Maharaji in San Diego PWK-030 2007-12-07

Maharaji in San Diego, The Feeling of Gratitude 7th December 2007 PWK-030

Here we are once again. So much to talk about, but it really all comes down to that one thing. One thing that is pertinent to us.

The recognition of what we have been given. The understanding of what this breath is, what this life is. I see so many people here that I haven't seen for a very long time. And they have come here, and you know, I keep telling everybody, listen, this is just an event. It's not a celebration event, or this event, or that event. My birthday only comes once a year. So if we all got together to celebrate it, that would only be once a year. What I want you to do is celebrate something every single day. Celebrate something every single moment that you have in your life.

Because it is the only anchor that you have It is the only island in the middle of the ocean that you have. Everything is transient. That is its nature. The universe is not still. It is moving. We try to navigate and try to pinpoint where something is. It is not there. It will not be there. Because once it was not there, you too, once, were not there. And once again you will not be there. And the story is not about when you were not there. And the story is not about when you are not going to be here. But the story is about when you are here.

The other day I was watching TV. I just had the History Channel. And you got to watch TV when your computer takes so long to render something. So it is like, you got to just wait. You can't do anything. I was flipping through the channels, came to this one channel, and they were talking about this incredible book. I mean, they just could not throw enough adjectives at it. How incredible, how beautiful, how dramatic this book was. And it was the book, the Tibetan Book of the Dead. So I'm listening to this stuff, right? I'm watching it. And it talks about when you die, what will happen? And all I can say is, logically speaking, for a living person to be obsessed by death is nuts.

It would be equal to be waking. Like, you wake up in the morning, you take a shower, and you cover your body with Band-Aids. I mean, literally, cover your body with Band-Aids and say, I could get hurt here. And pretty soon, you know, you wear clothes like this. You wear the Michelin Man clothes. I know if you have seen the Michelin Man, but he's like all tubes and everything is just protected, and he kind of walks like this. That could, could happen. You should be obsessed with what is happening. Because what is happening, that is where the celebration is. That's not about contemplation, but it is about experience. It is not about a theory. It is about reality.

Do you know that reality does not exist in the past? And do you know that reality certainly does not exist in the future? There is only one place reality can be. I am talking about not hypotheses, but reality. Not hypothetical situations, but reality. If there is a truth, then that truth is now. And there is no greater truth of the spoken truths that can be spoken. There is no greater truth than to say you are alive. It's true, if you could hear it. But this is not what people want. They want to be lost in the imagination of what will happen to me. What will happen to me? Where will I go? Where will I be? And out of conjecture, theories, we try to extrapolate truth. How? How do you begin to extrapolate truth where there isn't one iota of truth? So, there is only one way to do it. Dream it up. Manufacture it. Create it. Exercise it.

Emulate it. I have never seen a book that says when you see a bright object in the sky, that's the sun. you think somebody should write about that? you think that would be a bestseller? That bright object you see in the sky is the sun. It's not a plane. It's not a train. It's not bus. And it's certainly not Gus. It's the sun. Wow. You would think that all those people who love profoundness would be like, wow. Profound. I mean, how profound is that? The bright object. I mean, wow. The bright object you see in the sky, especially during the day, is the sun. And if I told that to somebody, you know what, I'm about to write a book and it's called that bright object you see during the day and in bracket, especially during the day, is the sun. They would look at me like, are you nuts? That is so obvious. You need to write about it.Only when something is mysterious because it is not obvious, do you need to write about it. And read it. And extrapolate whatever you think you need to extrapolate from it. Once in a while, you will feel this sensation in your throat and mouth as though they were particularly dry, followed by an urge to ingest some liquid. This liquid happens to be water. You will find it in clear form. When you come across a material that is liquid, glass is liquid too, but that's a little bit too viscous there. Just very liquidy and clear. That's water. And the sensation you feel of the parched mouth and an insatiable urge from within to consume something like that, that's called thirst and you're thirsty for water.

