Maharaji: Universal City, 23rd May 1997

Maharaji: Universal City, 23rd May 1997

Here we are. (applause) And it's wonderful that this event was able to be pulled together so fast. It was one of those things that uh we finally have a schedule for the rest of the year and in fact, some of it is available on the information desk and so on. But then when I looked at it and I said, well, we're missing anything to start with, so let's begin with something and I'm here because we all need to be reminded again and again of what is really important to us, to you, to me. This individual life, this being, this boat, this breath, this existence. This is my boat, and it is on a river, and many things happen on that river. The waves come, the winds come, many things and sometimes we become so involved, so caught up in maneuvering the boat. Avoid this, avoid that, turn around, go around this, watch out for that guy. But pretty soon we forget, why are we here? What happened?

When I first came to the West, we used to have these sessions. I'm sure some of you remember. You'd sit around and everybody would come in the morning, and there'd be questions and answers. And one of the questions a lot of people, I mean, this was almost like one of those questions you knew you were going to get asked. Every session, every time I got together with people. And almost the thing would be to bet if you wouldn't get asked that question. And the question was, what is the purpose of this life? And I always found that to be the most eight-ball question. Crazy. I could give answers to many, many questions, but that one I always found very peculiar. Why? Because don't you know? Don't you know? If you don't know, there are other things you need to worry about than asking that question or even being sitting here.

That's like the pilot who has no clue. I mean, he just woke up and he found himself in the cockpit. And he's flying along, and all of a sudden he says, what is this? Is this a nightmare? I mean, what is going on? Just imagine. Just imagine. Some of you who do not know how to fly. All of a sudden you wake up. You go to sleep in your bed. You have a nice meal. You lie down, you know, maybe watch a little TV, then turn it off, turn the lights off, go to sleep, everything is fine, everything is great. And all of a sudden you wake up. And you're pretty rested and everything, and yes, you are ready to wake up. And you wake up and you open your eyes. And there you are. You find yourself sitting in a cockpit, strapped, upright, with all these gauges and instruments buzzing around. All this talk that you can't understand a word of going on in the speaker. You look around, there's nobody else there. You are there. It's a big 747. And you're cruising along at, you know, 37,000 feet. There you are. What would your reaction be? I mean, I know how to fly. My reaction would be, oh my God, what is this? What am I doing here? Because so much happens. It takes such an effort. So many variables popping left and right, left and right, that we do forget the basic fundamental element of existence. The enjoyment. That understanding that we need to have every single day. We forget that.

And there are people who would question that. They would say, how can that be? If it is so fundamental, then we wouldn't forget.

Well, coming here, I looked over, I walked into my office and looked over at my desk. Finally, all the magazines were sitting there. I guess somebody brought them in. So I looked through them and I picked the ones that I want e just tapped him on the shoulder and said, read that checklist. I mean, I'm sure that he has had a very distinguished career in aviation and that day I'm sure he didn't feel so good. Why? One item, just one little item he forgot. Do we forget one little item too? Then all things start to happen. Do we forget something too? Do we forget something very fundamental, so fundamental that it leads us astray? That it takes us where we don't want to be? The results of which we despise, the pain and sorrow are then allowed to come in.

The clarity disappears. Clarity. Lady Clarity, you got to court her. Got to court her. Be in that companionship of clarity. And the fundamental thing that so many of us forget is this gift that we have been given. Your capabilities only exist because you have this gift. If you did not have this gift, you would not be capable of doing anything. And yet you are more proud of your capabilities than you are of that thing that makes it possible. You are attracted, you are attracted to the mountain, not to the legs that make it possible to climb it. And when one false step is taken, then that same mountain that you are so proud of becomes the very source of incredible pain and, oh my God, I wish I wasn't doing this. So, no problems. Remember, remember what you have, not what you can have.

The world plays a lot of games. The world says you could be. It's the few words you got to really watch out for. The shoulds, the coulds, and the woulds. Because the world says you should be. The wife says you could be. So the should be's, the could be's, and the would be's. And the Master says, you are, not should be, you are. You exist and find joy and seek joy. Seek, seek joy in what you have. It's a great formula. The seeking we do. And seek we will. That is part of our nature. We seek. We seek.

