Guru Maharaj Ji's satsang in Geneva, Switzerland on September 8, 1978.

Dear premies, it's beautiful to have a festival again in Europe, to be able to come and understand what we are all about, what this life is all about, to be able to come and really see, really understand, why we are here, why were we even in the first place put on top of this Earth.

In this world, there is so much craziness. There is so much mind. There is so much ego. There is so much darkness. And it expands. And it's expanding. And it's just more and more and more. And that ego, that darkness, that "not knowing," that "un-understanding," that emptiness, that hollow, that mind that haunts us all and takes us away from the beauty, the purpose of why we're really supposed to be in this world, why we are supposed to be here, who we are …

Because now maybe everybody has concepts; "Oh yes, who am I? I am Mr. So-and-So." Any identity, any given identity, and we get so locked, we get so implanted in that identity that we forget to even look around. We forget to even see that there is something more than just us.

That "we" or "I" - an individual - is not the only thing in this whole universe.

Your goodness, your badness, your deeds, what's right for you and what's wrong for you, what's beautiful and what's not beautiful, what's happy, what's sad, and all these ideas: That's not all there is. But in fact there is a very beautiful beauty. In fact there is an incredible creation that surrounds us. And we have to open up to that creation.

Now, I'm not talking about going out and camping in Sherwood Forest. I'm not talking about sitting there in front of a flower and admiring it for 10 to 20 hours. But I'm talking about the creation.

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See, the thing is, there are plants. There are mountains. There arc stars. There is moon. There are all these things that arc incredible, that are splendid, that are beautiful. But man has on the other hand developed few things of his own, too. Now, practically, to this human brain, those plants, those trees, those beautiful things that the Creator has created are relatively not as significant as what he has created.

To man, the Apollo is a much more intricate machine that what he even sees himself as. To him, an automobile is more intricate. To man, a video camera or a movie camera or these things that he really gets into, arc more important or more intricate, more "out there." And to him, what's a plant?

Look at it this way. You could be walking along. And you see a plant. And you take the plant and you go, "Oh! It's a nice plant." Or you see a flower on that plant and you go, "Beautiful flower." And you just pick it. You smell it. No smell. And you just take it and throw it away. It has no relative significance for you. That's it. But you do that with a lens? You go up to a camera. You're walking by. You see a lens. You grab the lens. You smell it and throw it away?

Or do you do that with an automobile? You see an automobile. You go over. You smell it. It doesn't smell like anything so you just throw it away? No.

But why? Why not? It's just like that plant which is, in fact, more sophisticated than the lens. But the man is so much caught in his own ego, in his own darkness, that he cannot see that. To him a bug, a plant, a fly, or something like that is more … I mean, we have a lot of flies at the residence; mosquitoes, all these kinds of bugs everywhere. And those flies are maybe more intricate than a small video camera, a miniature video camera or a miniature TV or something like that.

Have you ever seen a fly under a microscope? It's incredible. He's got these feelers, sensors, eyes … mean, it's incredible! It's more incredible than what any video camera can, in fact, do. It's more like a video camera that can zero-in on an activity, smell something, go over to it, photograph it, register it, test it, and eat it! With video cameras they have a hard enough time to keep it focused, put it somewhere, set it up, this and that. So many problems.

Okay. That is an example of what we do in this world. But that has nothing to do, really, with the significance that we are losing, or what we are being separated from, what we are separating ourselves from. Look at that and forget about the flies. Forget about the plants. Okay, so you don't like plants. Alright, who likes nettles? You fall in them, and they prick you everywhere. Who likes thorns? Everybody likes a rose, but who likes thorns? Okay, so forget about those. Or who likes a camera? Maybe you don't like a camera!

But you see that in those small materialistic things there is so much involved: Good or bad, liking or disliking, and so on. And this is the way we live our life. This is, in fact, the way we live our lives.

But premies, you have to look at reality. And in reality, our wanting, our desire those thoughts that go way above and beyond the sonic speed, beyond the speed of lightning - as minute as they arc and as powerful as they could be -they are things that arc just flashing.

You're walking down a street and you're thinking away. You look at a car. It's all wrecked up. "Huh, I wonder how that happened?"

You look at a bus. "Huh. Look at that double-decker bus." You turn around. You look at a dead rat. Endlessly, you're in a complete motion, in an ocean of

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thought. And in that endless ocean of thought and imagination, this is where we live. Maybe one of those days we take one of those thoughts, and we say, "Man, I surprise myself. Look what I just thought of." And you make that thought a reality. And that's it.

But in our lives, does it really matter if we are thinking away like that. "Wouldn't it be nice to have peace on this Earth?" And there would be in fact peace on this Earth? It doesn't work that way. Or you're walking along and you say, "Huh, I'm hungry. I wish I had something to eat." I mean, you're talking in terms of Aladdin's lamp. And that just doesn't happen.

