Maharaji in Asheville: Getting Across, 8th June 2007 PWK-038

Maharaji in Asheville: Getting Across, 8th June 2007 PWK-038

(Standing applause) Well, good morning everyone. The most important thing and today I'm going to be focusing a lot more on those people who have Knowledge and those of you who are aspirants, you will benefit from it because that's one day hopefully you will have Knowledge. And it's a very beautiful time for those people who want to make an effort in their lives because it's awakening.

Awakening doesn't just happen once. Awakening happens anytime you go to sleep, then awakening needs to be there and a lot of times we get caught up in what this world has to offer. But in life all those things and this is what's so beautiful about Knowledge is that those are not undermined. Nobody will actually come out and say, well, no, no, worry about that. But at the same token, the emphasis is also placed upon your responsibility to your heart and to your life and to your existence.

Because there is no age in which you can afford to be unconscious. There is no age in which you can actually afford to be dancing with all those elements of confusion, of doubt, and say, it's okay, it's not. It's never okay. A lot of people, I was just in Gainesville and a lot of people made comments after the event and some people are like, "You know, I received Knowledge 30 years ago and I lost touch." Well, you have to lose touch. You never have to lose touch. What is happening now is unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. And it's around the world. And there's communities in Vietnam, you saw that on the video. There's communities in Cambodia, in Thailand, where people are so excited after hearing this message. In Philippines, in South Korea, and there's a tremendous excitement on people's part. Wow, I've never heard this message before. Of course they have.

This message resides in their heart. This is where it echoes from. This is where it makes sense. And at what point in your age can you say, I do not need to listen to my heart? What point? Whatever you do, there are no limits. Whatever you do. But do not forget the importance of being in that place of joy. Wherever you go, whatever happens in your life, these are the storms that come. Good things come, bad things come. Someday, one day you find that your dreams are being fulfilled. Everything is great. Everything is wonderful. One day you find everything is going against you. You know, it's not about 07, 07, 07, or 08, 08, 08, or 09, 09, 09. These are arbitrary days. Every day is lucky. Every day is fortunate. Is that how you feel? No. You know this, but you feel that.

And you only know this when you get, somebody sits you down and says, you know, every day is fortunate. Every day that this breath comes into you, good luck. There's a very beautiful couplet from Ramayana. And in this, Ram is explaining how the formula started to say of how to get across this ocean. There are many metaphors, many, many metaphors. Ocean is one, river is one. And the idea of these metaphors is to try to present a picture that you are on one edge. And in this edge, or this side, or this side of this river, or this ocean. And then there's all this stuff that you have to get across. And if you get across, then things are different. But it's a metaphor. Whether you call it enlightenment, whether you call it understanding, whether you call it a light bulb going off, bing, same thing. And in that, Ram explains that this human body is the vessel to take you across this ocean. Now what is in the ocean? All the things that we put up with, all the things that detract us, all the things that rob us of our fundamental joy, rob us of consciousness, rob us. And so, you know, whether Ram said it or he didn't say it, or it comes from Ramayana or it doesn't come from, that's not the, it's validation. It's validation is it's real. A lot of people think, oh yeah, it's true because Ram said it. No. Anybody can say it and it would be true. And see, this is the thing. This is why understanding is so important, to understand. People go, I can skip understanding because I read it in this book. This was written by so-and-so, so I have to understand it. I can just swallow it.. Believe me, it's going to get caught in your throat. And then you will really be in a pickle. So there is all this stuff that we have to wade through.

All the stuff that robs us, all the stuff that takes away from us that one fundamental thing of being who we are. We are no longer who we are. We are who we are. One time I was doing this interview in Delhi for the national television. And the guy goes, what's your name? After the interview was finished, he's kind of wrapping up, he goes, what is your name? Who are you? I said, "I'm me." He goes, no, no, no, no. What are you called? I said, me. And he was like, come on, you know. I said, look. If there was an earthquake and I was trapped and I heard some people, some rescuers coming, what would I say? Help Prem Rawat or help me? Hey, it doesn't matter who and what my titles may be. They mean anything. I am just me. I'm a human being. And that's who I am. And help this me. That we get so caught in those labels, Captain Rawat, this, that, that, that, that. And we start to believe that stuff. Who are you? Oh, I'm a doctor. No, you're a human being. So there is stuff that robs us. And to get across that, there's the ocean. There's the challenge to get across. So Ram says, this is the vessel that'll take you across. This is the boat that'll take you across. The coming, and this is what he says, the coming and going of this breath is my blessing. We sit down for a meal and we say, God bless this meal.

