The essence of life
Guru Maharaj Ji at the Albert Hall, London on the 28th May 1979.
We assemble here in this hall today … I know that a long time ago I sat in one of those balcomes and there was a concert happening here. And it happened. That was it. You came, you got your ticket, you went through, heard the whole concert and had your opinions. Then you just got up and left. That's what I did.
But to me, and I think to just about everybody in this world, it's becoming so much more obvious. It's becoming clear that something is so mandatory in our lives that our mundane excuses that we make day to day are simply little jokes. Are simple little jokes that we want to play with ourselves every day, our little stories that we tell ourselves. look, it's okay, you're happy. It doesn't really matter, does it? After all, who is happy in this world?'
This is what people tell themselves. They know that they have that real hunger. They know that they have that real thirst. They know that they really need something in their lives. And yet, just before they can in fact face it - when it really comes down to it - when you're sitting in your living room you take one look around, or step very frustrated from your office, take one look at your house and walk into this room, sit down, and all of a sudden you start to wonder what this is all about. This is your whole life. You have put everything into this house. Every cent. You work every day to keep it up. You have your family and everything isn't working out. Nothing is happening. Nothing is working out for you. You really wonder if this is it, if this is all life is.
You don't have any answers to it. You don't know. You can't say, 'Yes, son, that's your life,' or 'No. kid, that's not it.' The questions are there. It's just so obvious. It is a lot easier to have the questions. Anybody can come up with these questions. As a matter of fact these are not questions we have invented in this twentieth century. These questions haven't just popped up in 1979. In fact, these questions have been there almost since there has been a human race on this earth. 'Why are we here? What are we doing? What are we doing in this world? What is it all about?'
Maybe almost everybody at one point or another asks these questions. Yet the answers to these very common, maybe every very simple, questions - because if you know the answer then the whole question doesn't seem gigantic. You know the answer to it. You know the solution. And because you know the solution, the problem isn't a problem any more. There is a solution for it. It can be solved.
It's the same way with this question in our lives. It can be solved because there is somebody in this world who has the answer. And as a matter of fact, the answer to that is in fact in our hearts, all locked up, all cooped up. Just there. And we want to get at it. We want to get to it. It's almost like a treasure hunt. We know that there is something very, very precious within inside of us.
How do we know? How do we know that? I mean that might be entirely a philosophical thing. The thing is I'm not here to teach a philosophy. I'm not here to teach a policy. Fm not here to teach scriptures. I'm not here to make scriptures. But in fact I'm here to provide a solution. And the only reason why I want to even offer the solution to anybody in this world is simply because it has worked. And time and time again it has worked. It worked a thousand years ago, ten thousand years ago, twenty thousand years ago, thirty thousand years ago, forty thousand years ago and for time immemorial. In fact, it's always worked.
We come into this world. Here we are, and in some cultures when somebody departs a lot of grief is expressed. People become very sad; people start crying. A lot of grief is expressed. But in fact in one culture that's not quite so. When a person dies, they come with presents and they enjoy themselves. They have a big party. 'Oh yeah, he finally was relieved of his misery.' And they, in fact, celebrate that occasion.
I mean to some extent even in the Western culture, after the whole funeral is finished, done, buried, and you go back home, there's quite a grand party happening. It's like when a little child arrives in this world, what is it for him? Does he in fact know? Do you think that if he could, at that point when he is one-day old, one-hour old, one- minute old, ever find out all the miseries that he would have to bear in this world, do you think that that child would choose to live? No. I don't think so.
There's so many people in this world who grow up - adults thirty years old, twenty years old, forty years old, fifty years old - and just cannot bear the misery of this world any more and choose to leave it, choose to leave this world behind. Why?
Its so obvious that whoever made this earth put a lot of perfection. put a lot of beauty…I mean 'smart' is not the word. 'Intelligent' is almost disgraceful. 'Genius' isn't the kind of word you would really like to use. Immaculately created earth…this world, this universe. Immaculate.
Here someone is sitting down. All of a sudden an apple falls on his head and
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from there on he discovers one principle. Simply one principle. What goes up, must come down. One principle that, in fact, there is gravity. And today people just can't talk enough about that person.
