Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, Delhi, India, 18th November, 1963
From his birth to his death a man tries to attain constant happiness and hence to be immune from troubles and suffering. In most cases he does not succeed. Instead he continues to get himself tied up in doubts and anxieties. His periods of happiness are only short-lived and true happiness, like the mirage, remains an illusion for him, but which nevertheless he continues to chase, wherever he thinks it can be found. Modern society with all its good laws and civilisation, its scientific inventions and discoveries, its technological innovations and the conquest of nature, all represent attempts by mankind to find happiness. But we can see by looking around us that their actual results are only unrest and unhappiness, anxiety and frustration. Real happiness has not been obtained, peace has not been found, and suffering has not been removed, instead the situation has arisen when the very existence of the human race is threatened.
The Golden Age, May 1978, Number 45

Hans Rawat (father of Prem Rawat)
O my Satguru, all praise to You, all glory to You! O Lord of the Universe, source of all creation, supreme personality bestower of salvation, friend of the humble and the poor, only by Your blessing can this powerful illusion be dispelled, as the sun's rays dispel darkness.
Hans Yog Prakash

"Peace Bomb" speech, November 8, 1970
Therefore, dear premies, the time has come. See how peace will be established in the world. There will be peace on earth. That peace which disappeared shall prevail again. It will come, and once again the world will understand. So listen to me and act accordingly. Bow down before Guru Maharaj Ji! Oh, blind humanity, you are like those blind men who tried to visualize the elephant by feeling it. You have become like a horse blinded by blinkers. You have been blinded so much that you are lost in illusion. The world has blinded you in such a way that the blinkers of illusion are now around your eyes. You have been blinded and are now lost in the circle of illusion. Love flows from the Lord who has given me wisdom; will He not also give me strength to establish peace on this earth?
Golden Age, November 1978, Number 49

Alta Loma Terrace, Hollywood, California, August 15, 1971
Is there in reality anything other than God?: This maya.
But maya is illusion, right?: Created by?
Ignorance.: It has been created by God, not ignorance. It is looked at with ignorance, through ignorance. This has been created by God. We look at it through ignorance.
But that still sounds as though it were a dualistic thing, God creating maya.: What is maya? What is maya? The illusion -- the attachment and attraction to the illusion. This is the thing: Bend your desires in, which are going outside, and this whole world will become okay. This whole maya -- you will realize what this maya is.
Élan Vital Magazine Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 1978

Patna, Bihar, India, December 25, 1971
Why do you have this human body? To know this, we will have to take the shelter of Guru Maharaj I. Guru Maharaj Ji knows all. Guru Maharaj Ji is Brahma (Creator). Guru Maharaj Ji is Vishnu (Operator). Guru Maharaj Ji is Shiva (Destroyer of illusion and ego). And above all, Guru Maharaj Ji is the Supremest Lord in person before us. Therefore, my dear aspirants, what is that path? What is that medium which, if we adopt it, we can know that Supremest God, we can know that Creator of this universe, we can know our Father who, though He is omnipresent, is the secret of all secrets, is everywhere, is actually not secret. And you can know Him only by the Grace and Blessings of Guru Maharaj Ji.
Élan Vital magazine, Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring 1977

Tokyo, Japan, October 3, 1972
There is a way that the saints who have been coming to this world have always explained to human beings, and that is to have brakes on their desires. What are the brakes? This Knowledge. Because we do not realize that this whole world is false. What is false? What is untrue? Something that comes and goes away is called untrue. So this world is really an illusion, because one moment we see it, and the next moment everything is gone. Even this body, which we think is so beautiful, goes away. So now we have to find out why we have come into this world. We have to find the aim, the destination, the truth. The word "Truth" is very simple, but it isn't as simple as it sounds, because this Truth is the only thing that can give us peace or satisfaction today.
And It Is Divine, Volume 1, Issue 9, July 1973

