We live our lives and there are so many complexities. We have relationships, and we have many judgments. Sometimes it seems like we are going forward. Sometimes it seems like we are going backwards. Some days are easy, and some days are tough.
Looking through this complex window, it doesn't seem like anything can be simple. But step back and just look at this life. The breath comes. It makes no judgment. We don't have to do anything to get it. There are no forms to fill out, no queues to stand in, no waiting games. We don't need to log on to some dot-net or dot-com to breathe.
Life dances and plays out every day in the simplest, most serene way possible. You exist, not through the avenues of this world, but just as you are. Just you—this face, this smile, this body, this breath, this heart.
A lot of people focus on all the problems in the world and say we have to find solutions to all those problems. I say that we have a quest. It's not a quest that you or I started. It is a quest that was already started for us. It's a quest for peace, a quest for love, a quest for understanding, and a quest for joy.
This quest is not for the joy found on the outside. It is for the joy that is found on the inside. This quest is not for the peace on the outside, but for the peace that lies within.
The good news is that what you are looking for, you already have.
Who has introduced us to us? We're always being introduced to somebody else. No one asks, "By the way, have you met yourself?" Meeting yourself is the difference between being free and being stuck. If you don't want to meet yourself, you are stuck with yourself. The day you want to meet yourself, you become free.
I will tell you about the best book ever written. It's the book of thoughts that you write to yourself. It's clear. It does not need an introduction; it does not need a preface. It does not need footnotes. It is yours. It is the poem that sings out in your heart and awakens the joy. That is the greatest poem ever—joy. And it is your poem, an expression to yourself. That is the ultimate gift.
This world is filled with questions without answers. This heart is filled with answers without questions. We can accept those answers, not the answers the world is trying to give us.
The answers of the heart are very, very different, because the heart says, "Awaken and rejoice. Awaken and be alive. Awaken to the possibility of being fulfilled."
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
What Each Breath Tells Us
We get caught in so many of the dramas that happen in our life. Life is full of them. It's just like driving down the road a little too fast and coming to a stoplight. You come to a screeching halt because the light is red. People are turning right and left, going in different directions. Someone is running into someone else. There is a little drama here and a little drama there. Life is very much like that.
With all the dramas that are taking place, there is one thing we cannot afford to forget: The happenings in life are not what life is all about. The coming and going of breath is not about a drama. If you find yourself in the midst of a drama, remember what your life is all about.
Imagine a flight captain who is a very sociable person. Once he's taken off, he gets up to talk with the passengers. There he is, talking to one person about one thing and to another person about something else. The flight is only two hours long, and the time passes quickly. Forty-five minutes go by, then an hour-and-a-half, then an hour and forty-five minutes. The captain is still socializing. Now he only has fifteen minutes to get
the plane on the ground. He has to remember what his main focus is. Even though all this socializing is wonderful, what is the main point of the journey?
What is the main point of the breath that is coming into you?
The main point happens to be fulfillment. When we are fulfilled, we are the most beautiful. That's when we attain our purpose. When a flower blooms, it is no mistake that it looks beautiful. This is how it is supposed to look. This is when it is supposed to be the most attractive—so it can attract the bees. It's no mistake.
An instrument sounds best when it is tuned. That is the nature of its design. I don't know how to tune a guitar, but someone once told me that the secret is to tune each string slightly sharp or flat. My first reaction was, "Wait a minute." But that is what makes the harmony, and the main point of a guitar is the harmony it can produce.
What harmony can you produce? When there is harmony in a human being, we call it peace, we call it love, we call it fulfillment. A human being is finely tuned when they understand that existence has been given as a gift.
We try so hard to understand why we are alive, when all we want is to feel thankful. Gratitude automatically happens when the heart is full. Gratitude will flow, and there is nothing you can do about it. Just try stopping it. Right now, you may have a problem remembering that, but when gratitude comes, try stopping it.
Each breath that comes to us is saying, "Make it happen." With the gentlest persuasion imaginable, each breath is saying, "Be fulfilled in this life." Life is not about dramas and traumas. Life is about fulfillment. This is your possibility. This is what can happen.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
Many realities manifest during a day. If bad news comes, that's a reality. If there are responsibilities to take care of, that's a reality. Of all the realities in this ever-changing world, there is one that remains steadfast despite everything that happens. That reality addresses me. It is the reality of my existence.
