Dear premies, I guess this is the last night of this festival, of this Guru Puja, and really, what have we understood? Really, in one way, what can we understand? What is there to understand? And it's just like sometimes you just feel, "Understand?" When I use the word understand … But, there is nothing to understand!

And if there is something to understand, there is only one thing to understand, and that is to surrender!

For how long do we go on, for how long does the story go on, of " off and on", "off and on", "off and on"? Away from Guru Maharaj Ji, back into mind. And we get caught, we get trapped in this "off and on", "off and on", and we don't know, we don't realize that this is what happens to us.

And Guru Maharaj Ji really has made everything so simple for us, that if this were any more simple … and I can't possibly imagine how it could be. This path has been made so simple, has been made so easy, has been made so convenient for the people of this age, that it's unbelievable.

OK, you don't have to imagine this, but if you could for a second imagine this, that there you were and you had to do service for twenty years. And if you wanted to receive Knowledge you had to decide when you were seven or eight years old. That was your decision point. And from when you were seven or eight years old you moved into this ashram, had your head bald, saffron clothes. Or, maybe not saffron clothes and head bald; wear this big cloak, white cloak. No movies, no candy,

nothing. All you did is eat one time a day. No pleasures of life, nothing. And then you sat and sat, and you did service. And for 20 years this is all you did - service, service, service, service.

And when you were twenty-seven years old, you were brought in front of this altar, in front of this stone, and there would be Guru Maharaj Ji sitting. And He would say, "Now, would you Eke to dedicate your life to Me, so that you can understand what Knowledge is? Would you like to dedicate yourself to Me, so that I can reveal you Knowledge?"

And to say "Yes" or "No" wasn't verbal, but there was a hatchet sitting right next to the stone; and if you wanted to say "Yes", you just had to put your hand on this stone and take

The Golden Age 1

this knife, and chop it off (Guru Maharaj Ji laughs).

It's outrageous to think like that, but you could. And then, how many of you would really do that? To say, "Yes, Guru Maharaj Ji, here is my hand."

And then it's not like Guru Maharaj Ji came down and picked up your hand, or repaired it, you know, put it back together and said, "Bibbitty bobbitty" and - poomp, it went back up again, and you didn't feel no pain. But then simply this premie comes along with a waste-paper basket, takes your hand, drops it in there, and mops up the blood, and that's it!

And even that wasn't conditional, that was for you to just say, "Yes, Guru Maharaj Ji!" After that it was still Guru Maharaj Ji's option, whether or not you could receive Knowledge. Guru Maharaj Ji might have said, "No, you didn't do it good enough. You didn't cut it right enough. You should have done it about one millimetre more further down, then it would have been right." Then what would be our situation, what would be our condition?

But Guru Maharaj Ji has made it so simple for us, and we need it to be simple. We don't need it to be sophisticated. Really.

I mean, can you imagine if it really was that sophisticated? I think the only person who would be sitting here would be a war veteran, who already lost both of his hands (Laughter). And so automatically, he qualified. He wasn't his choice, he just blew them off in a bomb or something. And that would be the only person sitting, and he probably couldn't even put up this stage with no hands. So Guru Maharaj Ji would have to come put up his own chair, set up the hall, and one person comes.

But look at us all coming … Look at us all come together and share that beauty, and enjoy that beauty that Guru Maharaj Ji has to bestow upon us, simply by just accepting, simply by just having faith. And yet, we search for so many things. Yet we search for that surrender in concepts. We search for that love in concepts.

Like Marolyn was saying, and she said it aloud so many, so many times. It's like, you are guilty unless proven innocent. "Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't love me. Guru Maharaj Ji has to prove to me that Guru Maharaj Ji loves me. Guru Maharaj Ji is a fake. Guru Maharaj Ji has to prove himself that he is not a fake. Guru Maharaj Ji is not Guru Maharaj Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji has to prove himself he is Guru Maharaj Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji's Knowledge is no knowledge."

I mean, who are we to sit there as a judge, and say, "Yes, that will do quite fine"? And here is Guru Maharaj Ji … I mean, who are we? We are not even a dust. There are more ants than people in this world. And who are we? There are more invisible particles in this earth, than there are human beings. Who are we? There are more drops of simple water in the ocean than there are human beings on this earth. Who are we?

And yet we search for that love of Guru Maharaj Ji everywhere else. We search for that faith everywhere else.

And this reminds me of a story; I used to tell it a long time ago. There was this guy, and he was walking along this road. Very shortly he was joined by this other fellow. This other fellow was a thief. So they both were walking by, and the thief asks this guy, you know, just having a conversation, he doesn't want to give off a vibe that he is a thief: "Who are you? What do you do?"

He just carries on a conversation. And the guy said, "Oh, I'm a rich businessman and as a matter of fact, right now, I'm carrying a lot of money with me." And the thief said, "Oh boy, I got him. That's it. Great!" So they got to an inn and the guy checked in and so did the thief check in.

As soon as the guy came down to have dinner, the thief went into this guy's room, and started searching everywhere, everywhere for this money he had, and he couldn't find it.

