Prem Rawat aka Maharaji 1978

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE


Excerpts from International Conference with Guru Maharaj Ji in Orlando, Florida, November 11, 1975

So, this is another international meeting. And you see, what we are trying to do is that we all understand an importance of one thing in this world, in this universe. And that is that … We are not trying to take an example of exactly what America is like, but we are taking everything in, in our supposition, and saying the world is one. And the world is one country and one thing.

And in this world we need to have this Knowledge spread all the way from North to South Pole. And besides the fact that we talk about this Knowledge being spread all over, there is the fact that there are different countries, and we have to be in synch with other countries to be able to actually function and actually organize ourselves within those countries, and to be able to function in full scale.

Our aim is the same, and that is to spread this Peace, this Knowledge, this peace of mind, this tranquility that people are searching for, to spread it to every person, everybody in this world.

Now what we are trying to really accomplish is the coordination, is the togetherness, between every director and every person responsible for his area, so that his group in his country is together enough so that it can really form an organization that can propagate this Knowledge very competently into this world, so that more and more premies in this world can understand Knowledge.

And personally speaking, I hold you responsible for your duty that you perform. It's not someone else holding you responsible, but I am. Because whatever you do, in whichever country you do it, it all comes back to me. Because it is my task which I am …

Because I am physically incapable of going out to all the countries that there are in this world and trying to give satsang and Knowledge and getting the aspirants together. And I mean going out and publishing posters and sticking them on the wall.

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It's virtually impossible for me to do all that. That is why we make an organization in which we hold different people responsible. But you are responsible for getting the whole country in synch and really performing the duty, the job that has been given to you, that has been personally assigned to you by Guru Maharaj Ji.

So it's like, there is nothing much to say except: You have a duty to perform by Guru Maharaj Ji's agya. You have an agya to fulfill before you that there is no escape from -- unless you want to escape the Truth, the fact, the realism of this life, that devotion. You have volunteered for this service; I think you are very capable of this service. But sometimes you have to stick your neck out more than you need to. And when you do, please do so -- so you can perform your service in the full capacity, so that you can perform your service that you have been assigned in full capability, so it'll do me good, so that I'll be helped greatly in doing this deed of doing prachar in this world. And this is the very reason I came here and I am addressing you.

If you have any questions about your duty, about your service, that pertain to me, ask me. And if you don't, that automatically means that you are going to go out and hold the responsibility of the duty that has been assigned to you. Right? I mean, do I make myself clear? Yes?

Some of us inherited this service by default, somebody might have left, or no one else would take it.

Well, then let me put it this way. If God wanted to come to house number 3113, and He accidently landed in house 3114, what do you do? Open the door and say, "God, it's the house on the left, go to that one; don't come over here; You made a mistake"?

That's what we do? Doesn't matter. I mean, do you understand yourself to be a premie who has realized this Knowledge or not, who has ever been revealed this Knowledge? You are a premie, right? When you received this Knowledge, you dedicated your life to me, right? If you are so fake and phony as to diffuse your duty, as to regret your duty, then I don't think you are even a premie.

Because my saying is that being the president of this organization in the United States is no better and no worse than that janitor who cleans the office at nighttime. Are you a premie or not? Are you devoted to Guru Maharaj Ji or not? Have you dedicated your life to Guru Maharaj Ji or not? Are you meditating or not? This is a simple question -- very simple question. You can be honest about it. There will be no problem.

And if you are a premie and have dedicated your life to Guru Maharaj Ji, and you want to do service to Guru Maharaj Ji, it doesn't matter what service Guru Maharaj Ji assigns to you. If he says, "Behead yourself," then you should be ready to do so. Talking about getting a bunch of premies together would be an extremely, extremely joyful service for a person who will be beheaded.

Look at yourselves as premies, not as inheritors. You did not inherit anything. Not even your body. Not even this Knowledge that brought you to the realization that you are at.

I mean, let me tell you. I have been doing this program, and for the very first time I have been extremely harsh with my words. And the reason is because I have polished them too many times. What I have ended up doing is polishing these words so many times I am wearing off the chrome and the color itself. And premies are just not understanding what I am trying to convey.

