The Greatest Magician Video 1978

Prem Rawat (Prem Pal Singh Rawat) whose devotees call him Maharaji (meaning Ultimate Ruler) first came to attention in the West as Guru Maharaj Ji - the self-proclaimed Perfect Master and Lord of the Universe ridiculed in the media as a fat, squeaky-voiced God boy. He had inherited his titles and position as the Satguru, The True Revealer of Light and Spiritual Master of the Divine Light Mission, India (Divya Sandesh Parishad) when his father died in 1966. His father, Hans Rawat, was a successful Indian guru, self titled HRH (His Royal Highness) Yogiraj Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj. As a child the youngest Rawat son was informally called Sant Ji, more formally Balyogeshwar ("Born King of the Yogis") and even more formally Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Sant Ji Maharaj. In the West Rawat dropped these more verbose titles in the early 1980's and instructed his followers to call him Maharaji. He has also changed the names of his organisations many times: Divine Light Mission (DLM), World Welfare Association (WWA), World Peace Corps (WPC) and Divine United Organisation (DUO) became Elan Vital in the early 1980's and in 2001 The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) was created and from 2010 his major orgs are Words Of Peace Global (WOPG) registered in Holland, Words of Peace International (WOPI) in the USA, HDSK (Human Development through Self Knowledge) in Great Britain and Raj Vidya Kender (Royal Knowledge Society) in India. He no longer claims to be an Incarnation of God but an internationally famous humanitarian leader and teacher of peace. He's neither.

This film consists of excerpts from Prem Rawat's Speeches and associated events that occurred during the 1978 Holi Festival in Marbella/Malaga, Spain, on March 24 & 26 and in Miami, Florida, on April 9 & 10 1978. It includes film of Rawat's distinctive celebrations of the Indian Holi festival and scenes of the Darshan ritual where his followers walk past him in single file as he sits on a throne, offer presents (they have been informed he prefers money) and bow and kiss his feet. The film was shot when Rawat's administrators were arranging "festivals" constantly, and he was strongly extolling his Divine Master Role and exhorting his followers to do nothing but attend these meetings (and/or enter an ashram) with no concern for career, family or financial stability. Rawat clearly enjoyed playing with the crowd with his discussion of God's role as the Greatest Magician who creates life and then asking "And have we ever clapped at this Magician?" and receiving the applause he was looking for. The songs (approved by Rawat of course) are, as always, far more open about Rawat's divine role than he was publicly declaring and are a far better indication of the feelings of the premies or at least the "experience" for which they were told they should strive.

Miami/Florida, Thursday, April 6, 1978 Speaking On Stage: "And so the greatest Magician of all is here. So premies, the point is that if you want to watch the show and that's what we are here for, to watch the show why don't we open our eyes? Why don't we look at the stage and watch the Greatest Magician perform his miracles: every day, every second of the life that he does?"

So dear premies, it's really beautiful to be able to come and have some more satsang. It really is beautiful because in our heart where the realisation really happens, in our feelings, in our real heart where that realization really takes place, you feel something. You understand something. And it's like a feeling of fulfillment, and really, there is no other feeling that a human wants in this age, except that feeling of fulfillment in his life.

Because again, you know, you just see this world and there's so many goals that people have set forth. There's so many ideals that man has set forth. And he never gets that feeling of that proper fulfillment until just that time happens where he, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, receives that Knowledge; he, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, receives that that Grace that can then fulfill that fulfillment that he really wants; fulfill that destiny he really wants to accomplish in this life.

And it's just like, you know, before I came here we were having some satsang at the Residence and I was just saying like a locomotive, like an engine. And it needs to ride on two tracks. And these two tracks have to be always parallel, because if they are not parallel, the engine, the locomotive is going to ??? to derail itself. Itself, it doesn't have any, anything. It can't go anywhere unless there are tracks. And then it will go there. It'll go from one place to the other place, only where the tracks are laid out. And that's, that's the way this life is. Wherever you want to take it, it'll go.