So anyway, the morning came, and the traveller, the businessman, packed up

2 The Golden Age

and he started to walk again. And the thief was very puzzled: "What's going on? Is this guy a liar? Or maybe I heard wrong?" So he joined him back again, and they were both walking. And the traveller again said, "Oh yeah, I've got a lot of money with me. A lot of money with me. And I made some more last night." And so the thief said, "OK."

And they both got to the inn, and the guy checked in his room, and when he came down for dinner, the thief went looking all over, but he couldn't find a cent.

Finally, they were both walking, and the traveller, the businessman, was very, very close to his house, he'd almost reached the house, and the thief said, "Listen! Look, I'm a thief. I really am a thief. And since the first time you told me that you had so much money, I was after it. Now you are safe and secure. You are almost at your home, how can I steal it? But I'm very, very puzzled. I'm baffled. Where did you keep it? It didn't look like you carried it with you. Where did you put the money?

"Because, to tell you the truth, the two nights that you stayed at the inns, I went in and I checked, I checked your room everywhere."

And the businessman said, "Oh, it was very simple. I put it under your pillow. And the money, all the time, was under your pillow, Mr. Thief. You came to my room to look at it. Because I knew that this is what you were going to do, so the safest place to put the money was under your pillow. Because I knew that that's one place you were never going to look."

And, OK, this is a nice story, but this is what happens with us. That Knowledge, that Truth, that peace, that this whole humanity is looking for outside, is within every individual, is within every human being.

I was listening to Shri Maharaj Ji's satsang; it was really beautiful. And he was saying, "It's just like anybody who comes to me for Knowledge, I can reveal them Knowledge, providing they are not a gorilla, providing they are not snake. Because there it's very hard for me." And it's just like that Knowledge is here. That Knowledge is within us. That peace, that satisfaction is not what we search that in, is not where we think it is.

You can see … like people go out and take drugs. To them, that's their peace. That is it! That is their realisation! That is that incredible thing!

I mean, everybody has got their trips. Some people are into chess. That's their ultimate goal in their life. Some people are into something and some people are into something and some people … And it's just like, everybody has these trips. And they search for that peace, they search for that satisfaction.

Power. People think peace is in power. I mean, who doesn't … Don't you think that little clerk that works in that little firm, doesn't he want to become the boss? Doesn't everybody, except the boss, in that firm want to become a boss? Of course! Everybody wants that power.

You look at the ancient, ancient days. People would slaughter each other. And people would do this; and people would do that. Power, power, power, power, power, power! For what?

I mean, today even you look out, and this whole world is trying to search and search and research. For what? Do you really think that even if they found a medicine for cold, which they haven't yet, that that's really going to bring peace in this world? That this is really going to bring peace in this Earth?

Peace on this Earth is not in a virus. Peace on Earth is not in a stone, on a planet. Peace on Earth is within every one of us. And that's where we are going to find it. And by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, and this is what I was saying; how simple has it been made!

I remember that in 1971 premies went to India. And till now, I hear their horror-stories that they have to tell: diarrhoea, throwing-up, sick, heat-strokes, waking up ail of a sudden and finding a rat about a foot long, crawling on top of them. No food, no good food, and all the things that premies have to tell.

What if you had to go to Himalayas to find this peace? It would be outrageous.

The Golden Age 3

I mean, it would be outrageous! And not only that, what if you had to walk for this peace? Would you do it?

And Guru Maharaj Ji is saying a very simple thing, I'm saying a very, very simple thing: that - have that faith, have that trust! As simple, as little as it may be, have it! Believe in that boat-driver! Relax! Let go! Feel comfortable! And let the ship take you to your destination. It will take you.

Mind goes, "What if we struck a whale?" No, we won't strike a whale. We won't run aground. The ship is merely an example. Don't really imagine a boat! What kind of boat are you going to imagine? What does Guru Maharaj Ji's boat look like? (Laughter). A nineteen-twenty foot Mako with mercruiser engines on the back? What does Guru Maharaj Ji's boat look like? A huge yacht, two hundred feet long, thirty storeys tall, with railing all around it? Or does it look like this old funky Chinese junk? What does Guru Maharaj Ji's boat look like?

Guru Maharaj Ji's boat doesn't have any shape. Guru Maharaj Ji's world doesn't have any shape, because it's perfect. If perfectness had a shape, the second perfectness would have a shape, it would become imperfect. Guru Maharaj Ji's boat doesn't have a shape. Guru Maharaj Ji's world doesn't have a shape.

I mean, if I say, "World", you look at it: a round world, and a satellite picture of it, with clouds here and there, and a little America, and a little Europe and Scotland and Ireland and 'Ganda and North Pole and South Pole, and India, and wherever you're from.

Spain. (Laughter)

No ocean. No, Guru Maharaj Ji's world doesn't have an ocean. Because it is within us. Guru Maharaj Ji's world is within us. And, it is there. But we have to have that faith for Guru Maharaj Ji to let him take you there. Let him take you there, instead of piling up in concepts, after concepts, after concepts, because where do these concepts take you? Everybody has got a concept!

