PMT #022: Guru Puja '74 Festival, Amherst Massachusetts, 6th July 1974
This is a transcript of the tape without the speech made by Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat). The transcript was made from a copy of the original audio tape sold by Divine Light Mission and was marked PMT022 (Perfect Master Tape). Maharaji's wife of 6 weeks Marolyn Rawat neé Johnson who was titled Durga Ji or Durga Mata Ji (a Hindu goddess) was already accepted as a semi-divine being by Rawat's premies. The "And It Is Divine" magazine contains stories (here and here) that include large scans of the photos of the guru dressed in a colourful and remarkably flamboyant fashion as Krishna being worshipped by his new wife. If those jewels are real he is balancing the wealth of mighty empires on his head.
Side A
(Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Repeated with Shouting, cheering, chaos)
6th July: The newly wedded Marolyn Rawat proclaimed Durga Ji (a Hindu Goddess) by her 16 year old husband.
Dear premies, dear premies, first of all I'd like to welcome all of you here. It's just really beautiful to see all of you and before Maharaji gives satsang I would like to tell a story to you and this is a story that I hope that will benefit all of the premies and that those interested in receiving Knowledge and perhaps even those who aren't and this is a story of a world that was composed of flutes and these flutes were very different because they actually had legs and arms and even a head if you can imagine that and the condition of these flutes wasn't that they had lived on the earth collecting dirt and collecting soil and leaves and all the things through the hollow shaft of the flute. And for so long they had been like this and actually they had no idea that this was the way they should not be. They just thought that this is the way that they should be, completely stuffed with dirt like a clod of dirt and some of them had a little bit of room so that air could pass through but these flutes and you that there was something missing in their lives.
Somehow they realized that things just weren't the way they were supposed to be and they went around in their life, they tried so hard to have music comes out of them because this is what they felt should be and out of them either nothing would come which caused much frustration or very confused sounds would come out of them, in fact very un-harmonious sounds, very discord sounds and in fact it would drive some of the flutes crazy because they thought that their sound was right and went other flutes were making sounds that were completely in disharmony with their flute they became very angry and they would fight with each other and they were always in discord, they were always unharmonious, always fighting and some of the flutes decided that there must be something better and so they decided to go out and search for this thing that must be better and searching they even got dirtier, they even had more dirt and so because they were suffering so much and they knew that there was something more, something missing but they didn't understand what.
Deep within them they prayed that, that somehow they would find what was the purpose of their life and as they prayed there appeared one to them who was different. From the surface maybe this flute looked just the same as them but there was something different about him. He had a clear sound to him. When he spoke perhaps it was just like all of them and he came to them and he said "Trust in me, I know what your problem is. I know what you need" and so a few of these flutes who have searched and searched said "All right, we've tried everything, was so unhappy. We know there's something missing and we don't know what it is." So this flute who was called the Perfect Flute came to them and said "I have something to give you, in fact, really, I just have something to give you. Actually, it you, you are okay because what you think is you is not really you" because the flutes stuffed with the dirt within them was, was really themself because they couldn't remember when they weren't with it from cent-from as long as they could remember they always had this dirt clot in them and so this Perfect Flute came to them and said I have four tools to give you and if you take these tools and if you use them you'll be able to loosen the thing that is causing you all your suffering and so they took these four tools and he said "Straight and scratch and loosen all the dirt which is within inside of you" and so they did and all of a sudden they felt better, they felt clearer, they felt freer and the more they used those four tools the better they felt until they felt so good and so free that they knew that this was really it.
They knew that this is the way they should be and with that Perfect Flute he started to teach them the most beautiful melody, a melody that would just break their hearts because it was so pure and so beautiful. It was the music of love that was coming out of this Perfect Flute and so they said "Oh Perfect Flute you are the one who has shown us what we've been looking for and couldn't find by ourselves. What can we do, what can we do? You've really shown us how to live. Before, even though we were living, we were really living. You've shown us how to live." And so all he said was to go out and tell all the other flutes that are fighting and killing each other and playing very inharmoniously, terrible sounds, go and tell them that I have something for them, something that can help them and services what they did and the more that came, the more sweet and harmonious music came from the flutes and this is where I'll end the story because this is the situation that this world is in now.
