Maharaji: Practice Fulfillment CD PWK001-C ©2005

Maharaji in San Diego: Practice Fulfillment CD PWK001-C ©2005

We are here in the infinite ocean of impossibilities. Something has been made possible to come for these three days. And hopefully, let go of our little problems and troubles and tribulations and focus on one thing. And that one thing is what this existence is all about. Focus on that one thing that pleases your heart. Remember, we do so much in this world to comply. We are told by this world, you must comply. This is what being good is, to comply. And you have to draw parallels to even invite the attention to the real thing because there is so much that we do that we know isn't real. We know it isn't real, but we do it because we need to comply. And we have a ton of justifications. Otherwise what will happen, otherwise what will happen, otherwise what will happen. Our fears. And we have so many of them. Just recently, there was the event in Wembley.

And one of the things that I was talking about was practicing. And it started with a story. And the story was there was a man who used to sell oil. He'd carry his bottles and containers of oil and go door to door selling oil. And people would bring their little jars and whatever they had, little bottles, and masterfully he would pour the oil into their jars. And one day, as he was traveling, he came across this town where this archer was showing off his ability to shoot the arrow. Target practicing. And he was good. He was very good. And he would take out his arrow, and he would shoot, and it would hit the bullseye. And the crowd all around him would cheer. And as all the applause faded off, you could hear the little man who used to sell the oil going, ah, it's just a matter of practice. And so the archer pulled off another arrow, shot it, it split the first arrow, the crowd went wild. As the applause subsided, you hear a voice, ah, it's just a matter of practice. This kept going arrow after arrow. And after the whole business was finished, the archer, who was furious by now, went over to this little guy and said, what do you mean it's a matter of practice? Didn't you see how good I am? I'm really good at this. And all these people applaud because they see my ability. They can't do it.

I can do it. And that's why they're applauding. And there you are, just casually saying, but it's a matter of practice. It's a matter of practice. And so the guy who used to sell the oil put down his bottles, and he said, let me explain to you. I'll tell you the story in its original version. You may, some of you may remember, they used to have, in old days, they used to have coins with holes in them in the middle. And if you remember that, just imagine a coin with a hole in it. It was very convenient for travelers because they could string the coins and put them around their waist or around their neck or whatever it was. They used to have a hole. So he took out one of the coins, and he put it on top of a bottle. And he picked up the jar, the big jar of oil, and he started pouring. And without missing a drop, he poured that oil perfectly through the hole of the coin into the bottle. And then he looked at the archer, and he said, no, you do it. Of course, the archer realized he couldn't do it because that's not what he'd been practicing. So the man looked at him and says, you see, it's a matter of practice. I practice archery. I can't shoot like you. But you practice pouring oil, and you can't pour oil like me. And the archer understood. End of story.

Not really, because then this little story connects with us. And I am going to ask the question. And the question is, what do you practice? Because whatever it is that you practice, you're going to get good at it. What do you practice in your life? And after I gave this analogy and I talked about this, I've been thinking about it. Because what is it that we practice in our lives every day? If we practice anger, then we're going to get very good at anger. It's not going to take much to get us angry. Even the most trivial thing will spark off anger. If it is unconsciousness that we practice, then it's not going to take much to knock us unconscious. One second of not remembering what is important, and the next thing you know, we're adrift in the sea of unconsciousness.

No idea what is going on. The day is moving along. What is the definition of unconscious? How do you define unconscious? One day, I was driving, it was a big motorhome, I was driving on this road, and it's pretty narrow lanes.

And all of a sudden, I see this car, and it's way down below me, little car, and this lady is driving. And of course, she's talking on the cell phone. And she has no idea that I'm there. And so, she starts drifting, and I catch it from the corner of my eye, I see her starting to drift, drift, drift, drift, drift, coming closer and closer, and already it was a very small lane. So I honked my horn, which was very loud. It scared her so bad, that she almost jumped the middle lane, not paying attention. And then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, all I did by honking the horn is give her a reality check. Because in that moment, she heard the horn, she stopped talking, I know what happened. I know what happened. She stopped talking on the phone. She started paying attention, realizing that she was inches away. She corrected and overcorrected. Nothing happened. Everything was fine. She got back in her lane, and then I think she put down her phone. And I learned a valuable lesson. When you see a person like that, just get away from them. try to remind them. even try to remind them. Because reminder in a state of unconsciousness can be equally hazardous, equally hazardous.