Wow, that's bloody profound. Or is it obvious? What is obvious in your life? I've been, pretty soon, I'm going to be 50. People keep threatening me with this. You're going to be 50, you're going to be 50, you're going to be 50. I was even told that's really special, 50. I know why. To me, I came in this world when I came, how I came, I had no clue. Most people seem to. There's a picture of me.

One thing is that I am very well documented. So there is a picture of me which I can remember being taken. I can remember that picture being taken.

And from there on, I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember, a lot has happened in my life. Many stories, many war wounds. And yet I know that everything in my life has changed. Everything. Everything that I thought would never change has changed. Everything I didn't want to change has also changed. And conveniently, everything I did want to change also did change. There have only been two constants in my life. One is the change. It has been constant. And the other is this desire to be fulfilled, to be content, to be happy, to be in that place of joy that I have been shown. To feel the feeling of the heart filled with gratitude again and again. That is one of those things. You can get objects in this world and you will grow tired of them, believe me. But a heart welling up with gratitude, you will never ever grow tired of it regardless of how many times it has happened in your life. And every time it does, that your heart fills with gratitude, it will feel like it has never happened before. New, yes. Exceptional, yes. Gratifying. There is no better gratification than the heart filling with gratitude. The want for that feeling has been a constant.

And the change of everything on the outside has been a constant. And every day, of all the choices and all the decisions that I have to make, I have to make a lot. Sometimes it comes fast and furious. Some days, you're just inundated with questions. Just wherever you turn. Question, question, question, question, question, question, question, question. Right down to the point sometimes, what do you want to eat? I know. Just leave me alone. It's okay.

Make something. But those are not the important questions. The important question is every day, what do I choose? I have to invest. I have to invest. Time is pouring down. Just pouring down. Non-stop. The clock is ticking. There is nothing I can do about it. Nothing. I can't slow it down. I can't speed it up. Nothing. It just keeps coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming. But what do I do? What do I choose? Do I save it? Do I conquer it? Do I capture it? Or do I just let it go? Game, win. Game, win. Game, win. And all I was is surprised.

Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? That's what happens when you're young. One hour. One hour? It's going to take an hour? And you get older? Ten years? Oh, that's too quick.

I remember when I was young, older people used to always tell me, you know, time will go quickly. The older you get, the quicker the time will go. And I was like, huh? I understand that now. But I also understand that it doesn't go any quicker or any slower. It's flowing at the same rate. It's only my perspective. A human being seeks immortality in a mortal world. No, no, no. Excuse me. You shouldn't be seeking immortality. You should be seeking the immortal. You've got it wrong. It's just a little word thing. But you've got it wrong. seek immortality. You won't find it. Seek the immortal. And that immortal resides in you. Always has. Always will. And if I can save this time, I can.

I can make it work for me instead of me working for it. Because in this world, I am robbed. What am I robbed of? I'm robbed of my integrity.

As a human being that walks the face of this earth, that has been given the sense to be, to feel, to understand. And I'm robbed of my understanding. I'm robbed of who I am. My integrity. My integrity. Do you know that you have integrity? As a human being. Just as a human being. Not as your accomplishment. Please go there. Just as a human being, you have integrity. How do you save it? How do you keep it? As a human being. Kabir.

Kabir says that nobody, nobody is poor. Everyone is rich. Kabir says this. Kabir was so poor. He even has written about, I know where the next meal is coming from. I have no idea. He even admits he's uneducated. He doesn't really know how to write. He has no formal education. He's an outcast. He's not accepted by any society in India. Nobody knows what religion he's really from. Is he a Muslim? Is he a Hindu? Nobody knows. He was found adrift on a river. What does he say? Nobody is poor.

Everybody is rich. But we have forgotten to open our package. The package that was sent with us, we have forgotten to open our package. And that is the reason why we are penniless. This is what he says. What package? What package? Really? Did we come with a package? What package? There is a package. Where is it? It's here. Riches beyond belief. Gratitude. Fulfillment. Understanding. Joy.

