Guru Maharaj Ji's Satsang at Guru Puja, Geneva 10th September 1978.
BE A DEVOTEE
Dear premies,
I guess you have heard a lot of satsang. A lot of initiators have been giving satsang, then Marolyn, Raja Ji, Claudia. And maybe to somebody that's a lot of satsang. Not to me. To me, there is no such word as "too much satsang". We have to really understand that.
I was just sitting down there. There's a little area right in front of the stage, that's where everybody's sitting. And I was just sitting there and I was listening to Marolyn's satsang, and I was listening to Raja Ji's satsang. And, to me, of course, the words aren't important. Because what if, Marolyn, all she could speak was Hindi, or what if all Raja Ji could speak was Sanskrit, and yet, somehow, they still ended up there and he was giving satsang, would that mean that I just sort of pack up my experience of satsang, because I can't understand it? No.
And yet mind is such a forceful thing, mind is such an incredible -- I can't say incredible in the good sense, all I can say is outrageous -- that it always is constantly looking for a leak in us, and as soon as it can spot that leak it has fulfilled its purpose, and it attacks.
You know, it's like, when two chess players have been playing chess for a long time, and both happen to be worthy opponents, and then it's just like one guy starts to tire out and the other guy senses that. As soon as that guy who is tiring out makes a wrong move, he is attacked. And the same thing with mind.
I was sitting there and I looked around me and everybody was sleepy. Steve was sleeping. Other people were sleepy. You know, their eyes were, like, barely open. They were yawning away, and it was like, a lot to just stay up and to be able to listen. OK.
And then John Hampton was sitting right next to me and he was fanning me. So all of a sudden when I looked to Steve, he looked to Steve too. And, you know, he sort of laughed about that, sort of smiled about that. And then he sort of picked up the pillow that was there to sort of throw it at him, but he didn't do it. He stopped himself. It was like, he wasn't sure if he should have done that or if he should do that, and then the satsang kept on and everybody was … I started looking at the monitor and Raja Ji was giving satsang at that time. And then I looked again and as soon as I looked, John Hampton picked up the pillow and threw it to Steve.
And, of course, to me at that time, you know, I said, that's John Hampton and that's Steve. Steve was sleeping and John Hampton was trying to keep him up. Like a sleepy soldier and a very staunch sergeant. But at that time I just thought to myself, I said, "What about satsang though? " I said, "Since he saw Steve, and he was planning to pick up the pillow and throw it, I bet since then he has been thinking, should he throw it or not."
And he found that little hole, he found that little opportune moment, and he did it. Whatever happened to the satsang? I mean, what are we here for?
I know that Michael Dettmers, he goes to sleep. I am driving, he's sitting in the chair right next to me. Twenty minutes later I look at him and he's just … he's completely asleep! In the airplanes, before that airplane can barely get its flaps up, gears in, he's out!
But the thing is, what about the experience that we really want in our lives? How many times do we heed to everything else, like John Hampton awakening Steve, throwing him a pillow? And after Raja Ji had given satsang and Marolyn was giving satsang, Raja Ji was sitting right next to me. Then he moved, he sat down on the floor right next to me, and he also looks at Steve and he indicates, should we make a little thing and put it up his nose and then it'll tickle him and he'll wake right up? I mean this is true, so … it just happened, it's pretty fresh information.
And then you look outside, through those windows, and there's people … some people are just really listening to sat- sang and rocking like this, like "Yeah, that's really true." And it's kind of hard to distinguish between those people, and those people who are nodding.
And a lot of times when I am giving satsang people go to sleep, and then all of a sudden I will say something really loud and then all of a sudden they'll wake up. Or if everybody starts to laugh they will wake up. And they're not laughing because they don't know what to laugh about and they'll turn around and they'll ask the person who's sitting right next to them, "What's it? What's up? What's up? What's happening? " This is our life.
And when man is in that kind of a condition, how is he going to get very far? Where is he going to go? Do you really think that he will ever be able to reach his ultimate destination, when he cannot even reach a very small, hypothetical destination? No.
