People Are Getting Happy

This Discourse was given by Prem Rawat (Shri Guru Maharaj Ji) at the Guru Worship Festival near Montrose, Colorado, on July 27, 1972.
This is a heavily edited version of Prem Rawat's speech. For a full version click here.

Dear sisters and brothers,

Unfortunately, this is the last day of our three-day festival. This function has been very successful indeed, and we have told you many things. Some people have grasped something from it, and some people have not attained anything from it. But remember, the Lord is always here, even though people don't realize Him because they have thick sheets, thick coverings over their eyes.

When Lord Jesus came, the only people who were able to realize Him were those who believed in practical Knowledge; otherwise they could not. This has been true throughout history, and history is being repeated again.

I was talking to a minister of a church who said, "History is like a pendulum. It swings away and comes back, swings away and comes back." And he understood very well how history was being repeated. Now the time has come when we must open our eyes to the Lord and see Him, because we don't always have the chance.

So what is the true Knowledge that all the Lords of their time have been giving to humanity? It is not chanting, because chanting is done with lips and with the voice, and if only a single part is missing, you can't do chanting. It is not a rosary, because people keep rosaries going regularly in their hands and if a phone call comes, they stop the rosary, pick up the phone, and say hello. People are chanting, "Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram," but if a phone call comes, they stop chanting "Ram, Ram," pick up the phone, and talk, because the phone call might be a business call and might give them a practical result.

So the True Knowledge is the only thing that can secure us in this world today. External attachments always have a beginning and an end. They don't last. But there is one real attachment.

A man comes with empty hands and goes with empty hands. He has something to do, and he can do something, but what is the most superb thing he can do? Many saints have explained that the main thing in our lifetime is karma, or action. But what is the most superb action we can commit?

There are many types of action. Even breathing, talking and walking are actions. But what is the supermost action that we have to do in order to be called human beings? Why are we called the crown of creation?

In England I saw people hitch-hiking on the road and a car passing with a dog in the back. The dog was sitting in a Rolls Royce, and the humans were hitch-hiking! So who was more fortunate in this case, the dog or the man? There are some dogs who get daily meals at a set time. There are even some rich people who hire a man

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to look after their dog. But would you say that such a dog is more fortunate than the man? Before man went to the moon, an eagle was sent. So would you say that the eagle is more fortunate than man?

No. In spite of all those actions, there is one superior action that man can do. Man can cook and eat, but animals cannot cook, they can only eat. This is the main physical difference. But actually, in this age, we even have machines with which animals can cook. There are these electrical cords and so many other things that food can be cooked on automatically.

But only man has the possibility of receiving Knowledge. Why only man? Because man has the most brilliant way of understanding. Many people bring their children to me and say, "Maharaj Ji, can this child receive Knowledge?" And I say, "By all means he can receive Knowledge, but the only thing is, he must understand the importance of Knowledge. The day he understands the importance of Knowledge it is A-okay for him to receive it."

Many people who have received Knowledge come to me and say, "Guru Maharaj Ji, this Knowledge is so far out and beautiful. Why doesn't everyone get it?" And this is the reason, because man tries to do everything with his intellect, and he can't do it.

Man tries to cover three thousand miles of distance on his horse, and he can't do that. He always uses his intellect, but what is intellect? What is it composed of? See, the intellect can realize up to the point that everything is a vibration. This microphone is a vibration. Man is a vibration. Air is a vibration. Everything is a vibration. And man's brain is also a vibration.

Now, let's say that everything vibrates at frequencies from zero to one hundred. And maybe man's brain is vibrating at the frequency of one hundred. But this Knowledge is vibrating at the frequency of infinity. It is the infinite frequency. So how can this hundred-frequency mind understand that frequency which is infinite? It cannot catch it.

Suppose I have an airplane and the radio in the airplane only picks up frequencies from 1.1 to 7.8. And suppose that there is a broadcast coming in with the frequency 9.9. My radio cannot catch that higher frequency.

Suppose one car's speed is a hundred miles an hour, and another car's speed is a hundred and twenty miles an hour. The car going a hundred miles an hour can never catch the car going a hundred and twenty miles an hour.

This is a very common thing. Why can't we make up the Knowledge with our mind? Because this thing is much, much higher, and we are on a much, much lower level.

