GURU PUJA FESTIVAL, TUCSON ARIZONA July 14-16, 1978

We have copies of the Divine Times magazines of August 1978 and September 1978 which covered the festival and provide information about the hysterical state of Divine Light Mission at that time. This was during the period often called Prem Rawat's Super Devotional Period or Soopa Pooja!

Four of the truly most bonkers wankers wrote articles for the Divine Times. Mitchell Ditkoff, Joan Apter, Sheldon Jaffe and Rich Neel.

Ditkoff: Ten thousand premies stand in the rent-free Tucson Community Center begging Guru Maharaj Ji to dance. Ten thousand lovers of the living Lord stand on the edge of themselves in the same hall which next week will house the Rolling Stones. People will be standing then too. But for different reasons … - Really? I don't think so
So there I (we) am, sitting in my (our) seat, trying not to wait for Guru Maharaj Ji to come, knowing he's everywhere, yet somehow noticing that despite his omnipresence, he most definitely is not sitting in his chair. And then, quite simply, he appears. Sits. And bows his head. Almost on cue I begin to nod out. Lean to one side. Tilt. Like my father home from a 12-hour day and watching Gunsmoke. I can't believe it. No, this can't be! I bite my lip. I pull the hairs on my wrist. I pinch my own cheeks. Please Maharaj Ji, don't let me fall asleep now. I've come so far to be with you, to do Puja, to receive what you have to give … and whatever you have to withhold. Please don't let me fall asleep now … - So true! Rawat was such a bore!
Apter: Because, oh gosh, so many other things are within inside of me, and if I pay attention to them, I'll go in so many directions. But when I experience that love that I have for Guru Maharaj Ji and I follow that, it leads me to such a place that I don't have that self-consciousness. I don't have that experience of Joan as a limited identity, full of foibles and faults. I experience Guru Maharaj Ji within inside of me, and it makes me even love myself! How many of us have experienced this particular part of mind that goes, "Oh, I really don't like you" -- and you're talking about yourself? You're talking about yourself, and you go, "The problem with me is I really don't like myself. I don't respect myself. I just don't like what I see in the mirror. I don't like myself." - Not hard to believe
This is the path of devotion that Guru Maharaj Ji is offering us, the path where we become one with that infinite perfection. - Not in this lfetime so far
Rich Neel: By what name can I call you, what word can I say, that won't fall short lifelessly to the floor? No sculptor could portray such an immaculate creation, perfect in every detail. I'll call you my beloved, sweet precious Lord; That is if my voice does not fail. I cannot comprehend the adoration I feel comin; Maharaj Ji, my heart wants to wail.
Sheldon Jaffe: Behind the stage he paused, just briefly before presenting himself to the stunned audience. "Oh my God," shouted one premie into the international phone hook-up. "Oh my God! He doesn't have a shirt on!" (In Denver two premies listening to this passed out and disconnected the line. "Oh my God …") On the floor of the convention center the premies screamed, and screamed, and screamed with ecstasy - "Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Bolie Shri Satgurudev MAHARAJ KI JAI!" - as the Perfect Master sat there, his hands out in front of him, glancing occasionally over his shoulder as if trying to see what all the excitement was about. It is said that the only thing that surprises the Lord is Love, and Guru Maharaj Ji looked surprised.

These facsimiles of the Divine Times magazines of Aug/Sept 1978 provide further background

Dance, Dance, Dance by Mitchell Ditkoff

Ah satsang. Sweet, sweet, satsang. So there I (we) am, sitting in my (our) seat, trying not to wait for Guru Maharaj Ji to come, knowing he's everywhere, yet somehow noticing that despite his omnipresence, he most definitely is not sitting in his chair. And then, quite simply, he appears. Sits. And bows his head. Almost on cue I begin to nod out. Lean to one side. Tilt. Like my father home from a 12-hour day and watching Gunsmoke. I can't believe it. No, this can't be! I bite my lip. I pull the hairs on my wrist. I pinch my own cheeks. Please Maharaj Ji, don't let me fall asleep now. I've come so far to be with you, to do Puja, to receive what you have to give … and whatever you have to withhold. Please don't let me fall asleep now …

The Path of Devotion Excerpts from Initiator Joan Apter's Satsang at Guru Puja, Tucson, Arizona, July 15, 1978

Pranam, Guru Maharaj Ji. I can really feel in my heart such a feeling of what it's all about here today, worshipping Guru Maharaj Ji. This is the path of devotion that Guru Maharaj Ji is offering us, the path where we become one with that infinite perfection. And that experience that we have of touching his lotus feet to our foreheads, of kissing his lotus feet, it's such a symbol of what Guru Maharaj Ji is doing. Because he is taking what we would consider the finite and he's melting it, he's merging it, he's placing it in contact with the infinite, with the perfection that we are to become one with. It's my love for Guru Maharaj Ji. And it's what makes my life meaningful.