You look at, somebody designs a nice kitchen. So you know where the water is. If it's your kitchen, you know where the water is. You get thirsty and you go to that place. You don't have to think about it. You grab the glass, you pour the water and you drink. Maybe through technology we have made the action very convenient for us. Because in India, and in many, many countries, I didn't say third world. In many, many countries, people have to go long ways to fetch the water. Seeking they do as well. They seek. Through technology, through plumbing, thanks to Romans, the ducting and so on and so forth. And actually, in Mahindra Dharo in India, they had plumbing quite a long time ago. But we have taken that action of going maybe 50 miles and bringing the water and reduced it to maybe where we have to only take one step. But that fundamental urge to look for water, we have not been able to change. And that doesn't need to change.

Technology can make things more convenient, but that which triggers those responses, that has not changed. And we must take notice of that. That I will seek. I will need to know. I will yearn for understanding. I will yearn for love. I will yearn for compassion. I will yearn for Knowledge. I will yearn. These are the things I will yearn for. Because it is my nature. This is, as a human being, this is what I have always done. I have done this without giving it a thought.

In fact, I can quite assuredly say that when I was a baby, of which I have no memory, but I know I was one, I looked at things that attracted me and I wanted to reach for them even though I was incapable physically of reaching for them. But the urge was there. The urge was there before the physical capability existed to do so. You can see that in little babies. They sit there and they'll start to drool. Like they lose every part of like, just anything they can do to get to that ball, to get to that one thing. Because the urge is so strong. The effort of walking, I know I had to do that too. The effort of walking. In fact, I know one kid, he figured out that he could scoot easier than learn how to walk. And he wouldn't walk. He just scooted around and he got really good at it. He could just kind of just go around. And then his parents started making fun of him so then he finally figured it out and started to get in the act of walking. But he just, he wanted to get to the ball, he'd just go scoot, scoot, scoot, scoot. I thought that was smart. His parents probably told him that was really dumb, but I thought that was smart. Because it was the urge to get to it. The urge to walk. To take everything to try to get up. To fall and to, not to take notice of it. There were no rules of success and failure. There didn't need to be any rules of success and failure. So every falling down, if only it strengthened my legs, that would have been fine. I did not say, well, I quit. I am not going to learn how to walk. There is no way I can walk. I mean, look how many times I've fallen down. This is impossible. No, I would do that now.

As so many people I know. Oh, I can't do this. This is impossible. This is hard. This is no way. But when I was young, there were no rules as such. There was a yearning, and to fulfill that yearning was the only rule. And so, do it. Morning till evening, do it. Fine. Go to sleep. Wake up. Do it again. Try again. If one day was not so successful, well, maybe the next day would be a little more successful. So, seek. We will. Now it becomes very important what you seek for, what you allow yourself to seek for. You better be careful.

So many people saying to me, oh, you have to get on the internet. It's information highway. So I said, okay, I'll get on it. I got on it. You know, I couldn't find one single piece of information. It was not an information highway. It was an information parking lot. There was nowhere to go. You go somewhere, and they'd tell you about something else, and something else, and something else, and you could just go on and on. And it's like, wait, I'm just trying to find one thing. And I tried six or seven times. And each time, I just picked up the phone, called my secretary and said, could you get those people to fax us that information? It just went on and on and on. But people are there. I know it, because you can't even log on. What you search for, you better be careful. Searching you will do. You will not be in a situation where you won't be searching, but search for that which will be beneficial to you. So what can I search for that will benefit me, me as a human being? Hey, if tomorrow, somebody told me there is no more internet, nothing like that exists, what do you think I'm going to do? Quit eating? Quit sleeping? Oh my God, no more internet? Oh, that's terrible. It wouldn't faze me a bit. It wouldn't.

