Rajesh Kumar Rai - India

I was never a serious searcher for inner peace or God whatsoever. On the outside, I was quite happy and satisfied. I had a good job, a nice and beautiful wife, nice kids, enough money to live easily, and reasonable respect in society due to my job. We always felt that God had been very kind to us. But at some stage, I felt that there was something more. There was a quest inside that did not seem to be quenched through worldly pleasures. I started looking for more. At first, I started looking for it in books. I went through a lot of scriptures, but they did not satisfy me. Rather they confused me, and my quest for that "something more" increased.

At this stage, a friend of mine mentioned an experience within that he said was very simple, but very profound. He also mentioned Maharaji. I became interested, and when I listened to Maharaji, I found his message so soothing. It affected me deep within. I did not understand why, but something inside was touched every time I listened to him.

Maharaji offered Knowledge to me, and accepting it has transformed my life. I feel complete. I know that what I was looking for was so close to me. It is simple to practice Knowledge. Nobody asks me to follow a particular set of rules or regulations or rituals. I am free in the truest sense of freedom. When I get in touch with my inner self through the practice of Knowledge, I dwell in the realm of peace, contentment, joy, and love.

— Rajesh Kumar Rai
India

Declan D. - Dublin, Ireland

When I first heard from someone at work talk about Maharaji, my reaction was like a cat with a mouse. It provided me with an opportunity to play intellectual table tennis with him. It was very satisfying entertainment. Between bouts I would think up new objections, and our good-humored jousts went on for weeks.

I was pretty horrified when another co-worker suggested going to a presentation about Maharaji, and I only agreed to accompany him on condition that I would speak to no one there. So it was a big jump for me to go from that point to the one of wanting the Knowledge that Maharaji was offering.

Over the years I have known Maharaji, what has attracted me most is his irreverent sense of humor and willingness to debunk myths. I admire his tenacity time and again in fighting to disassemble the recurring coagulation of "group think" among different people, over the years, who talk about him and his views on life. This seems to have been an ongoing task.
For myself, I have repeatedly questioned his motivation and the precepts presented. Yet his irreverence and humor have entertained me. His insightful observations on the meaning of life have illuminated and enthralled me. Above all, the practice of the techniques he taught me has given me the ability to find rest and enjoyment in a simple way with no strings attached.

— Declan D.
Dublin, Ireland

Connie K - Hong-Kong, China

I was invited to a house to listen to someone speaking. I didn’t understand what was said. There was a photo of Maharaji. I also couldn’t accept an Indian to be my teacher. Someone talked about the importance of understanding, which made sense to me. It was a long way from home to attend events where videos of Maharaji were shown, and on the bus one day, I asked myself why I wanted to go there even though it was raining. Then I received a reply from myself: “Because it’s real. It feels good.”

At the time I asked for Knowledge, I didn’t realize what I would receive. Afterwards, I couldn’t believe it was so simple. But I also realized I had received something I would have to take care of for my whole life.

I am so fortunate and am enjoying Knowledge very much. I love Maharaji and Knowledge. He keeps on helping me, and he is the only one who is kindly guiding me towards myself.

— Connie K.
Hong Kong, China

Bobby H. - London, United Kingdom

For many years, I have had the privilege both to work as a chef for Maharaji and to be a student of his. My relationship with him and my understanding of how he helps me have evolved over the years. When I first approached Knowledge as a possibility for my life, I was looking for answers to a lot of questions. Soon it became clear to me that a relationship with the person showing me the techniques of Knowledge, and also guiding me along this path, was important to my progress. I began to see myself more and more as a student, but I still did not understand what that meant.

Before meeting Maharaji, I had had in my life a series of important figures—mother, father, schoolteachers, and then a series of master chefs. However enjoyable they may have been, in these relationships, inevitably, I had had to surrender some autonomy in order to learn from my mentors. Based on this, I anticipated the same with the person who would show me Knowledge. I rapidly overcame this as I came to know Maharaji as a uniquely kind and patient human being. Even though I might have been willing to follow any direction he might have suggested for my life because I was in awe of the clarity of his insights, he never let me do that. Instead, he always gave me responsibility for setting my own directions for my life. I have witnessed, from his side, a relentless concern that I build up and protect my own judgment and integrity as an individual, and that I take full responsibility for all significant choices in my life.

In the professional services that I have rendered to him, I have, at times, succeeded and at other times fallen short. Where other bosses would have blamed or fired me, he had his own way of letting me know—usually without saying much—and always emphasized what I was going to learn, instead of what I had done wrong. I am grateful to him for helping me, always.

—Bobby H.
London, England, UK

Edd H. - Agoura Hills, USA

I believe there are countless benefits from having access to this inner place. Most important, I feel happy inside. It is my very special secret. I have access to a place within me that is happy, joyful, content. It also helps free me from the limitations and constraints of my thinking. As a physician, I have great respect for the mind and its capacity to solve problems, understand issues, and delve into the secrets of the universe, understand the human body. Yet I also see how much misery and unhappiness it can cause. Maharaji's Knowledge allows me to spend time somewhere else within me. I always have access to my thinking, and, of course, like everyone else I often go traveling in the unusual directions it chooses to take me. Knowledge gives me the possibility of getting a little distance from it and experiencing a different, much more satisfying place within me.

— Edd H.
Agoura Hills, CA, USA

Giulio Cossu - Rome, Italy

An M.D., Giulio Cossu has spent a career in medical research, beginning with bis postdoctoral work in anatomy and embryology at the University of Pennsylvania and culminating in a professorship at the University of Rome, with a sabbatical at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in the interim. His work on muscular dystrophy led bim to work on stem cells to develop treatments for such diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He is president of the Italian Society of Cell and Developmental Biologv in addition to being director of the Stem Cell Research Institute in Milan. Cossu experienced self-knowledge only recently and has come to value it as a source of personal strength.

The experience of self-knowledge is recent for me. Several friends who had received self-knowledge gave me videotapes of Maharaji’s lectures. I thought this man was saying something very simple and straight to the heart. Later, I watched satellite broadcasts and found myself listening to him nonjudgmentally and with simple curiosity. My rational mind kept saying, and at times still does: “Come on, this is a story for people living in another world. Listen if you want, but then you will have to go back to real life.” Now, I ask, which is the real life?

Despite the pressure of hundreds of commitments and deadlines, I am becoming aware of how much more there is to enjoy in life. As a scientist, I always prized the rational part of me, always planned my life to the minute. I had closed off the other part of me, perhaps out of fear. I left no time to be curious about the substance of my life, or to appreciate what an incredible gift it was.

People close to me started to notice something different. I should add that I am, on the surface, an easygoing, lighthearted person, which makes seeing personal changes more difficult. The experience of self-knowledge is difficult to describe. It is like a subtle but continuous presence of enormous benefit. I feel stronger and more confident simply because now I know something more about myself and am able to enjoy the little things in life that I had once crowded out.