Prem Rawat (Maharaji) Speaking At Holi Festival 1978

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

But then, what really is the purpose? What are thus two tracks that we are really supposed to be riding? And those are to understand what the purpose of this life really is and in parallel to it always maintain the second line which is to fulfill that purpose of life.

And that causes the two tracks to be there. One, the purpose of this life, understand what it is. And the second, to fulfill it. And that makes the train roll, that makes the locomotive go. And then it's like a track which will lead you to that ultimate goal, to that ultimate destiny that you really want to be at.

But if, if ever in our lives we forget the purpose of this life, then it's like having one track and not the other one and we are bound to get derailed. And if ever we know now, if we if we know the purpose of our life and we are not fulfilling it, if we know the destiny but are not fulfilling it, then again the same thing will happen, and we will derail. And, it's like, that's the way it's supposed to be. And that's the way really it is supposed to be.

And every time a Perfect Master has come in this world, that's what he has told us: that there is something far more superior, that there is something far more greater than just what we seek in our world, than just what we seek in maya, that just what we seek in our concepts. There is something far more superior, there's something that's far more greater, and that's what we have to achieve, that's what we have to get at.

Rawat performs a surprise attack on Durga Ji (his wife Marolyn) but with her superior height and strength she overcomes his flabby forearms and wrestles the bottle of dye from his limp grip.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

And it's the same way, premies. It's just like you have to understand what this life really is, who we really are! You know, you have to just like look at an overall picture, and just say, "Who am I? I'm a doctor, or I'm an engineer, or I'm a pilot, but who am 'I'? Who is that real thing? What is that real thing that is within inside of me that I am here for?"

Because you're not here to become a doctor, by no means. You become a doctor it's because that's what you want to do. But does that mean that whatever you want to do in this life is the purpose of your life? Certainly not.

And there is just a one set purpose of life. And everybody comes into this world, and every Perfect Master that has come in this world so far has pointed out that purpose of life. And it's been exactly the same, again and again and again and again. And so when we realize that Knowledge ... I mean, it's like you know theories and words and they can only take you so far. But the experience takes you miles beyond. That experience takes you even further and further and further and further. Because then you really start to experience: "Okay, you know, so great, you know. I'm a doctor. I'm a pilot. I'm an engineer." Or whatever your career is, or whatever you're pursuing. "I'm a, I'm a tractor-trailer man, you know, or a bus driver. But that's my career!"

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

What? And the first thing is first: What am I here for? And then you just see that you're here to accomplish, to fulfill that destiny of complete surrender, to be able to come in here, into this world, and to be able to surrender. And to be able to completely go back to that source, to be able to completely plug right back in from where you came, and therefore have the never-ending cycle, therefore have the never-ending circle that just keeps on going on and on and on and on.

You know I mean it's just like you know sometimes when you are sitting in a room, (sucks snot or Nectar back up his nose) the whole perspective sort of folds in, you know. But you look out and you go outside, say at at nighttime, and you see all these stars. I mean, they're completely, completely, completely incredible. And you see these stars and you just start to look up and you just say, "Wow, man. These are like far, far away. And there's a whole galaxy out there. And who knows what's beyond that galaxy, and what's beyond even that, and what this whole universe is made of?" And you know that still that and yet, you still know that this whole universe which is in our reach is completely finite.

And yet there exists a thing that's completely infinite. Past all the universes. Past all the stars, all the galaxies, all the Milky Ways, all the moons, all the suns, lies an incredible experience. Lies this incredible energy. And that energy is experienced. The experience of that energy, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, is possible, now. And that is what's being rendered to us. That's what's been given to us, to be able to experience that perfection, to be able to experience that bliss, to be able to experience that incredible beauty that lies within all of us.

