PMT008
PMT008

PMT #008: Guru Maharaj Ji (aka Prem Rawat) Chicago, 17th August 1973

This is a short 30 minute speech in which he still retains some Indian accent. The speech, which is mainly introductory, flows better than his later speeches because he could just repeat his well worn introductory clichés, stories and parables. Although he became more familiar with English in the next year he developed a habit of constant repetition of "you knows" and "it's like" and other key words as he was only speaking to the converted and struggled to develop a new shtick. He said that Divine Light Mission was growing because of the Almighty's Grace but as it stopped growing and has since shrunk does this mean the Almighty no longer approved? He claimed that his Knowledge has done 6 million people some good. Within 3 months he was claiming it was 8 million and by 1975 it was down to over 1 million and by 1996 it was hundreds of thousands.

Instrumental: The Lord of the Universe - Blue Aquarius 7:34

Dear brothers and sisters we have come here to talk about something, of course, not a religion, it's about that inner peace we all are lacking in this, this century. You see, what we all aim for is civilization. Our all attempts in this world are for civilization. Now when it comes to that point probably nobody even cares about religions, probably there are some people who don't even care about God but all we want to do in this world is get more because we want to live in such a standard, maybe we can be in peace or we can be in formality nice.

As a matter of fact in this world we have made cars, we have made so many so many different things trying to gain satisfaction from and we do understand that there was a time when man started building these little aeroplanes and when we see these movies of these airplanes being built we just laugh, they are like comedies to us and man made this, this aeroplane which flew and then just collapsed right back and he made it, really, at one time it was working and it worked and was flying. Again he did it more and more times and today we finally, there was one time when we came out with a 747 and that was like the ultimate. There will is like many many posters all over different countries, airlines propagating about their ultimate jet and what it was, a 747. Now what we have to understand is that when we made that ultimate jet of ours, 747, we came out with the we were not satisfied with that 747, we were not satisfied by that's, it's speed, we were not satisfied by anything so we came out with a 740, with a Concorde jet which is, which is going to travel at more than the speed of sound. And then there is going to be a time when that is not going to satisfy us anymore, then people are probably going to come out with these machines which are going to be like telephone booths and you take your bank American card or your diners club or anything you've got and you push put it in and it checks through the computer and says A okay, your bank account is okay and you go and you put your luggage with you, what ever you've got it's got a little chamber of luggage and then you got your light comes on, your whole selection, where do you want to go? And you want to go to London, you just press one button, London and then after sometime, within a matter of seconds you are in London.

But then again our mind will not be satisfied because if we are trying to fill this pocket of ours, mind you, this pocket is not gonna get filled up because if we want to fill up this pocket then we have to take things and put in this pocket and if we want to fill up this pocket we have to put in this pocket. We are trying to satisfy our external needs but that is what we don't want, we want internal knowledge, something that is within inside of us cause we want peace within inside of us. Today, peace is, supposevly (sic) somebody is feeling damn hot him and he sits in his car and his car is also damn hot, really hot and he switches on the air-conditioning and says, "Wow, wow." That's the infinite peace for him. When the cold air comes out of the air-conditioning. A man has been standing for hours and hours and hours and hours and he gets a bench to sit down, "Wow." That's the infinite peace for him. But this is not the real peace because after that he will he will try something else. Then what is the real peace? Today we think we are civilized, there was a time and we see all these old, read all these old histories when people were being massacred and now we call all those people uncivilized but if I asked the men of today, this age, "Aren't the people being massacred in this age, today also, now?" Yes they are, the many many countries fighting and massacring people so really we are not civilized because civilization is not in external things. No matter how external we can be, if somebody comes here, see we have our imagination of Jesus the Christ and we imagine him wearing long white robes and on a white flying horse with rings on it and if somebody comes here with a horse may be made of paper or something like that and it's got wings on it and he comes in a white robe with long hairs and if he stands on a stage, what are we going to do? Arrest him and shout at him and yell at him and box him and beat him and do all kinds of things because we understand that external is not the point. Now why don't we understand that for ourselves too?