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So what is it that we practice? In the sea of unconsciousness, do we allow ourselves to be set adrift? What do we practice? What do we think about? What do we feel? What do we understand? Every day, every day that we exist, every day there's that movement of life inside of us. Because there is. Everything begins with the very fact that we have this existence. That we have this life. This is about understanding our assets. This is not about creating. This is not about winning. This is not about a competition. Because that's what the world says, you know, this life is a competition, you've got to compete, and you've got to do this, and you've got to do that. No, it's none of those things. What it really is, is looking at what we have and understanding what it is that we have. When you hear the word possibility, what does it mean to you? Possibility.

What is possible in your life? What is it that you would like to happen? What possibility of all possibilities that exist in this world, what possibility is it that you would like to have in your life? Think about this carefully. Not from the sea of unconsciousness, but from very straightforward, looking at it as it is, because what is it ultimately that you want? Some people will say, well, I need, I would love to be rich. Because you see that by being rich, what will happen? What, what, see, these are just the interim bridges, but what is it that you are trying to get to? You get on an airplane, and you wish for a safe journey.

A lot of people wish me, have a safe trip. And I say, thank you, because that gets me thinking. What role are you going to play in this safe trip? You're staying behind. You're not flying. You're not going to the airport. You're not even going for the drive to the airport, and here you say, have a safe trip. You're not going to play any role in it. And why do I want a safe trip? Turbulence comes, people start grabbing their seats. Why? You think there is a button on your seat? Or there is a sensor or a device on your seat that if you squeeze it, all of a sudden turbulence will dissipate and disappear? If you think that if you'd squeeze your seat, that in fact the characteristic of the wing will change? Because everybody knows, well, anybody who understands aerodynamics knows that a high-loading wing takes turbulence a lot better than a low-loading wing. So if you just squeeze the chair, the characteristics of the wing will change to become a high-loading wing? Absolutely not. I hope not. So why do we do it? We want to feel safe. Why do we want to feel safe? Because feeling safe makes us feel good. Being unsafe does not make us feel good. We take our imaginations and we try to flirt with what we think is pushing the envelope, and there are people who do this. They go bungee jumping. They go bungee jumping off a bridge. There is nothing natural about going bungee jumping off a bridge. In fact, there is really nothing natural about flirting with danger. But people do. And sometimes they are pushing or they're trying to push the envelope and they meet, they intersect the other envelope, which you really want to push. Because when you push that envelope, it comes towards you and that's not good. And bungees snap. Things that people do to have what they want, the thrill.

Why cannot a person achieve the same experience, the same thrill by turning inside and finding that beautiful space inside and enjoying every moment of it? Why can't that be a thrill? Because it is a question of what we practice. If we practice the reality of our lives every day, then something else will happen, then something else would manifest. Because of whatever we practice, we will get good at. If we practice joy in our lives, then we will get good at joy. If we practice consciousness in our lives, we will get good at being conscious. If we practice kindness in our life, we will get good at being kind. If we practice the feeling of that beauty in our lives, then that's what will happen. If we practice that gratitude in our lives, then that is what is going to happen. We're going to get good at feeling the gratitude in our lives. And these to me are the important aspects that every human being needs to experience. If you experience this, you are not experiencing a spectrum of your life that clearly does exist. Meaning, meaning just like that, when you have food, when you have a cold and you're having food, yes, you can taste the salt, but you can't really taste the food in its entirety because you can't smell. And it seems bland. Without that Knowledge, in this life, people have compared a human being to being something like food that has no salt in it. Now, of course, you know, the world has changed, salt is not good for you, this and that, but the point still remains that you are not tasting what you could be tasting in its entirety.

