Rome Aspirant Satsang 1993 transcript

"To Learn, To Grow" Rome Aspirant Satsang 1993 transcript

This is the opportunity for those people who want to ask for Knowledge. You can ask me.

Dear Maharaj, I am asking for Knowledge. I want to ask you for Knowledge. I am very happy to be here. I am very happy for being here. And I would like to ask you for Knowledge. And I would like to ask you for Knowledge. I would like to ask you for Knowledge.

Hello, Maharaj Ji. I am happy to be here and I would like to receive Knowledge. Are you from? Malaysia. Thank you for everything. I would like to ask you for Knowledge. Please. Hello, Maharaj Ji. Would you please give me Knowledge? Thank you.

You have to ask. Actually, I was listening to my father and he was saying on the tape that, you know, you have to ask. And so I started wondering, why does a person have to ask? What's the significance of asking? And then I realized what the significance of asking was. That at least you are making that effort. That you are taking that step. The longing of the heart does not change. The longing of the heart cannot change. It should never, never change. Because if the longing of the heart changes, and the quest is no longer there, then you are in trouble. The heart will delight. The heart will feel that joy. The heart will be satisfied. But the longing of the heart is always there. It is that engine that needs to continue. On and on and on. That is the engine that allows us to go on. You see, that process of the seed germinating and that itsy-bitsy little plant, you see that? I mean, that's not much, right? Only this big, sticking out of the ground. Do you think when this little plant, that is this big and only this big, when it becomes 200 feet tall, that its processes change? Think about it. That which is happening to that tree, massive tree, started when that tree was no bigger than this. And it continues. It's the same thing. It's the same process. It continues to grow, grow. I mean, to our understanding, if this tree is already 10 feet tall, it's rather large, twice as high as us. But the tree does not look at the reasoning and say, well, that's enough. Because its motivation, its engine is not reasoning. Its engine is something else. Its engine is driving it, and it is allowing itself to be driven. Even if it makes, even if it means a change, that the change can go on, then it will allow that change to happen. That is essential to understand. That is why the aspirant process cannot stop.

That is why nothing that you are feeling now, that joy or that calling that you feel of the heart, none of those elements can come to a grinding halt. You can't. Commitment. Commitment is to constantly push aside everything else whenever you need to. Because I am talking about balances. Balances where you can say, I am always heavier. And nothing in this world weighs as much as me. That's the kind of balance I'm talking about. Totally unbalanced balance. One time I started to talk to people, you know, and I started off talking about, oh, yes, you have to have this balance. And everybody was like, yeah, that sounds really good. Uh-uh. You can't have it. Because since the very first day that you were born, your balance has been tipped. Would it be acceptable to you if one day you were happy and one day you were sad and one day you were happy and one day you were sad and one day you were happy, and 50% of the time you were unhappy and 50% of the time you were sad. Would you be content with that? No. It would be better if 55% of the time you were happy, 45%, no. And it would be even better than that. You can inch your way all the way up to 100% of the time you were happy. You are biased. From the very beginnings of your creation, you are biased towards that joy. So the balances were tipped a long time ago. It's not a question of trying to tip them now. They were tipped a long, long, long time ago.

Do what you need to do in this world. I do not preach anybody religion. I do not say how you should live your life. People come to me and they say, should we be vegetarians? If you want, be vegetarians. People say, should we eat meat? If you want, eat the vegetarians. I mean, whatever. I, it's none of my business. It is none of my business. That's not what I am trying to teach people. Should you shave your head? If you want to. Go right ahead. You want a good barber? I can even give you a reference of a good barber. You want to wear black clothes? You want to wear green clothes? You want to wear yellow clothes? Not my business. You do what? In this world, it's not an issue. It is, it's the society that has this peculiar way of looking at people. I cannot look at any of those things.