Questions & Answers, Delhi, India, 1972
What is God? See, there is a very thin membrane between us and God, and this is a membrane of illusion. A Guru has a device so he can cut this membrane and it becomes practical and easy for us to see God. … Guru means the one who takes us away from darkness and puts us into Light. He takes us away from ignorance. Whenever our Perfect Master comes in this world, he has never just stayed in the caves or in his room, but has always come out and shouted before people, "Come and realize, come and know, come and understand." It is our duty to understand.
Light Reading, Volume II, Issue 1, June 1979

Hans Jayanti, Toronto, Canada, November 1974
In this world we come, where there is so much illusion, and so much delusion, and we completely get lost. And here comes our Father, and he says, "Hey, sonny, here. Hold on to my finger." If you can just hold on tight, there is nothing in this whole world that can detach you, that can put you back into the same illusion where you started from. But only if you can hold on to that finger. This is how it has happened. Every time the people have really been into this illusion of this world, every time, the Perfect Master has come to save them. This Knowledge and the Grace, and the satsang and the darshan is like that finger. If every premie can hold on to it - the meditation, the Knowledge, the satsang, the darshan - then the whole thing is just so beautiful.
And It Is Divine Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, December 1974

Guru Puja, Geneva, 9th September 1978
What is the materialistic world? A saint in India said, quite clearly, that wherever your eyes can perceive, that's all materialism, that's all maya. That's a flat answer whatever you can see, that's all maya. Whatever you can touch, it's all maya. It's all an illusion. And so, more we step into that illusion -- and maybe to some people there is a question; they say, "Why do you call that illusion?" OK, so what is an illusion? What is an illusion? … So to human beings, to us, what appears to be true, but in fact is not, is an illusion. OK, but to a person who has realized what reality is, wouldn't this whole world become an illusion for him? Automatically? … It is based upon the fact that even this body that you see, is only there for certain time. Its reality, its existence, is very relative. So automatically, to saints, to people who have realized this Knowledge, to them it's quite obvious -- yes, this world is an illusion. … Man today is just so confused and so far away from that total reality, that it becomes quite obvious that without the help of a Perfect Master this world has no hope, this world has no chance.
Guru Puja, Geneva 1978, Divine Light Mission booklet

Hans Jayanti, November 5, 1978
But all that happiness that might seem like happiness, all that temporary satisfaction that might seem like satisfaction, is all an illusion. Because it comes and goes very fast. … But Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Listen! I can take you away from the evolution of life and death. I can take you away from the revolution of pain and suffering. I can take you away from the ferris wheel of all this illusion! But only if you confide in me. Only if you have faith in me. Only if you have trust in me. And then I will take you away from this illusion."
But we all have to have that implicit faith in Guru Maharaj Ji. And if we don't have that implicit faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, then this Grace, this bubble, just won't be there. And then what happens? We become vulnerable. We become vulnerable to this incredible world. We fall prey to this incredible world!
Élan Vital, Spring 1979 Volume III, Issue 1

Ventura, California, 21st January, 1979
That is why I guess whoever invented the word "guru," did invent the word "guru" - the person that can bring us from darkness into Light, from not-knowing, from illusion, from confusion. And tell me, how many of us are constantly into Light? … But in the spiritual life, where you are trying to sustain yourself away from the river of ego, from this maya, from this illusion, and you go up to somebody to help him, and he starts drowning you, he starts making that stuff rub out on you; then it is very, very obvious that help will be on its way, but maybe you're not exactly the person who should help him. And Guru Maharaj Ji has come to save exactly everybody, not one person. The people who cannot swim. The point is, if everybody could save themselves, would you really think there would ever be a word called "A Saviour"? The whole reason why there is a word "Saviour" means that there are people who cannot be saved, who would not be able to save themselves. And that is why there is a person who can save those people who cannot save themselves, called a "Saviour". But we have to have that trust
The Golden Age, Issue 52