But here we are, and we want to look at reality. We want reality. We want to perceive what is Truth. We want that peace in our life. Obviously we want peace in our life. That's what we're trying to pursue.

But there is this door and this door is locked. And we know, by just looking at the door, and by hearing or knowing what we know about it, that it definitely, definitely, definitely needs a key to be opened. Without key, it will not open up. And we want to go on the other side of this door. This door is what we want. Beyond this door lies Knowledge. Beyond this door lies Love.

It's like that one example that I gave in Philadelphia. People take their two fingers and go, "peace." A concept: "Peace." If two fingers can be so much peace, a certain amount, say 10 grams, then if you raise four fingers, in the same formation, it should signify 20 grams of peace, and so on and so forth. But you never see people going like this (holding up fingers) "peace, peace, peace, peace."

We're just so caught up in our concepts. But then we know that we really understand what our ideas and imaginations are in this world.

America has so many nuclear warheads and what-have-you. All these sophisticated bombs. All these sophisticated things: Airplanes and helicopters and B-52's and things that can just sneak up there and do this and do that. And Russia doesn't have B-52s, but has something equivalent to what a B-52 is, and vice-versa. And Russia makes so many weapons, and America makes so many weapons.

Then they both sit down and they say, "Okay. Listen. No more weapons. This is it. This is where we're going to hold it." Then Russia sneaks up and makes a couple more. America goes, "Hey! Wait a minute! You told me you weren't going to do that! I'm going to make a couple more, too." And they go out and they make a couple more. And it just keeps on crawling like that.

I mean you have to understand that you cannot walk on water. You cannot live on water without a boat. Can you imagine trying to make a boat as big as this solid ground is? It would be outrageous. But if they blow up this Earth, what is going to be left? Who is going to be left?

But that's not the point.

It's incredible, because there was this documentary where they were explaining that these arms keep the peace. Because it threatens. Russia threatens America that, if you do something, we'll blow you up, and America threatens vice-versa. And they just each threaten each other. "Look, you do something and I'll blow you up." "You do something, I'll blow you up!" And that's how they both keep quiet. "Okay, we won't do anything, and you don't do anything."

But to me, that's like two kids fighting. And they' re fighting and one scratches the other one, and the other one bites the other one. And it's really not bringing the whole thing to an end. They're fighting and they're fighting and they're fighting. And then one kid grabs

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hold of the hair of this other kid really tight. And what does the other kid do? Grabs hold of the hair of the other one!

Now they both have got each other's hair in their fists and they're pulling harder and harder. And as one pulls harder, the other one starts to pull harder. Then it's like, "Let go of my hair!" "You let go of my hair." And it becomes even tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter!

But the thing is, if you keep fighting like that, none of the kids will have any hair left. And if none of the kids have any hair left, then how in fact are they going to reach a peace agreement between each other? What are they going to say? "Let go of my hair?" He's already got his hair in his fist.

But the peace, the concept of peace - if we do not fight, that's peace - is that really peace? If we do not fight, that's peace? So let's make this, and let's make this. And let's make sure that they don't fight and that they don't fight. And that's it. That's peace? And I just can't understand that. I mean, personally, I cannot understand that.

Look at the Gita. Where was the most wonderful experience? Where did that experience of Arjun that was the most fantastic, most incredible experience, take place? On a battlefield. I mean, on one side there's all these guys ready to fight. On the other side, all these guys are ready to fight. And in the middle of the battlefield, he has an incredible, incredible, incredible experience.

And is it, in fact, not just fighting. Is that peace? No. Peace is something above and beyond. But we have concepts of peace.

It's just like trying to go to a theatre to watch a movie. And we go to ourselves, "Oh, wonder what this movie is about? A shark. What is this shark going to do?" Or, "What is this that's going to happen?" Or "What happens?" Or, "What doesn't happen?" Everybody wants to know the end. And everybody fights to know the end. But then, as soon as somebody starts to tell them the end they go, "No, no. Don't tell me the end. I'll wait." And it's just like then they want to see the movie. And they want to know what the movie is all about for themselves!

And the thing is that there is this door. And beyond this door we know that there is something called peace, tranquility, Knowledge, I mean, what has been described in scriptures. The ultimate thing. The Yoga of all the yogas. The Knowledge of all the Knowledges. The most divine Truth. In Bible; that "Word." In Koran … I mean, in all languages, that incredible perfection, that beauty, the thing that we all ought to know, lies behind the door. But we know that we need a key.

And premies, in this crazy world you try to find the door. That's hard enough.