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The element of joy, true joy. Because when I say joy, when I say enjoy your life, I'm not talking about a disco party. Because there is an enjoyment that is fundamental. There is an enjoyment that lies inside of you. And of course, if you practice that, then inevitably you will get good at it. And if you get good at it, your life will change. If you find that your life is a bit like a cobblestone path going bum bum bum bum bum bum, this is no accident. Courtesy of you, you have placed the cobblestone. Courtesy of you. This is very hard for people to chew. People like that. No, somebody else did it. God placed the obstacles in my life. They were already there when I was born. And now it is incumbent upon me to overcome them. And I'm trying to overcome them. And I'm having a hard time overcoming them.

And why is God so cruel to have given me so many obstacles when other people have it? buy that. There is no shred of truth in that understanding. Everybody has their share of thorns. Everyone. No one is exempt. Everybody is born in this world with their share of thorns and their share of flowers. What do you plant? What do you plant in your life? Regardless of what happens, definitions of happiness, definitions of joy, definitions of life.

You know, there's this lot of people I talk to who are going through problems or whatever. Kind of they come to me sometimes and it's like, Maharaji, you know, I've had it. And I tell them the story of the phoenix.

Phoenix is this mythical bird that rises from the ashes. But everything is destroyed. But the spirit isn't destroyed. That's the most important thing. All the logics, all the reasoning, all the venue, everything could be what it is. But one thing that is not destroyed is the spirit. That power, that push, that want from the heart that drives a person towards that contentment. When that is not destroyed, then it is that even everything is destroyed. That bird will rise. And more powerful than it ever was. And whatever we go through in our lives, you have been blessed with an incredible spirit.

You have been blessed by an incredible power that drives you towards contentment. Let it rise. Trust in that. Trust in that. Trust in your ability to understand. You may or may not trust in your ability to reason, but to understand. To truly trust in the reality of hope. Do not mistake hope for circumstances. Circumstances, things a certain way, that's my hope. That's not hope. That's just wishful thinking. Wishful thinking and hope have nothing in common. Hope is hope. Hope is, there is a real hope. That's why we are. That's why we exist.

When you look, it's absolutely fascinating. That once, there was no such thing as planet Earth. Nothing. I know, this is tall tale for some people. Oh my God, I can't imagine that far. But it's true. There was a time when this planet Earth did not exist. And then, through some serious events, which I cannot even imagine the power of these collisions and things going around and fusions and explosions, this ball, this planet came to be. And when it first did, forget about supporting life, it was so hostile that anybody, if they could have seen it, would have probably said, never, never. But things began. Things began to happen. And these things that began to happen, happened for such a long time. That if you, there was this show I was watching where it was talking about, you know, one whole day, 24 hours. We've been only around for a few seconds. In fact, life as we recognize it on the face of this Earth is just a few seconds. Compared to all the evolution this has been going through, going through, going through, going through, going through, going through.

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Why am I telling you this? It's not for the education purpose. I'm [not] trying to educate you on how earth came about. But to understand the preciousness of your existence on the face of this earth. That truly, in the sea of impossibilities, I mean, if you were to ever make a list, everything would come out. Impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible, impossible. You exist. And not only that you exist, that you breathe. And not only that you breathe, you can think. And not only that you can think, you can feel. And not only that you can feel, but you have the capacity of feeling the truest joy there ever is. That's the spectrum I'm trying to paint for you. It's not just feeling. It's not just feeling. People say, you know, dogs, they can see a whole spectrum of light we can't see. Bees can see a whole spectrum of light we can't see.

Dogs can smell a whole other spectrum of things we can't smell. But we have one spectrum that is phenomenal. And that spectrum is the spectrum of joy. We have the ability to feel joy, fulfillment, like nothing else can feel. That's our forte. And it is one ability that we have that does not diminish by time. Everything else does. All this high jumping stuff, and all this golf playing stuff, and all this tennis stuff, and all this bungee diving stuff. I mean, you get to an age where if you bungee dive, your ankles will stay up there. I mean, not much holding it together, just pop. Not, you know, I mean, things happen. I mean, eyesight starts to go. Forget about playing golf, you can't see the club. You know, and I'm sure that if the eyesight is really gone, the ball looks like a blur, fuzzy little thing, and huge. And then try to shoot it. And I mean, you know, you finally get the club up, and you get your everything up, and you hit it with the hardest possible force you can hit it, and it barely goes off the tee. Where you could do it with one hand and shoot, you know, right across the entire fairway, you can barely make it toss. It happens.