One person develops a steam engine and people are flabbergasted. 'My God, look at this!' The guy who invents the automobile, look at him, just look at him, man, it's incredible!' The Wright brothers who finally started to fly:
people sat there or stood there or whatever they were doing and watched a 'miracle' happen. Flying. Man flying in the sky.
Ad today what isn't dedicated to these people? People go to halls, people go to huge convention centres many times bigger than this and they have aviation conventions and they talk about airplanes and they pay their tribute to the Wright brothers. Or they come and they pay their tribute to different scientists.
What about that genius? And again, genius isn't exactly my word that I would like to use for that Creator. And yet, He created all those people that we think are geniuses in this world. He actually manufactured them. He actually made them alive. He actually created them. He actually sustained them.
You look at the steam engine. If there is no coal, the entire discovery of steam is sort of useless. Steam wasn't a thing discovered to flatten out wrinkles in iron presses. That definitely wasn't it.
(Today, of course, you see this little button on irons, you push it and it squirts steam and takes your wrinkles away.) That's not the reason why the guy came around to developing the steam engine. No coal: no steam. Nothing to burn: no steam. If this earth stops going around and around, then the
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theory will change: 'What goes up, keeps going up.'
All these theories that we live by, there is something that makes it all worthwhile. Of course, it is very human to take the credit. 'Oh yeah, I really wouldn't want to say this, but yes, it was me that discovered gravity.' I mean very much so. To get into it. to get into all those aspects and yet forget the one very most important aspect. Forgetting the most important aspect of everything.
Life. Everybody wants to live in this world. But why do we even need to
live in this world? What is the purpose of living in this world? Do you think what's going on in this world is really worth it?
A few days ago I came from where I'm staying into London. And every park in the city was filled with people sitting in the sun. They had taken their shirts off.
They were just lying there in the sun. And believe me, it wasn't a weekend. It was a weekday. But it was so incredible. The sun came out and you had to take advantage of it. That was everything. I mean, okay, so in England the sun doesn't come out too much. In the desert, the sun doesn't set too much. It's all proportionately balanced, of course.
And yet is that it? You are in your house and you're looking out constantly for that one minute of cloudbreak for the sun to come out. You throw your shirt off and run out in the garden and lie down? So obviously, that's not it. And, of course, that's another extreme of it all.
But why are we here anyway? Why are we living? Why are we eating? Why are we working? Whatever we are doing, all the different aspects of life that we are involved with. Why? What is the necessity of being involved with all those aspects of life? What is the necessity?
If we just live to live, or our attitude is 'eat. drink and be merry', then there is absolutely no difference between us and a pig. If that were my attitude - just live to live, eat. drink and be merry - then there would be absolutely no difference between me and a pig. Because when the pig gets hungry he eats. And then he wants to enjoy himself. He runs over to the dirtiest part of his fenced-in area and rolls in it. You see, when a pig rolls in the dirt, he doesn't need to roll in the dirt because it's essential to his life. He rolls in it because he enjoys it very much.
Enjoyment to us: enjoyment to a pig - if that's what life is all about, then where are we? What is the point of even calling this human body so incredible? Then what is the point of even looking at it as the crown of creation?
Because there is a way. There is something that we can fulfil in this life that perhaps that pig could never fulfil. We can fulfil in this life something that a gorilla cannot fulfil. Nobody can fulfil it except us human beings. Because as far as intelligence is concerned, I personally think there are plenty of animals that are a lot smarter than human beings. A lot smarter than human beings.
And yet there is something that we can do in this lifetime that makes us smarter than them. And what is it?
Its that understanding of something that sustains you, of something that is within inside of you. It is answering those questions that have been asked again and again and again. It's finding the solution to these problems. And that's the purpose of this human life. 'Okay, find the solution. Find the answer to the question. Find that peace. Find that salvation. Find that happiness.' Whatever. Whatever your translation of it is. If you think it's peace, then that's your peace. If you think it's salvation, then it's your salvation. If you think it's
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"I'm not here to teach a philosophy. I'm not here to teach
a policy. I'm not here to teach scriptures. I'm not here
to make scriptures. But in fact I'm here to provide
a solution. And the only reason why I want to
even offer the solution to anybody in this
world is simply because it has worked."
your liberation. then its your liberation. Whatever.
But then it all comes to one simple point. It all comes to one point. Then there is a difference, an obvious difference. Guru Maharaj Ji can reveal that solution. Guru Maharaj Ji can give you that solution.