So why have I come here? Why was this program held? It's to teach you this Knowledge, to give you this Knowledge, to make you understand this Knowledge which you are looking for. Everyone is looking for something, and one of the things is this Knowledge, this peace. Many people don't call it Knowledge, but maybe they call it peace. Many people don't call it peace, but maybe they call it satisfaction of mind. Many people don't call it satisfaction of mind, but maybe they call it something else. They can call it different things, but they need one thing, they are looking for one thing, and that is this thing, God. And I have a method, I have a way to make you understand this, to make you look at this vibration.

Now, if someone just says, "Concentrate, concentrate anywhere you like, just concentrate," I will probably take this microphone, because it is the nearest thing to me, and I will start concentrating on the middle screw of the mike. But then I'll say, "Why should I concentrate on this; why not on the lower screw?" Then I'll start concentrating on that screw. And then I'll say, "Why should I concentrate on that screw, why not on the upper one?" And I'll start concentrating on that one.

And then I'll say, "Oh, these are just screws!" So 1 will concentrate on one corner of the stage. Then I'll see that the other corner has more light, so I'll try to concentrate on that corner. My mind will run, run, run, run, seventy and eighty and ninety and thousands of miles an hour. And many gurus do this, they just say, "Concentrate."

You see, there are three steps. If I just tell you to concentrate, you are not able to concentrate on anything, because your mind is wandering. Then I tell you, "Okay, concentrate on the middle screw of this microphone." But that concentration is also not good, because your eyes are concentrating and not your mind. Where is your mind? It is saying, "Oh, what is the weather going to be tomorrow?" or "My food is in the oven," or "Where has my sonny gone?" or maybe "I wonder if somebody has stolen my car or not." Your eyes are concentrating on the screw, but your brain should also concentrate. Your mind should concentrate, because your mind is the problem for you.

So the trouble is that this screw is not going to stay for long enough. We should find such a point to concentrate on that will not go away from us. So what is that point? We have to look at all the possibilities, and when we do, only one point appears. This is the point within ourselves, the Light.

Many people say the point is the space between the eyebrows, but actually the point I'm talking about is not one that you can see by looking in the looking-glass. There is a guru in Tibet who makes a hole in the forehead with a wooden thing and says, "Concentrate there." But that's not the way to concentrate, because you must concentrate when you are about to die, and you will only be able to reach God if you are concentrating on God.

So this is the Knowledge, this is the means, this is the media through which you can concentrate your mind which has been booming around so fast. When we try to concentrate on one point, our mind is spinning so fast that it can't stay there - it is going at a million thousand miles per second. And this fast-spinning mind cannot be immediately controlled, because if we try to push the brakes to control it, then maybe the mind will overturn. And we don't want that either.

So what is the means we can apply to absolutely jam this mind? There's only one way - to give it to someone else. If we give our mind to someone who can jam it and then give it back to us in a higher position, that's the best thing. And that's why disciples say, "Guru Maharaj Ji, please take my mind." Now I don't do an operation on them, because the mind is not something like that. But what I do is burn the part which spins too fast and jam it. And then it can run with the right speed, the speed that is required of it. Because if you drive too fast, it's always risky.

The mind has an automatic acceleration on it, and you can't control it. Only one man can control it, the man who built it, who has mastered it, who is a doctor on it! Only He knows how to find the acceleration screw so he can loosen it up and take it out, so that the proportions of the mixture will be set properly.

I'll tell you what is happening with people's brains today. See, in the carburetor there are two screws, one for air and one for petrol. Now, if the air coming in is too much and the petrol is too little, it's not good. And if the petrol is too much and the air is too little, it's not good. It should be the same, so that the proportion going in the engine is just right.

See, Guru is a master, a teacher, and He really hasn't got anything for Himself. For example, I give you this Knowledge. This Knowledge is precious. Those people who meditate on this Knowledge know that this Knowledge is precious. But I don't take anything; I don't want your money. So why am I doing it? I don't even get anything from God. I'm not being paid from God. Why should I want to do this thing?

