Guru Puja is a festival held by Divine Light Mission to honour the Perfect Master. It is also an excellent opportunity to invite the general public to join with us in a celebration for peace, a real life festival, and to see the practical example of a divine community in action.
It is also a good time to clear up any preconceptions held about the Perfect Master. After all, it is the nature of the mind to make models. Words themselves are little models strung together in groups to record our impressions and experiences. The mind analyses things, puts them in categories, separates them into sections. After a long time of making models, we come to believe that our concepts are the real basis and nature of life. Like believing that a picture of an apple contains the full taste and nourishment.
We see houses, trees, people, and perceive them as separate objects. In Truth they are different forms of the fundamental energy force, which is pure love. When that is realised, contacted, there is no separation or pain. But theory will not provide the necessary change in our perceptions. Not knowing anything finer, we continue to play with our paper money, when the real currency is love; we continue to kill our own species in horrifying wars when the only battle to be won is in our own minds. We have become so deluded by our games that we use the word "model" for something we regard as close to perfect, when perfection itself cannot be subject to any limits.
Thus it is important to understand that Guru Maharaj Ji can show us a way out of the pretence, disillusionment and suffering. So we especially extend an invitation to the media who influence the opinion of a large audience. Already, reporters and commentators have made models of Guru Maharaj Ji, noting only his external appearance and the surroundings provided for him by Divine Light Mission. In creating their own toy Master they have missed the point. And the point is that Guru Maharaj Ji can reveal Knowledge, an inner experience of Light, Music, Word or pure energy vibration, and Nectar, which brings peace of mind under all conditions. When each individual has peace, the whole planet will he peaceful.
We are inviting everyone to find out what is really going on. We know from our own experience that man can live in happiness with his fellow man. Please find out for yourself why we call Guru Maharaj Ji the Perfect Master and why we follow him. This is not a new religion or philosophy but a straighforward movement to inform everyone that an incredible eexperience is being revealed freely. When all is said and done, we are here to give love to one another. We are here to fulfil the tidings of "peace on earth, and goodwill to all men". And that's an easy task when the source of peace is known.
GURU PUJA NEWS
The new world record in non-stop festival attendance is being set by Mahatma Padarthanand Ji, a close disciple of Guru Maharaj Ji. July 2, 3, 4, will see him in Copenhagen for Europe's Guru Puja, followed by America's festival on July 5, 6, 7. And we have just received a telegram announcing his return to Australia for Guru Puja in Melbourne!
For the past few weeks, Melbourne's Divine Light Mission has been preparing for the Guru Puja festival to be held on July 11, 12 and 13 at the Fitzroy Town Hall. One of the local organisers pointed out some of the aims of the festival.
"For years we've gone to dances, concerts, festivals and forums as passive observers demanding entertainment. We have been an audience wanting to see a performance. There has been a division between those with ability and those who merely look on. We hope that at Guru Puja everyone will realise that they can actively participate in the events. It is with this goal in view that much of the festival has been organised. For instance, there will be a street fair, community service projects, information and learning exchanges, and an abundance of plays and music."
The followers of Guru Maharaj Ji travelling on charter buses from interstate will be accommodated in four halls throughout Fitzroy. The halls will hold 250 people, and the overflow premie population will be billeted in private houses. All accommodation is in walking distance of the Fitzroy Town Hall and it is hoped the festival environs will become a miniature divine community.
The Town Hall stage has been designed specifically to bridge the gap between the audience and those onstage. The existing stage has been extended to create more space and now consists of several levels, the lowest of which is less than two feet from the floor. The audience in the front half of the hall will be seated on carpet (making dancing possible), and the plays and music will be performed on the extended staging.
On the first day a two-hour rally in Melbourne's City Square will introduce Guru Puja with music and street theatre, followed by general propagation to invite everyone to the Fitzroy Town Hall. Friday, July 12, will see a community service drive for the people of Fitzroy. A trial service drive was undertake last month and received a friendly welcome from local residents.
At the same time, the learning exchange will provide a meeting-point for premies and friends with common interests, to lay the basis for alternative services such a the Shri Hans Medical Clinic, which will operate from the first floor of 322 Brunswick Street, the Mission's regional headquarters, throughout the festival, helping those in need of medical, social or psychological assistance.
A day-creche will operate from a premie household in Drummond St., Carlton. Teachers will be able to meet at St. Mark's Hall, venue of the Creative Play Centre, to discuss the possibility of establishing a divine education system. Similar forums are being arranged for film-makers, the creative arts, musicians and existing Mission industries.
The final day of the festival will see a community fair and an open-air concert. Talents from all over Australia will be brought together for: an arts and crafts workshop in the lower Fitzroy Town Hall; a free concert on the "grasslands" of the Housing Commissio flats, featuring Hot City Bump Band and Rhythm in Bliss; at St. Mark's Hall a creative children's environment, complete with films, a merry-go-round, train rides, puppet shows, clowns, all manner of fancy dress, jumble sale stalls, a rainbow with a pot of gold, a lucky dip and a wide range of natural foods.
The Guru Puja festival is held as an expression of love for Guru Maharaj Ji and as an example of the enjoyment and harmony possible in a large community that can meditate on the spiritual Knowledge revealed by the Perfect Master.