People standing on the street, people writing books - it's very simple for them to say, 'Yes, kid, you should definitely find an answer to your question.' That's simple to say. 'Yes, yes. Definitely you should have peace in your heart.' There's plenty of people who say that.
But Guru Maharaj Ji can in fact reveal to you that inner experience. Guru Maharaj Ji can in fact reveal to you that peace. Guru Maharaj Ji can in fact reveal to you that answer to your question that has puzzled you and perhaps your father, your grandfather, grandfather's father's grandfather's grandfather's grandfather. (And also on your mother's side - the same way.) Because it is within your heart. It is there. It can be revealed. Because it's there. That answer is always with you. That Peace is within you.
But Guru Maharaj Ji can open up that door. Guru Maharaj Ji can show you the way. And that is why we need Guru Maharaj Ji. That's why we need to go to somebody.
A lot of people have this attitude, 'Why do we need a guru?' You don't need a guru. You don't. Because if you are saying, 'guru' in the connotation that you have home-brewed, then you don't need that person. Obviously a lot of people think that 'guru' is a person who has a beard, long hairs, is old, has wrinkles on his face, and lives in the Himalayas. Only every sixth full moon in the year he drops down and he comes under the banyan tree, stays there for 20 minutes, and then goes back to the Himalayas.
If that's your translation of a 'guru' then you definitely don't need a guru. Then you need a Perfect Master.
And whatever your head says, 'This is what it is. This is what it is. This is what it is - Perfect Master' …
A lot of people have asked that question over a period of time, 'Are you perfect? Are you the Perfect Master? Are you perfect?' There is a vast, vast difference in those questions.
Perfect is one thing. The body cannot be perfect. Anything that was created once, anything that had a beginning, anything that once was not, is stamped imperfect and shall never be perfect. Ever. But only that Knowledge is perfect. And the one who can teach us, one who can guide us, is the Perfect Master, the perfect guide, the perfect teacher. And that's what we need in our lives.
We need somebody to show us the Light. Because for so many years man has said. 'I can do it by myself. I can do it by myself.' Obviously an egoistic idea. 'I can do it. Don't bother.'
And it's so simple to imagine a valley. Imagine a six-hundred-foot-deep valley. And over this valley from one of the mountains a little peninsula, a little ridge, juts out right at the very top. And you were trying to climb it. 'Oh I can do it, I can do it,' and slipped. And there you are at the end of the rope, hanging on by one hand. You're hanging and somebody comes up to you and says, 'Can I give you a hand. can I help you?'
You say, 'No, I can do it.' And he says, 'But have you looked down?'
'No, no, it's okay. Mind your own business. I can do it.'
And maybe it even comes down to a very frustrating thing for that person who is hanging with one hand, one rope. His hand's getting awfully tired and he hasn't yet looked down. And therefore he doesn't really realize the gravity of
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"There's such a perfection of that
Creator. It wasn't just perfect enough to
have an ocean; it also had to have
waves. It wasn't just enough to make.
the sun and water, but to put a rainbow
on it. Such immaculate perfection.
And just look at us. It wasn't enough
to make human beings. It wasn't enough,
but then to put life inside of us, to
give us a shape, to give us that opportunity
to be able to come into the world"
- Guru Maharaj Ji
the situation. He doesn't know. He lets go of that thing and that's it. It's
finished. But as long as he can see that land six feet away from him, he thinks all he has to do is climb six feet and he will
be fine, he will be okay.
Again and again that question is asked, 'Can I help you? Can I help you? Can I help you?' Not only in this century. In so many centuries, Perfect Master - the perfect teacher, the perfect guide - has come in this world and said. 'Can I help you? Can I help you? Can I assist you?'
And always the answer has been. You can't.'
Why not give him a try? Give him a chance? Always the answer has been. 'No, mind your own business and mind mine.' Always the answer has been, 'Look. it's okay.' And yet the perfect guide can obviously very clearly see that that guy is hanging six feet down and he needs a lot of help because if he looks down. that'll be it.
And maybe for some of us in our lives. that time finally comes when we do look down and then we really realize the situation. Then we really see the situation. Then that egoistical thing disappears. It's not the matter of being prestigious about it. But it is. as a matter of fact, very simple. That the help is inevitable. The help has to be there.
