Prem Rawat Starring As the Beloved Guru Being Worshipped

Guru Puja, Miami, 1979 Video Transcript

These are excerpts from speeches Prem Rawat made in 1979 at the Guru Puja Festival in Miami, Florida. 'Puja' means worship and these festivals were the highlights of Divine Light Mission's annual activities. It was in the period 1977 to 1982 that Prem Rawat publicly and continually propagated the myth of his divinity to his followers, teaching that was a unique Divine Being incarnated in the lineage of avatars. His Knowledge revealed God (the energy that is the source of the universe and life) and the only meaning in and purpose of life was surrender to him. During this period his wife, Marolyn Rawat, nee Johnson newly christened as Durga Ji, and his Western "initiators" (the most dedicated of his followers) took an active role in the recruitment of his religion and the inspiring of his followers. She regularly and publicly crowned him and kissed his feet. At this time he was whipping a large number of his devotees into a frenzy with his dancing dressed as Krishna and was having regular darshan sessions where the devotees would line up for the privilege of passing by his throne and kissing his feet and leaving a "darshan envelope" containing a dedication to help him to live in luxury. This video includes excerpts from the following speeches:

• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Thursday, July 19, 1979
• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Saturday, July 21, 1979
• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Sunday Afternoon, July 22 1979

With Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, with Guru Maharaj Ji's blessings, with Guru Maharaj Ji's love, you may have what you might say nothing, but have in fact everything. And that's, that's the way it is. That's the fact.

Festival Time - One Foundation

It's festival time again
I've been working so hard
Saving my dollars again,
Just to be the One I love

And what this world pursues day to day, what we get so intrigued by every minute - and Guru Maharaj Ji's asking us to just turn our heads for one minute, for one second, for one moment and look. Anne was giving the examples of K-Mart. What is it? K-Mart? You know, it's not even a K-Mart; it's more like a little catering van that comes by, opens up the doors and we start looking at all the ice cream, this and that and what we could have, and completely get intrigued by it. You know, completely. This and that and this and that and this and that.

What do you think makes a little child, you know, who is six, seven, eight years old, get lost in a toy store, get lost at a big festive occasion? What is it? It's a very simple thing. The child's come with his mother. The child has a very deep affection for its mother, its father. And under any circumstance if you would say, "Your mama is gonna go away," the child would not like that. And yet - that's the truth and that's the way it is. Look, that's the fact. If, you know, I mean, Premlata will not even go anywhere without "mama." Wherever she has to go, "mama" has to be there. And that's the way it is - and yet when that child goes to the store and sees this intriguing thing and this interesting thing and this interesting thing and loses the value, loses that precious relationship, for a moment doesn't even care if the mother is there. That important thing - to hold on to the hand.

You know they have invented a thing so that won't happen again. It's called a leash, a child leash. And they put your children on the leash and they look like a dog.

A dog who can do a very fancy trick and walk on two legs, you know. And we have to understand that that's exactly our case, too. That there is that love that we, we thrive for. There is that love that we want in our lives. There is that love that can fulfill us, fill us up with that love. It is all there. Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that love that we are looking for, that we truly want from our hearts.

We come into this big "toy store," look at all the toys there are and get very intrigued. And sometimes it costs us a bit too much. Sometimes it costs us everything that we have. Our come, we come into this world. We go away from this world. And there is absolutely nothing to account for. There's nothing left. Becomes same old story every day. Becomes, another tombstone rises. Another body is burnt. Another body is you know buried at the ocean. Every day.

And yet you tell me. Does it ever appear to be that is that your life? 1919, 1974. And a dash. That's it: a dash. Is that dash, in fact, truly signifying what this life is all about? Yes! For that person's life, that's exactly what it is - a dash. Born and died. The two only most important things that ever happened in his life. Two most important events.