I have a name that I associate with myself. But who am I? What am I? Is life really as complicated as I have made it? The good and the bad, the person who's going through a crisis - is that really me, or am I something else? Who I am is not the complicated, but the simple within me. Not the scales, not the weights, but an ocean of joy. Simple, beautiful. With one thirst - the thirst to be content, to be in peace, to be in joy, to understand.
The need for peace, the attraction to peace, is not created. It is innate within every human being. There are ups and downs, but there is a place inside that is neither up nor down, a place that is steady. Peace is within and the thirst for peace is also within.
You don't have to search for peace, because you already have it. How do you find something that has been with you every day of your life? It lies in the realm where breath comes and goes and brings the gift of existence. You are alive. You can feel pain, but more importantly, you can feel joy. You can feel turmoil, but most importantly, you can feel peace. You have the ability to feel contentment.
Know yourself, this beautiful symphony that you are, this beautiful poetry that you are, this beautiful story that you are. Knowing what is within brings peace.
This peace is not the story of desperation - the trauma and drama of what is lacking. Learn to measure this existence by what you have, not what you don't have. What you have is so much more powerful than what you don't have. There is a feeling of peace dancing within you that is more beautiful than you could ever imagine.
The heart nudges you - not to back up, but to go forward. So many of us would stand at the pinnacle of our life and just look back. The heart says, "Turn around and go forward." Follow the river of time. It will take you places you have never been - places that are simple.
Turn down the volume. Something is whispering. Let it come closer and closer to you. This whisper, this wish for peace and contentment, can be heard. The voice inside has always asked for one thing, and that is peace. It has been there ever since you were little, and it will be there for as long as you live. Listen to what is being said. This is the story of your life. It is not new, but it is so exciting. This is your opportunity.
Success is opportunity observed, opportunity taken. If you want to be successful in your life, you have to be an opportunist. If you see this life as an opportunity for peace, an opportunity to be content, take it. The plaque on the wall is not success. The plaque in the heart - that is success. On this inner wall, frame the beautiful poetry that awakens you every day and inspires you to take the opportunity to be in peace. It is possible to have that in your life.
Maharaji
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Peace has to be felt. It is not just a subject of conversation. There is a peace that is fundamental to all of us. Beyond all those little differences we have—skin color, shape of the face, hair, clothes—there is a commonality to all of us. We exist. We are alive.
We all thirst for peace. If we really want to see that basic aspiration, we have to put down all the different-colored glasses we wear and see that one fundamental thing that is so simple and so beautiful that exists in the heart of every individual. I'm not talking about creating anything or achieving anything. I'm talking about what already exists within us. You don't have to get it; it's already there. It is a matter of discovery.
Peace is that joy, that serenity, inside every human being. Peace is not a concept or an idea, but a reality waiting to be discovered, a joy waiting to be felt. Feel peace in your life. Make that the priority in your life. Include peace among those things that are important to you. Make sure that peace is not just a dream, some nice thing that someday you will have, but that peace has become a reality in your life.
Your life, every day that you live it, is a consciously struck note. The instrument you have been given is called life. The possibility of peace dances upon the stage where a heart full of contentment and gratitude can exist. Instead of complaining, "Here are all the things that are wrong" or "I wish things were this way or that way," how about looking at things the way they are?
This existence is your home. Be in that serenity, that contentment, that joy. Don't let a moment go by. Play this instrument to express that feeling that you are alive—that this means something to you, that it isn't a story about a person who got everything and kept nothing.
Changes happen, and changes will happen, but there is one thing that has never changed: your thirst for peace, your thirst for joy. Ever since you were a little child, it has been there, and for as long as you are alive, it's going to be there. Fulfill it. Be fulfilled.
I'm talking about really enjoying yourself. I'm talking about waking up in the morning and saying, "What an agenda I have—I get to live today." You get to exist today. What you are looking for, you already have. If you ever want to see a wonder, I suggest you take a look at yourself. You should be excited that you are alive, despite all the problems you have and all the problems still to come. It isn't written, "A problem means lack of joy." If that is your definition, then it is a definition that you have created for yourself. That's a misunderstanding.
Let problems be what they will be. Do your best to fight against them, but that doesn't mean you have to lack the joy that dwells in your heart. Let there be joy. Let there be that peace in your life every single day.
