Guru Maharaj Ji's World

Extracts From Guru Maharaj Ji's satsangs. 1966-1980.

Guru Maharaj Ji was born on December 10th, 1957
at Hardwar in Northern India

I think to just about everybody in this world, it's becoming so much more obvious, it's becoming clear that our mundane excuses day to day that we make are simply little jokes, are little jokes that we want to play with ourselves every day. Our little stories that we tell ourselves: "Look, it's OK, you're happy. It doesn't really matter, does it? After all, who is happy in this world?" This is what people tell themselves. They know that they have that real hunger, they know that they have that real thirst, they know that they really need something in their lives, and yet just before they can in fact face it…

When it really comes down to it and you're sitting in your living room, you take one look around, or come very, very frustrated from your office, take one look at your house and walk into the room, sit down and all of a sudden you start to wonder what this is all about. This, your whole life. Everything you have put into this house, every cent. You work everyday to keep it up. You have your family but everything isn't working out. Nothing is happening, nothing is working out for you. You just wonder, you really wonder if this is it, if this is all life is. And you don't have any answers to it. You don't know. You can't say, "Yes, son, that's your life" or "No, kid, that's not it"

The questions are there, so obvious. It is a lot easier to have the questions. Anybody can come up with these questions. And as a matter of fact these are not questions that we have invented in this 20th century; these questions haven't just bobbed up in 1979; in fact these questions have been there since almost there has been a human race on this earth. Why are we here? What are we doing? What are we doing in this world? What is it all about?

Maybe almost everybody at one point or another asks these questions. And yet the answers to these very common, maybe even very simple questions… because if you know the answer then the whole question doesn't seem gigantic because you know the answer to it, you know the solution. Because you know the solution, the problem isn't a problem anymore. There is a solution for it, it can be solved.

Same way with this question in our lives, it can be solved, because there is somebody in this world who has the answer. As a matter of fact the answer to that is in fact in our hearts, all locked up, all cooped up, just there, and we want to get at it; we want to get to it. It's almost like a treasure hunt. We know that there is something very, very precious within inside of us. How do we know? How do we know that? I mean that might be entirely a philosophical thing.

The thing is, I'm not here to teach a philosophy per se, the kind of connotation philosophy has. I'm not here to teach a policy. I'm not here to teach scriptures. I'm not here to make scriptures. But in fact I'm here to offer a solution. And the only reason why I want to even offer the solution to anybody in this world is simply because it has worked. Time and timc and time and time again it has worked. It worked one thousand years ago, ten thousand years ago, 20 thousand years ago, 30 thousand years ago, 40 thousand years ago, since time immemorial; in fact it's always worked.

When a little soul comes into this world, when a little child arrives in this world, what is it for him? Does he in fact know? Do you think that, at that point when he is one day old, one hour old, one minute old, if he could ever find out all the miseries that he would have to bear in this world, do you think in fact that child would choose to live? No. I don't think so.

There are so many people in this world who grow up, are adults, 20 years old, 30 years old, 40 years old, 50 years old, and just cannot bear the misery of this world any more and choose to leave it, choose to leave this world behind. Why? Do you think that's why the Creator made this earth, put a lot of perfection, put a lot of beauty into it. I mean 'smart' is not the word. 'Intelligent' is almost disgraceful. 'Genius, well, isn't the kind of word you'd really like to use. Immaculately created earth, this world, this universe. Immaculate.

One principle. I mean, here he is, he's sitting down, all of a sudden an apple falls on his head and from there on he discovers one principle, one, simply one, principle: what goes up must come down. One principle that in fact there is gravity. And today people just can't talk enough about that person.

What about the genius, and again 'genius' isn't exactly the word thatI'd like to use for that Creator and yet He created all those people that wethink are geniuses in this world? He actually manufactured them; He actually made them alive; He actually created them; He actually sustained them.

All these things that we live by, all these theories that we live by, there is something that makes it all worthwhile. Of course, it is very human to take the credit - "Oh yeah, I really wouldn't want to say this but,yes, it was me that discovered the gravity" - to get into it, to get into all those aspects and yet forgetting the one most important aspect, forgetting the most important aspect of everything. Life.

Everybody wants to live in this world. But why do we even need to live in this world? What is the purpose of living in this world? Do you think all that's going on in this world is really worth it?

If we just live, or our attitude is eat, drink and be merry, then there is absolutely no difference between us and a pig. If that was my attitude: just live to live, eat, drink and be merry, then there would be absolutely no difference between me and a pig. Because the pig when he gets hungry, he eats, and when he wants to enjoy himself he runs over to the dirtiest part of the fenced - in area and rolls in it.

You see, when a pig rolls in that dirt he doesn't need to roll in the dirt because it's essential to his life, he rolls in it because he enjoys it very much. Enjoyment to us, enjoyment to a pig, if that's what life is all about, then where are we? What is the point of even calling this human body so incredible? Then what is the point of even looking at it as the crown of Creation. Because there is a way, there is something we can fulfil in this life that perhaps that pig could never fulfil. We can fulfil in this life something that a gorilla cannot fulfil; nobody can fulfil except us, us human beings.