We're not flutes but in the same way that dirt clot, just like our crazy minds. For so long we've thought that this is really part of us, this is us, this mind is us, this mind will tell us that I am you, this is what, this is what you are but this is not what we are so the four tools that Maharaji has given us part of the four tools that we need to get this dirt clot out of, out of us because it does not belong to us, because when it is out there is freedom, there is purity, there is clearness and that's what feels so good because it just doesn't belong in there at all and when that dirt clot is removed then that which comes out of us is love, pure love and this is what Maharaji is giving to this world and so premies the four tools that Maharaji has given us, meditation, service, satsang, and his holy darshan is all that we really need and then he has given us the beautiful service of going and telling this world that he can't take away their problems just like the sun melts the snow and beneath the earth is the seed and when the snow is melted the seed grows and this is what our Guru Maharaj Ji is doing for us and what he can do for this whole world because really premies Maharaji has shown us love that we can't even understand, that we can't comprehend, is complete infinite love, pure love like we've never experienced before and I know all of you or at least I feel that all of you are really very happy with the marriage that has taken place because I think that you understand that Maharaji has really now joined all of us together in marriage to him because we are all his premies, we are all his lovers and he is love and he loves us more than we could ever understand and we love him and all we want to do is love him more and more because that's when we feel that peace, when we feel that clarity, when we feel really in harmony and also by this marriage Maharaji has really made, really made us a family. He's really joined us together with him, he's tied us to our heart in his heart and that bond is something that can't be broken as long as where remembering that Holy Word, as long as we are doing service and as long as we are giving satsang and doing exactly what he's told us to do and so now, maybe after a song, we'll have the precious satsang of our Guru Maharaj Ji.
(Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Repeated with Shouting, cheering, chaos)
Song: Lovers of truth
(Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Repeated with Shouting, cheering, chaos)
Guru Maharaj Ji
Well dear premies we have all gathered here, we have gathered here for this function Guru Puja and it's like 10,000 12,000 premies are here and people who have just come to see what's going on maybe they will never or maybe they will understand the importance of this function because this function has got to do something which is undescribable by these words. It's got something to do with some pure love, with something that is so beautiful and that love has been formed now, is there now between me and the premies. This Knowledge is what has brought it, meditation is what has brought it together and today we're trying to scream, we're trying to tell the whole world that what we have is something for you, that what we have is the most beautiful thing for you. As Marilyn was just telling you that story, tell you, it's, it's true, it's really true because in this world we are there but the thing is the darkness is also there and it's like we are covered, we are completely covered with the darkness and then somebody comes along and show us the proper bond, the certain method of actually living in this world.
Mahatma
Oh Lord of wanderers (wonderous?) repeat
I bow at thy Lotus Feet
Oh glorious
I bow at thy Lotus Feet
Guru Maharaj Ji quote about satsang:
So premies, it's like, it's like a dose.
Male premie
Satsang is a spiritual love-in, it's somebody speaking not with any notes, nothing prepared, from their heart because once any of us have received this Knowledge almost immediately we become itinerant preachers, we want to tell everybody about it because it's so beautiful and really that's the only way we can get even because somewhere along the line somebody told us about it. See all over the world people are all crazy, they're all doing all sorts of weird things and everybody is screaming for the world to change but nobody really thinks about, how about me changing because that's how the world changes by me changing, by you changing and that's the only way the world will change and this is exactly the way Guru Maharaj Ji is going to bring pre-peace to the world.
Mahatma
In the forest thou art a virgin(?)