I remember, when we were leaving Los Angeles to come to Philadelphia and then eventually come to Europe, I was waiting in the front yard and Raja Ji was there, immaculately dressed

4 The Golden Age

as always: shiny boots, beautiful suit, beautiful tie, everything to match, incredible! I mean, you don't see people dressed like that. And we were standing there. And he goes, he turns around to me and he says, "Maharaj Ji, I've realized something in my life." I said, "What, Raja Ji?" And he said, "I have realized in my life that you don't have to dress for anybody."

I don't remember what I said to him, but it's just like: "Yeah, you sure do a good job of dressing up for yourself. Look at you."

And I mean, maybe the concept is this big; maybe the concept is huge, but we all live it.

Here, Claudia was giving satsang. And she was saying, we all have to just plug in; we all have to let Guru Maharaj Ji take our reins. And I'm pretty sure there are people out there that are going, "Come off it! How can that happen? No, I can't imagine to see the face of my boss, when he didn't find me on Friday morning, there. What's going to happen?"

Yeah, I'm positive there are … But really, by having a fear of your boss, … and this is a simple question: By having a fear of your boss, are you going to reach salvation, the ultimate Truth, the ultimate Peace, that everybody has been looking for? Maybe you struck a gold mine. That's it, maybe that's the answer, huh? Be afraid of your boss and you got a free ticket to liberation. No, it's not that way!

We live in a society, we live in a world that is completely unfit. But who makes the world unfit? Apples? Guavas? Bananas? Dates? Oceans? Beaches? What? Sun? Moon? Are those the things that make this world unfit? No, it's the crazy human beings, who have wandered off the path of Truth, so far away, that they have lost their relativeness; they have lost their perspective.

A long time ago there was this movie made: Omega Man. Not that you all should go out and see it, you probably shouldn't. But the thing was that in a very gruesome way they tried to explain the darkness of this world. And in this movie, everybody is ugly, dark. They love darkness - except a few people who have been saved, - because there was this nuclear bomb that exploded, or, I don't know, a virus-bomb that exploded that made everybody go completely berserk, except for a few people who were immune to it.

And it's just like, how far is that away? How far is that away? To me, that's not very far away at all. For all of us to be berserk, for everybody to get devastated.

You look at some of the games that are played. There is America; there is Russia. And Russia says to America, or America says to Russia, "Let's not make any more weapons. This is fine. Let's have a peace treaty." And they come over, and for hours and hours they will sit and they say, "Yes, no more bombs, no more guns, no more nothing. This is it!"

And it's just like, it's like playing ping-pong. You shoot. Toss a coin, who shoots first? Okay, you start. Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping - You lost! One point for me. Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping - I won! And the other guy goes - I won this time: 2 to 1! Or … I could never understand what they say, but when they are playing tennis, all of a sudden they go, "Love 40." I don't understand your treaty. You just lost!" So, instead of coming down again and saying, "OK, you broke your treaty. You broke your compromise, let's - realize your mistake and don't do it anymore," they go, "No, because you broke your treaty, I'm gonna make thirty more bombs." America makes thirty more bombs and Russia goes, "Man, I'm going to make thirty-two." America goes, "I'm going to make thirty-four!"

And I don't know, maybe there is a piece of island somewhere in this earth, which they can blow off. But all the rest of the ammunitions they'll have left, after they blow off all the pieces of earth that we live on, I don't know what they're going to do with it! I don't know!

I mean, it's simple - if God really intended for man to kill each other, instead of making apple trees, he would have made hand-grenade trees. Everywhere. And when you want to blow somebody off, instead of pulling

The Golden Age 5

the pin, you just pluck the hand-grenade, and you got five seconds. And you throw it.

Yes, it's all funny, it's all funny to you, here, sitting in this hall. But not out there, it's not funny. It's happening. So in this state of man, look at the Grace. Look at the Grace and the kindness that Guru Maharaj Ji has bestowed upon us: to give us this Knowledge, to save us.

Now, I'll tell you one thing. The condition of this world, which we all need to be saved from, is worse than all the sharks put together in the ocean. Sharks compared to the situation of this world - sharks are saints. They should have a halo on top of them. They're angels. They have a purpose and they do it. They keep the ocean clean. But man is just like the shark and has no purpose, has found no purpose. So in this kind of a situation, in this kind of a world, what chances would we really have? And what does Guru Maharaj Ji say? By giving us that Knowledge, and not having that ludicrous procedure of having, after twenty-seven years, you go up to this altar, and there is a stone, and you put your hand there, and Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Do you want the Knowledge?" And your indication is to cut your hand off. I mean, not to have that.

And yes, I know, to maybe a lot of people it's even worse than that. "Oh, Guru Maharaj Ji! You want me to surrender. What about my ego? I love it so much. You are asking the impossible." You know, maybe there are people sitting out there who would say, it's easier for me to give my hand off than to surrender. You get all kinds.

But no! It's a simple surrender. It's a beautiful surrender. It is a surrender that has to manifest. When we see, when we realize Knowledge, and we see the perfection of Knowledge, when we see the beauty of Knowledge, what else can you do, except surrender?