Because so far as intelligence is concerned, I personally think there are plenty of animals that are a lot smarter than human beings, a lot, lot, lot, lot smarter than human beings. And yet there is something that we can do in this lifetime that makes us smarter than them. And what is it?

People challenging, people standing on the street, people writing books about it, it's very, very simple for them to say, "Yes kid, you should definitely find the answer to your question" That's simple to say. "Yes, yes, definitely you should have peace in your heart" There's plenty of people who say that.

But Guru Maharaj Ji can in fact reveal you that peace. Guru Maharaj Ji can in fact reveal you that answer to your question that has puzzled you, perhaps your father, perhaps your grandfather, your grandfather's father's grandfather's grandfather's grandfather, and also on your mother's side the same way. Because it is within your heart, it is there. It can be revealed because it's there. That answer is always with you. That peace is within you. But Guru Maharaj Ji can open up that door. Guru Maharaj Ji can show you the way. And that is why we need Guru Maharaj Ji. That's why we need to go to somebody.

A lot of people have asked that question over a period of time, 'Are you perfect? Are you the Perfect Master?" There's a vast, vast, vast, vast difference in that question. 'Perfect' is one thing. Body cannot be perfect. Anything that was created once, anything that had a beginning, anything that once was not, is stamped imperfect and shall never be perfect. Ever. Only that Knowledge is perfect. And the one who can teach us, the one who can guide us, is the Perfect Master, the Perfect Guide, the Perfect Teacher. And that's what we need in our lives. We need somebody to show us the light because for so many years man has said, "I can do it by myself" Obviously an egoistic idea: "I can do it. Don't bother."

But it's so, so simple to see… just imagine a valley, a really, really deep valley, about five or six hundred feet deep. Over this valley from one of the mountains juts out, right at the very top, a little penins - Lilir, a little jetty. And you were trying to climb it - "Oh, I can do it. Oh, I can do it" - and slipped. There you are at the end of the rope hanging by one hand. You're hanging there and you feel somebody come up to you and say, "Can I give you a hand? Can I help you?" You say, "No, I can do it' He says, "But have you looked down?" "No, no, it's OK. You mind your own business, I can do it"

You see, he hasn't yet looked down, and therefore he doesn't really realize the gravity of the situation. He doesn't know that if he lets go of that thing, that's it. He's finished. Six feet away from him is land, is this jetty sticking out from this mountain. He's just hanging six feet down from that and all he has to do is climb six feet and he'll be fine, he'll be OK.

And again and again that question is asked: "Can I help you? Can I help you? Can I help you?" Not in this century, in so many centuries, the Perfect Master, the Perfect Teacher, the Perfect Guide has come in this world and said, "Can I help you? Can I help you? Can I assist you? Can I help?" But the answer has been: "You can't"

Why not give him a try, give him a chance? Always the answer has been: "No, mind your own business and I'll mind mine." Always the answer has been: "Look, it's OK."

And yet the Perfect Master, the Perfect Guide, can obviously very clearly see that that guy is hanging six feet down and he needs a lot of help because if he looks down that will be it. And maybe for some of us in our lives that time really becomes a reality that we do look down. Then we really realize the situation, then we really see the situation, then that egoistical thing disappears. It's not the matter of being prestigious about it, but as a matter of fact it's very simple that the help is unavailable, that help has to be there.

You cannot sit there, look at your worldly possessions, look at your degrees and say, "Guru Maharaj fl doesn't know what he is talking about" You can't. Maybe your ideas, your concepts come in. Maybe you think, "Look, I've got everything that I need" OK, maybe you have everything that you need, but you don't have one thing that you need the most.

It just reminds me of this whole thing with mummies: that whole idea that when a person dies they take him, they wrap him up in different herbs and medicines and whatever. They put him in a tomb and with him there are servants, gold, food, pictures of the way he used to be. And, I mean, everything. If one person got hold of all the gold he would definitely be very rich. Maybe thats somebody's dream - definitely he would be extremely rich - diamonds and emeralds and gold and what - have - you, anything you can imagine there.

And this is what we fight for, so that we can have servants, so we can have our wives, so we can have our children, so we can have a house, so we can have money, so we can be rich, or whatever we fight for.

Look at those tombs, they're a perfect example. its, all there but they can't use it. It's no good.Thc gold is there but something is missing. It's all there.

And in the same way, all those things that we want in our lives that we think are the necessities in our life, are they in fact really the necessities? Yet those are not the most important things. The most important thing in fact is that Knowledge, is that realization of that Knowledge, is that understanding. Because without that Knowledge, without the realization of that Truth, without the realization, without the proper understanding of why we are here, what good is it? What is the bearing upon it? None, none whatsoever.