In the mountain thou art a genius
In the river thou are a current
Guru Maharaj Ji quote about service:
GMJ Same thing with Service
Male premie
And in the beginning it's much easier to control body that it is to control mind and being able to put it into synchronization with soul and the easiest way to control the body is by directing it, its actions because that power which directs the action of the body is willpower and willpower comes from the soul. That's the capacity of your soul, the essence of your being to control your life and if we don't utilise our will-power to control our body, to put it into a course of activity that's in harmony with life itself that is not only in harmony, simply in harmony with life but that it is actually working to uplift the quality of human life for all people then when not utilizing that power of soul to control our life, to control our body and so the very first and most basic step for premies to be consumed in the grace of Guru Maharaj Ji, to be able to experience the harmony of their life coming to that point of perfection is to put themselves into the service of Guru Maharaj Ji.
Spanish chant: Oh senor Maharajius
Guru Maharaj Ji quote about meditation:
And same thing with meditation
Male premie
I used to think I had to try to do something, you know, like you really had to push you know when you sat down to meditate you had to really push, you'd sort of you know, clench your body a little bit and tense up and try to, try to get into it but it's not like that you know it's just like, it's just, it's just like a flow, it's like the growth of a plant or something, you know. It isn't like something we do, it's like, when you try to do it, it's like you're trying to make a plant grow by pulling up on it, you know, like if you have a little teeny-weeny plant and to try to pull up on it to make it grow, it won't work, you know but if you just let it happen you know, let the sun shine and put the water on it, you know then everything was okay, you know. It just grows beautifully, just by itself so similarly our consciousness is growing inside and really it's, it's all Guru Maharaj Ji's grace you know and we, we don't do it, we're here, you know, we're here, it's happening. All we gotta do is just meditate, you know, it'll just happen, just hang on the meditation, just be inside, inside is where it's happening and it, it's all happening there, you know, it'll all just manifest itself. All we have to do is just meditate, just to be inside, that's all, and it's right there, it's just right there, it's flowing so beautifully, you know, this is, this is what Guru Maharaj Ji is doing.
Musical Comedy Interlude
Hey man this is your mind speaking and this is, I'm here to tell you Maharaji ain't coming tonight and you're sitting down here in this wet grass for nothing and now it's gonna rain and the clouds is coming and the stars is disappearing. Remember this is your mind, this is your old friend Mr Ego talking to you. Remember me, I'm the one who got you all into that trouble for the last 28 years, yes indeed, your old friend, that's me.
Well, well, I've got something to tell you, my name is Mr Soul (cheers) Mr Soul is my name and yours is the same and I don't take no ragging from that people upstairs because they been knocking on the floor and they been rapping on my door but I don't need that no more because I got Maharaji and I know he's gonna come cause I'll sit here and suck my thumb until he shows even if it's tomorrow. Now I don't care if I have to sit here all week, I'll sit here till I'm red in the cheek. I'm gonna sit here until my father comes home because that's the place where I belong. (Cheers) Come on everybody, He's coming, He's here inside your hearts brothers and sisters, come on.
Guru Maharaj Ji
I mean in Copenhagen when we went there there were so many premies from so many different countries and there were like, they were confused because they were saying "Oh maybe we'll have darshan, or not" and I was, I was talking to all the premies from, all ashram premies from uh different countries and it was like premies were asking all these silly questions, I mean all these silly questions, "Should we do this? Should we do that?" I said listen because you don't meditate, I mean, the thing is, people put blankets over them and say "Oh yes we are meditating." People come and say "Wow, that's so fantastic, everybody's meditating." (Laughter) Do one thing, lift one of those blankets up and see what they're doing. (Laughter) Some people are carving their beragons, some people are sitting down with their eyes going like this, some like this, some people are saying "Ah let's, let's get over this." And I mean, this is what they are doing and I tell you when I said this to premies they were like "You got us" they were like, really you know that "You got us" and this is what they really do and I mean it's like a man says "Okay I have to go to Kennedy International Airport" and he sits down in his chair and this man says "Oh listen, it's gettin' late, you better get goin'." He says, "Yes, I'm already there." Then he comes again and says "Listen, I don't know if you're already there or not but I think you are in Amherst and you better start getting' ready and leave." And he says "No. I've taken the taxicab out of the airport already." And he is sitting there imagining all things and he thinks this is how it is all going but it's not that. So premies, the thing is, I tell you all these stories and you get a laugh out of it and that ain't so bad but the thing is you should try to understand what I'm trying to tell you. This is, I mean, I joke sometimes but this is not a joke, it's a fact and you know (Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai!) I mean it's nice if you get a laughter out of it but you should try to understand this is what happens and we shouldn't do that because this Knowledge has been given to us you know and we have-until we meditate how are we going to ever understand this Knowledge? Now we couldn't understand it because Knowledge was already within inside of us, we could never understand the day we were born from and we're feeling so many things we couldn't understand and like it has been revealed to us now but we have to meditate and then we will be able to understand.