We get so involved in our mind. We get so involved in our own heads, we get so involved in our concepts, that we lose that real aim. We lose that real perspective that we need to have. And yet, all the time, again and again and again, Guru Maharaj Ji is like this person who keeps pulling off the shirt, and says, "Come here! Come here. Come on. It's OK. Come on."

And one day, for all of us, you know, we freeze. That's it. Nothing more happens in our lives. It's all over!

Marolyn was giving you that example of what those guys must have felt like, when that 727 started to go down. I don't know what the passengers felt like. But I can possibly imagine what the pilots felt like, because they knew it was all over. They were in a head-spin. They got struck from front.

And I had an experience. A long time ago I was in Italy. And there was this lake behind the residence. And I had this crazy little raft, with a crazy little engine on it. It was pretty fast. It was a little Avon, Italian Avon raft. So I got in it, all by myself, and here I was, just racing down the lake, maximum speed, torqued out in this little raft -this happened a very long time ago -and there was a line, an anchor line, that was from the bow sort of slopping down, and then coming back into the inside of the boat, and it felt like it was dragging in the water. So I got up, to put the line, all of it, into the boat.

And because I let go of the steering wheel, the boat just sloshed, and threw me out.

And I'm not that good of a swimmer, never have been. Nobody taught me how to swim. And all the swimming I know I learned all by myself. And it was like, there I was, and this boat was going round and around and around. And there I was in the water; there was nobody around. There was nothing happening… And the premies were very, very far away, because I was going really fast on this boat. They tried to come, they tried to jump in the water and swim, but they were very, very far away. And it was like, to me, there was nothing else … There were fishes jumping all over the place. Flying fish, too - tsch, tsch (Moves his band). To me there was nothing else more. And there was this raft with its engine full revved up. It was going like crazy, like a really strange thing.

To me at that point there was really nothing else except Guru Maharaj Ji. There was nothing else except Knowledge.

6 The Golden Age

p pAnd if you were in my shoes at that time, you wouldn't even have mentioned your boss. You wouldn't even have mentioned anything that time. A boss, job, money, car, house, rent, nothing! All the things that tie you down, all the things that become such an obstacle to you: "Oh, but this world. I have to live in it, you know!" The kind of people who say, "Come off it!" You know. Maybe that sounded a little bit an English accent (Laughter), but that is what I was trying to say. It sounds the best when they say it. In America, you know, nobody says that. It's only the English that say, "Come off it." (With English accent exaggerated. Laughter). And, all those people who would say that, wouldn't have said that.

At that time, OK, you can say, "Yeah, that was an incredible experience. That was a great experience." It really wasn't a great experience! There is this thing buzzing around. I don't know how to swim. I'm in water, just the place where you need to swim. Ina swimming pool it doesn't matter, you know (Guru Maharaj Ji laughs), it really doesn't. But in a lake, where everything is a little too far away. And at that time, concepts, mind … it already had gone to hell. That was it!

If you could at that time … if mind would have even at the slightest moment come up and said, "Why don't you try this?", you would have strangled yourself, for just about thinking like that. For even that mind … you wouldn't even let the mind come so close at that time.

It's an outrageous thing. Nothing else matters. Because, there is nothing else but you and that life. And if you know who that life belongs to, then there is just the life and the person who it belongs to. That's it.

But, I mean, it was just beautiful, and it wasn't beautiful. But it was beautiful; I mean, my mouth was full of salt water. But again, I still remember that very, very, very clearly. And if anybody would have probably seen me swimming, they would have thought that I was a champion swimmer. And it was just something like bobbed me out of the water. Somebody had like … and there was life vests on the boat, but that wouldn't have done me any good at that time. I didn't have anything on, no life vest.

The Golden Age 7

And so, premies, you see, there is that time, there is that one second, where everything goes away. There is that moment, where mind does not exist, only Guru Maharaj Ji does.

But why does it have to be in such terrible circumstances? Where life itself is at stake, when Guru Maharaj Ji's name is recalled? Or, when Knowledge is constantly remembered? Why can't it be always? Why can't it be when we see that beautiful sunset, instead of saying "I am such a smart idiot. I mean, I'm so smart to find this beautiful spot, because the sunset is so beautiful from here", but just to say, "Thank you. Thank you Knowledge. Thank you Revealer of this Knowledge. This is it!"

Me, my, I, am - all gone. You see, I don't want to change English language. I don't want you to stop using, "Me", "I am", and all that stuff. That would sound absurd, I don't know what you'd replace it with. And yet, when you say that "I", you don't mean the egoistic "I", but you mean the simple "I". Because you happen to be using English language. That's the only reason why you are saying, "I", "me", "am". Period. But when we lose ourselves, or rather when we find ourselves to where we are supposed to be, then everything goes away. All the craziness goes away.

I know that maybe some of you are experts at different things, and your perspective about some things are different. And my perspective of things is different. Because, to me, you know, I see the most important thing in my life as being my Guru Maharaj Ji.