Why? Because that's not what my life is all about. I existed before internet did. And I'm sure that if internet wasn't there, I will still exist. And if I did, my existence would not be relative. My existence is relative to only one thing, and that is the most sweet, precious thing that I have. Existence is based on the simplest of facts, one breath in and one breath out. I long for that. And if I long for that, that's a good longing. That's a beautiful longing because it is a simple longing and it is to the greatest of miracles, the greatest of miracles, that it is made. No accident. Millions and millions and millions and millions of years of evolution, trials and error. This would be the best for us. This would work for us. Life will be rewarded and awarded this gift of breath. Then that needs to be my priority. My priority needs to be my fulfillment, not fulfillment of ideas that I can have. What a difference. Because in the worlds of the should-be's and the could-be's and the would-be's, it is the fulfillment of your ideas.

Fulfill your dreams and you are successful. And in the pursuit of fulfilling the dream, people haven't slept for ages and ages. And now, of course, the thing is they don't know the difference between nightmare and dreams. They can have a nightmare and they go out, I was asleep, I saw this, I'm going to fulfill it. It's crazy. In a world where human life doesn't mean a thing. That's crazy. In a world where there is no respect from one human being to another human being. No, just labels. Third world, second world, first world. Western world, eastern world. Asia, Australia, this, that. Names, lines, divisions. No respect. Differences are now more apparent than ever. And respect never was. Seems to be dissipating every day. What do you judge a person by? First, look, this is no accident. This is no accident. This is a product of the should be, could be. When a person is judged by the color of their skin. That's the should be, could be. I mean, that is classical should be, could be. Classical. When a person is judged by the content of their wallet. Not of their Knowledge, but the content of their wallet. And you see, that's why it is so easy to make idiots out of people. It really is. All you have to do, all you have to do, is just get a nice suit. Wear it, and you're a genius. It doesn't matter if you are the stupidest person in the world. All the ladies have to do is buy a dress that has Chanel type buttons. That's all that matters. It could be the scraps you picked up from the garbage can around the trailer district of your community. So far the buttons look slightly like Chanel. You're in. You're in. The should be, could be. And how beautiful.

When any individual is allowed, allowed, and they allow themselves to feel the reality of this life. Not the should be, could be. To take that breath, and be thankful. To celebrate every day. To decorate. Not the outside decoration, but decorate within. To celebrate this existence. To feel joy, and welcome it. To feel love, and embrace it. To feel good, and be thankful. To be thankful. That is the transformation that we need. That should be our anchor. Because there, there's space. There you exist. And in that existence, there's joy. In that existence, there is simplicity. There is understanding, not confusion. There is clarity, not doubt. This life, like that little boat on the river, is moving right along, and it will, and there is nothing you can do about it. It's moving right along.

The time has its hold on it. And that is amazing. When you begin to realize that everything that was made, that was created, that creator came along and almost sprinkled this pixie dust on everything, and everything started moving. Moving in the sea of time. Because if it was up to us, we would freeze everything. Frozen cars, frozen trees, frozen waves. Why am I saying that? You know why I'm saying that? Because we do that. People go out there and they make huge sculptures out of plastic and all the stuff, like a wave, and it's frozen and you can look at it. And for millions of years, no wave has been frozen. It moves. The passage of time. A bird. And it moves. It flies. It tries to fly. It flies. And it moves with the passage of time. And the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and you, you're not getting it. If you ever get the silly notion that things should stay that way, that is impossible. By design, it will not be. By design, it will move. It must move. That is what that pixie dust called time is all about. And for the losers, it means that everything slips away.

And for those who have understood that simplicity, that means it all comes. All you have to be in this consciousness is be aware, be accepting, to accept. Not to push aside, but to accept. Things will never be the same. They cannot be the same. They're not allowed to be the same. They never have been the same. And aren't you glad? I mean, think about it.

