Courting Clarity video, 1996
1996 was the 25th anniversary year of Prem Rawat's arrival in the "West". The highlight of the 1996 video "Like The Rain" is a speech ("satsang") of his set to music extolling the importance of and the Blessing of the Master. In that video Maharaji gives one of "his deepest and most poetic" depictions of His own importance and the incredible awakening and magic that he produces in the yearning hearts of his students. So deep! So Poetic! This video shows Maharaji answering questions, supposedly from 'aspirants,' that he reads out himself in front of an audience which is obviously of His long-term premies.
This video shows him in another light altogether, the organised, file carrying administrator dealing with questions and resolving aspirants' queries arrogantly. Maharaji was putting a lot of time and effort (by his standards) into working with aspirants. He and his minions were trying to find a method of teaching aspirants that would maximise the retention rate after they "Received Knowledge." He believed he had a special power in his 'satsang' and wanted to create one format that could be used for all aspirants. Hopefully, one that could replace human involvement with technology.
By 1996 this attempt to cut the drop-out rate had become a 5 month period of watching videos of Maharaji's speeches. We can deduce by Maharaji actually addressing negative questions that this was creating complaints among the aspirants and members of aspirants' families were also unhappy. Eight years later this process would become the even more onerous original Keys program. The aspirants are obviously ones who are close to 5 months so Maharaji doesn't hide his position, he is the Master.
- Maharaji likes to ridicule his competitors, "where the Kundalini goes and where this happens and this wiggles to that" and yet where do your fingers go to see within inside where and your ears wiggle as you stick your thumbs into them to hear what and where inside is that energy wriggling and has your tongue got the Nectar bubbling
- I'm not teaching religion to people. I'm not telling them what they should do and what they should not do. - It's interesting how often Maharaji says he doesn't do exactly what he does do and his premies just nod their heads through speech after speech devoid of insight into what he is teaching them
- If receiving Knowledge quenches thirst, then why do people continue practicing? - they're living in hope and fear
- Is a personal belief in the Creator a necessary part in receiving Knowledge? - Absolutely, belief in the Creator is as important as the belief in the Master. Maharaji ridicules the childish versions of the Creator he thinks people "in the world" have. His ideas about other religions are the ideas held 5,000 years ago
- "Maharaji, you know, I don't have a problem with Knowledge, but I've got a problem with you." He tries to turn the sensible suspicion of Himself, an obvious sybaritic, luxury loving cult leader, into hating him and then psychobabbles it into the critic hating himself
- I don't go around telling people "And you know. Everybody should have Knowledge." In fact for years he claimed everyone should and would have Knowledge, that 'propagation' was the most important possible activity. He failed miserably so now he is far more circumspect. But he's still trying and he's still failing
Parts of this video were reused in the Preparing for Knowledge, Questions and Answers, 1996 video
Maharaji: Courting Clarity, 1996
Questions and Answers
If receiving Knowledge quenches thirst, then why do people who have already received it continue practicing it?
Because it feels so good.
In what spiritual state should I be in order to receive Knowledge? (laughter) Be in the state of your heart. Be in the kingdom of your heart.
People talk about where the kundalini goes and where this happens and this wiggles to that and there's a chakra there and there's a chakra here and there. Look, you know, we can make philosophies, we can make ideas, we can make thoughts, but then there is the kingdom of the heart, which everybody can feel. The only requirement to feel that feeling is that you be alive. That's all. Nothing can be simpler than that. You're alive, you can feel it.
If you, you know, like I say, if you're a Christian, you want to be a Christian, continue to be a Christian, fine. I'm not teaching you a religion. That's not what I'm teaching. If you're a Hindu, you want to be a Hindu, you want to continue to be a Hindu, fine. I'm not teaching religion to people. I'm not telling them what they should do and what they should not do. I'm only offering a simple thing so that they can go inside and enjoy the experience that - they - ALREADY - have. I'm not even creating the experience. I'm not even manufacturing the experience. The experience that I'm talking about is already within inside of you. So I just offer, so simple, you see, so simple, it's not a spiritual path, you know, it's not going to tickle your Kundalini, (laughter) it's not going to shoot you from one chakra to the second chakra, you know, just to feel what is within, inside of you. That's all, that's all I offer.