Because we ourselves, our efforts are useless. Not because we can't make an effort, but because who we are. Our efforts are useless against the forces, against the elements that we have to fight. The mind. Such a strong thing, such an incredible …
I mean, it's just like right at that moment -- I was still listening to satsang, the flow was still there, and … it was going and I just looked, I just glanced at everybody, and I said, "Man, right now, if I said, 'Let's go somewhere. Let's go on boat ride,' everybody'd go, 'Yeah, OK, let's go'." Because it all sort of disappears when we do what mind wants us to do. Pain disappears. Every difference disappears. Sleep gone. Disappears. Why? Because mind directs us. Mind puts us into positions. Mind places … I mean it's like a situation as though we were following the agya of mind, and mind was giving us the grace, its grace, to keep up. To not to fall asleep, and to do all these things. And to fall asleep exactly at the time satsang started, you start falling asleep. I mean, why does it happen that way? Why? Right now if I tell Steve to drive, he will not fall asleep. I have never seen this happen, but I could challenge it. I ask Michael a lot of times, I say, "Do you fall asleep while you're driving too, all by yourself? " And he says, "No." I don't know, I have never seen that, I wouldn't want to he in the same car with him to find out. But why all of a sudden he can stay up in the same circumstance and fall asleep in the other one? Why? I mean, look, this is nothing like that Michael should take an oath tonight that he is never going to fall asleep. When we were coming in the airplane from London to here, I said, "Michael, you really have a phobia or something because as soon as you get into car or into an airplane, you fall asleep." And he said, "Well, what can I do,
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you know, all night long I am up, this is the only time I can sleep." I don't know what he does all night long. That's what
I told him. But it's just like, we say, "OK, man, I am going to fight this mind." OK, fight this mind. How are you going to
fight this mind when you can't even see it? How are you going to fight this mind when you can't even feel it? How are
you going to do?
Well, I know how a lot of people do. They go up to the mind, say, it's as though if they go up to the mind and they say, "Put 'em up, put 'em up. I really want to fight you, I don't want to have to do anything with you." And then the mind says, "Look, why do you want to fight me, I am your buddy, I am your pal". Like Raja Ji said, that mind is his very dear friend. It's been with him for 23 years, more or less. And it's just like, fight it, fight it, fight it, fight it. And the mind says, "Look, how can you fight yourself? I am so embedded, I am so much a part of you." And you say, "No man, I've listened to satsang, I am really going to make the commitment, fight, put it up, put it up." And the mind comes out and says, "OK, I am ready to fight. Go." And you say, "I plead no contest. That's it. I give up. You can do whatever you want to do." Because in mind's approach to us, it's so subtle.
And that is why we need Guru Maharaj Ji in this world, because Guru Maharaj Ji gives us that weapon through which we can in fact fight this mind, through which in fact we can dissolve this mind. That is why you know, a saint in India … I mean it's like, it's so incredible, to me I have got some cassettes of Shri Maharaj Ji's satsang and one day I was driving and I put the cassette on and I was just listening to his satsang. And then he just was explaining about Guru Maharaj Ji. Because to us what is Guru Maharaj Ji? To a lot of people, what is Guru Maharaj Ji?
"Guru. Oh, so you have a guru, so you go to satsang, so you live in an ashram." (Maharaj Ji mispronounces italicised words). Therefore you are a first-class idiot, you are crazy, and you are a weirdo!
"Look at me," the people of the world say, "I don't have a guru, I don't listen to satsang, I don't live in an ashram." And they turn around and say, "That's why I'm so unhappy," but they never say that. But to them it's like, "Look at me. What's wrong with me? What can be possibly wrong with me? " And it's just they don't realise.
This is the trip of the world, that a simple word … listen, in English, people use French words. You know, if you want to really add a flair to your statement, or your paragraph, I don't know French, so I don't know what they say, but they - just … "ta daa", something, you know, and they add this touch to it and other people go flying into the wall, like, "Wow, man, he really knows what he's talking about." Now French a language and it's very commonly spoken in Europe, a lot Of people like in Switzerland are bi-lingual. France is very close to England and I guess a little bit sneaks over, so on and so forth. But what if the French spoke Hindi, not French, spoke Hindi, just a hypothetical situation. And while speaking English, somebody who really wanted to add a flair to their statement, instead of adding something French, added something Hindi, I mean you can't even imagine it, what would it sound like. Because you probably don't … I mean, there's a lot of Indians here, but most of you don't know what Hindi words are, so in that case to me, obviously it would be the same thing.
And a word, "a guru", a word which signifies … you see, you can never name a person, you can never name -- because first of all, "guru" to me is not a noun. It is a verb. "Guru" to me denotes an action. It is not a name you can go around giving to anything of a particular thing.
Chair, anything can be a chair. This is a chair. You can make this into a chair. I mean there are chairs that look like this. All made out of fine, thin,these things and that things. Or you can take all these adjectives and verbs and all these things and you can put them wherever you want.
You can take anybody and name them Joe, Harry, Smith, this and that, and that's a noun. But "guru", the word "guru", is not a noun. Because when you hear John, John, that is the name of something. It's a noun, but what does it mean? That's it: John, John. But "guru" automatically means somebody who can take you away from the darkness and puts you into light.
And people's understanding of a "guru" comes from their naiveness, because they think everybody who dresses in certain way is a "guru". Everybody who looks like a certain thing is a certain person. But that's not true. And those are the peoples who go around looking at outer shells, at outer shells, and determining the value of those things by outer shells. How can you determine a value from an outer shell?
