Since 1966, when he was eight years old, Maharaj has spoken to millions of people, helping them find the source of happiness that, as he says, "already exists within." In 1981 alone, he went to 20 countries on 4 continents-. Here are some of his observations and comments, drawn from his talks during those visits: Some people have told me they seem to be leading their lives as if they were a ship without a rudder. Whether their lives are becalmed or stormy. they seem simply to be flopping about, going this way and that, with the current or whichever way the wind is blowing. And they wonder when will it end? Where are they going, and why? It is not that they think much about death. Few of us do, even though we know it is inevitable. But we do not go to death seminars, to listen to learned speakers tell us all about it. Indeed, the less said the better, for most of us. We just want to keep on living, for as long as we can. to keep on existing in this world. Yet, we also want to know something of what we are all about, of what makes us tick, if you will. And we want to take charge of what life we have, not live it on the hit-or-miss basis of some set of "Murphy's Laws." We want to live it, to experience it. We want to cut through all the outer layers and get down to the core of our being, to our essence. In a world that treats symptoms. rather than the problems that cause them. and applies cosmetics, to avoid facing up to reality, that is not so easy. How many pills. how many aspirins, how many doses of this and that must we take to keep ourselves together? How many times must we treat the symptoms before the problem stops coming back again and again? "Love thy neighbor," we are taught. And we do, as good children. But then a cynical world adds, "And hate the people down the street, or, love the neighbor on this side but not on that side:' Sorting out the neighbors to love and the neighbors to hate takes time, and a special kind of training. We are born with love, but hate must be patiently, repeatedly taught, and it is always a sham. it is wearing dark glasses. The world is not dark, but, seen through the dark glasses of hate. it appears to be. We must take off these blinders and see God, and feel that love of our Creator we all truly seek; and that is what must some-

how be made manifest to every human being on the face of the earth. But that is not very easy to do. is it? Go up to a man on the street and ask him what time it is, and chances are he will pull up his sleeve, look at his wristwatch and say politely, "It's twenty minutes to nine." Yet, ask the same man, "Do you know God?" Then the chances are he will suggest to the nearest policeman that you should be taken away. Deep down. the whole world thinks about God a lot, but it is uncomfortable, for the most part, talking about God. As society, we have gotten together and agreed to a set of rules called ethics, and a lot of people within our various societies spend a lot of time bending and breaking those rules. God may not be mentioned, but many of them are experiencing a hell here, and many a heaven, and far too many, like the ship we cited earlier, are spending their full time adrift without a rudder. It is a game with still others: they tinker with life, defying one of the prime Murphy Laws that says that, if you play around with something long enough, you will break it. Yet, I am not saying that what the world needs now is another philosophy. It may be that we have too many philosophies already, at least too many that clash and cause so much conflict and suffering. Nor am I talking about any new kind of religion. Certainly, we have heard much too much over the course of history that "God's like this" and "God's like that" and "Everybody's wrong about God except me." I am not suggesting that, by having everyone practice a certain ritual, we would all suddenly be in contact with God and removed forever from God's blacklist of sinners. Not that I am arguing against anybody's perception of God along those lines, but I am saying that the glory and the perfection that I see are far, far different. That difference for me is rather like the difference between what a medical student learns in textbooks and what he learns in the actual practice of medicine after he has studied the textbooks. All of a sudden, now it makes sense. All of a sudden, the theoretical becomes the practical. All of a sudden, the mystery disappears and the Knowledge is truly revealed. Put quite simply. the distinction is between believing because one is taught to believe and believing because one knows. The day that you see