You know, just recently a DC10 went down and you can imagine a fully booked DCIO: big aeroplane, everybody is in it. Just go back and imagine the gate, the gate where they were boarding from. Somebody was maybe going to see their relatives or somebody was going for business or somebody was going for something, or whatever.

Usually in America, people go through all the hustle and bustle, then they come to the gate and sit down on a nice comfortable chair and just relax. You can imagine people who had come really early, people who had come late. Just imagine the whole hustle and bustle, and then they finally get inside the aeroplane. Finally the aeroplane is full and, I mean, it's just everybody's daily job - Chicago/LA flight.You know, "Where are you going?" "Where are you going?" "Where are you going?" "Where are you going?" "What do you do?" "What do you do?" "Oh, I have a business:' "Oh, really, what do you do in the business?" "Nothing"

Whatever. I mean, one guy is talking to the other guy and the other guy's talking to the other.

Sometimes in those aeroplanes you meet some people, and they just can't sit tight.They have to know everything about you, literally to the point of what size shirt you are wearing. "Oh, really, where did you get that suit from? Nice suit. Yeah, I like your shoes too. What do you have in your briefcase?" Everything, they want to know everything about you. And the Chicago/LA flight - for sure, all that was going on.Then the steward closes the main door, the pilot checks that all doors are closed and here is the plane just starting to roll on the runway. Everything is OK.The tower gives you clearance.The captains usually say, "Here we go. Los Angeles, here we come'.'

Really? Really? I mean, what is it all about? A little pin - maybe three foot, four foot, one inch, two inches, doesn't matter how long - the small pin that holds the engine on sheared off; the engine fell down; the plane went out of control and it crashed. In that aeroplane there could have been iron - smiths and it wouldn't have made a difference; in that aeroplane there could have been engineers sitting and it wouldn't have made a difference, would it? No, it wouldn't.

Look at this whole world. Why does there always have to be a crisis before we can open our eyes a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little bit more. And yet it only seems to take a couple of minutes.You know - "Oh God, what a terrible thing. Oh God, what a terrible scene' Look at Tenerife. Everybody was shocked. When the San Diego crash happened - "the worst accident in US history." Now the DC10 went down - "worst accident in US history."

There is definitely a little bit more to life than just that. Grief for a moment, sorrow for a moment. Imagination. No. Life is a reality; life is real; life is not an imagination. There is something real. And through that Grace we can understand that, we can realize that, we can have that, but we have to approach it with that pure heart, with that pure love.

What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us in our life we can never repay him. What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us is the essence of life. What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us is something that makes life worthwhile. And that's it.

And yet really is there a necessity for something more? When you reach your destination, when you reach your goal, when you reach that tranquillity, when you have that peace in your heart, what is there more really left? Maybe a lot of you sitting here do not know because you haven't reached it. And yet those who have reached it, know for certain there's nothing else. Because when you see that reality, when you feel that reality, there's nothing more. Because that heart, that union between us and our Creator, that union between a lost soul, that union, that love, that relief, it's incredible.

Maybe sometimes people go to a fair, people go to an exhibition or something like that; theyTe walking and all of a sudden their child leaves the finger and wanders off, takes off in its own direction, and gets lost. Mother gets worried, child starts crying. The mother's heart is longing to unite with her son or daughter, and that child's heart is longing to unite with mother, because there is some love. Both of them are wandering, both of them are desperate. And maybe for moments, thoughts come, "Oh, I hope nothing has gone wrong" For that child almost the whole world has shut down, and he starts crying. And that crying isn't because he is hurt physically, but he wants something, maybe he's crying worse than in fact if he had just gotten hurt.

And when they both meet, oh, what a joy it is. This child just starts laughing; that sorrow turns into happiness instantly. The same thing for the mother. Her sorrow, her grief, her thoughts go away, disappear. She feels happy, she feels tranquil, she feels relieved. And yet that's only a fraction…

Everyone's soul in this world, everyone's heart longs to unite with that reality, longs to unite with that love, longs to unite with that Truth. And truly when that effort is made … I mean, obviously that relief that the mother experiences is very little compared to the relief of what happens when this real heart unites with that reality, with that Truth. There are no words because it's complete; it becomes perfect; it becomes one, one with that infinity, one with that infinite thing. And then there is no more, no more.

You know, it is that Lord, it is that Creator that puts that smile on a baby's face. You can't tell a joke to a baby and he'll crack up. That happiness sown in that baby's heart, that love, that satisfaction, that's the way we were made. Not for this misery. Misery is created by man himself, not by the Creator. And we have to see that.

In San Diego one time I went to the Zoo; I'd been there before but we took the kids along and they enjoyed it however much they enjoyed it. I think they wanted to touch the animals; it was kind of different that they couldn't. Anyway I came out of the Zoo and there was quite a bit going on and there was a person who was selling newspapers.