Maharaji
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When it comes to theory, peace is a very complicated thing. I figured this out from pure deduction. I figured that it took a lot to put a man on the moon. It really did. It involved a lot of technology. And sure enough—on behalf of humanity—man was placed on the moon. But peace still eludes the world. So peace has to be really complicated—more complicated than going to the moon. If it's that complicated, I figured, then it's just like riding a bike—too complicated to explain. The only thing you can do is to inspire people to find the way to feel peace. And that begins with presenting the picture of a possibility.
Each person has a version of peace that applies to them. What is it? If you are a city dweller, you hear horns honking, sirens blaring, and everything going on all day and part of the night. Then on the weekend, when you go to that quiet little place and there are no sirens, you say, "Ah, this is so peaceful." That's not peace. Absence of sounds is not peace. Absence of taxicabs honking is not peace. Absence of screeching tires is not peace. But getting away from that situation seems peaceful. These are the individual variations of peace that people have.
If somebody has lost something precious to them, and they are going crazy thinking about it all the time, and you ask them, "What is your version of peace?" their answer will be, "If I found what I'm looking for, I would find myself in peace."
The resolution of conflict alone is not peace. You won't hear this other places. What you will hear is, "Peace is nice. We should all find it and get on with our lives." But it has to be very clear what it is we are looking for, because if somebody's version of peace is no more sirens, then it is a totally different thing.
So, what is real peace—peace that is common to every single human being on the face of this earth? The generic definition of peace is the absence of war, but there is a peace that has nothing to do with arguments and nothing to do with wars. There is a peace that resides in the heart of every human being on the face of this earth. There is a peace that is not temporary, not tied to politics, not found in the formulas of what the world thinks ought to be. It is not somebody's vision, but resides within the individual, whether they are rich or poor, good or bad, right or wrong—even in their darkest hour, even when they are surrounded by an ocean of confusion and doubt.
This peace is not the absence of anything. Real peace is the presence of something beautiful. Both peace and the thirst for it have been in the heart of every human being in every century and every civilization.
This is the good news: the thirst is within you, and the water that will quench that thirst is within you. The good news is that what you are looking for is within you and the means to get in touch with that is also within you. There is a reality that is so sweet—not buried in conflicts and pain, not buried in doubts and questions, but in fact dancing—dancing within every human being because you exist, because you are alive.
I propose that you take on that thirst. I propose that it is the sweetest and most wonderful thirst you have ever had in your life. That thirst is one of the noblest causes a human being can ever have. With all the things we can achieve in our lives, there is one more that is incredibly noble: we can be fulfilled.
A lot of people say, "Isn't that very selfish?" An extinguished lamp can never light anything. It can neither light the area around it, nor light another lamp. The prerequisite for either of these things is for the lamp to be lit.
Light your lamp. People say, "But if I light my lamp, then it'll go out." That is reality. It is going to go out, but while you have the chance, light it. Let there be fulfillment in your life. Let there be certainty in your life. Let there be clarity in your life.
You exist, and because you exist, you have the possibility of being fulfilled. It is incredibly simple—and simply profound. This is what existence is: this breath comes and this breath goes, and it comes again and it goes again. And I walk my life one step at a time.
A lot of people ask, "Tell us something that will give us peace. What can we do to get this peace?" We have a problem here. Usually when you hear about something nice, you want to go and get it. What I'm talking about, you already have. You already have peace inside of you. You don't have to go out somewhere and get it. You already have it. Discover it. Do you know what it is like to discover?
Look at this breath like you have never seen it before. Look at this life like you have never seen it before. Look at this existence like you have never looked at it before. Look at peace like you have never looked at it before. Look at this moment like you have never looked at it before.
Even in the middle of turmoil, peace exists. How does this affect this world? Do you know what this world is? It's a screen. You are the projector, and what you see as the world is just a big screen. So when you see things on the screen, don't look at the screen, look at the projector. That's where it's coming from. The display of the inner fight turns into the outer fight—it always has and always will. When there is tranquility inside, that is when peace begins. Peace here in my heart. That's the possibility.