How are you going to find the key? When everything is fogged up, when everything is completely absolutely unperceivable. I mean, what is good and what is bad in this world today? It's incredible, the amount of concepts that people live in. And I'm not saying, "Okay, well, they should get rid of their concepts." Because the thing is, how can they get rid of their concepts?

You just can't get rid of your concepts. You know why? If you turn off all the lights in this hall and it is dark, you can't just walk in and say, "Throw the darkness out." You have to replace the darkness with light. If you turn the lights on, the lights will take the darkness away, because they will replace the darkness. In the same way, those concepts need replacement. Concepts are imagination.

It's like in India they have a concept that your head - your bed, your pillow - should be facing a certain direction and your feet should be facing a certain direction. And there's a lot of concepts.

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And when Mohammed was lying down, he had his feet towards the Mosque. So these guys came along and they said, "Listen! Don't point your feet towards the Mosque."

So he said, "Well, lift them and put them where you think God doesn't exist."

They thought, "This guy is completely nuts. This guy is completely crazy!" But anyway, if somebody had an open heart to it, they must have admitted that their concept just got yanked off.

And it's just like all the concepts … I mean really a lot of, lot of, lot of, lot of, lot of, lot of concepts. And we live in those. And this is the reason why Guru Maharaj Ji comes in this world. That is the importance of a Perfect Master in this world.

How valuable are your headlights to you, on a car? Well, the darker it is; the more valuable they are. And in the state of the darkness as it is now - Mind is, as the state of art, mind is a good, normal showoff. I mean it's doing a terrific job. This thing that just sort of hangs there and just chases you right into one after another trip, one after another trip. It chases the humanity into that dissatisfaction, that total darkness.

Because the Creator didn't make total darkness. The Creator didn't come out in this world and say, "Look. You guys are going to be in the pits. You're going to be sunk." But the Creator made everything in a very simple, in a very beautiful way, where nothing was in the pits, because nothing was all sinking in.

I can't possibly imagine the Creator making this whole world, then checking with this guy who has got everybody's karma. Who's does what and what doesn't happen to him? And then plunking that into the computer, and then sizes the Earth into the computer. The place he's going to be born in the computer, and saying, "Oh yeah. This is going to be his little house on the planet Earth." I mean, this just wasn't made that way.

But man has brought himself to that; into a complete blindness which exists.

And this is why Guru Maharaj Ji comes, to take that blindness away. Not necessarily that Guru Maharaj Ji comes and says, "Listen. You should get rid of your fence." Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't say that. Because putting fence up or getting rid of a fence doesn't have any significance. We have to go above and beyond … in our understanding we have to understand the perfectness; not imitate perfectness.

"Oh yeah, if this whole world would have Knowledge, if this whole world would have peace, then we would have no fences." So then you just go out and knock your fences out. Knocking your fences out is not going to bring peace on this Earth. Imagining every day is not going to bring peace on this Earth.

But what is going to bring peace on this Earth? I mean, I really like that one little thing: "Peace on Earth begins with you." With every individual. And without that peace, we all are suffering. Without that understanding of Knowledge, what is our destiny in this world? What is our path in this world? Where are we going to go?

The mind has laid out so many paths for us, so many similar paths for us: "Oh, come on. Walk on this one. This is the one. This is the one. Come here." Mind is that one kind of a thing …

It reminds me of that example where there was this guy, a villager, who had very dirty teeth. Very, very, very dirty teeth. And so he goes to a fair. And in this fair there is this guy. And he's got a table and he's got all these bottles there. And he says, "I have this medicine, And this medicine, by just rinsing your mouth out with it, will clean your teeth."

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This guy was just walking around. He listened to that, and he got very impressed: "Just by rinsing my mouth out will clean my teeth. Wow! That would be incredible. That's exactly what I want!"

So there were all this crowd of people. And then this one guy pulled out this person from the crowd and said, "Show your teeth." And his teeth were dirty. And he did rinse his mouth. So far the evidence is concerned, he had the evidence that, in fact, by this medicine this teeth would be cleaned.

And the guy said, "For only 15 cents -that's all you need - I'll sell you this medicine."

And it's just like this guy took out ten and five cents. And he had them in his finger. And this guy was selling these bottles. And he was going, "Should I get it? Or should I wait? Should I get it? Or shouldn't I? And between that, he was making this motion of his fingers back and forth, and was in fact rubbing the two coins together against each other. And he kept doing that and he kept doing that: "Should I or shouldn't I? Should I or shouldn't I? Should I or shouldn't I?

Finally there was the last bottle left. That was it. That was his chance. And he said, "Here. I'll take it." And this salesman picked up the coins and he looked at them. And he said, "These are worthless." He said, "By your indecision of standing there - should you take it or shouldn't you take it, should you take it or shouldn't you take it? - you have rubbed out the sides, and these coins are worthless. I'm not going to accept them."