Joy. Do you really understand what the word joy means? Joy. What does it mean? What does joy mean? What's going through your head? Joy, joy, joy, joy. Some people are like, OK, he's going to tell. Just wait a minute. He's going to tell us. Calm down. The other people are joy, you know, to enjoy something. Joy brings you joy. Joy, joy. Joy to the world. Right? Christmas is coming. Joy, joy, everywhere joy. The trees are being decorated. Everybody is getting into the shopping spirit. I mean, the holiday spirit. It is the season to be appeased by appeasing others. It is the season that allows. It happens to be winter. I understand it. I mean, why winter? I guess you got nothing. You can't do anything else. Can't go outside. So you're stuck inside. So you may as well be nice to everybody since you're stuck with them. Joy, that's not joy. Joy doesn't come in December. Joy comes. Joy comes whenever you feel that immortal inside of you. That's what fills you with joy. And what is joy like? Undescribable. Cannot be described. What does contentment feel like? Cannot be described.

What does peace feel like? Cannot be described. Again, my friend, our friend Kabir says, it is equivalent of a mute person eating candy. I've changed it. It's good. You won't understand what good is. Gur, gur. But you will understand candy. Same thing. Original Indian sugar candy. It is like a mute person eating candy. Just because he cannot describe it doesn't mean he cannot enjoy it. And in fact, his enjoyment has nothing to do with his inability to describe it. Even if he wanted to describe it, all he can do is enjoy it. There are two kinds of people in this world. One says, I will go and eat the good, eat the candy, and I'll tell you about it. I'll let you know. I'll write you. I'll send you an email.

See how it works. You know what makes a Master a Master? You know what makes a teacher a teacher? You know what makes a guru a real guru? Here's the difference. quote me. But for right now, here's the difference. When you ask the real teacher, the real Master, so, so, what does it taste like? You know what he does? He reaches in his pocket. He pulls out a piece. He says, here. Eat it.

And there are other kind of gurus, other kind of teachers, other kind of Masters. It has the bouquet of the sweetness, the slightly burnt, sugary. Oh, they stop there. They waste paper. Not one. Not two. Not three. Logs and logs and logs. Describe, trying to describe the indescribable. Why? Because they have it. The dream. Let me imagine what fulfillment is. The true teacher says, you want fulfillment? Feel it. It's possible. Peace. You want peace in your life? No problem. You can have peace in your life. But you know, you know how bad it has become? You know how bad it has become? That when the Master pulls out the little piece of candy and hands it to you, people go, what's this? He says, no, it's the candy I'm eating. You wanted to know what it was like, so here, why you taste it for yourself? No, no, no, no, no.

One time, there was this, well, you probably haven't heard about him too much, but there was this emperor in India. His name was Akbar. And there's quite a few stories about Akbar. He started off when he was pretty young, and he ended up unifying India as a very huge empire. Anyways, he used to hold court, and in his court, there was one courtier who was very bright. Of course, Indians love to tell this story because he was an Indian. He was very bright. And so all the other courtiers were very jealous of him because Akbar, the emperor, really liked him. And he would just always have wits about him. So one day, he was late, and so the emperor asked, where's Birbal? Birbal was his name, so Akbar asked, where's Birbal? He says, your majesty, he's late. He's late coming to your court. And he pumped him up, and Akbar got pretty upset. Why is he late? Doesn't he know I'm the emperor, and I'm here, and he's not here? Finally, poor Birbal shows up, and the king is furious. The emperor is furious. Why are you late? He said, sir, I was taking care of my nephew. He has come to visit me, and I was taking care of him. Oh, so your nephew is more important than I am. No, sir, that's not the thing. I have to take care of him, and he just was being very obstinate. He says, anybody can satisfy a little kid. And so Birbal said, if you say so, emperor, maybe you can, maybe you can't. I know if you could. The emperor says, I'm the emperor. What is it that he would want that I could not give him? So Birbal says, I know, sir, if you could really appease him.