God bless this car. God bless this fellow. God bless this. Bless that. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. Because talk is cheap. There is people, eyes are closed. The mouth is saying, God bless this food. And you are saying, mm, those potatoes look good. And I hope there is enough of them. Talk is cheap. I mean, it's like anything happens these days. Let's pray. Why? God doesn't see it? You're calling God's attention because he's so unattentive. Hey, God. Over here. See, this is all about to be screwed up. I'm not against prayer. My point is this. This is my simple little point. Do you recognize the blessing that God is giving you? Or do you only recognize blessings that you ask for? It's outrageous. Because if you only care about the blessings you ask for, and not the blessings that are being given to you, you have no right to ask for a blessing. If you do not understand the prayers, the unsaid prayers that have been answered, if you have no recognition of those prayers, then you have no right to pray.

If you say to somebody, help me, and the person comes, and you go, nope. It's like seeing the Texas problem of flooding. It reminds me of this joke every time. This lady has a house, and the water starts coming in her house, and it starts rising. She gets on the table. Pretty soon, she realizes she has to get all the way on the roof, and she's sitting on the roof of the house, and the water is coming. And she prays to God. She goes, God, please help me. I'm praying to you. I have always believed in you. I love you. Please help me. And just then, this boat comes by with these people. Lady, come on. And she goes, no. God's going to help me. He's my savior. You guys go on. Now the water comes up even a little bit more, and it's starting to touch her feet, and the torrent is getting greater. So she prays again. God, please help me. Please, please, please help me. And this huge helicopter comes, hovers, drops the ropes. The guy, the rescue guy, climbers down. Lady, come on. Let's go. And no, nothing. I can't. God will help me. You go on. Well, then the water gets too much, and of course, she dies. She arrives all ticked off, marches by that gate, goes to God, says, God, I got to talk to you. God says, what? He says, I have believed in you every day of my life. And when I needed you, I prayed to you, and you did not respond. God said, what? I sent you a boat. You refused it. I sent you a helicopter, and you refused it. Give me a break. So we sit there, and we think, we get God mixed up with Santa. See, God is not Santa. Santa is not God. So our wish list, like we hand to Santa, we start handing to God. God, I want you to do this for me, and I want you to do this for me, and I need this, and I need that. And oh, by the way, you know everything. So Ram says, the coming and going of this breath is my blessing.

And what you need is a Master that has strong arms to row you across this ocean. This is how you do it. (Rawat flexes his arms very poorly, crowd applauds, he is that Master)

Now, Ram said it. He didn't say it. Somebody else said it. I concur. I concur that this is the vessel that will get us across. And in this vessel, the engine is the coming and going of this breath, and that is the blessing. Every time, you know, so many people go, God, if you're really there, I want to see you.

Look at your breath. Where does it come from? Where does it go? And it comes, and it comes, and it comes, and it comes, and it comes. And this is the Almighty touching you, you, each one of you. I do not recognize groups of people. I do not. To me, every human being counts, every single human being. I have very different perception about things than most people. Maybe it's my experience in life. When I look at a person, I want to see that vessel in which the blessing of that Creator is coming and going. That's what I want to see. I want to see the color. I want to see the looks. And then people become people. Human beings become human beings. This is who we are. This is the potential we carry. Whether they exercise it or not, the potential does not abate, and it has nothing to do with age. However old you are, you can still experience that. n fact, this is one of the things you can experience till the very last moment of your existence. Proven. Proven. Without a shadow of a doubt. Absolutely proven that this keeps on working till the very last moment of yours. Now we're getting into some very interesting territory.

The last moment. See, not too many people can make these claims of the last moment. Neither a husband nor a wife. I see many wives watching their husbands. There's the husband. He's basically gone. Semi-half comatose. She's more or less resigned, waiting for him to go. That relationship is all but over. The guy hasn't left yet. Kids want to talk, communicate, but can't. So they also begin to wait. I'm not talking about lack of love. I'm just talking about kind of sometimes what happens. But even in that moment, even in that time, that person and their solitude, no point in pretending to be a dad anymore. You're alone. The things that you relied on no longer work. The body, gone. Shot. This, still active. And people become afraid. People become afraid. Fear. What's going to happen? Fear. Oh my God. This is it. Time to write the check. This is it. The final check out. Absolute. No return policies. Nothing to do with anything. This is it. Even in that moment, nothing else works. Knowledge can and will. Does this surprise you? Hey, when you receive Knowledge and you decide to practice Knowledge, it is not for one day, one year. The relationship with Knowledge is till the last breath. That's the possibility. That's the possibility. Why do I encourage people to come and listen? Why do I encourage people to practice? Why do I encourage people to participate? Hey, there is a rule. Whatever it is that you do most of, you will get good at it. It's a rule.