How is it possible? I can help. Look around this world. If you are interested, search for peace. If you find it, good. And if you don't find it, look me up. I can help. This is what I do—I go around the world talking to people about peace. People say, "Nice words." And I say, "Do you want it? I can make it possible." How can I make it possible? I have that peace in my life. I am aware of that peace in my life. Does that mean I don't have problems? Of course not. I have problems. Does that mean I don't get angry anymore? Of course not. I get angry. Am I a vegetable? No. These are excuses: "If you have peace, then you'll completely change," or "You will have to change your religion." Why would you have to do that? Does your religion say you can't have peace? Of course it doesn't. Your communication to your God in your style, in your way, is beautiful. Why should that preclude the reality that peace lies in your heart? It's already there.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
What is there that is really simple?
As we live our lives, there are many complexities. We have relationships. We have judgments—good, bad / right, wrong. Sometimes it seems we are going forward, and sometimes it seems we are going backwards. Some days are easy and some are tough. Looking through this complex window, it doesn't seem as though anything could be simple.
People ask me many questions about the complex: "Why is my life this way?" "If we have peace inside of us, why don't we already know it?" I ask them to stand back, take away all that is unnecessary, and just look at life, at existence. In this existence, breath comes: No judgment, no prerequisites. No forms to fill out, no queues to stand in. No waiting games, no dot.net or dot.com to log onto. It comes.
The life of being alive dances, plays out every day in the most serene, simple way possible. Every morning that comes, you are. You exist. Not through the avenues of this world, but just you—this face, this smile, this body, this breath, this heart, and this time.
People say, "What about all the problems? Aren't we all trying to find solutions to them? We don't have peace in this world, so we have to find a solution for that."
Here is an analogy. There is a person who was born and raised in a castle. It is a nice place, but one thing this person has never done is to look at their reflection. There is no mirror, no way to see their own reflection. Everything else is there: Great food is there, a nice bed, good entertainment. There is everything except a device like a mirror that they can stand in front of and look at their own reflection.
This person has a lot of dreams, but one thing that this person really wants to do is to become beautiful. In fact, this person is really beautiful—not only beautiful, but exquisitely beautiful. But every day this person laments, "Oh, I wish I could be beautiful," and there is no way they can see that they are.
This is my passion. I go around the world talking to people. I do not give written speeches. If you asked me what I was going to talk about before I began, I would have told you I had no idea except that I wanted to get in touch with my passion so that you could see yourself in a mirror. If you could, you would see how beautiful you are. You would see how incredibly beautiful you are. You would see that you have thousands of drawers filled with things that promise to make you look beautiful. That is what your whole life is about.
Beauty touches each one of us whether we like it or not, just like we have two legs whether we like it or not. You could make an argument for four legs so that you could run faster, or for two short and two long, but what you have is two.
You also have a quest. It is not a quest that you started, but a quest that was already started for you. It is a quest that says, "Peace." A quest that says, "Love." A quest that says, "Understanding." A quest that says, "Joy." This is not a quest for the joy that is on the outside, but for the joy that is on the inside. This quest is not for the peace that is on the outside, but for the peace that lies within. That's the good news. What you are looking for, you already have. The beauty that you are looking for, you already have.
When what is complex is removed, the beauty is there. Complexity is full of doubt. Doubt is like a virus. Should we learn to live with it? Or should we learn to understand the very thing inside that says, "You do not need to be in doubt; you can be in clarity." You have clarity because the clarity you want and need is within you.
Be free to meet yourself. There is no one else like you anywhere. Even twins see things differently. There is a difference in your smile and in what you smile at. The difference is the feeling of joy, the feeling of peace, the feeling of tranquility, and the way that you can express that in your own way to your own self—not to someone else. This is not about writing a book or a poem. The real poem is the one you say to yourself. The best book ever written is the book you write to yourself. It's clear. It does not need an introduction, or a preface, or footnotes. It is yours. Yours is the poem that sings out in your heart and awakens the joy. This is the greatest poem ever.
The day you start to understand the ocean of possibilities that exists within you is the day you take a step closer to your own life. The possibilities are endless. Endless. They are the possibilities of answers without questions. The world is full of questions without answers.The heart is full of answers without questions. You can accept those answers, not the answers that the world is trying to give.
The ultimate truth is not in words; it is in feeling. The ultimate reality plays out right in front of your eyes. You are here. This is the truth. You exist. You can feel, and you can understand, and you can be fulfilled.