And this is that mind that brings us to that position. I mean, how much do we go along? How many times do we think of Guru Maharaj Ji? How many times do we think of Knowledge? And how many times do we think of other things in this world?" Oh yeah, wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't that be nice?

Wouldn't that be a nice trip to get into? Wouldn't that be a nice trip to get into?" Because our mind forces us. And we let the mind force us into whatever it wants.

And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Listen. Wait Wait a minute. Hang on. Hold your horses. Where are you going?" And it's just like there is this one track. And onthis track is the train that we all want to get on.

And mind has created an illusion of so many, so many, so many, so many tracks everywhere. "Oh yeah, this is a good track. This is a good track. This is a good track." And every track looks the same.

And you start walking. Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Wait. Just a second. Wait. Where are you going? You know, if you walk on this track, it's not going to go anywhere! Where are you going? What are you going to walk on?"

And you say, "Oh, well, on the track, of course! On this track that is in front of me!"

And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Wait! Don't do that!" There you are on Guru Maharaj Ji's boat, on the boat of Love, on the boat of peace, on the boat of understanding. And all of a sudden you start climbing the rail and prepare yourself to dive. And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Well - what - wait. Wait just a second. What are you doing?"

And you say, "Well, I'm going to get off. This is it!"

And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Wait. If you get off here, what's going to happen? Do you know? Do you know your consequences?"

Once an initiator was giving satsang and I was listening to the audio feed at the residence. And he was saying how much do we think when we go to buy ice cream. Now, listen. You can get killed by ice cream if it were poisoned. Now there is that potential danger there. There really is. And you can walk into a theatre to watch a simple old cartoon-movie, and you can potentially get killed if an earthquake were to happen. And if you were just walking up staircase to get from one place to another place, you could get killed if your foot slipped. And you get into an elevator, and you could get killed if that elevator went "kaput." That would be it.

There was only one time that I went on top of the Empire State Building. And it was completely outrageous. You get up from the bottom floor and you go

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shooting up these floors. You get up on top, and you don't even want to look down. And everybody is trying to get in. As soon as the elevator door opens, people who want to get out have the same inertia as people who want to get in! And how many times do you sit there in front of an elevator. It doesn't even occur to you. You just go there, press the button, wait for the elevator.

And it's just like: "Come on, this elevator is crazy, it takes such a long time." And as soon as it comes and both doors open you flash right inside of it. It closes and you press the button, never even thinking that that elevator has to go how it feels.

But how many times do we sit there and question Knowledge, question Guru Maharaj Ji? Countless, countless!

And it can't be that all of a sudden we become real smart you know, it's not like that. I mean, I can be holding satsang on the one hundred and twentieth floor in the New York Empire State Building and then you come up. And I say: "Listen, you've gotta have that faith; you gotta have that understanding. And I can in fact give you peace."

How many times will you question that, and how many times will you question the reliability of the elevator. A hundred and twenty-one storeys down and you could be stuck on the top of the elevator. And when it finally landed I'd hate to think of your condition - what your physical condition would be.

But no, this world that we think is fine, that we think is great, everything is beautiful. I mean in an instant of a moment is doesn't even occur to us why has Guru Maharaj Ji come? What has Guru Maharaj Ji promised?

To me, my experience of Guru Maharaj Ji, my experience of the Satguru in this world is very - I don't know, maybe it's unique. Because to me, who was I? I mean, okay, you sit there and you go, "Well, who is this guy anyway? He calls himself a Guru - who is this guy?" The thing is I am not … Who am I to ask this question when I am trying to find out who I am? How can I proceed one more step in a very sure manner when I know I'm completely lost?

And this is the point. Why try to kid yourself? It's not going to do you any good; that's absolutely worth nothing. So who am I to ask a question, "Who is he?", when I don't even know who I am.

First I've gotta know who I am before I can ask the question: "Who is he?". Because without him, there or not . I mean, look at it in a sceptical way. Look at: I am "I," that is "that," and somebody is "this," somebody doesn't exist - I don't care. But the thing is, "I" don't even exist. Because it's like an identity that does not exist, searching for an identity.

Can you name a person who never has existed, never could exist, doesn't exist now? And that's it: Who never has existed, never exists now and doesn't exist? Name him. Give him a feature, give him a feel, give him shade. How can you? How can you give that person a shade, a name, an identity? It's completely impossible.

But listen, what I am trying to say - it isn't by you saying simply, "Oh yes, I am John," or "I am Randy," or "I am this," "I am Bill," you know? That's not enough.

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There are people who change their name. They grow up, they find that their names are completely ridiculous and they change their names. Maybe they go to the registrar's office and say: "Look, I'd like to change my name." And they give themselves another name; from Bill to Joe. Now they are officially Joe; they have nothing to do with Bill -he's gone, finished, because they have Just registered their name; just changed their name.