And Guru Maharaj Ji makes this life life. Life to live; to make it a reason to live, give it a purpose to be alive. And when we see that, when we can comprehend that, then that, then that experience can also manifest in our lives - what Guru Maharaj Ji is, who Guru Maharaj Ji is. What can Guru Maharaj Ji give you? Guru Maharaj Ji can give you your life back that you have just sold to this world for a petty price. That's what Guru Maharaj Ji does. This body, this soul, this life that we just sell and give to this world unnecessarily, Guru Maharaj Ji takes it back and gives it back to us - to live, to experience.

And there,in every one of our life, if we really can experience that love, if we really can be that devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji … Not a person who can do good routines. You know, like Kathy was saying, is it the fan club that says, "Bolie Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai" all the time? Is it another one of those things? That's it?

You know the funny thing is, that's what a lot of people think. And I'm not talkin' about people outside this convention center either. In this convention center. That's what a lot of people, that's what a lot of premies think - that this is just one more of those things.

Guru Maharaj Ji, you know. If you know what Guru Maharaj Ji is, who Guru Maharaj Ji is, then what would be the significance of you saying, "I love you, Guru Maharaj Ji"? What would be your experience every time you said, "I love you, Guru Maharaj Ji?" It would be that experience that even you can't get after reading every single scripture that's existent today. Because you can feel that love. You can experience that love. You can realize that love.

But to us, there is too much fog. And this fog is our problem. It's our problem. This is where our effort has to come in. To remove that fog. To really see Guru Maharaj Ji for a change. Really experience Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace.

Guru Maharaj Ji comes again and again and says 'Wait, there's nothing here! Let's go. Let's go my place. Let's go to my world. Where you can live, you can really live, where you can really experience, where you can be away from doubt. How much doubt do we have? We are filled with doubt. Everything that we do is doubt full. Everything that we get into is doubt full. We do it, but we are never sure because we don't know why we are even here, we don't even know what the purpose is. And Guru Maharaj Ji shows that purpose, Guru Maharaj Ji puts that mirror in front of us. It's like the case of the Ugly Ducking, you know, we all think that we are that Ugly Ducking and you know our whole search we never seek who we really are destined to be. We are the case of the Ugly Duckling that never grows up into the swan, that stops its own existence before it can get to that stage and Guru Maharaj Ji, you know, the same that we see in that glimpse by reading scriptures or by, you know, our own experience we see this beautiful swan fly. We see that there is a place where we can experience that love. We see that there is a place where we can experience that peace. We can have that experience that we really want. And yet we don't know, we don't know our identity, we don't know who we are and we think that this is what we are. We are of this world, we live in it, we get born in it and this is it.

This is, this is the whole essence of creation in front of us. What is there more? What can be there more? There are people who have a very, very simple thing to say about it all, "Look, I have my wife, I have my children, I have my job, I have my Rolls Royce, I don't need anything else. What can I possibly need?" You know every one of these cars made, that Cadillac, the Lincoln Continental, the Rolls Royce, the Mercedes have, they're all a symbol of something. The guy who drives a Lincoln Continental is the guy who made it a long time ago, he's on the top. He doesn't even to show it, you know. The Mercedes drive, the practical man, you know, and I mean, I don't even know what these, these things symbolize, what they mean but this is what people pursue. Everybody gives us the impressions that we are ducks and in reality we are not, we are something far more beautiful. We are something far more incredible. The things that we get caught up in, the things that we get involved in is like quicksand, the more you try to get up, the more you get buried in it. And I'm not saying it's wrong to own a Cadillac, and I'm not saying it's wrong to see this world, after all you can't become, you can't expect every to, everybody but, to become Surdas who upon seeing, you know, how involved he was into this world, was seeing how dark this world was and what he needed to see was within him. He poked his eyes out. There's no sense in becoming that, in everybody to become Surdas.