Do you see why I have passion for this? It's so beautiful. Maybe you see how you and I are different. My skin, my face, and my hair all look a little different. Aside from that, we are alike. I wasn't, I am, and I won't be. The time when I wasn't doesn't count for me. The time when I won't be doesn't count either. What counts is: I am. Because I am, I have access to something, and I want to have that access every day of my life.
Take away what is complex, the shells and the wrappers, for here lies a gift that is so perfect it does not need to be wrapped. Take that challenge. There is no paper in the universe perfect enough to wrap this gift of life that you have been given. There is no bow that is pretty enough to do justice to what you have been given. The challenge in your life is to know you. The challenge in your life is to understand the beauty that lies within you and to have access to it whenever you want. That is the ultimate gift.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
What I talk about is so incredibly simple that, when we try to look at it from our complicated ways, we totally miss it. What I address is not an invention. It's not as though last night I had a fantastic dream in which I came up with a new way of making everybody a billionaire. This is not an invention of a pot that will cook without heat or a bulb that will light without electricity.
We are always looking for shortcuts, and these shortcuts start to become our miracles. They become a way to break free—to reach out for dreams that are more fantastic than we could ever imagine.
Fortunately, reality is more beautiful than any of my dreams. The thirst I have within me is simple and real. It is a thirst for the water I already have within me. This is the beauty of what I address. I'm sure you've gone to seminars or lectures or listened to them on that magic box called the television. It is amazing. Somebody is always trying to sell you something even though you don't need it.
I travel the world and tell people what they already have. Society isn't set up for that.
In our lives, how long do we continue living on what we don't have when what we do have is amazing? What do we have? Let's begin with the simplest of things. Let's begin with breath. Breath is amazing. It comes one at a time—not a hundred or fifty at a time, but one at a time. It touches you and brings you this thing called existence. Because you exist, you are an uncle, a father, a mother. You see green and blue and yellow and purple. You care about summer. You prepare for winter. Because you exist, you can say, "I love you." Because you exist, you can say, "I hate you." Because you exist, you can say, "I need you." Because you exist, you can say, "I adore you." It is all because you exist—compliments of the breath that comes and fills you again and again and again without judgment.
In our lives, in our societies, we are judged, and we return the favor by judging everything mercilessly. Because we are judged, we judge right back in return. We judge so much that we can judge even when we're asleep. We don't even need to be awake. Every day we judge: good/bad, right/wrong. "This is terrible. This could be different. Why is it this way?"
You've heard of the word "gift." The gift of breath redefines the word. It does not come packed, tied with a silly ribbon. It comes openly to you. All you need to do is to be aware of your existence. You are alive and this thing called breath is coming into you. All you need to do is to be conscious that you are surrounded by the most precious gifts. These gifts are being given. Take them. Take them and keep them.
There is a thirst that is not for water, but for something else inside of you. The question is: How apparent is it? It needs to be incredibly apparent before you will take any action. This is not a thirst for water or for soda. It is the thirst for peace, for contentment.
This is your existence. This is your life. It is unique and you are here. There are three laws that existence follows: you weren't, you are, and one day you won't be.
The magic of existence is in the middle where you exist. That's where you can feel. That's where you can understand. That's where the possibility exists to take on the challenge of fulfilling one's self. Not on the outside, not in this world. It is on the inside.
In your darkest hour there is a candle, and the candle is lit. If you want proof, take a breath. There is your proof. The candle is lit, and even in your darkest hour, you do not need to experience the darkness. Even in those moments where there is pain and suffering, there is a place inside of you that dances and expresses joy. In the middle of sadness, there is joy. How appropriate.
For a lot of people, the formula for bringing light into their lives is to remove the darkness. It doesn't work like that. You cannot take a bucketful of darkness and throw it out the window. Try the other way—just bring in the light, and the darkness will automatically leave. In the middle of mayhem, in the middle of a fiasco, there is clarity. There is a rhythm that is so amazing, so sweet. Again and again it has knocked on your door and asked you to let it through.
In our adult lives, we get quite busy. What does "busy" really mean? While we are redefining things, let's redefine "busy." Being busy is another way of ignoring something. Sometimes we use those words when somebody asks us to do something we don't want to do. We say, "I am busy." True, you are busy, but doing what? You are busy ignoring that thirst, busy ignoring the call of this heart.
