Durga Ji, Pacific Guru Puja, Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia, October 18 1975
Maharaj Ji talks a lot about sharks. Sharks just seem to be a subject that has come up a lot. He said in satsang in South America, the mind is a shark and it's very unpredictable and we can't really say for sure what that shark is going to do at any given moment. We don't know. Maybe it will just swim around or maybe right when you think it's swimming around doing nothing it comes right in for an attack and then what do you do? When your leg has gone, what do you do? You know it's a little late to take that situation back and it's like that shark has the capability to completely destroy a man swimming in the water. Yet Maharaj Ji, out of his infinite Grace, has come and said "Listen, I can give you something to protect yourself with". Because, this is the situation that we are in. We have mind, we have this shark and it's just a menace and we know that.
The Golden Age Number 24, November 1975

Munich, Germany, April 10 1977
It's just like premies had to let go! And premies had to let go. Because you can have this big fight to defeat within inside of you: "Well, should I? Is it worth it? Can I stay on the boat? Am I going to sink?" Yeah, you're so smart, you're a hundred miles off the coast, you're a hundred miles south of where you land, right in the middle, and and you say, " Yeah, I'm so smart, I'm going to jump this boat." So you think if this boat is going to sink … It's just like - this guy is just taking a cruise on Queen Mary. And all of the sudden, standing in the back, and he says - I mean - there's nothing wrong with the boat, everything's fine, and everybody's having a nice time. And all of the sudden - he's just thinking in his head about; "This boat's going to sink." And he just starts confusing and imagining this boat is going to sink. "And if the boat goes down there's so much water and I'm going to get sucked in and then I'm going to die, and the sharks are going to come and eat my meat, you know, and it's going to be terrible." He just jumps off! Perfectly okay ship, got everything going with it. He just jumps off! You know … So it's completely okay, premies. If you want to jump off, then jump off! It's going to be hard, you know? Or in our lives we can really do it. So I suggest - and if you want to be all smart and if you want to listen to somebody who's got a little bit of experience here - beautiful!
The Golden Age Number 39

London, England, April 19 1977
So I know that there are a lot of premies here that I just haven't seen for a long, long, long time. Welcome back! And the only thing I can say this time is: Don't think you're too smart and try to jump off the running boat because you think it's never going to make it. I mean, it's like that example I was giving about the boat. Here is the situation. They think that the boat is going to drown. I mean, it's wild speculation. Nothing else except wild speculation. They think the boat is going to drown. The boat's running fine. No problems with it. You can see the captain just walking around and you're just having a nice, smooth journey. Wild speculation, wild mind, comes along and says, "This boat's drowning. This boat is sinking." And then all of a sudden you start to hear voices. Voices like, "Help!" Nobody is yelling help. Everybody is saying, "Wow!" But somehow, "Wow!" turns into "Help!" Captain is saying, "Welcome aboard. Stay on board. Relax. Let go. Surrender." Somehow all that gets changed to: "Abandon ship!" Ocean is calm, smooth, and there is nothing there. All of a sudden that changes into storm and rough weather and all that. And you say, "Oh boy, I'd better abandon ship!", never asking the question: "Okay, look, if this boat is really, really sinking, then why don't I just wait a little while? If it's sinking it's going to hit water, right? Water is going to be on deck. If the water is going to be on deck I'm going to find out. When that happens I'm going to grab myself a lifeboat and split." No. They have to bail ship when it's moving full speed ahead. Nice and calm and smooth. And then, what is the ocean full of? Sharks. This mind. And as soon as you jump in there if just eats you up
We have to just grow. We have to just let ourselves flow into it. You know, it's like the example I've been giving. It's like a big boat, it's a huge boat. And Guru Maharaj Ji's the captain of this boat. And he's saying, "Come," you know. "Come on this boat. I'll take you over this ocean. I'll take you over this rough water. You can never swim this. This is full of sharks. This is full of crazy things."
And I mean it's just, the sharks - maybe sharks are nice. I certainly don't want to encounter one. But you know that if they are a little hungry, they like to chew on things. And it's just like mind. And you know, you jump into that ocean, you're going to get it! You're going to get it bad.
The Golden Age Number 39

