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Most of what we hear in life is about either how it was or how it could be. Especially when we get older, we think back to how it used to be when we were young. And then, we look to the future and think about what might be, and that's what we work for - our dreams, our aspirations. We think, "Someday in the future, I'll be happy. I'll be content."
I talk about a different dimension, another time. This time is not in the past, and it is not in the future. It is now, in this moment. At this very second, breath came into you heralding the possibility of immeasurable joy. In this moment called now, all your wants and wishes are being fulfilled. Who is this "you"?
It is this "you" that allows you to be a father or a mother, a husband or a wife, a teacher or pilot, doctor or lawyer. It is this "you" that allowed you to be a child, that allows you to have a job, and will allow you to retire. One day, this "you" will be no more, and nothing will matter.
What does matter is whether you recognize the "you" that allows you to be everything you are and will allow you to be everything you will be. What is this breath, this life, this existence?
When you have it, you have everything. When you don't have it, you have nothing - not even nothing. You don't have to work for it or earn it; you have it. What do you have? It begins with the fundamental understanding of you - understanding what you do have, not what you could have.
The world says if you want to be happy, this is what you must do, but it never shows a person who did that and was really happy. What the world gives you is a formula with no equals sign at the end. What does it produce? Nobody knows. I'm not criticizing anything. What I am saying is, the key ingredient missing in all of this is you. In your life you have all your responsibilities, but what about the responsibility to recognize what you have been given?
Have you heard the call of your heart? Pay attention because the request is about peace, about joy, about being fulfilled now - not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
To be complete. Not "almost complete." The painting that is almost complete does not express what it could. Its potential has not been realized. The song that is almost complete does not express what the writer wants to express.
In this life we, too, are almost complete. Not quite. It is like the bridge that is magnificent, but it has another eight feet to go. Nobody can use it because it's not complete. It is almost complete - not quite.
How do you become complete? What does it take to complete this existence? It is so simple. Recognize what you have been given. That's all you have to do. After that, what happens is automatic. The unfolding begins, the discovering of the home within you begins.
So much is changing around me all the time, and it will continue to change. But there is one thing that has not changed. The breath coming in and the call of my heart have always been the same. Not a single beat has been missed. The call of the heart has always been, "Be fulfilled. In every moment, be fulfilled."
What you are looking for is within you. In every breath lies the possibility of being fulfilled. Listen to that sweet song of life. You've been saying, "I think I have everything, I think I have everything, I think I have everything." Know. Know that in every breath lies the possibility of being fulfilled.
Walk in certainty towards the well that will quench your thirst. If you don't know where that well is, then look within you, not outside. You have looked outside for too long. You have found many things, but you haven't found the one thing you were looking for, the one thing that started the search of a lifetime. What is that one thing? I don't need to tell you. You know.
You are the one who is searching. When you are attracted by the sign on the side of the road, you are searching. When you look at the shop window, you are searching. When you look at the beautiful full moon shining in the sky, you are searching. And you will be searching till you have found it.
All you need to do is read what is written in the chapters of your heart. It's your book. Is it interesting? Nobody will know that except you because it is your book and only you can read it. Every day take a little time to read it because the book being written is the book of life. Hopefully, it will be joyful to read because it is your words that will be written. This is the possibility.
This is about joy - the true joy, the joy of the heart. Once the thirst of the heart has become clear, the purpose of the well becomes very clear. Until then, without the thirst, it's only speculation. Don't live this life in speculation and uncertainty. Every step, every breath should be taken in certainty. Life is too precious a journey to miss.
How will you know when you are fulfilled? The day the call of the heart changes from, "Be fulfilled" to "Thank you." When you start to feel gratitude, you will know you are being fulfilled.
Maharaji