That this, what ever we are trying to achieve in this world is all external and what we have to really achieve to gain that satisfaction of mind has to be within inside of us.

and I'm here, you see the point is, many people have different conceptions about me. Well, that's a really pity because, what I say, I'm not a God. People say, why do you say you are God? I'm not a God. I don't say I'm God, I don't say I'm a prophet, I don't say I'm a Messiah I say I'm just a servant doing my service whatever that can be. Some people think they have a service to do something else and some people think they have a service to do something else well I think it is my service and I'm doing it. And why people should have any objection? But of course you can't you know, you can't say anything about crazy minds, you can't say anything about fools that are in this world but the whole point comes again to the same, same thing that we all are here looking for something, searching for something and I'm here.

I I don't say that I can give you money, no. I don't say I can give you a car, no. I don't say I can give you a beautiful house. I don't say all those things. What I can give you is peace and if you want peace then that is possible in this world and I can give you that but not, not all the materialistic things because that are ???? A man buys one car, says, "Well how fantastic this car is" and he probably calls a party the first day he buys this car. What about the next day? Means he is not so pleased because the first day he was so pleased to buy the car that he invited people for party and the next day he doesn't. And at some day there is a point that decreases and lessens and lessens and lessens and then there is eventually a point where he says, "Hey no good, this is quittin'" so they just throw it away in the junkyard. All of the love and all the searching that we think is a tie to the materialistic components. We have to give it away one day. So what I want to tell you, see I can't promise you all those silly things in this world but I can promise you one thing and that is peace and that's, that's about the whole deal in here. We don't, we don't, we don't say anything else. We don't say give us money, we don't say all those things. There is a straight and a simple deal, if somebody wants peace, we can give them peace and that's the whole deal. That's the whole contract and in this world, see, if we try, if we try to even imagine about this.

Many people, many people say, "If you give all the money, it's a very good cause." Well there is a little story about this, it probably is a good cause but there's a little story about it and the story is there was one man and he was like a rich man and he went to heaven and he started knocking the doors so God's secretary came out and he said, "What's up, why you standing here knocking the door?" He said, "Sir I want to talk to God and I want to enter heaven." He said, "What are you talking about?" "I just want to talk to God and I want to enter heaven." He says, "Okay just wait, I'll talk to God about it." So the secretary goes to God and says, "Okay." God says, "Okay, let him in." So this man comes in and he stands before God and God is sitting and Gods asks him, "What's the matter? Why do you want to enter heaven?" He says, "Lord, I just want to enter heaven, it's beautiful." So God says, "So what have you done? What good have you done that you think you deserve, you deserve heaven in your life?" And he says, "Well" he scratches his head and says, "I gave five cents to orphan child." And God said, "Anything else?" He again started scratching his head and said, "Oh yeah I gave uh 10 cents to a widow" and then he again scratches his head and well God asked him "Anything else?" And he said, "No, no, I haven't done anything else good in my life." So God is thinking about this because it is something good he has done, it's not bad, it's good but then it's not good enough and he said, "It it it it is got some standards to it but it doesn't have that proper standard to fit that man into heaven" so God is thinking about him and then God looks to his secretary and asks him, "What's the matter? You know what do you think why I should do with this guy?" And the secretary says, "God the only thing I can think about is to give him his 20 cents back and tell him to go to hell." (Laughter) and God did that, gave his 20 cents back and told him to go to hell and what I'm trying to say here, what I'm trying to say here is do something that is really G, O, O, D.

Now I presume that this could be wrong and I don't I do not asking for people to pass comments about it but I understand that the word stands, has come out of the word God because God is good and first if you want to do something good in this world first you have to understand the source of all goodness to this world and that is God so if you want to do something good in this world you'll have to first understand God, who is God and then that is the only way that it is the only possible way we can do something good into this world because actually when we can involve into this world, see first of all God made this world, it's beautiful and then there was a point where God had to destroy because it got so bad to see and he had to well that's that's the whole story about it, it's called Noah's Ark and God had to destroy it. Now what, what I'm trying to say here is that in this world if we even try to do something good by our self and maybe we think we are oh we are doing something really fantastic but it might not be fantastic because we have to understand God first and so whatever the mission we are performing in this world we think it's good because we have understood God and practically God.

When Swami Vivekanand came and into into this into this West of course he was very much welcomed here and it probably whatever it was he knows better than we can, we can really understand but when he was in search of this Knowledge he was going to different, different Masters, he was going to different, different people, he was really in desperate search of this knowledge because he desperately required it, he spiritually needed it. He was going to different people, he was asking them, he was asking them, "Can you show me God? Have you seen God?" And many people used to just nod their heads and say, "No. I'm sorry. I haven't seen God and I can't show you God." When he finally went to Ramkrishna for a month and he asked him, "Have you seen God?" And he said, "Yes, I have seen God." And then he asked, "Can you show me God?" And he said, "Yes I can show you God. And I can, I have seen God face to face more near than I am see him seeing you within inside myself because he's right there and if you want to know God, if you want to know God, if you want to see God as I've seen God it's also possible for you to see God as I've seen God."