And in our lifetime, maybe the only person who ever came to help us. might not come back if he is gone. might not show up again. Because what is it to him? Because we have already told him. 'Mind your own business. We don't need you. Look, it's okay.' And it's so obvious that now we have to see in our own lives if we really need that help or not.
And we all do.
You cannot sit there, look at your worldly possessions. look at your degrees and say. 'Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't know what he is talking about.' You can't. Maybe your ideas, your concepts, come in. And maybe you think, 'Look, I've got everything that I need.' Okay, maybe you have everything that you think you need. But you don't have one thing that you need the most.
It reminds me of this thing with mummies. And the whole idea is when that person dies, they take him, wrap him up in different herbs and medicines and whatever, and they put him in a tomb. And with him there are servants and there is gold and there is his food and there are pictures of the way he used to be. Everything. If one person got hold of all that gold he would definitely be very rich! Maybe its somebody's dream - definitely extremely rich - diamonds and emeralds and gold and what have you. Anything you can imagine.
This is what we fight for. So we can have servants. So we can have our wives. So we can have our children. So we can have gold. So we can have a house. So we can have money. So we can be rich. Whatever we fight for. Look at those tombs. They're a perfect example. Its all there. But they can't use it. It's no good. The gold is there. But something is missing.
And in the same way. all those things that we want in our life. that we think are the necessities in our life, are they in fact really the necessities? Those are not the most important things.
The most important thing in fact is that Knowledge, is that realization of Knowledge. is that understanding. Because without that Knowledge, without that realization of that Truth. without the proper understanding of why we are here, what good is it? What is the bearing upon it? None. None whatsoever.
But when we come to Guru Maharaj Ji, he opens something within inside of us. He gives us something that does the trick. And we have to go to Guru Maharaj Ji with our hearts open. Always! It doesn't matter if we have Knowledge or we don't have Knowledge. Our hearts cannot be full of deceit and cheat. Our hearts cannot be full of our own ideas, of our own concepts.
If you are full of concepts, if you are full of your own ideas, then how can you learn? A student goes in front of a teacher and the teacher starts telling him two and two is four. The kid gets up and says, 'I thought it was six.' The teacher tells the student. 'One and one are two.' Student says, 'I thought they were three.'
In fact, if somebody is full - if their hearts are already full of something else - then what is a Perfect Master going to do? What is a teacher going to do? Can't do anything.
But really, that heart has to be opened, completely opened. And then with our sincerity, with us being sincere - truly sincere - then when we approach Guru Maharaj Ji, then when we go to Guru Maharaj Ji, then Guru Maharaj Ji can fill
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"True love is real. It needs no proof.
It doesn't need proof
You don't have to
laugh and you
don't have to cry and you don't have to
dance. You don't have to dance to show
that you're happy and you don't have to
smile to show that you're happy. And you don't
have to sing and you
don't have to do
anything. But people
can feel it because
there is that
feeling of fulfilment."
us up with that love, with that beauty, with that perfection, with that Knowledge.
All our lives we accumulate and accumulate and accumulate. All our lives. And vet what do we do with it? What do we do with it?
Recently a DC-10 went down. And you can imagine a fully-booked DC-10. Big airplane. Everybody is in it. And just go back and imagine the gate. Just imagine the gate where they are boarding. Somebody was maybe going to see their relative. Somebody was going for business. Somebody was going for whatever. Getting in the airplane; getting their tickets. 'Yeah.' 'Whoah.' 'Ahh.' 'Hurray!'
Usually in America a lot of people go through all the hustle and bustle, come to the gate and sit down on a nice comfortable chair to relax. And you can just imagine people who had come really early, people who came late, and the whole hustle-bustle. Then they come and they sit down. And they finally get inside the airplane and finally the airplane is full.
It's just everybody's daily job. Chicago-L.A. flight. 'Where are you going?' 'Where are you going?' 'What do you do?' 'What do you do?' 'Oh. I have a business.' 'Oh really. what do you do in the business"?' 'Nothing.' Whatever. One guy is talking to the other. And another guy is talking to another.
And sometimes in those airplanes, you meet some people that just can't sit tight. They have to know everything about you. literally to the point of what size shirt you're wearing. 'Oh really? Where did you get that suit from? Nice suit. Hey, I like your shoes too. What do you have in your briefcase?' They want to know everything about you.