But just as they are walking down the corridor of their apartment, (now he is Joe, he was Bill) - and all of a sudden you say: "Bill!", he'll turn around. Because it does not matter, and is he really Bill? What if his name was Joe and he changed it to Bill and vice versa? It just doesn't matter.

So there is a true identity that we all have to understand. There is a true "us" that we have to recognise. This finesse, this phase, this everything is all relative - completely relative.

"How big are you?" you know; and you could say, "Oh yeah," you're six feet. It all depends, You could say you are six centimetres. In centimetres you're different. I don't know, I never learnt that. I can't get that across what the conversion is.

But that's all relative. It's all relative to how big you are; how big this world is -your perception, it can all change just like that.

Some people walk into huge, huge halls (like astrodomes) and everything is so big around them, so huge around them that they actually completely lose their perspective. And they fall, they just fall. It's just like; have you ever been to a railway station and there's two trains parked, and you're sitting in one train and all of a sudden the other one starts to move? When the other one is stationary you are the one that is moving. And for that one instant you think that the other train is moving, and that you're stopped. And it's just all relative of what your perception is.

To a blind man, to a person who cannot see, this could be burgundy; this could be black; this could be yellow; this could be pink. What difference does it make? To a person who cannot hear this could be AKG, this could be Centhauser microphone. this could be custom microphone, non-custom microphone. As a matter of fact it might not even exist. It's all completely relative.

And in this world where we are completely unsure … you know it's just like these people in India -pundits - and they go out to these different places and they learn Sanskrits

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by heart, they go to these graduation schools and they learn Sanskrits. If they come to the United States what good is it going to do them? If they go to Alaska and they're lost in this great big place and all of a sudden they meet this Eskimo and they say "Which way home?" in Sanskrit?

But what is the relationship? What difference does it make? But we frown upon all that, we exist upon all that. And premies, that's why we get completely lost.

We need that true perspective in our lives, because okay, physically, man has taken care of … When I first came there wasn't even a movie camera, there was a premie carrying around a little Super 8 millimetre camera because he happened to have it, or have a little cassette recorder and that was it.

To me I didn't know there was a Niagra; to me I didn't know there was a video. That was all like, it didn't exist, and that was it.

And now I've actually seen a lot of progress happen in the physical field, a lot of progress that man has made, supposedly. They have these computers and all they need is a little drop of your blood and they'll analyse exactly what's wrong with you. They'll analyse you inside out - everything that your blood has, they'll count it out. I mean, it's pretty incredible.

And to me I can understand … I can see the fact that with automobiles - to me it's quite obvious that steering wheels are going to be obsolete. It's quite obvious that one day there's only going to be a little joy stick right on the side of the driver's arm rest. You're going to sit back and relax, you forward the joy stick - the faster it goes; move the joy stick back; the slower it goes; let go of it, it will stop. When I turn left, right, whatever you want it; to go back, forward - instead of sitting there with a big steering wheel trying to do all that.

I mean it's quite obvious; you look at aviation. All these progressions that man has made can go above and beyond that. Above and beyond that - and I don't care. See, that's the thing.

If they come out with a seat that flies … they already have a seat that flies - a little thing that you can put in the back and it will just go anywhere you want … that has nothing to do with it. But to that inventor who invented that, he saw peace through that thing and one day everybody will be able to fly. And then there will be no traffic jams, which will cut down all the frustration of humanity. Outrageous.

To me it's one thing - it's always been one thing. Since I came to England; since I was in India - it's always been the same. My coming to England: I didn't say, "Well now wait a minute," and made another factory or declined a factory.

We do need Guru Maharaj Ji in our lives, we do need Knowledge in our lives. Because without that, without the assistance of that, and without us surrendering into that, we aren't surrendered. Because to begin with we are nobody.

Everything that we see around, like I said, is all relative. It's good or bad, it's all relative. And that is why again Guru

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Maharaj Ji comes in this world. And what does Guru Maharaj Ji say? Like I was saying, maybe my understanding of Guru Maharaj Ji is unique - because to me it's like: "Listen, you want to learn?" You want to grab. You want to take everything because that faith wasn't there. And without that faith I can understand that it could have been chaotic. And without the faith - well, that doesn't apply to me because I don't know Sanskrit, I'm not a pundit.

You know it's like getting into these little factors all about the mind: "Let the mind flow." But when the faith is there, when that faith from mind is lifted and placed at Guru Maharaj Ji, then everything becomes simplified.

Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't take life.. - Knowledge does not take life and make it even more complicated. Knowledge takes life and brings it to its simplest, most beautiful form. Guru Maharaj Ji takes your life and brings it to its most simplest form - the way it should be, and that is not a change.