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Maharaj Ji ... God, the day that you feel God - that is when you believe. It is as the great Swami Vivekanand said, when recounting the story of his teacher's reply upon being asked if he had ever seen God face to face: "I have seen God closer than I am seeing you right now, and I can show you God." Still, trying to describe the actual experience is like trying to describe the flavor of sugar to one who has never tasted it. Sugar is sweet. So? But a few grains sprinkled on the tongue tells all. Experience is the teacher. I am not saying I can give you that experience. What I am saying is that the force about which I speak is already within you. It is happening within you right now. It is the force called life, for it is what gives you life, it is the force of God, the Knowledge of life, the Knowledge that is God. And all I can offer to do is to show it to you so that you can experience it yourself. This is not something that I can take out of my pocket and pin on you like a medal. It is already within you. If you want it, you can have it. If you do not want, do not take it, and that is all right, too. Perhaps at this time you do not see a necessity for it. Perhaps at another time you will. It will still be there, within. you, the Knowledge of God, waiting. I am sometimes asked, "What's the catch?" There is no catch, none whatsoever. It is not as if one stepped up to a counter and paid a fee and walked away with the Knowledge of life. You would not he very smart to pay a dime for it. for it is already within you. It is yours. Will it change you? I do not believe it would cause you to overhaul your private and professional life completely - change careers in mid-stream, for example. But I have seen people who have had this experience within themselves come out of it with a greater awareness of the beauty of their lives, of the realness of that beauty, and with more love, more affection. They treat life as a gift, for it is a gift. And so, you have a gift. You are alive. You have the Knowledge of life. Like the old teacher, you can see God close up. It is total bliss, and many thousands of people around the world have experienced it. It is not something I made up, not something I brought with me. All the time it was inside all of those who had the

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... Knowledge experience, for it is the force that makes them alive. It cannot be forced on people, it cannot be bought. Sometimes I am asked about that. I am asked if I am in this activity, trying to spread the word about the experience of the Knowledge of life, for money. No, I am not. What would money do for me that Knowledge has not already done? There are people who have received this Knowledge who were, you might say, once kings and queens. They had it all. They were not happy. And yet, when they had this experience, they were happy, they were at peace. If this sounds too simple, perhaps it is because we have come to expect our approach to spiritual matters to be complicated. Finding Knowledge is a simple thing, for it already exists within each and every one of us. It does not have to be searched out in the peace and tranquility of the Himalayas at 45,000 feet. Peace is not a tangible something. It is not something to be handed over as a gratuity from me to you: "Here, here is Peace, and welcome to it." Peace is within each of us, to be found in the Knowledge of God within us, too. People come to me from all walks of life and from every direction and every situation. And some of them, quite challengingly, ask me what kind of a business am I in? I tell them I am in the business of making people happy. That is all. I would like everybody to be happy. I tell them that I would like even those who say they want to be miserable to be happy. And, of course, I want to help along those who want to be happy. That is it. I am in the business of making people happy. The gift is there, if you want it. It is still there. even if you do not. But there is no warranty. Your life is your own responsibility. Break it and there is nobody out there to replace it.

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One of Australia's celebrated television personalities, Johnny Young, flew to the United Suites in 1981 and, on August 4, interviewed Maharaj Ji. Here, edited for brevity is the transcript:

Maharaj Ji, is there really such a thing as true happiness or true peace?

Definitely. There is a thing that we call true happiness. The key word is "true," for what we all seek is the Truth. We seek the realization of why we are here. of what makes us tick. of what makes us alive, and we search for an experience of life that is superior to what we may have.

Life is there to enjoy. It's there to experience. And that experience can be beautiful. when it is true. and, when we have that experience, then, yes, there will be true happiness. I have experienced true happiness. A lot of people have experienced true happiness. And we all agree that it is incredible. You see that it is. The experience that Truth has to give you is that true happiness you seek.

A lot of people could say that sounds great, but how do I have this experience? Is it a practical thing that can be shown?

Of course, it's a practical thing. There is something inside of us that's quite simple. Fundamental. Incredible. Life. And there is an experience to it. Without having that experience, we can go on and say to ourselves that everything is fine. but. when we have that experience, then we discover how really fine everything can be. Then we can really say, "I know. I know, because I have understood. I know because I know." It's not a theory. It's not a philosophy. It's not a religion. I don't want to offer theories, philosophies, or another religion. The fact of the matter is that there is something in you, whether you know it or not. And when you know it, it's incredible.

A lot of times, when people speak about religion, it seems to make for a heavy conversation. But the people who have had this experience you speak of seem to be light, somehow. Why is that?

Oh, I talk to many people who are quite dug in with their religions and I talk to many ministers from different religions. It is really beautiful for me, and I hope they enjoy it, too. Sometimes, we are serious about religion. and we have deep discussions. We know there is suffering and we know there are many problems in this world. But there is something else, too. Something to enjoy. There is love of the Creator to enjoy. There is God's magnificence to enjoy.

That's why I'm easy about it. Because I know God didn't make me or any human being in this world to suffer. There are established religions, yes. But there is you, too. And you're wonderful. Every human being walking on this planet's surface - doesn't matter who they are - they're wonderful. They're human beings. They've been created. They have a purpose. They have in them the capability of enjoying the ultimate joy. That's what we need to do: put people in touch with what's in them.