Maybe some of you are getting too old. You know, yeah, yeah, no avoiding 40 this year for me either. It's convenient that when I was 38, I figured I was 39. That's not so bad. Well, 39, and I'll be 40 this year. And where do I need to be? Because one day I was thinking about that. Gee, you know, I wonder what that really means. You turn 40, and then everything just stops working like one of those cars they have at circus, you know. All of a sudden, all the four tires go plop, and all the mudguards fall off, and the windshield. I mean, is that what happens when you turn 40? And then all of a sudden, it was like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. There is something that I remember that has never changed for me. It's very hard to explain it to you, because it's a feeling. I can't put it in words, but I remember feeling the same feeling when I took control of my senses from the day I can remember things as far back as I can remember. Something has not changed for me. I am the same. And yet, every day, I change.

And somebody, with great kindness, showed me how to be in touch with the most precious thing in my life. That kindness, I can only appreciate if I appreciate the gift that I have been given. It cannot be a theory. It cannot be because a bunch of people are saying, oh, that's real great kindness. I go, yeah, that's real great kindness. No. Do I feel that? What have I been given? Where could I be? I could be anywhere. I could be anything. But somebody came along and said, he said, and here is a gift that will anchor you to that place you need to be. And I am so thankful that such a thing exists. I saw a bumper sticker and I was driving along and it said, you know, live your life to the fullest, smile every day. And I said, how stupid is that person? If you live your life to the fullest, you don't even have to try to smile. You will. But they don't understand it. They come up with good words. And so they say, oh, God got a good little formula. It's stupid. It's stupid. Why? Because they missed the point. Smile every day? I don't tell people to smile every day. I know that when the heart is in the joy that it needs to be, the smile is a slave. It has been conquered. When the heart is fulfilled, you own the world. Of course you do. When the heart is fulfilled, there is no lack of anything. When the heart is fulfilled, you don't have to go around saying, you have to show your teeth.

You have to tighten your muscles and perk up and hold your breath in and suck in your chest and suck in your stomach and tighten your buttocks. Because if you are really, really fat, that's not going to help. You know it. I know it. I mean us, we have stood in front of the mirror, done all those things and you just go, well, that doesn't work. Because in the buttock, the leeway is so much. Six inches either side. It's not an issue. Suck in your stomach. Your lungs aren't that big. So what difference does it make? Smile. Smile. When you don't want to, is the biggest thing there is. Biggest thing there is. So, for those who know reality, they know that it is, not that. It is the food. And all those things fall into place.

Fulfillment is not a button on some soda machine. I'll have some fulfillment, please. I mean that sounds like a great name for a soda. Fulfillment. But it isn't. Fulfillment is when you are fulfilled. So hone your skills to be fulfilled. Seek the most beautiful within you. Be attracted to that beauty inside. Let the divinity inside fill you. Understand. Respect. So many people get it all wrong. They take that, they talk about the feeling inside. And what they're talking about is the instincts. Repeated information that has worked for you. I'm not talking about instincts. Feeling inside is something else. It's the feeling of joy. It is only one. It is singular in nature. Do you know what it means to be singular in nature? It defies nature itself because nature says there can be nothing singular in nature. That's like having a one-sided coin. That would be very difficult to have, wouldn't it? But that divinity inside each human being is singular in nature. It has no opposite. It is one thing and only one thing. And it is beautiful. And it has no ugliness. And it is fulfilling. It has no emptiness. It is light that does not cast shadows. It is that light that has no darkness associated with it. It is singular in nature. It gives, it absorbs, it fulfills. And it is beautiful always.

Everything, even food has double-edged swords. You eat. When you're hungry, fine. But if you keep eating, keep eating, keep eating, you can get into trouble. Long time ago, somebody, they used to go around and, you know, go to Dunkin' Donuts houses or whatever and collect all the donuts that were left over from that day. They were fresh donuts. They were going to throw it away. So somebody ate a bunch of these donuts. I mean, it's like, donuts, yes! Donuts, you know, they ate a bunch of these donuts. And donuts in nature expand. And he ate so many that they started expanding. And, you know, the doctors had to be called in and they first thought it was appendicitis and then it turned out it was only donutatitis. Something so enjoyable, right? Could be so like, oh, I wish I've never eaten that again. That is, so many things in this world are like that. So many things. Water, ocean could be beautiful, beautiful. Then it could harbor something in it, then it's like, I don't want to ever go in that thing again. Sun, yes! No! You can get into a situation very quickly. Because I don't want any more of that sun. So much duality, duality, duality, duality.