See, I am doing a service, too. I mean, you understand that? I am doing a service, too. And I am younger than you are -- look at it that way. Or if you don't understand it that way -- maybe in the country you come from age doesn't matter -- then look at it this way: You are a premie. Premie has a duty and a responsibility towards Guru Maharaj Ji.

Let me give you one example. The example that I quote is from Hans Yog Prakash, which was written by Shri Maharaj Ji.

There was a little boy called Eknath, and this boy had read a lot of books in which he had God realizations, and -- I mean, just the experience of people who had that. And he had read books that told him that there was something like Guru Maharaj Ji that he could go to and get this most fantastic realization. And he was very young, and his parents had died. And all he had was a grandmother and a grandfather.

So this quest within inside of him to go to a Guru Maharaj Ji just developed more and more. And he had heard that there was a person who revealed this Knowledge, who was Guru Maharaj Ji, and who also was the general of the army at the present king's time. The book is very, very beautiful. Because in that it just shows you such a contrast that that Eknath goes through. He loves his grandfather and he loves his grandmother. But he has to leave them.

And on this starry night where everything is dark, pitch black, he leaves the house. Because he

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Prem Rawat (Maharaji) 1975
Prem Rawat (Maharaji) 1975

can't stand it anymore. He loves them, and he turns around and he sees his house that he has grown up in, but he wants his Guru Maharaj Ji, he wants his everything. His everything! I mean, to him, it's his everything: his aim, his goal, his reach, his prayer, his father, his mother, his everything!

And he looks back at the house, and there he sees his grandmother and grandfather who have brought him up from a very little age. And he knows that without them he wouldn't have survived. But he leaves them. Only for one reason -- to find his Guru Maharaj Ji, to find his Lord, to find his everything.

And he goes out. And Guru Maharaj Ji knew that there was a devotee of his -- who wasn't exactly a devotee, because he hadn't received Knowledge. But it was his devotee still. It was his responsibility. He knew that it existed. And Guru Maharaj Ji dressed himself in just plain white, and rode a white horse. This kid is walking, he is very afraid, and Guru Maharaj Ji comes up to him and says, "Hey, lad. What are you doing? Where are you going on this dark night?"

He says, "I want to go and see my Guru Maharaj Ji"

And he says, "Maybe it's just a big hocus-pocus. Maybe you should go back to your parents. Maybe you should go back to your grandmother and grandfather and just be there."

And he says, "No. I want something more in this life. I know I want something more in this life. I want my everything. I want to be one with my everything. I want everything. I know that there is something in this world that is my everything, that I am supposed to be in this world for, that I am meant to be in this world for."

And Guru Maharaj Ji says, "Okay. I know where he is." And he picks him up and puts him on his white horse and just gallops away, and drops him off at his own ashram, and just sort of disappears.

And it's like, Eknath has been doing service and doing service and doing service and doing service and doing service, and he didn't realize Knowledge. Guru Maharaj Ji never gave him Knowledge. And that was not a reason not to do service! He still kept

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on doing service. And he didn't even have Knowledge.

Today, imagine how fortunate we are to have Knowledge in such a short period that we have Knowledge in. Because at that time it wasn't that easy at all. Because people who were going to be receiving Knowledge were to be extremely clear, were to be extremely, extremely clear about what they were getting into -- so that they would really dedicate and devote their lives. And this is the reason today …

I would like to do that, too. I would like the aspirants to come down and to do service just about all their life long, and give them Knowledge at their very last minute. But I know that this world would not benefit from that. And this is why Knowledge today is so easy to get.

Prem Rawat (Maharaji) 1975 You see, I am the person responsible for that. If I want, I can, today, give my mahatmas (initiators) the agya not to give Knowledge to anybody unless I permit it. But I don't do that. I say, "Go ahead. Give Knowledge to the people you think are okay. Go ahead, give Knowledge. Spread it. Spread this Holy Word, so that every person can speak the theme of 'Jai Satchitanand,' can spread the word 'Jai Satchitanand.' "

We are no greater than each other, but we are all premies. I am a premie to my Guru Maharaj Ji, and you are premies to me. Guru Maharaj Ji gave me a task to perform. I am doing my job. And if you are incapable in any way, and refuse that service, I have no more words to say. I cannot comprehend that. I cannot comprehend how you can inherit a service. Service is an opportunity of this life!

