The Message of Prem Rawat

April 20, 2007 in A - Featured Posts | Permalink

Lauren Evers - Burbank, CA, US

As the CEO of Intellikey Labs, a DVD testing service based in Burbank, California, Lauren Evers is at the center of a firm experiencing hipergrowth. In 1996 Lauren and her future husband, Darrell, both worked in Time-Warner’s quality assurance program, creating quality standards for computer and DVD applications. Time-Warner had doubts about the future of its testing business and closed the quality assurance department. Darrell and Lauren thought otherwise and set up a testing service. They were able to turn their contacts with Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal into permanent customers. Demand for DVD players and the disc-testing methodologies they employ have been recession proof, a boon to Intellikey, which tests thousands of master discs every month. Virtually no DVD reaches a consumer’s hands in the United States without its check disc having been vetted by Intellikey. Evers believes receiving self-knowledge has afforded a different kind of quality assurance—more like quality of life. In 2001 her husband, the love of her life as well as her business partner, died. Having received self-knowledge in 1997, she reckons, allowed her to cope and find strength.

When I first met Darrell, we both worked for Time-Warner. I knew there was something different about him. One day he returned from Miami beaming about an experience he had listening to Maharaji. I asked him to explain it to me, and that’s when he told me about self-knowledge and how much Maharaji had helped him in this pursuit. I remember thinking: “Darrell must be weak. Why does he need to depend on this person for guidance?” I was puzzled, but also curious. A month later, Darrell invited me to hear Maharaji speak in California. That evening, I became fascinated. I started listening to tapes of Maharaji’s addresses several times a week and discovered he was addressing some of the most profound questions I ever had. I began having new insights into my life, seeing it as a gift that I had never fully appreciated. I also realized that I had, in reality, expected Darrell, now my husband, to be the source of my entire happiness when, in fact, happiness was first to be found within myself.

When Darrell was diagnosed and soon died of cancer, I was devastated; but these last years have been a rich time as so much good has taken place. Through my practice of self-knowledge, I was able to see what happened as a gift and to remain at peace. I remember how differently I once saw things. At Time-Warner and earlier at Commodore Computer, I was a workaholic and judged myself on the approval of colleagues and superiors. I have come to realize that life isn’t about your success or failure in business, and yet success keeps manifesting for me.

Having self-knowledge has helped me discern what’s really important for me and how to work for it. For that, I am grateful.

December 12, 2003 in A - Featured Posts, United States of America | Permalink

Neil Evans, Belleveue, WA, USA

Self-knowledge has given me a more objective point of view about the people and events in my life, observes Neil Evans, executive director of the National Workforce Centerfor Emerging Technologies, an affiliation of Bellevue Community College, Bellevue, WA. Prior to his work in technology education, Evans was the CIO (1983 to 1994) of Microsoft, wbere be was recognized for tbree years by CIO magazine as one of the nation’s leading 100 IT officers. He believes it has made a difference in his career. I am constantly asked to take a leadersbip role because others can sense my objectivity and clarity, he says.

In 1974, when I was 26, I had been investigating a variety of different ways of learning more about myself. I had practiced martial arts for several years. This certainly helped, but I wanted to apply this understanding to all aspects of my life. Maharaji’s self-knowledge has enabled me to have this understanding. Like martial arts, it takes constant practice and the results are cumulative.

The biggest obstacles that I have had to overcome are ones that I have created. As much as I pursue my dreams wholeheartedly, there is always a voice within that tells me to stop, to go slower, or practice tomorrow. I try not to listen to that voice. Maharaji provides guidance and leadership on this path, reminding me of the value of my life and the importance of consistent practice of the techniques of self-knowledge.

December 12, 2003 in A - Featured Posts, United States of America | Permalink

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.

November 2, 2003 in A - Featured Posts, Italy | Permalink

Dr. Sandy Hewitt, United Kingdom

In her capacity as director, Business Excellence, for Rolls-Royce plc, Dr. Sandy Hewitt travels to diverse locations, coaching and encouraging the use of best practices. She has worked for several global companies and spent tbree years researching excellence in business management. Sbe has two sons and first discovered self-knowledge toward the end of 1975.