So, what are the steps? What do I do?

Well, first, you have to want it, really want it. There must be a thirst. If you don't have any thirst inside of you, I don't mean anything to you. God doesn't mean anything to you. True happiness doesn't mean anything to you.

But when that thirst is sincerely there, all of these things I talked about start making sense.

That's all it takes. No more, no less. When that thirst is there, when it's strong enough, then you're ready. Then you're ready to accept that experience and gain the realization of the Knowledge of God.

Would a person have to give up belief in Judaism or Islam or Jesus Christ or whatever, or change his or her religious outlook in order to experience this?

There is a simple story about the Prophet

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Mohammed. One day, he went to sleep by a mosque, with his feet pointing toward the mosque. A man came along and said. "You can't do that." And Mohammed asked, "Why not?" And the man said. "Because that's the House of God! You can't put your feet toward the place where God dwells!" And Mohammed said, "So? Pick up my feet and put them in a direction where God is not!"

God is everywhere. God is in you. You can experience the Knowledge of God, you can enjoy it. You don't have to be sad. You don't have to suffer. You can have that heaven. What you only dream about otherwise, that dream can become real in this life.

There are many established religions. They are pointing a finger toward God. We should not get too caught up with the finger, but concentrate our attention instead on what it is pointing to. If you have a religion, go right ahead.

I am simply offering an experience of life. It is for every single human being alive. It doesn't make any difference how young or old you are, or whether you are black or white, or what your beliefs are, or whether you are rich or poor. To have that incredible experience, you don't have to change your religion, you don't have to change yourself. you don't have to do anything drastic. Just be who you are. And there it is.

Maharaj Ji, you have a family and yet you travel the world just about all the time. What's your motivation? Why do you do it?

Well, I know that, by Grace, I can bring Knowledge. And it's wonderful, going from people to people - because that's what I do. I don't go from country to country, I go from people to people around the world, and just show them who they are. And then, once they have seen who they are, and I see their smiles and their bliss, that true happiness ... it's the most wonderful thing. That is my motivation.

When people do receive the Knowledge you reveal, does their life style necessarily change? Do they have to be different in any way?

No, of course not. They may be different in that they know more now - that they're really happy. That, I would say, might be an obvious difference - that one would be happy. But, otherwise, there doesn't have to be a change. Some people say they gained everything through that experience, through that happiness, but I can assure you they don't have to give up anything.

One big problem seems to be fear. A lot of people are too fearful to come forward and say, "Please help me." How do you deal with that?

Such fear stems from ignorance, of course. We are full of fears because we don't know. But that is as natural as the Knowledge that is already within us. And that's the thing. It's already within. And when we know. the fear goes away. The people who come to me need that Knowledge to replace their ignorance and end their fear. Humanity gets caught up in games, with rules that say that has to be this way, and this has to be that way. And yet, does any of it make a difference? We all have the gift of life. This life is pure. It is simple. It is beautiful. Life is to be experienced.

What do you say to people who believe they can find it on their own?

The problem is they may run around searching for a long, Ion time. The question they should ask themselves is: "I only have one life to live. Am I going to blow it away in trial and error or am I going to have a wonderful experience of my life?" They should realize that they won't live forever. Now is the time for them, now is the time to be alive.

We need to grow. We need to experience this life. Some people may think that it is too ego-shattering to admit that they went to someone for help. But really, you go to yourself for help. You open up yourself. You say "I am thirsty. I need water." That's all. It's as simple as that.

