No End To Knowing

Guru Maharaj Ji's satsang in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, 24th February, 1979.

So dear premies, this is the second night of our program, to come together again to understand more about that Truth. We come together because we all want to know. There is no end to knowing. There is no end to exploring. There is no end to completely merging, to be completely unified with that ultimate goal that we all want to have in our lives.

And as I was saying yesterday, the situation in this world really isn't getting any better. Now, why it isn't getting any better, I don't know. And yet maybe I do know. It's just like case history. Always, man has tried to find something, something that he didn't know, something he thought that he knew, but he actually didn't know.

Man explored and explored and explored and explored: the curiosity that he could never satisfy. You look at Alexander. You look at great kings. You look at Vikings, who did everything, to just go there, to explore, to search, to search and search, to find something. And yet, really they couldn't. Because the answer, as far as I'm concerned …

I know that everybody's got their rap.

That's the way people put it in this world: Everybody's got their rap. A politician will get up and say, "Look! It is obvious that it is going to bring us satisfaction if we pass this particular bill." When this recent election was coming up (in Malibu) it was such a big thing happening. It was almost like something incredible was going to manifest, something incredible was going to happen.

Everybody wanted to make Malibu a city. And people had bumper stickers: "If you want a city, move to one." And it was just such a thing. "Look, we don't want this to be a city and we don't want this," and people's reactions. And one politician will get up and say, "Look, this is it, man. Can't you see?" I am completely amazed by the debates they have. It always amazes me.

Because the reality, the focus, the core is the same thing. it's like trying to make a huge tree, and you really want to make that tree flourish, so you take a little sprayer bottle. Can you imagine you have a tree, a big banyan tree, and you get yourself a cherry picker, and then you spray all over the leaves with a little spray gun and think that maybe that's what's going to make it grow? No!

I know in house plants that's how you might do it. You take a little sprayer and you spray the plant all over. But there is an example from a saint, that by trying to water the leaves, you might not be able to satisfy the plant. But by in fact watering the root, the root will channel that water into those leaves, where it's required. And I don't know. I mean, maybe the saint wasn't getting specific about plant sprayers or the hydrometers they have now. (You stick that into the plant, and it tells you if you've given it too much water, or vitamins and plant seeds and all this stuff.) But the meaning of that saying was, that there is a core to this whole problem that we face in this world. And we have to find this core and tackle it.

If you have termites in your house, everywhere that the termites eat you can try to patch it up. But how long will that affair last? How long will that affair go on? You can get your little desk fixed up because the termites ate it. Then you leave, and when you come back, that desk is gone. The problem is the termites. And if you can get rid of the termites, that's when it'll be really worth fixing.

It's like having a leak in the house that gets your carpet dirty. So every time

The Golden Age 27

your carpet gets dirty, you get a new one. Well, every time it's going to rain, it's going to leak. Every time it's going to leak, it's going to get the carpet dirty. And for how long are you going to keep changing your carpet?

But that's the way I see the problem with this world really is. People identify in a very closed circle, what really the problem of this world is. And you look at it. Us. Man. Human beings. Everywhere is the same. Sometimes people think certain babies look more cute than other babies. And today in the darshan line, I watched. All those babies look cute, from one country or the other country. Wherever they're from, they're always just the same.

Us. Our problems … maybe they manifest in different ways. Maybe in America your coffee machine breaks down, but in England your tea machine breaks down. Maybe that's where the difference in the problem really is. But those are the very simple little problems here and there, here and there. But the main thing to me is only that one day there will be true satisfaction in people's hearts, when people will have found what they're looking for.

I mean, obviously grown mature adults know that kicking the tire of the car does not mend it. But how many of us in desperation have done that? A lot. Or when you can't get something fixed, you take the last resort: smash it. And I mean that's like a child does when he can't open something. He forces it in a very different way which really doesn't help him to open it. Now these very small problems, little frustrations, become bigger frustrations and bigger frustrations and bigger frustrations.

