those several other questions to myself: What if she would have said, "What's the amber for, the yellow light?" I would have been caught in some kind of an idiotic explanation of how that amber light, that yellow light, is somewhere between green and red. And what does green stand for? And then, of course, that question: What does red stand for?

That was just a very simple thing. And I was going to go on and say, "Yeah, Wadi, you should learn about this because when you learn how to drive, these things will come in handy." But I didn't say that, because I just went into this whole feeling of how so many concepts in our lives are just put in front of us. And we just eat them like they were some kind of God-given fruit or something like that. It's just like God personally delivered them to us, and we just eat it all; all of it. And then it just sits in our stomach, sits in us, and it's like a virus. Concept is like a virus, like a flu virus, a really bad one. It comes and then sits with us, and we get an "achey" head and a cold nose and all the symptoms.

But in this case, we don't see the symptoms. We don't feel the symptoms; other people do, other people feel the symptoms. They can see how we are really sneezing. They can see how we really have a bad headache. They can see us being really, really tired. And we think we're just the greatest person in the world: "Everything is okay."

And then maybe something happens, and that concept goes away. But it's just like a virus. Again, it goes and it just goes through other people, other people, other people, until it just sort of progresses. It becomes the same flu, but it turns around and becomes slightly different, and then it attacks you again. Same concept, just slightly different, attacks you again. And it's just like, that keeps on happening through the whole life cycle.

And it's the same thing: Why? Why did we just

take it for granted that red stood for danger? Why not some other color? I mean, you can produce so many colors artificially, but it's just like always, the red. And it's just a "fed thing." It's the same thing as when I was giving satsang about two plus two is four. Nobody ever raises the question. Because of the time, our age, we are taught that. We are so small that we don't have the intelligence to question it. We barely have the intelligence to learn two plus two is four.

And that's fed into it. It's like a computer. So much is fed into this computer as the basic information, that by the time the computer has enough information to turn around and to be able to ask you a question, it's already too late. The computer is completely filled to its capacity, its memory bank, its data bank. It can't go any further.

There always exists in our lives the abandoned question. We have a little computer at the residence, and it's that "Radio Shack" computer. You can program it, and you can just input all these different lines. And it's got a gigantic capacity, sort of. But you program it, and you program it, and you program it … It's the same thing like in a human life. You program it, you program it, you program it, you program it. But although the program that you have developed for this computer is so gigantic and so vast, by the time you end up dumping all the information into the computer, you can't dump the last line. And this last line says, "Program End." Completes the whole program.

And every time we go to turn on the computer, it turns on fine. It does a few things. But as soon as it comes to the point of signing off, of coming to real business, it goes, "What?" And has a question mark.

But in our lives, it's a little bit more than that. It's not just a little question, "What?" It's the completely abandoned question. We don't even register that.

Today if you were to walk up to somebody and say, "Peace," you can just imagine what they will start going through. First of all -- and it depends -- if you were to approach a certain kind of person who believed that violence was okay, that it had to be done, and who thought that going into the Army wasn't all that bad, that as a matter of fact it was fun, and so on and so forth -- his attitude

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towards peace is that somebody who is a fanatic would speak about it; somebody who is crazy talks about peace. Otherwise there always is peace.

And he has now, in turn, become a sort of well- accomplished businessman. And you approach him. You see him driving a great big Cadillac Eldorado. You knock on his window, he rolls his window down, and you say, "Peace." And automatically, he'll probably just stare at you. He'll just look at you. Then after a little while, if he can't figure out what's going on, he'll probably just roll his window right up, and just very, very anxiously await for the light to turn green so he can get out of there. And that would be his circumstance, that would be his situation.

You can approach another kind of people. To them, artificial circumstances of peace are as valid as the real peace itself. In other words if you can go like this (peace sign), you're a good guy. If you cannot go like that, you're not so good. And so to them, if you approach them, and say …

I mean, if you have an Army jacket, and you have to wear an Army jacket -- somehow you end up with it -- but you don't have a dove on it, then you're not a good guy. You really believe in violence. But if you've got an Army jacket and it does have a dove with a couple of pieces of hay or wheat on his beak, then you are a good guy. You're okay.

And then you approach him, and say, "Peace, brother." And he'll just turn right back around to you and say, "Peace, brother." But the conversation will end right then and there.

And from that one man that I talked about first, to the second person, there seems to be a vast, vast difference. It seems like there is no comparison, almost. And yet, there is no difference. Because they both don't understand what peace is. One person is completely oriented in a different manner, and this other person is oriented in a completely different manner. To him, there should be something like peace. He's the kind of person who likes to pursue peace verbally, and not in its true sense. And you would go, "Well, that other guy's a lot better, because he at least likes to pursue peace; at least he puts his two fingers up."