Akbar was like, oh, this is so good. I mean, I've got Birbal now. I've got him. I have got him. All his wits, nothing's going to. Call your nephew. His nephew comes, a little kid, about five years old. Birbal says, you know, bow down to him. Yes, what would you like? So the little boy goes, ah, I want some sugar cane. Birbal says, no problem. Sugar cane is brought, offered to the little boy. The little boy holds the sugar cane, and he starts crying. Akbar says, why are you crying? You want a sugar cane? I gave you sugar cane. He says, yeah, but I'm crying because I can't eat it. It's still got the skin on it, and it's not cut.

So Akbar says, no problem. He looks at Birbal like, you know, you're crazy. Take that sugar cane, peel it, cut it, bring it. So they peel it, they cut it, they bring it. And the boy grabs the bowl and starts crying even louder. So what is it now? The little boy says, I've changed my mind. I want a whole one. Akbar is like, Birbal, man, you're making such a big deal. No problem. Akbar says, bring him a whole sugar cane. A whole sugar cane comes. He starts crying even louder.

He says, well, why are you crying now? You wanted it cut. We got it cut for you. Now you wanted it whole. You changed your mind, so we brought a whole one for you. Why are you crying now? He says, no, I want a new whole one. I want that same one that was cut whole. This is when Akbar understood, heart to place. (hard to please) This world is the same way. What do you want? know what you want.

I say to people, people say to me, so what is the step I have to take to find peace in my life? Okay, I'll give you another analogy. Imagine you have gone into the catacombs below Paris. There's a lot of catacombs. And they're dark, no light, nothing. Dark, pitch dark. And, of course, when you go there, you try to maybe put a rope, string a string or put a rope so you could find your way back out. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, you can't find the rope. You've come quite a ways in and you have led the rope. You have led a nice line, but you can't find it.

It just happened. Just happened. What will you do? Just common sense. What will you do? Like find the rope? Because if you could find the rope, you could find your way back out. Isn't that why he laid the rope in the first place? And if you just dropped it somewhere, it'd freeze. And search for it, hopefully it's right there. And you go, I got it, I got it, I got it. Thirst is the same way. Thirst, find the thirst, and that is your ticket to the immortal.

That is your ticket to the joy. That is your ticket to that happiness. That is your ticket, your lead, your guide to what you have been looking for for all your life and what you will be looking for for the rest of your life. When you were young, you wanted to get older. Things were going to work out better because you would be able to leave home and have your own pad and your own ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Doesn't work that way.

Does it? So you got your pad and you got your freedom. But then you scratch your head and you go, gee, that was just freedom from my parents. I quite feel free. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. I get my own car, I get my own job, I get all secure. That's it, that, that, that, that's it. Out you go. And you get your job and you get your future. And you go, oh, well, what happened? I got all this. I should be happy by now. I should have peace in my life. I should be feeling free. I feel like a bloody slave. I mean, I got to work for this guy. He bosses me around all day long. All the colleagues boss me around. Everybody got to work for, work for, work for. Work for, work for, work for, work for. Work, work, work, work, work, work, work. Looking for freedom, I found bloody slavery. Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Get married. Have a fam. Freedom, freedom, freedom. How do you find a wife? Most people go to the pubs. Listen, you really want to find one in a pub? Okay, maybe that's your thing. But you find, find one. Will you marry me? Okay. Especially after four or five drinks sloshed. Okay, why not? You find yourself where? Where? For better or for worse. I just was looking for freedom. All of a sudden, for better or for worse. Till death. You know, I really think they should rephrase that whole thing. They should make it, I think, a little kinder. But death is in there, death. Wherever death is mentioned, pooh. So, till death, do you part? Do you? Yes, yes. Do you? Yes, yes.