I look at a person as a human being. And that's what the criteria has to be. So, when I talk about the commitment, the commitment is not to all these things. Just the commitment to you. You see, if the commitment was to all these things, then that's a hard commitment to make. If the commitment is that every morning you have to bathe in cold water, then it's different. But Knowledge does not play into the pretext of anything else. It looks at a human being for what a human being is. Not the philosophy, not the theories, not the goods, not the bads. People have received Knowledge behind bars. You know what I mean, behind bars? Not chocolate bars, in a jail. To which the society has said, this guy is no good for anything. The person said, "Can I have Knowledge?" Okay. I once went to this prison to talk to all the prisoners. It was great. I mean, there's all these people and I said to them, I said, well one day you will be free. And they just started cheering so loud. Of course what I meant is one day they have to go. Out, not out. But…

And what religion you should follow? There are people who are Hindus. They still are Hindus. They will always be Hindus. Fine. Fine. I mean, in India, there are people who are absolute, what we consider pukka Hindus. I mean, they're about as Hindu as a Hindu can get. They're probably as a Hindu that, a Hindu doesn't know how much of a Hindu should be. Fine. Then there are people who are not Hindus. There are people who are converted. Christians or whatever. Whatever religion you want to follow, fine. Whatever your outlook towards life is, fine. Whatever it is that, all that other stuff, that's not my concern. My concern has to be you as a human being. That's the criteria that has been laid down. Not your ideas. Your ideas cannot be given Knowledge. Now people come to me and they say, "But do you really think it's such a good idea to eat meat?" Well, that's a different philosophy. That's a different topic. Some people will say "Yes it is," and some people will say "No it is not." That's not the argument that I want to enter with anybody. Should people wear lipstick, or should people not wear lipstick? You know. Finally, I think they're starting to make friendly lipstick, you know. Before that, the lipstick had whale oil and all that good stuff in it. So, whatever your ideas, I'm not trying to accommodate people's ideas or people's lifestyles. I cannot. I cannot.

Whether somebody is a businessman or not a businessman, and this is another question, what is M's opinion on business competition? Competition is good for business. That's my opinion. But, when it comes to Knowledge, if you are an uncompetitive businessman, or you're a competitive businessman, or you don't really care where your business goes, or you really care where your business goes, it's up to you. Somebody in Fort Lauderdale, he was ready for Knowledge, but he said, "You know, I am ready for Knowledge, but I've got a contract on the day that Knowledge was going to be given. I've got a contract, a $100,000 catering contract. And if I'm not there, I know it'll be a disaster. So, I would like to go." Now, there was a time when this guy would be said, there was a time when the test would be if he can ruin his business and ruin a $100,000 contract. Why? Why? When in the Knowledge session he's going to be sitting going, "Should I have been there? Should I be here? Should I have been there? Should I be here? Should I have been there?" No, he would have been asked to sacrifice. No sacrifices. No sacrifices. I said to him, "Go. Enjoy your $100,000 contract. Do your thing. Come back. Big deal." There was another guy. He was ready for Knowledge. I mean, he missed three Knowledge sessions. He would be ready for Knowledge. He'd come, he'd be all smiles. And I said, yes, you're ready. And you can have Knowledge. Whatever it could be, then I would say to him, "a Knowledge session is tomorrow" and you would see the grin wipe right off his face. "But I can't be here tomorrow". And he missed, I think, three Knowledge sessions that way. No worries. No problems.

I'm not placing Knowledge in that category because that's not what it is. Either you get, what is it? In India, you have to be shaved when you transfer from your childhood. Jewish religion has something. Other religions have something. It's got to be done by a certain time otherwise it's no good. That's not what Knowledge is all about. And then, a very interesting question. How do I know when I'm ready? Let it be simple. There's not going to be a light that's going to begin flashing. This avenue called ready is a dead end street. It doesn't go anywhere. People who pace the avenue called, when will I be ready? When will I be ready? When will I be ready? Are never ready. Get off the ready avenue. Nor those people who say, "They're not going to get Knowledge" either. It's when you remove those two things and just start enjoying, enjoying the process that is unfolding. That's when everything starts to click together. Not pacing up and down. Not going, "When? When? When? When? When? When? When?"

I have been in movies. See, I don't like to go to movies, but it's like, "Oh, you know, but you got to go see this movie and you got to go see this one." So I've been in movies. It's pitch dark right now. I'm looking at my watch every five minutes. I have missed more movies that way than you can possibly… because that's all I'm concerned about. When is this thing going to be over? When is this thing going to be over? And even if it's a lousy movie, even if it's a good movie, I never watch it because I'm down there. And then I have to go, "What happened? What happened? What happened?" "Oh, that happened." Oh, when is it going to be over? When is it going to be over?