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But that's not the point. It's not who's good and who is bad in this world. What it really boils down to is us, individually. Do we understand? Do we really know what peace really is?

Because "peace" isn't a word that has so many definitions to it. And maybe for some people who just like to use that word "peace" as a start of a sentence or just as a conversation piece, to a lot of those people it just got changed from "peace" to "force."

"May the peace be with you, brother." Now it just got changed from "peace," to "May the force be with you."

To them, it's an aimless saga. Again, just like the other person, it's an aimless saga of where we are all really going in this world. And it's not like because one person repeats, "Peace, peace, peace, peace, peace," he's a lot happier than the person who does not repeat, "Peace, peace, peace, peace, peace." Because he is just repeating -- something else. So maybe he's not repeating, "Peace." Maybe he's repeating, "Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank, bank." Or maybe he's repeating, "My business, my business, my business, my business, my business, my business, my business."

I was giving satsang in Malaga and I was just saying that we probably do need doctors. And we do need doctors. And we probably do need all different kinds of doctors. We do need homeopathic doctors, and we need the ones that cut you up, and the ones that sew you back up, and the ones that give you pills, the ones that don't give you pills, the ones that stick a needle in you, the ones that don't stick a needle in you. We need all those kinds of doctors. (Gives you a much more personal preference over things.)

And we do need cars. And when you start talking about cars, then you automatically need engineers. Then you need workers. Then you need drivers for the cars. Transportation.

And we do need pilots. And if you talk about pilots, you automatically switch to airplanes. Then you need stewardesses, stewards, flight engineers, the crew maintenance men, the airport people, this and that.

So whatever we have in this world, that's all okay. Because it's not like there was a constant peace in this world, and all of a sudden the airplanes came and everything went haywire. It wasn't like that. Maybe the world became a little noisier, but that was it. Or it's not like everything was A-Okay in this world, and all of the sudden the cars were invented, and everything went "cockabunga."

But the reality is, none of those things have an effect -- or would have an effect -- none of those things would have an effect on this human race if we knew our purpose, if we knew what we are here for.

It's like if you leave a boat abandoned. You pull it up to the dock and you leave the boat abandoned. Then it's completely subject to the scrutiny of the ocean. Tides going up, tides going down. Right?

And tides pulling it back, tides slamming it into the dock. But if you tie it up in the bow and in the stern, the front and in the back, that gives it a certain place to be. That means it cannot go back so much, and it cannot go forward so much. And within that, it stays. And therefore, even if the tide comes up, it'll go up with the tide, it'll go down with the tide. And if there is something that's pulling it, if the tide is pulling it the wrong way, it'll go with it. But it'll stop at a certain point. It's not like it'll just sweep out right into the open ocean and then eventually end up sinking.

But look at our lives. How are we tied up? And we live in this world, which is like an ocean. It goes up, and it goes down. It pulls us this way, it pulls us that way. And when you look at it, in a sense water keeps the boat afloat, right? That's the whole principle. You make a fiberglass boat or a wooden boat or a steel boat, or whatever boat you make, and you put it on water, and you put it on the ocean, and that's supposed to keep it afloat.

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But then you start even wondering about it a little bit. Because every time you go out there and it's a big wave, the only threat that you think about, the only thing that you can think about is that you're going to drown, it's going to sink the boat. Put this plug in the boat, put that plug in the boat. And if you don't, the biggest threat …

It's just almost like that ocean is out there to drown that boat! Because you can have a two- foot boat, a twenty-foot boat, a hundred-foot boat, two hundred-foot boat, and if you forget to put a plug in it, it'll just sink! So premies, I mean, it's almost like in one way, that ocean is supposed to keep that boat up. But it's almost like it's just waiting to suck it in. It's just waiting to pull it in. And here is a perfect example.

Because we are in this ocean. We make businesses, we make all these things in the world around us to support ourselves, to keep ourselves buoyant, to keep ourselves afloat in this ocean. And yet, sometimes you really wonder if those things that you make in this world to keep yourself buoyant aren't really doing you much more harm, aren't really trying to pull you in all the time, than probably trying to keep you up. And that's a good question. Because look at the entanglements that man has put himself into.

You know, there is a song in Hindi, it's actually a really beautiful song, and it just goes through the stages of man: When you were a child all you wanted to do was play and all this. And then you grew up, and then you got married. It just goes through all the phases of what man goes through. And at the end of the song it says that the web is made by the spider, but sometimes even the spider gets caught in its own web. And then when the spider gets caught in his own web, there is no way out for him.

He has built the web only for the intention of trapping something. And, unfortunately, this spider that builds such a complicated web one day ends up getting caught in its own web. And thus that becomes its cause of death, which it tries to ignore, that the whole idea of building the web is so that he can sustain himself.

