Peace Is a Feeling: Maharaji in a Rented Hall at University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, 25th April 2003

Rawat's speeches were not written or prepared but they are certainly not unrehearsed. The speeches preceding his current one are the rehearsals and his speeches following evolve gradually using the same store of tales, premie gossip, clichés, life events, recent tv shows, stock phrases and buzzwords.

This was the second in a series of speeches Maharaji gave at rented rooms in universities as one leg of the "Legitimacy Project," a secret plan to make Prem Rawat appear to be an internationally respected figure, a situation in which appearance was all that was required to make him an internationally respected figure … eventually … he hoped. Macky Auditorium was no ordinary rented room but no expense could be spared at this stage of the project. Nor was this room full of eager uni students, the audience was eager 'students' of Rawat, premies or PWKs as they were known. They had been secretly contacted and given the opportunity to be there and to see him and they greeted his appearance with astonishing applause and whoops of joy. They were no longer allowed to use their earlier greetings of Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! which many observers had likened to a Munich Nazi Sieg Heil.

Maharaji was loud and very forceful in his delivery, commanding, even blustering, and in no way attempting to present a cogent or even coherent argument with a beginning, logical progression and ending. He has lived in the West for more than 30 years, spoken English as his first language, and still didn't know that 'until' does not mean 'while.' He said the word 'peace' nearly 30 times in his 35 minute speech. Firstly, he talks about 'peace' meaning a time there is no war for a short time. The rest of the time he is talking about 'peace' as a feeling that you feel inside in your heart. This peace is one that only Rawat can give you though this is not mentioned in an introductory, public speech. The speech is not about ending war or ameliorating violence in society but is a spiel to attract people into his cult, formerly called Divine Light Mission, with unrealistic promises of personal peace and bliss. As this is a speech open to the public, Rawat tones down his claims

Peace Is a Feeling: Maharaji in a Rented Hall at University of Colorado, Boulder, USA

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003

Good evening. It is my pleasure to welcome you tonight and introduce you to Prem Rawat. My name is Chad Williams, and I'm a student at the University of Colorado. I'm here because the student group, Peace through Knowledge, offered me the opportunity to speak. And of course, I was honoured to be a part of this unique event. I was first introduced to Prem Rawat about two years ago while I was on a break from school, living in New York. When I first heard about him and his simple message, I knew that I had found something amazing. But I could have never imagined how profound an effect this would have in my life. I had always imagined my life in all the different possibilities that I could choose for my future. All the different majors, all the different professions, but I couldn't imagine anything that was going to make me happy. I wanted something much more than anything I knew of had to offer. Prem Rawat's offer of his radical approach to achieve peace was an immediate attraction. I began listening to him regularly and each time became more aware that this was something I had to have in my life. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand or perhaps more accurately, impossible for me to understand ,how much my life has changed so quickly. At the same time and in many ways, remains the same as it always was. Good times and bad times still come and go and everyday life goes on as it does. However, there is this one fundamental important difference. The joy of this existence is very, very real for me and the opportunity to have peace in my life follows me everywhere I go. Prem Rawat has touched the lives of so many people in nearly every corner of the globe It is truly my privilege to introduce Prem Rawat. Please join me in welcoming him. (astounding applause and whoops)

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003

It was quite a surprise to find out that this evening I'll be speaking at the Macky Auditorium. I've been here 30 years ago in the same place. And I'd like to thank Chad because in a very simple way, what he has expressed, it is basically the gist of what I was going to say. But maybe I can add a few more words to it. Because the subject really is life, of all the things that we do in this world and that I mean everything. Playing golf, playing tennis, flying aeroplanes, thinking about going into outer space, going into outer space, going into the space station, thinking about going beyond to … frying chillies. Whatever it may be, it is all made possible by the courtesy of this one thing called life, because if life is not there. If this existence is not there, there is very little we can do. And yet how much of our time, how much of our energy goes towards recognising that one very basic fundamental thing called existence? And I'm not speaking in terms of medical perspective but I'm talking about what does it mean to you to be alive?