I looked at his face and I looked at his eyes and it was such an incredible moment for me. I just looked at him; and you could just really see that there was a pain in his eyes. He wasn't selling too many newspapers. And you could see that there was a pain in his eyes. You looked in his eyes and they wanted to be full, they wanted to be full. A little bit of a different feeling perhaps from just looking at his eyes and them being empty. No, it was a little bit different. They were empty but there was something in them that wanted it to be full. I mean, it really shocked me. It didn't shock me but it just really hit. It was an incredible experience. I don't know if I'm describing it right or not; in fact I don't know if I can describe it right.

But I just felt so much sympathy for that man. So much sympathy - I felt like taking out a five dollar note from my pocket and saying, "I'll buy all your newspapers"

And nevertheless I didn't do that. I just bought one newspaper because I know that if I bought every one of his newspapers, tomorrow when he stands there he is going to want somebody to buy all his newspapers. And the day after tomorrow that hope is going to turn into pain and more pain and more pain, because every day standing out there with his newspapers, he would want somebody to come and buy all his newspapers.

And yet it's very obvious that he didn't need those ten cents, he didn't need those 15 cents, he didn't need that quarter. It wasn't that quarter that was going to take the emptiness out of his eyes. It was Knowledge, it was that love, it was that grace that was going to do it, not a quarter and not zillions of quarters. That emptiness is always going to be there.

Only when we really understand that our heart longs to be filled, that there is a fulfilment to be had and Guru Maharaj Ji has that, Guru Maharaj Ji can fill us up with that love. Because, yes, that love is there in our own hearts and yet we don't know, we don't know

Just like this whole world exists in many, many, many colours - brown, black, red, green, white, chartreuse, purple, pink, whatever - but for a blind person it's there and it isn't.

The same way with that love, with that experience of Truth, we don't know it's there. To us the experience is when we fall in love. Fall in love, that's it. That's the love we are looking for. No, it's not. You might be in love but it only takes nothing, almost nothing, to just disrupt it, make it disappear, make it vanish. It's that true love, that real love, that is not based upon a bunch of promises that we need.

People go into church: "Will you take this person to be your lawful, wedded wife, in this world and the other world and to always cherish and to hold?" and all that. And OK I've been through that and, yes, it is wonderful. It's very beautiful - you look into your wife's eyes and you really feel that love and it's so different.

Watch it, that's not love, that's just an emotion of being married to somebody that you like. That's not love. Love is obviously something different. And when that love really comes to us, no emotions need to be there. Because when that love is so real, why does it have to have a proof? Do you think we would cry? It doesn't matter.

When somebody dies, you literally have to cry. If you don't … I mean in a funeral people look at each other to make sure that they are all crying. That way they know exactly who is the one who loved him. If the guy's wife wasn't crying, don't you think there is going to be a bit of gossip? "Did you see her? She wasn't crying. Ruthless woman. She never loved her husband, poor soul. Never had any love in his life" It's ridiculous but that's the way it is; it really is. Emotions. Just that. That's all they are.

True love is beyond all that. True love is real. It needs no proof. You don't have to laugh, you don't have to cry and you don't have to dance. You don't have to dance to show that you're happy, and you don't have to smile to show that you're happy. And you don't have to sing and you don't have to do anything; but people can see it. Because there is that feeling of fulfilment.

And yet when there is that fulfilment, when there is that real Knowledge, when there is that real love, it's so much different, it's so much truer. The love between a devotee and his Guru Maharaj Ji is so incredible because there is a fulfilment and the love comes from fulfilment, not emptiness. Love there flows naturally, not as a substitute. To us, to a lot of us, love is to substitute that misery.

And Guru Maharaj Ji can show you; it is not a matter of a challenge; it's not a matter of 'try me: Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't say that. It's a bit beyond that. It's for sure. It isn't a matter of ten stalls down the street, and everybody says, "Try our food. Try our food. Try our food" You can almost imagine Guru Maharaj Ji as not even having a stall, just a tray in hand. And as people come down the street, discontented, nothing more to do, nowhere to go - they have tried everything - then Guru Maharaj Ji )ust holds out his hand and says, "I think you've been looking for this" And there is its. Yes.

All the religions that are in this world - yes, you can go to one religion after another religion after another religion after another religion and never end up with a realization. Never. One religion says, "Mohammed, that's it"; and one religion says, "No, Krishna, that's it. Ram, that's it;" one religion says, "No, no, no, no, no, wait a minute, you're all wrong. Buddha, that's it;" other one says, "Listen, you've had enough, it's about time for you to be quiet. Christ, that's it" Man can be so easily lost between the tossing and turning from one religion to another religion to another religion, from one cult to another cult to another cult that you might not have anything left.

Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a substitution of religion. Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a substitution of a cult. As a matter of fact Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a religion or cult. Guru Maharaj Ji only offers you a practical realization, period. That's all Guru Maharaj Ji offers you: the realization, the experience of peace.

And Guru Maharaj Ji has the answer. Absolutely no doubt about it. Guru Maharaj Ji has the answer.