I mean, you figure how many heart attacks happen over very, very simple things. I mean, man has put himself right to the brink of everything. When Raja Ji was giving satsang last night, he was talking about the skis. It just clicked to me that that's completely opposite to the example that you give: You can't have two feet in two boats. You've got to have both feet in one boat, and that's the only way it'll work. And those skis are sort of two boats, and you put one foot there and one foot there. But what's the whole point of skiing? To keep your feet together! Because going 40 miles an hour, if your one ski took off that way, and one ski took off that way, you will fall flat, rumbling and tumbling across water, your greatest fear. I mean, it's like getting wiped out over water.

And so it doesn't make a difference. That's more of a practical example of how it is very, very bad to have two feet on two boats.

And in this world, with everything that we have done -- what about the abandoned question? We have abandoned a question in our lives, a question that nobody asks anymore, a very simple question. And every time, by any chance, anything, somebody touches off this question, we literally get goose bumps, freak out, or in a very, very positive way say, "Listen, Mr. Cuckoo, there is no answer to that. You know what the answer is."

And sometimes people even go one step beyond it and say, "Look, it's really true. That's a really good question, and I really should ask. But where am I going to find the answer? Answer doesn't exist! The question exists, but the answer doesn't exist." And there's so many points that you can just keep on using. But the point is: The greatest point is that there is an answer to that question. And the fulfillment … Not only knowing what that

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answer is, but the proper fulfillment of that question, to me, personally, is the destiny of this life.

Because I'm not saying that I'm an extremely experienced man. I'm not. That's for sure. I'm not one of those guys who has traveled the seven seas with a boat, and met the one-eyed monster (like Sinbad), and ruined him, and saved this princess, or got this lamp out of there and put that lamp in there. No, no. I didn't do any of that stuff.

As a matter of fact, it was a very, very one-pointed beginning for me. I don't quite remember when I was little if I used to cry or I used to smile. I was just a little too young to remember. I do remember that all of a sudden, before I knew, I was giving satsang. And yet I didn't know what really it could have been that I was talking about, except that people liked it. And I guess it was more of an amazement for those people to just see a little bitty boy sitting up on a stage giving satsang. People would collect -- all these people wouldn't know what's going on. It would sort of provide a good advertisement, and then Shri Maharaj Ji would come and take over.

And yet, of course, there was a feeling. It wasn't like a fake thing. It wasn't just for the fun of it. But there was a feeling. And the feeling was very motivating towards something, wanted to know something, knew that something was greater. And it was like, Shri Maharaj Ji, and just a very, very incredible experience. Just so beautiful, so incredible, so radiant. And it was such a perfect fit of that whole situation, that there was not enough room to jiggle around. There was not enough room to have questions. There was not enough room to say, "Why?" It was just an incredible experience.

And then, just with growing, more concepts are given. And you can just imagine yourself being a very big weaver, and having a great big loom, and then you have all these threads. More threads you have there, the more weaving you've got to do. And you started to then, all of a sudden, have that feeling of wanting to know what it was.

It wasn't like something that maybe a Sinbad would have said when he saw the one-eyed monster standing in front of him going, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" And then Sinbad said, "Oh,

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my God! I wonder if this is why I'm here in this life, to kill this one-eyed monster. Help me, Lord! Let me know my destiny before I kick the bucket, because this guy might eat me up!" Or something like that.

You knew that there was something there. And just going to satsang after satsang after satsang … I didn't attend every satsang, because there was Mr. School. But every time I would go, it would be an incredible experience to just see all the premies, and then to just sit down and to listen to satsang, and to see Shri Maharaj Ji.

And you can start with one thing. If you have a puzzle in front of you, and the puzzle has 150,000 pieces, and the picture on those pieces of puzzle is of an extremely, extremely fine-painted bonsai tree, it doesn't take you much to figure out one thing: that it's a very difficult puzzle. It's just like a simple, taken-for-granted understanding. And it was just like the same thing in the whole puzzle that would have then maybe later occurred in my life. One thing was very, very apparent, and one thing was very, very clear: that there is something that I should know. There is something that I should find out. There is something that I am here for.

And it just so happened that it was different. I know that's not the way it happened to a lot of premies. But it was just like my whole focus started from Guru Maharaj Ji. It wasn't like this abandoning search that I had out in the streets of Dehra Dun, wandering around, trying to find out what my destiny is, or something like that. Nothing of that sort. It was just very, very straight: Get up in the morning. Go to school. Come back home. Have your big lunch. Go to sleep. And get up and study again.

So my whole understanding of Knowledge wasn't really Knowledge. It started from Guru Maharaj Ji. Until the time I received Knowledge, it stayed like that. And after I received Knowledge, there was a very important thing that had to happen in my life. (I guess it has to happen in every premie's life.) And that was how to set the precedence. What to do. How to place things. Which one goes first?