Some people who have their brains working say, "Oh, anyone

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who does some work does it for the money." But that's not the reason I do this. I do it because I get great happiness. My consciousness gets very, very great happiness. And happiness is the thing which makes love flow, which makes me love. And I want love - it makes me one with God, and my consciousness gets high and happy. And I want to be happy.

That's why I consider myself one of the happiest men in the world. I give this Knowledge to people free of charge. When people get this Knowledge they feel great happiness, and that makes me happy too. Suppose I invent a new car and I give this car to people free of charge. If they like the car they'll get happy, and won't I get happy too? Sure, I'll get happy! In the same way, I am giving this Knowledge to people today. People are getting happy, and I am also getting happy.

So understand the fundamental secret. Until and unless you understand it, you can't realize or follow what I say. Because the thing I talk about might be completely different from what your intellect expects. So to follow, first of all you must understand whether or not you need the thing I am talking about.

That's why these programs are held. And they are very strange ones. Because Bal Bhagwan Ji takes a mike and He talks about receiving this Knowledge. I take a mike and start talking about this Knowledge. Someone takes a mike from the lower platform and starts talking about Knowledge. And this is very strange. See, you go to an exhibition and start seeing things about this Knowledge. You see a movie, it's about Knowledge. You see a book from Divine Light Mission and it talks about Knowledge. And people might freak out and say, "Everything is Knowledge here!"

But that's what we want to give you. See, there are thousands and thousands of policemen in the world, and each day they put criminals in jail. And these policemen know that when the criminals escape they are just going to start their crimes again. Some people go to jail ten times for the same reason! Why?

One time a clever man, a very intelligent man, said, "You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink." So what are we doing? We are not taking him to water; we are just letting him be, and he is automatically getting thirsty and wanting water. So he automatically goes to the water and drinks it. What we are doing is giving them this Knowledge by which they get satisfied, and then automatically the reasons for their thefts and all of those crimes vanish. And I am going to give this Knowledge to the whole world, so that peace may come around.

Look how many materialistic advancements man has made! First he created a balloon, and when that didn't work out, he created a big airplane. But it didn't work out, because it wasn't so fast, so eventually man has come to this point where there are 707's and 747's, and they can run at more than six hundred miles an hour. But still he is not satisfied. He is making Concordes and SST's that are going to take only a couple of hours from New York to London.

But a time will come when man will not even be satisfied with SST and Concorde jets, so he will invent a kind of telephone booth that you walk into, you write down your credit card number or something like that, press a button marked "from New York to London," and some rays come immediately, make you into an electrical frequency, and one second later you are in London, within a wink of an eye.

All these things might happen, because man is so intelligent, but there is one thing that will still lie beyond his intellect. And that thing is the Knowledge. Have you seen any scientific achievement that has been made towards Knowledge? They have made achievements in airplanes, P.A. systems, cameras and televisions; they have even made Apollos. But have they made any achievement towards this spiritual Knowledge? Not at all, because it cannot be done through the intellect.

To spread the Knowledge, one special doctor, special scientist, special man, superman, is sent by God. Jesus was a superman. Krishna was a superman. Rama was a superman. All these people were supermen. They came and did miracles, but actually miracles were not the important thing, because Jesus says, "Who is he who wants to judge the Perfect Master by miracles? Even mighty devils can perform miracles." So that's not it. The way to realize the Perfect Master is through this Knowledge. Receive this Knowledge.

Listen, when you come to receive Knowledge, I'm not going to hold you and take a red hot stamp like the cowboys used to do, put it on your forehead, and stamp you saying "Divine Light Mission," with the date you received Knowledge. I'm not going to do that. So you can come here, receive Knowledge, and if you like it, go ahead and do meditation. If you don't like it, don't do meditation. Go ahead, search for something else.

See, I don't claim that Divine Light Mission is the only source. I say, very well, buy a BOAC or a Pan American or an Air India ticket all around the world on a regular flight and search for a true Master. And then you can come back and find me - I'll be wherever you are and receive Knowledge. Keep me as a reserve, okay? But I must caution you about one thing. Time is passing. Time and tide wait for none, and nobody knows when he will be dead. So you must understand.

