Celia Storey, a dedicated interfaith organizer from England, and Heather Gross, a young woman from Canada who has been doing excellent seva here for some time, have come together for Maharaj’s audience. They are both sincere people, so Maharaj emphasizes genuine spirituality in his talk to them. Of physical necessity, Celia must sit in a chair, so he begins with that:
These ways of sitting, ways of coming before the guru are just Indian culture. What is important is to be full of love, rather than sitting on the floor full of ego. When seva and love arise within a person, then he becomes a complete human being. If people feel hatred and hurt others, and at the same time they are praying, doing Namaz, going to mosque or temple, God banishes them from His House: “You people have no love. Everything you are doing is wasted.” Every effort should be done with love so that it will reach God.
Prayer is to remember Him—to ask Him to give us His peace, His love. “The peace, the love in Your kingdom—please send those rays to us also.” What else is prayer or meditation? We go to that University that we cannot see with these physical eyes, but with those eyes that can see That which is within us. He also sees us in that way.
When you have that love, that enlightened wisdom [Brahm Gian], you can talk to trees. When you look at water, you will see that it is God’s Love attracting you there.
Some people will say, “This lady is crazy.” Some will say, “She is full of love.” It is a matter of where your thoughts are. All people understand others through their own thinking. We are set in our minds. If someone says something that is beyond your understanding, you start fighting. Jesus said, “God is the King of my spirit.” He never said he wanted to be a king. But opponents put this idea in the mind of the king.
People are not very intelligent, and they don’t remember for long. That is why it is necessary to preach in the holy places, to repeat again and again—so that people will remember the teachings. Jesus said, “I do not not want to change even one word of the ancient scriptures written by my forefathers. Those forefathers also came from my Father and preached His message.” The Prophet Muhammad revealed, “Love and respect all holy books and have faith in the Holy Qur’an. If you have faith in the Qur’an but disrespect the other scriptures, God will not be happy, for this is not what He has taught.” It is written in the Qur’an that Jesus is a Nabi (Messenger) and Mary is blessed. Moses’ miracles are also recounted there.
Believers in Moses feel that the Messiah has not yet come, for Jesus was one of them. Someone who has come from among you is hard to accept. They thought, “He was the son of Mary and Joseph—How can he be a prophet?” because their minds were stuck at that low level.
It is written in the Jewish Bible that the Christ will come, will be crucified, and will rise from the dead after three days. Jesus read out the passage that the Messiah would come, and he said, “I am he.” They started stoning him. He said loudly, “The message of my Father will spread all over the world but you will deny it, because I am one of you. Nonetheless, my Father’s message will spread everywhere. Don’t worry—you will keep on stoning me. If you don’t have faith in your holy book, how can I help you?”
When prophets and dervishes come, they repeat the older messages. They do not give any new message of their own. What can they add to whatever has already been said?
You should do a lot of preaching. But always speak what your mind accepts. Do not preach what your mind does not accept. First be healed yourself and then start healing others. If you have anger within you, how can you tell others that God is merciful?
Love is not a matter of books. It is an inner thing. The scriptures are written by those who are healed by God. If miracles happen, you do not perform them. They keep happening all around you because God is sitting everywhere.
We all have that Light within us. Always keep your mind in communion with that Power. You should be so much joined with Him that you see Him everywhere. But do not expect thanks from people. Keep doing good. If you expect thanks, that is a demand.
Jesus was giving eyesight and healing to everyone. One day the people had to choose between him and the thief to be crucified. They chose the thief. Why? The Father wanted to show him that “I will always be with you. The people may leave you. You’ve taken so much healing from Me for them, and now they don’t remember. I was with you then, and I will always be with you.” Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing. They don’t have eyes to see.”
Enlightened wisdom [Brahm Gian] and the human mind always clash. But do not worry. Enlightenment is very powerful and ignorance is very weak. You can get hurt moving in the darkness, but where there is light you can see well. There is a big difference in moving around in the light. If you speak of light, people can’t understand. But just speak of that Light. One day they will understand.
If you think, “I’ve done this for someone,” don’t think they should do something in return. The one who doesn’t accept that love is also His. Who are you to come in between?