There was a, on one of the documentaries, there was this lady, and she had been a champion, a tennis champion. And she was in her 80s. She had to be rolled on a, you know, chair. And she was just talking about how she was, you know, this incredible champion, could play tennis and could play golf. And she goes, you know, these days, I can't play tennis. This is what she said. And I cannot even hold a club in my hands. Ha, ha, ha, ha. They could see that, yes, all these abilities had gone. But her ability to enjoy was completely intact. Because it does not wear down with age. Question.

In your life, have you honed that skill? Have you practiced well, enjoying? Because if you have, you will get good at it. And when all the other things that you so dearly rely on are not there anymore, you will suffer no loss. Because you have honed the ability to enjoy. You have honed the ability to defeat the effects of time. Because that's one thing, time, age, cannot touch my ability to enjoy. Everything else, it goes and it goes and it goes and it goes. And if I can have that heart dearer and dearer to me in my life, if I can have that understanding dearer and dearer to my existence, then I am standing on solid ground. I have to imagine. I have to pretend.

I have to have a bunch of beliefs in the background dancing for me and somebody coming along and reminding me of the beliefs. Because if those beliefs came undone, the entire sequence of everything else will come undone. Not beliefs. That's the difference in the realm of Knowledge because you need to know. You need to know. Not some ideas dancing back in somebody's head. I think it's this way and I think it's this way and I think it's this way. There are people in this world still trying to figure out what really happens. Who goes where, what do you, how many points you have to earn. I mean the whole thing is like, you know, you earn 21 points and you can get the tea kettle next time you drive at the gas station. All you have to bring is proof. And there's a whole world out there trying to score points. More points I score, the better. Better off I'm going to be. When? After you die.

I'm not the kind of person who likes to find flaws in things, generally. Because I see myself as that person. Two kids talking, you know, two eight-year-olds talking will find, hmm, because this is the time that I have.

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If I'm looking for contentment and I can't find it now, when am I going to find it? If I cannot find my joy now, when am I going to find it? Where is this ability that I have where I can truly convert my beautiful feeling in my life to gratitude? The byproduct of joy is gratitude. When your heart is full of that joy, gratitude comes, and you get to experience gratitude. Thankfulness for being alive. Thankfulness to know. Thankfulness to understand. Gratitude. Thankfulness to be. To be who you are. To understand that of all the gifts you could have been given, this is the most precious gift that you have been given. You are not some vague reality. You are not some vague reality.

In the desert, in the desert, every tree counts. It does. It really, really does. It really, really counts. Because the existence of that tree means something. It is not just a jungle, total abundance so it doesn't matter. No. In the desert, it all counts. Every drop of water counts. Every depression where water can gather counts. And of course, every little lake and every little river counts. Counts. If you know what a desert looks like, then this earth is more than a desert.

How hostile it's been, it's only turned friendly barely a minute ago. We've been around here only for a few seconds, and yes, we count. You look at this world, so many things that happen in this vacuum.

And there are people, and they're hungry. You wonder, why are they hungry? And people have, people ask questions. Why are people hungry? And nobody asks. Nobody asks why these governments take trillions of dollars and blow it away in making noise and smoke. Noise and smoke. Imagine I build a house. Imagine I build a house. It's a beautiful house. And then I realize that there are people all around my house who would love to get into my house, and I want them in my house. So I go and I buy barbed wire, and I buy nails, and I buy all of these things. And I want to make sure that, you know, they can't get in. So I go around and I put all this stuff, I put barbed wire all across, and I put barbed wire on all the walls, and barbed wire and nails on the front gate. And there I am, and I stand back, and I look, and it looks formidable. It looks formidable. Nobody would mess with this. I can see the sign, and it says, danger, do not approach. And maybe that's one of the last boards I hang that says, danger, do not approach. They even have signs, forget the dog, beware of the owner. So I've done it. Gates won't open. They've been locked shut. You would have to crawl over, and it's full of barbed wire, and I have made a formidable house. Of course, I know if you took the clues, but now I'm outside the house. And as no one else can get in the house, neither can I. So at that point, some rethinking would be required. Like, okay, you know, that's dumb, I should have been inside, or something, but now I've got to get in. And even if it means cutting the barbed wire, I've got to get into my house, and I have to have access to be able to also get out.