This one guy wakes up in the morning. He goes to start up his car and the car doesn't start up. So he opens up the hood, does whatever he thinks he has to do. And this is really making him late, it's just really getting him upset. It's really getting him frustrated. When this guy finally gets his automobile started, motorcycle started, or whatever he has got … or suppose he wants to catch a bus. I've seen that. He runs and runs to the bus and the bus leaves. He's got a newspaper in one hand, a snack in the other hand and he's running, trying to put his clothes on at the same time as he runs towards the bus. He gets there and the bus just takes off - a very frustrated feeling.

28 The Golden Age

Well, the guy gets to his office, anyway. Now this is a little frustration. Till now, there is really nobody else frustrated in this office. This happens to be happening only to this one individual. And then he gets inside the office. He happens to be the entire boss of the operation of this office, you see? He walks into his office and the secretary says, "Good morning, sir."

"What do you mean, 'Good morning, sir?!"

Now she gets all nervous because she doesn't know how come he's so perked up. So her assistant calls her up; says, "I've got a phone call for you."

And she goes, "Wait a minute! I don't want to take any phone calls! The boss is all perked up."

And so she hangs up the phone. Now the little secretary's all upset. She doesn't know why the big secretary's so upset. The big secretary doesn't know why the boss is so upset.

And then a guy comes to the boss to rent floor space. And he walks in and the boss tries to be nice and, "Yes, hello, how are you today?" And this guy is just completely mad because he didn't make his bus or his car wouldn't start or his hands got dirty or something happened, something very simple that we, as "mature adults", would think nothing about.

If this story were to be accurate, already three people's days would have been ruined. And this is just the beginning of the office hours. It's going to get worse every hour. Because here comes this guy and he wants to lease some floor space. And this guy gives him a very, very high price, because he really doesn't want to conduct any business.

And so you can see that by a little frustration, so much can happen. And this is only talking about one city, in one place, in one particular office building. But if you were to magnify this to the scope of this whole world, to the scope of this whole world, what would happen? I mean, really, what would happen?

Well, what would happen is what's happening now! People are frustrated. Because they are far from knowing what they are here for. To them it's a very Simple-Simon story. "Look, my father didn't ask that question, his father didn't ask that question, and his father didn't ask that question. And I am just not about to ask that question, either. My whole family didn't ask it, so forget about me. I'm going to do what I want to do in this world, what I think is right."

Okay, that's no problem. What you think is right, somehow has to be right for you.

You know, to get from here to Oklahoma City, the fastest way to get there is to take an airplane. There's nothing wrong in taking an airplane. But there is certainly something wrong in taking an airplane that is westbound instead of eastbound. There is a problem there. The problem doesn't exist in the airplane. It exists in the direction of the airplane. The westbound airplane is just not going to take you to Oklahoma City, New York, or Europe, or Miami, for that matter. But that's the problem.

We take our idea: "Look, I have to live in this world, don't I?" Yes, you have to live in this world. "And don't you have to wear clothes in this world?" Well, of course you have to wear clothes in this world. "And don't you have to work in this world?" Well, of course you have to work in this world. I mean, it's a very very long way to come in to the beautiful green painted concept of no fences where everything belongs to everybody. That's still a painting, still a dream, still an ideology.

But the thing is, why do you want to work? So that you can make money. Why do you want to make money? So you can buy clothes. Why do you want to buy clothes? So you can stay warm, you can cover your body. Why do you want to work? So you can have a house? Well, why do you want a house? So you can live in the house. So you can live. You can be alive.

And this is where all the questions seem to terminate - dead end. Why do you want to be alive? So that you can work? I mean, I know that there are people who say that they appreciate or love their job. But not that much. Can you imagine them getting stuck working on weekends? No vacation. Nothing? I mean, it gets out there, really.

So why do you want to live? And to me it's very apparent why do we want to live. Because there is a purpose to live. Those things in this world can help us live, so that we can fulfill purpose. And that's what's important. That's what's needed. Not work to live, and to live to wear clothes and to do this and to do that: a complete loop. A loop won't get us anywhere. A complete loop won't get us anywhere. And this is why we need to open ourselves up beyond the philosophies. We need to open ourselves and look for ourselves.

I know that before I had received Knowledge, it was just like a little ice tray. And the ice tray had this grill on it. It didn't matter where you poured the water from, it went all over the place, squiggled through one space into the other one, and it didn't matter how you poured the water, when you poured the water, or what the colour of the water was. Four hours in the freezer, and lo and behold … it comes out as ice cubes.

