This condensation (and correction of Rawat's English) of Rawat's speech on 28th May 1979 was considered so exceptional that it was printed and distributed in the Light Reading booklets, the book Guru Maharaji's World and as single sheet flyers with details of local satsang, in this case Washington D.C.

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The thing is that I'm not here to teach a philosophy. 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. 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 has always worked.

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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,"

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 he might not have anything left.

But Guru Maharaj Ji doesn't offer 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 …

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.

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 simple. 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 the situation …

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.… 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.

We are born 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." They, in fact, celebrate that occasion. …

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That emptiness is always going to be there until we really understand that our heart longs to be filled, that there is a fulfillment to be had and Guru Maharaj Ji has that, Guru Maharaj Ji can fulfill us with that love. Because yes, that love is there in our own hearts and yet we don't know … 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 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…

And yet when there is that fulfillment, 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 a Perfect Master is so incredible. Because there is a fulfillment and the love comes from fulfillment, 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?

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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 … And Guru Maharaj Ji has that answer. Absolutely no doubt about it. Guru Maharaj Ji has that answer. …

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