Maharaji addresses a record audience of 275,000
Maharaji told the story of a poor farmer. The farmer wanted to go to town, make money to feed his family, and come back with some savings. As he was about to leave, his wife prepared four sweets for him and slipped a gold coin into each of them. "Do not eat these sweets unless it is an emergency, and you are very hungry," she told him. He promised her that he would do as she said.
As he traveled to the big city, he became hungry, but he remembered his promise and did not eat the sweets. He had fruit instead. A few months passed, and he had never touched the sweets. He was roaming the city looking for work. In spite of all his efforts, he was not able to make a living. Much time passed and he became even poorer and hungrier. He remembered the sweets, but thought, "These are only for an emergency," and he did not eat them. Before long, without ever having touched the sweets, he died of hunger.
The story of our life, Maharaji said, is like this man's. If he had looked into the sweets that had been given to him, he would have been rich. We have also been given something very beautiful within: Within our heart is peace, happiness, just like the gold coin in the sweets. We keep saying, "Not today, tomorrow" to happiness. And our precious time passes.
He said that now is the moment to enjoy the riches that have been given to us, and he gave the example of seeds in the desert. They wait a very long time for the rain, and when the rain comes, they do not say, "I am busy now. Maybe later. Come back." Whenever it rains, they accept the rain, and they grow. Maharaji said we should be like these seeds.
He went on to speak of the preciousness of this breath: Unless we understand this breath, we are like the farmer who never understood the wealth he was carrying. The real human being, Maharaji said, is not the one who carries lists of what he would like to acquire, but the one who is thankful for what he has been given, the one who is thankful for having been given everything in this life. He asked everyone not to have blind faith, but to understand their thirst, their hunger; practice this Knowledge; and experience for themselves that the gold coin of happiness we are looking for is within.
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Maharaji had first come to Mumbai as a child, barely four years old, and addressed audiences there before his father came on stage. On this visit, the stadium, set in the middle of one of the noisiest, most bustling cities in the world, was filled with tens of thousands of people, patiently waiting under a scorching sun. When Maharaji walked on stage, he was welcomed by a standing ovation, soon followed by an extraordinary silence as everyone became all ears.
Maharaji explained that all people have needs. Some are basic needs such as thirst, hunger, or sleep that need to be satisfied. Numerous businesses have been created to satisfy these needs. In many ways it could be said that the world is need-driven. On the other hand, many needs, he said, have been created by
society, and it is society that tells us we should fulfill them. Trying to fulfill these needs that are not our real needs often becomes stressful. We long for more money or for a better job, but these are not our fundamental needs. They are dictated by the society, and they will never be satisfied completely. He explained that the true need is the need that the heart believes to be true. Since we cannot fulfill all our needs, at least we need to fulfill the one main need we can fulfill, the one need that the heart knows to be true.
The true need, he said, is within the heart, and it is up to the heart to say what it is. It needs to be experienced for oneself. Unless peace is
experienced in the heart, he continued, a person will remain unsatisfied. When the heart is at peace, on the other hand, the need to satisfy a long list of needs is replaced by an expression of gratitude for being alive.
He added that however deep the darkness may be, a lamp is always burning within us, and that within us are the answers that we are looking for. We search for questions because we think they will lead us to answers, but at some point we need to search for answers. If we find answers without the questions, he concluded, that would be very good.
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"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
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The Young Leaders Forum of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry invited Maharaji to address an audience of distinguished business and government leaders at Sirifort Auditorium, Delhi's premier auditorium.
Speaking from a simple stage, Maharaji stated that while we tend to think we are free, our heart cries for freedom. There are many bars in our life, he said, behind which we are imprisoned without even knowing it - bars of ignorance, sorrow, doubt. Without knowing it, we are trapped in a cage of doubt. And yet the bird in our heart wants to fly. How can we afford to give this bird in our heart a chance to fly?
Emphasizing that the peace he speaks of is not connected to any worldly situation, Maharaji told a story. Once upon a time, he said, God told a person: "Tell me what you would like, and I will fulfill your wishes." The man replied: "A good job." So God gave this man a good job. A few years later, the man prayed again and told God: "I would like to have a good wife." So God gave him a good wife. A few years later, this man asked for a few good children. So God gave him a few good children.
More than twenty years passed, and the man asked God to give good spouses to his children. So God gave good spouses to his children. A few years later, the man prayed again, and God asked him, "What would you like this time?" And the man answered, "Peace." Then God asked: "But when you started praying to me a long time ago, you said you wanted a job."
And the man replied: "I asked for a good job because I thought this would allow me to be rich and to find a good spouse, and I asked for a good spouse because I thought she would allow me to have a good family, and I asked for good children because with all this wealth and family, I thought I would have peace. But from the beginning I wanted peace." "Why wait so many years?" said God. "Why didn't you ask for peace in the first place?"