That's what happens to us. Doesn't matter what it is. In India, for instance, the whole concept is that you cannot go to the moon. The moon is not the moon that you think it is; it's god! Not capital G-o-d, little g-o-d. And so when astronauts finally landed on the moon, it became very obvious and very apparent. These people who were saying, "Look, you cannot land on the moon" were out to tell people, with all sincerity, that this is just a big hoax. "There is nothing to it. They didn't go anywhere. Can you imagine people going to moon? They didn't go to the moon. They just took these pictures. They made people believe that they went to the moon."

And it's just like trying to put orange juice in that ice-cube tray with the grid. It won't fit. It wasn't going to fit. It's a round ball made out of metal going into an ice tray; it just wasn't going to roll into one of the squares. It wasn't going to work. It wasn't going to fit. It was a question mark. it's obviously, "Look! These guys are not telling the truth."

But what I am trying to say, is that the experience of this Knowledge is

completely practical. The experience of this Knowledge is like a river. And what is so different about a river and an ice cube maker?

The Golden Age 29

Well, the difference is that that ice-cube maker is going to take that water but make it frozen and make it into a particular shape, while the water in the river will flow up and down, will flow wherever it wants to flow, with the natural flow of where it really wants to go.

That is the experience of this Knowledge. And you have to open up to the experience of this Knowledge for this to happen, for this to manifest. You cannot be, again, like that little ice-cube maker which takes the water and freezes it. Why does it freeze it? So that it'll hold its shape, then dump it. You pour the water and it goes in, fills up to the top, you put the grid in, and make little cubes.

And that is why the experience of Knowledge is beautiful. That is why the experience of Knowledge is true. Because it flows from within you. It is you!

Knowledge is not something that somebody says, "Okay, here it is," and just plucks it from an apple tree and tosses it to you: "Catch. This is your experience of Knowledge." The experience of Knowledge is you - your effort, your realization, your understanding, your clarity.

But the only thing is that that experience, that incredible Power which is within inside of us, which sustains us right now, which sustains me right now, which sustains you right now, is sustaining everybody in this world right now.

Right now, if somebody were to say from the side of the stage, "Prem Pal Singh Rawat!" I'd turn around: "Who is calling me?" Or if somebody were to just yell, "Maharaj Ji!" "Who's calling?"

I mean, that's what happens at the house. I'm walking up the stairs and somebody will go, "Maharaj Ji!" I'll turn around. Or that's what used to happen in my school. There'd be 45 kids sitting in the classroom. And the teacher would go, "Prem." And I would go, "Yes?" Why wouldn't it "tickle" all the other kids? Why only me? What did it mean?

And it meant that I had understood myself to be "Prem", a name, my designation. And that designation right now, for me, is hard to perceive, is really hard to imagine if it were to be something else. And yet I know if it were to be something else, then that's what I would associate with.

It's like, "Bill." There are people who are called Bill. And then there are people who just look like Bill. They're not called Bill, they just look like somebody who would be called Bill. And it's so hard to take that identity that we completely lock ourselves into and make that everything that we are.

And it's just like, yes, Prem Pal Singh Rawat… And I mean, yes, sometimes maybe you even call yourself your own name. But it's just like "I," "me," "you." it's always "you." it's like, "You'd better do this," or "you'd better do that." This is what we go through. "You better write a letter to your mother." "You better do this. You'd better do that."

And premies, it's like saying, "Yes, I am a good man. I am a bad man." Or

30 The Golden Age

whatever. "I am a good man." And I mean, it's not only one association. If right now somebody were to get up on the stage and make an announcement, "All the people six feet tall, please move to the left of the stage," you'd move to the left of the stage. "All people with beards, move to the left of the stage." All people with beards would move to the left of the stage. It's not only one thing.

"All people with blue blazers, please move to the left of the stage." it's not one thing. It is all these little things put together. Maybe it's not the blue blazers. Maybe it's, "All the Canadians, please move to the left of the stage." All the Canadians move to the left of the stage.

So it's not only being "Bill," "George," "John," anybody. But also being a Canadian. Also being five-foot-two. Also having a beard. And it's just like a computer. It just stacks and stacks and stacks information.

