Maharaji: Hans Jayanti Satsang Excerpt - November 8th, 1976
Los Angeles
Excerpt from Guru Maharaj Ji's satsang in Los Angeles, on November 8, 1976.
So here are your four aces. They're all laid out on the table. And it's like, you have them, you can play it either way. You can blow the whole game, you can just forget about it, you know, take your four aces and when the guy comes around and says "You want some more cards?" you can say, "Yeah, give me four cards," and give four aces away and get one three of clubs, one two of clubs, one four of spades and da-da-da, just give away your aces. A lot of premies have done that in their lives. They have completely had four aces sitting right in their hand, and the mind came around and said, "You want some more cards?" And that's exactly what the mind wanted: He looked at his deck, he knew he was missing four aces, and he figured that there was nobody else playing but you, so he said, "You want some more cards?" And you said, "Sure, give me four more." And you gave your four cards away. And then you turn around, and somebody comes up to you, somebody who wants you to realize this Knowledge, who wants you to win in the struggle of reality and unreality, and says, "But you had four aces, what did you do?" And you say, "Dah, I don't know." And it's like, what have you been doing till now? Have you been sitting in a satsang program with your fingers in your ears? What have you been doing? This is not only a question of example, but this is a question I put to you now: What have you been doing anyway? Don't answer me now, you don't have to answer me anytime in your lifetime. Answer that question to yourself: What have you been doing anyway? And it's like, what have we been doing: A lot of craziness and blowing a lot of chances and giving away a lot of aces. It's like you're playing this wild game of poker, four cards, you can just do anything you want. You get four aces and you say, "What am I going to do with these four aces?" So you ask the guy, "Is it okay if I give you four cards?" and he says, "Sure, fine with me." And you say, "No wait a minute, maybe you should shuffle the cards." So the guy shuffles the cards, plays with you as you want him to, then deals you again and you end up with four aces again: Every opportunity, every day.
Every morning that sun comes up, there is an opportunity knocking at your door to open up, to become beautiful, to open up to this Knowledge. I'm defining this for you now. I'm not saying just "open up." No. Open up to Knowledge, open up to the experience which this life has to offer to you, now. It's so beautiful, because I look at it and I have seen so much happen in front of me and I have seen so much happen behind me. Shri Maharaj Ji came in this world and he revealed Knowledge to people. Today we have it very easy, sincerely it's very easy. But he himself used to eat dried chapatti, salt and drink water and sleep on the railway benches. But what was the motive? The motive, the purpose, him and his purpose made the chapattis into a hundred thousand dishes for him. That salt wasn't just salt any more - it unfolded into a hundred thousand dishes. And that water that he was drinking wasn't just water any more, but it was pure nectar, because of what he was and what his purpose was. But where did this all become effective? Yes, a perfect master is always there. But what happened, where is the relationship, where is the contract? And the contract is where the premies are. When premies start to show the understanding, the love and start to open up to the experience of Knowledge - that's where the contract comes in. That's where you can see how beautifully it's all matched, how beautifully it's all planned, it's all thought out, how beautifully it's really there, together.
And so now it's up to us. All I'm saying is right now in your hand you hold four aces. Very soon, like you have been before, you're going to be tricked. You're probably going to be tricked again and again and again. And that doesn't mean you're stupid, that doesn't mean you are dumb, it just means that you fall for tricks easy. That's all. That's all it simply means. And that's maybe common human nature to do that. But all I'm saying is: This time, whatever you do, don't get rid of your aces. Don't do that: It's already been done too many times, and it's not worth it. Because it takes too long for one premie to get confused and plug back in, it takes too long to ask the mind to shuffle the cards again - and for you to end up with four aces again is very, very chancy. It's extremely chancy: the odds are just about nothing to nothing. You might get it, you might not get it.
The opportunity is always there though. We are there - that is the greatest opportunity and there cannot be any more opportunity after that. And there's the fact that we are provided with a Guru Maharaj Ji; and the fact that we have been provided with Knowledge by Guru Maharaj Ji. Top of the line. You can't match that. Because what comes with it is a long explanation: Grace comes with it, love comes with it, joy comes with it, opportunity comes with it, so many things come standard. This is the top of the line; you can't beat it. But it's like there is a trade: you have to trade your love, you have to trade your sincerity, your understanding that yes, I want this Knowledge. You know, I say give me love and I'll give you peace. What do you think I do with love? Do you think I make subji out of it, or make dessert out of it, put it in the juicer and juice it? No. It's to be able to channel it back, back to you, so that you can grow more, so it can all really happen. Let me remind you, I'm doing perfectly okay in Knowledge. I mean, it doesn't even hit me that maybe I should do a little better: I'm doing fantastic, I'm doing great. It's you I'm concerned about, not myself. And this is the reason why I came here tonight. I'm very excited to be here, I'm very happy to be here and the reason is simply because you're premies, you have Knowledge, and it's just so nice to be able to tell you that you have four aces in your hand and you can win the whole game.