Song
Was a time I thought this feeling was wrong
Didn't want to need anybody else
Well I was lonely but I thought I was strong
Sitting there alone by myself
I was afraid that I might control
But it was my song and my rhyme
But now I feel you singing through me
Like the wind in the pines you move me
I just want to be where you are
Your loving takes me to the highest star
I was afraid that I might control
But it was my song and my rhyme
But now I feel you singing through me
Like the wind in the pines you move me
I just want to be where you are
Your loving takes me to the highest star
And there's a place inside you and me
That we all share
Where there's peace and light and divine harmony
Feel the Word and we're there
I just want to be where you are
Your loving takes me to the highest star
Side B
Jazzy song, simple lyric
Maharaji has the Holy Name (repeat)
Gary Girard (?)
And in Italy before Copenhagen, Maharaji had a dream one night, here comes another one of those dreams. It was really beautiful. He said that "In this dream, I made up a proverb" and it was so beautiful I'd like to tell you that proverb now. Guru Maharaj Ji said that which comes into the heart softly and lovingly, that is what not to think about but that which comes into the heart quickly and hard, that is what to think about before taking action. So try to understand, try to understand this thing that things come into our heart, if it's on impulse, it is just like "Wow, I've gotta do this, I just feel like this is Guru Maharaj Ji's grace. This is what I should do and this is right." Be careful, be aware, that is what you should think about, that is what you should put some question to but that which comes in slowly, softly, that which nurtures in the heart, that which comes through meditation and time and patience, that is what we never have to think about, that is always correct. Now how we gonna know if it's coming in that way or not? Through meditation, that's the only way, that's the only way we can understand anything without our minds and you know there's one definition as it was told to me of good and bad and this seems to be a very controversial subject, good and bad, and uh as it was told to me out of, as it was written in the Vedas, good is that which promotes the growth of the soul, okay, good is that which promotes the growth of the soul and bad is that which demotes, not only doesn't promote, demotes the growth of the soul. So if we have Knowledge, if we know what soul is, if we can understand that energy then anything which is going to promote the growth of that has got to be good and anything which is not going to promote it and furthermore it demote it, that is bad and that discrimination comes through meditation on the Holy Name.
Song: Kathy Sisler (?)
If you call my name I will come across jewelled skies
And carry you home to stars of heaven
Yes my child
I will build you a ship to sail through darkness
On waves of fire
Cross the sea of creation to your home your home divine
I breathe life into your heart at the beginning
At the start
Now we'll know the sweetest birth
The kingdom of heaven is on the earth
I open will your brow in nectar sweet
Singing rainbows
And carry you can see the starry eyes of heaven
Yes my child
I will build you a mount in the midst of Eden
And set you upon it
And you'll see my glory shining all around
Shining
I will unfold paradise in your eyes
A rising moon of light
Come with me I call again
Where there's no beginning and there is no end
If you call my name I will come from untold depths
And carry you home safe within my arms
Yes my child
I will breathe life into your heartbeat
At the dawn of space and time
Now you'll taste the sweetness;f my mercy
Your heart is opened
Now you'll taste the sweetness of my love
If you call my name I will come across jewelled skies
And carry you home to stars of heaven
If you call my name I will come across jewelled skies
And carry you home to light of God
To light of God
To light of God
Rennie Davis
You know there was a time in 1971 when people never thought that 1974 would ever come. You know really that's true, you know at the end of 1971 we're all going to fly to India and the world's just going to go up in flowers, light and that's it but 72 came and so people thought that well Hans Jayanti and eight jumbo jets and everything, that's it, the whole world's going to go in fact I remember in Guru Puja, Guru Puja in Montrose in 72 there was one premie who drove in a car from New York to Denver to Montrose and he drove the whole way underneath the blanket meditating in the backseat because he realized or he figured it out that he had to reach Montrose, when he reached Montrose he had to have realized this Knowledge because at Montrose the whole world was going to go up into flowers, light, and that's his only chance between New York and Montrose. He's still around, he's meditating.