Because here were two things: Knowledge and Guru Maharaj Ji. And to me, it was extremely,

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extremely apparent. Because the whole idea started from Guru Maharaj Ji, was initiated by Guru Maharaj Ji, and for no more reason than to be able to turn around and plug it right back into Guru Maharaj Ji. No questions asked. No time for those questions to be asked. It was a very simple and a very straight situation.

But if ever I would have lost that precedence, if ever I would have lost that understanding of Guru Maharaj Ji, then for me I know Knowledge would have never worked. Because you cannot bring Mr. Mind in between there, pull mind in and say, "Why don't you put a reasoning? Why don't you figure this one out?"

A lot of times you just throw out questions for things, so that maybe you can just ask a question and then be able to judge for yourself. But there was no necessity for that. There was no reason to do that. It was just a very, very simple thing. It came from Guru Maharaj Ji. It was a gift from Guru Maharaj Ji to me.

But then when I understood what had to happen via Knowledge, it was very, very clear that that gift was by him to him. And then, ultimately, the purpose was to just turn around and plug the first gift and the most incredible gift that was given -- both of them -- and channel it right back into Guru Maharaj Ji. And there was no more purpose than that.

To a lot of people, this might sound completely cuckoo. Maybe there are people who will read this satsang and go, "Ah-hah! That's the reason why he's so crazy. Because he never questioned it." But you know, it's just like that example. To see a puzzle all jumbled up of a very, very finely-painted bonsai tree, you don't need glasses to tell that it's a very, very complicated puzzle. You can just sort of feel with your hands, even if you're blind, to see how many millions of pieces there are. And the more pieces there are, the harder the puzzle is to put together (if you have ever put a puzzle together).

So it's not the matter of reasoning everything. Because we always reason everything. It's like there's these newsmen, and whenever I watch news, at the end of the news they have all these guys, right? Every station has their own man. And they get up and they have this whole set-up, and it's a really incredible set-up they have: satellite pictures, magnetic little things, clouds and sun and temperature and stuff. And they have it all figured out. Not just a simple story to tell: "Los Angeles, 57, tomorrow it's going to be 60 and cloudy. Florida, presently 73, tomorrow, low 70's and high 80's." But: "There is a high-pressure system moving towards Florida, bringing us this good weather. And now it's going up towards the Northeast, and therefore taking this whole thing to New York." I mean, everything has a reason. They've got it figured out. It's the high-pressure system that does this, and the low-pressure system that does this. I haven't quite figured out what the high-pressure system and the low- pressure system is, but something brings you a lot of wind, something brings you no wind. Some things bring you a lot of waves, something brings you no waves. But anyway, man has everything figured out just like that in his life.

And my question is, why don't we go beyond every question? Why do we have to have a reason? Because our reasoning is so limited. It's extremely limited. As a matter of fact, if we were to sit down and put the reasonings that we have in this world

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on a piece of paper, and view them in a little more proportionate way than we think those reasonings really are, we will find that we are stupid, that we have no more greater reasonings than that little chimpanzee has, and that it's completely, absolutely, good for nothing! And it's always that endless question: Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

"Why do we always stick to the ground?" "Oh, because the Earth is rotating." "Okay, this is the reason why we do."

And always when I was little, in the geography class, we'd read about all this stuff. And I would just say, "But people who are on the South Pole must fall right down!" "Oh, no, they don't. Because, you see, the world is rotating and just keeping everything glued on." And then I would look at a globe and I'd say, "Okay, so, here …" And I would take a pin and I would stick it in the globe. And I said, "That means we are standing like this, because we are not standing parallel to Earth. We are standing like this, on top of the Earth. So that means we are sticking way out in the air." And you hit the globe, and you see the pin go around and around. But, "No, no, no. That's not the way it works." They'd get into this whole explanation. "But you are in this atmosphere."

It was just like this one occasion that happened -- we were coming from Germany, and it was after the conference. Michael Dettmers was sitting in the first class; they just put everybody in the first class. And we were just talking, and the steward came by and we just said, "Boy, it sure takes a long time to get back, to come the other way, to come west, because there's always the headwinds." And so Michael got into this whole explanation of why it takes longer. He said, "The Earth is rotating, and you're flying. One way it doesn't take that long, because -- see, here is New York and here is England, and you're flying like this (with the Earth's rotation). When you go like this it's quicker, because two points are moving towards each other. But when you're flying like this (against the Earth's rotation), it takes a lot longer, because you are pursuing that point. It's moving further and further away from you."

And this was really hilarious, because I just asked him a question, I said, "So that means if you were to take a helicopter and hover it in the air, just hover it, you could be in England and you could just land it." And he said, "Yeah!" And we just made jokes and jokes after jokes after jokes.

