Maharaji, Paris France, 1993

Visions International Presents Maharaji, Paris France, 1993

When something has to be created, when something has to be invented, when something has to be manufactured, it's not simple. Because you have to go through design stages. You have to go through discussions. You have to go through ideas. You have to go through ideals. You have to go through philosophies. You have to go through what people might like, what people might not like. You have to go through tons of research. But life is not like that. Life doesn't what require research. Life does not require statistics. Life does not require ideas because it already exists. Nobody has to create it. But the question always becomes, why should we be interested in life? Why should we be interested in this simplistic thing called existence? Because that's not how we look at the world. That's not how we look at things. We look at things in the most sophisticated way that we can. We tried to analyse the heavens. We tried to analyse the universe. We tried to analyse what it means to have a certain rule or a regulation passed. To us, it's very clear, that the act of simple breathing. The act of simple existence no longer carries the same weight as it should, because we have gotten caught in everything else.

And there's a consequence. There's a big price to pay. The price to pay is what's going on out there. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. If you tear down one component. If you took this one soldier who is blindly shooting bullets in the bushes. Stop him and say "What do you really, really want in your life?" The bottom line. He might at first say, "Well, I just want to conquer that next village." But then maybe you have to talk to him some more and say "Why? What will happen after you conquer the village?" and get to the bottom line. The very bottom line and the very bottom line is going to be. "I just want to be happy." So every component, small component divided up only has one wish, to be happy, to be content, to feel joyous, to feel good. And yet when all these little components are put together, no longer do they have the same goal No longer do they have the same purpose. No longer they share the same ideas. No longer they work towards accomplishing what the bottom line is.

But rather they create their goals. They create their needs and they create their necessities. It's a bit like and this is maybe a very simple but accurate analogy. You have a person and he's driving. He's driving in the city of Paris and he knows the city of Paris very well. He was born here. He was raised here. He knows every single street and he confidently drives down the street. He does not look at the signs. He does not look at maps. He does not look at charts. He just confidently gets in the car and he drives away. Even the fuel needle in his gas tank is almost at empty and he says "No problem, I have enough fuel to get to my destination. He's so confident. He knows. Then you have maybe even somebody like me and I could not make heads and tails out of Paris. I would be thoroughly lost. To me, driving down Paris without the aid of somebody constantly saying, "Well, turn left. Turn right. Turn left. Turn right" would be, I don't know where I'm going. And then if I try to pretend where I am going, hoping, hoping. Then I'm going to start looking at buildings that look vaguely remotely familiar and I'm going to say "I know where I am. That's the president's house." Even though it's not but it kind of looks like the president's house.

We're driving along this highway of life. We're here. No debates need to be made about whether we are here or not. We're here and the highway of life is accelerating at a tremendous speed. It's going day and night. Its speed can be measured in terms of seconds as they pass by. And yet where am I going? Does anybody have any idea? Or are we merely accelerating towards and justifying, the amount of justifying that is taking place in this world is enough evidence to say we're lost, just that much because the person who knows their way does not need any justification. He does not need a map. He does not need a road sign. He knows. The difference between knowing and trying to resolve ambiguity. When I take a look around I see a lot of people trying to resolve a lot of ambiguities. I see a lot of people with road maps. I see a lot of people trying to make their own road map. I see a lot of people trying to say to themselves "No this is it." The norm is cracked. This is how it is. There is no more. There is nothing. There is nothing to feel. There is nothing more to understand. And I see that all over the place.

The question isn't whether the norm needs to be followed or not. The question is "What is this human being? What is this?" A simple question. Not with justifications, not with ideals and ideas. But simple? What happens? Birth happens. Death happens. Simple. Existence happens. Life happens. A time is given, facilities are given, to see, to hear, to admire. Incredibly every human being that has been given a set of, for a lack of better word, powers. A set of incredible powers, powers such as the power to be able to admire. That is powerful. A power to be able to appreciate. A power to be able to enjoy. A power to be able to think. A power to be able to contemplate. A power to be able to understand. A power to be able to witness. A power to be able to be happy. To be happy.