It is not always that Guru Maharaj Ji addresses people in this room. It is not always that Guru Maharaj Ji comes down and gives his Grace to us in this lifetime, to talk to us, to let us speak when we want to clear away our confusions. And if we are dumb enough to kick that opportunity away, then we might as well kick our lives away. That's no good either.

It's like, to me, service is service. Service is what we have been always looking for. I looked forward to it. I had to wait. I wanted to do something so fantastic, so incredible for my Guru Maharaj Ji.

And I knew that it wouldn't be great enough, ever. I knew that I could never in my whole lifetime do a service, perform a service, that would please my Guru Maharaj Ji. All I wanted to do was anything he would say. Anything. And finally he gave me a service, and my whole life is dedicated to that. Well, at this time I have been given that service. And I, by my agya, give you a service to perform. If you cannot do it, if you in any way doubt it, if you in any way back up from it, then I hardly know a place in this world for you. I am not condemning you; I am just saying I hardly know a place in this world for you.

Here we are, in this human body -- always waited for our Lord. And that Lord sits in front of us, and we don't even know what to do. A job, an agya that he has given us becomes a burden for us. Well, I think hell's got to be vacated for somebody. Because if there are people in this lifetime who think like that, then that's what they deserve.

But, no. It's so beautiful. Because here we are, and everything is okay. And we have been given an agya that's very possible in this lifetime to perform. Don't think it's a burden. It's not a burden. It's a beauty. It's a joy. It's to serve our Lord.

Really reach within your heart and search. Not as a "DUO director," not as a "general secretary," but just to be able to perform a service, a very minor service for our Lord -- isn't that what we have always wanted to do?

Here we are with that most golden opportunity. We can perform that service. Then let's do so. Let's get it together. Let's get our whole act together, and do it. This world needs it. We know that. And if we don't, that means we need to do more meditation. Because this world needs this Knowledge. It's the boat that needs the skipper. It's the microphone that needs a speaker. And here we are with an opportunity, within service, and if we are not going to do it …

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Prem Rawat (Maharaji) 1975 You see, a saint says, "O my Lord, to you, there are thousands of me. There are to you, my Lord, thousands of me. But to me, there is only one of you."

Think about it and you will understand what I mean. He says, "Lord, to you there are thousands of us to choose from, to perform your task, to perform your duty. To us, to have your agya and to do the job that you want us to do, Lord, you are only one and only one." And that's the way it stands.

And we have a service to do. We have a task to perform in front of us. We have to just do it. And it's so beautiful. Think of it in another way: Think of it not as a burden, but think of it as an opportunity. And everything will be beautiful. The Grace is with you, and it'll always be with you as long as you keep digging. But when you stop, the Grace will also stop. And then, nothing will work out for you.

I have seen in my life -- I am not very old -- but I have seen in my life the most impossible jobs manifested before my eyes, in front of me. Things that were virtually impossible to do. And it's all by Grace. But if I would have stopped, it would have never manifested.

So, here you are. Here is your duty. You have it in front of you. I don't want to say much more, and don't want to bore you with it. But you have your task. You have your duty. You have your opportunity. Take advantage of it. It's not always that Lord will assign you for a task, a duty.

Thank you very much.

So if you guys have any more questions … I hope you understand what I meant. You do not inherit it. You were given.

Guru Maharaj Ji, I heard what you said, of course, but I think it's better if I don't do my service any longer, because sometimes it seems to be that it'd hinder us. Like the Mission director and me, because of me, there have been troubles between the director and the comptroller or treasurer, about organizing these things in another way than he, so it becomes really hard for him without …

Yeah, I'll give you an example about that. If you had a sixteen-foot sailboat … Have you ever been in a sailboat?

It's not the time to kneel down on your knees and to start saying, "Oh, God, save me," and a storm comes and goes, woooooof! And that's what

happens. It's a time to get up and get yourself together! I'm not talking about that premie sitting on that chair. I'm talking to every one of you, to get together and really fight the storm! Because storm is the mind. And the mind comes to you and tries to drown you.

It's the same situation, and we have to fight it. So if …

I mean, it's pretty bad when you've got fins all around you, that look like white fins. And sometimes they surface and they go "chomp, chomp, chomp," and you say, "I think I'm going to jump in the water. It's going to be faster that way." That's not what you do. You put up your sail and you take your -- I mean, whatever you can do, you do. Doesn't matter what it involves. But you fight it.