What makes us, what makes us premies? What makes us understand that we are all premies? It's that Knowledge. Because we all share the same secret that keeps every one of us alive.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

Because that journey is there for us to be on. It's all there for us to travel on. It's there, and that's the reason. Because, I mean it's like you can go into "becauses," you can go into reasonings, but where are the reasons gonna really take you? Where is it all going to end up? And nobody ever knows that, you know, it's just like pure speculation, and this whole humanity just works on pure speculation. People just think, "Okay, maybe this is what I am supposed to do." Some people don't even think anything. They just go ahead and do their trip, whatever it is, and yet get completely plastered after a little while by concepts and by ego. And then they completely lose it, you know, then they completely lose all perspective. Then they don't know what's the top and what's the bottom. It's like being on a or going around and around in circles for such a long time, or so fast, spinning so fast, that when you stop you don't know and you start to tumble around, and all you want to do is really stop. But that's the way it is out there.

And by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace we have that opportunity now to be able to get out of that scene - to be able to get out of that situation where we see mirages, where we see, where we see all these different tracks that we have made, or to completely go back and just get completely involved in, in nothingness - but to be able to be at that clear place. And Guru Maharaj Ji's just giving us the green signal and saying, "Roll it." And then that's it. And you roll down smoothly right down the track. And before you know, you can see that this, this is the track and it's as straight, as straight as it can be. And you see that for miles and miles ...

I mean, sometimes you see the other tracks that you might have taken, and they're following parallel to you, and they seem like they, they're right there. And then you get this question, it's like: "I don't know, man, you know, if I would have taken that track, I would have been at the same place as I am here or it would have just been two tracks towards west or towards east or towards south or towards north." But then, you know, I mean, then then at at that time, you know, a lot of people derail. A lot of people want to go to the other rails.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

But if you keep on trucking, if you keep on going, and keep that faith, have that faith ... because it's not really a faith that that you say, "Okay. You know, it's like imagine something and believe in it." But it's a practical experience. And have faith in Knowledge, have faith in Guru Maharaj Ji, have faith in that beauty of satsang, service and meditation. Not because somebody is telling you that there is an experience that exists, but to experience for yourself the experience that exists, and then have faith in it. And then you start going, and you keep on going, and you know you just look and you just look and you look! But that's all and then very soon you start seeing then how those lines start to crumble and fall off and veer off to other sides and and and you see a pile of locomotives on each end. And you just see that that would have taken you nowhere.

And then, of course, when you come to that point you go, "Wow, you know Maharaj Ji, thank you very much." Or, "Thank you Knowledge. You know you saved me." But that's like so far there when you get to that point where you can see piles and piles of cluster and you can see piles and piles of locomotive piled on each other, rotting away. Then you go, "Oh, boy! Hah! Now I know that I'm on the right track, because people took these tracks. That is what happened to them. And this is the right track."

But what about before you reach that point? What about then? Aren't things crucial then? No, things are as crucial, or even more crucial, at that time than they are once you've reached to that point where you can really see, where you can really be, you know, just open your eyes and there it is, you know and you can just know that that's the right road.

So things are crucial all along. And that's where everything comes in. That's where faith comes in, and that's where that's where that effort comes in, the effort that you, personally, have to make to do that satsang, service, and meditation. And there's an experience behind it. You're not just, just doing it blindly, but there is an experience behind it.

And that miracle is everywhere! That miracle is in every molecule. That miracle is from, you know, I mean, it's like you watch "Star Wars" or something like that and you go, " Wow! You know outer space. Going more than the speed of light." You know or this or that. You know, it's like, you can get into that movie and get into all those special effects and yet those are just imaginations, speculation.

And yet, what we have within us, that energy that's making us survive, is way out there. It's to the end of the universe, if there is an end to the universe. It's there. If the earth is the beginning, then it's there. And it's everywhere. It's on Mars, it's on Moon. It's everywhere! And making everything tick as it is, day by day by day by day. And that's what I mean by an incredible, incredible miracle happening all the time.

And so the greatest Magician of all is here. So premies, the point is that if you want to watch the show and that's what we are here for, to watch the show why don't we open our eyes? Why don't we sort of wake up? Why don't we look at the stage, and watch the Greatest Magician perform his miracles: (applause cheers) every day, every second of the life that he does? Why are we so involved in our glass of water and crunching ice that we completely lose the perspective: Why did we come to the hall? Why are we sitting here: to watch this incredible performance of this incredible Magician.