You know the thing is that the Mission is here, it's a movement, it's something that is real, it's reality it doesn't depend upon newspapers, it doesn't depend upon money, it doesn't depend upon anything but the grace of Guru Maharaj Ji. We've experienced this time and time again, we always need a lot of things but it's only being sustained by the grace of Guru Maharaj Ji. Just like us, sometimes we don't meditate but we're still alive we still, we still have the grace. Everyone thinks it's getting really loose, it is so loose it's incredible but the looseness depends upon discipline. Freedom is control because say you're driving in a car and you're driving really fast and say you want to go left, you can't and if you slam on the brakes to go left you spin out, roll over a few times and get another body, hopefully, you know, it's like, we don't have control over this life until we're disciplined, until we understand what it is we have to do and for the last three years in America at least Guru Maharaj Ji has been giving us discipline and for the next three years and three years after that and for ever Guru Maharaj Ji is giving us discipline and we should just relax and meditate and get disciplined so that every place we go, every room, every store, every car, every country is the shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji and that's why there's been so much stress on ashrams because ashram is the shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji but now we have to understand that this world is our ashram because Guru Maharaj Ji is in the world. He is our father we have nothing to worry about so now we have the Lord in the world, Go where we have to go, we have to do what we have to do, whatever way we want is fine.
Guru Maharaj Ji is not saying you must do this and you must do that. You can live any way you want but we have tw meditate because without meditation it doesn't matter what we're doing. You know, if a premie's blissed out, it doesn't matter where he is and if a premie isn't blissed out it doesn't matter where he is. You know it just doesn't matter, it's a question of being blissed out or not because if you're blissed out nothing matters and if you're not blissed out you could be in heaven and you wouldn't know it. Nothing matters then either but there's just one thing I'd like to say and this is, this is my own opinion, this is my own observation and this is just what I feel in my heart that Guru Maharaj Ji is a Perfect Master of today. Guru Maharaj Ji has come for the world today. He has not come to give this Knowledge alone. He's come to give Knowledge but the Perfect Masters since time immemorial have given Knowledge but never has world peace been achieved but Guru Maharaj Ji has come to bring world peace now. Not just to give Knowledge but with that Knowledge to give world peace and that's why he's asking us please cooperate with me. Do just these things are asked of you and I can give world peace now so if you have Knowledge and if you want world peace because having Knowledge is the beginning, getting peace inside is the beginning to going out in the world and doing prachar. Propagating what is happening inside involuntarily through grace. We have no control over propagation, it happens inside like an amoeba and it splits into two then four. We have an experience, we do some service, some satsang, some meditation. We have some darshan, we get a little grace and something happens inside and then automatically our mouth opens, our eyes open, we shine, we talk, we act in the world and we propagate. So brothers and sisters join the movement, what ever part of it it's so big, it's getting so much bigger that we can't possibly know all the things that are happening in our family but we only have to know what our service is, satsang and meditation.
Shouting
Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Bolie Shri Durga Mata Ki Ji!