I'll give you an example; a long time ago, you know, security trip was really heavy. Well, this is how I'm going to tie it in, it's the only way you can tie it in. There was a premie and his service was -- this is the way I heard it, I didn't know there was a premie whose service was that particular thing, but this is the way I heard it and I thought it was very funny. It was like, the service of this premie was, in the hall or through darshan line, he would go and he would detect "cuckoos", "kooks", people who were "bongos". Then he would take
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their picture or somehow he would make a file, so if anytime a darshan line started or something happened or there was
a hall or Guru Maharaj Ji was coming, if anything was happening, and there was a "suspection" that something cuckoo
would happen they would know from which potential person it could happen.
And one time there was a darshan line and it so happened that when in fact they started comparing -- because this guy did it flat, he didn't know who who was, it was just like he looked at people and he said, "That's a kook" And it turned out that most of the people he picked out as cuckoos were national coordinators, community coordinators, and people like that.
And not that I'm saying that national coordinators and community coordinators are not cuckoo, of course they are, you know, but maybe they are cuckoo for something else, you know, cuckoo to be able to serve Guru Maharaj Ji, maybe, or cuckoo for Knowledge, maybe, but nevertheless this was the situation.
Now when this guy probably found out that all his list of his cuckoos consisted of national coordinators and community coordinators, how could he possibly bar these premies from coming in to darshan. I mean, obviously it must have been quite a shock to him. But that is the way it is.
In our imagination we take everything, our concepts, and our concepts vary, because just how we grew up, what our background was, what our mother told us, and it's just like it varies from one thing to the other thing, to the other thing, to the other thing. And that is how we try to judge, we always judge.
Wasn't Jesus Christ judged, whether or not he was the Perfect Master? Wasn't Mohammed judged? Wasn't Krishna judged? Wasn't Ram judged? Wasn't Shri Maharaj Ji judged? All the Perfect Masters have been judged, as though if we are the real smart cream of the crop of this entire universe, that we have the capability of judging the Lord of the Universe when he does come. Obviously not But anyway, we judge. And our judgement is based upon different concepts.
I'll give you another example. I don't know, this happened a really long,long time ago, and I really don't remember it distinctly clear, but I think this is how it was. See, we used to have moral science in our school and every morning you went out there and you said a prayer, "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name … " you know, the whole thing … Amen" That was the part that was the loudest: "Amen". And everybody was like: God or no God, man, God could have been standing right there but to the kids it was like, there it goes, pick up their bags and walk into the classrooms and then everybody would sit down and the teacher would walk by. And the moral class would start.
And we used to have a book called "ABC" book, it was called the "ABC of Morals -- moral science". And in this book they talked about God being omni-present and omni-potent and omniscient and omni-everything. To me it was like, "Yeah, that's alright" you know, but they tried to tie it in a certain perspective.
Yeah, and you should go to church and you should do this, and obviously, very obvious, they weren't just trying to give you some pure unwrapped education; it was very wrapped education. It was in fact in a way wrapped as like: "Look, here is our concept, and here it is, eat it. And there's this God, and there's this and there's that."
So then the tests happened, the examinations happened. And the thing was you could take the moral science test and it had no bearing on your actual marks, on the actual results. And so I took this questionnaire and I started answering it.
The first thing was, it was like: What is omni-present, omniscient, omni-potent? And I just said omni-present is something that is everywhere; and omni-potent is something that is all-powerful; and omniscient is something that sees everything, everybody.
And I just went on and I just started to get into it, and there were all these different questions they had: where should person go to find tranquillity? And I said a person doesn't have to go to find tranquility anywhere, right there where he is. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even have to be where he is to find tranquillity, to find peace. And I said you refer to my question given earlier that God is in fact everywhere and God is tranquillity, not a building, not a specific place.
It's like people go to Ganges, and they go and they bathe there, and people come from far, far, far, far places and they go to bathe in this Ganges. One saint says, "If those fishes that live in the Ganges can't get liberated -- they live there, they eat there, they sleep there, they swim there, they get born there, they'll die there, and they don't get liberated -- how do you think you, by just diving into the cold water for about 15 minutes are going to get liberated? "
Well, that makes a lot of sense to me. Because at Prem Nagar where there is this big ashram, the water comes from well but the well gets its water from the Ganges; it seeps through. So it's just like if that's the point of liberation then all those fishes should be liberated, the second that life comes
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into that little thing, pop (Guru Maharaj Ji makes a sound effect over the P.A.), it becomes whatever it's supposed to be,
and pop up there. Why isn't it doing that?
And it goes on and says that these yogis get into long hairs and they really get into those long hairs and they say if that is the thing, then peacocks have tails that are completely gigantic and they don't seem to get liberated. And I mean the saint goes on, but it's just like our concepts …
So anyway, the test papers came back, and see, everybody knew who I was, not who I was, but that I had something to do with spirituality. There were all these guys who were at this school called brothers. So this brother came up. You know, you had to call them brothers whether you wanted to or not. And to me, I didn't understand that. But anyway, everybody is your brother, or your sister. It's just that he came up with the test paper and he said, "Look, this is not the way it works." I said, "What do you mean? " I said, "In the moral science book it says that God is omni-present. And if God is omni-present, why do you have to go to church?"