Rawat Saying "And have we ever clapped at this Magician? I mean it's like we never" (applause, cheering, whistling)

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

And yet he does it. He's doing it every day. Every every one is incredible. I mean, it's just like you take any miracle in this life and it's completely, completely incredible. And all these miracles are happening right in front of us! Right there!

And I think the appropriate word is "stupid". Because you pay so much every minute, every second. If you can price that second, if you can price that minute, and that's what's going every second, every minute. Just going, going, and going, going. And you're here! The time is ticking away And you are, you are in this hall, in this auditorium. Not this auditorium, but this vast auditorium where they have special effects like it's called "Moon". They have this intense, intense, intense spotlight. They call it "The Sun". They have a beautiful, beautiful ceiling. It's called a "Sky". And in this sky, in this endless, endless ceiling, we are on this tiny little table, and it's called "The Earth". And it happens to be round. And we are sitting there. And we are there. And we are in this auditorium.

We are in this greatest miracle of all the universe. And Earth is just a little speck. Earth is just a little planet. And we are sitting on that planet. That's our table. And eating, eating away at everything, crunching ice, getting so spaced out, and spreading butter on our toast that we just miss. Every time that miracle happens, we miss it.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

So premies, is that the destiny? Is that where it's all gonna to end? Is that where it all finishes? Or does it really go beyond that? And that's not a question, you see. Because the answer is more predominant, is more energetic, is more powerful. So it's just like it's very if it is a question, it really is not a question. It's a question that appears to be a question. but it's more like a statement with no question mark at the end of it.

Because the answer is at every moment with us. And the answer is there. Just to know we are here, Knowledge is here, Guru Maharaj Ji's there. There is our answer. And there could be no greater answer. There could he no greater answer than that total experience of our Knowledge, of ourselves, of who we really are. And even if we had it for one second, even if we had it for one moment we know it's there. And there is no greater answer. There is no greater proof that can be given than that.

So premies, you know, it's that incredible-ness. It's that great miracle. And let's not miss it. It's happening every moment, every moment, every moment, every moment, every - I mean it's just like, as I'm flashing away - even this is (snaps his fingers) a miracle. you know and that you are there and you're sitting on those chairs, you feel those chairs? That's a miracle. And you know, these lights are shining, this is a miracle. And everything in this, this is just a start. We are in this auditorium; it's only so big. And this world is huge, and this universe is gigantic - if there is a word more than even gigantic - "colossus", you know? Huge. Enormous. And everything. The planets, the meteorites, everything that's happening. It's just a great game of this great Magician.

And so it's our opportunity. you know, to be able to just watch this Magician play. And even more so, to be able to become a little part of his magic. To be able to participate in his magic, I guess, is even more incredible than to just watch it. You know because just to watch a reality manifest ...

You know, there comes a magician or something like that. And he pulls a little rabbit out of his hat, and everybody goes, "Yay!!" And here is this Magician. He not only puts the rabbit in his hole, he makes that rabbit right from scratch. And he pulls it out of that hole, and he puts him back in that hole. And he makes him jump, and he makes him twitch his nose. And he makes him eat, makes him see, makes him sleep, everything! And have we ever clapped at this Magician? I mean it's like we never (clapping, applause, cheering, whistling) sometimes we just never get to it.

Prem Rawat Saying "to accomplish the purpose of this life, which is the greatest miracle"

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

But what if there was a Magician who took a speck of dust and turned it into a pearl? Or took a coal and turned it into a diamond? And not a fake diamond, a real diamond! Not just a fake pearl, or a pre-made pearl. No! A pearl that manifests from scratch. Wouldn't that be an incredible magician? I mean, if something like that, if you were to advertise in Newsweek, a lottaf people would come to see this guy you know. And it's just like, wow. What for? There's even a bigger miracle happening.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

There is that miracle happening that this guy is trying to portray, and is not doing a very good job of it, trying to pull a bunny out of his hat. Bunnies don't live in hats, bunnies aren't born in hats. And so far you can look at bunny face, he doesn't like that hat. You know and yet, trying to portray some kind of an illusion. And this Magician doesn't portray an illusion. No illusion whatsoever. Everything is real.