There should be one Master, one. The one that you can trust, the one who can take you through the journey. Because the journey is the journey of a lifetime.
Is a personal belief in the Creator a necessary part in receiving Knowledge?
(Speaks very broadly, ironically, quickly) Very interesting question. Very interesting question. If you're asking that you need a scale, a grid, which places Creator straight up there, and of course in Australia it's different, mind you, when you go like that, in Australia you're not pointing to the same place in space as you are when you're in North America or Canada or England, but he's big, so general direction covers him. Very old, grey beard, grey hair, beaming eyes, kind of that little smiley smile, dancing on the lips, where like, everything is okay, but don't push your luck kind of smile. (laughter) A very deep rumbling voice from, you know, that kind of comes from the chest rather than from here, with bass effect added to it, and a very long arm, very long, with very long finger, that has a, that has an incredible way of pointing right at you, and you know, maybe a little bit of static electricity dancing right around the finger, to zap you if you don't behave yourself, I don't know. If that's your Creator? No.
(Speaks very gently, meaningfully, more slowly) But if some force, some force, that I have perceived to be very kind, even if you say in favor of me, allowing me to exist, that I cannot define, and that is fine with me, that I cannot define. Takes a lot, takes a lot to fall in love with someone who you may never touch, who you may never see with your eyes, but know they're there. Not with a doubt, but know, from the heart of hearts, feel their presence in your life. To me, Creator isn't something that sits on Mount Olumpus (sic), or on the Ivory's Rock, but rather the thing that is everywhere, in kindness, in its beauty, in its gentleness, omnipresent. In its wisdom, infinitely wisdom, infinitely wise. In its kindness, infinitely kind. In its beauty, infinitely beautiful. And within me. Within me too.
(Back to irony) So a lot of people have this thing, you know, like a pasta machine. Creator sits there and pushes a button, and you're the little shell pasta that keeps popping out after it's done. No. But you don't have to buy the standard abbreviation, or the standard package of what the Creator, but just to feel a feeling in your life, a presence that exists, a presence that allows you to be.
Does resistance because of a fear of a teacher preclude receiving Knowledge?
You have one car, and the only car, and you hate it, and you don't want to drive it, and there's no bus service in your area, and your friends don't have cars, and your neighbors don't either. You're the only one in a hundred miles with a car, and you happen to hate it. Well, you're going to be doing a lot of walking. If you fear, if you fear the teacher, if you fear the teacher, and he or she is the right teacher, a good teacher, correct teacher, teaching the right thing anyways. Then your fear is unfounded. Now remember one thing. Many times, in fact, I can say with great certainty, a hundred percent.
I have come across people asking me, "Maharaji, you know, I don't have a problem with Knowledge, but I've got a problem with you." A hundred percent of the time, talking, talking, "Well, gee whiz, you know, why do you have a problem with me? You don't really know me. We've never sat down, had dinner, never spent a night together, never been anywhere. I mean, what are you, just a hater?(laughter) Just walk around in your life and say, I hate that person. And it turns out that the hate isn't towards me. The hate is about something that they don't like about themselves. That the fear is not me, but the fear is something that they fear in themselves. That I'm not the block, that the block is within themselves. Just a nice excuse. Yes, I would have had Knowledge if, if.
A lot of times, people see me as this person who is going to say, "Okay, you can have Knowledge, you can't have Knowledge. And that's a big one for people. You decide that. You become the judge in my life. No, I don't want to be a judge. I don't want to be a judge. I don't want to have to sit there and go, you can have it, but you can't have it. You can have it, you can't have it. All I want to do is I want to talk to people about Knowledge. After that, you go home, I go home. You don't bother me, I won't bother you, believe me. And to me, it's, it's very, very simple. I'm here and I'm here to give Knowledge. I'm here to talk about Knowledge. I'm here, I'm the, I'm the product support person. I, I, I support what I offer to people. Here's Knowledge. Now, of course, Knowledge is not a product, but you have a question, whatever, to remind you. I do that. So, please, you know, think about it. And if you think that you have any reason to fear, you don't. You're fearing yourself, not me.
