You have everything. You really do. You have this life. Begin with that. I know that some people are cynical. You might think you are a particularly difficult case. A lot of the things we tell ourselves are the things we have been told by other people: "Don't do that. If you do, this or that will happen." Then you think you are a difficult case. Who told you that? Doesn't breath come into you? Don't you have a heart? Aren't you alive? Just on the merit of these three things alone, you are not a difficult case. That makes you a human being, just like me, just like anyone else.
Look at an ant. An ant should be cynical. Have you seen an ant try to go through grass? It has to crawl up and down. Danger is everywhere. It would have a right to be cynical, but it isn't. With its little legs, it marches off. And it marches and marches. It has a focus in life.
Start to see, to appreciate. I'm not trying to tell you that everything is beautiful. But see and experience the beauty for yourself. Allow—give yourself the chance to accept that in your life.
It's like a door, and behind it, incredible magic has been happening. We say, "I don't know what's behind this door and, therefore, I'm not going to open it." And then we look at the room we're in and it's not that great. I say, "Open the door. Go! I'll give you the key, but you must open the door."
When you feel joy, don't you want to be there all the time? It's not a wish. Just wishing won't work. Something has to happen. We have to understand, "This is where I want to be." And know that, not just say, "I don't want to be miserable." Just saying, "I don't want to be miserable" does not automatically put us in a good place. This is the law of nature. If I say, "I don't want to be here," what good does that do? But if I realize where I want to be, then it will pull me there.
There is a place within you that brings you joy. You have to trust yourself just as much as I trust you. And you have to see the possibility in your own self just as much as I see the possibility in you. Maybe for the first time say, "I'm not going to sit there all my life saying where I don't want to be. I'm going to clarify for myself where I do want to be." That's when I can help you.
If you go to the airline counter and say, "I don't want to be here," how are they going to help you? I am like that airline. If you say, "Take me to the place where I can be in peace, where I can be in joy," then I can tell you, "This way. Which seat would you like?"
We have life. That's the biggest passport. This breath is marching every moment. Breath doesn't assume anything. Every moment it comes. Very precise. Then it goes, and it comes again. It doesn't assume: "I've been there for a long time. You'll be okay if I don't come for 45 minutes." It comes every moment, every second.
We have mercy in our life, so many blessings, so much love. It's a matter of uncovering, discovering all the things we have been given.
A lot of people are fascinated by misery and just can't leave it. They complain about everything—about God, the weather, everything. Sometimes there are thunderstorms or it's hot. That's the joy of being here. You can't say, "No thunderstorms, please. No heat, please. No this or that, please."
We have to be strong in this world. To be safe, to be conscious, to be real in this life comes from inside. I can't fix the political system. What I can do is help people get in touch with their heart. I go around the world
telling people they can have peace in their life. I started helping people when I was very young, and this is what I've been doing all my life. The dream was to be able to go from place to place, village to village—and that is becoming a reality.
Every day is new. And that's wonderful. Enjoy your life, every moment. That's how it should be. Don't lose the shield of hope. Learn how to hold onto it. You want that hope.
Sadness will always be there; sadness doesn't go away. All the sadness that you will ever feel is within you. And all the love that you will ever feel is within you. It just depends which door you want to open.
You have everything. Let me help you discover all those things again, how to hold onto the shield of hope. The world has pushed it away. But every day we can have hope. We can learn to smile again. We don't have to be sad. I can't tell anybody that their business will be better. But I know one thing: a centered person is what the whole world is looking for, because that's what we all need. So, just enjoy the ride.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Life, Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
There are two questions that I hear from people again and again. "Why am I here in this world?" and "Who am I?" Two very fascinating questions. The most important one is, "Who am I?" If I can understand that, I can also understand why am I here.
The world constantly pushes labels onto us. "You are so-and-so." It started in school with the teacher calling attendance. Is that who I am? A name? Or am I what I do? Am I a doctor or a lawyer or a captain? A graduate of this or that school?
On one hand, I have a body with blood, cells, nerves, brain, eyes - all of that. Then, distinctly inside of me, there is something that is allowing me to exist. The feeling that it brings is not only the feeling of being alive, but the feeling of being in peace. It brings the feeling of joy, of tranquility. There is something that stays untouched by everything that happens around me. I get affected by good days and bad days; the thing that is keeping me alive is apart from all of that. This is who I am. I'm not just my body, and I'm not just my accomplishments. I'm more. All of that put together is who I am.
It comes back to what is important. There is an option in life to be fulfilled. Good and bad will happen. That's not the point. When it is raining outside and you open up an umbrella, the purpose of the umbrella is not to make the clouds go away. All the umbrella does is to prevent you from getting wet as much as it can. Your feet might get wet, but it will at least keep your head dry. That's what fulfillment is like.
A lot of people think fulfillment will change the whole world for them. It won't. What it will do is let you know where your true home is. The reality is that peace is within me whether I am a beggar or I'm a king. It doesn't matter to peace. We see such a big difference between the two - a beggar and a king. But think about it. What does the beggar really dream of? Becoming a king. And what does a king dream of? "I wish my life was simple like that beggar."
So different, yet so similar. Both are looking for peace. The beggar thinks, "If I become the king, I will have peace." And the king says, "If I become the beggar, I will have peace." These are differences that we have created.
There is one simple similarity we all share. Peace is within all of us. And if we want, we can experience that.
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
"There
is a basic need of every human being, and that is to be fulfilled. Regardless
of who we are - whether we live in a poor village or a seventy-story building -
we want to be happy. We want to be content. We want to
be fulfilled. It doesn't matter what we call it - we have the same purpose.