Now we all talk about God and we have so many different conceptions about God and and and everybody, you see there are so many books, there's so many scriptures and what is the real meaning of God? See what I understand the real meaning of God is, now that is of course verbally, not practically because if you try to put the infinite experience of God we just can't do it because these words that we'll try to express it through will be finite and we do understand that if we take a Mini Cooper and try to put a Chevrolet station wagon into that Mini Cooper it's impossible at why it's impossible it's a it's a simple thing Mini Cooper is a little car and a Chevrolet station wagon is a very big car so we just can't put it in. Of course I'm not talking about those toy cars I'm talkin' about real ones and and that's the whole thing, God is, God is infinite and this experience is infinite and these words are finite but what really God means to verb is G for generator who has generated us, O for operator who is operating hours and D for director whose directing us. That's the real meaning of God. Generator, Operator and Director and this is really his role, we can practically see that role that he is performing in this world. He is generating us, he's operating us, he's directing us.

So I have just one thing to say to people of this world, see I'll be, I'll be saying this again and again and if I have a chance to and the point is that I have realized something, I have realized something very precious and that precious thing I want you to know. It doesn't take a religion, it doesn't take a dime. What ever religion you are following you can be into that because it's your own independency to follow your own religion and if you want you can still realize this knowledge, you can still follow this knowledge and you can be of any religion you like. You can be Christian and still follow this knowledge. You can be a Hindu and still follow this knowledge. You can be a Sikh and still follow this knowledge. Whatever religion you want to follow you can follow it and still be into this knowledge. Non-vegetarians drink water and vegetarians drink water and and non-vegetarians drinks water so the vegetarian doesn't say, "Oh, because non-vegetarians drink water so why should I drink water?" Water is common to both so no matter what ever religion we are trying to follow in this world we can still meditate and practice on this knowledge and it's, it's something that we really need in, in this world if we want peace and peace, peace is really something that has word and and really it's it's a very strange word in, in this world.

Whenever anybody talks about peace we think he's crazy, we think he's mad and why we think he's mad because how I understand it, see is supposedly I come into Chicago city and I am searching a Superman comic I I I I've said this many times ago and I am searching a Superman comic and I go from places to places to places to places searching this Superman comic and nobody has it so I go to all the houses and nobody has it. I go to every individual of Chicago and nobody has a Superman comic and this is for just was the position because I believe they have a lot of them here and the point is that I am searching for all these and I can't get it so when I can't get it I am depressed about it and so I just go under a tree and sit down and say, "O well, can't get a Superman comic" and I'm thinking about something else when this little cute kid pulls up to me and he's got something stuffed under his shirt and he comes up to me and says, "Listen Mr. do you want a Superman comic?" And I say, "What, what did you say?" Because I think he is mad, because I know I searched it all round I couldn't find a Superman comic and I think he is mad because he is trying to give me a Superman comic which I, which I searched in the whole big Chicago city and then he pulls out the Superman comic and I got no comments to pass on him because he has got a Superman comic.

That's the exactly condition with me. I go to people and I say, "Do you want peace?" And people say, "What? You wanna give us peace?" They think I'm crazy but I'm not crazy. It's worth a, it's worth a trial and it's one of those sure problems. Try it and you'll like it (applause) it's, it's real peace that we all are lacking and thank you and we are, we all need it, see we all need it and that's one of the reason. See the point is as I understand, now this is, this is very strange thing. I I'm giving many, many there are many, many followers come to me and say, "Guru Maharaj Ji what should we do?" And I tell them to go back to school or to go back to ashrams and I myself left-left my school. Why? I could have been an engineer living a pretty good life, you know, and not doing what I'm doing and then could probably have a golden Rolls-Royce and nobody could have objected that and everybody would love me and I could have been a movie star, be okay with it but the point is that why I'm here trying to tell you about something, why am I wasting my energy because I don't think it's really a waste, it's worthwhile something because people will be benefited by it.