To me, a genius piece of work is the most ingenious thing sometimes. And I open up things. I'll open up the car, and I'll do something. I say, "Man, this is really incredible, isn't it?" And yet, that's nothing. Because when you see the beauty and perfection of Guru Maharaj Ji, what is there, what cannot I sacrifice?

People come up … and like Marolyn was saying in her satsang, "Heal me, heal me, heal me! I can't see. Give me eyes!" What for? What can you do with eyes? "Give me a couple of legs." And here are people who frown upon, "Oh, I'll give you legs. And I'll do this, and I'll do that." (Guru Maharaj Ji laughs). I mean, it's just they are really into it.

And to me, I'm saying - you know, maybe somebody is lame out there, maybe somebody doesn't have two legs out there. I do. I have two legs, and they both work. Maybe somebody is out there, who doesn't have two eyes. I have two eyes. I have a nose. I have two ears. And believe me, they are all worthless. They are all worthless; they are no good without Knowledge.

When you haven't got anything to see, what are you going to do with eyes? It's this simple thing: if everything was pitch-dark, all the time, all the time the whole world was pitch-dark, there was not a speck of light - and the only thing that you could do was to feel -then through evolution, so-called, you wouldn't have eyes. You would have feelers. And if it was all water and you couldn't walk, through evolution you would have fins …

What is there to see in this world? For the gift that my Guru Maharaj Ji gave me, of this Knowledge, he could have gladly taken both of these legs. They are worthless. To me, they are worthless.

They were worthless! There was no value to these legs. But now - I mean, even that first time that I could come to my Guru Maharaj Ji, walk on my two feet to see Him, to touch Him, - after He had revealed me the Knowledge, then it was all worth it. Then, I could give the Creator who created this, a standing ovation. "Yes, you've done a good job."

But look at this. If the world out there is the way it is supposed to be, then don't you think somebody made a terrible mistake in creating it? I mean, really. I mean, isn't it just like the doctors call appendix, has no purpose? They don't know what the appendix is for. But anyway, it's like in this world there is a purpose for what has been created. And there is a purpose for Guru Maharaj Ji to come in this world. There is a purpose for a Perfect Master to come in this world. And it is not for you to sit there and bother about your boss!

And maybe there are people out there going, "Oh, Guru Maharaj Ji, what kind of a solution do you have for me?"

8 The Golden Age

What kind of solution do you want? If it rained gold for thirty days straight, you'd all die. Gold is heavy. It would demolish your homes, ruin the streets, and kill you. No, it really would. Can you imagine, bricks of gold about this big and that thick, just raining, just pouring down? All at the same time, thirty days straight. If it rained for thirty days straight it would almost total the world. What is it? What do you want?

Everybody looks for a miracle. A miracle. Oh, Guru Maharaj Ji, do a miracle. Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? Go, pull a rabbit out of this microphone. Make these microphones fly all over the place. A miracle, everybody wants a miracle.

You know, it's like this. There is this magician who goes to the blind man's hospital, or blind man's school, to do the famous trick, pulling the rabbit out of the hat. Does that sound very smart of that magician? I mean, does it? I mean, all of a sudden there will be these people sitting there and they will hear "Ta-da!" They won't see no rabbit coming out of the hat! They're blind. They can't see the rabbit. They can't see the hat, and they can't see the magician. So far they're concerned, if that "Ta-da" is supposed to be their clue, their clue for clapping, then anybody can go up there and say, two minutes later, "Ta-da", and they all start clapping. (Maharaj Ji claps hands, premies laugh).

What happened? You know, it's like that trick with the blind elephant. All the blind people go to see an elephant … And the other blind man says to the other blind man, "What happened? Why are you clapping?"

"Didn't you see, he just pulled a rabbit out of the hat?"

"What colour was the rabbit?"

"Don't you know? Didn't you see the colour? You tell me." The guy doesn't want to be taken for a fool!

Or, there is that famous story about this king, who always wanted these clothes, nice clothes. And so these guys came up and made him a deal that they were going to … I mean, they knew that this king was so stupid! He was a real idiot. So they made him a pair of clothes, and you know how the story

The Golden Age 9

goes. They made him the pair of clothes that nobody could see. Only the true in heart could see the trick, you know.

And Guru Maharaj Ji is the Greatest Magician, because he says, "I will show you a light." No magician claims this. And like Claudia was saying, we all were at that circus for Hansi's birthday. And there was this guy - it's a circus -and he comes there. They introduced him, and I guess they were short of guys so they just used one guy to play two roles, a little bit later.

And here comes this guy, and the introducer says, "Here is Alibaba", or something like this, and "He is from India, from the Mystic East, and he is going to do his trick." And he looked like he had tan-lotion all over, shaved head, and he walked up these stairs of swords, and he lay on a bed of nails. He swallowed the fire, did all these incredible things.

I mean, he's probably still there doing it. Maybe tonight, tonight is Sunday, he probably just finished his one performance. And that's the kind of magic that we are looking for?

And I mean, there's a trick or there is a certain thing behind everything. A certain legitimate cause or explanation. But Guru Maharaj Ji, none of those … I mean, I have seen some magicians, but none of the magicians would ever, even Houdini wouldn't claim this, that "I'll show you a light without eyes."