I'm free, now I'm free, I found freedom. Till you wake up the next morning. Honey. This, that word, honey. That is a precursor to here it comes. Honey, where the hell is my breakfast? Why is the living room such a mess? Who made this mess? You found your freedom, all right. Clean up after you, self. Be back by this time. No, you may not. You will not, you cannot. You must not. And now freedom is really clear.

Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby. Baby, oh cute, cute, cute little baby. And so, you go through the fun part. You got the baby. And then, you know the baby is like in a box. You know, behind there, behind the stomach. Everything is fine, see. This you realize later on. But, so, so cute, cute, cute. Yes, we'll have our football team, we'll have our hockey team. And we'll do this and we'll do that. We'll go out here and we'll accomplish this and accomplish that. And then the baby comes out. First night, first night you bring the baby back home. And there you are, you've had a long day. You have had a long day. Especially the mother. And she would like some rest, thank you very much. But men always believe they've had just about as long a day as they could have ever wanted. So, baby, of course, baby doesn't have a clock or a watch. It's just, wah! Wah! Honey, go check on the baby.

Wah! Wah! Free! You have your freedom. I'm not, now mistake me, I'm not against people having babies or families or finding a job or all of that. But put it in perspective for yourself.

Why? Why you want a family? Why you want a job? Why you want to move out of the house? do it under false pretense. Because when you do it in false pretense, guess who will be the most disappointed person on the face of this earth? You. And that's what happens. That is what happens. And then promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion, promotion. Money means freedom. Promotion comes. But by the time the promotion comes, the inflation has gone up so high that you've actually been demoted in the name of being promoted. You just feel promoted, but you've actually been demoted. And financially, you are in more debt than you ever were, or you could ever imagine you could ever be in. All the while, oh, since this began, this freedom business began, and even before that, somebody was sharpening their knife, waiting for you. You want to know the definition of patience? I'll define it for you, maybe redefine it for you. Time has patience. It patiently waits. Hyper-intelligent. A beggar. A king. An emperor. Absolutely no difference seen in anyone. Same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same, same. The only thing, of the two constants, I must choose one over the other.

Today, in this world, people pray for everything. I mean, it's like, I think they've got the Santa Claus thing mixed up. I mean, I saw these soldiers praying, as they went out. Can you imagine if the enemy was also praying? God, give us the strength to mow down our enemies. God, give me the strength to mow down my enemies. And God's going, ha, ha, ha, ha. They're both asking for the same thing. What if God was listening? Is that really what you want to say? Just, just, you know, settle down, sit back, relax. Just, just give it a thought. The maker of the universe, the maker of time, the infinite, is listening. Just to you. What would you say? God, help me, my cake is burning, my guests are coming.

Do something, fix this cake. Really? I mean, really? God, we have just bought this new car, please make it run really well. Really? God goes, did you buy extended warranty? No, I mean, just, just, just, just, just, you know, for a second, just, there.

Maker of the universe, the Creator of time, of every dust, every star, that will be there long after all human beings have been erased. By time. As once they were not, is listening to you.

What would you like to say? What would you like to say?

Let me put it in context for you. Your wife is in the hospital, or your husband is in the hospital. Being in coma for eight years. Eight years, solid coma. The doctors have predicted that this person is going to come out of coma for five seconds. Just five seconds. And after that, they'll be gone. What would you like to say to them? Oh, by the way, you've been looking for the lawnmower, where it is. You wonder what the last will was ever made. You have tons of questions. But you love this person very much. You have five seconds. That's all, just five seconds. What would you say? Honey, where is that lawnmower you bought? Really? Five seconds. What would you say? You would say, what matters the most. Maybe I'm wrong. But me, I would boil that down to just that. What matters the most. Forget about the lawnmower. Forget about the will. Forget about where the Keys to the house are.

Maybe all I need to say is I love you. Maybe that's all I would say. I love you. Not, we've only got five seconds. Do you love me? No. I love you.