Maharaji expressed that the Knowledge he offers does not necessarily make people successful in their external lives. He encouraged people in the audience to pursue this kind of success if they want. And if they needed help finding success in the form of peace within, he invited them to come to him for help.
He emphasized that, while we have to take care of our worldly responsibilities, there is one responsibility that we have towards our self, and that is our personal venture to find peace in this life.
A high point in the address was when he stressed the importance of each person finding peace whether they are interested in Knowledge or not. Every person, he said, must find peace - not a fake peace, not a peace made of worldly formulas, but real peace - the peace that is felt in the heart and that is independent of circumstances.
Maharaji concluded by saying that the Knowledge he offers is unlike any other knowledge because it is the one knowledge that allows a person to take the senses that are running outside and to direct them within. And when the focus goes within, he said, then joy, peace, fulfillment manifest from within.
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When a candle in real life is lit, it gives light and it glows. You can make a million pictures of that candle and they will never glow like the real thing glowed, when it was lit.
So search, but, search where it is, and you will find it. Search where it is not, and I guarantee you, you will never find it. It sounds like a powerful statement, but how simple it is. The clue has been given. Search for it within. This is not about confusion. This is all about clarity. This is not about absence. This is about being here. The whole world talks about and on behalf of those who are no longer. Yet, every time a someone comes to show and to explain, what is talked about? That which is present. That which is there. That which is available.
This is not about promises. This is about a promise that already has been fulfilled. This is not about a letter that is going to arrive. This is about the letter that has already arrived. That is already here. Open it. And read. Don't just hold it in your fingers and say: "I wonder what is in this letter," speculate what could possibly be written in this letter, and speculate who I think wrote this letter. No. It is time, with confidence, to open it and read. And to feel what is written, because it is exquisite.
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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.
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"What is this life like? It is not the pieces of gold you did not pick up that will make you wealthy; it is the ones that you did. It is not the moments you lost that will bring you gain; it is the moments you captured.
Every day we look at what we don't have. Life is not about lost opportunities. It is about the opportunity taken. A painting is not about the strokes that were not there; it is about the strokes that were. A picture is not about all the things that are not on film; it is about what was there when the shutter opened. And for us, it is not about the days that have been swept under the bridge. It is about the days that are coming that we can gather in our bucket.
If you can understand just this much - that what you have matters - your whole outlook on life can change. Then it can become a gift because it is based on what you do have, not what you don't have.
My prediction is that there are some incredibly good times coming. Incredibly good times. And I'm going to try as hard as I can to prepare you for them. Because if it is true that what counts is what you have, not what you don't, then you have to be ready for those times because when they come, you have to save them.
What will those good days be? Will they be the fulfillment of some concept? Of course not.
When fulfillment happens, it is based upon something real. And it transcends even our wildest dreams. Sometimes it is as subtle as a flute playing in the distance. And we listen. Something gets stirred and something is fulfilled. Sometimes it is as big as the world itself or as small as a little speck of dust blowing in the wind. It is not what it is that matters. All that matters is what it brings. And that is coming your way. How do I know? Because it has come before. And it will come again, and again, and again. Be ready."
Maharaji
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The world today is too busy trying to change the outside and not the inside, and it has failed century after century, after century, after century.
There are people who speak of doomsday. And I chuckle. I laugh. And there are people who say it will go on forever. And I laugh. Why? Because this is my time. This is my field. We all have problems. Little problems, big problems and severe problems. Problems come and they shake us.
But the clarity you need is to know that there is all this, and then there is you, within. Don't weigh the you within with the you of the outside. The you of the outside is transitory. It will come, it will go; it will come, it will go.
Try to understand.
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Do not underestimate the power of Knowledge. It is mighty. Practice it. Enjoy it.
Feel this heart. Feel this life.
Feel the blessing you have been given.
To be alive. There is no greater blessing than that. You are. Open this heart and accept. And when you are full, give thanks. That's all that's required. No, you don't have to climb a mountain, you don't have to jump off a bridge. And to those people who like to go to all the holy places - what have the saints said? The holiest place is inside of you. It's all there. Appreciate.
This is a beautiful opportunity to experience something wonderful.
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by Maharaji
Tomorrow, the sun rises, and you get this opportunity to do it right. To learn something. To learn what is important. To learn what this gift is. To learn what it means. Learning is not bad. Learning is not terrible. To understand, to truly make my stairway to heaven. Every day, let me add another step or two, or three, or four. And let me walk. Because every time I do, I get a little closer to my heaven. To my reality. To my simplicity. To my gift. To my honor. To my dignity. It's when I understand, in that simplest of places - that's my dignity. When I have understood, I'm dignified. When I accept this breath and thank, I am honored. I'm honored.
This is my pride. This is my joy.
This moment, this life, this existence, this gift has been given. And it is from the simplest of places that you have to approach it because it is simplicity at its best. That's what Knowledge is.
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