
24
No. 35, January 1977
Guru Maharaj Ji speaking in Denver, Colorado, on September 17, 1976.
Dear premies,
I came to this community meeting, because I felt there's a very important thing to say. The thing that first brought me all the way from India to England, and made all the aspirants come together in England, also brought me and put me in the United States at Alta Loma Terrace. And that very same thing started to make all those people very, very happy - people who hadn't quite received Knowledge yet, people who just saw a lot of inspiration, a lot of hope, and saw that there was something there. That very same thing is the thing which makes us all come together now. It's the fundamental thing. And when we lose that fundamental thing, when we lose our perspective, then we get lost.
It's just like a boy scout camp, where you go exploring, and the leader says, "We're going to go explore in this cave. Now, we don't know what there is in this cave. There might be a lot of dangers, or it might be just perfectly okay. But here is the rope, hang on to it, and I'm going to guide you, I'm going to take you through. You can see what's happening, but don't ever let go of this rope, because if you do, you might just get lost." That's really what happened with a lot of premies. They were taken into the tunnel, and they saw, "Wow! That's a beautiful piece of this cave. Maybe I should go explore in this direction." Now, they asked their own questions and they answered their own questions. They didn't wait for Guru Maharaj Ji to handle it. They didn't just have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji. But you see, this is where it's really, really important. And that is the reason why Guru Maharaj Ji comes in a body. There can be this enormous, spiritual power - well, there is - and no physical body, and it's just like it was before. There was no Guru Maharaj Ji, and everybody was just doing whatever they wanted to do. Everybody was into their own trip. This is what happens time after time when we lose our perspective, when we lose that fundamental thing.
So the reason I came here tonight was because I started seeing that there are a lot of things happening in premies' lives. I was just talking to Michael Goldstein on the street corner and said, "Things are pretty shaky." To me, that's a big question: Were you shaken up, or were things shaky? It's like, wow, wait a minute. Things are always shaky. Death is always there, and birth is always there. But we never die just like that and get born just like that. Out in the world, somewhere, there is a little child being born, and somebody's dying at the same time, but we are stabilised. So we have to really look at what got shaken up. Because I sincerely believe that there are a lot of premies who really feel strong. There are a lot of premies who still understand the fundamentals, because they haven't lost the rope, they haven't forgotten what that Knowledge really is, what that experience really is. And it's beautiful for them, it really is. But you look at other premies, some of them, and it's different, because they really have gotton shaken up, they really have let go of the rope, and there they are.
So what really brought me here to this meeting was, I stopped for a second and I heard a lot of yelling and screaming going on. I said, "Who are these people yelling?" and I listened, and they said, "Help!" I said, "Jeez, what happened?" I look back, and there are a few sincere premies who are still there, but the other ones are scattered all over the cave. So that expedition that has to be led, that has to constantly go on, has to be stopped for a second, and I have to go and look for those other premies who are just completely gobbled in the cave, and pull them out of this position and that position.
Pinch yourself
I have talked to premies, who say, "I am confused." What is their problem? They don't have a problem. They think they have a problem. That is the biggest problem. I've talked to a few people, and it's like, you sit down with them and you start talking with them and they tell you, "Well, Maharaj Ji, nothing is working out, and this is happening and that is happening." I have to just turn around and say, "Listen. Wait a minute. Why don't you pinch yourself and find out if you're alive or dead." They probably don't pinch themselves, but they say, "Yes, I am alive." And I say, "Well, that's the greatest thing that can ever happen to you and it's happening, isn't it? Just merge into that experience which is already there. This is the greatest thing, the most important thing that a person can ever do!" That is what makes us maybe a little different than that person out on the street who knows that he is in the world, but doesn't even know why is there. That is why we all come together and we call ourselves premies. That is why there is a meaning, a beauty, when we all come together, and with great respect, say to each other, "Jai satchitanand." There is some- thing it. It's not just a lot of baloney, as people would put it. People have said that. But, no! There's something there. And it isn't the words, "Jai satchitanand."
Why don't you just turn the whole situation around? Maybe this is India and that's America, you know? Like a lot of people have the concept that maybe this is an Indian thing. No! That's not what it is. It's what those words represent that's the most important thing to the premies. To me, "Jai satchitanand" can be the same as "chandelier," or "hall," or "Indian Centre". Instead of saying, "Jai satchitanand," you could actually get up and say, "Indian Centre," or "microphone." That doesn't matter. It's what it carries behind it - the meaning, the love that we all have experienced. And that is what is so beautiful about it. There is so much love.
You know, I feel like saying so much, but I have to just put it in context, otherwise you're going to lose it, you know? Anyway, I am here to help you in this path of realisation. I am here to help you. You have problems, you come to me, I'll help you. A lot of premies feel a barrier. Well, believe me, I didn't put the barrier there. You did it. So if I am there and premies feel like, "Oh, wow. I just can't … I can't go and talk to Maharaj Ji," well, it isn't like that. You want to talk to me, you can make an appointment and you can talk to me. But talk to me about something where you really have a problem, where it isn't a fiction, where it isn't like you sit down and create your own Frankenstein monster, and then you don't know what to do with him, and so you have to call on me saying, "Guru Maharaj Ji, can you dismiss my Frankenstein monster?"