Holi, Miami, Florida, 8 April, 1979, afternoon
Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Look. There's only one thing that is true in this world, there's only one thing that is real in this world." This one saint says that wherever you can see, it's all maya, it's all illusion. That's it. It's all illusion. And what is really real in this world is that Holy Name, is Guru Maharaj Ji. There is one song that goes "Without Guru Maharaj Ji, nobody is going to find the path." And it just becomes so obvious in our lives that, yes, we are made to be dependent on somebody, on that perfectness. We have to rely on that perfectness. We have to be a beggar. And we have to be the "most humblest" beggar. Not just a beggar, but the "most humblest" beggar. Because everybody is a beggar. There is this one poem by Tulsidas. It goes, "In this world, you should do two things. Accept Holy Name and give peace." And that's what you have to do. You have to be a beggar. And to understand that, and to beg from your heart. Because what else can you do?
Divine Times, May/June 1979, Volume 8, Number 3

Marbella, Spain, 29 April 1979
And what does Guru Maharaj Ji say? He says, "Come to me." What does Guru Maharaj Ji say? He says, "Look, don't look back." Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Don't get caught up in this illusion again and again and again." How stupid can you get? Is there any way left that Guru Maharaj Ji hasn't made it clear in this world? When Jesus came, didn't he implicitly make it clear what had to be done? What is new? That surrender - to let go, to have that complete faith … It's so implicitly made clear. In Gita, it has been so implicitly made clear. In Ramayana it has been made so clear. In every scripture it's made so clear that you have to let go. It's not your option, you dum-dum. What do you think you are? Here you are riding in this illusion. You are sleepwalking. You are dreamwalking. You're walking. You're sleeping and you are walking and you think everything that you feel or you realize is really real.
Divine Light Mission magazine unknown

Guru Puja Lingfield England June 21 1979
And yet it's so beautiful to just have Guru Maharaj Ji in our lives so Guru Maharaj Ji can and will show us that it's not what it appears to be. That is why it's called an illusion. This world that we get hooked on, that's that's why it's called an illusion cause it is not what it appears to be. So far your definitions of real of reality are concerned, whether they are, whether this world is real or not according to your definition of course it's real but it definitely isn't what it appears to be. All that love that we dedicate our lives to, it def, it definitely isn't what it appears to be. When Guru Maharaj Ji shows us that Knowledge, when Guru Maharaj Ji shows us that real life then there are no questions left, then there are not, there can never be a question after that and that's what Guru Maharaj Ji wants to brings us and so premies (sucks phlegm out of nose) you know it's really beautiful to have you all here on this horse race track
Guru Puja Lingfield England 1979 video

Guru Puja, Miami Beach Florida, Saturday, 21st July 1979
And this is what Maya is all about. It's all up in your head. It's all an illusion. And this illusion becomes a reality. And it becomes a reality in, and still stays, an illusion. It's an illusion to begin with, becomes a reality - but still in the realm of illusion. It's more like in the words of a saint, in the words of a Perfect Master: there is this world. First of all, there is good and there is bad. There is good and then there is bad. And under the bad section is this world. And in that bad section there is good and there is bad. But what is good is still under the bad. That "good." What is "good" and what is "bad"?
The Golden Age, May 1980, Number 55

Hans Jayanti Festival, Kissimmee, Florida / November 5, 1979
And Guru Maharaj Ji says very simply that you cannot look towards any of these things. That is the message of Perfect Master. You cannot look towards these things and call them a reality - any problem of this world. A lot of people used to come to Shri Maharaj Ji and say, "Well, there are people who are diseased. There are people who are sick. There are people who need food. People who need clothes. What about them? Here you are, trying to preach a Knowledge. But what about the immediate necessities of these people?" And Shri Maharaj Ji used to say, "Look. Perhaps I can give food to one person today. But what about tomorrow? They'll still be hungry. I can give clothes to one person today, but what about after a week, what about after a month? They'll again need clothes." The problems of this world are never-ending, because this world is never-ending. And yet in fact are those problems really problems, or a mishap - another nightmare in a nightmare, another nightmare in a dream, another illusion in a delusion? And that's the point.
Élan Vital, Fall 1980, Volume IV, Issue 3