If, I know that supposevly is there 100 people who come to listen to me that everybody is not going to do what I tell them. I know that. Out of hundred about 50 will be there just as visitors, you know what I mean visitors just see what's going on and because they saw my poster and they think something is going to go on and then out of those 50s you just cut out because they won't be interested in knowledge and they're not interested in what I'm talkin' about, and they think peace is just not meant for them, it wasn't meant for somebody else and they say, "It's not for us sir." And then 15 of those people who are left today, they are interested but then they see my body and then they see the organization and then they see a band and they say they can't understand peace you know. One of those boy tricks then he comes up to you and he says, "Do you want a Superman comic?" And they say, "Go on it's impossible." And then 15 are, are the ones who really are into approach in a proper manner and come and ask of peace and out of those 15 about 10 are going to be such people you know I means will really come up, up into it and understand peace. So you understand 5 out of 100 but I do not mind because I, I'll shout 'em again and again and then again more five and five make 10 and 10 and 10 makes 20 so that's how it's growing.

It's all by his Almighty's grace this is all growing and I'm here and I won't take very long of you because I do understand that there are three methods to call, call a man and that depends if somebody is a straight born out fool and you try to call him you will be beckoning with both your hands, shouting at him, yelling at him, "Mr. so-and-so come here" and he won't even look at you, you won't even look at you. Well, the other person is you have to tell him, you have to tell them in such a manner that listen Mr. put your left foot in front and your right foot in front and then your left foot in front and your right foot in front, keep your nose level towards me and repeat the process and when he comes to me you just tell them to stop the process. That's one way of calling him and it ain't a very good way either and then, of course, there is one way of just beckoning him and you don't even have two beckon him just say like this and he'll come walking up to you. So what I want to tell you is this, that people who are really interested in peace, who really want peace, I have it, see, so that's about, that's about it I have to say to this point because what is there else to say?

I don't want to quote of Scriptures because Scriptures are right there, go ahead and read it, you are more educated than I am. See I've, I've only got, gone through ninth grade and you've probably O.M, M.A., B.A., B.S.C. and all that so you are probably more educated, go ahead and read it. What have I got to quote from there? But if you want peace, I have it and if you want it, I have it so this is the only thing I have to say to this whole world, I don't want to quote of Scriptures, I don't want to quote, I believe in Scriptures, I don't say I hate Scriptures but I believe in Scriptures but it's right in front of you, go ahead and read 'em. Go ahead and read 'em from the, the last beginning page, page to the last page of it but still you want peace (end of Side A) because in this world we are trying to attain something. Everybody's looking for something, what is it? Maybe we don't call it peace, maybe we call it perfect knowledge maybe we don't call it perfect knowledge maybe we call it perfect realization, maybe we don't call it perfect realization, maybe we call it satisfaction of mind but we are all looking for something.

What is, see a baby is born then it's it's it's in such a manner, baby is born and then you put him in his cradle and the cradle has beautiful legs to it and everything and somehow his leg gets caught under the sheet in such a manner that his leg gets twisted. He's crying, nobody thought that baby how to cry, nobody, he's just born and then the mummy comes and takes its feet out and soothes it a bit and the baby stops, stops crying. Now who told baby you must cry when you feel pain? Who told him, nobody, still he knows and when he soothed it out he stopped it and nobody told him to stop crying and even if Mama told him, he never listened to it because he never understood what Mama was saying. But then he stopped crying because it's a natural instinct inside of us, we are born with that instinct inside of us that we are all looking for something in this world, we are all looking, desperately looking and doing so many, so many, so many, so many, so many, so many things.

Now the greatest progress that has been made in this world is one of those computer kill processes where they take a small, small device and they put it on a battlefield and then that that device senses to a certain mile if there is anything in that certain mile that can prespire (perspire?) like human beings and if there is certain anything like that can prespire it sends out a signal to the base and the base picks up the signal and sends it out to the plane. Plane takes up the signal and flies out to that point and bombs that point right out. Well that's a pretty good job they did on a computers but the point is to attain what, to attain land and what after that.