Montreal, Quebec, Canada on May 1, 1977
Then the third problem is: there is this crazy mind just sitting there like a shark. It's gonna get us! And the only thing is, the only way, if there is one - and there is one - is just: let Guru Maharaj Ji pick you up, and let him put, let yourself just be to that point so he can take you aboard. And he'll take you, in this safe, beautiful journey, that is completely incredible. That so many people have tried to describe in so many, so many ways. And all Guru Maharaj Ji's saying: "I will do everything for you. You don't have even have to bother about anything. Just sit, relax, and enjoy yourself. This is all you have to do. And I welcome you aboard." But, you have to make this one little move. And the move is, you have to transfer yourself, your body, which you obviously do by walking, from the dock to the boat. That's one thing Guru Maharaj Ji, or this captain, is not going to do for you. That is something that you will have to do yourself. And once you have done that, then he says, "Welcome aboard! Here it is; all three tons of fun. Anything you want, it's here. Do anything you want. Enjoy yourself. But keep away from those rails. You go too close to those rails, you jump in, and it's a little too hard to stop this boat." And premies, you know of course there are these incredible stories about these people who have treaded water for days and days and days. Have gone without water, have gone without food. Would you like to do that? And it's just like, yes, maybe it is possible that you can survive a shark attack. Maybe it is possible that you can crash and still survive, but just - that doesn't mean that's what you go around doing! And the chances, I mean, the chances aren't that great. The chances just aren't that splendid.
The Golden Age Number 39

Hans Jayanti Festival, Rome, Italy, November 12 1977
So I know that there are a lot of premies here that I just haven't seen for a long, long, long time. Welcome back! And the only thing I can say this time is: Don't think you're too smart and try to jump off the running boat because you think it's never going to make it. I mean, it's like that example I was giving about the boat. Here is the situation. They think that the boat is going to drown. I mean, it's wild speculation. Nothing else except wild speculation. They think the boat is going to drown. The boat's running fine. No problems with it. You can see the captain just walking around and you're just having a nice, smooth journey. Wild speculation, wild mind, comes along and says, "This boat's drowning. This boat is sinking." And then all of a sudden you start to hear voices. Voices like, "Help!" Nobody is yelling help. Everybody is saying, "Wow!" But somehow, "Wow!" turns into "Help!" Captain is saying, "Welcome aboard. Stay on board. Relax. Let go. Surrender." Somehow all that gets changed to: "Abandon ship!" Ocean is calm, smooth, and there is nothing there. All of a sudden that changes into storm and rough weather and all that. And you say, "Oh boy, I'd better abandon ship!", never asking the question: "Okay, look, if this boat is really, really sinking, then why don't I just wait a little while? If it's sinking it's going to hit water, right? Water is going to be on deck. If the water is going to be on deck I'm going to find out. When that happens I'm going to grab myself a lifeboat and split." No. They have to bail ship when it's moving full speed ahead. Nice and calm and smooth. And then, what is the ocean full of? Sharks. This mind. And as soon as you jump in there if just eats you up
Élan Vital, Volume II, Issue 1, Spring 1978