The world starts with a formula, mutual destruction. What is the name for it? MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction. If you blow me up, guess what? I'll blow you up too. That's what it stands for. If you blow me up, I'll blow you up too. I may not be there to watch you blow up. That's not part of the deal, because what it means is mutually assured. Assured is the key word here. Destruction. This is what it's all based on. This is what it's all based on. And if somebody started this, somebody should at least say, well, you know what? That really doesn't work. Let's change that formula. First, let's take care of people on the face of this earth. Before we go and create boundaries. Before we create walls. Because now, there is no excuse. People can be taken care of. And let's take care of the people on the face of this earth. Let's have a happy earth first. A happy earth. If the cities adopted that attitude, let's have a happy city. Maybe it won't be a tourist attraction, but it'll be a happy city. I can't imagine any tourist not being attracted to a happy city. But that's not how people look at it. Because something so fundamental gets removed from one's own self that we start to look at everything as something else.

This life of yours is not something else. This is part of you. And what happens every single day in your existence is part of you. And when your day is filled with confusion and doubt, there is something you can do about it. You can fill that time with joy and true understanding, not confusion and doubt and pain and suffering.

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I was saying this morning, there's very little we can do to change time. Very little. Can't really change the time. But what happens in that time, we can change. So what do you practice? What do you want to practice in your life? Practice Knowledge, practice joy. Practice that understanding and the results will be obvious to you. Practice pain and suffering, you'll get good at pain and suffering. Practice hate, you will become very good at hating things. You will hate things that you even need to hate. You will hate them. Priority revolves and then there needs to be an ultimate priority. And how does the priority revolve? I was given a certain amount of time that is going to take from where I'm staying to this event.

After having driven that this morning, I realized that time is off. That's wishful thinking. So I scratched that time and I left way early. Way early. And I arrived at this venue just as the clock and where I come in, there's a clock there, was at 59. Event was supposed to begin right on time. Of course, when I got here, they said, no, we got a delayed five minutes because people are still coming in. So I was sitting there in the car going, hmm, that, that, that, that, that, you know, I should have been there on time. Then I know, then it hit me. It's like, wait a minute, get into it. Why? Because all of a sudden, if I was in an accident, forget about the time. I'm glad I'm alive.

See how the priority would shift? It would shift, it would shift, it would shift, it would shift, it would shift, it would shift. But it will always go in all the shifting. Every single shift that could possibly go through, any combination of shifting that it could possibly go through, it would always come back to one thing.

Ultimately. And you know what that is? I'm alive. I'm glad I am alive.

That's where it would come down. Any combination, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. That's the same for you. Same for me. Same for everybody on the face of this earth. So why not understand the preciousness of that? Why is it in our lives that we only understand the preciousness of those things that have been taken away from us? We, of course, never understand the preciousness of things we have. But only understanding the preciousness of the things that we did have, did not understand the preciousness till they were taken away. And that is one of the sure signs of stupidity. Because the wise one is the one who understands the preciousness whilst they have it. Because then the preciousness can be enjoyed. Preciousness can be enjoyed. And that begins with that simple breath. The most subtlest, most amazing gift given to a human being. And the capacity to understand that. A capacity to understand that. A capacity to know that. This is what the possibility is. This is what can happen in my life. This is what can happen in your life. That if you open that gate of understanding, see the impossibility. Because a lot of people say, well, it just isn't going to happen. It isn't going to happen.