You know, by drawing pictures of water, by looking at water, by thinking of water, by imagining water, it won't and can't quench your thirst. Only when you actually drink the water will it do something. Same thing for us, by imagining a lot of things-because everybody imagines something: that there is a Creator, there is a thing called God.

Or the different rituals we have-from India I have had a lot of exposure to a lot of rituals that happen there. And they have -you name it-every kind of ritual. There's a fire ceremony where there is a little place and you bum logs and you throw things in it. And it's supposed to get to the gods. And then there are all these various things that by doing them, perhaps we will receive tranquillity. Perhaps we will receive peace by doing all those things, perhaps we will receive bliss. But that's the same thing.

You can imagine God. You can think about God. You can think God exists. You can think God is almighty. You can think God is all-powerful. Yet as far as the bliss of a human being is concerned …

After all, what is bliss? It's like a bulb. What does a bulb have? It's an absolute vacuum in there. And there's a little filament that goes around. And without energising the bulb, without giving it any electricity, it's still there. It's still a bulb. There is a filament there. Everything is present. But it will not emanate its light. It will not solve its purpose. It won't accomplish what it's made for.

I feel it's the same thing with us. As soon as something really happens to that bulb, as soon as electricity is put behind it, it lights up. Same thing with us. When truly something comes within our heart called bliss, JOY, happiness, Truth, or God-realization, then we light up too. And the way we light up is that the bliss emanates from us. We feel happy. We feel satisfied. We feel content.

Every time a Perfect Master comes, he changes the entire outlook of a being.

No. Suffering is not created for you to indulge in. And here is a man, here is a being, which has indulged in suffering, has suffered all his life long. There're people who suffer so much that suffering becomes so dear to them in a way. They become so addicted to suffering that they write poems about it. "You're breaking my heart," or "You're doing this. And you have shattered me. And you have done this to me and done that to me" - addicted to suffering.

And a Master comes and says, "Look. You don't have to buy all that. You don't have to be completely stuck in all the sufferings, in any sort of suffering, in any way of suffering. I can alleviate that suffering. I can bring you to the level where all you will experience is joy and peace and bliss."

Well, it's very hard for people to understand that because people don't know what joy is. You sec, there are so many people who want to make people happy. There are carnivals. There are magazines. What is the purpose of magazines? So you can sit there and read something everyday and have a little funny column. And there are newspapers that have little comics. And there are people who tell lokcs and people who sing songs. And the people do all these things to try to entertain us, to try to somehow make us happy. And we think that that's very much a part of us, very much our happiness. And it's not. It's truly not.

We dream of happiness, we dream of the Creator, we dream of this incredible Being that's everything. People call it total energy. People call it God. People call it anything. The imagination has no end arld people's minds don't have any end-languages, names, everything.

And yet one thing is very, very simple. When a Perfect Master comes, we have to first of all be empty inside-get rid of our concepts-to go to him. approach a Perfect Master in a way where he can fill us up inside, in a way where he can give us something instead of us being stuffed with our own little concepts. Because that's what we always are. We see something. We think about it. We imagine it in different ways and that becomes real to us.

Because it's the same everywhere. There is no paradise like in our imagination. There's only one paradise and to enter that paradise we need Guru Maharai Ji to take us there. Paradise is when we are content. Paradise is when we are there.

And what do we have to do to get there? This is what this life is about: to be content, to be in joy, not to be in misery, not to be in agony, not to suffer.

Because so many of us can suffer it we really want to. We can cut our hands up. We can blow our hands off in an oven- leave the oven on for a few hours and open it and strike a match in it and blow our hands off. We can suffer like that. We can jump off a building. We can suffer. We can cut our hands, we can cut this, we can cut that. To accumulate suffering there doesn't seem to be much required.

But we are here truly to experience something that's beautiful, truly to experience something that's real. Because what we see, what we perceive, what we think, really is not true. We can imagine it to be true. We can imagine it - because what is it ? In this world you can imagine anything you want and perhaps it'll come true for you. You can imagine a canvas that's all white. This is how an artist starts. In his imagination he has something. And when he starts, he picks up the brush and he lets his imagination lead his hand. And very soon he's painting a picture and whatever his imagination is gets completely transformed on to the white canvas.

We can take this hall, we can imagine that all the yellow in this hall can be converted to red. And what does it take? Take a paint brush and paint it red and it'll be red.

But painting that thing red from yellow is insignificant. Doing anything we do in this world is insignificant. But what truly brings us joy, what truly brings us happiness, is the satsang, the love which isn't insignificant, which is real. We feel it. We feel it right in our guts, in our whole system. We feel it from head to toe. We feel it in our heart.

Because in our imagination, after all, how do we even look for joy? OK, so I want to become happy in this world. There you are lying down on your bed completely miserable. Bedbugs all over the place, red bites all over you, mosquitos hovering everywhere - beetles, bugs, cockroaches, everything. And you kick off your covers, you hop up on your bed and say, "Jesus! I've had it. I want to become happy. I don't want to be miserable'.