All people who have been to the Bahamas in the last thirty days, please move to the left of the stage. Der, der, der, der, der, der, der … "I've been to the Bahamas in the last thirty days." Everybody moves to the left side of the stage.

So it's not only your beard and your name and all that, but it's also the people who've been to the Bahamas in the last thirty days. I mean, that's you. You know, all of a sudden, there is a little case history that starts to become you. You are that that has been to Bahamas, that has a beard, that is six foot, that …, this …. this intelligence.

All the lawyers please move to the left of the … You are also a lawyer. And believe me, this is what the puzzling thing is, that when you die … Sometimes in the cartoon they have this thing, that the guy gets hit by something and he dies. And you see this one thing coming … In cats, they usually have nine ghosts, but with human beings, they usually have one. Why one? That guy can qualify for so many things. I mean, if that guy is a lawyer, then there should be a ghost for lawyer. Now if that guy has been to the Bahamas, then there should be a Bahamas ghost coming out, and …

Well, it just all really does sound stupid and it is stupid. And the reason why it's so stupid, is because that's not who you really are. You are something different. Completely different. Yet that's what you are. And you can stand in front of a mirror and look at yourself and that's you! And I mean if you get a little pimple somewhere or anything, you've got to take that off. If you have too much of a beard, you got to … There is a certain "you" that you know you want. And you work at it from very little. Somebody wants to be a choochoo train driver, somebody wants to be a pilot.

But who you really are is what has to be really explored. I mean in reality, in truth. Because it is very possible that you, when you were little, imagined that you would one day fly an airplane. And there you are sitting behind a typewriter, far far away from flying an airplane. So what is that? Who are you?

You know, it's okay to say you are Bill.

The Golden Age 31

You are Bill. And George is George and John is John and this is that and that's this. But in all those matters put aside, what is that that leaves you? What is that that, when it leaves you, you are somebody else completely different? I mean, can you imagine a live human being put in a little bucket and buried under the ground? People just wouldn't do that to you, if they were sane.

But then, you … yourself, something happens. There you still are. You still have your moustache. You still have your ticket to the Bahamas. Maybe you still have your pimple. There you are, lying down. And the value of that body: 21-gun salute, American flag, casket, everything. What do they do with the flag? Wrap it up and give it to the nearest relative. Not to you. But it belongs to you, man! They're trying to pay their respect to you! The hero isn't your nearest relative. But it's so simple. You stay put. Your honors are going where they should. It has nothing to do with you. And you are the war hero. But that's it.

I have a little air brush gun. I was just painting something, and all of a sudden I started reading the instructions. I don't know if you guessed or not but it said it's used by artists, for air brushing and by taxidermists to make you look healthy - to take that pimple away that you always wanted to get rid of. There you are, ta-da!

Even if you never wanted to wear cologne in your whole life, it gets put on you. And if you never wore make-up, that gets put on you. And even if you never had rosy cheeks, that gets put on you. And even if your hair was wild, it gets combed and it gets cut. And even if you all your life were a "penny-beggar," a tuxedo gets put on you. Then it becomes you, and then all that is taken and put into a basket and put directly six feet under the ground! There goes your 20 years of lawyership, doctorate, your hair, everything. I mean, there was this woman who wanted to get buried in her own car, she was so attached to it.

So after all, premies, what is our true self? I mean, really. If somebody could make a working, talking, walking duplicate of us, and on one side there we were, still alive, and on another side we watch this duplicate go into the mortuary, get all pretty, put in a casket, and then we were to come and pay our last respects to ourselves, what would we feel? That would be, to me, at least, a horrible, horrible feeling.

As a matter of fact, there is a whole song in Hindi that Shri Maharaj Ji used to sing. And one of the verses said, "And yes, all the kids you really loved and cared for and everything, how far can they go with you? All the way to where they're going to burn you. That's it. After that your body is put on the wood; the eldest son is supposed to take the match; and that's it." And there goes everything that you worked for, for years and years and years and years.

I'm not trying to say you should stop working now. No! You should do what you're doing. But realize, what is it all going to end up as, how is it all going to end up? What is the purpose of it all? Because if it is to end up in that casket, where we all know that we are going to end up - maybe not in the casket, maybe on top of the burning wood, or whatever - if that is our purpose,

32 The Golden Age

doesn't it all seem aimless to do what we are doing in this world? To me, of course it would seem aimless.