Guru Puja, Tucson, Arizona, Friday, July 14, 1978
You know, first it was "Jaws," then the "Jaws 2," and now, "The Swarm." They're making this movie about bees. It's incredible! Here is a possibility that you might get attacked by a shark, and there is the possibility that you might get attacked by "Shark 2," "Jaws 2," and there is the possibility that you might get attacked by "The Swarm," bees, you know. But then there is no possibility because, as a matter of fact, it's always happening. You're always going to get attacked by your mind. And in whom, in which person does it send those shrieks down their spine? Wow! Talk about sharks, "No, no, no!" It's like Hansi or Wadi-They're just really into it. "Shark, shark," and they want shark-this and shark-that, and they look at the teeth, and you draw them a shark and they look at the fin and they go, "Du-du-du-du." And to them it's a very thrilling thing, "Wow! Shark!" And sometimes I go, "Wadi, there's one right behind you!" And she goes, "Uuuuu!" Of course, she is doing it, because she really doesn't feel it. Because sometimes when she's not in the mood for it you can tell her there's two of them behind her and she won't do anything. But to us that becomes one of those possible dangers, and we think about it. When we were in Florida, in Miami, premies were skiing. I was going to take John skiing. And John saw these two fins out in the water. And I said, "Okay, let's go!" He said, "But don't take me that way. I'll go over there, but don't take me that way." And it's just like all this fear in our lives really manifests. It's not like one of those things. Raja Ji is flying these days and he was saying that they were doing these stalls, and he said that he likes to do these stalls over land. He doesn't want to do them over the ocean in case something happens and he has to ditch in water. He doesn't want to ditch in water; he wants to ditch where the land is so at least there won't be sharks there. And I mean you look at it and okay, you look at a shark, you read about sharks, and they are pretty fascinating things, and definitely one of those things that you don't want to encounter with your hand in their mouth trying to shake hands. But it's one of those things; I mean, you look at it, and there is more danger out there. I mean, definitely people who live in Tucson don't have to bother about sharks. But people who live out in Los Angeles, they say, "Oh, shark, shark, shark!" People who live by a coast: "Shark, shark, shark!" Why should a person living in Kansas City bother about sharks? What kind of shark is going to come up and attack him in Kansas City? And yet, it's so amazing. There's probably some places where they read all about sharks and get all fascinated by them. And here you've got nuclear warheads floating everywhere. They can wipe out the entire country. "That's okay." Why? Why is that okay? "Because sharks are unpredictable." Oh. So these people who have the control over nuclear warheads are completely predictable. They're perfect, right? I mean, that's the other thing that I was completely fascinated by. There is a man thinking that, "Oh yeah, everything is okay, everything is predictable." Where is that guarantee? Where is that protection? You've got sharks everywhere. You don't have to bother about sharks in the ocean. Does that mean a person who is really, really, really, really, really scared of sharks - and he lives in California, over the water, and likes to swim in water, like a natural lake or ocean or something like that - he's really freaked out, sees a shark. "Man, I'm never going in that ocean." But then, he's still really afraid. "What if the ocean comes in and the shark comes in with it?" or something like that. So he moves out. Moves out to somewhere in the middle of the country where there is no salt water, just fresh water. "Okay, now I'm saved. I'm safe." Is that the thing? There's a lot of people who are afraid of sharks. Look at Joan Apter. She's really, really afraid of snakes. She will just about fly if there is a snake there. And yet can she say to herself, "If I go to a place where there are no snakes, I'll be saved"? No! Because that's not the problem. The problem is us!
The Golden Age Number 48, September/October, 1978

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Saturday, 26 August 1978
And there are these sharks and there is this paranoia about sharks. And there are all these movies about sharks. And then there is this album about sharks. And not only that. Would you believe it? There's even a colouring book for kids about sharks. Oh, really. A shark is biting into something and you're supposed to paint all the gory stuff going on. But what was completely incredible is when they first came out with the movie, "Jaws", it was a test thing. And then it became a huge success. And it really became big. And then they came out with "Jaws II," and they had a lot of publicity for it. And as a matter of fact in the garage there was this one thing sitting. And it said, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water … and then there is this red sea and a fin on top. And I think "Jaws IV" is still playing in theatres. They've come out with another movie called "Piranha." No, this is a fact! And it's supposed to be the same thing, but it's called "Piranha." And, you know, there's the same kind of scene. People are swimming and you didn't think there were piranhas in America, but to these people's surprise … And these people are getting chewed up by piranhas. And it's, "Oh, great!" And everybody who probably got very scared of the ocean went to Blue Mesa Reservoir. And then now they will probably be afraid of Blue Mesa Reservoir, too.
The Golden Age, April 1979, Number 52