So many things are expressed to you and you think about them. Some you don't think about. Some you merely accept and in this journey of life, you pick up a lot of luggage. That is quite evident as you have gone further and further into the journey. The walking becomes miserably slow because of the weight and somebody comes along and says "Well, you know, maybe you don't need to carry all that. Look at the simplicity of your existence. What are your needs? Not the needs of the society, but what are your needs? What are your calls? What is in you? What is your aspiration?" Fundamental aspiration. True to every single human being on the face of this earth, regardless of who they are, where they live, what they do and what they think. It's a little different to put it that way. Because you've heard it. The old mantra is, regardless of religion, caste or creed? Well, it's used too much. Those things necessarily don't make the differences. It is how we perceive, how we see and yet every being on the face of this earth has a innate desire in them to be content.

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003We're talking about peace here. Peace is not a new thing. The desire for peace is not a new thing. It has been around for an incredibly long time. The problem is we have 1,001 excuses for wars but we have no legitimate excuse for peace. We have left that up to some power that will separate the clouds and come thundering down and say "Okay, it's peace." We haven't left wars at that power. We don't say "Well, you know what we should have is peace and if that power really wants a war, let it open up the skies, come thundering down and get the bad guys and let the good guys remain standing and that's how we will decide it." No, somehow we have gotten into it and taken total responsibility for war. We can't leave this up to anybody. This is, I mean we have - we're taking total responsibility for war and for peace, it's some fantasy we have that someday it will be nice if somebody could do something about it.

It's like a leaky faucet. It's leaky. You know it's leaky but it's not that leaky that is causing you problems. (muted laughter) I mean, you know, you haven't seen a significant increase in your water bill and the noise it's really quite muffled and yeah drip drip but I think I can live with it. There is no video game for peace. (applause) There's plenty of video games, we shoot them out, do this, do that, destroy them, annihilate them and feel you've conquered something and achieved something because you have just achieved a very high score. And I think about that. What is my heart calling out for? What has it been saying to me? I'm going to go through different things, good and bad, I can't help that. Sometimes the good comes, sometimes the bad comes and that's no different than winter and summer. That is no different than fall and spring. That is no different than a cloudy day and a sunny day. But when my perspective is so shortened, that I look at my bad day and I say "Why me?" and I look at the good day and pat myself on the back. Two things that is a good thing. It's that way. It's hard to do two things that are very hard to do is to pat yourself on the back and kick yourself in the behind. You really need somebody else's assistance to do both of those. It's a good thing. It's really a good thing. But try as we will, somehow we will try to pat ourselves on the back and say "Look I did that. I've accomplished this. Many things you would accomplish and many things will be destroyed, no different than a sandcastle that stands on the beach, Vulnerable, sooner or later, to those waves which will come and pick it off. You can go and do it in the caution and say "I'll do it at low tides of the water is the furthest away. But remember the high tide will come so it is not an issue if the good and bad but it is the issue of what fundamentally your desires are that are roaming from within like a thirsty person in the desert. Like the thirsty person in the desert, who when he started had a destination. When he started had an adventure in mind. When started, wanted to accomplish something and now that thirst has zeroed his focus, his attention to one and one thing only. Water. Water. That's it.

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003
Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003

In my life, I have 1,000 distractions. But there's a call of my heart which also says peace, which also says be fulfilled. Be fulfilled every step that you take in your life. This is something you cannot leave for later. People talk about heaven. Some reality that you will achieve after death. This is what people say. People ask me this one question, "Well, what you talk about? Does it conflict with religion?" I said "No, it doesn't. Because religion promises you heaven after death. I am talking about having heaven whilst you are alive. There is no conflict. (applause) Because this is where, when I feel heaven, I can turn around and say "Thank you" and don't - I don't even care who I am saying thank you to because I know my heartfelt thank you will get to the right place. I don't need a street address on it. I don't need a certain colour envelope. I don't need a postmark and a cancelled stamp for it to reach its place because once in my life I start addressing my fundamental thirst. The thirst that has been there since I was so so very young.