And he would always end up with this one thing he would say, "But you have to listen to the rest of my theory." And never -- nobody wanted to go that far out there, after what they had understood! I mean, it would be like -- Earth travels 24,000 miles an hour, and you'd just be whizzing by, and just buildings and mountains and everything would be going right through. And then we were just making these jokes, "Don't jump! Because if you jump, you'd go right through the walls and the doors, because you're in the air, and the Earth is rotating so fast!"

But everything has a reason. "Why are we always on the ground?" Because the atmosphere's there. Because the Earth is revolving, therefore creating gravity, and therefore pulling us in."

And yet there is one question that should be asked even before that other question is ever asked or

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answered. And that is, "Why are we put on this Earth?" Why does this Earth rotate for us? Why are we here, sticking to the ground or floating in midair?

When the astronauts went to the moon, and there was very little gravity, and they were floating around in midair, it definitely did not change the purpose of their life. The purpose of the life was still the same. So therefore, if the Earth did stop going around and around, and we all ended up in masks and astronauts' suits, and we were just floating around everywhere, still there is a reason why we are here.

And unless we fulfill that reason … Not just know it! It's like, knowing is not good enough. But it's fulfilling it. It's like the very basic example that's always given. You can have the food in front of you, and that does you no good whatsoever. You have to eat it to be able to satisfy your hunger. And that's the way it is. To know it is not enough, but we need to fulfill that purpose, to fulfill the destiny, to know why we are here.

And premies, there are no words that can express what Guru Maharaj Ji has given us. Guru Maharaj Ji has given us four things and it's just incredible. He has given us ourselves. And then he has given us Knowledge. And then he has given us Grace. And then, and the most important thing, he has given us himself!

And Guru Maharaj Ji's there. And that's what we have to understand. Because in this world, it's so easy to get lost. It's like that spider, when it has finished webbing its web, it has to be very, very careful. Because the web is specifically designed for creatures with legs that crawl and fly, to get trapped into it. And we have to always, always be careful.

And those opportunities that have been given to us … Because you can knock off the first thing, and it's no good. It's just no good. It's just like all those four things are so important. They interlock with each other so much that if you knock off one thing, kaput! It's no good. It doesn't work. And what would be the experience if we weren't here, if we were six feet under the ground; if we weren't alive? What would be here to experience?

But, no, there has been an opportunity given to us for that. And that's us, we. Or, sitting from here, you. Not your girl friend, not your wife, not your person who's sitting right next to you. No. You are here. You, as an individual. That's it. And that's very incredible.

And then, Guru Maharaj Ji has given us Knowledge. By his Grace, he has imparted us the Knowledge. And what would this life be if we couldn't have Knowledge? This is what I have been talking about -- what this life would be if we couldn't fulfill the destiny.

And then he has given us Grace. And what would, again, Knowledge and this life be worth if there were no Grace?

And then, sitting at the top, he's given us himself. Guru Maharaj Ji is there. And where is the Grace going to come from if there is no Guru Maharaj Ji? And if there is going to be no Grace, there's going to be no Knowledge. If there is going to be no Knowledge, this life is going to be food without salt. It's going to be a sky without any blue in it. It's going to be a cloud with no rain. It's going to be an Earth without any soil. It's going to be an ocean without water. It's going to be meaningless. It's going to be nothing.

But really, I'm just not kidding you when I say it's so easy to get lost. It is super easy to get lost. That's the easiest thing you can do. And yet, parallel to that, of course, is again: As easy as it is easy to get lost, is not to get lost.

And yet every moment that we take in our lives and don't surrender ourselves to Guru Maharaj Ji, every moment that this child attempts to walk on this two-and-a-half-inch-thick ridge, and on one side of the ridge is deep lake, and the other side of the ridge is a 1,000-foot-drop-straight-down sheer cliff, he is taking a risk. And what are his chances? What are the risks that he is taking with every step that he is taking?

He is taking a risk. Because if he fails one step, he can go one way and he'll fall. He goes the other way and he'll drown. The idea is, if you die it doesn't matter which way you die. You die jumping off a cliff or getting run over by a car -- maybe one is a little gorier than the other -- but as far as this life is concerned, it's gone! Finished. Kaput!

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And these are the chances that we take without surrendering, when that child is not letting his parents take care of him.

It's like that wild child. Imagine that naughty child that goes to every new place and just takes off. And you just go around looking for him and you can't find him. Or this and that. And that's the risk that all of us take as individuals. And yet, is it really worth taking?

And yet, forget about that question. It's even a wrong question: "Is it worth taking?" Of course it's not worth taking. And yet, that's not even the way you want to put it: "Is it worth taking?" It's more like, "Should you really do it? Are you really supposed to be doing it? Are you really meant to do it?"

And the answer is: obviously not. You are not supposed to be doing that. You are supposed to be in this world. And that is why tons and tons and tons and tons of clarity are being provided every time we become unclear. Every time that risk narrows down, a Perfect Master comes in this world. Why? He doesn't come here to eat popsicles.