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Maharaj Ji was born Prem Pal Singh Rawat on the 10th of December, 1957, in Haridwar, India. He was the youngest of four sons of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, spiritual leader at that time for millions of followers in India. Before Shri Hans Ji Maharaj passed away in 1966, he left instructions that his youngest son, then eight years old, should continue his work, spreading the Knowledge of God throughout India and the rest of the world. Maharaj Ji attended St. Joseph's Academy in Dehra Dun, India, until 1971. In response to requests from the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries, he left Indiafor the first time at the age of 13. Since then, Maharaj Ji has taken his message to more than 50 countries around the world. In 1981, his visits took him throughout the United States and Canada, as well as to India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and much of South America. His 1982 itinerary is equally as extensive. Maharaj Ji is now 24, and married. He and his wife, Marolyn, have two sons and two daughters. From the time of Maharaj Ji's birth, his father; Shri Hans Ji Maharaj. indicated often that Maharaj Ji should continue his work. And he did, from an early age. Above right and center; at 8 and 6, he spoke to thousands in India, and, center top, to more than one million at India Cate, Delhi, in 1970, when he was 12: "Why do we search for peace in this world? Peace is not there ... Peace is within. I will show you the way to peace ... Soon I will leave my studies and spread this Knowledge throughout the world." The following year in response to requests from those who wanted to see and hear him and receive the experience he offered, he began his travels. Upper left, at 13, he is shown being welcomed to London in June, 1971. Maharaj Ji is shown at right with his family: wife Marolyn holding their new son, Amar; and daughter Dayalata, at left; son Hans Pal, center; and daughter Premlata. At far right, Maharaj Ji has a quiet moment with Dayalata. Center; Premlata shows her pet rabbit, and, right, Maharaj Ji with Hans Pal and Dayalata.

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The people who have received the Knowledge of life Maharaj speaks of are many and their numbers are growing. They are doctors, lawyers, business executives, and they are students, housewives, factory workers. They are children, teens, people in their prime, those of middle rears, and retirees in what are said to be the golden times. They are very wealthy people, and they are people from some of the poorest areas of the world. They come from all walks of life, and they are from more than 50 different countries. Here, on this and the following few pages, some of them share their experience with us, saying in their own words what it means to them:

A San Francisco filmmaker, Barbara Adams, finds: "There is such joy, and yet one doesn't shirk responsibilities, in fact, you become ultimately more responsible to what is really given to you to take care of. Life is richer, deeper, more delicious than I ever imagined possible... "Living in the heart, which - is what the connection with Maharaj Ji has shown me, makes my life feel infinite, feel huge. The old rhetorical question, 'Is that all there is?' now has an answer: 'Yes - and it is more than enough!'"

In Los Angeles, Prentiss S. Uchida, corporate executive and founder of a computer electronics company, in looking at his highly successful life, thinks of a gold wedding ring - "Just a band of gold, although having value, empty without the love. The same is true for much in this life; you can attain that gold ring, beautiful wife, talented kids, successful career, nice house ... but it is meaningless without that true love, that real purpose. And this love, this thing that gives life meaning, is what Maharaj Ji has awakened in me in a very pragmatic way. My everyday life goes on pretty much as usual, but I see a true meaning to things in my life and a true purpose to my life."

What strikes 71-year-old Abeille Guechrad in Paris, France, is the peace of mind she has discovered at her advanced age. Her life has been colorful - a resistance fighter during World War II, later a friend of André Malraux and member of Charles de Gaulle's staff. "When i was 69, (that) was a very special year for me ... I made friends with three Americans here in Paris who had received the Knowledge Maharaj Ji speaks of. What captured me was the incredible joy that filled them ... they made my heart melt ... I am by now verging on 71, but feeling younger all the time ... And what about time? I was always running after time and ever lacking a lot of it, for all I had or wanted to do. Now, I just take it, and sail gracefully through anything, be it turmoil or silence:

A doctor in Los Angeles, California, Cleaves Bennett, recalls: "Throughout most of my life I have been very successful at accomplishing whatever I set out to do, and at accumulating awards, certificates, recognition ... But I have acquired a perspective which was lacking before. I have not in any way ceased my pursuit of excellence; indeed, my professional career is expanding rapidly. More than ever before I look forward to making a difference in the quality of people's lives ... What I have learned from Maharaj Ji allows me to relax and be grateful for what I have, for however long I have it. Why should I worry when the best is eternal and inside me where I can never lose it?"

"I never felt such a beautiful experience until I felt that peace within me: comments Robinson Sanhueza, a taxi driver in Miami. "And that was the first time in my life that I really felt: 'This is it. This is what I've been looking for.'"

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Receiving the Knowledge Maharaj Ji speaks of was "the best thing that ever happened to me says Norval Mortenson, M.D., a San Francisco, California, pathologist. "It's given me an inner contentment, a joy and peace that I could not find anywhere, it hasn't meant a withdrawal from the world. I don't spend my day 'meditating in a cave in the Himalayas.' I work as a professional, and find that that inner peace and joy are with me everywhere and can be tapped into at any time, no matter what I am doing?"