And then to have something in your life that is singular. That's what Knowledge is all about. Knowledge is all about living this. Knowledge is all about feeling this, not some theory. Knowledge is about waking up and being thankful. Knowledge is about welcoming lady clarity. Come on in. Welcome. And please, don't go. It's not about nailing your door shut. It's about, please don't go. Knowledge is about being conscious. Knowledge is about being aware. Knowledge is about those things. Knowledge is about sitting down and allowing yourself to feel that feeling that is within you, letting it take you inside. That's what Knowledge is all about. Knowledge isn't about bugging other people. Knowledge isn't about becoming a pet. Knowledge is about being fulfilled. You as an individual, you understanding your individuality and you fulfilling that individuality, that's what Knowledge is all about. Knowledge is not about a caravan. Oh yes, let's hitch a bunch of lives together and we'll all go and enjoy. No, that's not what Knowledge is all about.

See, so many people, Universal City here, Universal Studios, so many people. And I was watching them. They have this whole show they do and they have fire bombs and fires going off and bombs going off and people doing it. It's all fake, it's not real. Because if those guys riding around in the pond down below knew that those were real bullets, they wouldn't be riding, they'd quit. They couldn't pay them enough. Just so far everything is fake, it's good enough. And people have come from miles dragging their kids and everybody to watch the worst nightmare because if they were ever in that situation where bombs were exploding, they would freak. Believe me. It's a very strange thing. I have been in cities where all night long you hear bullets going off. It's weird. You don't know which one is going to fly through the window. You don't want to be in that situation. I have been in situations where there's rocks flying all over the place, and glass and shrapnel and everything. I've been in that situation. I've been in a situation where, you know, somebody's holding a gun right up to you. You don't want to be in that situation. It's pretty bad. Believe me, it's bad. So when you pay your hard-earned money to be in that situation, it better be fake. Fake. And to those people who sponsor that fake situation, your money better be real. The duality of this world. So to you, that situation should be fake. Very fake. Your money should be very real. So you will pay your real money to watch a fake situation which better not affect you.

I mean, what if the fire went completely out of hand and all of a sudden, you know, one of the things is male baldness. You got little hair left and all of a sudden you go to show, you pay your 15 bucks, you come back, you got nothing left. So much of that.

But really, really, the simplicity, simplicity of this life, simplicity of this breath, simplicity of this experience, be attracted to it. Allow yourself to be attracted to it. Let it be real for you. Rejoice. Every day, rejoice. Every day, feel thankful. Every day. Tall order? Tall order? Yeah, of course. Because the pickles you can get yourself into. That's what makes it a tall order. Really, that's the only thing that makes it a tall order. Because you have perfected ways of getting into trouble. Repeated trouble from the same exact mistake. Same exact mistake. So, that's not where it is. That's not where it's at. It's within you. In your understanding, in your acceptance. It has been made possible for you. It has.

I just came from India not too long ago. Powerful, powerful. And one change that I saw, and it just all of a sudden became so apparent. And I guess it's been happening gradually. Because I go every year, twice a year to India. And I see the people who are doing things. Somebody's picking the flowers, or somebody's cleaning the streets, or somebody's fixing this. There's a constant state of fixing up that's needed there. And most of the people that I knew from a long time ago. And then all of a sudden, I was looking around and I saw completely new faces, but I recognized them. They were people I had given Knowledge to. And there was such, so much of a change. And they were becoming so active, that it was just like, huh? Well, I know these people. I don't know these people, but I've seen these people before. And they're really having a good time. Who are they? And then it clicked. Ah, I gave them Knowledge. I remember. Powerful. A little experience like that's very powerful for me. Believe me. Things happen in a very beautiful way, unfolded in a very beautiful way. Beautiful events. Beautiful response. The biggest Knowledge session. There was a Knowledge session, I believe, on a Friday or a Saturday. And then the next one was the day after that. And the first one broke the record. And the second one broke the record for the first day. Something unbelievable. Three thousand, four hundred, Something, something people. First day was 3,200 or something like that, and the next day was 3,400, something. People coming and responding. Simple, very simple. Wanting to know, wanting to learn. And then, more than the amount of people who received Knowledge, more than that showed up as aspirants.

