The Year Inside

Trying to remember 1974. Hooked back over my shoulder to the milestones of festivals and darshan programs, with personal changes and realizations woven among them. Towering above everything was the May wedding. But before that? Didn't the year start out all vague and dim, the last sputterings of the Millennium blaze finally dying into grey haze? Didn't we spend months trying to work our way out of debt?

What really happened in 1974? When I asked the photo department for help they treated me to a four-hour slide show of Maharaj Ji smiling, Maharaj Ji giving satsang, Maharaj Ji sitting on stages, Maharaj Ji giving Holy Breath, Maharaj Ji laughing, Maharaj Ji giving darshan. Surely the photographers had gotten carried away.

The only way to understand what actually happened in 1974, I concluded, was to read Maharaj Ji's satsangs. I planned to look them over in a couple of hours, pull out some apt quotes, and tie them into a nice little story.

As it turned out, the satsangs gathered together made a neat pile of double-spaced pages nearly half a foot high. Getting them together and putting them into three giant loose-leafed notebooks took me an entire day.

Guru Maharaj Ji gave 62 satsangs in 24 cities in 1974. Of all these, only five were public programs. 1974 was the year Maharaj Ji spoke to and united his family of premies. He toured extensively, covering every region of the United States, and visited Europe and the Far East.

The photographers, I realized, had not gotten carried away; they just recorded what happened.

GURU MAHARAJ JI'S
ACTIVITIES DURING 1974

January 21
Phoenix. Question & answer.
January 27
Los Angeles. Satsang at Embassy Hotel.
January 28
Los Angeles Larchmont. Question & answer.
February 9
San Francisco. Satsang.
February 10
San Francisco. Satsang & darshan.
February 11
Seattle. Satsang.
February 12
Seattle. Darshan.
February 14
Denver. Valentine's Day Satsang
February 15
Denver. Satsang.
February 16
Kansas City. Satsang
February 17
Kansas City. Satsang & darshan.
February 18
Chicago. Satsang.
February 19
Chicago. Afternoon satsang & darshan.
February 19
Chicago. Evening satsang.
February 20
Toronto. Satsang.
February 21
Toronto. Satsang.
February 22
Toronto. Afternoon satsang & darshan.
February 23
Ottawa. Satsang.
February 24
Ottawa. Afternoon satsang & darshan.
February 24
Ottawa. Evening satsang.
February 25
Montreal. Afternoon satsang.
February 25
Montreal. Evening satsang & darshan.
February 27
Boston. Satsang.
February 28
Boston. Darshan.
March 2
New York. Satsang.
March 3
New York. Satsang & darshan.
March 4
Philadelphia. Satsang.
March 5
Philadelphia. Satsang and darshan.
March 7
Washington, D.C. Satsang and darshan.
March 8
Atlanta. Satsang.
March 9
Atlanta. Satsang and darshan.
March 10-15
Miami. 1 satsang program.
March 11
Miami. Holi Festival.
March 15-20
Jamaica.
March 17
Jamaica. Satsang.
March 21-24
Return to Denver.
April 19
Los Angeles Larchmont satsang.
April 20
Los Angeles. Unitarian Church satsang.
April 21
Los Angeles. Unitarian Church satsang and darshan.
April 28
Denver. Satsang at Cosmopolitan Hotel.
April 29
Denver. Satsang at Hilton Hotel.
May 2
Denver. Satsang at Phipps Auditorium.
May 4
Denver. Satsang at South High School
May 6
Denver. Satsang at Cosmopolitan Hotel.
May 12
Denver. Satsang and darshan at Kennedy High School.
May 20
Denver. Guru Maharaj Ji marries Durga Ji (then Maryolyn Johnson) at Rockland Community Church on Lookout Mountain, west of Denver.
May 29
Return to Los Angeles.
May 30
Los Angeles. Larchmont satsang.
June 1
Los Angeles. Satsang at meditation retreat.
June 14
Los Angeles. Larchmont satsang.
June 15-July 1
Tour in London and Italy. Satsang in London.
July 2-4
Copenhagen. Guru Puja festival, 3 satsangs & darshan.
July 5-7
Amherst. Guru Puja festival. 2 satsangs & darshan.
July 8-14
Travel by car to Denver via Divine Farm in Michigan.
July 17
Denver. Satsang: third anniversary of Guru Maharaj Ji's arrival in U.S.
July 27
Los Angeles. Satsang: welcome home program.
August 24
Los Angeles. Larchmont satsang.
September 14
Los Angeles. Satsang at Van Ness ashram, 8:30 A.M.
September 18
Guru Maharaj Ji and Durga Ji move to new residence in Malibu, California.
October 6-13
Denver.
October 8
Durga Ji visits Unity School.
October 9
Guru Maharaj Ji and Durga Ji tour Denver Community: laundromat, print shop, Divine Shelter, school, DUO offices.
October 12
Denver. Paramount satsang, 12:30 A.M.
October 13
Guru Maharaj Ji and Durga Ji give darshan to children and mothers at park near Denver residence.
October 14
Return to Los Angeles.
October 22
Auckland, New Zealand. Arrival.
October 24
Auckland. Satsang and darshan.
October 25
Sydney, Australia. Durga Ji's surprise birthday party at Koala Motor Inn.
October 26
Sydney. Satsang and darshan.
October 29
Melbourne. Satsang & darshan.
October 30-November 6
Fiji. 1 satsang program. Satsang in English and Hindi.
November 9-10
Toronto. Hans Jayanti festival. 2 satsangs and darshan.
November 24
Los Angeles. Satsang.
December 8
Los Angeles. Surprise birthday party aboard the Queen Mary.
December 12-17
Visit to Denver.

Webmaster's Comment: Looks like he did about 160 hours of work in the year where work is sitting giving a speech or sitting, having your feet kissed and accepting money. That's about 4 weeks work.

Prem Rawat Gives Holy Breath
Prem Rawat's Wedding Day
Prem Rawat's Birthday Party Prem Rawat in Fiji

May 20th, 1974. A day never to be forgotten. Guru Maharaj Ji and Durga Ji's wedding was the day he married us all. Only a few premies attended the actual services, but the ceremony is still going on and spreading to more people every day. Here Maharaj Ji and Durga Ji are signing their wedding certificate.

Prem Rawat Gives Satsang 1974
Maharaj Ji tied up 1974 with satsang in L.A., November 24th