Maharaji: Footprints in the Sand, 2008
During the recent cyclone, I had no phone covereage or internet connection but I had electricity. I found a short clip on my PC that really jogged my memory. The video begins with a woman, probably French, making a very fluent, charming speech in English. She self deprecates and then thanks Maharaji for his imaginary friendship, clarity, wisdom and sweetness. She then tells a little story that she heard him tell presumably back in 1978 when I heard it unless Rawat used if often though I have no record of it.
I want to thank you very much for being the sweetest Master on this planet called Earth, because I wouldn't stand an errant (arrogant?) Master that will send me to the Himalayas, or that will make me fast, or that will tell me to do everything based on fear. I would run away. You've been always very good to me. You gave me a lot. I needed to see you first before I undertook Knowledge, because I was … I don't know what I was. Thank you for the clarity. Thank you for the poetry. Thank you for the wisdom. Thank you for being there always, and I hope I'm not too heavy for you, because I remember the story you said when I was a long way back, aspirant, that you said that there is a student coming to his Master, telling him, "All my life I see our steps together, four steps, you're escorting me. And then in the toughest moments of my life, I'm walking alone," and then the Master says, "Yeah, because I had to carry you." So I hope I'm not too heavy. Thank you.
But you know, you know, what the irony is? If I was a Master who was arrogant, who did send you to the Himalayas, told you to fast, this room would be full five times over. (whoo, applause) You know, and if I told you complete garbage, complete garbage, that had no proof, it would require even twice as big a room. If I sat here and told you, "and and and you were a horse in your last lifetime, and you were a cow in your last lifetime, and you were a bull in your last lifetime, and you were an ant in your last lifetime," this, you wouldn't have enough room. And you would all believe me. Why? How? I don't know. I I tend to be logical.
I'm not concerned. Why are you telling me? You should be telling me, I am not concerned. You should not be concerned about your last lifetime. Instead of telling me the truth, that this is this lifetime I need to be concerned about. That's the truth. People go, "Yes, yes, yes," but you have problems and the only reason, only way you can understan(laughter) d the problems, what are the problems? Tell me your problems. What are your problems? You're having problems in your business? The reason why you're having problems in your business is because you have a business. You didn't have a business, you wouldn't have a problem in your business. (scattered applause)
So, you know, I always give this analogy. I said, so if I make an announcement, "Somebody's buffalo is running around outside." They love this one in India. So who's going to be concerned about this announcement? If I say, I can, I can make that analogy for here. If I make an announcement, "There is a car outside with his headlights on. The lights are on." Who's going to be concerned? If you didn't drive a car here, if you came in a taxi, came in a bus, what do you care? Not your car. If you don't have a buffalo and somebody tells you there's a buffalo roaming around, it's not your buffalo. You don't have a buffalo. So, you know, instead of telling the truth, don't be concerned about your last lifetime. It's over. Be concerned about this one. This is the important one. This is where you can make the difference.
No, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. It's amazing. It's amazing how this world is. It's it's it's really fascinating. But you are here. You've been enjoying this life, enjoying Knowledge. Continue to do so. This is the most important thing.
We were in the Satsang Hall in West End in Brisbane, it was night and the premies were clustered closely in one side of a hall so we could hear Guru Maharaj Ji give satsang. This was unusual but it was in the buildup to Kissimmee Hans Jayanti 78. It might have been a tape sent out from the USA. This was a time when the premie community was especially intense, a few Brisbane premies had been to Rome in '77 and come back inspired. I'd nearly died just before and was doing a lot of meditating, living in a cabin in the bush, and was as open to his satsang as I'd ever be. He was talking about a premie who had seen two sets of footprints behind him in the sand except during a really difficult time when there was only one. A bolt of energy went through me as I heard "Why did you leave me Lord when I needed you most?" "That was when I carried you."
I can see how many people would consider it trite, shallow and contrived but if you'd been there or if you'd been where that French premie heard it, you might have been affected. But there's always the mind. It didn't take too long before I began to think that this story was really not very Maharaji and began to question where it came from. It just didn't sound like "If you have a Perfect Master all you can do is worship Him." It wasn't until the 90s and the internet that I found out it was written by a woman called Mary Stevenson back in the 1930s and has probably appeared on a million In Memoriam cards and been told at countless funerals, probably not at many weddings. Surely this chic French woman and myself, unconditionally unchic, couldn't have been the only ones who remembered this Mission moment? Of course, Maharaji the Ultimate Ruler as he titled himself is as arrogant as he is ignorant.