If you look at it technically, you don't need to be happy. When you look look at it, what food does for you. You eat, your body converts the food into sugars. The sugars are then taken in and used as fuel. Simple process. Now where does in that process of you eating to exist, where does this one little element called "That tastes wonderful" fit in? What does that got to do with it? Scientifically speaking. Nothing. You could be fed an entire meal. Your pasta could be put in a blender and they could be all put in gelatine capsules. It would be a lot of capsules, but they could be all put in gelatine capsules and you could be fed those capsules and you will continue to live. Your fruit juice could be put in capsules. You will continue to live. In fact, your sustenance can totally be controlled by merely feeding you an IV. You don't even have to chew, including all the water you need. But have you ever been thirsty and had a cool glass of water on a hot summer's day? And taking that glass of water and close your eyes and just drink and drink and drink and drink and drink. And feel this marvellous feeling Marvellous. Beautiful. Incredible. Of the quench. Of being quenched. What has that got to do with liquid that is needed for your blood. For your sustenance.

You have this incredible power to enjoy. But what have we found that we can really enjoy? Does the answer lie outside of us? Or inside of us? Before you go answer that one, wait. Let's talk a little bit more about the power to appreciate. When you see a sunset, technically speaking, technically speaking, there is light. The sun's light. There is all the things and they filter a certain part of the spectrum of light. When they filter a certain part of a light. You see them in colour.

The plants filter the green spectrum. See them green and so on and so forth. And what happens is that the light, there is a small lens in the eye. Light falls on that. There is nerves at the back of the eye. Everything is translated into electronics. Pass down the nerves to your brain and the brain goes "Sunset." Now, where does this one factor called 'beautiful' fit into that? The ability to stand there in awe, in awe, look at that sunset and go "That is incredible." To be able to stand there and go "That is wonderful." Where does that fit into little nerve cells passing on electronic signals to the brain and the brain going "Sunset." But you have it. Now what can you see that you could really appreciate.

When you listen to the sound. It's the same way. Somebody plays a bit of drum. The sound vibrates through the air. Makes your ear drums vibrate. Just fluid back there. Fluid starts to vibrate. Fluid vibrate these little hairs sticking out inside the canal. They start to move along, when they start to move it's converted into an electrical signal. Goes into the brain. Brain says "Nice sound." Where does in all the motion and the commotion of the eardrum and little hair moving on around all over the place, have anything to do with saying "I love that sound." What does that got to do with it? But you have it. Distinctly. It goes beyond the little frame of this is it. No, there's more than this is it.

There's more to existence than waking up in the morning and saying "My priority today is to go to my job." You have to go to your job. You do, you will go to your job. But which one is the priority? To simply take such a delicate, complicated sophisticated machine, so precise. Would you really use the Hubble telescope to look into your neighbours window? A multi million dollar machine. Would you? It would. It would be overkill. The question then becomes of the priority. What is the priority? And then the first question. What do I have in me that I can enjoy? If I can make what has been given to me my priority. Then everything else falls into context. It doesn't matter. I don't have to pretend. I don't have to pretend that I know my way when I don't. I don't have to pretend anything There doesn't have to be a game because there is a territory to which you are extremely familiar already. No maps are required. Doesn't have to be debated. It's not a question of consequences. This this the way we have got all world set up. It is a question of consequences. If you don't work hard enough at your job you can get fired. That can bring you pain. It's a consequence. Your happiness all of a sudden starts to depend not on you. But on every thing around you.