Because this thing comes in. This thing wants to reason. And this thing says, "Let's figure this out. Let's try to get Knowledge. Now I have seen this many videos. And I have been through this. And I have waited for this long. And my friends have said, 'You should be ready about now.'" But let me ask you a question. How many gallons of water can a bucket that has a hole at the bottom of it, how many gallons of water can that bucket accommodate? Any ideas? The entire ocean. Because the entire ocean will only pass through it. Nothing will be retained. When you have become oriented to, not to enjoyment, but you are sitting there and sabotaging, sabotaging your own enjoyment by saying "When? When? When?" then you have missed the entire point. A bit of an example that I give to people a queue, a queue waiting to become immortal and everybody is looking at their watch of how much longer it's going to be. Pointless. Immortality and watches do not mix. To me, I know my rule. When I have a day off and I really want to just enjoy all day I don't care when I have lunch and I don't care when I have to go to sleep and I don't care about any one of those things then that is the time that the watch comes off and it goes back into the drawer and it's never picked up. I don't care. I'll eat when I am hungry and if I am not I won't. I'll sleep when I am sleepy and I'll get up when I feel like it. To me then I am resting because I am enjoying. I am having fun.

Whether it is a wrist watch or it is a mental watch what is the difference? If it's sitting there going tick-tock, tick-tock when, when, when, when, when, when then you have missed the point. Then you cannot have a commitment then your commitment is pseudo, meaning it's a make-believe commitment. "Oh yes, yes, yes I have the commitment." Think about that. Then your commitment is only make-believe it's not real because then you are saying "Yes, if I need that commitment for Knowledge okay, I have the commitment." No, it has to come from a very basic place. All of that your commitment your learning your yearning your longing has to come from a very basic and fundamental state and be prepared and without a shadow of a doubt to feel that feeling for the rest of your life. When rest of your life is involved, it's a little bit, a little pointless to go around looking at watches. That's right. "If someone has physical pain can they practice Knowledge? Well, it depends what kind of pain if the pain is excruciating pain like your dog left or somebody died or something happened or you got into an accident where it is so distracting that it is eating it is not allowing you not allowing you to be free then it's a good idea to wait till you can get on top of it and then you can be ready to practice.

Very interesting question here. "I have a nice feeling reading Kabir, Bible, Khalil Gibran. I would like M. to help continue that feeling." I can't. I can't and the reason why I can't because Kabir never read Kabir's works and got inspired. You see Kabir got inspired by something else then he wrote what he wrote. My point is not reading Kabir's work but feeling what Kabir felt before he started writing. People missed the point. People missed the point. They think what Kabir said he said because he knew something and therefore I am as a human being incapable of knowing that and therefore I am only limited only limited to reading Kabir. I've got a problem. You know what my problem is? You are not really reading Kabir. You only think you are reading Kabir. Why do I say that? You want to know? Because Kabir says that that which I have you can have too. What's the point of reading him if you're not even going to understand what he's saying? What Kabir is saying is that the fish is thirsty in the water and every time I hear it it makes me laugh. What's the point in reading it if you're still going to be that fish that remains thirsty in the water? What is the point in reading somebody's instructions which says basically you're going somewhere. You don't know where you want to go. So you ask somebody could you please write down the instructions. It says go straight ahead for one mile then turn left. Go straight ahead for two miles then turn right. And you are driving and you go straight ahead for one mile. After one mile you look and sure enough there is a turn to the left and you go these are good instructions. Because it said after one mile there will be a turn to the left and there it is. And you keep going straight. Then you wonder what happened? It said there would be a right turn and you start looking for the right turn and sure enough somewhere there is a right turn and you say beautiful that's just divine. There is a right turn. Then you keep going straight. You never made the turns. What's the point of the instruction sheet? How good is it?

Why why did Kabir write what he wrote? What happened in his life? What happened that he said ah because he wasn't always writing it. He wasn't always writing it but then something happens and yes he is writing it. If you don't get that you didn't get it at all. Then Kabir says that there are those people who just read, read, read. I don't know how to translate it, but lakir ke fakir. That's what it's called. People who just follow, you know, follow what the word is on the piece of paper. That's all they do. They just read and read and read and read and read. But it never penetrates here. It never penetrates here, and they never try to make sense of it. So, that's why I can't help. But I can help in another way. In a totally another way. Because that's what it should be. When I read something that I really like, I don't say, "Oh, that's really wonderful." I say, "I want to have that feeling that that person felt when he wrote this." Because it is possible. It is possible. So, why don't we take a little break, and we'll come back and continue this.