Olivia Harrison of London, England, is married to George Harrison of the original Beatles. "As I look around me I see the beautiful setting of my life she says. "A lovely garden, beautiful home full of my favorite things, a happy family ... all the things most people would wish for and much much more. Yet, in this 'material paradise', there is one possession, without which, it would be absolutely ... meaningless. The happiness and love I feel inside create contentment and give me the confidence to live life as it has been presented to me ... in the most natural and peaceful way."

"I have always enjoyed flying," comments Eugenio Calvo, a professional pilot in Spain. "I appreciate the beauty of flying. Maharaj Ji once said that you can see at very high flight levels, in the morning, on one side the night with stars and darkness, and on the other, the sunrise with the sunlight coming from the east. All an incredible beauty. But beyond this, Maharaj Ji has shown me a special way to fly. Maybe we think there are no more ways to fly. but he taught me the inner flight - a real flight, a flight from suffering to Peace. Not a theoretical word, as 'Peace is the absence of war.' But a Peace that is a Presence, the presence of something that you can go to, fly in to."

Reggie Dyer, is a plumber, and for several years before was a professional fireman in Orlando. He finds that: "For me, Maharaj Ji has made it possible to enjoy a true meaning and true pleasure of life while I am doing my work, and when I am playing. This Knowledge allows me to be detached from the ups and downs of my job, and to enjoy a real contentment?'

Ten years ago, when Maharaj Ji was only 13 years old, W. Timothy Gallwey of Los Angeles heard him speak. Gallwey, then 33 and later to be celebrated for his books ("The Inner Game of Tennis," "The inner Game of Golf?' and others), remembers "feeling that a boy would not easily be able to deceive me and might even have something more to offer than philosophy." "I trusted Maharaj Ji's sincerity and asked for his Knowledge because doing so required nothing of me that violated my integrity?" he says. "Surprisingly, exactly as I needed them less, my external pursuits became easier for me and I flourished inside and out. I realized that I had been given a gift of inestimable value - one that could make me truly free."

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Thomas Gray, who first heard of Maharaj Ji in Buenos Aires when traveling as International Sales Manager of the publishing company, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, says: It is now four years since i received the experience Maharaj Ji is offering. It is the rock of my existence. It is never boring. It is completely rejuvenating. That quality which I unconsciously sought in all the experiences of my life has been revealed to me and I feel infinitely enriched by it. It is something that is in me and I just simply know it. And for all this Maharaj Ji has asked nothing, only that I accept the gift that was given, enjoy it and be happy and with enormous gratitude in my heart for this life. I carry on as always, but I now have a clear feeling of being 'at home' in myself."

David Noakes, of the "French House" at New York University; thought he had settled into a life of "stoical, barren intellectual acceptance of nihilistic disbelief and despair ... Did I find Maharaj Ji. or was it Maharaj Ji who found me? Everything changed on that gloriously sunny weekend afternoon in Washington Square almost two years ago when I first began to learn and to accept the incredible facts about what he offers to do for every human being whose heart yearns to rediscover the joy, the peace, the love, the happiness that are our birthright."

"Since I was very young, traveling has been my dream. At the age of eighteen, I left home to travel, to know the world. Later on, I became an airline hostess;" says Joseffe Petrini of Rome. "I have seen nearly all the world. I have met thousands of people and I have had the most varied experiences. But after ten years of this kind of life, I wanted to know more, I was expecting more. Even though I was not lacking anything, still my thirst was there ... "Since hearing about Maharaj Ji and receiving his Knowledge, I have discovered the most wonderful place in the world: how to connect myself with the energy which keeps me alive. I have begun the first endless trip of my life. I have recognized, as if by a miracle, that my thirst has been quenched. Everywhere I go, any time. I can feel this incredible love and it fulfills me completely."

Alma Murphy, from the United States originally, lived many years in Sweden where she became a tapestry weaver. She says, "All my life Ii have longed to be a part of this beautiful creation and now I feel that I have been invited into it. Most beautiful, perhaps, is to see that the life that I have been given is growing ... Just as when I myself weave a tapestry, there is a thread that is hidden, only to appear later on in another place. For me I see that my life is part of a most beautiful plan, and that plan is a most merciful and compassionate one."

Stanley Hobish is a 56-year-old dentist in Massapequa, N.Y., who, married 35 years, has "a wonderful, loving family." He recalls: "I am now practicing my profession with a most significant difference. It is no longer necessary to receive the approval of my patients and colleagues, and yet I experience so much love from them that it is overwhelming. I feel like the richest man in the world."