There are some premies who really have problems - just the way their life has been, the way they see things, the way their perspective is - and now those premies need help. But recently, a lot of people wanted to talk to me and I said, "Okay, anybody who wants to talk to me, give him a time and I'll talk to
The Golden Age
him." I was just sort of taking it easy, and then a lot of premies started coming and talking to me. But of most of the premies who were talking to me, there were very few who really had a problem. Most premies just wanted to see Maharaj Ji, and just wanted to talk about the monster, their imagination. Those premies were sittiq there just using up my time, because I believe if you created the monster, now it is your responsibility to destroy it. I'll help, but only so much. I will help you to the point where you can identify that it is a monster that you have created, that it is a fiction, it is not reality. But after that, it's completely up to you. You know?
Remembering the fundamentals
We really have to begin understanding the fundamentals, the basics. Why are we here? What makes us premies? Ask yourself a question. What puts you here in this Indian Centre today, at this hour? Not because somebody called you on the phone and said, "Maharaj Ji's coming to the community meeting." No. There's a reason. If that is the reason why you came here, because Maharaj Ji was coming, there is even a reason behind why Maharaj Ji came here. There is even a reason behind who is Maharaj Ji? There's even a reason behind why you responded to the fact that because Maharaj Ji came here, you had to come here. There are a lot of reasons. Look at it, and it's beautiful.
We get a lot of ideas and we get caught up in them. We get completely bogged in them. "This has got to happen, and that's got to happen, and what about my evaluation, and what about this and that …" Well, forget about that for a second. Take yourself. Take who you really are. Consider that moment when you were sitting before an initiator, before a mahatma, ready to receive Knowledge. Consider that moment. I think a lot of premies have forgotten that time, that moment. They just remember that as a sentimental memory: "Oh, yes, I received Knowledge in this room - 308 or 408." No. Stop, and just think for a second of the time when you were sitting there listening to that satsang and really opening up to that fact. You were really trying to understand what this was all about, what life was about. You were probably given the satsang that we are here in this world, and we can just keep on going and going and going and going, but there is a reason why we should be here. And then you said, "Okay, I'm going to understand what that reason is, I'm going to understand the aim of my human life," and you walked into that one room where the mahatma was sitting in front of you. Just remember how beautiful that was, because it was beautiful.
Then you received Knowledge. When you really started experiencing something, when who you really are started coming out, started manifesting, started really coming forth, mind said, "No!" Mind suppressed it. Mind said, "No, this is not true. This is no experience, this is fiction. This is wrong. This doesn't really exist." And then you needed a lot a satsang, and a lot of care at that time. You had to listen to satsang, you had to understand more and more what Maharaj Ji wanted you to do, and what this Knowledge was about once you had received it. Then after a little while, it sort of dissipated, it moved away, because this Knowledge had started working. The friction was gone. It was really happening. It was really manifesting. You had started to experience the Knowledge. Think about those times.
Today a lot of premies just sit down an hour in the morning for meditation, and half the time what they're thinking about is completely different than even trying for a second, sincerely, to experience what this Knowledge is all about. And then premies just go on and on from one trip, to another trip, to another trip, to another trip, to another trip. And why it happens is because premies don't put the effort in to what it really takes.
Don't get caught up
You know, believe it or not, a lot of premies listen to my satsang, and for the moment maybe, they get blissed out. Then they hear it from this ear, and throw it out that ear. There is a loop that goes around in their head, and my satsang just stays there for a little while, which makes you blissed out after satsang for about fifteen, twenty minutes, but then it just comes out the other end. This is what really happens. But you have to understand what this is all about. You know? This is about peace. Premies say, "Well, my experience isn't working out." Or, "There is an even greater experience than this experience." The thing is, there is a reason why Guru Maharaj Ji is in this body, and if you really have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, then Guru Maharaj Ji will let you know, will let you understand what is really to happen. He has done it. Not just one time, but time, after time, after time, after time. If there has been an issue brought up, I have answered it for you. Premies have had questions, "Maharaj Ji, I am having this kind of an experience." Well, I have said, "No. This is right, and this is wrong." This is the reason why I am here.
26
No. 35, January 1977
So what I am going to say to you is just don't get caught up in your concepts. Just don't get caught up. Don't step out of the bush and step into water, don't step out of the mud and step into quicksand. There is no point to do that. There is something a lot more beautiful which is within inside of you, which is Knowledge, which is an experience so incredibly great, so high, so beautiful.