Christ came in this world. And I guess I haven't read the whole Bible, and it's just very debatable what happened. And yet they say at the end of the whole thing that he came here to save us, to give us salvation. He crucified himself. Why didn't he do it the first day? I mean, if that's the way you're going to look at it. Okay, maybe there was a reason why that whole thing happened, but there is a lot that happened in between that that was completely incredible, that was completely beautiful.

And he saved those lives, he saved those souls, he gave the Light, he gave the Knowledge, he gave the Word, he gave that Water that those people were looking for, that those people wanted. And not only that he told them that they needed it in their lives, they wanted it in their lives …

Because you can go around telling people that for the rest of your life, "Oh, you need that, you need that, you need that, you need that, you need that." And all you'll come out as is a parrot that says, "Polly want cracker!" If you get it or not is another question.

But this is the most incredible thing. Guru Maharaj Ji is not only saying and showing us the need …

Because it's like the connotation is way dropped down in some people's heads when you mention the word, "Guru Maharaj Ji," or "Guru." But nevertheless, what it means is Perfect Master. Nevertheless, it means the one who can take us out from darkness and put us into Light. You can have a million ways of saying that, and you can say it in a million ways. But the point is, every time a Perfect Master comes in this world, he just doesn't go like a parrot, "You need Peace; you need Peace; you need Peace; you need Peace," but he shows the way. He shows the method to that Peace. And that is the beauty of the whole thing. That is the most incredible thing.

Because what if he just came here and just said, "Oh, people of the world, you need Peace"? Period. That was it. People would just laugh. I mean, not as if they don't laugh at him anyway. But they would even get bigger kick out of it. Or maybe even get mad! "Who is this guy? We know we need Peace!" Or, "I don't want it. I don't care what he says; I don't want it."

But, no. To go beyond everything, and to even come into that phenomenon where something that's very, very finite meets, not its parallel -- by no means -- but meets infinity. To cross a phenomenon, to go beyond all the miracles. And you know, the first day of this satsang we were talking about miracles. And he really is the Miracle Worker. He really is that person who can make those miracles happen, that we never even can sit down and start imagining them. He can.

And the only thing I have to say, and the only thing I can say, is just: Okay, you have it. The premies who have it -- now what? What in our lives are we supposed to do with it? Go around, just taking risks after risks after risks after risks; that we take anyway? Or to really surrender this life. To really understand who Guru Maharaj Ji is. To understand what Knowledge really is. To understand what Grace really is. And to understand -- and to sum it all up -- to understand

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who we really are.

Because our associations are about as gone with the wind as this: If I were to speak out a word, say, "John," okay? And I know it clicks in John's head, because his name is John, and anybody else whose name starts with John (snaps fingers), John, John, John, John, John. I mean, if there were fifty Johns here, then fifty Johns click in their heads, because their name is John. That's how close your association is. That's how narrowed down, that's how perfect your association is. You call one person's name, and the other person rings up.

In the residence we have two Mick Woods, and their names are Michael Woods. And you try to call one, and the other one comes running. And you try to call the other one, the other one comes running. I mean, just great, you know! Because one is from England and one is from America. One's a photographer, the other one … I don't know what you are. (He's sitting right down there.) But that's just really great. Because then we have to resort to their middle names, and some of the middle names are quite hilarious.

And so, premies, really, that's our association.

That's how close our association is. I mean, the whole thing, the whole life that we base it on … Because I don't know how many Howards are here. And I don't know how many Johns are here. And I don't know how many Harrys are here. What is it? We have one life. And I know no two Johns are the same. And no two Harrys are the same. And like Pranam Bai's name is Kathy Sullivan; I don't know how many Kathys are here. There's Kathy Cituk, there's Kathy Sullivan -- I don't know how many Kathys are here. Or how many Rons are here. And so on and so forth.

So our association is about as vague as we are about ourselves. And you just can't go like that. You just can't go in this life, when everything is so definite, when everything is so sure that God has provided, that that Creator has provided us, how can you play a game of vagueness? There's like a big box and you insert 25 cents in it. And you stick you hand in there and you just pick a thing, and you don't know what it is. You pull it out: "Oh! A helicopter!" What is it all about? What are our lives really all about? What are we all about?

And I'll give you one example that I think is pretty close. When we were in Italy, one day we went to Lunar Park, which was quite close to the Sports Palace. And we walked in there and it was just sort of empty. It was pretty much the lunch hour and it was kind of empty. And we were going from one ride to the other ride to the other ride -- all the rides that were opened. And some rides were good, and some rides -- I wasn't riding on all the rides. I only took one ride. There's pictures of that ride. Wadi and Hansi were taking all these rides. And then they wanted to go on some ride and I just said, "No, I'll just stay here."