I mean there's a lot of students here and I'm sure you can relate to this when you - there was a stage in your life when you were really young and you just wanted to play and do your thing "Ga ga goo goo ga ga" stage, it doesn't matter, try dirt, and, you know, no problem. Then he got a little older and he started to take some account of what's happening around you and one of the things you really wanted was to get old as quickly as you could, right down to the point where you start zeroing up, notching up your age 'almost' was the word used. I'm almost 16. Almost. I mean and I have never seen an older gentleman say "You know, I'm almost 80."(laughter) Its always, they always round it down and little kids always round it up. And I ask you, you had, you had a thirst, had a desire when you were 10, you had a desire when you were 16, you had a desire when you were 18, you have a desire when you were 20, 21 and you will continue to have this desire. You thought when you were 10, you will be able to fulfil this desire when you got to 16, when you were 16 you said 18, when 18 you said 21, 21 you said 25 because that's when they let you drive a rental car (laughter) and then at one of the events I was just doing in India, a few weeks ago, I said "So what happened to that 10 year old? Did he die?" And what happened to the 16 year old and what happened to that 18 year old? You see it doesn't matter how old you get, that 10 year old is still there and still alive and the same thirst, because you did become 16 and the thirst remained and 21 and the thirst remained and 25 and the thirst remained and even in the golden years the thirst remains.

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003Old people look at young kids and they their eyes light up because there's a hope in that young person and yet that hope is within the heart of every human being on the face of this earth. Wanting the same thing. Same thing and that same thing is peace. Same thing is joy, same thing is contentment. Give me, show me a way to turn within so I can feel for myself, not in some theory, not in some nice words, but feel for myself as real as feeling water in my mouth when I'm thirsty because that's what I need, food in my mouth. People, you know, they get around and maybe they come to dinner or something like that and they're sitting in the library and they're looking at all these recipe books and somebody reads out "Oh listen to this, you know it's a tortilla and it's wrapped, you know, andt then it's got beans inside and fresh chopped onions and cilantro and tomato and a little lime and the - what does somebody say "God that sounds good." Let me point out something. You really don't want that tortilla in your ear because food has something to do with hunger and hunger is not a question of sounding good. Its hunger is a subject of feeling full, feeling satisfied. And this is what I have to say. You won't find me in that crowd. Describing recipes.

You will find me in the kitchen preparing food. And it is not a question. It is not a question to say "Well, I know how to cook." I do know how to cook. It is not a question of I know how to cook because we've seen it on TV. What did the guy do? The guy, he took the spatula and banged it a few times against the side of the pot. So you have to do that. Clean the spatula. But that's a person observing who does not know how to cook. This is what they see. He banged a few times. There was a knob and he turned that a few times and he threw things in there. And the next thing you know, it was ready. I know how to cook. I can cook. And so you take your pot and you bang it a few times. Move the knob a few times. Throw things in there and say, well, should be ready. Is that like cooking food? Or is it more to it? It is to know. It is the alteration and bringing together and amalgamation of these materials, carefully picked, carefully chosen, to produce not only a certain taste, but certain nutrition that when eaten will not only satisfy your palate but get rid of your hunger.

That's what we need. Theory is great but someday it has to become real. Someday it has to become practical. Some day a person has to say yes. Not that "I desire" or "peace would be great" because believe me, this is the symbol for victory. (V sign) It's been used for peace. Doesn't do it. Peace is not symbols and gestures, but peace is a feeling that you feel inside in your heart. And when you have felt it, you express in a beautiful gratitude.