Somebody, you know, got up, I think it was in Amaroo, and said, oh, Maharaji, I'm such a tough nut to crack. Such a tough nut to crack. I've been thinking about that. Coconut is a really tough nut to crack. Really is. Have you ever noticed? Have you ever tried to open a coconut up? I have seen muscular men try to go at it. Drills. I've seen electric drills being used on a coconut. Machetes. Machetes. These things are nothing shy of swords. And the guy going, and yet I know. There's this tiny, soft, supple, really soft and supple little thing that comes out from inside the coconut that cracks the tough nut.

Acorn. Have you seen an acorn? I mean, you can use that to break windshields. Hard, tough. But plant it and allow something so beautiful from inside comes and it cracks the nut. And it is the same way for every one of us. And whatever we think is the impossible, the tough nut, no. Let those natural processes of the want, of the desire to be fulfilled take over, and that will crack the tough nut. Because inside each human being is that supple, soft little plant waiting to germinate. Not an issue of time. Not an issue of time, but just of the want. Just of the want to manifest from the inside. A sincere desire. The manifestation of an earnest wish to be fulfilled. This is how simple it is. And letting that process unfold.

Human beings go around making all these pretenses and all these machineries, and they do all of these things. And, you know, I mean, believe me, they get into it. Because the other day I was driving and I saw these farmers and they had their machines. And these, I mean, these machines are something else. And I started thinking. And then there's all those flowers and all those plants in the jungle. That are planted every single season. No machines. No big tractors. Seed drops. Land is fertile. Water comes. And it germinates.

It's not the complicated. If you want to be a farmer, be the real farmer. Not the kind of farmer that says, well, who's got the bigger machine? My tractor is air-conditioned. Look at the size of my plows. Look at the size of my tillers. But be that farmer that has been.

For all those years, given the possibilities. Figuring out. Here we are.

You know, we're so proud. We're so incredibly proud of cell phone invention. Wow. Cell phones. In the nature. It has figured so much out. Talk about technology. And never giving up the perfection of technology. Trying to make it perfect. More perfect. And more perfect. And more perfect. nd more perfect. And more perfect. And more perfect. Amazing. Amazing. You have the ability to see. You have the ability to understand. Then see. Look. Open your eyes. Open this heart. Open the gates of your understanding.

And it isn't a question about analysis. It is a question of observing. Observing. What it is. See what it is. See what you have been given. Understand what you have been given. analyze what you have been given. Because you will never be able to analyze it. Never be able to analyze it. But you can observe it. You can admire it. You can see its beauty. You can see its simplicity. Because every day. Every day that you exist, that one wish from inside never changes. No matter what you have gone through. No matter what you have had and not have had.

And the people that have been in your life. And the loved ones that were there and have gone. Of all those changes. Of all the changes and changes and changes and changes and changes that you have been through. That one inner desire to be fulfilled has never changed. And it will never change. Bank on that. If you're going to build your house, that is the place to lay your foundation. Not in the quicksand. lay your foundation in the quicksand and then complain about what happened to my house. Because you won't find your house there. It'll be gone.

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Find that solid surface that want to be content, and on that, build your house. How big? As big as you want. Plan big. Make big plans. Make it huge. It doesn't matter, because that is one ground that will take anything you throw its way, without deflection. People think courage, courage is required. It is. But where do you use the courage? Where do you use the courage? What is courage? Your ability to overcome your fear is your courage. There are thieves who have courage. That is the good use of courage? Could that ever be a good use of courage? There are people who climb buildings vertically. They overcome their fear. Is that what courage is? I shall overcome. I will climb this building for what? There's an elevator, because I can climb the building too, and I can come down, and I can go up, and all I have to do is get in an elevator, push the button, stand, and enjoy the ride. Go up. Turn around. Push the button. Come back down. I did exactly what this other guy did. I went up, and I came down. You know, we think, and this is how this world is set up, if somebody does something that most of us can't do, then that's really special.

You know, everybody can talk. So if you hear somebody talking, it's not a big deal. But not all of us can sing. So you hear somebody singing, it's like, wow, that's good. And it goes like that. It's like a pyramid. It goes like that. Somebody can go to the moon, it's like, wow, you're really special. You went to the moon. And everybody wants to be special. Everybody wants to be special. In their own way, they want to be different. I can do something that nobody else can do. But I can do something that everybody else can do. And I can enjoy something that everybody else enjoys. Because I can find my satisfaction, my joy, my fulfillment in every breath. Better than a song. Better than a song.