That's like going to a prison for three years and repainting the entire prison, voluntarily. What is the purpose? You're going to leave there, anyway. That's it. You come; you go. Now I could understand if somebody was going to stay there for the rest of their lives, to make it a nice place …

So after all, what is the purpose? And only one thing can show us that purpose. That purpose is nothing that you talk about. That purpose isn't something that can flash on the board of the Astrodome in coloured LED lights or on digital highway signs. But it's an experience that you personally have to open up to. Because there is an experience that exists, unconditionally. And by you denying it, it won't go away. it's not as simple as that.

I know a lot of people deny it. "Look, there is nothing to it." And I know that's even a lot easier to believe than anything else. Then you don't have to do anything.

But no, in fact there is a purpose. And then again, it's just so clear. There is a purpose and that purpose really has to be accomplished. Otherwise what would be a necessity for Saviour?

Between your bedroom, to bathroom, to kitchen, to garage, to the road, to your office, to your elevator, to your office, from your office to your lunch place, back to your office, to your car, to your garage, to your house, to your kitchen, to your bedroom where does God fit in to that - if that's all that life is going to be?

Get up in the morning. Whatever you have to do; get up, get going. First target: office. And know about the world, what's going on in the world. Snap a newspaper and start reading it. "Okay, okay. This is happening in the world and this is happening in the world and this is happening in the world." Then you end up in your office suite and, "Okay, what's happening? Did we get this inventory? Did we get this letter? Has this happened yet? Hasn't this happened yet? When is this going to happen?"

Then comes the lunch hour and then you go to your lunch. Eat, eat, eat. Come back. "Have we gotten that call through yet?" Then it's all finish, finish, finish. Car, car, car. Rush, rush, rush. Rush traffic, rush traffic, rush traffic. You get home, tired, have something to eat and go to sleep.

I mean, really, God is not necessary there, is It? What's He going to do? Push your car, start your car, keep your car nice and warm when you get there? Have a snack fixed up for you when you get back to your house? Eliminate rush hours? Take your calls while you're out to lunch?

But there is somewhere else that that Creator really does fit in. It's not in our role, not our little bicycle that we want to pedal, all the time. But we have to let go to that Creator's will, to that Creator, to let that manifest, to realize the purpose of this life and not be lost in this world.

Because how easy is it to get lost in this world? And I know a lot of people say, "Well, people in this world are lost; people in this world are lost." And

The Golden Age 33

a lot of people don't understand what they're talking about. "How can you get lost in this world?" And it's not getting lost in terms of 'you can't find your house' or 'you can't find the road that you were on', or 'you can't find your car' or 'you can't find your clothes'. But to be lost in terms of what your purpose really is in this world. Now, that's really getting lost.

I mean, what is "getting lost"? To be at a place, and not know where you are! That's called "getting lost". And it's the same thing. Being here, but not knowing what for. Why are you here?

And to me, unless we really open up to that Knowledge, unless we really open up to that realization, unless we really surrender to that, this life, this whole humanity is going to be victim of everything in this world: all the darkness, all the confusion. And this confusion is going to multiply, believe me, as it is! As a matter of fact, you know, people say, "Oh, the good old days." Where were they? Where are they? When were they?

And now you look at the whole situation of this world. It's not the greatest. It certainly isn't. Violence, violence, violence. Violence hasn't led man anywhere and isn't about to. Greed, greed, greed, greed, greed. Greed hasn't led man anywhere and isn't about to. Power, power, power, power, power. Power hasn't led man anywhere and isn't about to. And all the things that are being tried today have been tried in the past.

I mean, obviously people used to at one time travel on their feet. And they said, "Look, this is too tiring and a little bit too impractical to cover far distances. This takes too much out of me. Find a horse." Get a horse. Ride on the horse. "Makes it all practical."

Today we don't use horses, we use "horsepowers" and we're coming to the same conclusion. "Look, it's just a little bit too impractical to use gasoline. Find a substitute. it's taking too much out." And for how long is this going to go on? History is like a pendulum: back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth.