Today driving from the airport. I was talking to the person who was driving me and we started talking about neighbours. And in my understanding, the more I understand of this, I'm starting to understand that this neighbour is a universal problem. Every neighbour basically would like for you to give them your house. Turn over your paycheck every month. Have your dog, your family working for them and do whatever they want. But just realise how much of us actually depends on the mood of the neighbour. If the neighbour is upset, you will get upset. Not because it's your problem. It's not your dog that got lost. But some fault would be found that links you to them losing their dog. Child. One day, one day your child comes to you with a report card that's bogus. Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. They hand it to you. You look at it and you freak. And you say to your child "This is not acceptable." Of course, if you had to go to school and do it all over again, you wouldn't find it very acceptable either. Can you imagine sitting in the first grade all over again? So I'm going A, B, I mean, you would hate it just as much even more than when you first went.

My children. They come to me. They, you know, they didn't pass in one of the French or or or Spanish or their English or whatever it may be. It's fine. No problems. I'll now look at the report card. Okay This is what you have did. This is what you did. It doesn't mean I hate you. I'm not gonna hate you. You are my child. I love you and you don't have to do one single thing to make me proud of you. You don't have to play a game for me. This is your life. You don't want to learn how to speak Spanish. Fine. You wanna grow up doing nothing, okay. So be it. If this is what you have decided in your life. So be it. However, if there is something that you want to pursue and I can help you with, I will. You want to learn, you want to learn math. You don't understand math, but you have a desire to learn math. Fine. Let me help you learn math. You don't have a desire to learn math. You don't wanna ever touch math in your whole life. Fine. It's your life. I'm not gonna be there.

No pretence. No pretence sitting there "I know how it is" because I don't. I don't. I don't know what goes on in a person's existence. What confusion is, what clarity is, what dedication is, what love is, we pretend. We think we know the meaning of love. We don't. We pretend. We're great pretenders. We know what Knowledge means? We know what 'good' means, we know what 'bad' means, we know what 'right' means, we know what 'wrong' means. That's not correct. You don't know what 'right' means. Your life is still unfolding. You are still in the process of existence. And what you nee, what I need is to focus on this incredible, marvellous gift that I have been given. Because in that I have found a feeling of knowing, of understanding, of appreciating, of feeling. Not ideas, not debates. But simplicity.

I do not want to look up and say how big is the universe? I want to look within and say how beautiful the feeling, the feeling within me is. I don't want to look at the sun and say how many thousands of degrees, 6,000 degrees Celsius. How many thousands of degrees is the surface temperature but I want to look within and feel the warmth of my own existence because that I can. I cannot understand 6,000 degrees Celsius. It is totally academic. I have no frame of reference to say I' know what 6000 degrees is. No idea of what 6,000 degrees is. I can say it's six times more than a thousand degrees but I have no idea what 1,000 degrees is. I know what 20 degrees is. I know what 30 degrees is. I know what 40 degrees is and then somebody comes along and says "We'll just multiply that a few times." I don't know what 6,000 degrees is but I can turn within and I can feel what it is. I don't have to pretend. It is not. It is beyond the realm of academics. I don't have to debate. I don't have to go to somebody and say "What is my God like? Tell me about my God" and then of course somebody you know goes in the back, pulls out a big book and says "Okay. God is good." Well so is my puppy. Every time I tell the puppy sit and it sits I say "What a dog, nice dog." Some I have to buy somebody's idea. Not my own. I just stand there very nicely "Okay, I'm ready. Tell me. "Oh, God is this, that he made, you know the world in so many days."

I mean, the amazing thing is, there are a lot of stories but they're very similar, very similar. In some religions he took a little longer and some religions he was a little quicker. Um. In some religions he took shortcuts, in the other ones he didn't take on his shortcuts, some he did, you know, he created the mountains on weekends but he created the rivers on Mondays and, I mean, not that different and then of course there are some, you know, while there was this Big Bang I I know what a firecracker is like. I can understand that but this huge explosion. It's it's totally academic. People tell me, you know, "Oh this is" sometimes they'll talk about the distance between the earth and the moon, this is "Have you seen one football field?" "Yeah I've seen a football field." "Well it's so many times more than that." I've seen one football field but I've never seen that big a football field (laughter) because I'm sure if there was a football field that went from planet Earth to the moon it would have some different characteristics. It may not have coloured seats, it may not have turf, it may not even have, I mean, there may be no way to play football on that football field. It may have binoculars so that one party can see the other one, what they're doing, um they may have runways to make the goal rather than try to run because that's a long distance.