I mean, the magic that Guru Maharaj Ji claims, if you want to look at it as magic, is the most ultra-fantastic show. You know, like they have this Barnum and Bailey Circus in the United States, and they say it's the greatest show on earth.

Guru Maharaj Ji's show is the greatest show in this entire universe, you know (Applause). And in this show, what Guru Maharaj Ji is performing for everybody is the greatest magic that could possibly happen.

The thing is, if there would have been

10 The Golden Age

a blind premie at that circus, what would he have seen? He would have smelled the elephants, and the lions, and the zebras and the horses. But so far he was concerned, they could be flying in the mid-air; so far the elephants were concerned, they could have been walking on their trunk. It would have been the same. So what kind of thing are we waiting for? What's it going to take? What is that proof, what is that thing?

Guru Maharaj Ji is saying, "Don't try to convince your mind. Mind is unconvincible." You cannot convince your mind; you cannot say, "Oh yeah, mind, why don't you just surrender." You know, on the contrary it's just like: "Oh mind, please don't get me whatever you do. I'm nervous." And the mind says, "Oh boy, you're exactly where I want you to be. You're exactly there. You're afraid of me, I want you to be afraid of me. Why? Because then in your heart I am there instead of Guru Maharaj Ji, I am there instead of Knowledge." I mean, isn't it true in our lives?

It's just like what happened in Philadelphia. It was such a comedy. There was a little viewing-room in front of the stage, right there. And this is where Marolyn is, and Claudia and Raja Ji and everybody sits down there. They can listen to satsang and they can also help out with the kids; it's a little area, and the kids can be running wild round there. Basically that's the purpose of that area. And, in Philadelphia there was Steve and he was sleeping. Everybody was just dozing off. And I remember, in the residence, nothing. Everybody was having a great time. Nobody wanted to sleep, nothing. Everything was hunky-dory. But just when satsang started: "Go to sleep!" And I mean, all these things were happening at the same time.

There is satsang going on, and you don't know the amount of activities that are taking place here. You have no idea! The photographers there. It's OK, guys (Guru Maharaj Ji laughs), They have these headsets on. There is Joe Anctil over there. He has headsets on. They have these little boxes with yellow lights in it. There is one behind the stage, there is one in that area. Marino is sitting there, and these lights are beeped on and off, on and off, on and off.

One guy has got one message to broadcast to one person; this guy says, "My camera is running out of film. Turn yours on!" And the other guy is saying, "OK, wait. It's OK."

And the video man is told, "Wait a minute. You are broadcasting the wrong kind of … And there is this satsang going on.

And Joe Anctil is concerned about who is going to play next; and Raja Ji is fumbling through the pages of the thing; and Marino is saying, "Yes, what's going on?"

I mean, this is really true. You can ask Marino, Raja Ji, all these guys. This is exactly what's happening. I'm not kidding you.

Over there they are all bothered about their tapes, on the left-hand side there. Their tapes run out. They wait there. Right when my satsang is going, they wait there, and as soon as the tape is quite close to be ending, they turn on the other tape recorder.

And then there are the musicians, as soon as they get the cue, they start fumbling around for their guitars and get set, and the guy says, "I better sit down now, they're going to start playing." This all happens.

This is an immense amount of activity. Besides me sitting up here and talking away, there is a lot going on. And do

The Golden Age 11

you really think in all that lot going on, they are really trying to gather … I mean, is there some divine providence vested in these people here, that they are going to be able to understand the satsang, talking right through it?

And then there are people that are sitting in this hall, looking everywhere else, there are binoculars being passed, you know.

One guy brings his own binoculars, so the other guy says, "Why don't you pass it on to me?" (Laughter). And they look through the binoculars, look up at that thing - the video screen, look at me, look at the stage, look at the people sitting there. They pick up binoculars; they look at me; they look at the microphone; whatever interests them. There are people down there who are sitting in the front row. And there is all this satsang going on.

I mean, to me, when I change a reel in a camera, a person can be standing right there and saying, "Your suit is on fire", and I would not listen to him. It's just such an involved process there, in trying to get this little thing together. There are photographers sitting in the second, third rows, and in the middle of this hall with cameras. Their cameras are on tripods, they don't need to look through, they are all set. They've got shutter-cables going down, and they are just waiting. So when something happens - krch, krch, krch. (Laughter.) And this is nothing.

Then everybody starts laughing and then all of a sudden people turn around, "What did he say?" (Laughter) And that's nothing. But satsang is going on and people are fumbling outside the hall everywhere else.

And so what I am trying to do is trying to paint a really good broad picture, that we are not doing such a great job as we might be thinking that we are doing such a great job in satsang.

Of course, those guys are doing an important job. If they didn't have those tape recorders rolling just right, if they were all spaced out, then you would have no cassettes, satsang cassettes. If these photographers were all spaced out, and the thing would happen like in 1971, when I came, the prime shot of me getting off the airplane and that whole procession was right there, and they were so spaced out at that time,

that a premie opened up the exposed reel and exposed the entire film. I mean, we wouldn't want that to happen. It's nice to be able to watch the videos a few days later after the satsang. And it's nice to be able to watch a movie with subtitles. But what I'm trying to say …

Oh, I forgot about something. There is also translation booths here (laughter). And these guys are busy fumbling through words to translate.