But Knowledge is the Truth. Knowledge doesn't go back and forth. It is ever-constant. It is ever-present. Our openness to it, our surrender to it, to understand it, to let go to it, is what is going to make it all come true. It is what is going to make it all manifest for us.

Otherwise this puzzle, so far as I'm concerned … we were born in a puzzle and we die in a puzzle. We are born in this world and we die in this world. And only when we can solve that puzzle, undo that puzzle, it is only then that it really becomes even worth it to be here.

So premies, we have to open up to that Knowledge, to that understanding, to that devotion, to our Creator. Completely open up. Because what we are hanging onto in this world isn't what is really a reality.

There is the real antique and then there is the fake antique. And yet the fake antique is real because it is a reality, but isn't really real because it isn't a real antique. The whole mish-mash. Take a fake antique to somebody. "This isn't real! You can't pass this along!" Well, what's wrong with it? You're holding it in your hand. You can see it. You can touch it. Isn't it real?

34 The Golden Age

And in the same way, to the people who want to understand even a greater reality in this world than just touching something … Because what if you lose your senses? What if you can't touch anymore? Does that mean that the reality diminishes? What if you can't see anymore? Does that mean that the reality goes away, is finished? But going beyond the reality of what we think is real, what we are taught is real, what we are fed is real, into the real reality which is ever so constant and from which derives the pleasure which we really want in this world; derives from the source of all happiness that we want in this world.

I mean, if somebody is already laughing, if somebody is just laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and laughing, rolling over on their stomach, there is no point in telling him a joke. They are already laughing. But if a person is sad, then, of course, tell him a joke; maybe he'll laugh. Everybody says, "Look,

I'm happy. Go mind your own business." If you are happy, then why all the joke books in the world? If you are happy, then why all the cars in the world? If you are happy, then why all that that is going on around the world right now? Why?

If you are content, it's just as simple as that. If you have finished your dinner or not, what is the proof that you have in fact finished your dinner? When the plates end up in your stomach? Or you yell, or you roll over, or you stand upside down? (If the food is bad enough, maybe, or if you're way too hungry.)

But when you stop eating, when you have eaten as much as you wanted to eat and what you have so far eaten has conten-ced you, and you see no more necessity of eating more, then you're finished with your dinner. That's it.

In the same way, if really everybody was happy, then why the search for a future? I mean, it's like that guy going: eating, eating, eating. And the waiter comes along and he goes, "Waiter, wait a minute. Take this plate away. I'm finished."

The waiter comes to take it. "No. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me have some more." The waiter comes back two minutes later and the guy is still eating from that plate. "Hey, waiter, waiter. Can you take my plate away? I'm finished."

The waiter comes with his hand to take the plate away. "Wait a minute. Let me finish some more." Obviously you don't do that, because you are not finished with your dinner. Sometimes that happens, but not very often.

And all that the mankind is doing today isn't one thing, but it's one thing after another, after another, after another, after another, after another, after another. Obviously it leads to someplace: that man is not contented. And if humanity claims, if a man claims, that he has happiness, it is definitely not based upon the contentment, but it is based upon what he thinks is

happiness. And the real happiness, that true happiness, which brings the inner smile, which brings the real smile; not a pasted-on smile for diplomatic purposes … Your relatives come home. Your uncle shows up. You want him to get out of there and yet you want to be nice to him, so you paste on a diplomatic smile. "How are you today? (Get lost.)"

But the true happiness, the true smile, which nobody pastes on, nobody paints. The true peace, the true bliss, the true satisfaction that nobody hands you over and nobody puts in quotes: "Happy." Quote: "Satisfied." What is "Quote: Satisfied"? "When I'll have my car and my children and my wife and my job and my house, I will be satisfied." Quote: "Satisfied."

The Golden Age 35

And so premies, Knowledge is that thing. And Guru Maharaj Ji reveals that Knowledge. Guru Maharaj Ji shows that Knowledge. Guru Maharaj Ji offers that Knowledge to us. Because he has the key. Nothing special.

I know "guru", the word "guru", is a big hypnotic word in America (or Europe, for that matter). "Guru." And what is the thing?

Now there's the word "jungle" in English: "Jungle." They say it the same way in Hindi: "jungle." But you don't express the word "jungle" in the same way as you express the word "guru".

