Now We Can Progress

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Excerpts from Prem Rawat's Speech, December 20, 1976, Atlantic City, New Jersey

So what has been happening? You guys have been having a lot of satsang here? I'm not here to really talk about anything formal, because I don't think there is anything formal, so far that is concerned. We have to just really understand our goals and really realize the aim, where are we going to, what are we going to do, and be clear on the same point. And then it is quite possible, then it is quite feasible; otherwise, everything is illogical and everything is weird.

A lot of people have forgotten what we are all here for, and then of course, when you go off the main highway, there's lot of exits; who knows where they all go -- none of them are posted. A lot of people just take that venture of just exiting, taking that gamble in their life, that they know nobody has won so far. A lot of people have tried to do that, you know -- purposely, just to exit, leave the highway, leave that center focus, leave that purpose of life and leave that love, and leave that understanding, leave that truth -- and then just get spaced out -- just take an exit out. They place themselves in that position, but it really doesn't do them any good. And it's like taking a gamble and the odds are nothing to nothing, and they never win. I think it has been an intense lesson for a lot of premies, specially -- well, a lot of premies in a lot of communities. And here we have quite a few community coordinators and a good, well it covers Boston, Providence, New Haven,

Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Buffalo, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee -- that's the East Coast, and I think a lot of premies have learned a lot of lessons, and just by coming together to this festival, it was very incredible last night you know -- just watching the whole thing happen. It was really incredible just to see how it evolved, how it really happened, because it was really beautiful. This whole thing began out of premie effort, there was just a necessity. It was needed, it was like an evolution in this whole organization that you try to suppress. It's just like the less and less those gorillas started using their features, the more they lost them. The more they lost them, the more refined they got from, I guess this point. And it's just an evolution in the organization, to where a lot of things were suppressed, but not used, and slowly it was just like -- well, it was a necessity and it had to happen.

But to happen -- that love had to burst out. You know, I very distinctly saw that premies were listening to satsang. Now really couldn't see premies last night because the lights were real bright and were right at me. Once in while, after the lights were moved out I could see a few premies, and once in a while I'd put my hand up and block the light and I could see the people. The point is that people were really eager, people were just really trying to listen, trying to understand what is being said, and they really took it in heart. And the darshan line happened and that was so beautiful, and then the program happened, and then just came out with the Krishna costume and everybody got into Arti.

And after the Arti, it just like started to open and you could see people just jiggling out of these capsules of concept -- just different people were so locked into their different concepts, and you could see them just swinging

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out of those concepts. And finally, by the end of the song, they just all broke loose. It really happened for them.

But unfortunately, because of the time and participation of the premies -- there wasn't so much participation, but I think the premies who attended, they're really going to do okay, they're really going to be at the right place and are going to be very strong for a long, long time. Of course, I intend to have more functions, but the point is that you have to go back to your communities, when you do, and tell premies that, really let them have it, really let them understand it.

It's like, it's just not worth it to build a whole structure of concepts, to build a whole conceptual fantasy, a dream -- it's very impractical, and that's the way we have done it. We're trying to make an organization, and actually, it was my idea. I said no, we should have an efficient organization. If we don't have an efficient organization, then there's really going to be a lot of space-outs. But the organization got so efficient, so efficient, that it could not survive without having most of its energy put back into it again to keep on going from a day to day basis. Just like the German tank that they built: they built it so sophisticated -- it was, it had automatic systems where it would sense a mine within such a distance and it would freeze, it would stop, because it knew that there was a mine around there. It was a super-sophisticated tank, super-sophisticated -- every electronics you can possibly imagine: computerized antiaircraft guns and everything in it. But the thing was, it couldn't go more than a mile off its base, becuse after that, nobody could maintain it, everything would run out of it.

So it's just like that -- we had a very efficient organization. I mean, you have to say, a lot of organizations aren't that way: computers, da da da da da -- so many departments, everybody working, nobody getting paid. The whole idea of this organization was very efficient, but it was too efficient; it was an unnecessary efficiency. So now we are going through another transition -- it's just like a wave: it comes up -- like tidal wave, just comes up and it's gotta go back down again and it's gotta become normal and everything has to come back into that satsang, service and meditation.

I was talking to Joe, and to Dettmers, too -- every organization has their personal beliefs and every organization exercises it -- specially a spiritual organization -- exercises their beliefs. Nobody is really going to -- no Catholic is going to come up to you and say well, why do you kneel down, because they do that themselves -- that is unquestionable. No Protestant is going to come up and tell you that why do you go to an ashram, because that is your church and we are in that church status. So we can exercise things, but if we are in doubt, if we're really in doubt about what we are doing, if we really don't experience Knowledge, then it is very hard, then yes, then all those things start coming at you. Yeah man, what's gonna happen if somebody asks me, a Catholic might come up to me and all these people might come up to me and say why am I doing this, so I better not do this, I better not do that -- you know?

It's really beautiful, because we have learned it, and of course, 1 have said we have learned it the hard way. It's almost like this thing has deteriorated so much that the actions that I am having to take, I was predicting those actions a long time ago. Just in Malibu I was saying "I tell ya, I'll have to start from scratch." And I predicted it, and exactly -- it's going right according to the timetable, it's just exactly happening that way, and Atlantic City really made a difference in the whole -- it made it a pivot point, so the whole leverage just shifted over, and it's really been beautiful. Now things can really progress and at least we know that premies who are representing all the communities are here, and I hope that you can go back and give the proper satsang.