I'm really trying very hard to try to change the trend. The trend for so many years has been go get Knowledge, go get Knowledge, go get Knowledge. And what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to say to people, "Look, grow. Learn to grow. Let's lay the foundations down." People are going, "Let's have the house, let's have the house." What about the foundation? Hey, we can put that later. You know, let's just build a house so that people can see there's a house there. You cannot go back and put the foundations. That will never work. That cannot work. And I'm trying to make it where it can be a flow. It can really be a flow for people. No, the question of forgetting you is not even the issue, because I have no reason to forget you. I want to help. I really want to help. I want to help people to realize what a gift has been put inside of them. Not because that's written in a book. Not because it has reasons.

You know, yesterday there was a lady who asked me the question, you know, "What is the reason why you have this Knowledge? What is the reason?" And then somebody else asked me another question, which was, you know, "I do the samadhi or whatever it was, and can you just help me along, give Knowledge?" And it was like, "Well, they both go to the same place, so can you please give me Knowledge?" And those two questions triggered something in my head that I guess was always there, you know. But it had never come out in that clear of a way. Because yes, we have our reasons for doing what we do. Then we come along and we hear about this wonderful thing called Knowledge, and we take our reasons, whatever they are, and we attach them behind Knowledge. So all of it sounds wonderful. It all sounds great. You know, whether you call it tranquility, whether you call it harmony, whether you call it peace, whether you call it joy, whether you call it whatever you call it. But you see, we have a disadvantage. Do you know what our disadvantage is? We have a disadvantage that we know language. We have a disadvantage. I mean, granted, language is a wonderful thing. It allows two people to communicate. But we have a disadvantage. Because somebody ate language. Some of the words in language are a bit like when somebody ate the food already, pre-digested, then sput it back out, put it in the box and said, here. Their food is pre-digested. It's already taken care of. Just swallow this. You don't even have to chew. Because to me, it's very clear. The feeling of tranquility existed before the words. See what I'm saying? And the lack of, or the experience of, either one, had to be felt by the person. And there was no way to express it. None. You must have to feel it. You just had to feel it. The feeling of love, the feeling of joy, the feeling of peace, divinity, tranquility, God, awesomeness, all of these things, they existed, but they did not have words to them. So for a common reference to even exist in gestures, had to exist in feeling before it could be translated into gestures, before it could be translated into words which are pre-digested. Joy. You are talking about your joy. I'm talking about my joy. We don't even have a common frame of reference. But yes we do. Because you said the word joy. It is the same. Love.

Totally different frame of reference. Totally different word. But no, we both understand what you're talking about. Hunger. Hunger. So, for me, feeling becomes paramount. Feeling. Slow down. Slow down. Slow way down. Feel. Because that is what immortality is all about. Immortality is not about never dying. Immortality is to feel that immortal moment in your life. That's what immortality is. And that immortal moment you are surrounded by. But you have to slow down. You have to be quiet. Quiet. To listen to something that is coming from within inside. Quiet. Not here. All the expectations running around. Too much noise. You won't hear it. You have to be quiet. You have to be still. Still. To feel the stillness. You're moving around. How are you going to feel the stillness? You're moving around up here. How are you going to feel? If you are caught in all these trivial little finite little thoughts and ideas going chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick. Because you don't have the trust to be able to say, I do not know what's going to happen in 30 seconds from now. And that's fine. I don't know what's going to happen in 10 minutes from now. I really don't. And that's okay. I have no trains to catch. I have nowhere to run. I have nowhere to hide. I have no one to pursue. And I can be.

