Mohanji’s 60th Birthday Celebration Speech
Mohanji’s 60th Birthday Celebration – A Tribute to Living Life Beautifully
The grand celebration of Mohanji’s 60th birthday was themed Mohanam, meaning “Living life beautifully.” This theme paid tribute to Mohanji’s philosophy of dedicating every moment to making Earth a better place for all beings. Mohanji thanked the audience for sharing their time, including those who attended the program online, and gracing the occasion. He said that someone spending time for Him is the best gift they could give.
First of all, thank you so much to everyone who came here for my birthday. Because I believe in one thing: time is the currency of life. Time spent is life spent.
So, if you have spent time here to be with me, I sincerely appreciate it because this is the most precious gift you can ever give to anybody—your time.
All materials are transitory—everything. They come, and they go. They don’t last. We don’t last, either. We are here only for about 30,000 or 35,000 days on Earth with this body.
I value relationships a lot. I give great value to relationships, much more than any material, any space, or any time, because they are the flowers of life. So when I see all of you gathered here on my 60th birthday, I think this is what I have earned in life. This is my actual earnings. This is my net worth. So thank you for being here.
Another aspect, again, is that when it comes to net worth through visual media, many people in the world are watching us, listening to us, and being part of it. They are also spending time, from their premises, to be with us. This is also a big deal. This is what I call a family.
See, we are part of this generation or this time. We are all here to share something with one another or even experience our own lives using our days.
In this mixture of various desires, inclinations, and tendencies, finding somebody valuable in our lives is a big deal. Often, we don’t. We don’t see anybody valuable.
Most connections are transactional for some reason. If you have found a connection that does not need any reason, that’s a true connection. Most connections are fragile. If a thing is not done or if an expectation is not met, they go away. But some connections have no expectation, no reason, and they stay forever.
I hope our relationship is of that material that time cannot erase. We may go someday. We will not be on Earth. In the next 60 or 70 years you take, none of us will be there. This time is precious.
Now, regarding my birthday, I honestly don’t have any value for it. There’s no value. I don’t think about it as a big deal. If my heart is beating, I will do something. Otherwise, once I’m gone, I’m gone. I do not value life as a big deal.
I’m here for some work, and that work is happening. So many people are collaborating on it and getting fulfilled. That’s the bottom line. We are all here, we are doing the job together. I don’t want to romanticize this thing, this birthday thing, too much because I look at it as a very practical thing. ‘Okay, you have become 60. Good enough.’
To be honest, I never thought I’d live to be 60. My lifestyle and the number of tragedies in my life were like that: no companionship and no motivation at one time, and then a big responsibility at another. Then, things happened continuously.
I was never thinking or preparing to be in public life. I did not know what I did with the public, with people when they came to me. I know very well what to do with animals. I love them because they have no two faces. But people have three faces: a face they show to the world outside, a face they show to their near and dear, and a face they never show to anybody.
But I never had that problem with animals. They only have one face, and they show the whole face all the time, so that connection was more real to me.
People have pretended a lot. Now, it’s the era of social media, so we paint the best face and show it to the world, and people think that’s us. Absolutely not. We are masking. In that kind of world, a sensitive man has nothing much to do.
I have fumbled many times. When I look back on 60 years, we know that some of my very close friends are here – Unni Bhaskar and Kannan. We studied together at age 10, and we have Surya here as well. She studied with me in class 10. So people have seen me at a very young age, during confused times. We were all figuring out what life would be like. So don’t think that I came enlightened into the world, that I knew everything about life, not like that.
The shift from personality to purpose
I had my trials and errors like anybody else. Today, my value is what I do in this world, give to this world, and share with the world. That’s my value today. All of you can have the same value if you stop being too personality-oriented and start being purpose-oriented. The barrier between us and eternity is personality and purpose. So, when we become purpose-oriented, our personality becomes less significant.
Self-sufficiency is built into us
One thing I always tell people is that I’m happy that so many people love me. I mean, sincerely, honestly, I’m grateful. But if nobody comes to see me, I’m also happy because my happiness is not connected to a person or a situation. It’s connected to me. Nobody can take it away from me.
This is something which I consider as my graduation or where I have arrived, a state that I have reached, which everybody can reach.
When our dependency on the outside world reduces, we become self-sufficient. We have this self-sufficiency built in us. Dare to live. What else can you do?
