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Date: Tues, Nov 17, 1998 at 20:17:28 (EST)
From: Evidence (4)
Email: None
To: Nigel, Jim, JW, TD
Subject: Don Matthews
Message:
The story of Don Matthews (aka. JW) is remarkably true
to life. It contains only statements or expressions which at
some time or other, every premie or ex-premie will have used
the past and, indeed, would have been positively encouraged
to use.
But then, the piece is pretty long, and I suppose it
was chiefly as a matter of keeping the word-count down that
the editors carried out the obligatory trimming.
**************************************************
My name is Don Matthews and I appreciate this Internet site,
because I live in a small community (Elko, Nevada) where
there are no other premies. It's great to be connected.
I received knowledge 25 years ago, and because of the
wonderful experience I have in practicing knowledge,
Maharaji has remained the most important influence of my
life for all of those 25 years. In fact, I can say that
without him, life would not be worth living. Once you have
experienced that true, supreme, experience that is within
inside of you, it's inconceivable to me that you could ever
leave it or stop holding it as the most supreme gift that
you could ever receive.
I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, in a Catholic
household in which religion was near the center. I was a
pretty happy kid, although we were definitely poor. I did
well in school, and I was fortunate to get a full academic
scholarship to a good college and I did very well there. But
no matter how well my life was going on the surface, I
always felt that something was missing. The Catholic
religion stopped providing fulfillment for me and, as a
result, I was kind of turned off to all religions, and I
began exploring other forms of spirituality. But nothing
seemed to provide any fulfillment for me. As I approached my
senior year in college, I realized that all the things I had
been working for were about to come true. Somehow, this
terrified me, as I saw my life as a kind of prison or trap
before me. Was that all there was or was ever going to be?
Is this what human beings were put on this planet to do?
Surely there had to be something more. I found myself
praying to be shown what that 'something more' might be.
One day I went into a health food store
[THAT I KNEW WAS RUN BY MEMBERS
OF DIVINE LIGHT MISSION, BUT I HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE
FOLLOWERS OF MAHARAJI]. One guy told me he
was a devotee of Maharaji, and called himself a 'premie,'
which he said was a Hindi term meaning 'lover.' He began to
tell be about a 14-year-old
[PERFECT]
master, whom he called the 'Satguru.' He told me that
'guru,' which Maharaji was called then, referred to someone
who could bring you from darkness ('gu') to light
('ru').
He told me the master had come into the world to reveal
truth to human beings, and that it was available to anyone
who sincerely wanted it. He even showed me a picture of
Maharaji, and I was astounded to see that he really did look
just like a little kid! The premie also talked about four
meditation techniques and that it was possible to experience
the meditation, which directly connected you to the divine
energy inside of you, 24 hours a day.
[IN FACT, HE SAID MAHARAJI
COULD SHOW ME THAT 'GOD' WAS REALLY ENERGY, INCLUDING THE
ENERGY THAT CAUSED ME TO BE ALIVE, AND THAT I COULD
EXPERIENCE THAT ENERGY DIRECTLY.] While all
of this was a bit overwhelming to me, I could tell from
looking at this guy's eyes that he had a spark of life that
I hadn't seen in anyone else. At the same time, a voice
inside my head said to check this out, and that I definitely
should not shut the door to this possibility that what I was
being told was true. I'm so glad I listened to that voice,
because I could have easily just blown off what I was being
told as just another religion.
[I WAS INVITED TO A MEETING TO
HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE. I LISTENED TO PREMIES TALK
ABOUT WHAT A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE KNOWLEDGE WAS, AND HOW
GRATEFUL THEY WERE TO MAHARAJI FOR SHOWING IT TO THEM. THE
SONGS THE PREMIES WOULD SING WOULD PARTICULARLY INSPIRE ME.
THEY WERE SO SINCERE, HEARTFELT AND
JOYOUS.]
It just so happened that a big event was about to happen in
Houston, Texas, at the Houston Astrodome,
[CALLED MILLENNIUM AT WHICH
MAHARAJI WOULD BE SPEAKING. ALL THE PREMIES I MET SAID I
SHOULD ATTEND BECAUSE MAHARAJI WOULD BE REVEALING HIS PLAN
TO BRING PEACE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD]. Although
I really didn't have the money, had never even been on a
plane before, and although I had to cut classes to do it, I
made plane reservations to go. I felt I wanted to see
Maharaji and hear him talk about the experience himself. It
was all very exciting, but a little intimidating. What was
remarkable, though, was that I felt so taken care of through
the whole journey. When I got on the plane, feeling a little
nervous about showing up at this big festival by myself, I
was surprised to see that the very premie I knew from the
health food store, was sitting in the seat in front of me.
He became a kind of guide for me for the whole Millennium
festival. After hearing Maharaji speak, I was sure I wanted
to receive knowledge and I felt I would have sacrificed just
about anything it took to get it.
About six weeks later, one of Maharaji's, instructors,
[MAHATMA
PARLOKANAND,] arrived in our community. I
guess I wasn't ready to receive knowledge because the
Mahatma told me to wait. I was kind of stubborn and I
followed this
[MAHATMA]
[HIM] to
three different cities over a period of two weeks, before I
finally was selected to receive knowledge. And when I did,
the experience of knowledge was even more incredible than I
had imagined, and yet, at the same time, it was also simpler
than I had imagined. It had such a profound effect on me
that I felt strongly that I wanted to practice knowledge as
much as I could, and everything else in my life just seemed
so much less important.
I decided to drop out of college and move in with others who
were practicing knowledge on a regular basis. I felt
strongly that I needed the focus and inspiration of other
premies around me to make the most of the gift I had been
given. And I was very excited about the possibility of
[SERVING]
[HELPING]
serving Maharaji in his mission to bring peace, through the
spread of knowledge, to a very troubled world. I didn't know
what I might be able to contribute in this regard, but I
wanted to be available to do what I could. A few months
later, I [WAS
ALLOWED] moved into
[ONE OF MAHARAJI'S
ASHRAMS]
[AN ASHRAM],
[WHICH MEANS,
'SHELTER,'] which was a wonderful opportunity
to focus completely on the experience, without the
distractions of worldly responsibilities. I will forever
treasure the time I spent there.
Some years later, after Maharaji closed the ashrams, I began
to live on my own, really for the first time in my life. I
eventually returned to college and finished my degree. It
was very difficult both financially and socially, to be back
in school in my 30s, all those years later, but I had the
knowledge to be my touchstone at all times. After I
graduated, I and began a career, eventually getting the
position of assistant controller for a state governmental
agency dealing with land management. I also got married and
began raising children. I have only been able to see
Maharaji a couple of times in the past 15 years.
[BUT THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT
THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE IS THAT IT IS COMPLETELY
PORTABLE.] Through all the ups and downs of
life it is always there to see you through, and it isn't
dependent on where you live, or the kind of environment you
live in. All I can say is that I am so grateful to Maharaji
for showing it to me. Although my wife does not have
knowledge, she enjoyed it when I took here to a program in
California some years ago at which Maharaji spoke. She
respects my feelings about Maharaji, and I feel that
practicing knowledge had helped me be a better husband and
father. Someday, she may decide she wants to receive
knowledge herself.
So, as I said, Maharaji is continues to be the most
important person in my life because he's the one who showed
me what the true purpose of my life is.
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