In  1989  Maharaj ji went to Russia shortly before the Soviet Union broke into many independent states. Now he is sharing his impressions of Russian policies of that time with Gerald and Lena Shagedanov of Moscow, who have done great seva in Gobind Sadan. Gerald is an aviation engineer and Lena is a mathematician. Maharaj says to them,

                I think Russia did not progress because people lacked love, and because their things didn’t belong to them–whatever they made had to be shared. A person who believes that what he earns will come to him will work harder.

                We saw a dairy–there was very low output. And on the farms, all the crops were diseased. However, the grapes were of high quality. The output was so high that they were wasting it–the grapes were  ripe but were not harvested. They didn’t tell us they didn’t have any place to make wine. They said they only picked what they needed; they hid their deficiency from us.

                In Tashkent and Samarkand there were many fruits, flowers, and vegetables. But in Moscow the fruit was not fresh. We asked why it was not fresh there. Then they opened up and said, “We want to tell you something private: There is no transport to bring the fruit here.”

                The land is fertile and the people are good but the policy is not good. Why? Consider a small house: They take a machine for that one family. If it is a joint family, its life will be short since so many people are using it in common but not maintaining it. If you know the machine, supply, and expense are yours, you will take very good care of it.

                You have seen in India that private companies are progressing well, whereas all the government undertakings are failures. In Russia, everything belongs to the government. What can you do? Russians are smart and well-built. But in Russia, if the tea comes and there is no milk, you can’t get it by asking twice. The timings are fixed.

                If you want to progress, tell people that what you make is yours–just give a small amount to the government. There will be loss only when the government takes everything.

                Why do people who meditate progress toward a goal? When they meet God, there is no tax on it–whatever you want is yours.

                Anywhere that restrictions are imposed, that department or country will not progress. A person’s brain is very powerful. He just wants a little appreciation for doing good. The more you want him to progress, the more love you should give to him. Then his mind will become very clear and he will progress a lot.

                This is true in any management. For instance, in the house a small thing is given to you. If you want to make someone happy, tell the wife or cook that this is the best tea you’ve ever had. They will always be very loyal to you, for they feel you like everything they cook. Just as this is the way to happiness in the small house, in the big house of our country or management, this is the way to progress.

                Here elders are given such love and respect. If you had added cardamom to the tea, they would have liked it better but they felt it was very tasty anyway. Love is such a great thing. When this feeling of loves comes within you, God is happy and the air through which your vibrations travel are also happy. They will go into the trees and flowers. Study this: If you stand under a tree and say, “Your shade is very cool, you look very smart, and your fragrance is lovely,” the tree will be very happy. If you instead say, “Cut it,” it will be very nervous. There is sentient life in everything. Religion has said this from the beginning, but to see it requires enlightenment.

                Religion is very deep philosophy, so wise, science and enlightenment combined in a small pot. What has been written from vision has not been studied, but it is a matter of science, a very deep matter.