He said, "Well, you have to go to church because it's a tranquil place." And I said, "What makes it tranquil?" Of course, God makes it tranquil, because it is under the supervision of God.
I said, "So you think that that God has these special glasses on, whereby he can see the churches and we barely miss, because we get caught by his frame, and he can't see us. If he's omniscient, if he's omni-present, if he's omni-potent, then why can't the tranquillity be within inside? Why do we have to go to a church? "
He just said, "Well, you just should read the hook more, and you should understand."
Anyway, maybe I got something through his thick head because next year I was given the moral science class to take. You know, I used to get up there, and all the kids … to the kids it was a joke, you know. I'd get up there and take my moral science book, close it down, and just try to give them some satsang.
But to them it was a joke, because I'm the same person who sat right next to them and how can they turn around and really listen to me, but anyway. Their thing was more like, he should let us do whatever we want to do, and he should just sit down.
But, premies, in this world where the concept surrounds us, concepts of everything: the way we live, the way we dress. I remember that people really get into these things. People really get into the way, like Claudia was saying, specifically, this is what you have to do. This is what you have to do. This is what you have to do.
And it's just like, that's where we live, that's where we exist. Our existence is so limited; we live within ourselves and were completely closed off. The society feeds us our concepts. The society, in fact, feeds us our concepts. Yes, kid this is what you have to do. This is what you have to do. This is what you have to do. This is what you have to do. This is what you have to do.
I remember when I was in India, everybody would really criticise the people in the West. These guys are crazy, these guys are nuts. They don't do this, and they don't do this and they don't do this.
You come to the West and you listen to some comments about the Indians, and it's like: "They're crazy". French peopl think Americans are crazy, Americans think the French are crazy.
In this world, when we are not even at peace with ourselves, how can anything happen? How can anything manifest? And this is like what I was saying, and it struck to me so … it really, I think, got me. The way Shri Maharaj Ji, of course explained it and the way the saint puts it, says, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, you are to me like the stick, like the cane is to the blind person, is to the blind man. (Maharaj Ji says the verse in Hindi.) "You are to me, Guru Maharaj Ji, everything."
OK, what has a cane got to do with something? But you just look from where this saint was coming from.
These days blind people don't have sticks, they have dogs. Or in America you'll find the good scout, ready to do a job, ready to do a duty, or the Rapid Transit or they have motor pools specially for that purpose. With all that, why does blind person need a stick? But nevertheless, what is the saint trying to say? That, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, you are like constant guide to me. Without you I can go nowhere. Without you my existence is unimportant. Without you … through you there is everything and without you there is nothing."
The confidence that that blind man has to have in that cane… What if somebody handed a blind person a balsa wood, and he pokes it first thing and it breaks.
In Dehradun where I used to live, there used to be a blind person, and he used to walk every day by the residence; that's the way the road was. If somebody tried to help him -- because I guess people were really nasty, and they would take him at different places that he didn't know, just turn him around in circles-- but anytime anybody would even try to help him he would swing his cane at them, because he didn't
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want any help. It's just like, you know, he knew what that cane was going to do. The faith that he had placed in that cane
was implicit. That was it.
So, to me it was like, man, if we, people of this Kali Yug, of this century, can have only that implicit faith in Guru Maharaj Ji -- unquestionable, undoubtable, un-anything - there is no doubt that we would be on the other side of this river. There is no doubt in my mind.
But if that blind person keeps questioning his step, his stick, every time it touches at something, then where is he going to go? If he keeps saying, "Hey, wait a minute, did this stick make contact, or not? Did I feel something that I was supposed to feel with this stick or not? But it's like, no. Every inch, every square inch, everywhere … to me, that's the way it has to be: an implicit, implicit unquestionable faith in Guru Maharaj Ji.
Yes, of course, we get up and we say, "You are my mother, you are my father. You are my mother. You are my father." OK, everybody sings it in Arti: "You are my brother, and you are my friend." Really? OK, you sing it, singing is different story.
But is there anything -- this is what I'm asking to back that up? The faith, the belief that: "Yes, Guru Maharaj Ji, you are my brother. Yes, Guru Maharaj Ji, you are my friend. You are riches. You are wisdom. You are my all, my Lord, to me."
Tell me, that's a lot, that's a lot to say. You are my all. You are wisdom, you are riches. You see, this happens to he the perfect translation of "Twameva mata chapita twameva. Twameva bandu chasaka twameva." This wasn't written in 1975, or '71, only it was merely translated. That was all that was done.
But when we say, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, you are my all … ALL, my Lord to me," where's that feeling coming from? And this is what we have to understand because the person who wrote it had that experience. He experienced that. That's why he wrote it.