We came from the same place and landed on the same dock - Earth. Then we got caught in the web of what we should be doing. The wind of this world scattered us - and we see our differences, not our similarities.
What is our heart saying? Once again, we need to hear and identify the call, the voice, the want, the need of our fundamental being. Not formulas or ideas. We need to feel. That's how we are made.
It comes down to very simple fundamentals. The voice of our heart is saying, "Be fulfilled." When the heart is full, there is enjoyment. When doubt is replaced by clarity, when questions have been traded for answers, when duality has been replaced by singularity, then there is the most content heart. Then there is joy. Then there is a human being on an incredible journey of life.
In the middle of adversity, the human being seeks peace. In the middle of questions, the human being seeks answers. In the middle of doubt, the human being seeks clarity. This is the nature of the human being. This is the need to fulfill.
The happiness that we are looking
for is inside of us. Something needs to be felt within. Peace happens
to be one of those things. Joy happens to be one of those things - not
a joy that comes and goes, but a joy that permanently resides inside.
Not a happiness that comes and goes, connected to the outer world, but
a happiness that is always there. Even in the darkest moment, that joy
resides within me. There is a solid feeling of peace when we go within
and find that place."
Maharaji
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
Life is not your custom menu. Life is something much, much bigger. Much more beautiful. Much more serene. Its fruits are sweet. Its fruits are fragrant. Its flowers are beautiful, multicolored. Not one shade but multicolored. They even put the roses to shame. Touch it. Smell its fragrance. Allow yourself the luxury of being mesmerized by this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful tree of life. Look at its fruit, look at its leaves. Sit under its shade. And rest. Rest awhile. You need to rest awhile. Take that time. Take that time to appreciate. Everything in this ocean goes up and down, and bobs, and feels the storm - but, inside of you is the haven. Go. Go to that haven.
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
by Maharaji
Oh, by the way, mind doesn't have any problem - check this out, this is cunning - it has no problem about that little book - "Little drops of wisdom" - none whatsoever. It's covered. This is fine. Because it knows it's not going to touch your heart. You want to see the world inside? Don't open your eyes, close your eyes, and open them inside. And it knows that little book isn't going to be able to do it. Let's give it credit - mind is smart.
That's not an issue for it. That little book? No problem. In fact, the very fact that what you're going to be reading in that book says, "What you are looking for is inside of you," is not a problem for it. Because it can debate about that... "Inside." "Where?"
But, Knowledge it knows it has no grasp on. That feeling it knows is real and is not under its control. And it does not like that.
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
by Maharaji
When you're in that place of contentment it feels good. It feels good. It's a place where I desire no more and desire no less. It's a place where I am, where I have clarity, and I know that what I want in my life is more of this. No questions, no doubts. I don't have to consult anybody.
In fact, being in that place is so perfect, I don't even have to go to somebody and say, "So, what do you think?" I don't need anybody's verification. I don't need anybody's approval. And what is bizarre is that I don't even think when it will end. It's one of those few things where I don't want it to end, and I don't have to sit there and go, "Gee, I just hope it doesn't end." It doesn't end. It doesn't.
In that place, if somebody is next to me, fine. If nobody is next to me, fine. If somebody asks me, "What do you think is going to happen to the world?", I am content to be quiet. If somebody asks me if I'm happy, I'm content to be quiet. I don't have to give a lecture on what happiness is.
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
by Maharaji
What happens in spring? It's amazing. There are all these trees that lost their leaves, and they've been waiting. They've been waiting, they've been waiting, and they've been waiting. And those first fragile little buds have been waiting and waiting and waiting - waiting through that bitter cold. And these little, little seedlings that are just ready to go - my God, they are not going to wait for a weather report. When their time comes, they will go. They will begin flowering. They will not waste a moment.
When this precious opportunity of Knowledge, when this most beautiful wind of the heart starts to blow and confusion is no more, then understand that your spring has come. And it is time, it is time, to sprout. Sprout into that world of joy. Sprout into that world of beauty. Sprout into that world of wisdom.
in Maharaji: Peace | Permalink
by Maharaji
When are we going to acknowledge the peace that we need in our lives? When are we going to take the first steps to fulfill the oldest dream that mankind has had? Peace is a fundamental desire of every human being. It needs acknowledgment, and it needs to be realized, fulfilled. We need to turn within ourselves to find the answers for peace. We're not going to find them outside. They are written in the very pages that reside in the heart of every single human being regardless of who they are, what their belief is, or what they have done.
I have a dream that all civilizations, all people will be in peace. People say to me, "Isn't that an impossible ideal?" Then I say to myself, "If that is true, then it is the only ideal worth having. That is something I can try to help with." And that's what I do. The amazing thing is, that to have peace on the outside, you have to have peace on the inside. This is not new. Everyone knows this. And to find peace on the inside is the most simple process of all because it is already there. It does not have to be created. It is there to discover, to have, to enjoy.
The thirst for peace lies within all of us. Around the world, I have found the currency not to be common, language not to be common, clothing not to be common, food not to be common. But the desire to be fulfilled is common to everyone. That's what I am addressing.
I travel around the world bringing this message to people, and I hope people listen to it, that they get something out of it. I'm not preaching, nor am I teaching. All I'm doing is presenting a possibility. Peace is important to me, and I hope that peace is important to you. Because, after all, when I look at the horizon, if I have to imagine the world without peace, it is, indeed, a very grim prospect. When I see the light on the horizon, I certainly hope it is the light of the peace that dances, waiting to shine in my life, in my time."
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