You’re here for about 30,000 days Visa, 82 years- 30,000 days. If you live 100 years, it’s 36,500. What’s the use if you need somebody’s help, to walk, to talk, to do something? That’s not life. I call a life – a life without dependencies. I have no qualms about dying. Death is not a fear for me. It’s an inevitability. Death is a transition.
At some point in time, we leave, but we can always live purposefully. I think most of you were here during the presentation of the Peace City. For a project of that size, to have a Baba 195 meters tall, what you need most is the willpower and dare to dream fearlessly. Once you have that fearlessness in you, you can dream of anything and achieve anything.
See, all the boundaries in life are created by the mind. Otherwise, we have no boundaries. That’s why I tell our people, ‘Let’s do it’. I know we can do it and what blocks us is simply our own mind.
Now, the Mohanji Foundation is on six continents, with spaces in 12 countries. We are growing, and more countries are joining in. We are getting stronger and younger in terms of activity, and all these things are happening. It’s just the organic evolution of affairs.
Not that Mohanji today decides to shift the gear. Nobody can do like that. We are all organically growing, just like from our childhood to our youth and from youth to adulthood. We organically grow, not that one day somebody decided to make us grow.
Pick yourself up, be your own Messiah
So, one thing you need in today’s life is to take all your illusions away. If you fall down, this is not your mistake. Destiny sometimes topples you. Don’t just lie down there when you fall down. Get up. And please don’t wait for any Messiah to pick you up. We wait for a saviour.
Where is the saviour? I had no saviour in my life, so there is no saviour. We have to pick ourselves up. We have to walk and keep moving. This is the reality. This is life.
I don’t want to make this whole thing very morose, but I want to tell you the truth. If I’m standing here today, don’t think this is a miracle or this was all providence that heaven brought it to me. It was sweat and blood.
Hard work, daring to dream. Not afraid of falling down, walking, ability to walk alone, when nobody really cared. I had a time in Dubai, which I think Unni knows quite well, I had no money. There was no money. I used to have a one-time meal because I didn’t have money for three meals.
Today, in the same place, people are fighting to take me home and give me dinner, and I don’t eat dinner normally. So you can see how time changes things. But it is nobody’s mistake. We don’t like losers. I always stood by people who fell down.
See, we worship or respect Hanumanji. He met Ram when Ram was in bad shape. He did not meet Ram when Ram was the king. What is the claim for fame for Hanuman? He stood by Ram, when Ram had nothing. He didn’t have the kingdom.
If you are able to stand by those who do not have anything, that makes you. There you are real. Not where you can stand by people who are rich and famous, successful, you can take pictures. But they may not need you. You know what I’m talking about? They may not even need you, and whatever happens to you, they may not care for you. I have experienced it.
I had very, very good contacts at one time, but when I went through the dip after my daughter’s death and a series of tragedies, there wasn’t anybody. Nobody stood by me.
And even if somebody wants to talk to you, they are advising you. They say, ‘You should have done this. You should have done that.’ Who wants your advice when you’re in a bad shape?
You’re trying to figure out how to get up. At that point in time, you don’t need anybody’s advice. Can you hold my hand? But at that time, not many people were happy to do that. Many people won’t pick up your call because they feel that you might be a liability to them.
The world is like that. So, don’t think that I smoothly came into this whole thing and all these ashrams, all these things. At that time, I never felt I was significant. This time, also I do not feel I’m significant. There is nothing I feel as great. I think I haven’t yet done my job. This is what I feel – much more to do.
See, I’m a Raja yogi. In the Raja Yoga path, you connect to Consciousness—as I always say—the brightness, the divine brightness, Supreme Consciousness, infinity. That is why we put for the Peace City- “Beyond religions, ‘I’ – infinity stands.” Coming back to this point, that we do not have to make any plans, any agenda. In real life, time brings you situations, time brings you awareness to handle each situation, and time takes that away.
Don’t try to control life
So, while each situation is happening, all you have to do is be available and present. This is the only thing that you’re supposed to do. You can’t change a situation. You can only change your approach to that situation; nothing else can you change.
When life happens, you have no control. Don’t try to control it. That’s a waste of time. I would definitely tell you that at any point in time, don’t think that Mohanji is there, is great, or anything.
Your foot should be firmly on the ground wherever you are
The next generation should speak of my greatness based on what I have given to this land. Now, as I told you, I’m a Raja Yogi.