But to know the Creator, to know the Creator, as felt by you. No unknown territories, to know. To realise the simplicity not the complication. To realise and to know and to find the answers and not dwell on the questions because people spend all their life trying to formulate the question, then they die. Look for the answer. The answer. It is not far from you. People come. People listen to me all around the world and they go "Oh that was a great message. That was very refreshing. Nothing new. Nothing new." And the one example that I always give is you take any book on the subject of searching within and it says what you are looking for is within you. Close the book at that point. No point in reading on. That which you are looking for is within you. This is a statement that was made a long long long time ago and yet how many people take that seriously? This is how serious we are about trying to find our answer. It is more important for us to play the game.

The game because everybody has a glass in their hand. So we grab one too. Everybody is going like this so we do the same thing too. Because everybody is talking. So we begin talking too. Because everybody laughs, we laugh too. Everybody cries, we cry too. Everybody jumps up and down. So we jump up and down too. [Everybody laughs at Maharaji's jokes. So we laugh too] That's what life is? That's what existence is? That's what power of appreciation does? That's what the power we have of happiness is being utilised for any decent reason? I don't think so. When we cannot take that simple subject seriously. Seriously. (Screaming)

No one. You know, tilll the doctor says, till the doctor says "You've only got two weeks to live." We don't take that seriously. We think somewhere in the back of our wallet, there is a letter from God, that when death comes we are to produce this and say "We're exempt. Thank you very much." But there is no such letter. Only when we see a dead person, we go "Oh my God." Then we forget. Then we forget. We go on. Then when a doctor says "You've only got two more weeks to live." Then its like "Oh. my God." I have been around a lot of people. They come to me "Maharaji, we only have two more weeks to live" and it's like and and it's wonderful to have had this life. It's been beautiful. No complaints. No, it's been beautiful. And the heart is filled with gratitude. The soul is satisfied. There is a tranquillity. There is an understanding, not a confrontation but an understanding because the dance has begun to be danced with the ribbon that is playing from within rather than the ribbon that everybody else is trying to create and say now this is what is happening now.

For me, for you. Certain realities will always be there. I was born. I'm alive and one day I must go. This I must understand. I cannot just speak about it. I must understand this. I cannot just go on saying "What a profound statement. Birth. Life. Death. It it it encompasses everything. Isn't that profound?" Yes, it's profound. But do you know what it means? Because if you don't, you've missed the boat. You need to know what that means. You need to know what it means to be alive. You need to know what it means to exist. You must know what it means to have the power of happiness. You must know what it means to appreciate.

You must know. You must know what gratitude is all about. You must know what it feels like to have this heart filled with gratitude. You must know the simplicity that dwells within you. You must know to be able to hear you in utter silence, to see you, not something else. Just you. Not the face. Not the I.Ds. Not the names. Not the plaques. Not the pictures. Not the frames, but just you, without. Without.

It is like pouring water through a sieve. Nothing will be retained in the sieve. It will come and it'll go. You will just be another organisation. Another conglomerate of blood and bones. Brain matter. Fluids. That came, existed, cried a bit, laughed a bit, jumped a bit, walked a bit, slept a little little bit, stayed awake a little bit and then the bags packed. Wiped. Like everyone else.

There are many, many people who look at their heroes. This is not the time to emulate the hero. It is the time to become the hero. It is not the emu time to emulate Kabir. It is not the time to study Kabir. It is the time to become Kabir. It is not the time to read Gibran. It is not the time to study Gibran. It is the time to become Gibran. To feel. To know. From knowing. Not knowing from reading a piece of paper. But knowing because you know something that goes beyond those academics. Something real of substance.