Liking joy is not something I learned from anybody. It is something my Creator placed so fundamentally within me, within you. Nobody taught me how to laugh, and nobody taught me how to fall in love with laughter.
There is something so fundamental inside of me that wants to be busy enjoying. The good news is I can be. A lot of people have the misconception that, if you want peace in your life, you have to hand over everything you have. You do not.
There is only one place left where you can have true peace, and it happens to be inside of you. That's the good news. You don't have to give up anything. All you have to do is turn within.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
I'd like to talk about something very simple—the story of every human being. This story is quite interesting because it definitely has some action, some drama. Sometimes there is comedy, sometimes a little tragedy. That makes it interesting. So, what is the story? I don't have to tell it. You already know it because it is your story. It's about you, not about me. It is not about a king, a lion in the jungle, or a little mouse. It's about you.
As long as breath comes into you, as long as you are alive, the story is not finished. It is still evolving. At least one part of its evolution depends upon you. Some people say, "I am bound by destiny. Whatever happens in this world, I'm not responsible for it. Whatever I do, somebody up there is pulling the strings and I am dancing—I'm a puppet."
I'm not going debate that because it would be pointless. What is not pointless is that a certain part of the story is dependent upon you. You control the outcome of part of the story—not all of it, maybe, but a certain part of it.
The part of the story you control is about real joy, happiness, contentment. It is also about recognition and about looking within and finding answers to the questions that you may not yet even have asked.
This story begins with you: "Once there was a living, breathing, unique person." There is no one like you. There may be someone with the same hairstyle or someone who has the same clothes, but there is no one who smiles the way you do when you are happy. No one can smile like you. No one can be thankful quite like you. It is your expression of gratitude, of joy, that makes you unique. You have been given your own palette of expression. Even if a person doesn't want to, they express. You don't have to know a person's life history to see that they are sad. You don't have to know about the person's life history to see that they are happy, and you don't even have to see a person's teeth to see that they are smiling. You can look in their eyes and see the expression of joy.
What we feel inside, we can express. What can we feel? We can feel the ultimate contentment; we can feel peace. This is what we have the capacity to feel. Therein lies the reality of what is possible.
All these things point to the beauty within you that is waiting to shine. You recognize beauty because you are familiar with beauty. You understand joy because you are familiar with joy. These things are not unknown to you. What do we do in our lives? We ignore. We ignore what is real and we ignore what the heart is saying. No one tells us, "This should be your priority." Everything else is our priority.
Here is an analogy. You are going on a long journey through the desert, and you have done a very good job of packing. You have packed clothes, shoes, a little tent, and food. You have even packed a little hat with a solar fan to keep you cool. You have already packed fifteen suitcases of things.
Then I come along. You are very proud of everything you have done. Everything you have packed shows meticulous planning. Then I ask, "Did you pack some water?" People have different reactions to this. Some say, "Thank you. Thank you for reminding me to bring water. In making this incredible list and being so immaculate in packing, I completely forgot." They pack some water and they have a great journey.
In this life, keep it simple. Keep it real. Keep it so you can walk with pride every day and not be burdened with so much unnecessary stuff that you carry with you.
In this life, we need to stand on our own feet. We need to stand proud because we are alive. We need to stand straight, not hunched over by the burdens we have accumulated. Of all the things we need to pack, we need to pack that which is essential, and we need to know what is essential.
Let me take water wherever I go so that, when I am thirsty, I will be able to drink and quench my thirst. Let me take food with me wherever I go so that, when I am hungry, I can eat and satisfy my hunger. Let me take an umbrella with me so that, when it is hot, I can open it and sit in the shade and rest a while.
Understand in your life the meaning of being alive. Then understand the need of your heart to have peace in this life. Peace, you need. A story is being written. My suggestion is that you start writing it, because it is going to be written whether you write it or not.
Why not have a beautiful, happy ending to this story? It's your pen. Change the tragedies. Joy? Give it more. Humor? Give it as much as you want. It's your story.
It's up to you. Peace, you need. Ask your heart. Your heart will tell you. This is what the heart has been saying since you were very small. You have ignored it, but you don't need to. I am here to remind you about that.