And so, premies, just to be able to become a part of His magic is so incredible. And you know, we are a part of His magic. He's given us this. We are one of that things that He has created. Not an illusion, we are real. And that's what we have to understand, and that's what we have to see for ourselves. And even more. And you just, you know, it's just like more and more and more and more, and more, he has taken us back home, and he's taking us back home. And that's even much more of an and just, just realize, just open up your eyes, and just see and just realize that you're becoming a part of that miracle every day, more and more and more.

And so, don't keep thinking that the curtains are still drawn, and that there will be a time when you'll be called out to the stage … No. You're on the stage. It's you! You have that Knowledge. You have that opportunity to be able to realize Knowledge, to be able to realize Guru Maharaj Ji, to be able to make that effort to accomplish satsang, service, and meditation, to be able to accomplish the purpose of this life, which is the greatest miracle. The words stop short. You can't, you can't go on any further. You now and by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace it's all here. It's all with us.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

You can't take your life, you cannot take Knowledge, and the reason why you are here in this world, and try to match it up or try to have a compromise with anything else in this world: it's your job or it's your nose or it's your hairs or it's your eyes or it's your clothes - whatever it is in this world. You cannot compare two things. They're both individual. And when it's a uniqueness, when it's a unique situation ... because that's not the way the Creator provided this human race. You know and that is a unique situation. It's a very, very artificial situation.

Because when the Creator created this whole world, He gave us lands without fences. And ample and ample and ample of fruits and vegetables. And no restriction, no restriction. And just made it in such a cycle that it could just go on and on and on and on. And it's just man's mind, man's own collective ideas, man's own ego, meanness, just completely took over.

We have to just understand the importance of ourselves. Why we are here, why Guru Maharaj Ji's here, and then to be able to just, just see, even for a moment, very, very clearly: "Look, you know, there is no and, ifs, and buts about this thing. This is very, very straight. I've got to dedicate; I've got to surrender."

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

And this is the example that I was giving you. You know. There is no compromise between the two situations. And yet they both exist. So what are you really going to do? In what kind of a circumstance are you really going to end up in? And I can just see, you know, and that that can be a very, very confusing thing, and just the right kind of material for mind to blow up, just the right kind of ammunition to bombard you with, saying, "Well, you know. I've got to work, and I've got to do this and I've got to do that." And really get into it.

And then on the other hand say, "Well, you know, I've just got to make ... You know, I've just gotta live! I've just gotta live and then just adapt this Knowledge, adapt this satsang, service, and meditation in my life."

No. There cannot be any compromise. You cannot have compromise. You can only have compromises in illusion. There is no compromise. You know, and that's what, that's what you have to understand. You just can't get away with saying, "Okay, God, I understand You're there. Everything is humbug; everything is alright. Just ah I just promise you two hours of evening time, you know, if nothing is on on 'Special Special World of ABC', they're Yours. Saturdays and Sundays, they're mine. All the week, they're Yours. And, um, Good Friday, that's mine, too. And everything else is Yours. Except Saturdays and Sundays, and the days on 'ABC's Wild, Wild World of Sports,' everything is Yours, oh Lord. Thank you very much." You know, you, you just can't do that.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

You can do that. Of course you can do that. You can, you can make a pledge, "I, da-da-dada-da, pledge myself to the Almighty Lord, and that I you know on such and such date take a vow that I dedicate myself completely to my Lord. Conditions are stated below: you know two hours every day, except weekends and Good Fridays and the days that 'ABC's Wild, Wild World of Sports' comes on." And just you know at the end of it, if you feel a little bad about it, you just write in, "Oh Lord, You're Almighty, You're all, You're omniscient, You're omnipotent, You're omnipresent. You understand, don't Ya?" You know.