How do I get ready for Knowledge?
That's a good question. Don't. Don't even try. Because the day you get locked on to this word, word called 'ready,' it's over. Don't even try to be ready. Just be. Enjoy. Be an aspirant and be prepared to be an aspirant all your life. With or without Knowledge. And that's all. That's all. Have patience and be eager to know. Be eager to learn. And enjoy learning. Enjoy growing. And that's it. Don't try to be ready. Because if you do, it's like a greased apple. The more you try to squeeze it, the further away it's going to get from you. People say, "What can I do to be ready? What, what can I say the right thing?" No. No. The first, the first thing that a Master likes to see in a student is the student's enthusiasm to want to know. Enthusiasm. Excitement. To want to learn. Have that enthusiasm. And be patient. Be eager and be patient at the same time. Be patient. Learn to live with your questions. Your questions will be answered. But when? You never know. And that's where a student has to be patient. "I wonder what that means." Be patient. The answer will come. Just listen. And sure enough, the answer comes.
How do you (have to) obtain clarity?
And I think I mentioned it a little bit. Keep these eyes open. To keep yourself open. To understand, to learn, to grow. To court that lady clarity. To constantly tell her how much you love her. To constantly say thank you. To be in that place. Very clear. You have to be. There is a word. An Indian word. I don't know. You must have heard it. Called the 'Premie.' Okay. And it comes from the word Prem. And Prem means love. And the lover is a Premie. And I think it's a great word. Of course my first name is Prem. So I think it's great. So. Premie. To be a lover of clarity. Of that feeling inside. That's how you get her. You have to court her. You can't force her.
How do you go to that inner place as an aspirant?
You cannot go maybe to that. Completely to that inner place as an aspirant. But you can feel its existence. You can feel the thirst. You can feel. You know it's like when you arrive in Los Angeles. You've been driving into Los Angeles. You come into. First there is maybe nothing. And then all of a sudden there is all these billboards. And then all of a sudden the houses start. And maybe. You are not quite in LA. But you know. You are very very close. And it's a bit of a similar thing. That maybe as an aspirant. You aspire to be in that place. And more you do. More you become an aspirant. More you open up. More clarity that you court. More and more you start to realize. That really there is a place inside. And hopefully. Then one day. When you feel. Not from here. But from here. With appreciation. Not with "How come I can't have it right now. Give it to me." Don't get it. Because that's not the place to get it. That's not here. That's here. Another explanation. To explain away. Why you should have Knowledge. You can't explain that. You can't explain that.
I don't go around telling people "And you know. Everybody should have Knowledge." I don't do that. I tell people about it. About it. Because I know. It's like. One of these things. You can't grab it. It's like a greased apple, you know, tighter you squeeze. Further away it's going to get from you. Delicate. Being in that clarity. Being in that thirst. Coming from that understanding. And that's when it happens. That's when it happens. Would you really. If you saw. A nice looking girl or a nice looking guy. Would you really go and grab them by the throat. And say "You be my girlfriend. You be my boyfriend. Or I'll kill you." No.
Insipid Song insipidly sung, probably byone of the Rawat daughters:
This is the kind of love that I've dreamed of
Washing through every part of me like the rain
I turn the page of every day of my lifetime
I look back and see the longing was always the same
Da da da da da
inside of me.
deeper than the ocean, wider than the sky
You gave me the key to forever, you gave me the key.
I've found the place in my heart where darkness won't find me
The fire of love burns too brightly
You gave me the key, you gave me the key
I'm leaving all the heartache way behind me
I'm reaching up to find some higher ground
There's a wave of love inside my every heartbeat
Gave me the key to forever
Where darkness won't find me
The fire of love burns too brightly
da da da da da da