Yes, I have felt peace. I feel peace. I understand what peace is. I have peace in my life. I have peace in my life. Tell me about, so now what happens? No problems. Let's chat, said Yo. That's not the point of it. I still have my ups and downs, but I still enjoy my life. That's not the point of it. I still have my ups and downs, but I still enjoy my life. And that that becomes the key ingredient. Sometimes, we go on and on and on in our lives, not recognising that little thirst that we have. I will tell you this much, that the value of water can only be determined by a person who is thirsty. Truest value. Value of food can only be determined by a person who is hungry. Truest value. And so the desire for the peace can only be addressed by that one person who has felt the thirst, the hunger for peace in their life. If you haven't. I'm not going to make sense. If you haven't. If you haven't in that child found what was he or she really looking for, remember the toy that was so important to have and then one day that toy was thrown out the window. Why? That was, that toy was a catalyst for joy. Until it remained a catalyst for joy, it had a place in your room. It had a place in your house and the day it was no longer a catalyst for joy, for happiness, it was discarded without a second thought.

Could it be that we go along in our lives looking at our future, looking at our past. Of course, not paying attention to the present. And we look in the future and we say what will I be like? What will I be like? You want to know? Look at this moment called now. This is how you will be like because even though you have an imagination that can jump into the future and you have memory cells that can transport you to the past you physically cannot move into the future even 1 1 millionth of a microsecond. You are stuck in this moment called now and you're going to be stuck in this moment called now until the rest of your life. (they clap this shit) That's how it is. This is where you are. You try to move forward. You can't. You try to move back. You won't be able to. This is this moment called now. All tomorrows are gonna come as now. So what will you be like in the future? Look at now, because this is what you've got. This is where you are stuck. This is how it's going to be. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it so susceptible to how the world looks at it? Is it so susceptible to a cloudy day or a rainy day or a sunny day? Or does a moment called now have a merit all its own? A rigidity, a solidity, all its own like a rock and like water. I'll get to that. Water is more powerful than the rock.

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003 You should know. That's what Grand Canyon is all about. Rock said. "I'm not gonna move." Water said. "I will." And in it's moving, it moved the rock. Rock said "I can't get back together once I split up." Water says "no problem. I will come back together. I come from the ocean. I'll get back to the ocean. I have the humility to start with the drop and end up as a mighty river. I can do that. I can do that because I know where to give, where to take, where to flow, where to slow down. I know when to be squeezed and squeeze. It's okay. I'm going to flow out from a from a drop. I have become I have become the mighty river." The moment called now is a drop of time, from each drop of this moment called now you have the possibility, if you so choose, to create a mighty river of existence. In simplicity, in understanding, in your life, in feeling. Remember. And this is. I'm sure this has happened to you. You end up in a room. It's dark. It's night. Can't see. What do you resort to? See, when you've got your eyes. Room is well lit. No problem. Let's just walk around. When it's dark and you cannot see you resort to one thing and one thing alone. And it's called feeling.

Feel. There is nothing wrong in feeling. Feel your life. Feel this moment. Feel this joy. Feel this peace. Feel that gratitude. Feel that happiness. One step at a time. Moving along in this life. Moving with this journey. Moving with this boat. Moving with this life. One step at a time and you will be there and to know, not leave. Yeah. It's very curious. There's so many people. It's like why you do this, this, this and this. And after you die, you'll get to heaven. Banks don't go for that kind of stuff. Banks like, no, we need a little more than that. We need to. You need to show us you really can pay us back. People are like, okay, yeah, that sounds great. Um, I'll just do this. Do this. Do this, and then you'll get. And of course, nobody said, "Are you gonna come with me to guarantee this?" No. Nobody's gonna come with you to say, "Oh by the way, see I told you, you were right," or you could turn to that person and say "You were wrong. This does not look like heaven." But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about now. I'm talking about this life. Will there be another one, I don't know. I don't know but I know I have this one. And this is what it comes down to, that in your life, if you want what I am talking about, in your life, if you decide, and this is where it differs from preaching, because I'm not here telling you you are sinner. Far from it. I'm saying you're alive and you have so much because you are alive. Congratulations. I'm not congratulating you because it's your birthday today.