And I was just standing, and all of a sudden I saw this -- I don't know what they call it -- but it was where all the machines were; pinball machines and shooting gallery and this and that. And I walked in there. And it was incredible. It's all these machines, and all these guys going: ding-ding-ding-ding-dingding-ding-ding-ding; burrrrrrrrrrrr. They got jets in there and they got pinballs and then they're shooting at things and shooting at items. I mean, just everything is going on.

And so they had this one where you were a jet and you were flying, and there were all these places under you, and you had to hit the target. Very funkily done; I mean, nothing computerized or anything. You just move this stick over this way, and sort of the whole platform moved on motors this way; and you go like this way, and it moves this way.

And so I put 25 lire or whatever -- And here we were, I was trying to do this. And after a little while nothing was happening, because I would always press the button at the wrong time. So I just floored the button! And after a little while I started getting these hits. It was like completely crazy. And for that moment you can get so concentrated into it, so concentrated into it, that you don't see anything else. There is nothing else to see. There is nothing else to be, except that pinball machine, or that one little targeting machine.

Or, for instance, they had this great big video thing. Really, really strange. And you sat down in a chair and you put a quarter in there, and you had a gas pedal and a brake, and you had your steering wheel. And you could go there before you put a

quarter in it and spin that steering wheel, and nothing would happen. And you put your quarter in it, and it comes to life!

And yet, how far is the association? You put a quarter in it, and everything happens. And you don't even think about it. You just take it out, slap it in there, it turns on the machine, you sit down, off you go driving this automobile, driving this car! And you're completely into it, as though by doing that you would improve your driving, as though if you hit the car really something devastating would happen. You could just do anything you wanted to do. And the thing was, these scores. You had to always try to maintain these scores. And you would just completely get lost in these scores. You would get completely lost in these cars and you would just get completely lost in this whole bizarre affair of where your mind just takes you and throws you on a spin and then you don't know where you're going.

But half the time we lead our lives like that! That's the way we are, more than half the time. And we come into this world, and take our chances as though it never mattered, it doesn't make a difference. And I see so many people out there, and they're playing pinball. Their whole objective is to be able to gain enough points so it gives them a bonus to play another game. And here they are: ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. The whole thing is going off, and they're really into it, and they're shaking it, and …

Because premies put a pinball machine in the residence a long time ago. And you try to get into this pinball machine, and it would drive you berserk. So I fixed it, and it didn't drive you that berserk anymore. There was a little pendant type of thing that just hung down. And every time you moved the pinball machine too much, it would short out and it would click off the relays, and you wouldn't get any more points, and the ball wouldn't click and the throwers wouldn't go. So I just put foam all around it so nothing would happen; it would just stay the same. You could jerk the whole pinball machine around. (Of course, it was already rigged. It wasn't like you put money into it or anything.) And then it was just like there was no point of it.

But that's the way half the people lead their lives.

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To do one thing to be able to do another thing. To do one completely concentrated game of pinball to be able to play another, to be able to get enough bonuses … And then if they don't get it, they take their hands, hard as they can, and they just slam it against that pinball machine like: "Missed that one!"

But if that was to boil down to their life and death, if it was to boil down to the most ultimate thing, I don't think they would have a chance to slam on that pinball machine. Because this world really is a big blue marble. And everything is a machine: Our concepts are machines. And we are given this coaxing, "Go ahead, here are your levers, press 'em, man, and go at it." -- I mean, here is your life going bouncing off this gate, going into this gate, giving you bonuses. And what are those bonuses worth?

And of course, I'm pretty sure there's some pinball wizard sitting in this auditorium going, "But it's the idea of the whole thing."

Well, I'm also talking about the idea of the whole thing. Why are we here? I mean, maybe the pinball machine isn't an idea; it's a game. You don't take it that seriously. Yeah, but I'm talking about something that is serious, and you're making it a game. And that's your life. It's a lot more serious than any pinball machine can be at any point in time. But you're making it a game by just not doing that surrender, by not letting that Grace come through and manifest.

Because, remember, it's a very simple thing, premies. Knowledge is not going to come to you. Guru Maharaj Ji is not going to come to you. Grace is not going to just come and just sit there like a halo on your head and say, "Ta-da, here I am, your ever-loving servant. Give me a command, master. I'll do anything you want." I mean, if that's the kind of illusion you have, you're sitting in the wrong seat. You're sitting in the wrong auditorium. Go start digging into tunnels, start moving big rocks, so that maybe you can find an Aladdin's Lamp and get a genie.

But then again, here is a genie. And we can do anything that we want. But then out of having had that option to be able to do anything you want, what do we really want to do? Having the option of so-called to become good or to become bad, to go to heaven or to go to hell, what do we really want to do?