I can be me. I don't have to be somebody's uncle. I don't have to be somebody's brother. I don't have to be somebody's husband. I don't have to be somebody's wife. I don't have to be somebody's mother. I just have to be me. Just me. I don't have to be somebody's friend. I don't have the obligations. For this moment in my life, I don't have to be obliged to everything else. I only need to be obliged to me. I want to be introduced to me, an introduction, with dignity, with a lot of feeling, with a lot of passion, with a lot of beauty, with a lot of , to sit and to trust enough to sit still. Thoughts come. It's okay. It's all right. I don't have to be paranoid. Oh, my thoughts are coming. No. Because I understand. I understand. You know, when you're sleeping, all of a sudden you hear this noise. And you hear. And you hear it's raining. You don't have to go, what's this noise? Ah, it's raining. And you can go back to sleep. See what I'm saying? Because you understand. That is rain. There's an owl. He comes. Actually, it's around the time that he comes. And he sits down at night outside my window. And he goes, all night long, he'll hoot. And it's sweet. Really sweet. And he's really like a friend. You know, he just hoots. Hoots. Very nice. At first, it's like, what's that? I was like, no. It's the friend, the owl. He's back. So this is good. He's back. And you can go back to sleep. Because it's all right. It's fine. Because you understand.

I understand that I have a device in me that does nothing but produce thoughts. I understand. But I also understand that I don't have to be a part of that device. That I am in control. That there are many places inside of me. And I don't have to be stuck in one room. This is my house. Everybody has told me, maybe all day, all my life long, this is your room. This is where you must stay. You must not leave this room. And I come along and say, why shouldn't you leave this room? This is your house, isn't it? Go. Discover your living room. Go. Discover your den. Discover your attic. Go discover your dining room. Go discover this wonderful house that has been given to you. You don't have to be stuck in this room. And people go, oh, is it that simple? Yeah, it is that simple. And to me, those fundamental understandings, those foundations, when those foundations can be secure, then everything else can be secure. Paramount. Important. Muy importante. Right? That those foundations are secure. And that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to get in that place as much as possible. And it's working. It's slowly but surely working. It's a pure delight. Delight. I have people, aspirants, sitting there, going, you know, in Brighton and even here. "I'm not ready right now. I'll ask again." Because now you know. They're interested. They're genuinely interested in opening their doors. It's not one of those things like, just give me the keys to all the doors. Just give me the keys. Just drop the bunch through my window and disappear. You know, just give me the keys. Just tell me where they are. And to me, sometimes that's what we do. Sometimes we become insecure. We say, but aren't all these other things so important? What about the time? What about this? What about that? What about that? No. The only thing that's important is you. The only thing that is real is you. The only thing that matters is you. That's the journey. Remember now, what would be the point of the person packing a tent who is going on a journey within? What would he do with it? What would be the point of packing an umbrella for a journey within? It sounds good because I say pack and everybody rushes to their room, shirts, underwear, this, that. But where we're going, you don't need to pack clothes. Not needed. You don't need to pack the umbrella. You don't need to pack the dog. When I say pack, it means just be you. Trust. That's what you need. For the journey within, you need trust. For the journey within, you need that commitment. For the journey within, you need that clarity. For the journey within, you need that understanding. Those are the things you need. Not the others. The others? Ridiculous. Who do you know? So, and you know, there is that video. It just came and I started to watch it.

But it's about what I spoke in Brighton about the Master. The Master gives you love. The Master gives you understanding. The Master gives you care. And all those have to be accepted. You cannot just accept one part of it and say, this is all that matters. No. You have to accept the care and the love and the understanding. Because that's what that Master is trying to do. He's trying to take you in a different place where the same rules do not apply. And you have to be ready. And he's building. And he builds the foundations within you. He says, it's not a question of trusting me, but it's a question of trusting you. Backwards. Because everybody else says, trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me. First time you hear, not me, you. You need to trust you. It's like a student. The Master says, no, no, no test. You will decide at the end of the term if you should pass or if you should fail. Huh? I wasn't ready for that. No pass and fail here. No judgment. I'm not interested in that facet. I'm not going to say, oh, what is your name so that I can write it down in my diary. No. I'm not going to say, oh yeah, let's go to lunch and let's talk about this and let's talk about that and let's, you know. Fine, if you end up with lunch with me, fine. It'll be an interesting lunch and an interesting conversation. I can guarantee you that much. It'll be good food and it'll be interesting conversation. Anything you want to talk about. But not in the premise of Knowledge. Not in the premise of Knowledge. This is from one heart to another. A heart knows no addresses because it always lives in one place. Those are the parameters that Knowledge is. And that's what's important. That's what's important for everybody to realize.