Song: I Love You - Rich Neel

Lyrics: I cannot comprehend
The devotion I feel coming
Maharaji my heart wants to wail
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
Thank you for coming today

Take Those Three Steps - Guru Maharaj Ji's Satsang at the Guru Puja Festival, Tucson, Arizona, July 16, 1978

And all, I can say is, please go ahead and take those three steps that you really need to take. Just take them. And let Guru Maharaj Ji walk those three million miles. Because that's Guru Maharaj Ji's pleasure. That's okay. He doesn't mind walking three million miles. But it just seems that you do mind walking those three steps. And I just sincerely advise you that you quit minding it, and just take those three steps, and let that happen in your hearts, let Guru Maharaj Ji come in your heart. This is an endless saga. Knowledge is infinite.

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Back Cover

We have climbed the greatest mountain there ever could be. We have done the most that there ever could be. Yes! If you are surprised, don't be. You - if you have ever experienced Knowledge -- have in fact experienced what even in thousands and thousands and thousands of lifetimes can never be experienced. You have climbed mountains more than Mt. Everest could ever be. Mt. Everest would be like a microscopic dent on what you have climbed. And all by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace.

Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

More And More Love - Alan Cunningham

Suddenly you are with us again. Still in the Krishna outfit, but- what is it?- somehow gloriously different this time. There are gasps, shouts. Bholie Shris resound. People jump up. Some even fall off their chairs. In the balcony, premies strain to see what it is that is different about you. Garlands of flowers. No jacket. A golden shirt, perhaps, beneath the flowered garlands? At last, when we yank our unbelieving eyes away from you long enough to glance at the big TV monitor, we understand. That is no shirt. That is your golden skin.
Now he is here and we are shouting our Bolie Shris. It is a night for joy, a night for tears. Maharaj Ji speaks to our hearts, shows us he knows every step we've taken since we saw him last. He speaks of every game we've played, every trap we've fallen into in those few short weeks.

No Limit - Guru Maharaj Ji's satsang on the first night of the Philadelphia program

Param Hans Satgurudev SHRI HANS JI MAHARAJ

The Real Shrine - Satsang of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj at Company Bagh, Delhi, India, May 9 1954

" 'I bow to the feet of Guru, who is the ocean of mercy, and God in human form. His words remove the great ignorance as the sun removes great darkness.' "

My Real Father - Quotes from Guru Maharaj Ji on Shri Maharaj Ji

That's why I took admission in my school. That's why my father gave me that admission. Well, because I would be a very learned man, and I would do service - not for work, but for preaching. To speak English, so that I could go even in western countries. And maybe he was at a rather small age when he went to search for this Knowledge. At a small age, he went to search for this Knowledge. He couldn't get it. He went to many places, but he couldn't get it. Ultimately, he reached to one Guru, Swami Sarupanand Ji, and he gave him this Truth. After him, he told him to carry on. So my father carried on, and after him I am carrying on.

… And More Love - Sheldon Jaffe

Maharaj Ji had worn the mala when younger, in India. But no one in the West ever thought, ever hoped, ever wished, to see him manifest so beautifully so openly, so lovingly to his premies. And yet he wore the mala on the last night of the Philadelphia festival. Behind the stage he paused, just briefly before presenting himself to the stunned audience. "Oh my God," shouted one premie into the international phone hook-up. "Oh my God! He doesn't have a shirt on!" (In Denver two premies listening to this passed out and disconnected the line. "Oh my God …") On the floor of the convention center the premies screamed, and screamed, and screamed with ecstasy - "Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai! Bolie Shri Satgurudev MAHARAJ KI JAI!" - as the Perfect Master sat there, his hands out in front of him, glancing occasionally over his shoulder as if trying to see what all the excitement was about.

Hansi's Second Party

As the ring master continued to sing, the premies screamed, cheered and applauded as Maharaj Ji sat in his chair smiling broadly. And when the ring master added that, "If you wish on that lucky star, you're sure to find someone to love!" all of the premies broke into a loud "Bolie Shri!" as Maharaj Ji leaned back in his chair wearing the largest smile of the day. For the circus troupe, who had not been informed of Maharaj Ji's "identity," the end provided an opportunity to ask the question: "Who was that?" For the premies it was a time to sit, meditate and know the answer. The most loving Dad of all had taken a group of his children to a physical circus and even sat and watched and laughed at it with them. But for all the devotees the Divine Circus of Dr. Lord can constantly go on