If a car gets damaged and you take it to a repair shop and a person repairs the dents, paints the car, fixes it just like it was supposed to be, you can't just go to him and say, "You changed my car, you took away my dent." The reason why you went to the fixer in the first place was to have those dents fixed because you wanted the car to look just the way it was. And that's what Guru Maharaj Ji is, and above and beyond.

And again you can look at it in a different form. But what Guru Maharaj Ji gives is that Love, that affection. I mean look, who in this world is in fact worthy to even understand what Knowledge is? We are so retarded in our mind and in our ego, and in our sophistication, and it makes us completely unworthy to even understand who Guru Maharaj Ji is.

It's not a question: "Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?" What is Guru Maharaj Ji is not a question because there is no answer to it. It is an experience in itself.

You have to experience - what is water? You know, somebody who knows their chemistry can break it down to "H20". But is that water? Why don't you just call it "H20"? Start doing things like that and poor Bobby won't be able to understand anything.

Bobby is the premie who is cooking for us. You go up to him (he has a hard time - he's Scottish, he has a very hard time trying to speak English and he doesn't know Scottish in the same way to understand) - and you start saving "H20" to him and things like that, and he'll say: "What?" Can you imagine breaking Nectarel for him, giving him the contents - it would be completely outrageous. But we do that and it's just that we have to have that faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, we have to have that understanding.

What is Guru Maharaj Ji saying? He's saying: "Listen, this is a point and this is a point. And between these two points … " Guru Maharaj Ji is saying that this is the point that you should be at; this is the point where you will find what your soul seeks, what you are thirsty for. To be in this place will quench your thirst, this is where you want to be.

And that he says by the experience that he has had, and Guru Maharaj Ji says that because of the confusion, because of not understanding, because of maya, because of stupidity - you end up here.

You wander away - but now the point that you happen to be in, and where

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p you should be at, there is a gap. And this gap is like an ocean, and this ocean is a place where you can completely get lost. And it is full of stuff that can completely devastate you. So let me, in this ship, take you across from this point where you are at now, to the point where you should be.

To me that sounds about right - that sounds good; that's the way it should be.

I mean, when I was at home, I was at one point and I had to go get my visa so I wanted to be at the other point. But I was at this point and I wanted to go to the other point, that's where I wanted to be. And there happened to be an ocean in between where I was and where I wanted to be for my visa. So I took a ferry. And that's what Guru Maharaj Ji has - this ship.

But the thing is, I did not jump off the ferry between the two points. And this is what Guru Maharaj Ji is saving: "Don't jump off! It's there for you. You enjoy it and have faith in it, and I'll take you there. And that's all we have to do."

Now here we are and it's like: "Oh man, what does Guru Maharaj Ji expect of me? I don't know, maybe

I'll have to pull the anchor up, clean the board, clean the deck, polish it - maybe he will put me down in the boat with oars and I will have to row the boat! That will be outrageous for me! I can't stand this! I don't want to clean the decks; I don't want to have to go on a big boat like that - I can't do that! I'll get too sick … maybe I won't get a good seat."

And we get completely lost. And we say to ourselves: "Look, face it man -I can't go there."

And in reality this is exactly what happens. And we lose that meaning, we lose that purpose. And it's just like, to our surprise when we do in fact come on the boat the deck is already clean. And it's not even a matter of a bad chair, but in fact the size of a suite … that in fact, there are no oars, that this is not a rowboat … that in fact it has engines, and in fact that you look at the water and it looks about as smooth as glass. And maybe at that moment you are shocked! And the mind goes: "Oh but wait, it will get worse."

Because what does the mind do? In this whole world Guru Maharaj Ji does

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provide us that oasis; Guru Maharaj Ji does provide us that point. Knowledge does provide us that point in which absolute beauty lies, absolute comfort lies, absolute understanding lies. Absolute, not imaginary, but the absolute.

And we leave that, because in our whole lives we speculate. That becomes our main point, speculation, speculation, speculation. And we gamble. And one day it just doesn't pay - we're too far gone.

And Guru Maharaj Ji says: "Listen, whatever you do, don't leave this oasis. Don't lose that faith in me, don't jump the ship. Whatever you do, don't do that. Do what really has to be done -satsang, service, and meditation. And enjoy it."

And we always take our little option: "Yeah, but maybe if I jump in the water it will refresh me." And Guru Maharaj Ji has already made it clear: You can't walk on this water. The water is full of mind. It is full of sewerage, and this is not the kind of water you can just jump into and think you're nice and clean.

Guru Maharaj Ji just says: "Look okay . . " And we leave that oasis, we leave that place guided by mind.