You mustn't waste much time, because sometimes people go into a shop and they spend a whole hour trying to decide what type of wallpaper to look at! And they want to apply the same thing to

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spiritualism. First they want to take one whole century to find out what they should get. "Should we take Knowledge from Divine Light Mission where there is no rosary, where it's internal Knowledge? Or should we take a rosary knowledge? Or should we take some other knowledge?" It doesn't work out that way. You must receive Truth and Truth is one. You don't have any choice or any wide selection in Truth, where you can say, "Sir, can you show me what selection you have in your Truth?" No, Truth is one. It's given to you as one whole; it's not divided into parts.

So understand this Knowledge. It is within all of us, but our eyes just have to open so that we can see everything. And if a man looks inside, he will be able to find these four things, these four dollars. They are really very expensive dollars, but they have been made very inexpensive for this age. As a matter of fact, there is a special discount going on: if you give love, you will be able to receive this Knowledge free of charge, like a free gift. So take full advantage of this special discount, or it is going to close out! Many people have been able to take full privilege of this discount, and have really enjoyed this present. It is very beautiful.

So tonight I have been shouting too loud to the people of the world, telling them,"Receive this Knowledge. It is going to help you." And maybe they say, "He is just a kid, he can't explain anything to us." Or maybe they say, "We've already received what we want." I just say, understand this Knowledge. If you already have it, that is quite satisfactory.

One man came to me in Bombay and asked me questions for half an hour. He just asked me questions, questions, and questions. I said, "Mister, have you received this Knowledge?"

He said, "Yes."

And I said, "But have you received full peace?"

He said, "Yes."

I said, "I don't think so. If you have received peace, you will be meditating on it instead of asking questions." So he just kept quiet after that. When we meditate on the Knowledge, this thinking attorney stops, and we act like men.

Today we are no better than monkeys. We are just flipping around. We want to create so many things, to do so many things, to say so many things, that we are just flipping around like monkeys. Or maybe more like chimpanzees. And we don't want to be chimpanzees, we want to be human men, because that's what God has made us. Why should we be chimpanzees if we are human beings?

So to be human beings we must act that way, and how should a human act? I have taken my education in a Christian school, and people are told, "Love your enemies as your neighbors." But nobody follows this. Saints say that, Jesus said that, but nobody follows it. They don't treat their enemies as their friends; they treat them as their enemies!

So many wars are going on! But this is not how you treat your friends, is it? You don't kill them. Actually we want to be real followers of Jesus Christ, but first we must understand who Jesus Christ was. What did He say? Until and unless we get hold of that foundation on the basis of which He spoke, we won't be able to carry out what He wants us to do. First of all we must get hold of that foundation.

I can see that as much as man's mind flicks around, man flicks around, because man has been governed by his mind. I can see that westerners are flicking around like anything. That means their mind is not steady. First of all, they want to be with nature. And how do they try to get with nature? They try to be primitive. But getting primitive won't help us, because you came after primitive man, and you want to go back again! If God had wanted you to go back, why did He give you so much intellect, and put you at such a high level? God is not crazy. God is not a fool. God is a sensitive man; He has a sensitive brain. He works as He should.

So He has given you this stage where you have so much, and why should you go back? Primitive man was crazy! He used to take a spear and fight with it. And actually, he never took acid! He took something else, but he never took acids!

Many youngsters say that when Lord Shiva came, He came with a bag of marijuana. But this is not true. He came with a bag of marijuana, but that marijuana was not the kind that you smoke or eat. That marijuana was the marijuana of this Knowledge. When people got it, they really got blissed out. If they just went into it, they really got blissed out. He didn't have these marijuanas and other things. These things are not the Word!

If man takes LSD, as long as he feels the effect of LSD, he feels okay, but when the LSD finishes, he is not okay, because he is no longer in bliss. So actually he is flying over rough, rough weather.

He goes up; he goes down. He goes up; he goes down. It's not going to help him.

What I have is a constant LSD. It's not LSD, it's like a built-in LSD which God provided you with when you were born. When you get into it, you're always blissed out. There's no need to come down from it. You can do all your daily activities. This Knowledge is so beautiful that you can walk and still meditate on it. You can do anything and still meditate on it.

I have a much greater thing to give to you than anything else. So come, leave these things and come to me. I've got a much, much better thing. Try it, you'll like it. It's much better and much more far out. Thank you very much.

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