Song: Female 12 string guitar
Hear the call of freedom now the journey's just begun
We're travelling towards the land of folk we're moving towards the one
One family on earth will be the children of reality
Come we need your energy to feel this peace on earth
Round, round, the earth is round, round, round, please join the circle
Round, round, all around, life is going all around, love is the circle
Hear the call of freedom now, peace has just begun
1000 years of truth and more, the darkest times are done
One family on earth we'll be, the children of reality
Come we need your energy to feel this peace on earth
Round, round, the earth is round, round, round, please join the circle
Round, round, all around, hearts are opening all around, love is the circle
In the time this song is sung to you the call for freedom and peace is true
Don't be afraid now love will conquer all, now don't be afraid for me if he he he to this freedom call
One family on earth we'll be, the children of reality
Come we need your energy to feel this peace on earth
to light a got to go One family on earth we'll be, the children of reality
Come we need your energy to feel this peace on earth
Rennie Davis
So no matter what lifestyle we live brothers and sisters we have the opportunity of doing meditation in the morning and experiencing the grace of Guru Maharaj Ji, of listening to satsang and helping our brothers and sisters by giving satsang and by practically dedicating our lives to the plan that Guru Maharaj Ji has come to manifest, to unfold and this is what takes us experience over time the kind of joy that were all experiencing here this weekend because we can dance and we can applaud thunder and lightning but really the test of a family is is it going to last over time, is it going to stay together for a few years, is it going to stay together for a lifetime and is it going to develop into something that can spread and offer the same opportunity to the rest of the people of this world and really I know that by making the effort of doing what Guru Maharaj Ji has asked us to do grace comes into our lives And peace will be possible.
Guru Maharaj Ji
And so it's like this Knowledge which is there, which is making this whole world go round is to be known and that's why it's Knowledge because it has to be known, it has to be revealed to us and that is why they Perfect Master comes from time to time, I mean it's like, man is like a big surprise, you know, people are talking about surprises but I think Perfect Master is the biggest surprise. I mean people make a concept of a Perfect Master, he is gonna be like this and he's gonna be like this and he's gonna be like this and then when he comes he is completely different and as a matter of fact surprises the world so much, surprises the world so much that they don't think he is and that is like, I mean, today people are trying to stop the errors. They say "Okay this thing was done before and this was the result of it so we should stop this thing, we should correct out error" but has anybody thought in this world, I mean there's such a huge population and so many religions, has anybody thought in this world that one error that we have been committing each century, each time a Perfect Master comes, to correct that one?
Because if a Perfect Master come we haven't gotten, see that that's the thing because He is perfect, He can come in any form He likes and because we are imperfect we figure out a form for Him and we expect Him to come in that form. I mean it's it's it's it's common sense, you know it's it's complete common sense like if I tell you listen there's gonna be a motorhome turn right in front of us and everybody says oh that little bitty thing, that little bitty thing that littler than a Mini Cooper, that's about this big, this high and all that stuff" and we sit down "Oh yeah" so everybody gets up at the back because they won't be able to see it and when it comes they start "And hey, get that big thing out of here, let the motorhome come in front" but that is the motorhome and you keep shouting "But this is the motorhome" and they say "Come on, you've got to be kidding" and this error, I mean look at that history we go to schools, we go to classes and besides that we go to churches and every family in this whole world follows a particular religion, a definite religion, some are Muslim, some are Christian, some are Hindu, some are that and besides doing that history we go, we hear from these different preachers these stories about the Perfect Master what was done to them.
Have we done anything to correct it? I mean if a Perfect Master comes, its gonna be a big huge surprise, he's gonna come we're gonna say "Beh! You're not the Perfect Master. How can you be the Perfect Master? Ask his identity." Same old thing. We're gonna give him the same old rap and then he's gonna say "Okay." I mean I came, I came, I came for good and uh (cheering, clapping, Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai!) and so it's like listen, listen what always happened the identity of a Perfect Master try to understand the identity of Perfect Master. It's like, if you are thirsty and somebody brought a glass of water to you and he said "This is water" you say "Ah let me try it" but who says that for the Perfect Master? I mean if ????? says "Yes here I am and I have the Knowledge for you." They say "Come on, beat it." (Laughter) They don't say "Okay, let's try it to, let me try it. Maybe it's good, maybe it's nice, maybe it's beautiful." No because see then one again because see that same old problem comes because of the same old thing, the mind and if the mind can be taken away then we will be able to see clearly.
Uptempo rock large group could this be the Ingui brothers?