He didn't write it so that somebody can come along in 1971, or '69, sit down and translate it, and then in '78 everybody can sing it, in Geneva. No. He wrote it because of his experience, and where did that experience fall out from? Where did that experience come from? That experience came to him from his Guru Maharaj Ji. That was it. His Guru Maharaj Ji bestowed him that experience through which he humbly turns around and says, "You are … " I mean OK: "Twameva mata chapita twameva." "You are my mother, you are my father."
I remember in the IDCP candidate programme, for the initiators, whatever it's called. I believe it was the same group as Dimitri was in and he said that if I could shed some light upon I don't know if he said that -- upon the relationship between mother and father.
I mean, it's like Wadi sings that, Wadi sings, "You are my mother, you are my father," and she knows who she's singing to, but she doesn't come to me and say, "Daddy, I want ninny." No. She knows, she understands, and her understanding is that there is no understanding. It is just feel.
That reliance, that love, that mothering. Mothering doesn't happen to come from a mother. You don't have to have mother. Mothering can come … because mothering is an affection, a love.
And, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji i, that's what you are to me. And you are my father to guide me, to help me. You are my brother, and you are my friend. You are riches and you are wisdom." But how far does it strike us, how much of this wisdom from Guru Maharaj Ji do we in fact take?
"You are my all." How much do we really believe that Guru Maharaj Ji is our all? Besides, even going to the next line, the next word: You are my all, my Lord to me. What do we know, what is "all"? What is a Lord?
We go on, and we sing Arti and we do that, and it's very beautiful to listen to Arti. Just the way all the premies sing it, it's incredible. It's got so much power and it's got so much sincerity in it. Yet what about individuals, when broken down?
I know a lot of people don't even know Arti, but they just can tag along because everybody is singing. But let's, for instance, take the point of knowing and not knowing Arti is irrelevant. But here is an experience that this poet writes.
Or for instance, Brahmanand writes that, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, you have taken all my illusions away." And mind you, the illusions that exist right now are no different than the illusions that existed at that time. Amazingly enough. I was right, nothing has changed. A lot of other things have come by, but that's it. Nothing has changed.
It's like he says, some people go to this holy place and some people go to that holy place. They do their number here and they do their number there.
But you have shown me that all that doesn't lie there, and you have taken my confusion away. Now all that … For instance, Saint John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God," and his experience that he wrote. Brahmanand writes his experience. All these experiences … Saint Tulsidas writes his experience, that, without the mercy
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of Guru Maharaj Ji, there is nothing that is possible. And the saint says that … I mean so much has been written and it
was because of that experience that was bestowed upon them.
Now, in this Kali Yug, in this century, that experience is there again for us to take. It is here, definitely is, that same experience that was bestowed upon John, Saint Tulsidas, Kabir, everybody.
And you know, you don't even have to know the name of Kabir, you don't even have to know what he looked like. But by just receiving Knowledge, you will know everything. By just understanding Knowledge, you will know everything. By having faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, you will know everything.
Because what is Guru Maharaj Ji? Guru Maharaj Ji is not a parcel. Guru Maharaj Ji is not a package deal. Guru Maharaj Ji is Guru Maharaj Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji never brings himself into this earth to adapt to you. Guru Maharaj Ji comes in this earth, always, but you have to then go to him. You have to then accept him. That's the difference.
It's almost like a yo-yo. A little hit and the yo-yo rolls out, a little pull and the same energy is directed and it comes up. Guru Maharaj Ji comes in this world … but tell me something, Guru Maharaj Ji is one -- that's it. How many of us are we?
And yet still, this one saint says, "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, just don't let me blow it. Because to you we are many, so many, so many, so many, so many, so many. But to me, you are only one." Not getting into a language thing and not getting into a literacy explanation but we just understand what that gist is: "Oh Guru Maharaj Ji, to me you are only one and you could just kick me off, you could just bury me, you could just completely ignore me -- and then what would I do? "
You know, we always get up and we talk about we's, we, we, us. What is us? OK, I mean I even use that term, we and us and all that. But I understand that every person sitting in this hall is an individual, is isolated. Even if you are married, that has nothing to do with it. If your father is sitting next to you that doesn't have …
Everyone is isolated, is an individual, and we have to all take that step. Believe me, there is nothing like an escalator: everybody just hops on and it just moves everybody. No, there is no escalator.
Every individual has to come and cross that line, before Guru Maharaj Ji will pick you up. Look at the compassion and the love of Guru Maharaj Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji could say, very easily, in this century, as hard as everything is; he could say, "OK, first do service for five years. After the end of your five years of service, see me, see me," -- not that you get to see Guru Maharaj Ji every day - but then come to me, see me after five years of service and then almost like saying if I wake up on the right side of the bed, you can have it.
"Then if I please then I'll let you have it, but first you got to do five years of service."