I was watching television last night, and they had these people who were simulating Ford and Carter. They were just making fun of them! And not only that, I have watched them talk, and I have also watched the debates that they had, and I also watch the news sometimes. I don't get interested in this like, "Oh, wow, this is what is happening, huh?" But I say, "Jesus. Forget it!" Look at these guys. I mean, it just keeps on going and going and going and going, and what is the end to this? Nobody knows! Nobody knows and nobody even knows where this all starts from. They're just caught up in a whirlpool, and they think they should enjoy it, so they try to enjoy it. But it's not that way.
There is Truth, and we have it. We have realised it. We have understood it. So what we should do now is a simple thing. See, we still have all the options open. It isn't like you're hypnotised and then there is surgery on your brain, and you're turned into a vegetable or something like that. It isn't like that. What it really is is that Knowledge is there, and it's given to you, and you're still the same. And then you're given the opportunity to understand this Knowledge, and really realise the purpose of this life. We still have all the options we want. We can still go back and plug into the craziness. Now mark what I'm saying. I'm not saying don't plug into the world. If you don't want to plug into the world, we will have to literally leave this world, and since they haven't found Martians on Mars yet, or little cheeses and milk on the moon, it's kind of hard to just split the Earth and go to Mars or the moon. So that's not the point. Stay in this world, but don't get caught up in the craziness of this world. Because there is a lot of craziness in this world. And who makes the craziness? People do. Earth doesn't. Earth doesn't have anything to make craziness with. Earth was always there. Water doesn't make craziness. It's always there and it's beautiful! Apples don't make craziness. Sky doesn't make craziness. People make craziness. They generate it. That's what people are good for. They're known for it. Not only from this century, but since the time of … I mean, look at the Bible. What happened? It wasn't all apples and fruit cakes, it was pure craziness. They just couldn't understand what the motive of their life was, and they just blindly kept on going, kept on going, day after day, day after day, into something where they kept screaming, "Help! Help! Help! Help!" Unanimously.
I watched these leaders speak, and I hear them say,… for the peace of this world." Okay, that's a very good idea. There should be peace in this world. Now how is that going to happen? That is what Shri Maharaj Ji used to say. He used to say, "There are a lot of people who talk about 'Yes, there should be peace in this world," and the only difference between what I preach and those people preach is that I not only say that there should be peace in this world, I bring peace in this world. Those people just talk about peace in this world, but have no way to bring peace into this world." And by his grace, this is the job that I'm continuing.
My word, and your energy
I feel, and this is what I was explaining to a premie in Malibu, that I'm, like, sandwiched. This is the way I feel. On one hand, because I have realised Knowledge, I feel it is my responsibility, just as a premie, to spread this Knowledge into this world, to let the word out that there is Knowledge, that there is something like this in this world. That's on one side. On the other side, I feel that this is my duty, because that is the direction, that is the order that has been given to me: "Now, go out and spread peace into this world." So whichever way I go, I really feel positive, I really feel strong about it, because I have realised it, just as a premie, just as a human being, and I have also been given the direction, the order, to spread it, to continue this job into this world. And I have done it. And I'm still doing it. And I'll just keep on doing it. I'll try as hard as I can. I'll do my best, I'll try to do my best. But the point is, if you have talked to premies who received the Knowledge a long, long time ago, even at that time I used to say, "You are the premies. You have to realise Knowledge. You have to get together. All of us together - you and me - can spread Knowledge in this world. We can spread peace in this world. My word, and your energy. So you get together. You are the potential. You make me the car, and I'll drive it. And I'll drive it to the right place."
Well, what has changed? Let's see. I'm about eighteen years old, that's one thing. The Presidents have changed, that's another thing. That's about it, I guess. And there are a few more premies. That's it! The duty is still the same. Our function is still the same. We still have to come together. Now more than we ever had to. Why? Because we can really build this car. Before, it was like, "Yes. We should do it." But now, it's like, "Man, we really, really, really can do it." It's there. It can happen. We have come to the point where there is Active Membership. We have come to the point where there are ashrams. We have come to the point where everything is set up. It's like the whole car has been drawn on the board. It's on the board. And it should all work. Now what is needed is just the dedication of all of us. Not just a bunch of premies - it takes all of our dedication, all of our support to get together, and actually do it. Because it isn't impossible. It is very possible.
Look what has happened. We used to have satsangs inside halls smaller than this. How many premies would come? Well, maybe there were only fifteen, twenty premies who would come, because that's how many premies there were. The rest was packed by non-premies. Now we are having programs in halls maybe three times as big, and now they're all premies. It's growing. And it'll just keep on growing. It'll keep on happening. But by the effort of all the premies. When all the premies come together, when all the premies really do it, it will all happen. You know? And it's beautiful. It's really gorgeous. It's so exciting because this is the kind of automobile the world has waited for for such a long time. You see these interviews on television, you hear these interviews on the radio, you read newspapers, you do everything, and you just see that the world really wants it. They want it. I mean, they don't know. You can't blame them for that. They don't know what they want, but they want it. And we have it. That's what makes all the difference in the world. They want it, and we have it. All we have to do is buckle up our belts, and kick the horse, and start running.