"Oh yeah, it's okay. Okay, you can find plenty of oases like this. You can find completely as many places as you want like this. There is no problem." But Guru Maharaj Ji says: "No, that's not true." Guru Maharaj Ji says: "Look! There is no track. How are you going to walk? As a matter of fact there is not even a solid thing under these tracks -how do you think that you're going to get through?"

Guru Maharaj Ji says: "Look, there is nothing connecting these two points. How do you think that there is a bridge there?" And you say: "Nah … Nah, it's okay. You'll take care of your business, and I'll take care of mine."

And Guru Maharaj Ji says: "But that's not the point. Your business is to understand yourself. And there is a way through where you can cross this bridge. There is a way that you can bridge up this gap. But the way that you are trying is absolutely ridiculous."

And you say: "Nah, nah. It's okay."

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It's like you take one step off the cliff and you don't feel anything; and you say: "Mind, you told me there was a bridge here." And the mind goes: "Yeah. It starts after three more steps." And you turn around to Guru Maharaj Ji and go: "See, I told you," and start taking three steps. You very wilfully take those three steps and before you find yourself, you're saying, "Help!". And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Well, why did you give yourself into a situation like that?"

Look, you don't even have to picture a cliff. You don't even have to picture yourself falling from fifty thousand feet, sheer cliff. You don't have to do any of that. You just have to surrender, you just have to let go. You just have to give, you just have to have that faith in Guru Maharaj Ji.

Because in there, there is that beauty: The absolute beauty, the wonderful beauty. In that, there is what we want, In that lies our satisfaction. In that lies our perfection. That very wonderful relationship then begins of a devotee and a Perfect Master, between a devotee and Guru Maharaj Ji. When that absolute channel is open, when there is the faith, when there is that trade of Love that then starts to flow, that is the greatest relationship there is. Because it is formed on the basis of true Love.

Because our love for everything that we get into is - I mean, it's ridiculous. And we always ignore the true Love that we really want. And that's the way it is.

So anyway, premies, I hope you'll really understand what I'm trying to say. And this is the first day of the festival. And it's three days long. There goes the first day.

You can put it that way or you can say "Yeah man. Today I'm really going to understand. Today I am really going to make the commitment." Not, "Oh yeah, well I can do it tomorrow. You know, tomorrow will be just right. Tomorrow I can relax. Tomorrow's Saturday. Tomorrow darshan will be happening, so I'll have plenty of time and I can just think about it and it'll be perfect."

And then you go, "Well, wait a minute. You know, darshan is happening. There's an incredible experience happening. I'll wait for tomorrow. It's Sunday. I can relax."

And then you go, "No, I'll just wait - Sunday comes and you say, "Oh, I'll just wait for Monday. You know, I'll be heading back. There'll be nothing bothering me. I'll be sitting in the train quietly, and that would be the perfect moment for me to make my commitment to surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji."

And then you are riding in the train and you go, "Wait a minute. It's a little too bumpy. When I get home, that's it."

And it just goes on like that. "Today my nose is running. Today my head hurts. Today I need a haricut. I better go out - " And there's just like endless, endless, endless, endless, endless things that we get into.

And there is no point. Because Guru Maharaj Ji is giving us the solution. Of course we have to make that commitment. Because Guru Maharaj Ji's not going to make it. I mean, why should I make a commitment for you? What good is it going to do you? Nothing. You have to understand. You have to make your own commitment.

I can't just say, "Oh yeah, Mr. So and So, today you're going to have perfect realization, because you're going to commit yourself. Because you are going to surrender today." That's not the way it works.

Look, the thing is, you might have a hundred concepts. The way it works, it doesn't do you any good. Because the way it works is the way it works. Your concepts are not the things that are going to change the way it works.

You can not just go on endlessly leaving that understanding, leaving that commitment for tomorrow! Because tomorrow is not going to come. Tomorrow does not exist. Tomorrow is a speculation.

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But anyway, besides going into any technical points about "tomorrow", we're going to have darshan tomorrow. Maybe. I mean, if you say "tomorrow", you might as well say, "maybe."

And it's just beautiful to be able to come, see all the premies here, and just be able to have another festival coming up, and to be able to have Guru Puja here.

Because I know to a lot of people it's when it's the full moon and the right dates, according to the calender: That's when it's Guru Puja. And to me, the full moon signifies nothing else except light. That's it. Moon emits light. Not "emits" light. I guess it reflects lights. And that's it. And in a full moon it is to its fullest capacity reflecting that light.

And according to a lot of tradition, the sacred moon when it's full … Well, these guys from the United States and Russia just walked all over it, took their flag, and stuck it there. And I don't think the American flag is the holy flag, or the Russian flag is the holy flag.