What I'm trying to do. What I'm trying to do. Saying to you, people are going, you know, just cut the rope loose. You know, just cut the rope loose. And that's it. That's all that matters. Just take the rope and just chop it off and let me off. No, no, no. Come on the boat. Enjoy. Enjoy. Don't be in this thing, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. No, enjoy. Look at it. Feel. Have a snack. Sit down. Begin. To me, personally. I talk about Knowledge. I help people a lot. I try to help people as much as I can. Sometimes people are sick, they call me. They say, Maharaji, we have, you know, this disease or whatever. I try to find them doctors. Whatever I can do to help. And I guess that feels good. Talking about Knowledge feels really good. Giving people Knowledge feels wonderful. So doing what I do feels great. When I practice Knowledge. When I am in that experience inside of me. That feels quite unbelievable. And not at the same power as that. Or not at the same power as that. And not at the same level as that. But to feel that devotion. That devotion. To feel gratitude. You see what I'm saying? To feel gratitude. To feel thankful. To me, personally, is an incredibly, incredibly powerful feeling. It's only just shy of the feeling of going with it. Gratitude. To me, that is devotion. That is real devotion. Not ideas. Should it be this way, should it be that way. But just to feel. Because I am thankful.

In the good, in the bad, in the right, in the wrong. I'm thankful. And when I acknowledge that thankfulness. It's… You feel magic. Have you ever seen through a night scope? It gets dark and then it's like nothing out there. It's okay. And then you tune into your heart. And it's like a night vision scope. And it turns on and you look and it's like full of light. Full of light. All of a sudden you see a whole another spectrum. A whole another spectrum is tuned into you. And that… That's wonderful. That's incredible. And then when that spectrum is seen. Of how much magic there is in my life. Then there is this tremendous gratitude. And when I can allow myself to feel that gratitude. I mean you feel literally floored. You feel overwhelmed. This is how I want to feel. All the time. Because it's so real. It's so good. It's so beautiful to be thankful for everything. Because as soon as I can acknowledge that thankfulness. As soon as I can acknowledge that devotion. Everything multiplies. I mean It's so beautiful to be thankful for everything. And it's just like… And then all of a sudden it's like thanks for that too. And that and that and that. And it's like… And then all you can do is fall silent. So you know. Listen to what is being said and grow. That is the most important thing. And Knowledge comes into your life. It's a gift that's given. Beautiful. Fine. But the growth cannot stop. If the growth stops after you receive Knowledge then you have just defeated the entire point of Knowledge. So you have to allow yourself to grow. Expectations. Like I said.

Trust. So you can be still enough. When you are still. Then you will feel something else move. When you are moving. You will never feel this other thing move. Listen. Listen. Listen. To me. Clarity. When you hear this incredible definition. That is another way of looking at no expectations. Just you. Just you. Simple. Simple. That's what you have to become. Trusting. Trusting in yourself. I'm okay. I'm willing to watch. To observe this process unfold. I have time. In my life. For me. I'm going to stand. When I was a little ittle kid, I have done this. Get up early in the morning and stand and see if the sunflower really follows the Sun. And it does. And you have to be very still to see the movement of the sunflower. Because it's not like cringing, but it's that imperceptibility. The flower does bloom. Only when we see a rose opening up in, you know, high-speed film. And it's like, oh look, look at, that's wonderful. Every rose, every rose went through that. Every single rose opened just that way. But you didn't have the time. You were too much, too much going on, more important things. You know, I'm not exempting myself. I've got those wonderful roses growing on either side of the steps going up to the house. Pass them by, just like that. The eucalyptus tree that was chopped down, getting dangerous, chopped down, is now huge again. Huge. It's come back. Many times over now. Because before it was just one trunk, and the trunk was chopped. Now it's just come out. It's got like five different trunks to it. Big eucalyptus tree. It grew in front of me. And it still grows. So much magic is going on inside of you. But you're gonna have to be still. Have you ever seen a bird? A bird. You stand there real still and they'll come. Make a move and they're gone. Such is the bird within you too. Hold still. And the bird will come closer, and closer, and closer. Make the sudden moves. And you no longer will be able to hear. You no longer. You'll be able to feel the pulse that you have, the rhythm that you have.

Visions International 1993