Initially, I had little interest in Maharaji, but gradually, as I learned more about myself, I began to appreciate his clarity and to recognize his wisdom. Most importantly, I have come to value his perspective.

Self-knowledge has made me aware that first and foremost, I’m a human being, alive and alert with the ability to learn, to appreciate, and to shine. Knowing that about myself means that I see it in others too: in my family, the people I work with, and people I meet. Pursuing self-knowledge is teaching me to trust myself and to see that feeling good does not depend upon other people or situations. Because I’m less dependent on those things, I can enjoy them so very much more. Although I’ve been many things—a student, a wife and mum, a secretary, a shopkeeper, a manager, a consultant, an academic—through it all, what I’ve actually been is me, enjoying the learning.

People tell me that over the years I’ve become more open, receptive, self-assured, and resilient. But the thing I notice is that, compared with many of my generation, instead of getting set in my ways as I get older, I’m probably getting less so.

I have great admiration for Maharaji as a leader because of his absolute refusal to allow anything to contaminate the integrity of his teaching. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to watch a real craftsman or engineer at work, and I’m always struck by the focus, total mastery of a skill, and depth of understanding of his craft. There are many of these people in the company I work for, people who will accept nothing less than excellence in the gas turbine engines they design and make. Twenty-six years ago, I encountered a man who has this same kind of understanding about himself and about life. With each subsequent encounter, I’ve noted that his mastery does not waver and his clarity does not weaken. Although our lives are superficially very different, he continues to be a reference point for me as I learn more about myself.

Looking back, I realize that, although the view of the world that I had learned from my family, from school, and my friends was valuable, I have a fresh perspective that has more to do with my own integrity than with the judgment of others. I don’t know how that shows on the surface, but I know I feel less driven to weigh myself on the scales of successes and failures. That’s freedom.

October 1, 2003 in A - Featured Posts | Permalink

Marcus L. Munger - US

A nuclear physicist with degrees from Cal State at North Ridge and the University of Colorado, Marcus L. Munger, Pb.D., became interested in self-knowledge through his.fascination with the forces of nature. For over two decades, be has worked on the design and development of surveillance satellites, initialy for IBM Federal Systems Division and currently, as senior scientist, Research and Development Project Lead for Lockheed Martin. Having worked on the early development of the Strategic Defense Initiative during the ‘80s, he holds two patents for algorithms that allow satellites to track objects in ballistic motion. Before receiving self-knowledge, Munger tbought the pursuit of science in and of itself might enable bim to understand his own nature. He’s discovered that there’s more to it than that.

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by how nature works. When I went to University, this curiosity led me to study nuclear physics. I hoped that through these studies I would also come to understand myself. After a few years, I realized that studying nuclear physics, although interesting and challenging, was not yielding what I was looking for.

I first became interested in self-knowledge in 1972 when I read an article about it in a Denver newspaper. This lead me to attend a Maharaji lecture in Red Rock later that year. What I heard made sense to me. Maharaji spoke of a superior power within each of us that could neither be created nor destroyed. This, of course, is one of the tenets of the principle of the conservation of energy. The pursuit of self-knowledge became for me the means to realize and experience what was happening within me moment by moment. Thinking a certain way is not as important to me as being able to experience contentment. Analysis and syn-thesis are still necessary in dealing with problems both at home and on the job, but I don’t have to rely on them for my own satisfaction.

Self-knowledge has increased my understanding of my inner self. It connects me to something that is perma-nent, affording a wider perspective to see the beauty around me. The experience has taught me that there is a way to have satisfaction even when I can’t find it in the world outside. People notice that I tend to remain calm and am not upset by changing circumstances. I have talked several times with one of the managers I work with about life and where contentment lies. The other day, he said to another manager who was feeling upset: “Talk to Marcus. You will understand things from a different perspective and begin to feel better.” After this person had talked to me, she became aware that there was something more important to understand.

I find that this fast-paced life can be confusing, and it is wonderful to have someone to guide me who knows how to experience joy. In the 30 years I have known about self-knowledge, he has reminded me again and again to consider what is most important to me. I now know that it is possible to feel satisfaction and contentment in this life. It is worth the search.

August 24, 2003 in A - Featured Posts, United States of America | Permalink