Hans Jayanti, Kissimmee Florida, afternoon of Thursday 8th November 1979
And all these things that exist in this world - we have to look at those things as the illusion, as the maya, as something. Somebody had to compare everything that exists in this world to something and say, "This is illusion." Somebody would have to first see the reality to understand that this whole world is an illusion. Because this world sure doesn't look like an illusion. When you walk right up to a wall full force and bang against it and break your nose, it definitely doesn't look like an illusion. It's real. Or if you cut your hand off with a knife, that knife is not an illusion. That knife is real. Or if a car runs over your foot, that car is real. Okay. So these things are real then. But why does everybody keep calling them illusion? Why do all these saints call them illusion? All these people who have experienced the experience of Knowledge, experienced Guru Maharaj keep calling these things illusion. What is illusion about them? Why are they so elusive? So many times I have said, "This is just an illusion." But every time I hit my hand on the arm of my chair my hand doesn't keep going. it stops. Because by my definition of what is real and what is illusion, this is real. Ask any person in this world. They have a definition of what is illusion and what's real. … So if somebody can really see that, if somebody can see that there is something beyond all that, if somebody can see the true reality; then for them this world becomes an illusion. Because. to me, why is this an illusion? Because there was a time that this chair was non-existent.
The Golden Age, May 1980, Number 56

Cancun, Mexico - January 16, 1980
It's just so simple. That maya, this illusion, this world, takes us from Light and puts us in darkness. And Guru Maharaj Ji takes us from darkness and puts us into Light. When we have that experience, it becomes very clear.
Affinity, June 1980

Olympia, London, Guru Puja 23rd August 1980
Within us lies that ultimate experience. Within us lies that thing called omnipresent, everywhere, present everywhere, within me too and yet I do not know perhaps the way to get inside and that is why I need a Master. A Master who can show me how to connect myself within, that's all. Maybe that's all there is to it, you know, you don't have to study any books and you don't have to, you know, go to any college and you don't have to go to any school and you don't have to do anything. A Master who has the Key, who can help you, who can guide you, because somehow in the jargon of this world which is very truly described as Maya, illusion, we get lost in it.
Olympia, London, Guru Puja video

Auckland, New Zealand, 14th March 1983
I've flatted with um premies before and the impression I got from them is that you ask disciples and others to accept the world as it is to uh to some extent to ignore the physical world around us because it's to a large extent an illusion but I can't accept that.
Neither can I.
Okay if you don't agree with that then I
I agree with you, it's not an illusion like I just said if this chair is an illusion I'm in a lot of trouble.
That gentleman over there said, "Is this world an illusion?" How can I call a world that that Creator made an illusion? This world isn't isn't an illusion. My ignorance, my ignorance is the greatest illusion there is. When I am ignorant then everything can elude me or I can elude everything or vice versa and so on and so on and so on. Yet when I know me, myself beyond my little faces and beyond my little ideas and beyond my little thoughts and beyond my little philosophies, me, the pure me, the pure me, I have absolutely no doubt that most of these questions to come would automatically be resolved. It is the lack of the quality of life that people have even stopped seeking that a destruction of another human being becomes an acceptable method of survival.
Audio tape