And where does a man start ? This is not a thing that the citizens of Venezuela have to imagine or Americans have to imagine or South Americans or Mexicans or Canadians. Nobody has to imagine it. We all get into that realm. Somehow we get into that very particular thing. We all want happiness. And in pursuit of happiness what don't we do?

I was talking about those ceremonies. And yet all it is is an imagination: "Yes, there is a Power. There is a God. Yes, there is a guy with a long, long beard. Yes, there is a Creator that created us" What's even the basis?

Everybody believes that there is a Creator, just like a mad flock of sheep. One sheep goes one place and everybody follows. And if one sheep goes down the ditch, then all the sheep go down the ditch. Do we know?

Yes, there is peace. Everybody talks about peace. What is peace? Does anybody know? Look at the chaotic situation of this world. Russia took over Afghanistan. It completely freaked the Americans out. They're already freaked out because they had hostages being held in Iran. But that one did it. "What's Russia up to?" Then this whole fight starts-the grain. "We're not going to send grain over there. We're not going to do this and we're not going to do that:'

You look at it from one place to another place. I'm puzzled. I'm puzzled in one sense. All this is happening under the banner of peace, Truth, happiness, joy, bringing people together. It's incredible.

Salvation. Everybody wants salvation. Where is salvation? Everybody has a concept of heaven. "Up there, there is a heaven" Where? "In the blue skies there is this place-the pearly gates. You knock at the pearly gates. The pearly gates open. There is a guy sitting there like a traffic cop. And he makes sure that you have all the right qualifications to enter."

And then there is hell. Heaven and hell and all these things-our imagination. OK. Whether they exist or whether they don't exist, how do we know all that? What do we base it on? What's our experience? Have we seen heaven ? Have we seen hell ? The God - there is a God. Do we even know God? Have we seen God?

So many people call themselves so many things, get up and talk about God. And everybody believes unanimously that God exists. But why? Why does God exist? Why are we alive? Everybody knows we are alive but why are we alive? What's the purpose of our life? Why do we breathe?

There is a practical experience to be had, not a theory. This is the difference from sitting and reading a scripture. A scripture can tell you Ushoulds',' "mays,' "buts,' but in satsang you hear what's a fact. A scripture may tell you, "Yes, my son, when you die you may get to heaven if you do this, this, this, this, this" No. Not in satsang. Satsang is the experience of Truth. Satsang is the company of Truth where what we experience is what's said. It's based upon Knowledge. It's based upon Guru Maharaj Ji. It's not "ifs" and "coulds" and "buts" and "listen to me" and "wait a minute" and "not quite that way" and "this way will do it" No. Because it's based on one single thing. One thing is the key.

In satsang, when that experience manifests, it reaches us inside, opens our heart up. You can't think. What is there to think? What is there to imagine? What is there to pretend? You only have to let go, open up and experience Guru Maharaj Ji, experience love, experience Knowledge, experience what's being said. Because it is in itself. It's a moment. And yet, somewhere in that moment lies the entire infinity. Somewhere in that moment lies the entire Truth that mankind is searching for.

In that one moment-maybe it's just for a second but it's this vast, enormous door. And if we can just look at the door and grab on, hang on, it'll open us up to where there is no heat, there is no cold, there is no day, there is no night, there is no nothing. And all that exists, all that is present, is just you and Guru Maharaj Ji, just you and what's real, you and an experience-an experience that's endless, an experience that doesn't just start and doesn't just end. It goes on and on and on. The more you open up, the more you can take it, the more you can absorb it, the more it opens up into you, the more you can feel it. And that is the grace.

To me, that's the purpose why there is a North Pole and why there is a South Pole. That is, somehow, in everything. In this beautiful world-if we want to look at it that way, or, somehow, in this miserable place, in this miserable world-whatever it is, for me to be alive, for you to be alive, for us to live, to be breathing, to be a part of our choice, to be a part of the completely infinite… And then yet, you're given a moment, an opportunity-isolated from what's completely infinite, made finite, put into this finite, physical, little planet -to enjoy something in this life, to enjoy all the beauty of what's infinite.

It's incredible. Yes, we can. We really can enjoy all that heavenly bliss, all that heavenly beauty, if we just let go, if we just open up, if we just merge into that experience that Guru Nlaharaj Ji wants to give us.

Take, take, take - this is what this world does. Guru Maharaj Ji is give, give, give. And mind says, "Don't take what he gives" And the world says, "I want you. I want everything you have. But I don't actually want you. You, I throw away. It's just like a paper bag. I'll just dump all the goodies you have out and I'll throw you away. I'll discard you" And that's perfectly acceptable to us.