"Are you a guru-addict? Are you a guru-freak? Are you a guru?"

But it is a very simple thing what a guru is. "Guru" is a Hindi word. Period. Now what does guru do can be, just like in Hindi, very plainly and clearly specified in English: Master: One who teaches you: Guide. One who can guide you so that you will not get lost: Guide. Master. And that's how simple it is.

But really, even that master, even that guide, can only guide you when you're open to him; can only show you the way when you have determined in your life, that when the guide says to walk forward, you will not walk backwards. I mean, if that's your determination when you walk into a museum, you might as well not have a guide. But you follow a guide. And the guide takes you and prevents you from getting lost.

And that's what Guru Maharaj Ji is. Guru Maharaj Ji is a guide. Guru Maharaj Ji is a master. He can teach you about what he knows, teach you about that happiness that we all want, about that perfection that we all seek, about that missing puzzle. Period.

Not when we are into ourselves completely. "Look, I'm not going to talk to anybody today. I'm not going to look. I'm not going to walk. I'm not going to talk."

A kid, a student, does not go to school and, when the teacher is saying, "Two plus two equals four," the kid goes, "You're wrong. You're absolutely wrong. Two plus two equals eight."

And the teacher says, "No! Sit down. Let me teach you." And you go, "No, no, no, no, no, no."

I mean, where are you going to get? Nowhere.

But you have to be open to that master, to that teacher, so it can show you that path, that way; guide you, show you what that reality really is. Show you what we really lack in our lives. And give us, in fact, the missing puzzle.

When we come together - I mean, I know that there are probably - I mean, today's Saturday. There's probably some football game going on in some college somewhere. And people are sitting; whistling; cheering. Somebody is getting really mad. Somebody is getting really happy. The guy who's losing is getting really mad. The guy who's winning is getting really happy.

Or maybe there is a movie going on somewhere, and people are sitting there, just watching that movie. And then, maybe in a little while the movie will be over and the people will get out and say, "Man, that was a crazy movie. That was a lousy movie." And so many people in this whole world are assembled at different places for different reasons.

And yes, we have a reason too, to be here. And our reason isn't to watch football games here in this auditorium - boxing, circus, acrobatic manoeuvres or anything like that. But it is to come here for what, to me, is the highest purpose.

The auditorium has nothing to do with it, believe me. It could have been in Miami, or in a different auditorium in Denver. It could have been in Venezuela. It could have been in England. It could have been in Hawaii … Australia. And I mean, of course, that's what's going to happen in the world tour that's coming up very soon. And there's also going to be a tour happening in America, and then Europe, and there'll hopefully be a program happening for the South American premies, too, in South America somewhere.

And wherever this is going to happen - Australia, India, all these different

The Golden Age 37

places - wherever it's going to happen, it's going to be for that same reason. And the Holi that's coming up very soon: Then Guru Puja after that.

And that is going to be for one reason, again, to listen to that inspiration, to that satsang, which opens us up, which opens our heart up; takes that film of confusion out, and opens us up so that we can more and more and more and more let go to this Knowledge and let this Knowledge come in and fill our hearts with that beauty, so that perfection that we really want can in fact manifest for us.

And be it anywhere, again, in any part of the world, it's so that we can open up more, so that we can let go more, to all the concepts that we hang onto so much about what perfection really is.

Because what does Guru Maharaj Ji say? What am I saying? I'm saying, "Look! There is a much better way of really experiencing. When you experience, it's far greater. And so experience that Truth, experience that perfectness, experience that Knowledge, experience that beauty, experience that bliss, because that's where it is."

That's where we will be able to enjoy it - in our heart. And that heart needs to be opened up. Completely opened up. And not completely full of, "Oh yeah, you know, this and that". You know, it's just like those analogies again of what this mind tries to do, of what the concepts try to fold us and mould us into.

So premies, when we open up … All the Grace that we really need is there to enable us to open up. Like the first Grace, that we are here. We are alive! We are alive! That is the first Grace, to be here. Not in this auditorium, per se, but here, just on this world. To be able to open up, to be able to experience perfectness, to be able to experience that Peace, to be able to experience that bliss. That is the first Grace.