Guru Puja, Miami Beach, Florida, Saturday, 21st July, 1979
"Oh my God." It's such a thing. And then they have Jaws. And that attacks you. That prevents you from going into the ocean. "Eeee. There's sharks in there." And if you manage to survive and forget about Jaws and you like skiing, they have Jaws II where this girl's skiing and all of a sudden she gets chewed up. And not only is it aimed at those people who like to ski, but also at the driver of the boat who's pulling the skier. Because he also gets chewed up. And then the whole thing is, don't go out in the ocean. Go in the fresh lakes. There's no sharks there. Then they have the movie Piranha. Aimed right at your guts. And when you see it, you get sick. When you see it once that fear taps right into you. Tuned for you. Tailored for you.
The Golden Age, October 1979, Number 55

New Orleans, Louisiana, October 22 1979
It's incredible how Australia was started. There were these British kings and queens and everybody, who took their criminals and said, "Let them be sent so far away that they can never get to us." So they took them and shipped them to Australia. Big deal. They made a place better than England was. There is a place in Australia which is an identical replica of London. It has Oxford Street and it has Hyde Park. They're even named the same things. And it's a park and a street. They just built this place and now there is Australia and all grand splendor and what have you.
Élan Vital, Volume IV, Issue 4, Winter 1980

Cancun, Mexico, January 16, 1980
Here we have these sharks - supposed to he a few minutes away. I call them "monastic order sharks" because they're sleeping down there in those caves. Sharks don't sleep, but these guys do. And you can go and you can poke them and they'll still stay there. And you irritate them too much and they'll split the cave and come back. (I was saying, why not take some initiator applications and see if the sharks will sign it.) But this is, in one sense, our reality. When that shark gets hungry it has to eat. And it'll eat - if you are there, it'll eat you, when it gets hungry. If you're not there and something else is there, it'll eat that. I mean, what is it? There were these photographers once who went down into the Pacific to film these great white sharks. And there were all these guys with cameras and they were filming them and they were feeding them. And they were starting all this frenzy and everything. All of a sudden one of the sharks attacked a cameraman. So instead of saving him - they couldn't do anything to save him - they kept rolling the film. And the shark just kept eating this guy up. They just filmed this whole thing about it.
Affinity, June 1980

Melbourne Australia, March 23 1982
One time I remember, you know, I've given examples of it but one time I remember I actually saw it happen. We took a boat out into the ocean supposed to be this clear blue waters and uh really an ideal place to go diving. We took the boat out and it was very, very rough And the boat was just really doing its number, really going up and down and sideways and all around. And so, it was, it was quite warm outside, the water was quite warm and so we finally got to this one place where the diving was really good and you could really see the bottom, the water was really clear water but really big waves, really big waves and so a lot of people were feeling very queasy so they decided if they'd just go swimming they'll be okay, they'll be alright and so a whole bunch of people just jumped in there, in the water. And I was just swim, just sitting on the swimming step, I was just sitting there, my legs were dangling in the water and I could just feel the whole boat going like that and all the waves going and I tell you it was no comfort for them, it was no comfort. I didn't feel queasy, I didn't feel safe but it was no comfort for them, no comfort whatsoever to be in that water because now they could really see they were in the water and not only they were going up and down but the whole boat was going up and down and sideways and they standing there seeing this boat just rolling and poling everywhere and one second they could see land and the other second it would disappear and they were getting jostled around and it's like yeah well, doesn't that all make sense? It all looks so inviting and I would just stand there and I would say "Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark!" Oh no, no, none of us would come on looking around. And it did look like a place where there would be sharks anyway. I'm sure there's plenty, tons of them hang out there. And you in that grace, there is that grace given to me to protect me from that very thing happening and yet when am I gonna open up and accept it.
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