Alexander the Great was trying to, trying to attain the same kind of thing. He was trying to attain, I means, I mean I'm not stopping anything because I do understand that is going to be a really worthwhile, worthwhile shouting to do because the leaders of the world have to realize themselves what they're up to and the only point I can say see I'm not a politician, I'm not a politician but what, what only I can say that you come into this world empty handed and you go out from this world empty handed. Even if you tell your layer when you die you want a ring on your hand you'll be dead somebody will come and open your grave up and take the ring out. You won't take the ring with you, you won't take the ring with you and that's what, that's exactly the same thing that happened. Alexander was coming out on his staircases and sees, sees a saint standing there and he says, "Saint, give me blessings so that I can conquer the world, I can I can conquer the land" and the saint says, "Why? It's going to do you no good to do that" and he, he really freaks out. Alexander freaks out completely takes out his weapons out and starts whipping the saint. So what are you talkin' about? It's going to do me good, of course it's going to do me a lot of good things. What are you talkin' about? And he whips him and he whips him and with him. Well, Alexander goes and he fights and fights and fights, you might have heard that big story about Alexander, I mean, fights and after one day at one point he's ready to die and he calls his personal secretary and says, "Listen Mr., when I die when I'm dead, take my hands out of my coffin when you are taking me to bury and put two small, marble slabs on my hands saying, 'Alexander the great who wanted, who had a desire to conquer the whole world and who did it to some extent came into this world empty handed and has gone from this world empty handed' so that the people of the forthcoming ages, the people who coming for future may realize that it is of no good to them." They have to realize and have to understand what they have come into this world and the aim of the human life and that's all I say, that's all I can promise you about and well about the same thing happened to Alexander and he had those slabs on and he also requested that when they bury him to put a slab on his graveyard saying the same words.

So it's none of, I cannot force you to do anything. I can just say it's up to you if you want to follow it and if you don't want to its advice, it's a recommendation I am giving you, it's not an order because it cannot be an order it's just a small recommendation if you want to follow it, go ahead it has done 6 million people some good and they were human beings not gorillas or chimpanzees, they were human being and you are human being too and it can do you some good too

Because it is that it is that inner thing that we all are lacking in this world. You see, the point is that in this, in this age we have to understand war not fight war, we have to understand it, what it is and what it can to really. That is my whole point that what I'm trying to say, don't, don't try to pass comments about it because it's my own opinion as I have seen face-to-face. If somebody comes to me and says that this is white when I say it is red. Well, if anybody comes to me and even pulls a gun up to me and says, "Aren't you going to follow that or not? Aren't you understand that red petal is white?" But I can't do that, even, even if he forces my tongue out to say it is white but still my mentality is, still within inside of me I know that it is red, it's not white.

So this is the point where you can take a horse to the water, you can't make him drink. And exactly, exactly it's it's exactly the kind of same kind of situation and ??? ??? You know I have given you the recommendation and the rest is up to you and understand it does not interfere with your religions, it's that, it's that inner Knowledge and inner vibration within inside of us and it's like it's the same thing I don't want to say what put your left foot in front and then your right, keep your nose level towards me and repeat the process because I don't think that's necessary to do it at all and here we are with this beautiful human body in this world. See such a fantastic computer, such a, such a fantastic computer it is you won't believe. You know all the computers in this world are run by this computer, this is the computer that feeds those informations into those computers. This is the computer that has the ability to create all those computers. This is the computer that has created all those computers so this is this is that fantastic fantastic computer and it's all up to us to realize the aim of this body and to work it out because we will have to give a little bit of explaining to God why we came into this world and why we did not complete it and that's all about I have to say about it and gentlemen the rest is up to you. Thank you very much. May God bless you.

8:11

Song: Lila - Blue Aquarius

Verse 1.
He is our own Satguru
And we should love Him
He is brighter than a thousand seas
Shining in the sun
He is pure and fresh
As the early morning dew
He is lila
And His game has just begun.

Verse 2.
I wish I was a little bird
Flying high in every tree
But then how would I see
Guru Maharaj Ji
He is lila, lila
And His game has just begun.

Verse 3.
I wish I was a little stream
Flowing down to the sea
But then how would I see
Guru Maharaj Ji
He is lila, lila
And His game has just begun.

Verse 4.
For we are all little streams
Flowin down to His ocean
And all He asks from us
Is love and pure devotion
He is lila, lila
And His game has just begun.

Stoned Satsang rehearsal

On the 7th August, 1973 Guru Maharaj Ji (aka Prem Rawat) was rehearsing for a Studio Satsang and by the sound of it he had begun smoking marijuana. Bizarrely enough, once he got over the giggles he produced one of the most coherent speeches he has ever made called "The Practical Solution." Of course, he may have been reading out a prepared speech.

26:50 Song: Realize You – Seymour Light