Around the world. Here is something that is so amazing. Whether there are people in Malaysia, they've been waiting for me. I mean, usually I go to Malaysia in, you know, February or something like that, March. This time I didn't make it out there. I'm going, I'm going. It's on schedule, it's on schedule. I have to, I have to wait. I have to get the schedule done. And I'm not going to do it either. So, you know, after a lot of, it just wasn't going anywhere. Finally I had a meeting in India. With all the organizers, they were there, and I gave them a basic outline and said, here, maybe this will help. Finally they got something together. And the consequences of having this available, I don't know if everybody even realizes what it means. And we've been waiting for a long time to have a new schedule, a new schedule. Finally we got a schedule. It goes out, actually it goes out all the way to December. It goes out to December. You can make plans, you can get there, get there ahead of time. You know where it's going to be happening. You can find out what the weather is like. And it allows you to do it right down to the whole year. You can decide where you want to go. I mean, that's just for people who are going to be participating. For other people it means so much more. For the organizers, they can get… That happens at the last minute. I mean, the possibilities are incredible. But I tell you anything, nothing will change. With all this schedule, there will still be that frantic last minute call. I don't know why. I mean, it just, I guess, it'll take a little time. It'll take a little time to catch on. It's like, oh my God. And before, you know, these guys are finished, I'm going to have them do the 98th schedule as well, while they're on a roll. So, it can happen.

The response, Knowledge sessions that need to happen. Not nearly enough Knowledge sessions in the schedule. I will add more, as many as are needed, will do. High priority item for me to get those Knowledge sessions done. It's been a while since there has been Knowledge sessions in the West. But, be there. Be inside. Remember, I have been teaching for a long, long time. And I hope that you have been learning for a long, long time. The only thing you have to remember, if you don't have Knowledge, then remember that this life is a gift. And if you have Knowledge, then remember this life is a gift. If you don't have Knowledge, then remember that you can have the gift of Knowledge. And if you have Knowledge, then remember you have the gift of Knowledge. You are welcomed, through this Knowledge, through this gift, through this remembrance, to the world that is not of should and would and could, but is the world of is. Is the world of existence. Feel. Be thankful. Enjoy. Enjoy. What else can I tell you? Because if I can tell you, enjoy, and you can enjoy a little bit more of this life, hey, that's good. That's really good. It doesn't have to be a lot. A little bit. That's enough. And a little bit more tomorrow, and then a little bit more tomorrow, and a little bit more the day after that. Like every season that comes. The transformation.

December, the days were so short. Not in Australia, in the northern hemisphere. So short. Then each day started to become a little longer. A little longer. Only by a minute. Sometimes 30 seconds. Sometimes 20 seconds. And I would look at it every day. I would read how long from the sun's rise to sunset. And we just got shorter and shorter and shorter, and then it happened. The sun took the twist, or the earth wobbled, and it started getting longer and longer. The announcement for the summer is going to come was made. It didn't come yet. It was made. The turn had been taken, and it was coming, and it was going to come. The winter showed, and then the summer showed, then the winter showed. The announcement, and every day gets a little longer, longer, longer, longer, and then shorter, and shorter, and shorter. Only to get longer again, and only to get shorter again. Put in exercise the mechanism to bring that joy to your heart. Then it will happen. Not that day, maybe not that second, but it will happen. Put in exercise. Put in motion this incredible miracle.

So, there will be a short video, and then all you tired folks can go home. Try not to forget it over the weekend. It's only Friday today. There's Saturday, Sunday. I think Monday is off too, you know. See if you can make it last till Tuesday, that'd be great. You know, I'm doing an event in Washington on Sunday. That's where I'm going to be. Looking forward to that. So, it goes on, and with it, hopefully, so does this life and this gravity. Thank you very much, and good night. Take care.