I'm congratulating you that the breath came into you, the most priceless thing came into you and touched you and touched you. It is one thing that you cannot give to somebody else. You cannot steal it. You cannot borrow it. And yet it comes and it comes so freely every day. Every night it comes and it comes and it comes and it comes. And whether I'm aware of it, it comes and if I'm not aware of it, it comes and it comes and it comes and I because it comes. I'm dancing. I'm looking at things. I'm moving. I'm going around. I'm talking. I'm eating. I'm doing all the things. I'm dreaming. And then one day, it will be no more. The last struggle of a person is for that breath. And as it comes freely. Can you welcome that breath in your life as it comes so freely. Have you accepted it and said "Come come into this. Come touch me. Touch me again. Fill me again and show me what you brought me. Show me what you have brought me because you obviously must bring the most incredible gift. Every breath, every breath, brings that. Every breath is priceless. All the money in this world. All the technology in this world. Not this breath. Can't touch it and it comes to you. You have been given it. And some people say "Why?" If you said why you're not thirsty, because the person in the desert who is thirsty to him it doesn't matter who built the well. It doesn't matter if the glass is from France. All that matters is there's water and I can drink it and I can quench my thirst.

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003

That's what matters. When it comes to it, we're very practical in these things. When it comes to this life, when we when it comes to peace, we're no longer practical. People are people. We have learnt to see the differences. We look at people's eyes and we say, "Oh, you must be from China. You must be from Japan." I have a face. Fortunately or unfortunately, wherever I go, it really trips people up. I was in Mexico. I spoke in English to this couple of guys asking them some direction and they oh they went on lecturing me about how being a Mexican and I didn't speak Spanish. People from Philippines look at me and its like "You're from Philippines, right?" Uh people look at me from Malaysia and they go "You're a Malay, right?" Um and people look at me in Kathmandu in Nepal. "Oh, you're a, you're a Nepalese, right?" And the only place I kind of, you know, I've been told I kind of don't look like that is India. (laughter) It's really true. They asked me for my passport. They said "You can't go in this area. You need a passport." And I said "I was born here." "No, you weren't. Where is your passport?"

Maharaji at University of Colorado 2003 But we see the differences. We see we look at a person and we say "That's a pilot." People look at those four stripes and they go that's a pilot. Not a human being, a pilot. That's a lawyer. That's a doctor. No. First of all we are all human beings. Whether our eyes are slanted or not so slanted Regardless of the colour of our skin. Regardless of what language we speak. I mean, it doesn't matter what language we speak. We say the same things. "Food is terrible today. I'm going out." I mean, it's like it's the same thing in any language. It doesn't matter. And we are like, oh, that person speaks Japanese. Of course, that person speaks Japanese. I know I speak two languages. I understand a few more, but I at least speak two languages and I can assure you there's really no difference. But we don't know what the reason would be to see the similarity because what could be so similar and I'll tell you what is so similar we all have the same quest to be in peace and we all have the same quest to be content.

That's all I have to say. If you want to know more, look me up. It's as simple as that. If you want to know more. Look me up. If you don't care about what I've said thank you for coming. And maybe someday down the road you go, light bulb goes off, and you say "Yyou know it was pretty interesting that peace stuff. I think I could use some of that." Look me up. I can help. That's all I offer. I can help. It is your journey. I'm not going to make it faster and I'm not going to slow it down. I'm not going to make it easier. I'm not going to make it more difficult. It is your journey. I cannot touch it. All I have is a mirror and I can offer you the mirror so that when you need to see your face. you can see it. That's what I'm offering. It is as simple as that and it is complicated as to have joy in your life because a lot of people walk around say "Well, I don't think I need any joy. I've got plenty of joy." Ah, well, maybe someday you will feel a need for a joy. When you do, look me up, I can help. So it really is as simple as that. I really would like to thank all of you for coming and listening to what I have to say because really it is time that somebody addresses the issue. 1,001 reasons for peace. Not 1,001 reasons for war and it begins with each one of us. Thank you very much and goodnight. Thank you. (applause)


















Premies or Lovers was the term given to devotees of Guru Maharaj Ji in the 1970s and this was replaced by People With Knowledge (PWK) in the 1980s.