And that is the most magnificent transition that can take place. To know that which was, is, and will be. To understand. Do not walk the streets converting that which is unknown, to say "I think. I think I know." How many of us do that? Walk the streets of life going "I think I know." But when we don't, there has to be a surety. not doubt.

And each one of us, you see, this is the miracle. The miracle is that each one of us has the capacity to rise beyond doubt and confusion and pain and suffering and realise the joy and the beauty and the that we all have been given. Message is simple, because it's always been simple, because it's always been the same. People of 1993 have no more or no less to lament about than the people of 1893, 1793, 15, 16 just keeps going. Our problems, it doesn't matter whether the problem is a flat tyre or a flat ox cart. It is the same thing.

I think about it sometimes. You know the man that they found, that iceman found frozen. He he was prepared as well as he could have been. He had his shoes. He had his kind of a jacket and he had his hat and I mean you know as as much as the technology would have allowed at that time, he was prepared and so would we be. So would we be and he was no less or more in that situation as we would be and if we got lost without a radio, in a storm, you think we would do anything different. You think so, or find a little shelter and try to spend the night because my friends the reality is that in 1993, people still die at ski resorts exactly the same way. Buried under a snow storm with their fancy shoes, with their fancy thermal underwears, with their fancy everything. Buried. End result, exactly the same, dead, very dead. With their survival gear, their wallet, everything, dead and you think we're any different? So who are we kidding? Who are we kidding? People say now you wanna talk to somebody? You're not gonna wait till they you see them, you know. You just pick up the phone and you dial the number and you call. It's no use, you still don't know what to talk about. [this next section confused]We should restore truth if you saw them face to face. He's through you still don't know what to talk about. Things haven't changed that much. Oh we all pretend, all of it. Yeah. People are going, look at the people, say, but look at the automobiles. I mean you know I like cars. Look at the automobiles is not a great invention. What so everybody can get stuck on a highway traffic jam? So to go where no one is going. Transportation? No. Every we se,e it has to be in a context. Then it makes sense.

We are so we are so proud of ourselves because we do have aeroplanes and Concordes and this and that. Who knows? (Really shrill volume) 2,000 years from now they will look at us and go "God how did they manage? How did they manage sitting in this circular capsule on a solid seat for 6 hours?" They will think of us as like "Who were they?" Computers with keyboards. How could they stand pushing buttons? Watching these little square things that look, you know, and just looking in this whole kind of thing to be entertained. Sure. How could they still sit? How could they stand the noise of these, of these air these big aeroplanes taking off. And that none of us would be standing there going "You know, it wasn't that bad." It really wasn't that bad. It's pretty good because people before us, people before us, they used to travel and it would take them months.

Today we landed at La Bourget. Charles Lindbergh flew a little more than that. He flew from St Louis. Flew from Los Angeles, came across the ocean. Pop into La Bourget. No problems. You know exactly where you are. Kind of. You hope so. Pray a little bit. I hope we're in the right place with all the fancy navigation equipment which he didn't have. Things have not changed that much because that which really means to be discovered goes through no changes. Still want to be happy. Lindbergh come come came across and he said "God I don't know where I am but I'm going for those lights and I hope people will be there and maybe they'll rescue me in case I crash." Lo and behold he breaks out of the clouds and he is in La Bourget and everybody's waiting for him and there he is and it's like, he made it and he said "God all what a great stroke of luck I made it." That which is important, discover it. That which is important, find it, because nothing else that you think will make a difference, nothing else will make a difference. Only one thing, only one thing can make a difference and that is you in your life, you, in your life can make a difference. That's it. Track record. That's the way it's been. That's the way it is and that's the way it will be. You, make a contribution to your existence. You find the wealth not the money but the wealth of existence in your life, you find the joy of existence in your life. And that's what it's all about. That's how it's always been. And in that, there is an incredible simplicity.