But what I am trying to say is that are our hearts really open to that satsang, to the gist of that satsang, that we all need in our lives? Without that, believe me, without that …

The thing is, I don't say you have to have darshan, meditation, service, and you can do away with satsang. When did I say that? When did I say you are exempt! I never said that to Joe Anctil. I never said that to any of these photographers. I never said this to those tape recorders men. I never said that to Marino. Nobody, I never said that to; you are exempt from satsang.

No.

But the thing is, if we do not listen to satsang, then we are not even premies. I mean, I think Joe Anctil is doing OK. It's OK, Joe! And it's OK, George!

But the thing is, that we all have to be premies. And being a premie is not just being called a premie. Listen, Divine Light Mission doesn't make premies. Premie means lover. And you love what? What do you love? You love Guru Maharaj Ji. You love that Knowledge, and that's what makes you a premie. And that's what you have to understand. And then Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Really what makes you a premie is if you obey me."

And what does Guru Maharaj Ji say, "Go, jump off Mount Everest"? Mind says that. Oh yes, mind says that.

Because, when I was in Miami, Holi this year, there was this guy who actually jumped off this Mount McKinley in Alaska, actually jumped off. And mind said to him, "You can hang-glide down!" One guy got off with the hang-glider

12 The Golden Age

OK; the other one didn't, and he fumbled all the way through.

Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't say climb the Mount Everest. Mind says, "Yeah, go ahead, climb the Mount Everest. Go up top there." Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't say, "Ski down the Mount Everest." Mind says, "Yeah, go ahead, ski down the Mount Everest."

Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Have faith in me! Because I've shown you something. Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Have faith in that Knowledge. Because that Knowledge is there for you to experience."

And what do we do? Always space it out. Space it out. Listen, I really don't want to be like … you know, hammer it away in your heads: "You are all spaced out … " Maybe you are. That's a question you have to ask yourself. You don't have to answer me. Are you spaced out? (Guru Maharaj Ji nods head and laughs.) See, this way it will never come up on the cassettes what the answer was. Are you spaced out? I mean, maybe you're not. Maybe you are the incredible … something.

But the problem is, where is that realization? How much are you a devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji, and how much are you a devotee of Mr. Mind? It's almost like you can imagine there is an entire, other stage on that side, on my right. And on that there is a similar kind of chair. And on that sits this guru of yours, mind - "Don't hear that! He didn't mean that. That wasn't for you!" - giving you this constant obedience, giving you his constant blessings and constant agya. "That's not for you, by the way. That's for this guy sitting right next to you. Guru Maharaj JI' doesn't mean that. It's O.K."

No, this can't go on in our lives. And you see, then again, the thing is, yes, maybe I am strong, maybe I am … I remember, after Tucson I got all these comments, that Guru Maharaj Ji was really strong about his satsang in Tucson.

What do you want me to come? Come on the stage and say, "Boo", and then leave? I mean, that's a nice way of doing it, you know. Or come to the stage and say, "Dear premies, would you be so kind as to surrender? If it meets your pleasure, please love me. Would you please find a time of day, a minute or so, to spend on meditation, whenever you please?"

Outrageous! You know, outrageous! I didn't say any of that. That was just an example. I don't mean it that way either. The thing is, the reason why I say this to you again and again and again and again, is because I love you. If I hated you, I would never even Fhow up. If there was no feeling, why, why would I come back over here?

You know, it's kind of nice to spend your time in Pacific. There, even if it rains, it's only for a few seconds. And then it doesn't get cold. You can walk right there and it's warm, all the time. See, the ocean is there. Beautiful clear ocean. Nothing like Thames. But to me, I don't want Pacific, and I don't want Thames, and I don't want Junna, and I don't want Atlantic. I want premies.

Premies is what I love. So, there are premies in Pacific. I'll go to Pacific -as a matter of fact next year. And because there are premies in Europe, I'll come to Europe, next year. And it's just because there are premies.

Why do you think I'm going to Orlando starting from November the fifth? Because on November fifth, Orlando is going to be really warm? No. Because premies are going to be there, and because we are all going to come together, for no reason at all if there had to be a reason at all.

OK, if you're going to celebrate Shri Maharaj Ji's Hans Jayanti, OK, that's only one day. What about the other six days? No, we all come together to be able to listen to satsang, to be able to share that love, to be able to enjoy the beauty, to be able to be blissed out. What difference does it make how you put it? When that's the idea - to be completely merged in that love.

What did Mira feel? Why did she go crazy? Mira, she felt something and she could not care about this whole world, what this world had to say about it. Because it was her, and her experience alone. And it is you and your experience alone. It is not what somebody else tells you is what you experience.