I thought love was supposed to be two-sided, so shouldn't I confirm first that this person loves me before I say I love you? No, no, no. There's a very simple reality when everything is boiled down to what is important. What is important in your life? And if my God was hearing me, then the only thing I would like to say is thank you.

Not make my car run better. Not make me pass in my exams. Not give me a longer life. Not make me a richer man. Not bring back Fido. Maybe Fido ran away because Fido wanted to run away. And right now Fido is very happy because Fido ran away from you. I would like to say if there is a power of prayer, which there is, and nowhere does it say that a prayer has to be a request. That is not a definition of prayer, by the way. Wish list. People have gotten wish list confused with prayer. If you have to pray, then pray.

And when you pray, that maker for heaven giving you a chance to be alive. Thank you. I've given you a chance to exist. I've given you a chance to feel. To have given you a chance to be fulfilled. To have given you a chance to experience peace. This is gratitude. And when you say it, when you pray like that, you know your God is listening. Because you are immediately touched and filled with the most incredible feeling within. It's never left a mystery. Never left a mystery whether God heard what you had to say. But say it from a place where you really mean it. Because you have felt. Because you have understood. This is not about beliefs. You believe in whatever you believe. This is not about religion. You follow whatever religion you want.

This is about you as a human being dancing on the face of this earth, being alive today. When you were born, what religion did you have? And when you're gone, what religion will you have? Talking about you being alive. Knowledge has been about putting you in touch, putting you in touch with that place inside. It is so simple. It is so simple that in its simplicity it is profound. It is so good that it is the root of all the goodness. It is so complete that it does not require words. It is so absolute it does not require descriptions. Feel. Understand. Grow. Every day, grow in your life. Every day, make a choice.

People might go, why do I have to make a choice? Why isn't it pre-chosen for me? Then let me tell you why. Because when you do consciously make that choice, the joy attached with it becomes yours. If it was not chosen by you, but pre-chosen for you, you would be void of that joy, the joy of choosing consciously. I walk this step because I want to walk this step. There is an amazing grace in the life of every single human being that is alive. But you look at your life and you see in it what isn't. I want you to see in your life what is. You look at your existence and you make a list of all the things you do not have. I want you to see the things you do have. You look at the possibilities in your life of all the things you have not achieved. I want you to see the things you have achieved. This is not about psychology. This is not about pumping you up to make you feel good. The achievement I'm talking about that you have achieved is not the roll call, not the football field, but this breath.

It's a miracle. Do you like miracles? Do you? Do you like miracles? Do you like miracles as a sideshow or do you really like miracles? Because if you like miracles as a sideshow, you'll have to work very hard. But if you like the real miracles, then just look at your breath.

It's a miracle. It is an incredible miracle. So, anyways, today is the first day. We're just getting started, warmed up. You've come from wherever you have come from. Relax, you're here. Long, long journeys. There's a long day tomorrow, hopefully, fun-filled. And I hope you enjoy. You know, the message does not change. And if it evolves, it does not evolve in its content. Only in expression. Only in expression. That's all. That's all. It's the same message. Whether it was 1972 or three or four or five or six, what you are looking for is inside of you. And if you want to know, I can help you. You know, I… I do not… I have never claimed, let me give you this Knowledge and I guarantee you, you will end up in heaven after you die. I've never said that. People get me all confused with those guarantors who guarantee heaven. I am not one of those. I present to you no picture of hell. I present to you no picture of heaven. Because I know that if there is a hell, it is now. And if there is a heaven, it is now. It would only be most appropriate that it be that way. If you know, you will be in heaven. If you, if you. But the choice is yours.

I'm not here to threaten you. I will not threaten you. I will not scare you. I want to scare you. You have plenty to be scared about. Especially in this day and age. In this day and age. It's wild. Wild. Like you wouldn't believe it.

So, it is a privilege to be here. For me, the celebration is the celebration that happens every single day in our lives. And how beautiful that you could make it. So welcome and enjoy. Thank you.