It really is better than a song. It really is better than going to the moon. It really is better than the best. And every human being on the face of this earth can accomplish that. That's what makes you different. Fill. Fill this existence with that. Fill your life with that beauty. That's what makes you special. Not that you can sing. You know why? One day, it won't happen. It won't happen.

Just recently, I saw a show. And it was a pretty special occasion. And they had all these old-time musicians come, singers come and sing. And I'm sorry. Tune was not there. They were singing. But that was not the key being played. And at once, I'm sure they were incredible. Didn't even have to think twice. All that goes. What remains? If you have to practice, then practice. Being in connection with that, that will be till the very end. Because then you'll get good at it. And it will be there. And then being old, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Because the heart is full. So we have this wonderful opportunity for three days. One is gone. Two days. And there is so much. But the most important thing is that you are here. And remember that example.

The person who was walking all bent down with load. Somebody asked him, what's the secret to life? And he just put the load down and he got up straight. And then he looked at the young man again. And he put the load back on his shoulders and hunched down and kept walking. Just remember that story. If you want to stand up straight, it's really easy. Just put down your load. Put down your load. And of course, I'm here to tell you, you have to put it back on. But I also know you have a great affection to that load. So you are going to pick it up and put it back up. But anytime you want to stand up straight, it's really easy. Just put down your load. That's all you have to do. And you will stand up straight. And anytime you want to bend down, that's no problem. Just put the load back on. Situation will be normal.

So I want you to just know, you know, that's how close it is. Turn inside. And I know it's just a really beautiful opportunity for all of us to take in as much as we can. You've already heard there's a lot of exciting stuff that's happening with propagation around the world. And an opportunity for all of you to, of course, join in that if you so wish. But for the time that we have, take in and enjoy. Take the most of it. Because this is something that really can change your life again. So let it. be afraid. Let it. Like I was saying this morning, you know, there are people here who are hanging by a very thin thread. They've come. They may have not even decided to come. But then they kind of made it, you know. Hanging by a very thin thread. Very thin indeed. Any thinner in it would not support or hold anyone. Let's replace that with a good thick steel cable of understanding. So you have to be in that peril going, what's going to happen next? No. What is going to happen next is happening. All you have to do is get in touch with it.

Because that's what's next and that's what's next and that's what's next and that's what's next. It comes. It goes and it comes again. That's what's next. And it goes and it comes again. That's what's next. And when that next stops, you have to worry about it. You won't be there to go, what's next? The next will be finished. But what's next? That's next. That enjoyment is next. And the possibility. You have the opportunity for those of you who have Knowledge.

Look, I've been, well, I've been talking for a lot longer. But I have been doing this, reminding people in earnest. And this is 39 years. (2005) And next year is 40 years. So, that's, I've learned a few things, you know. It's like, not that much actually changes.

And there are people who are, you know, there are people who love their life but they still love to complain. They complain. This is what they have practiced. And they've gotten good at complaining. I just wish they would have gotten used to appreciating, gratitude. Practice that. It's really important, you know. If nothing else, think about this. What do you practice every day? It's really, really important because it doesn't matter. And as you may have noticed, I didn't say if it was good or bad. I didn't say it was good or bad. Whatever you practice, you are going to get good at it. That's the nature of things. You know, there are people who get good at chewing their nails. I mean, they never need nail clippers.

They sit there and they chew and they bite and they bite and they bite and they get at it, you know. And they're just like a machine, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And you look at their nails and they're perfect little nails. They get good at it. My point to you is, get good or practice that, that is really worth it. Because if you practice that, then that's what's going to happen. So be careful of what you practice. And you may be practicing things you actually like. You may discover this at some point. But there's one thing you should be practicing, which is enjoyment. Which is fulfillment. Because then you're going to get really good at it.

So, thank you very much and have a very pleasant evening. Thank you.