And of course, the second Grace is to be able to experience it. And so that Grace is there.

And yet we are a little ways away from it. And our effort is what is going to synch us into that beauty, into that perfection, into that Grace, so that in fact it'll be able to manifest for us, so that in fact what we really want will be able to happen.

Because in this world, you look. And yes, there are mountains and there is ocean and there are blue skies and there's snow. Everything looks pretty and beautiful. But man had nothing to do with it. And when you look at something that man had to do with, it just doesn't look pretty. It just doesn't look right.

The Creator makes the snow "pitch white." And you see it on the side of the road, pitch black. Thanks to - whoever, you know. M-A-N. Humanity. Whatever, you know, you might want to call it.

So premies, it is our effort to open up to that reality. And that reality is really within inside of us. And when we open up, such an experience is let in. When we open up, such an experience manifests for us. And it is indescribable.

So we have to let go to that experience. That's what we need in our lives. Not all the hocus and the pocus. But that true experience of that Lord, the Creator, or whatever word there is for that supreme personality. But when we really do let go, when we really make that effort for it to happen for us, to us, then it does. It does manifest. It does happen. And when we completely keep deteriorating into this world, instead of us being the priority, instead of really realizing that …

I know that sunsets are supposed to be really beautiful things. Everybody likes sunsets. And you see the beautiful sunset. And everybody goes there to see a sunset. They will stop their cars or something like that and say, "Man, that's really beautiful." Okay! That's

38 The Golden Age

fine. That's great. It is beautiful. And you are recognizing just a very simple sunset.

And yet what about your own recognition that you are alive, that there is life in you and that there is a purpose of this life? There has to be that recognition too, somewhere, that you are here for a reason, that you are here for a purpose and you have to fulfill it. Something beyond sunsets. Something beyond exploring Mars and moons and all those things: The purpose of this life.

I mean, we know that it is simple to go to the moon. Now, it is. And with the help of the Enterprise space shuttle, it'll be even easier. And they have sent satellites to all these different planets. And yet we have to remember that we could think about going to moon and we actually did, and we can send all these space ships and explore all these planets; and yet, for some reason, it seems, to explore all these planets, to fulfill all these things, seems to be easy enough.

What about life? When that question is raised, everybody panics. "What do you mean, 'life? What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

No. Life. The simple, beautiful, open life. The life. Why are you here? What is sustaining you? What is making you present and not past? What is keeping you six feet above the ground? What is keeping the fingers of that taxidermist away with that air brush?

And it's very, very simple. The answer is right there. The answer has always been right there; that peace that everybody wants to claim. The answer to that peace is really, really very simple. It is there. And every individual has to make that effort.

Peace, to a lot of people, is a name which has no relation, which has no meaning. Peace. Peace. Peace. You know, it's like, don't say "Hi," say, "Peace, brother." And like I say (two fingers, four fingers, six fingers), "Peace, peace, and peace." And put your feet out and, "Peace, peace, peace."

But peace is something that is there. It isn't a matter of twisting words or doing anything like that. But peace in fact is there and it is real. And it is true. And this is what Guru Maharaj Ji claims, that Guru Maharaj Ji can give you that Peace, that experience.

And that peace in this world will have to, and as to, start from every individual. And that's how peace is even going to manifest in this world: Not by having machine guns and not by having weapons and not by fighting each other: That's not going to bring peace! Period. That's a very touchy peace that that brings around. it's a very violent peace.

You look at the second World War. Germany was told, "Look, you cannot have armed forces. You cannot have people who are going to fight. You cannot fight other countries. That's it." And Americans were all over there. And I mean, you look at it. That peace is always on the verge of cracking up, it seems. And these so-called "world leaders" have to so-called "stay" at the so-called "top of the peace", to so-called "keep it alive."

That's not peace.

From an imaginary plate, you can only eat imaginary food. In this unstable world, unstable human beings, unstable mentality, you can only have unstable peace. But when every human being realizes the purpose of being here, realizes that tranquility, that Creator, recognition, realization, then that imaginary plate becomes a reality and thus allows you to have real food from the real plate.

So premies, I'll see you tomorrow, and maybe, hopefully, early tomorrow too. So thank you very much, premies.

And I'll see you tomorrow. Good night.