It's a rule. Whatever. Long time ago, I bought this game. And I started, I mean, I usually am not into games. So I started playing this. I saw my daughter play it. So I was like, oh, well, she can play it. I got to play it. So I started playing it. And I was a nervous wreck. I mean, I was like, ah, ah, ah. Terrible at it. And I would lose and lose and lose and lose. But it is an addicting game. So I'd keep playing it, keep playing it. The other day I was playing it again. It was like I didn't even break a sweat. And I finished the level many times. Why? Play it long enough, often enough, you get good at it. Oh, it's the same way in life. If you practice being unconscious often enough, you really become good at it. However, if you practice being conscious, you get good at it too. This is how it works. What do you do the most? What do you think about the most? If you doubt, you become good at doubting. And you doubt everything. There are people who doubt there is a God. They're so good at doubting. They can doubt anything. Nothing is exempt. So what do you do the most? If you enjoy this Knowledge the most, then you will become good at it. If you listen a little bit every day, you will get good at listening. And listening to what? Listening about your heart. Listening about this life.

You know, there's a lot of people here who received Knowledge a long time ago. My brain is computing your face. You're vintage.

The processor is a little bit slow, but it has to deconstruct a little bit to go, what did this person really look like back then? But it's pretty good at it. It's working over time. And to me, long, long time ago, long, long time ago, people came to Knowledge. Beautiful thing. And they're still here. Practicing. That's a beautiful thing. That's a beautiful thing. And I'm here. Still saying the same things. A little better. I've been practicing.

You know, one day I was listening to myself from like the 1970s when I was speaking. I couldn't understand myself. My accent was so thick.

I couldn't understand myself. But how beautiful it is to see all of you who want to make that effort. Whoever you are. It doesn't take a lot. Believe me, it doesn't take a lot. It really doesn't take a lot. A little bit. And I know when people came, trying to get them to listen was like a tooth-pulling experience. It's like root canal every day.

Oh, please, you know, you must listen. It's like, oh, I have the time. Do you know how many hundreds of thousands of people there are who listen to this message on their own version? They're all alone in the communities, wherever they live. On their own, they get back on time to their home so they can turn on the TV and watch this message. And their comments are, if I hear this every day, my day goes completely nuts. I need to hear this every single day. It's so cute. It is so beautiful, and it's so cute. And you know, the way the message is presented, it's in Australia, and big time in South America, and so on. It comes on the TV, the cable, it has received quite a few awards, message of peace. And somebody in Australia, and we talk about, like, you know, this is what you need to do to receive Knowledge. Because this was one decision I had to make. Is it okay for people to listen to this stuff? Just listen, without somebody going, and yeah, well, you know, and after listening to this, maybe you want to want Knowledge. Is it okay? I said, yeah, yeah, it's okay. So somebody came up with this on their own. They'd been listening for a while, and they go, you know what, there has to be something more to this. On their own, they found that website where the Keys are and everything else, and they were like, look what I found! I found the treasure cove! I mean, on their own! I thought that was just, like, the cutest thing. And people have been receiving Knowledge. Since the auto-Knowledge sessions began, over 300,000 people, and that was last night, he said, as you read this, 300,000 people would have had received Knowledge from the auto-Knowledge system. Around the world, places like Cuba, where it is hard to go to, do you know how many people have Knowledge in Cuba through auto-Knowledge system? More than all the people sitting in this hall. China, remote, hyper-remote places in China, thriving communities can't have enough Knowledge sessions, auto-Knowledge sessions. Are they enjoying themselves? It is amazing. And I was in Hong Kong not too long ago, and they came, and it was so beautiful, so beautiful, to see them, to see them. They were so, I mean, they were just like, they were a wild bunch, I can tell you that.

I mean, they were just like so excited. And so much enjoying Knowledge in their lives. Do you know that finally Knowledge has broken the barriers of countries where we could not even imagine? There have been Knowledge sessions in Syria. There have been Knowledge sessions in Palestine. Israel, of course, for a long time. There we could go. And the broadcast that was for Israel was also covering the footprint of Palestine. So people were actually watching in Palestine. In Lebanon! There are cafes in Lebanon that open up, and first thing they do is they dial that, and that's what runs. Words of Peace runs on that cafe. And people gather, and they sit down with their coffee, and they watch that. There's a powerful message that reaches people. Pakistan! So propagation is happening in a very, very different way. But it's such a beautiful way. Because that's what it's extracting.