It's all these speculations. And to me, it does not matter. The relationship is not between Guru Maharaj Ji, devotee, via moon. It's a direct relationship and it has nothing to do with moon. We'll have Guru Puja whenever we want to have Guru Puja. We'll have a festival whenever we want to have a festival.

Bill Patterson comes up to me and says, "Would you like to give Philadelphia program a name?"

I said, "Why does Philadelphia program have to have any name at all? It's just a festival of love. Premies are coming to see Guru Maharaj Ji and that's it. Now, how are you going to give that a name?" We just happened to find all these names. To me, it doesn't make any difference.

You name a festival. That doesn't make it any better than the festival that you don't name.

And the thing is that we are here to understand one thing. We are here to have that experience of satsang, to be able to enjoy the experience of darshan, to be able to enjoy the experience of that Love, to just all come together and just merge into that beauty. And that's why we are here. That's it. No third reason.

I mean, definitely I didn't come to see Geneva. I've been here before. I've been to Switzerland before. Yes, it's a beautiful place. But then when you see that there is even a greater beauty than rolling hills somewhere, you give that and take what's better. And definitely this is much better. Not the hall. Hall's got nothing to do with it. It's just to come together and have satsang, the experience of satsang.

So just come tomorrow and just listen to satsang. Because, listen. Again, you can never listen to enough satsang. Because where is the gauge that says so? Except mind: "Bung! I gotta go out.

It's too stuffy." You might sleep in your sleeping bag completely zipped up, literally suffocate! That doesn't bother you. A huge hall: "I'm going to suffocate."

It's one of those things where mind is just funny. But it's not funny. It's funny the way it works. But it's not funny because it works on us. We happen to become the ultimate examples of it. And I don't know how many people laugh at themselves.

Now I've seen people. They'll go to sleep, And they don't even want to care about their lights. They don't even want to bother about their lights. They don't want to bother about their ironing. And people will leave their ironing on, go watch television if something is better. But when satsang is happening: "Oh my God! I forgot my iron. I better run back."

Okay, look. The thing is, if you do leave your iron on, and the black cat does go through the window, trips the wire, trips the iron, and the iron falls on your rug, and burns your whole house down, that's not a good thing. But, the thing is, why does it have to be mind at the time of satsang? Just why at that time? Why not when you're

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watching a movie? Why not when you're completely busy watching "Kojak" on TV? And that's like, "Oh! My goodness! Look at that!"

But why does it have to be the combination of satsang, mind, and your ironing to form a perfect triangle. And you just forget about everything and rush out to put your iron off. Why? I mean, okay. Maybe some of you don't even have irons. You just go to a laundromat. But there's so many other things like that.

As long as we are going to stay as a slave of the mind, then that's what's going to keep on happening. And I'm not saying you should take a very opposite kind of view about it. It's like, "Yeah, it doesn't matter if you leave your electricity on, if you leave this on, leave that on." I'm not trying to say that.

I'm just trying to talk about the combination. I think the combination is wrong. If "Kojak" is coming on, and the mind says, "Look your ironing is on, you better go shut it off," I can understand that. But mind says, "Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. This is your life! That's you!" And that's what I can't understand.

And it has so many concepts about everything. "Oh yeah, listen. You better just go out for fresh air. Fresh air is really good for you. Without fresh air, it's really not healthy for you." And you'll go into London, you go into Los Angeles, you go into New York. In Britain alone the smoke in one year weighs three million tons. That's outrageous.

It's like everybody is standing on the same platform, and one person is saying, "I'm closer to God than the other one." It doesn't happen like that. Your inner experience - when it opens up - do you in fact get elevated to that point that you want to be at.

And so, premies, I hope I'll see you tomorrow. What is in Geneva to do?

Geneva has nothing to do with it. We haven't come here for Geneva. Is there anything special about Nantes? I mean, that's where the program was going to be in France. It wouldn't happen there. It's happening here. It could have happened on top of the Alps. Could have happened in Torino, and not this Geneva. Or in Genoa. It could happen anywhere! The thing is, we are here to grab that experience that is being bestowed upon us by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace. And that is something where we can't just say, "tomorrow."

"Today's satsang, I will let go, because I will get the video and I can just listen to it at my leisure."

I mean so many times that happens. That sacrifice, that trade. It's just not even. And we get so involved. But there is so much beauty in Knowledge. And that's where we have to really get involved. Because this whole world is a complete, believe me, illusion. And that's where we place ourselves.

And before we know, we ourselves become an illusion. And that's what we want to get out of. We want to get out of an illusion, and come into reality.

So that's it. Just let yourself go, and just stay in satsang, service, and meditation. And take the benefit of satsang. Take the benefit of service. Take the benefit of meditation. Take the benefit of darshan. Because it is being bestowed now.

Thank you.

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