What would happen? You tell me … OK, a lot of you who are sitting here are premies, and have Knowledge, but what if it took five years to receive Knowledge. What would you have done? Maybe you can say to yourself, "Oh, man. Me? If Maharaj Ji would say 100 years, I would have done service for 100 years. I'm strong, I'm powerful" That's completely crazy, because that's not the way it is at all.
Because Guru Maharaj Ji not only once -- I don't know how many satsangs I have given -- at every satsang, "Do satsang, service and meditaion." I never say till … "Do satsang service and meditation till 1979 and that's it, kids." No. Forever. We have to make … It's like that question. Do we make this life a part of Knowledge or do we make Knowledge a part of this life? If Knowledge is going to become a part of this life … Life goes on, it's just like another kid getting born, another extension to your life, nothing is going to change, there's another kid, that's it. Just another extension. And you just go on, in your usual daily trips, in your usual craziness, in your usual concepts. Then whenever you feel a little sick and tired, you sit down under a blanket and you meditate.
Look, the thing is it's as simple … Knowledge could have been, in a way, a zap, zip, and it stays with you for the rest of your life. What I'm basically trying to say is that is the way Knowledge is: Knowledge keeps you alive. But that in fact you would have to make no effort. It could be in a way that you were born with it, and it could be in a way that after
12½ years old you would suddenly have this experience: you'll rise 2 feet off your bed and you're flying everywhere like Peter Pan.
You know, it could be any way. It could have been any way. But the question is … not the question, the answer is that it is not that way. It is the way it is: that you have to make that effort to stay in satsang, service and meditation.
Guru Maharaj Ji says relax. Relax from what? Guru Maharaj Ji says relax. Relax from what you're so closely tied into. What you're so uptight about. What are you uptight about? The maya. Because you are so interlocked in that maya. You just
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constantly try to hang on, hang on, hang on.
You know when I was in Rome after Hans Jayanti, we went to that little Luna Park, right next to the Astrodome, or Palace of Sports, or whatever it was. There were all these rides. So I went on a ride. I don't particularly care for all those kind of rides. I don't know why people care for those kind of rides … I guess it simulates physically the experience of mind for some people. They love it. Like a roller coaster, they have these roller coasters that are completely outrageous.
There's a roller coaster, like one in Los Angeles; it starts off, it goes through its rigamarole then goes a complete loop, 360°, then in another one, then in another one, and then it climbs literally I don't know how many storeys high, just, almost 90° and then it stops. And it does the whole procedure again, backwards. So if you don't throw up in the first round you're definitely bound to in the second one.
But anyway, I went on this ride, not on this big thing but just in this Luna Park and it was just little cars. You get in it, and you had a little stick, and you can make the car go up and down and up and down and you can do all these different … You're just going round in a circle.
And I got up and I said, "Look, I don't want to go, I don't want to go." And Marolyn said, "Just try it. Just try it." And I got in then. And I was really hanging on tight. I can really relate to this, because this is what happened. I was really hanging on.
And this thing started -- I mean there was Wadi and Hansi, and they were going "Yeahhhh," Hansi was pulling at the stick, and Wadi was pulling at the stick, and the thing was going womp, womp, up and down, and they were having ball, and here I was holding on to it.
It was like if I let go I would almost definitely be bound to get thrown way off there. I hung on, but what basically happened was that I did not enjoy the ride, but when I did get off the ride, my hands hurt.
And it's just like, we have to let go, because Guru Maharaj Ji is saying, "Now, wait, the procedure is, I'm going to take you away from this cart, because this cart is bound for doom. If you stay in this cart, this is where you will go." Guru Maharaj Ji says, "If you stay in the illusion…
One time a lot of so-called intellectual people came up to Shri Maharaj Ji and they said, "What are you trying to do? What are you talking about? " I mean these people who said, "Ha, ha, ha, we are the heroes because we are trying to feed people. We're trying to get clothing for people. We're trying to give education."
Ha, ha, ha to them too. Because Shri Maharaj Ji, the answer he gave was perfect. These people say, "Why are you talking about peace? How do you think people can have peace if they're hungry in their stomach?
Guru Maharaj Ji said, "Listen, I can give them food today, but they'll be hungry tomorrow. If I give them food tomorrow, then they'll be hungry the other day. And if I give them food the other day, then they'll be hungry the other day." He said that, "If I give them clothing then after a little while they will wear off. What kind of clothing do I give them? For summer, winter or rain? If I give them clothing in the summer, they'll freeze to death in winter. If I give them clothing for winter they'll bake and that's it."
Then he said, "Education," he said you can give somebody an education and he might forget it tomorrow.
"But the kind of food that I give, once anybody has eaten it, never gets hungry again."
You can imagine these guys who are thinking that they're heroes, people of the people, yet they didn't know they were talking to the Lord of Lords. I mean this is stupidity.
Then Guru Maharaj Ji said,"The kind of clothes that I give, once you wear them, you don't feel winter, you don't feel rain, you don't feel heat, you don't feel anything and you'll never wear it out. The kind of education that I give is the education of all the educations. There's nothing surpasses it, and you can never forget it.