And I don't see how you can get it all mixed up. It's in black and white. What confuses us-not this brain. There is a thing in here. It's the brain. And it has little arteries going through it and there are eye sensors hooked up to it. There are ear sensors hooked up to it. Nose, different nervous systems hook up to it. And when I want to raise my hand something happens here and sends a thing to my hand, "Raise" And I raise my hand.

I'm not saying that that's our mind. That's our brain.

But there is something that doesn't exist. It's not material. It is not in flesh. It doesn't have any colour. It doesn't have any shape or size. It takes one of the things of the brain and twists it, not physically, but somehow, pressures it to think weird things, to think what's not true, to think what's not real, to make us completely submerge in darkness, to make us completely submerge in what is completely miles and miles and miles away from Truth.

It's so simple that if we're really looking for joy and if we're really looking for peace and if we're really looking for Truth and we're really looking for harmony, there's only one way to do it: Guru Maharaj Ji, surrender, let go.

What do we look like? We look like this lady who is walking and her hands are completely filled with all these different things. And then we go to another shop and we buy something else. And we expect them to put it all the way on top and we expect to carry it. It doesn't work like that. Our burdens, our concepts-as long as we carry them with us, then our hearts will be full of darkness, then our hearts will be full of what's illusion.

When we let go of all that, drop all that accumulated dirt, then Guru Maharaj Ji comes in and implants that seed of love. And our heart then fills with the joy, the bliss and the Truth. That's it. There's no more to it. There is no less to it. All we have to be is ready. All we have to be is empty inside -not in a bizarre dream that, "Oh yeah, I'm happy."

What is is that makes us thirsty? When that thirst comes there is only one thing that's going to quench it, which is that water. And in the same way, we have to just branch off from these concepts, from these bizarre dreams that we live in, from these nightmares, and just open up to Guru Maharaj Ji. Because any door you stand in front of -it doesn't matter which door you stand before - any door you stand in front of will be shut right in your face. All those doors that claim to be open are in fact closed. That's what's an illusion, that's what's maya.

What looks very attracting is in fact the opposite. It's repelling. And yet to us, it looks very attractive. It looks, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got to have this thing."

And Guru Maharaj Ji- neither attractive nor repelling. You see it through your own eyes. And Guru Maharaj Ji beckons to those who want him to beckon. He doesn't just stand there, "Come on, everybody. Come on"

Because Jesus, when he came into this world, if he had the power to resurrect himself, if he had the power to make fish multiply, if he had the power to increase the size of the bread so much that everybody could keep eating it, then he definitely had the power to change everybody's head around to say, "Oh yeah, this is it, man" Pilate says it and his wife says it. And the king says it and the queen says it. Everybody says it.

No. Because Guru Maharaj Ji beckons to only those who want him to beckon. "Come on" And when that is opened up inside of us, when we can really see that, "Yeah, OR'

We get attached to this world. The world takes us, crushes us in a blender and spits us out. I don't know what a tea leaf thinks it's going to be. But when it grows and grows in bushes and so many people come and nurture it and take care of it and trim it and cut the little tea leaves very carefully out. And yet, does it ever know that all they're going to do to it one day is stick it somewhere, put some hot water in it, put a strainer, throw the leaves away and that's it? That's what's going to be left of it: a bunch of used tea leaves. It's incredible. If you see tea leaves, they're beautiful, big. And then what's left of it?

We get so conditioned in this world. Every single thing that can be extremely, extremely beautiful to us, we know one day turns around, kicks us, fails. Everything fails for us except Guru Maharaj Ji. And that's where we have to be. That's where we have to be. That's the only place to be.

So, concepts aside, be yourself. Open yourself up to this entire miracle that's happening every zillionth of a second, every day, every night, every dawn, every dusk; a miracle that makes the sun come up, makes the moon shine, makes water flow, makes a little ripple, makes a big wave, has made every particle of sand, has made every star, every planet, every single thing in this entire universe and holds it together. And in this entire galaxy-this galaxy and the galaxy beyond this universe, if there is anything like another universe-that Truth is constantly emanating that real thing.

We, as I said, drop out of this whatever it is, come into this finite little place and finite little world to enjoy the entire infinity. And that's what we have to do. Not our ego, not our customs, not our concepts- just that bliss. That's what Guru Maharaj Ji has come in this world for-for every one of us, to give us just that.

Yes, for every one of you I look different. To every one of you I am different. To every one of you, you have a different concept of me. And yet, you don't know I don't think you have the faintest of what I really am. I don't think. You can try to have a concept of me but that's not going to change me any. You try to imagine me but you can't. You come to every satsang, you try to look at me but it's all beyond it. Because you see me in every different suit. You see me-it's been a month since my haircut. You see me in all these different ways. And yet, none of that's really true.

But there is something that's beyond every one of those layers, something beyond every one of those little ideas you have. And when you see that, then it's total. It's complete. It's an incredible experience. That's what Guru Maharaj Ji comes to give to us.

