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in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace Permalink
So many things are happening in our lives, and we think they are the reality. But they aren't. We try to fulfill our responsibilities, and we are so busy concentrating on this that there is a void inside. A voice within says: "Fulfill your life. Experience fulfillment." No one tells us this, but we know it. How? Who taught us how to laugh or how to smile? Who taught us to hear the voice of peace? These things we have known since childhood.
We have peace within us. This is our nature. We try to enjoy everything on the outside, yet we do not really. We need peace; we need absolute joy. Until the heart is at peace, we will not have peace. We think that the higher we climb the ladder of success, the happier we'll be. I am not saying, "Don't climb the ladder." If you can reach the top, then reach the top, but experience the peace that resides within.
Until your thirst is quenched, you'll try anything. That's why it's been said that the whole world has cataracts. Peace is there in the heart, but people cannot see it. There are so many excuses. Young people say: "We can think about these things when we are old." Middle-aged people say: "I don't have time. I'm busy." The elderly say: "I can't even walk. I get tired easily. I have high blood pressure."
What do you have time for? The real enjoyment is when this heart is fulfilled, when this heart is complete. If you really want to enjoy, quench your thirst and fulfill your heart. Only then will you be able to feel the real joy and calmness in your life.
It is the nature of things to come and go in this world—like the waves, sunlight, clouds in the sky. This is your life. Life is one day—a rising sun, one morning, one afternoon, and one evening. There was darkness before the sun rose, and there will be darkness again after the sun sets. What will you do with this day? This is your day—this life, this body.
The opportunity you have is yours today. The day will go, the sun will set. What have you felt today? Tiredness? There are so many people who get up early in the morning, go to work, come home tired, have their food, and go to sleep. Yet, like the day today, you have an opportunity—you have the great fortune to have this human life.
Wise are the ones who experience peace within, who experience joy. No matter how tired they are, when they go to sleep, they feel how beautiful the day was. The ones who know the riches of the heart are the richest of the rich. It's a matter of heart.
I have experienced peace, and if someone comes to me, I will help them experience that peace. For this, you need to dig your own well; the water that you are looking is within you. You need to dig until you are satisfied. It will be you who will know when that happens. Only you can say, "Yes, I have peace in my life." And if peace is not there, only you can see that.
In this life, it's already morning—the sun is there, and the day is passing by. As long as the sun is up, it's not too late to experience joy in your life.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace Permalink
Who are the heroes of this world? Actors, movie stars, play the parts of heroes. This is their occupation. Their job is not to tell us what is true; they are playing the role of someone else. It is a false situation. We watch them and think we are being entertained.
We want to be happy, yet all those things we really want in life we already have. If we want more, we need to see what we've been given. If we want more blessings, we need to count the blessings we already have. We get stuck in thinking, "I should have this; I should have that. It should be like this; it should be like that." This is what we've been taught.
Have you seen how happy a child is? Does he have a bankbook? All he needs is to be with his mother, whether he is sitting in a fancy car or in a simple cart. He doesn't care.
When we start accepting what we've been given, our heart also becomes like that child. In that acceptance we can find real happiness. In each and every breath, so much joy is being given. If we could accept it, there is no limit to the happiness it would bring.
It is all a matter of learning and acceptance. If we really become a student of life, what can't we learn?
Once there was a young man who had just graduated from university and was walking behind an old man. As he was just starting out in life, he thought maybe the old man could give him a few words of wisdom. The old man was walking weighted down with a big load on his back. The young man went up to him and asked, "Do you have any words of wisdom for me? I'm just starting out."
The old man stopped, looked at the young man, put the load down, stood up straight, and smiled at him. Then he put the load on his back again, hunched over, and walked away. Not a word was exchanged. I think it was the wisest thing he could have ever told him: The reason you walk like this is not from your load. That's all borrowed. If you want to stand up straight, then put the load down. What you have been given, what is yours, is not a load. What is yours is truly a delight.
It is simple: The more we enjoy, the more joy we have. And the more we accept that joy, the more we appreciate. Other things in life decrease, but this is one thing that keeps increasing. I have seen this again and again.
Bad things we understand easily. It is not so easy to understand a good thing. That is why someone is needed to help us understand. We understand about battles and bombs, but we don't understand that we only have one life and we shouldn't waste it. It should be a very easy thing to understand, but often we don't.
There is a war on the outside, and there is a war on the inside. The war on the outside will come to an end sooner or later, but the war on the inside can rage on for a lifetime. Unless that war has been resolved, nothing will make a difference.
I am not here to talk about politics. I am here to distribute happiness. I want to bring this happiness to people; I'm working hard for this. Whether a person is hungry or has a full stomach, everyone should have happiness in their life. Joy is a good thing. Understand this simple thing and make your life successful.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace Permalink
What I talk about is something that is simple and yet profound. Some might find it too simple, but that doesn't mean it is not important. I talk about the simplicity of breath and the coming and going of each day in your life. I remind people that each day that comes is one of the most valuable gifts they will ever receive. Incomparable.
For a lot of people that makes sense, and yet it doesn't make sense. We know each day is important, but that's not the way we accept it. The importance of a day is based upon what we have accomplished. Our life has been placed on a scale, and the weights that measure it have been given to us by this world. Everything is judged by failure or success. Yet we have been given a precious gift.
We have anniversaries and birthdays, and we give each other presents. But would you give a gorilla something precious like a diamond ring? Why not? A gorilla has fingers just like you, but a gorilla would never understand its value. Give a gorilla a diamond ring, and he will try to taste it, find it unappetizing, and probably throw it away.
Are we like a gorilla that has been handed the diamond ring of life? In many ways, we do the same thing—taste it and say, "My life is no good. I've got to do this. I've got to accomplish this. I've got to climb this. I've got to be there. I've got to have this title. I've got to have this and that in my life." And what is forgotten is the value of existence, the value of this breath coming every moment and blessing us. This is the blessing. But we don't know how to accept it.
We make everything conditional in our lives: "You're a good son or daughter if you do this, this, and this. You're a good wife or good husband if you do this, this, and this. And you're a good friend if you do this, this, and this." But breath has no conditions. When we are given breath, we are not told, "I'll give you this breath if you do this and this." It is given freely, without judgment.
When you look in the mirror, the face you are looking at is not asking for judgment; it is asking for admiration. It is asking for acceptance—acceptance of this life, acceptance of this breath, acceptance of the simple thirst of this heart.
The joy that you look for, that you search for every day, is searching for you—to embrace you, to accept you, and to fulfill you. I'm here to tell you that the peace you are looking for is inside of you.
Discover this life you've been living. Discover it the way it is meant to be lived—in joy, in gratitude, in beauty. Discover the potential of each day. Discover the rhythm as the sun shines on the horizon, light comes, and awakening happens; and then comes the sunset and sleep—everything is erased and another day begins. Discover that.
That's what this existence is all about. That's what peace is all about, because peace is not in yesterday and peace is not in tomorrow, but peace is today. Tomorrow is anticipation. Yesterday is just memories. And today is the gift. The truest gift. The most important gift.
Maharaji