Cause Guru Maharaj Ji can show that to us now in this lifetime while we are still alive. Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that love, Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that realization now. We have to just let go to Guru Maharaj Ji, let go to Guru Maharaj Ji, not in a theory, not in a song, not in an Arti that we sing every night. I give you my heart, for in you it'll mellow, Maharaji my Lord, my life is your play. I mean those are pretty heavy duty statements, you know. You are my mother, you are my father. What, what, what, what are we saying? And yet do we even have an essence of meaning to it? What we sing is right, it's true, it is an expression of a devotee. This is what a devotee would understand of his Guru Maharaj Ji. That you are my all, he doesn't have to go into specifics about your brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, uncle, aunt. And yet in a very humble and beautiful way we are trying to express that you are my all, every relations, you are my all, you are above and beyond. You know, and really the whole essence of prayer is let me really give myself to you, (the song "Always There" joins in the soundtrack) let me surrender to you, you have come, it's singing the glories of Guru Maharaj Ji is what Arti is all about. Oh Guru Maharaj Ji you are my father, you are my mother, you are my friend. I see you in those respects, you need to teach me a lesson, you need to give me that fathering, you need to give me that mothering, you need to give me that support and yet you are my all, my Lord to me.

Darshan Line: Guru Puja, Miami, 1979

Prem Rawat: Saturday, 21st July, 1979

So premies you know I hope you understand something because I don't know, I don't know why, why I'm sitting here giving you satsang. Again, I don't have to, you know, but I know one thing I feel good when I see a premie make an effort, makes me feel wonderful. You know, you can buy me thousands of Rolls Royces if you want, I know, you can do that. And you can buy me yachts, I know, and you can buy me aeroplanes after aeroplanes, I know that if all the premies in the world get together. That doesn't make me happy. Okay, you know, you see something, that's another thing. But what makes me really happy from my heart when I see my premies making an effort, when I see that something that I said, something went through. I don't expect all of it to go through and yet how wonderful it would be, you know, if it all did. That's what makes me happy is when I see that you make an effort. That you make that little effort. When you make that little effort that makes me happy. When you make a bigger effort that makes me happier. And when you really, really make that effort from your heart and succeed and that's what makes me laugh. Laugh not jokingly on you but makes me so happy that I can laugh, you know.

You can, you can get me whatever you want to. Sure, I'll accept. But for one time when you do what I ask you to do that's what makes me really happy. What are cars, you know? Nothing. To me they have never meant so much. Nothing. Cars are cars. This and that. You know, here there'll be this elaborate stage what is this elaborate stage? When I was with, you know, you saw the film when I used to give satsang I used to stand. What is all this ???, elaborate stage? Your effort.

When you become a devotee, when you unconditionally surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji, when if, buts and doubts go away, when that for one change when you say I give you my heart, for when you really mean when you say you are my all, my Lord to me, that's when Guru Maharaj Ji becomes happy. The formula for it is very simple, it's all been said and yet it's still your feet and your steps. So fortunately we still have another day of satsang (someone in crowd shouts Bolie Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai) and, so, I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you and good night. (crowd shouts Bolie Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai, someone shouts Thank You Maharaji, crowd chants Bolie Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai)

Cheering, Screaming, Shrieking - Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai!

References (links to transcripts of some of Rawat's speeches at these Guru Puja (worship) festivals:

• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Thursday, July 19, 1979
• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Saturday, July 21, 1979
• Guru Puja Festival Miami Beach, Florida Sunday Afternoon, July 22 1979
• Now You Have A Say Guru Puja Festival in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday, July 14, 1978.
• Love Is What I Want Guru Puja in Tucson Arizona on Sunday, July 16, 1978.
• Guru Puja Festival June 22nd, 1979, London, England
• The Real Truth Miami Beach, Florida, July 25, 1980.

An interesting little sidelight on Rawatism. The Indian mahatmas that came to the West taught the Holy Name or Word meditation technique (now called the 3rd technique) using the mantra 'soham' (pronounced sohung) and the writer of this song punned on the 1960's counter-culture slang where "hung on" meant "in love with."