And it's just like isn't that the circumstance that we all go through? "You know, yeah, yeah, I know I'm an idiot." And so you step out of the hall and somebody says, "Are you an idiot?" And you go, "What? What are you talking about? Who's an idiot? I'll break your face open, you call me an idiot!" And it's just like for a very, very selfish thing, we go ahead and agree to the fact that you are an idiot, that you know, you know God is everything but to leave you alone. You know, you're just a little creature, and "What do you want with me, Oh Lord, I'm just too humble. Just, you know, I'm no good. Find somebody else." And how can, how can it ever work like that? It's impossible! How can it ever work like that? I mean, really, how can it work like that?

After you understand the purpose of li, of your life, how can you just trade it on for some - say, "Okay, you know, look. I've gotta play cards. And you know it! You know what is in my heart. You're omniscient, and You know I gotta - I really like cards and I gotta play 'em, so let me play 'em. I know this is Your time, and I know this is Your hour that I pledged to You. But You know everything, so here it goes!" - and pull out a whole deck of solitaires. Not even that you're playing cards with somebody special or somebody at all! And start playing Solitaire.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

But what I'm trying to say, you know, might sound very, very funny. But when it comes out on a photoprint, try to put that in your life, and you might be very surprised. You might go (clears his throat), take a big swallow. Because this might be quite your picture. This might be something that you do. "Yes, two hours in the morning, and hour and a half in the evening. It's all Yours. Rest is all mine. And what I want is salvation," as though I mean you were going to contract this hall. If you were gonna lease the hall.

"Yes, and I want all the chairs and all the bleachers and I want this hall for five days, and I'll give you two dollars for it.

"I'll give you three hours out of my days and You give me salvation. You give me Yourself. You give me Peace. You give me happiness. You make me all okay, huh? You take care of me." I mean, that's, that's looking at this whole situation in a very, very strange way. You're looking at the situation as though it was something like you know you could just walk over to Pan American Bank and say, "Okay, you know" and pull off some stunt that's completely, completely incredible.

So I mean what it boils down to, premies, is that in our life, when we understand what satsang is, what service is, what meditation is, and when we experience those experiences, you can't just take off and do your thing. I mean you can do your thing to a certain extent, and that certain extent is only where you have made and given complete priority to the Knowledge -- first … not second, not third, not A, not B - the first priority, when you have clearly seen that there is no ands, ifs, and buts about this whole thing, and that you're there for one purpose, and it's to serve your Guru Maharaj Ji, and it's just to meditate on that Holy Name, and it's just to understand what this life is all about.

Prem Rawat: The Greatest Magician

This is not the time to space out, it never was time to space out, it is not now time to space out and never never be, in the future the time to space out. You have to just keep on truckin'. We have to just keep on going, and just spread this beautiful, beautiful word that Guru Maharaj Ji is here, that Knowledge is here, to this whole wide world, so that they might also snap out of their ignorance and come to this beautiful, beautiful experience that we have had. And that's where it lies. That's where it is.

You know and to just let this whole, let these drums blow through everybody's heart in this world, and let them know that it really exists, that beauty, that perfection that we all seek in this world really, really exists. And then come to Guru Maharaj Ji with an open heart. With a heart, you know as they like to put it, "heart of a child." And why do they say "heart of a child?" Because that child's heart is just open. It's just soft. It's just there to be perceptive. It is there to know, to accumulate.

And it just becomes a beautiful, beautiful experience, to accumulate what Guru Maharaj Ji's saying, to accumulate that experience, and to keep that experience for once and for always in our hearts. And that's what we really want. That's what we really need.

Prem Rawat's "Knowledge" has three parts: regularly listening to his speeches, doing voluntary work for organisations serving him or donating money and daily meditation correctly practicing the four techniques he recommends. The techniques are so simple it's hard to see how they could be practiced incorrectly. First technique ("Divine Light") involves sticking your thumb and middle finger on your eyeballs (NB: with eyes closed) and your index finger between your eyebrows. Second technique: ("Heavenly Music") poking your thumbs into your ears and listening. Third technique: ("Holy Name") thinking about your breathing (NB: continue to breathe). Fourth technique: ("Nectar") curling your tongue backwards and tasting. Rawat's father taught slightly different techniques but either way it's difficult to see how these could produce the benefits claimed for them especially as Rawat claims His Knowledge is the only method of attaining real happiness and love in this life.