And on the Chicago-L.A. flight. for sure, all that was going on. And then the steward closes the main door and pilot checks that all doors are closed and here is the plane just starting to roll on the runway. Everything is okay. Tower gives it clearance. The captains usually say, 'Here we go. Los Angeles here we come!'
Really? I mean, what is it all about? A little pin - maybe bigger than that - doesn't matter. Three feet, four feet, one inch, two inches. A small pin that holds the engine on maybe sheared off. Engine fell down, the plane went out of control and it crashed.
In that airplane, there could have been ironsmiths sitting and it wouldn't have made a difference. In that airplane, there could have been engineers sitting and that wouldn't have made a difference. Would it? It doesn't.
And look at this whole world. Why does it always have to be a crisis before we can open our eyes a little bit more and little bit more and a little bit more? And vet, it only seems to take a couple of minutes. 'Oh God, what a terrible thing. Oh God, what a terrible scene.' Look at Tenerife. Everybody was shocked. When the San Diego crash happened it was the worst accident in the U.S. history. Now the DC-10 went down it's the worst accident in the U.S. history.
There is definitely a little bit more to life than just that. A grief of a moment, sorrow for a moment. imagination. No. Life is a reality. Life is real. Life is not an imagination. There is something real.
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And through that grace we can understand life, we can realize Knowledge, we can have it. But we have to approach with that pure heart. with that pure love.
What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us in our life, we can never repay him. What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us is the essence of life. What Guru Maharaj Ji gives us is something that makes life worthwhile. And that's it.
And that's it. Really is there a necessity for something more? When you reach your destination, when you reach your goal, when you reach that tranquillity, when you have that peace in your heart, what more is there really left? Maybe a lot of you sitting here do not know, because you haven't reached it. And yet, for those who have reached it, no. Certainly there's nothing else. Because when you see that reality, when you feel that reality, there's nothing more. Because that heart, that union between us and our Creator, that union between a lost soul, that union, that love, that relief … it's incredible.
People go to a fair or an exhibition or something like that and they're walking. All of a sudden. the child leaves the finger and sort of wanders off, sort of takes off in its own direction. Gets lost. Mother gets worried: child starts crying. And it's like. the mother's heart is longing to unite with her son or daughter, and that child's heart is longing to unite with mother. Because there is some love. Both of them are wandering, both of them are desperate. And maybe for moments, thoughts come, 'Oh. I hope nothing has gone wrong.'
For that child, almost the whole world has shut down. Starts crying. And that crying isn't because he's hurt physically. But he wants something. And maybe he's crying worse than if he would have just been hurt.
And when they both meet, what a joy it is. The child just starts laughing. That sorrow turns into happiness instantly. And same thing for the mother. Her sorrow, her grief, her thoughts go away or disappear. She feels happy. She feels tranquil. She feels relieved.
And yet, that's only a fraction … Everyone's soul in this world, everyone's heart, longs to unite with that reality, longs to unite with that love, longs to unite with that Truth. And truly when that effort is made …
I mean, obviously, that relief that the mother experiences is very little compared to the relief of what happens when, inside, this real heart unites with that reality, with that Truth. There are no words. Because it's complete. It becomes perfect. It becomes one, one with that infinity, one with that infinite thing. And then there is no more, no more.
So far as I'm concerned, yes, there are wars in this world. There are people in this world who don't have food. There are people in this world who are beggars. There are people in this world who are in misery. I know that. But I also know why. It's man's own by-product.
It is that Lord, it is that Creator, that puts that smile on a baby's face. You can't tell a joke to a baby so he'll crack up. That happiness, sowed in that baby's heart, that love, that satisfaction, that's
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the way we were made. Not for this misery. Misery is created by man himself, not by the Creator. And we have to see that.
Maybe there are people in this world who go. 'Well, why are you doing all this? Why don't you give food to the poor? Why don't you give food to the hungry?' Yes, it is possible. I could feed a few mouths. But what's going to happen tomorrow? You think that if I feed them once, that they will never ever feel hungry again? And then, what's going to happen day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. and day after that?