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Michael Nouri is a highly visible actor (best known, perhaps, for a leading role in the television series, "The Gangster Chronicles". Metaphorically, Nouri compares himself to a weary miner, panning for gold with little success until Maharaj Ji, "for the asking, gave me the map to the "mother lode: the key to my heart." "To say that I am rich is an understatement. The 'gold' is satisfaction - peace of mind - love," he says.

Marsha Morris, Denver, Colorado, is a housewife and proud mother of a 13-year-old daughter. She now reflects: "Everyone is looking for miracles. I found mine. Or it found me, and life is precious."

"Since hearing about Maharaj Ji, things have constantly improved for me, especially my experience inside: comments Keena Contreras, a seamstress originally from Chile, now working in the U.S. "I feel a kind of care and guidance that allows me to grow and become a happier human being. I feel freer and much more able to enjoy everything, ..."

Richard Strassberg, an auto mechanic from Brooklyn, says: "I needed a place to invest my love. Somewhere, where my love could grow. The love I've experienced in my life because of Maharaj Ji is immeasurable. I found complete stillness, a place to start any journey from and a place to come home to; and I have it within me, wherever I go."

"The day I received the Knowledge Maharaj Ji offers, an incredible tranquillity came over me," comments Peter Kronig, Zermatt, Switzerland. "I felt everything started to make sense, being alive, doing what I was doing, like teaching skiing ... All the spiritual books I was reading before, and what they were talking about, became very simple and clear. Everything in my life started to have a reason and a meaning everything became so joyful, my work, being alive. For the first time I had the feeling of truly living.

Reginald J. Brown of Washington, D.C., started out as a career military man. He graduated in 1961 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and served in Korea and Vietnam and at posts at home, returning to West Point to teach economics and government. Entering civilian life in 1971, he continued to work in defense-related pursuits, with the government and the private sector. He says, "At one time, I thought 'Life' meant nothing more than being able to receive and endure experiences. I was resigned to expecting nothing more. "When the Knowledge was revealed to me, I knew I had been given an alternative to that life of inconstant experience. It is a stabilizing influence, and I am now able to flow with the ups and downs of this life. I know that the sun exists, and that I can bask in its glorious rays, by simply turning to it."

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William Murphy, a 60-year-old psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Washington, D.C., felt his life "somehow unfinished." His story: "Over the years I looked in many places and tried many things ... Our children grew and as young adults the three oldest heard about Maharaj Ji and received the Knowledge he speaks of ... My wife and I found this astonishing and inexplicable. Confused and angry, we feared they may be misled and exploited. These feelings faded as it became more and more clear these people were experiencing something beautiful and compelling, growing and persisting year after year. Our sense of it was that it was fine for them, but not for us. Then my wife heard Maharaj Ji speak, and it was not long before she, too, received his offer. I thought that was very nice for her, too, but, again not for me. By this time I thought of Maharaj Ji as a great spiritual catalyst who had elevated my family to genuine spiritual experience, an experience for which I felt I lacked the capacity. "Two years later I too went to hear Maharaj Ji, believing I was going simply for the other members of our family. I found myself listening and suddenly felt an indescribable excitement and amazement as a recognition erupted that what I was hearing was real and true ... As Maharaj Ji spoke, it appeared in an uncanny yet exquisite way that he was speaking directly and precisely to me and my condition. I felt I was being awakened to someone unique, unprecedented in my life, someone indescribably magnificent. I knew that I had been touched, opened, moved by something incredibly transforming ... I had found, or better, been found by what I really needed and wanted ... I have since received the Knowledge myself and find the transformations in my life continuing ..."

Also in Washington, D.C., Jackie Reese, Administrative Assistant in the School of Engineering at Howard University, felt she was getting nowhere in a life of "acquiring and accumulating." Aside from her work, which she loves, and her life in general, she was searching, looking for "something out there." She says: "In one way, nothing has changed, and, in another, I've changed completely - the quality of life that I sought has been uncovered, and there is rest in my heart."

In Chicago, Ill., where he owns and operates an imported-footwear retail business. Arnold Klein comments: "We are a two-car, house-in-the suburbs family with mortgage payments, skating lessons, a summer garden and all that goes with that ... The difference is that as each moment of my life unfolds, I feel full and complete. No longer am I depending upon my career or family or material comforts as the source of my happiness. I know now something that is constant and is always with me. More important, I know how to tap into it and enjoy a beautiful experience at any moment. And with time a love for the giver of that experience has also blossomed in a real and beautiful way. This life that looks the same as many others is now so full, so happy."