And that's the way -- that's how it's happening -- I've been receiving letters from premies -- from Ireland, I've been receiving a few letters from Canada, I've been receiving letters from England, I've been receiving letters from all over the place and it was so beautiful, because all these premies were just waiting there for a bomb to collapse or something. What did Maharaj Ji tell you, how did it go -- they were almost like, they had gone through it -- just through their minds -- they had gone through it, and they were sort of bummed out about it: they're gonna come and tell us all this garbage or something. But it turns out that premies really

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became open, premies really took onto it and said "No, wait a minute, this is really fantastic- and there was just so much satsang happening and premies understood and it was just like everybody started to radiate, everybody started, they all started to begin back again. Its just like a big song, and it's just trying to begin back again, and this is what we have to participate in, to make it as powerful and as strong as possible.

I don't think we're going to run into any problems if we keep in that situation. I think we are already at a very efficient level -- our programs and so on and so forth and what have you -- they're really pretty good. But we have to just perfect that system within ourselves, within ourselves. I don't want you to go back dry and barren. I want our organization to be good, and that was the only, one thing maybe in a way I was concerned about this festival and I mentioned that. I said wait a minute, this is a community-puttogether festival. Organization has been sort of left out on this one. Though organization was consulted, but it really didn't happen that way. A big phone didn't come from our end, it came from the other end. It didn't happen like okay, well, so many people are gonna come and da da da da da, and you better have this for it and you've gotta come, man, and if you don't come this is gonna be all over for you -- or something like that. it was really different. It was really different this time and it's really beautiful because it was a thing, but the point was that wait a minute, if the organization doesn't participate, then the organization might be left out altogether, completely -- and then what's gonna happen?

All these communities might become so independent by themselves that it'll be detrimental for them, because the point is, independence is good -- terrific -- but not too much. We get too independent, the point is, we never know where that independence is coming from. Is it independence of mind? Like satsang last night, was saying, we say do service -- "Why?" do meditation -- "Why?" go out and have ice cream -- then you go, "Have I got any money left?" -- there's no questions asked and there's nothing done. And I'm not saying particularly that having an ice cream is an extension of mind, but other things as such are an extension of mind and we never question them. Nobody questions them.

So it's really something, because we have to be really open, we have to be really understanding about this whole situation.

So … so the point is that I am heading this whole transition this time, and that's the way I figured it was going to happen. You tell other people they're not doing meditation, they're not having that experience -- its shown to me, how much experience people are really having. But if you don't have the experience of this Knowledge, forget it -- everything sounds weird, everything sounds wrong, everything sounds too lame, you know? But look at us -- this is Knowledge that is bringing us together, this is the reason why we are here, so we have to really be clear on that point, we really have to be focused on that point.

I think we have fantastic potential. On my birthday I really got blissed out, because it was so beautiful to just see premies come and was so beautiful to see the togetherness of the premies. But of course, these premies, they never showed up for any other satsang program, it was just because of the birthday party that they showed up there. But this program, it was a fantastic inspiration, so far as inspiration is concerned, because really it isn't like the information that I've been given.

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When I went out on the tour around this world, there was a lot of information that was given to me and it was really wrong, it was really a wrong information -- that's not the way things are happening. Things are a lot of different ways; premies are really ready to go, premies aren't having confusions, premies don't have any questions, that's some bongo that has those questions. I remember the video tape that I did in Denver with the community -- like Joe was saying, it was really fantastic for the premies because it had a lot of satsang in it, but I would rather have it more straight satsang, just pure satsang -- straight -- instead of question and answer and breaking it that way, because that's what premies need.

So the point is we really have to all come together and realize satsang, service and meditation and come to the basics of it all. Because without coming to the basics of it all it is really not going to work out. But the point is, why look at that side of it? Why look at it in that sense? Why not look at it from the sense: what is our objective? Where we have to go now to just progress and progress and progress, and go on and on and on. Because it is really beautiful. Just having these premies come and having these premies come together, having these programs and doing all this -- so much new progress has to be made, so much headway has to be made, but all the potential, all the tools you ever need are right there.

There's just a lot of initiative that I have to take personally on myself and say okay, well never mind, we just have to do this. We just really have to do it -- it's like personally -- supposedly, everything should be set up where everything is automatic, where this time the automatic gearbox just ran out of oil, so you just have to start shifting again -- it just didn't work. The point is we all have to surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji, doesn't matter who we are, what kind of confusions we have, what kind of questions we have, what kind of doubts we have. Thing is, mind is a kite: you can give it as much string as you want; kite is not going to flash a signal and say no, I don't want more string. The point is, it'll come down, it won't stay up there, it'll come down. You can give it as much string as you want and mind is just like that. It's not going to tell you all right, I have it enough. That would be fantastic if it did, but it never will -- it'll just keep on taking from you, keep on taking from you, keep on taking, and where you'll end up is poof! -- on the floor.

It's just really beautiful, it's just really inspiring to see what lies ahead of us, and I think we can do it, we can pull together, through, and really use Guru Maharaj Ji's organization for the purpose it has been constructed. Of course, with our President-elect here -- or the coordinator, national coordinator -- I think we can really move on and have no extensions of mind left. I mean, I can clearly see it, I don't know about you guys, but I can clearly see that all this hustle-bustle muzzle -- it's pure mind, nothing else but pure mind, and people don't understand that, people are not realizing that, they're still giving to mind -- they're still giving it away. To them, it doesn't matter because they've never experienced Knowledge in their lives -- so maybe once they experienced Knowledge in their life: they forgot it.

The point is that premies have to go on; if they stop, it just doesn't work for them.