The Golden Age 13

Already man in this world has lived his life, I think, long enough, based on other people's experiences. Oh yes, you are supposed to be like this. Oh yes, you know, you are supposed to be like this. But now, Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us a fashion to live. Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us a design for a suit. Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us a design for an automobile. But Guru Maharaj Ji gives us the most incredible, the most beautiful …

Of course, Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us apples; and, of course, Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us bananas to eat; and Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't give us the work. Guru Maharaj Ji gives us the essence of everything. The essence of all the galaxies, essence of all this universe. Essence of Himself. Essence of yourself, essence of who you really are. The "everything" deal. You know. There is nothing more that could be possibly asked. There is nothing more that is in fact left. Nothing. Because in that Knowledge, in that Grace, in that beauty, in that perfection, is every thing. Because it's perfect.

And we have to take those steps. We really do have to take those steps. And, premies, I cannot tell you how simple it is to take those steps. It is very, very, very, very, very simple. And now. Now.

Because, like I said, you could do it in three zillion years, that's your option. But you can also do it now. And now is when you should do it. I very much recommend so. Because, who can wait for that eternal blessings, for that eternal beauty, for that eternal bliss?

From my experience … Oh yes, I had concepts of Knowledge. To me, I don't know, when I was little maybe some day, even it was like a chocolate. Maybe at some day it was something else. But I knew that whatever this Knowledge was, was Guru Maharaj Ji's gift; and I had to have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji. And when, by His Grace, by His blessings, by His mercy, He revealed it to me, of course, I realized that that's what this life is. But then I also had a purpose for this life, to be able to dedicate this life, to be able to surrender.

So I am not saying, "Go up to your boss and punch him on the face, because he doesn't matter anymore." He is a human being, too. And very probably he has a reason to get mad. But, for those people, for those bosses who have realized Knowledge, how beautiful it is. And that's what this whole world has to realize. Not only your bosses, but everybody. Your brothers and sisters, everybody has to realize the beauty of this Knowledge.

And so, premies, that's not the idea to just say, "OK, I am fired. Just mail me my salary. I fire myself but just keep mailing my salary to me." No, the idea is … I mean, there is this world that we have to cope with. But don't get stuck in coping with this world, living in this world, indulging in this world, and doing everything in this world.

No, there is also Guru Maharaj Ji. And there is also Knowledge. You dedicate to that. Not to this world! Because what are you going to dedicate to this world?

Your life is way too much precious. You are too much precious to get caught in a leash of a situation, and to be ground up, merely be eaten by some iron jaws. And you see thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people devoured every day, literally, in the vault.

But Guru Maharaj Ji is that saviour and we have to have that trust, and we have to have that faith. And you know, I can't wait for that day when 20,000 of us will be sitting in Orlando, all over again, just to be there in satsang and service. So much service, lots and lots and lots of service, and to be able to just do it, to be there.

I believe in Orlando it doesn't get too muddy. There also - a tent city, you know; maybe they will be a little bit better, because hopefully I'll be staying right there, too. So, if it gets too muddy, we can just start the Indian Holi. Just throw it at each other. But let's not do that. Let's not do it here, and let's not do it there. But just to be able to come together, again, you know, for the bliss of it, for the beauty of it. I just can't wait for that time to come.

So many brothers and sisters have received Knowledge since then. Because I remember in Orlando, when there was non-premies - there were nine, ten thousand people. And now there's going to be 20,000 premies. It's just beautiful. And it's just that we have to just gear ourselves for that. It's going to be a week long.

Just get there, enjoy it, for that week, and for just … I mean, what can I say? It's so beautiful. And maybe - I don't know if you want to extend it any more than eight days, the next Hans Jayanti, because then you start running out of Saturdays and Sundays. You start holding it for a whole year. Constant satsang. Maybe some day that's exactly what's going to happen. But now it can happen for you too. You can merge into that river of that eternal bliss. You can enjoy that satsang; you can merge into it.

And so premies, I very sincerely hope I'll see you in Hans Jayanti. And for the brothers and sisters who could not come here, you can convey this message to them: they should try to come. Everything will be OK. Everything will be fine, you know. It's just because it's such a beautiful festival; it's such a beautiful occasion. I don't know how you're going to interpret this … I know, some people are going to get the wrong idea. "Oh yeah, just walk over the water. Maharaj Ji said it was OK."

No, no, no. Not that way! But - I mean, what is the message? "Please, come if you can come!" That's the message. Just to be able to see, and just to be able to enjoy the satsang.

And hopefully it will be a very beautiful festival. So I'll just … what can I say? I hope, I very much hope that I'll see you there, all of you. And all of the brothers and sisters who have received this Knowledge, and those brothers and sisters who want to receive this Knowledge, and the brothers and sisters who would like to receive this Knowledge, and the brothers and sisters who should receive this Knowledge. (Laughs) But I don't know - anyway, just to be able to come together and to enjoy.

So blessings to all the premies. Thank you very much.

(ON RADIO MICROPHONE)

Dear premies, so I hope I'll see you in Orlando. Who knows, maybe a program will happen before that. There is always, always that possibility. But, nevertheless, if there isn't a program before that, I'll see you in Hans Jayanti. Till then, keep doing satsang, service, and meditation. And blessings to all the premies.

14 The Golden Age