In San Diego, one time I went to the zoo. I'd been there before, but I took the kids along to the zoo and they enjoyed it however much they enjoyed it. (I think they wanted to touch the animals and it was kind of different that they couldn't.) But anyway, I came out of the zoo and I was waiting for the car and right at the entrance of the zoo there is quite a bit going on. And there was a person who was selling newspapers. And I looked at his face and I looked at his eyes, and it was such an incredible moment for me. I mean I just looked at him and really you could see that there was pain in his eyes. He wasn't selling too many newspapers. And you could see that there was pain in his eyes. You looked in his eyes and they wanted to be full. They wanted to be full. A little bit of a different feeling perhaps from just looking at his eyes and them being empty. No, it was a little bit different. They were empty but there was something in them that wanted it to be full. It just hit me: it was an incredible experience.
I don't know if I'm describing it right. Or in fact. I don't know if I can describe it right. And I just felt so much sympathy for that man. So much sympathy. I felt like taking out a five dollar note from my pocket and saying. 'I'll buy all your newspapers.' And yet I didn't do that. I just bought one newspaper. Because I knew that if I bought every one of his newspapers, tomorrow when he stands there, he's going to want somebody to buy all of his newspapers. And then day after tomorrow, that hope is going to turn into pain and more pain. Because every day standing out there with his newspapers, he would want somebody to come and buy all his newspapers.
In one way I didn't even want to buy his newspapers, because I don't read newspapers. I don't personally read newspapers at all. Even if somebody puts it on my desk. I just take it and throw it under the desk. I didn't want to buy his newspaper. I didn't read that newspaper.
And yet, premies, it's so obvious. He didn't need that ten cents. He didn't need that fifteen cents. He didn't need that quarter. His eyes weren't there … it wasn't that quarter that was going to take that lust, that emptiness, out of his eyes. It was Knowledge. It was that love. It was grace that was going to do it. Not a quarter. And not zillions of quarters.
That emptiness is always going to be there until we really understand that our heart longs to be filled, that there is fulfilment to be had and Guru Maharaj Ji has that, Guru Maharaj Ji can fulfil us with that love. Because yes, that love is there in our own hearts and yet we don't know. We don't know.
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"Guru Maharaj Ji
can show you. It is
not a matter of a
challenge, you see.
It's not a matter of
'Try me.' Guru
Maharaj Ji doesn't
say that. It's a
bit beyond that.
Its for sure."
This whole world exists in many colours. Brown, black, red, green. white. chartreuse, purple, pink, whatever -- its there. And yet it isn't for a blind person. The same way with that love, with that experience of Truth.
We don't know. To us the experience is when we fall in love. Fall in love - that's it. That's that love that we are looking for? No. It's not. You might be in love, but it only takes almost nothing just to disrupt it, make it disappear. make it vanish. We want that true love. the real love, that is not based upon a bunch of promises.
You know people go into a church. 'Would you take this person to be Your lawful wedded wife in this world and the other world and to always cherish and to hold and …?' All that.
Okay, I've been through that. Yes. it is wonderful. Its really beautiful. You look into your wife's eyes and she looks into your eyes and you really feel that love. Its just so different. Watch it! That's not love. That's just an emotion of being married to somebody that you like. That's not love. Love is obviously something different.
And when that love really comes to us, no emotions need be there. Because when that love is so real, why does it have to have a proof? Do you think we would cry? It doesn't matter! When somebody dies, you literally have to cry. In a funeral. people look at each other to make sure that they are all crying. That way they know exactly who is the one who loved him. If the guy's wife wasn't crying, don't you think there is going to be a bit of gossip? 'Did you see her? She wasn't crying. Ruthless woman. She never loved her husband. poor soul. Never had any love in his life.'
That's ridiculous. And that's the way it is. It really is. Emotions. That's all they are. True love is beyond all that. True love is real. It needs no proof. It doesn't need proof. You don't have to laugh and you don't have to cry and you don't have to dance. You don't have to dance to show that you're happy and you don't have to smile to show that you're happy. And you don't have to sing and you don't have to do anything. But people can feel it because there is that feeling of fulfilment.
Walk down Bond Street: walk down Oxford Street. Today, just coming up to this hall there were a whole bunch of people outside. And yet, you don't need to look at everyone's face. You can look at one person's face and you've almost seen everybody's face. See one emptiness and you can see another one and another one and another one and another one.