I don't know what happened after that, but I bet those guys were pretty blown out, and wouldn't accept it, I bet. "Oh, how can that happen?" But it's true. It's true. Because our hunger, our lust, doesn't just stay here. (Guru Maharaj Ji indicates the body.) It's here. (Guru Maharaj Ji indicates inside.) This hurts (inside), this doesn't (body.) This hurts really bad. Because our heart aches to be one with that Master,
to be one with that Satguru of his time. Like Krishna says, "To "To find this Knowledge you have to go to the Satguru of your your time and then beg him and he will reveal it to you."
And premies, now we have to really realise that by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace … Look at it this way, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, Guru Maharaj Ji gave us an opportunity to be able to receive Knowledge. And by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, Guru Maharaj Ji gave us an opportunity, a blessing, a discount, and he gave us darshan, his Grace. And now he is giving us another opportunity to have faith in him. It's an opportunity.
I don't know why some people think, "Wow, man, he's really asking a lot." No, it's the world's most wonderful discount
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that ever could be, to have faith, to be able to have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji.
I mean to me, if you ignore that, then you are the same kind of person, same exact person as a matter of fact, who up in heaven, God said, "Who wants brains? " and you thought "train", and you took the first one out. You're the same exact person if you ignore that opportunity that Guru Maharaj Ji is giving, to be able to have faith in him.
What if you never had to have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji? To me, that would be ridiculous. I mean, of course it wouldn't be ridiculous but to me that would be horrible, because it's such an opportunity to be able to believe, to let Guru Maharaj Ji become like that stick, to let him guide every moment of your life. To me that sounds wonderful. But to mind I know, I understand, of course, it does not sound wonderful.
"Who are you going to replace, kid? " Maybe mind is thinking it's going to replace this or that or that. All of a sudden you turn around: "Well, I heard I'm to replace you." The mind goes, "Forget it." It even gets up a greater grasp into you, even tries to confuse you more and more and more and more. Even tries to throw you in the pits even more, to keep you there. I mean it's just the way it works.
I mean to some people, "Mind: What's wrong with my mind? My mind is perfectly sound." OK, so your mind might be perfectly sound, that might be possible. Your brain might be perfectly sound. But what about this thing that keeps kicking you every 15 seconds? Is that sound too? What about this thing that keeps punching you into this gross jungle of total darkness? What about this thing that keeps attracting you away from Guru Maharaj Ji for the most ridiculous pruposes that possibly could be? But what does this mind do?
You know it reminds me of this story where … I told this story in Philadelphia and I'll just tell you again, because I don't think it'll hurt.
There was this queen and she took her necklace out. I guess she was going to take a bath or a shower; she took her necklace out, put it outside on her patio, and went in. A few seconds later a crow flew by, looked at the necklace, "Huh, nice necklace nice shiny object," picked it up, flew away with it, put it on his nest and found out that it was not edible, so he just left it there, and flew away.
The queen comes out, finds her necklace missing: "Oh my God, what's happened? Where is it? I want it right now:" Apparently, the queens used to have a room where they could go, and they could throw themselves to the ground and pull their hairs out --- whatever they wanted to do. And all somebody had to tell the king is that "Your queen is in that room," and he knew what was up.
And the king found out about that and he rushed over and said, "What's the matter? " She said, "Oh, I want my necklace, it's missing." He said, "I'll get you another necklace better than that, more expensive than that, more beautiful than that." And she said, "No, I want that particular necklace." He said, "OK, we'll look for it."
And he sent out everybody looking for it all over the house, all over the palace. And nothing. She said, "I'm not even going to eat until I find it."
The king got bothered, he got worried, and he sent his whole army out. No result, nothing at all.
Well, then he had to resort to a very simple solution: he just said; "Whoever can find the necklace can have half of my kingdom." Then the necklace became a hot item, everyone wanted half of the kingdom. I mean, he was a pretty powerful king.
And so, one day, a couple of tourists were walking by this sewer, this canal full of everything, complete sewage, and they saw this reflection in there and they heard about the thing and they dove in. They dove into that thing because they saw this necklace. "There it is", dive in.
And that same day the king and his general, his minister, happened to be riding in a coach and they saw these two tourists jumping in and out of this sewage canal. They stopped their coach and said, "What are you doing? " They said, "See that, we're trying to get that necklace."
The general, the minister, got very happy and he said, "Wow, this is incredible. I jump in, get this necklace and I become as powerful as this king is going to be. I'm going to have half of the kingdom. I'll be very powerful. I'll be very happy. I'll be rich."
So he didn't care about his clothes, he dove in. Dove right into this sewage.
The thing was that every time they would dive in and they would reach for this necklace, it would disappear. It was like, who is playing this trick?
And so the king started thinking, he says, "If this general finds it, then I'll lose half of my kingdom. What's the harm for half of the kingdom, I'll only get my clothes dirty. I can have new ones made up." So he dove in too.