In Australia. Gwyn Pigott Hanssen has been a potter for almost three decades, having painstakingly learned her art among the traditional potters of provincial France. She exhibited and taught and enjoyed success. In Paris, she met someone who told her of Maharaj Ji, and has since realized "a beautiful energy inside myself, an experience of peace that took me by surprise ... That beauty is there, within me, so tangible, real and constant."

Rick and Teri Ruby (here with son Dillion), a young couple in Los Angeles, who met in college and married in I972, recall first hearing Maharaj Ji in I974: "(He) made the consciousness of true love accessible to us, each in our own individual heart, privately experienced and naturally shared"

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Teresa d' Orey, of Lisbon, Portugal, speaks of discovering "the love, the rest, the tranquillity that Ii was so strongly looking for She was 53 years old when she made that discovery, she says, and yearning for a life with "something more to it." She feels free now of "so many useless and negative ideas" and aware now that "life is something so simple in fact."

"As a nutritionist, I have many people come to me with the problem of wanting to lose weight, but are unable to," says Janet Segall in Los Angeles. "They usually know which foods to eat and which to avoid, but when they get lonely, depressed, anxious or bored they get 'out of control' and overeat. I understand because I did not know what to do for them or me. The experience Maharaj Ji gives me fills me like nothing else can."

Sandra S. Scantling is Assistant Professor and Clinical Director of Psychiatric Nursing at the Department of Psychiatry at a hospital in Hartford, Connecticut: "Many of us put our attention on the outside of our bodies. We try to pretty up the wrapper of the package with face lifts, health spas, or yoga. I have discovered that it's fine to put ribbons and bows on the outside, but there is an immaculate beauty inside that is unchanged by the passing of time or by illness or poverty."

"I'm a spray painter in a factory, and I have experienced this Knowledge," says Duke Miller of Miami, Florida. "I get up in the morning;: I go to work. Big deal. Who wants to read about him? "And all I can say is, sure that's how it looks. But aha! There is an unexpected factor involved. Something's going on. It's invisible to the outside observer. I feel like the cat that just swallowed the mouse. I know a secret. But it's not a secret you can just tell. But once you know it ... "It may look like Joe Schmo punching in in the morning, but I know. I know that what's really happening in my little life is that my heart is opening more and more and more, and life isn't ordinary for me. It's outrageous."

Maurice Powell is director of a number of large advertising agencies, and a public relations firm in London, England. He says: "I have some extra inner strength that helps me find true peace in a life that was far from peaceful previously and has just as much pressure today."

Dr. Jean-Paul Biberian, at 35, is a highly respected surface science physicist at the University of Marseilles in France. Even as a boy. he remembers, his scientific bent forced him to keep asking himself and others questions about "who I was, who was God ..." Nobody could answer his questions, he says. and nothing in his religious training helped him, either. His studies of general relativity and quantum mechanics theories - these, too, failed to help. But then he experienced what Maharaj Ji was offering, and he recalls: - "All at once I realized there was another world inside of me, nothing mysterious, but very simple, beautiful and peaceful. Since then, my life has not changed a lot externally ... but inside it is peace, joy and happiness. I have found my true self, not this external envelope, but the true consciousness. Before I wanted to help people. But I could not give them what they really wanted. Now I know ..."

15

... more about Maharaj Ji, and the experience he offers. Or at least you should have a better idea of what he is all about. The main thing is that there is no big mystery. It is all quite plain, quite simple. You may or may not feel this is for you, although it is difficult to think of anyone who would not profit by it. But it is certainly worth considering.

As Maharaj Ji has said: "People from all walks of life pursue happiness, and yet, where do we find it? I can show you a way in which you can find that real happiness. When everything else fails, this works. It's already there. What I have to offer is within you now."

If you would like to know more about Maharaj Ji, or how to receive the experience he offers,
please phone:

New York (212) 580- 0022
Washington D.C. (202) 745- 2921
Philadelphia (2I5) 642- 7018
Boston (617) 277- 8491
Hartford (203) 528- 3620
Providence (401) 274- 7588
Portland, ME (207) 775- 1056
© Elan Communications. 1982