Shri Sant Yog ashram, New Delhi, Hans Jayanti festival, November 9 1990
I have had a great experience in this respect that a human being is not one but there are two entities amalgamated into one. One part is that which gets joy in talking about the supreme bliss and the other one is that part which takes pleasure in all sorts of false worldly things. So there is not one but two personalities in a man. I have noticed this fact that in this world the latter part of the human being which is biased towards falsehood, maya (illusion), lust and such other nasty things, that part is usually nourished and fed and is mostly attended to. But that other part, that other personality in man who needs Knowledge, who needs supreme happiness and is inclined towards nice things, is totally neglected.
Actually the guru is such a personality about whom it is said: I bow down to the lotus feet of my Guru Maharaj Ji who is the ocean of mercy and is actually Hari (God) himself in human form. And whose words are like sunbeams to disperse the accumulated darkness of gross ignorance. So Tulsidas says that he bows down to such a Guru Maharaj Ji, the Master, who is really Hari (Supreme Power) in the form of man. So the main thing to understand here is that he bows down to the feet of that guru whose utterances, whose expressions are able to illuminate. And what is that which is illuminated by his words? It is the heart which is illuminated. His words are able to sever and dispel the spidery web of illusion, infatuation and ignorance.
'Life Force', Volume 7, Issue 2 April-June 1991

Shri Sant Yogashram, New Delhi, Vaishakhi Celebrations (Evening Session), 13th April, 1991.
Open up your heart. Be a real student, a person who is totally dedicated. Though I know that you have not the capability to become one. So pray for this also that you may become a student. Be a devotee. But I know, you cannot become a devotee. For this too, you have to beg that you may become one. If you want to become a devotee, you can become one. But you do not know that you have to become a devotee. So far you have been a devotee of only one thing and that is maya (illusion). And if you are left alone just for one minute, you will again become a devotee of maya. Apparently you don't know how to practice real devotion. You only know how to practice devotion of maya. You can become a devotee of kali-yuga (dark-age), but if you want to be a true devotee, for that also you shall have to ask
'Life Force', Volume 7, Issue 4 October-December, 1991

May 2007
Is the hunger for peace an illusion? Or is it real? Is the hunger to be content an illusion? Or is it real? A very good question. And the answer is: It's not an illusion! It touches every single human being on the face of this earth, and it has been an issue since time immemorial. What people have done is to learn how to evade the issue - not tackle it but evade it.
Inspire Volume 4, Issue 124 and The Voice of Maharaji website, downloaded 29 April 2009

Thank You 2007 CD, Track 19
Track 19 is an instrumental of the song: Leaving Your Lotus Feet
Who else the power to free me from Maya?
Who else the power to free me from Maya?
Who else showers such a love so sweet?
Who else showers such a love so sweet?
Oh where would I go?
Thank You 2007 CD

November, 2009
This world is said to be an illusion. The illusion is "me and mine, you and yours." The problem with illusion is it looks so real that you can't point out what is fake. For all those people who perform magic, what is the key to their illusion? Distraction. They have to distract you. You look over there while they do the switch here. So, in your life, are you distracted? Oh, yes. If you have never understood the value of breath, you've been living in a state of distraction - the greatest illusion.
Voice of Maharaji website

2010
This was dubbed long time ago, there was a word given to this, called the Grand Illusion, called 'Maya'. Grand Illusion. People still don't understand "Why was all this, why is all this? How could this be an illusion?" They even make jokes about it "How can this be an illusion?" Because. Not because. It is an illusion but like an illusion it is here today and gone to tomorrow. (snaps fingers, speaks portentiously) It disappears. A sleight of hand. What seemed to be forever, is gone. And where? No one knows. … Right in front of your eyes, a day is gone, the biggest magician creates his grand effects. The day is gone, a life is gone and nobody applauds of how wonderful that little illusion was. Because it is not an illusion.
The Grand Illusion video downloaded 1st April 2012

2010
In my life I have to choose every single day because there is such a virtual world out there and it is so incredibly virtual, that to know the difference between the virtuality and reality, the line becomes too faded and I cannot allow that line to become faded and therefore I have to choose reality, my reality. Because reality is more beautiful. The alternative, if you understand it, of this virtual and real saga. What you are looking at, already, Tulsidas, who translated Ramayana, the incredible love story, in that its already he says, "All that you see is virtual. All that you see is illusion. As far as your eyes can see its all illusion, its all virtual. If you want reality, turn within.
Your Blessing video downloaded 1st April 2012