I remember in the 70s, 72, 73, you sit down, you talk to people, and it was just, everything was complaint. Maharaji, I can't sit down. It's very hard for me. When I sit down, my mind goes all over the place. I mean, it was just hours and hours of, "Hey you know, just take it easy and practice, and it'll be okay and da da da." Now, it's so different. Right off the bat. And yesterday, I was reading my, some of the mail that had been sent to me, and when people get ready to receive Knowledge, sometimes they will write to me and ask me, can we please have Knowledge? And I'm going to share that with you at some point in time, not today, but at some point in time, in the events, I'll put it all together. It is the sweetest thing.

Sweetest asking for Knowledge. Not dealing with the fear of, I might say, no. No fear, but presenting themselves as, I have gone through the keys, it has been a beautiful journey, may I please have this gift of Knowledge. And one person saying, I promise, I promise, I'll practice, I'll practice, I'll practice, I will participate, and I will listen to you. Click, click. No confusion. No doubts. No wild ideas about Knowledge. Falling into place. People to people to people to people.

In India, they started doing the same thing with my schedule. First of all, in India, it was only Delhi. Every time I went to India, Delhi, Delhi, Delhi, Delhi. So I remember, there was like 50,000, 60,000 people at these events, and I would go, listen, if you want propagation, it's not going to happen if we keep doing events here. We have to go. How can that happen? Finally, it began to happen, and when it began to happen, it only went into major towns. Huge audiences. Last one in Patna, 500,000 people. I mean, that day, God smiled, believe me. Because the day before, the day before at 9 o'clock, it was over 90 degrees outside. Of course, there's no stadium that'll hold that many people. Come to Patna, beautiful cloud layer overcast. 75 degrees with a cool breeze blowing from the north. It was perfect. The event happened, and everybody sat there and listened. Amazing. This is what's happening. Who are these people? So I said, in India, I said, I want to go to the remotest little villages. I mean, we have the helicopter. That's what it's for. Let's go. Infrastructure, I had already designed it for them. I designed a trailer, and it opens up, and the stage is in it. So the set-up time, what used to be weeks, has been brought down to virtually just a few hours. Another trailer that has got the whole PA system in it, and people actually come and watch all the stuff go up because there's this huge tower, and they just hit a button, and the hydraulics crank up, and this tower comes up with the speakers already mounted. They adjust it for how many people there's going to be. So they've got a trailer on one side, trailer on the other side, two PA systems, the main stage, and they're ready to go. So we did that. Went to the remotest, remotest locations. And people, poor, but not without pride. They would dress up in their finest. Coming to see Maharaji was a lifetime experience. Not to be undermined. And yes, remote, remote, remote, hyper-remote locations. And what did that do for propagation? It just shot through the roof.

And when it came to doing the US tour, this is exactly what happened. Same thing, LA, Miami, New York, we're done. I said, no. Let's go to all these places. Because aspirants are not going to come. Hard for them to travel. I appreciate that. Why can't I go to all these places? And believe me, it's been a tooth-pulling experience. It's like two root canals simultaneously. But it happened. And this is what I was just talking about before I came here. How important it is.

How important this is. And we should do more. (applause)

At the end of the day, it's cheaper, and it covers more people. (applause) And it gives people options to come. If they can't come to Gainesville, they can come to Asheville. If they can't come to either of these, maybe they can come to Atlanta. And they're people. I know. I see them. They were so active. And whatever it is, whatever the reasons are, the communities have become what they are. It doesn't need to be like that. We're alive. We're human beings. We're alive. We should interact. What else are we going to do?

So it was a tooth-pulling experience. Nobody was ready for this. Believe me. Nobody was ready for this. Nobody. But then it began. And of course, this is the last one of this segment. And then very soon, the Europeans one will start. And it's the same thing in Europe. They're not there. They're in their old ideas of how the event should be. Here, here, here. And I'm like, you know, have you heard about these events that are happening here? I mean, just to talk to the aspirants yesterday and also in Broward, any which way I could help you out. Cool. I mean, that's what I'm here for. And I can. I have a gift. One person asked me in Broward, said, you know, I feel my thirst. So I said, well, you know, which finger do you use to put the DVD in? Because he's watching the Keys. That's thirst. Cleared it up. A few seconds. I have the experience, too. I've been doing this since I was… And I love Knowledge. And I love life.

And I love that people learn in their lives. I can teach. And when I am with people who want to learn, I love it. I am not interested, you know, when people don't want to learn, I'm not interested. I'm not interested. But when people want to learn, then it all happens. And it's a beautiful thing. Thank you.