And so, as usual, Guru Maharaj Ji had to be walking by. And he saw the king and his minister jumping in and out of the sewage. He said, "What are you doing? " And they said, "Oh Maharaj Ji, there's her necklace, and this necklace is very important. This is what we are after." Guru Maharaj Ji
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*** Missing photo has been cut out of both of my copies of this booklet ***
said, "If you want the necklace I'll give it to you, I'll get it for you." So instead of diving into that sewage, he climbed up the tree and brought down the necklace and gave it to him.
Anyway, I'm not concerned about what happened afterwards -- whether he got half the kingdom or he refused it or whatever. But here's the thing, that we see the reflection of joy, of beauty; our mind sees the reflection of love, of beauty, of that perfection, of that truth, in this maya, in this illusion, in this world, and we dive into it.
And Guru Maharaj Ji sees us diving into sewage and he says, "What are you doing? What are you diving into the sewage for? " Then he comes and he says, "No, that thing that you are looking for is not here at all, not in this illusion. It is somewhere else," and then reveals it to us.
What can I say, except it's such an opportunity for all of us to be able to come together. Mind will say, "What a hard thing to do." But no, if we realistically look at it, what a beautiful opportunity to be able to come together. To be able to just be able to love Guru Maharaj Ji, give that love to Guru Maharaj Ji, to be able to have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji. That's just incredible. I know it can be done. Yes, in fact it can be done. Of course, it can be done. We have to do it. We have to do it. Nobody is going to do it for us.
And premies, I hope I'll see you in Dortmund very soon. This festival's coming up in about three weeks, I believe, and it's another opportunity to be able to listen, and then of course, of course, I'll see you at Hans Jayanti. That's going to be very beautiful occasion. With our luck, maybe, everything will work out.
But just our effort, our little effort, our little opportunity, our little love, our little understanding, towards Guru Maharaj Ji… Because Guru Maharaj Ji is not saying, "Give this love to this chair." That I can understand would be very hard for you to understand why. Or Guru Maharaj Ji's not saying, "Give this love to this microphone." Guru Maharaj Ji is not saying, "Have faith in this thing."
I mean you'd better not have any faith in this modulator unit; it sits here and I can press a button and it lights up there any commands that I want to get from here to Marino about the microphone, or music, or Raja Ji, or Arti or Durga Ji or stop -- whatever functions it has. I mean you'd better not believe in this thing.
Guru Maharaj Ji is not asking you to believe in this thing. Guru Maharaj Ji is not asking you to believe in that fan. Guru Maharaj Ji is not asking you to believe in that cloth. But Guru Maharaj Ji is asking you to believe in him. Have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji. In me. To have faith, to have that implicit faith. And for what? For what?
It's just like I said in Tucson; I said Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't want your cars, he's got plenty of them and what am I going to do with your van? What am I going to do with your Volkswagen? I don't want that. I don't want all that. I want you. Because you have to have that faith in me, you have to have that belief in me, because you are the one who I'll have to carry from one side of that ocean to the other side. Not your car, it's not a ferry, where you just come in and you load your car at the bottom.
So premies, just have that understanding because all Guru Maharaj Ji is saying is very, very simple. Have that love, have that faith, come together, make that little effort. How could it be more simpler? Any more simpler than that and it would Pe too sophisticated. And it's not, it's simple. So, just understand and make that little effort.
So I sincerely hope I'll see you in Dortmund, and Hans Jayanti. It's like just feel that love. It's there. It's there for you to take, there for you to grab. With just all of us coming together, all of us making that effort, that Guru Puja in Europe, in Dortmund, can be beautiful.
So 'till then, keep doing satsang, service and meditation. Look, the thing is you have no other option. It's as simple as that. If you did, I'd give it to you, gladly, because I know that in spite of all the satsang that I have given you, and all the receiving that your thick head does -- which is not very much - maybe if you had an option it would work out better for you, huh? But the thing is, you don't have one, so, that's that.
I mean, that's my experience. That's what my experience is. Maybe my experience is nothing. But what my experience is, it's everything to me, because that is my experience of that love, of that truth, of that faith, that we all need to have. You have to have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, your Guru Maharaj Ji, because otherwise what are you going to do?
There is not a mountain high enough that you can jump off from to compensate for it. Mount Everest isn't high enough at all. You just don't have an option, so I suggest, very humbly, that you get at it, since you don't have an option. You might as well take that beauty that lies there and don't be slaves of mind, but be a devotee! The thing is you don't have to he a slave of anybody, so give up slavery, and become devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji. Throw away mind, and accept Guru Maharaj Ji in your heart.
Well, so I hope I'll see you in Dortmund. Till then, thank you very much.
So premies, I hope I will see you later in Dortmund. Till then, enjoy yourselves. And maybe I'll just see you later. Blessings to all the premies.
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