Some people wonder, "If I attain peace, will I still love my family?" Of course. Some people think that, to attain peace in this life, you have to give up everything. No. You don't have to give up everything. All you have to give up is your sadness, your hate. All you have to give up are things you don't want. If you really want them, you can still keep them and have peace, because peace is not an absence of something. Peace is very real in itself.
The main thing is that you need to have peace in your life. Write the story right. The person who is going to read it is you. Make it good; make it interesting; make it real. Make this breath count. Make this day count. Make this life count. It is a gift unparalleled.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life | Permalink
People say they want peace. Then they ask: "How will you bring peace?" They forget where peace is. Peace has always been within us. What we have been searching for is how to access that peace. But in search of the tool, we went further and further away from the fundamental reality of where peace exists, where joy is, where fulfillment is.
When I say to people, "What you are looking for is within you," it often comes as a surprise. They realize they knew that, but they have always looked somewhere else.
The idea that it is within has become alien to us. We think: "It can't be within me. Something has to happen. Someone has to come along. Some book has to be read. Some pilgrimage has to be made. Some seminar has to be attended. Something like that has to happen, and then maybe I can get peace."
I often give the analogy that, to understand the value of water, you have to understand thirst. If you don't have thirst, it is very hard to understand what water is all about. These days water comes in many different kinds of bottles. There are companies that promote their brand of water - water from the mountains, water that is good for you, water in a blue bottle, water in a green bottle, water in a white bottle. None of this is what water is all about. Water is not about blue bottles and green bottles. Water, as it relates to me, has the possibility of quenching my thirst. This is what is most important.
In Europe, when you go to a café and ask for water, they will ask you, "Do you want it with gas or without gas?" When you are not thirsty, you think about it. You might ask, "Do you have French water? Do you have Spanish water?" But water is actually about quenching the thirst as it relates to me. It has other uses - in rivers, in dams, in the ocean, all of that - but what I am talking about is the water that has the possibility of quenching my thirst.
We get caught. Our focus becomes: "Will this thirst be quenched by cold water? Distilled water? In a green bottle or a blue bottle? French? German? English?" And all of the conversation that inevitably ensues is because people have forgotten - they really have forgotten - what water is all about.
Everywhere you go there are people just like us. They are living their lives, just like we are. They are looking outside for answers that are on the inside, just like we are.
Go back to the simplest of possibilities, the simplest of understandings - understanding about you. So many people say, "You talk about peace, but this world is so crazy. How can there be peace in this world?" I agree that the world is crazy, but the subject here is not the world. The subject is you.
The issue here isn't the world; the issue is you. The issue isn't the rotation of the earth. The issue is the coming and going of the breath in this vessel. The issue isn't the thirst on the outside. The issue is the thirst on the inside.
It is individuals that matter. It is you that matters. It is in you that the gift of breath comes. It is in you that there is consciousness. It is you who can see the good and the bad. In you lies the ability to appreciate. In you lies the ability to enjoy.
Wherever you have been in the journey of your life, you have always carried a huge box inside full of joy. This is the joy you can get in touch with. And if you want to do that, it will be your personal journey. You can't take it with anyone else. It is too personal because it is a journey inside.
There is a joy, and it is the joy of existence - not what is happening in existence. They are two different things. There is the joy of existence, and then there is the joy of what is happening in existence. What is happening in existence we try to control and manipulate.
Sometimes things go our way. Sometimes they don't.
But then there is another joy. That joy has been there through all the years of your life, waiting to be discovered. And that joy will be there for as long as you live. It is the simple, simple joy of being alive.
In my life, there are good days and there are bad days. The days I call good are the days when everything goes according to my plan. The days when things do not go according to my plan, I call bad. Yet every day that I have been given is above and beyond being good and bad. Each one has its own meaning and its own beauty. And I can get in touch with that beauty. My plans will change. Sometimes the days I call bad actually end up being good. And some days when everything looks like it is going according to my plan turn out to be a disaster.
Good and bad. Life is not just about good and bad - it is beyond that. When we begin to understand that, we begin to understand that it is a privilege to be alive. It is a privilege for which this heart needs to be filled with gratitude. What we have been given is far more precious than all the good and the bad put together. All of that is transitory.
We can know that which isn't transitory, that which will be here as long as we are alive. That is our solace. That is our harbor. That is where we need to be when the storms come.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
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 recognizethe "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, notwhat 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 aboutjoy - 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