And then when you get to the shore, there is a big fiesta waiting for you, a big meal. Everything is beautiful. And then you turn around and you say, "Man, that was something else!"

That happened to me. I was in Italy, and we had a lake behind the residence. And I was in this raft, and it had a big engine behind it. It had no steering wheel. It just had an engine that you operated like this. And I wasn't very familiar with it, so I was going really fast …

And I was the only person on the boat. And I am not a very good swimmer. And I didn't have a life jacket on either. And there was the anchor sticking on the front of the bow, so I tried to go

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forward and to get to the bow and get the anchor in the boat, and I lost control of the engine. And when I tried to get it back again, it just went like this (around in a circle), and I got chucked out of the boat completely, into the water. I just got thrown in.

So what did I do? Go like this, and say, "Okay, I'm going to drown"? No. I mean, that's even a more practical aspect of what I am talking about. I did everything that I could. And the boat was just going round and round, and I just left myself, said, "Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, help me!" But not that I went like this (prayer posture). I swam. And I asked for Maharaj Ji's Grace, and it came along.

And here I am. I mean, there were Marolyn's father and Ron who watched it happen. They jumped in the water, and they didn't even get quarter of the way. I mean, I was too far out in the lake for them to even do anything. And I went back, and I got hold of the boat again, and the prop was just spinning all the way around. And then finally another boat came, and I mean, everything became okay.

But if I would have given up at that time, you wouldn't have seen me again.

So that's not the way it works, you see. You have got to try it out. You have just got to try. You have got to try it out. You have just got to try. You have got to be out there, because it just so happens that that's what your responsibility is. That's it. That's what your responsibility is.

Your responsibility is to actually help other premies come to this Knowledge. So I hope you understand what I am talking about. Any more questions?

Guru Maharaj Ji, you have spoken about the need for effort. But at the same time, you said that not even a leaf moves without your will. So what's our effort?

Yeah. Well, that's exactly what I would have said when I was in the water. "Pull me out of there!" Would have been easier. But I tried, and I asked for Grace, and everything worked out okay.

It's Guru Maharaj Ji's wish, see. Okay. So you said that I said, at one point, that without my will not even a leaf moves. Right?

It is my will that you go out and get some premies together, and make sure this prachar spreads in your country. Okay? I mean, that's something you could have figured out for yourself. I mean, what do you think I'm doing here anyway?

You know, I have just completed a three-day festival, and it's a little bit tiring. But the reason why I am here is so that you can understand what I am really trying to convey. Any more questions?

(someone speaks in Spanish)

This is some question!

Maharaj Ji, he says that he has Knowledge for one and a half years. Really he wants to be devoted to you, but he feels that he is not devoted enough, and that he cannot continue like that, being not devoted to you. He can't experience what he wants to experience. And at the same time he is giving his life to you. But still he thinks that there is something to experience that he can't experience now.

You see, you have to surrender yourself to experience what there is to experience. You want to translate it to him?

(a premie translates)

And if you don't surrender, you are not going to experience anything. Ask him if he has ever seen escalators.

When you get on the escalator you have to stop, and there is a handrail parallel to you. You just hold on to that handrail, and it takes you. But if you keep on walking and running the opposite way to the way the escalator is going, you are going to go nowhere.

Mind is very strong, but you have to fight it. And one of the directions that I have given is: Do Satsang, capital "s"; service, underlined; meditation. Comprende, senor? Go ahead! Don't save it for the next time.

Maharaj Ji, I just want to know if I can really do this service.

Don't ask me. I gave you the agya to do it. You don't turn around and ask me: Can you do it? You understand what I am talking about? I tell you, and you do it. You don't turn around and ask me, "Can I?" I mean, that's ridiculous.

A reason why it is ridiculous is because if I have asked you to do it, then I have set my Grace with you to do it, too. And therefore, you can do it. You know, just asking me, "Can I do it?" -- that just means that you think I am really just stupid that I even asked you to do it. Come on, make up your brains.

Want to ask anything? Otherwise I'll go have my dinner.

Okay. So I hope you premies understand. Thank you very much.

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Prem Rawat (Maharaji) 1975
Prem Rawat aka Maharaji aka Guru Maharaj Ji the Perfect Master or Satguru