It's almost like the hospital where you've seen one patient. you've seen all. Everybody is sick in that hospital. You're not going to find perfectly healthy bedridden patients. That thing doesn't exist. Either they are not perfectly healthy or if they are perfectly healthy. then they are not patients. You have seen it. Either its going to be somebody's left foot or a right foot, the right arm or the left arm. Somebody's got ulcers. Somebody doesn't have a nose. Somebody doesn't have eyes. Somebody doesn't have ears. Somebody doesn't have hairs. Its all that.
And yet when there is that fulfilment, when there is that real Knowledge, when there is that real love, it's so much different, it's so much more true. The love between a devotee and their Guru Maharaj Ji is so incredible. The love between a devotee and a Perfect Master is so incredible. Because there is a fulfilment and the love comes from fulfilment, not emptiness. Love there flows naturally. not as a substitute. And to us. to a lot of us, love is to substitute that misery. But really. is that it?
And when Guru Maharaj Ji really can show us that true path, where is our effort? Why is it missing? And I think that's question you can answer yourself. You don't need any intellectual, because it's you. It's associated with you. Where is your effort? Your effort.
And that's now, when you can make that little effort, when you can let go of that attitude and just be open. just really feel free. just really try to merge. just really try to open your heart. Then something incredible can happen. Then something beautiful can happen. But when your heart is so filled with this world that there is not any more room for anything else. then nothing can really manifest. Nothing can really take place.
And Guru Maharaj Ji can show you. It is not a matter of a challenge, you see. Its not a matter of 'try me'. Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't say that. It's a bit beyond that. It's for sure. It isn't a matter of ten stalls down the street and everybody says, 'Try our food, try our food, try our food'. You can almost imagine Guru Maharaj Ji as not even having a stall, just a tray in the hand. And as people come down that street,
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discontented - nothing more to happen, nothing more to go, nowhere to go - they have tried everything - then Guru Maharaj Ji holds out his hand and says, 'I think you have been looking for this'. And there it is. Yes.
I mean how much has this world got to offer? All those goodies out there that you fall for time after time after time after time. No. That's not what's going to bring you to it. All the religions that are in this world - yes, you can go to one religion after another religion after another religion and never end up with a realization. Never. One religion says, 'Mohammed. That's who'. And one religion says, 'No. Krishna. That's it': 'Ram. That's it'. One religion says, 'No, no. no. Wait a minute. You're all wrong. Buddha. That's it'. Other one says, 'Listen, you've had enough. It's about time for you to be quiet. Christ. That's it'.
And man can be so easily lost between the tossing and turning from one religion to the other religion to the other religion, from one cult to the other cult to the other cult, that you might not have anything left. But Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a substitution of a religion. Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a substitution of a cult. As a matter of fact, Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer you a religion or a cult. Guru Maharaj Ji only offers you a practical realization, period. That's all Guru Maharaj Ji offers. The realization of Truth. The realization, the experience, of peace. For us. And I see that without us letting go - without first having that clear heart - it will never happen. It can never happen. It will never manifest. It can't manifest. Our hearts have to be open. We have to be clear.
And most important of all, our effort has to be right there. Because what is in this world that we aren't ready to make an effort for? People come from miles and miles to see a soccer game, football game. We will make so much effort for a tiny little thing that we may not even like. But what about Knowledge? What about Guru Maharaj Ji? How much effort are we really willing to put there? How much effort are we really willing to place there, sincerely? Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't want all show and pomp effort.
The case is quite obviously clear. It's not the matter that you keep your foulard (a cloth) in your pocket and every time Guru Maharaj Ji walks by you pull your foulard, start cleaning and then you reinsert it. Clean it up a little bit and reinsert it in your pocket. 'Look, you know. I've got a nice foulard too.'
That effort has to be real. That effort has to be true. And Guru Maharaj Ji will in fact give us that experience that we want. Guru Maharaj Ji will give us the experience because Guru Maharaj Ji has that experience. And we know it! It's not a matter of anything else. We know it. Only our barrier has to be eliminated, taken away, taken apart.
So really for once in our life we can do what our heart wants us to do and not what we think we should do. But it's up to us. Completely. We have to take that step. We have to have that commitment. And Guru Maharaj Ji has that answer. Absolutely no doubt about it. Guru Maharaj Ji has that answer.
Guru Maharaj Ji gave this public program at the Albert Hall, London, on the 28th of May, 1979.
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