And I know they have this great line, "To be or not to be." I always hear these guys saying it as a joke or something -- Three Stooges -- "I want to become an actor." And they go, "Look at me! 'To be or not to be.' " And yet, I don't understand what they're talking about. To be or not to be what?

But I can just see one thing. To be or not to be surrendered in this life. It's our option.

If we want to be surrendered, we can have that effort, because it's just like clicking one relay, it's just like clicking one switch, and then everything will manifest for us. And do you really want it?

And then, even to look at it from another perspective: Is it really your choice? Because of course we make everything our choice in this world. But is it really our choice? And that's a good question.

But let's get out of question-and-answers and just realize how beautiful it really is, how incredible it really is just to be able to come together. And this is not the last program. I mean, that's the incredible thing. There's one more day to go. There's still a program tomorrow. There's still satsang tomorrow.

And maybe by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace -- and that's only by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace -- someday we will have an incredible facility so we can come together and don't have to sit under all this. We could have our Holi, we could have darshan, we could have our program, we could celebrate Hans Jayanti, we could do everything that we want to do in one place that would be just beautiful and set up for us. Because this isn't set up for us.

And there'll be just two people in the whole world: you (devotee), and a Guru Maharaj Ji. Nobody else. And just an individual to individual basis in that. I'm not saying that that's not manifesting here. That's happening here, too, and I guess it'll happen anywhere. It happened in a bullring, it happened three times in this Convention Center, and it'll happen wherever we go. Because it's like the satsang, that Love, that meditation is within us.

But it sure would be nice to have our own place where we could just come together. And not go around making reservations and paying an outrageous amount, but just to be able to just say: "Okay, premies, come together. There's satsang happening." And just snap right in there and have that satsang. It would just be incredible. And I think it would just give so much opportunity for all the premies to be able to do service.

I mean, it's a very fantastic idea. Maybe it's even a little bit too incredible. But it's inevitable. Someday, it's got to happen, so we might as well accept it and start working at it.

Yesterday in the darshan line, there were just so many new premies. And I know there are so many aspirants here. And those aspirants are going to

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receive Knowledge by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, and become premies. And there's so many aspirants all around the world.

This propagation has really, really grown. And there is no limit, there is no end, to how incredible it is. Just look at it! It's just a different thing, just to have that association with all the premies, just to know the premies are there, and for the premies to know Guru Maharaj Ji's there, and to have that Love. It's just such an incredible thing, for all of us to be able to come together.

And just today at Holi it was so beautiful. Because everybody came and we had our regular hose blowout in the beginning, and they got that squared away. And so finally the thing started working. And then we ran out of all the colors. And if some of you went back to your hotels and wondered why the paint wasn't coming off, that was because there were a few permanent paints in there. They were the ones that were being thrown at the very, very last; they were permanent paints. They'll come off, eventually.

So, it was just an incredible experience. And it wasn't like you can say, "Okay, it was a great big spectacle that was being made." Probably for the people who were watching it from a very long

distance, it was like, "Wow! What are they doing? Having a demonstration of those fire guns or --" Because that's what they use them for: putting out fires. And, "What's going on?" Always that big lip-drop scene.

And it's really funny, because when that happens -- and it happens a lot of times -- people are just always wondering what's going on. But by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace we don't have to drop that lip. Because we know what's going on. We know what's happening. And it's really incredible.

So premies, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. And this opportunity that we do have -- let's take advantage of it. Because you can never hear enough satsang. You just can't. It's physically impossible; let's put it this way. You need more and more and more and more and more satsang.

And if you ever do want to compare how much satsang you do need, just think of how confused you are. That'll give you a fair enough idea of how much satsang you need. And you start by pulling out your little meter and seeing how confused you really are. Then find that needle was broken way before you even knew that there was a meter that existed to find out how confused you were.

So just come together and take that opportunity to be able to have satsang. And now that we are here: To be or not to be a devotee. To be or not to be blissed out. It's completely your option, of course.

But I would strongly suggest that while you can, you might as well! And this is the time to do it. It's always the time to do it. So you might as well be! Be a devotee. Be blissed out. And enjoy that river of satsang that's just flowing and flowing.

And I'm not talking about "chitchat." Definitely, I've outlined that one very distinctly and clearly. Chitchat is chitchat. And again, if you cannot tell the difference between chitchat and satsang, that also indicates how confused you are. So listen to some more satsang while it's happening, and snap out of that one. And if you can't snap out of that one, then just keep looking at your gauge to see how hot you are. You'll find how cool you need to get.

And so premies, it's just very beautiful, and I know we'll just have more and more programs, and more and more programs. And the more we grow in our experience of Knowledge, the more different, the more unique, the more incredible every one of these programs becomes. As we grow, we can see it. But as we decline, as we degrade, we can't see anything. And then it's a big debatable question.

So I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you very much.

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