Every one of you is different. And those layers make you different. And if you take those layers away every one of you is exactly the same. Yes, everyone is sitting in their individual little chairs. Everyone has their individual little mask on, which is called your face. And everyone has their whole trip. And yet, who are you? You're not your face. You're not your body. You're not your mind. You're not your ego. You're not what you think you are. And all that put together-you are still not that.

But in fact when we have the experience of sat, what's Truth, chit, which is the consciousness, and anand, which is the bliss, then we experience sat, chit and anand. Not just by saying "Jai Satclaitanand, Jai Satchitanand, Jai Satchitanand,' all over the place but by experiencing Truth, consciousness and bliss, then we have the experience. Because those are the three characters of this infinity: Truth, which completely holds everything, which is everything, consciousness - in this body, these are the things that we can experience of that infinite. That is going to be what we can possibly ever perceive in this human lifetime of that infinity: sat, chit and anandthat Truth, the consciousness and that bliss. Bliss that's absolute. Truth that's absolute.

Not a truth of, "Oh, is this microphone black? Is this microphone yellow? Is this microphone green? Will the real so-and-so stand up?" And all that. None of that is Truth. Today what is taught in every place in moral studies and what-have-you. "What's the truth? Never lie."

Sure, you shouldn't lie. It's true. But what is a lie? What is a lie? When this whole hall is made out of chocolate, say, and somebody gets up and says, "Don't eat the chocolate" what are you referring to? You could be referring to the ceiling, the floor, the walls, the pillars, the lights, your shoes or your chairs or even a chocolate that you have in your hand. When this whole world is an illusion, when this whole world is a lie, then what do you speak in it?

I can say, "Yes. That is a fan" You might say, "Wonderful. That's incredible truth" Well, that's a fan. So is that. That one doesn't work. That one does. Flick of a switch, that one will and that one won't. Truth; lie. Then that becomes the truth and that becomes a lie. Truth becomes the lie; lie becomes the truth. And it's a big hodgepodge.

No. Truth isn't what can be made into a lie. Anything that can be made into a lie is not the Truth.

Light. Darkness has the presence in the absence of light. It's intermingled. If light were to be absolutely separated from darkness-it'd be impossible. You can't do it. Even when the sun comes out and an obstacle is placed in front of it, the darkness dominates it. It's called a shadow Because that light was created once. Slowly, it's going to do its number and one day, "poof !" it's lust going to disappear. That's going to be it.

The moon - people speak of moonlight. The moon isn't light. The moon is only a reflector. And yet, the darkness and that light go hand in hand. Because wherever that light misses, the darkness is present.

But in absolute Light where there is no darkness, the Light is everywhere. And there is no place where there isn't Light. Because that's the Truth. It's the Truth which is not mingled with a lie. A lie does not exist in that Truth because it's infinite. There is no corner, there is no nook, no cranny, no crack that isn't filled with the Truth. It isn't filled with the darkness. The darkness doesn't exist. When that happens, when everywhere is Light, when everywhere is the Truth, all that disappears. Light takes over and darkness goes away forever.

All the relative things that are so relative to us … This is the thing-this is the illusion: that in this world of lies, there appears to be Truth. No. Truth is Truth; and Truth can never be altered. Truth can never be altered. That fan is working. That's the truth. In one second, it may be kaput. It's so conditional. It's based on such condition.

But do you ever think that what's absolute Truth would ever be based on a condition? No. That Truth will stay Truth for us whether we are alive or whether we are dead. Truth is Truth.

The sun for us is the sun, only as long as we are alive. The moment we are dead, the sun goes away. This body-we are alive. All the things that we think are real - in one moment death occurs and everything becomes unreal, everything becomes fake.

And yet, absolute Truth is always absolute Truth. Nothing is left. Nothing. And that's the Truth we have to get at. That's the Truth we have to experience.

Consciousness - that consciousness that's everywhere, not here one second, gone the other. In that consciousness, when you have the Truth, have the consciousness, then all there is left is the bliss. And then you experience the bliss.

But that's when it all becomes the Truth, consciousness and bliss - that omnipresent thing.

So, that's what we want to experience: that one thing that's above and beyond, that step beyond our imagination. Can there be a place without any darkness? Well, there is a place without any darkness. No darkness. Because it's complete. It's whole.

There is the ocean which is dominated by water and there is a land that's dominated by earth. And yet, in a river there is mud which is half water and half land. This world is like mud, which is mixed. The truth in this world is relative. The light in this world is relative. The peace in this world is relative. The understanding in this world is relative. Everything is related to something else. If you're alive, then so much can happen. If we are dead, perhaps, so much can happen. But truly, in Guru Maharaj Ji's world, it's absolute.

That's the place where Guru Maharaj Ji wants to take us. We put up our resistance. We put up our trip to somehow stop ourselves from having that experience of infinity, having that incredible experience of sat, chit and anand; having the experience of Truth, consciousness and bliss. And we have to just take that step where we can open ourselves up to that experience that Guru Maharaj Ji wants to give us.