When people make Gayatris, Aratis, Sahasranam, Ashtottari, etc., sometimes I feel, ‘What is this?’ But then, gurus advise one thing: ‘Let them be because each person connects to you as they are. For some people, these are necessary to connect.’ I do not object because I have no right to object to anything, not that I get excited about these things.
The bottom line is that your foot should be firmly on the ground wherever you are. So, what we have today in the world, on all continents, is that all the people are connecting to me because something is happening in their lives in a positive way. That’s why. I never think people are blind. I never think people are fools. They have eyes to see. They know what they are connected to, and they will connect only if there is value in their life. If there is no value in their life, they will not connect for a long period of time. So, if somebody has been connected to me for more than five or ten years, that means they are here to stay.
Once again, I thank all of you. And while looking at 60 years, I would like to say one of the reasons why I am in public life now is because of Devi. She was really pushing me to talk to people. I was always resisting. When I resisted Babaji too, He said: “You should go and speak.”
I said, “No, it’s not my cup of tea. I’m not that type.” Then she kept pushing me, and finally, she made a program where I had to speak. Then it became self-inspiration because a lot of people started coming, “Hey, we would like to meet you. We’d like to talk to you.” Like that, it evolved.
But you know what? Sometimes the first step is the most difficult step. That step is the most vital step. When I look back at age 60, I feel that I don’t know whether I have done anything, but probably there is more to do. Probably. Also the road map – I don’t look at the road map.
See, all roads are like this. You’re walking this way. When you reach that end, you will see a road to the left or right. Keep flowing. Keep going. That’s all you need to do.
If you know the whole road map of life, there is no fun in life. And if you’re so insecure that you have to know the whole road map, that means you are not eligible for life. All the time, we are in a fear zone. The ultimate fear is death. Anyway, we will die. There’s no other way.
But while living, be honest. Be truthful to you. As I said, all people have three faces: a face that you show to the public, a face that you show to the near and dear, and a face you never show to anybody. Have one face, you will be very powerful. All the great masters, all the heroes and legends, they kept one face. This is something which we all can do.
How does one person become appealing in the whole world? How do you become universal? When you have no differences, you don’t see differences.My point is that while our hearts are beating today, we have to bring some harmony to the world.
That is why we are planting all these trees; we are collecting and uniting all the tribals of the world because we have work to do. I always believed that the right people to protect forests are the tribal people. They know the forest better than us. That’s why I started associating with the Indigenous people of the world, then the ministers joined, and the governments joined later.
So when the Minister asked me, in South Africa, (we had a half an hour or one hour meeting), “What is World Tribal Alliance? What is it for?”
I said: “Preservation.”
So he asked: “What are you preserving?”
I said: “Nature and culture. Two are integrated, the indigenous culture and the nature.”
The third thing he said was, “I am in.”
There was no further discussion, and immediately, the government said, “We will support you.” That’s where the actual discussion started.
When you have clarity, when you know exactly what you want to do and why you want to do it, there will be no more discussions here. People will join in. They know that this is working. This will happen.
From responsibility to respect
When you can’t take responsibility, people won’t respect you anymore. Responsibility is very important for respect to happen. You look at the world now; all those people who take responsibility are respected. If we run away, shy away from responsibilities, nobody cares for you. There are so many people who talk, but they don’t do.
I always tell our people, “Talk less, do more, but make people see and feel what you do.” This is especially true of our connection with animals and birds and how they interact with us. So there is a connection with divinity, animals, nature, our life, and our soul. This has to be identified.
This is not just a human world; there’s a world infested by human beings. We have infested this world like pests, and we consider every other species as pests. Many of the things we do are legal but are not ethical. So, our effort is to bring back that sensitivity through the indigenous tribes and through good politicians. There are very, very good politicians in every government, and they really want to make a difference in the world. There are good officials, judiciary, all those people who have heart, they want to feel, and they don’t want to kill any species. This is what we can possibly look at.
So thank you once again for spending time and money, and it’s been tremendously tedious to be here. I know. You have walked a lot. You came from many countries by flight, bus, train, and car, and you walked a lot, and finally, you are here. Some people couldn’t make it. They walked around, but not here, towards here, so they went that way.
So, all those things, and yet we are here. Some people couldn’t stay back. I respect their time, too. But all said and done, I’m sincerely grateful to all of you, each and every one of you, to have found time and been here. This time is the biggest gift you could give me.
And Manoj Kumar Sir, the chief of this whole Kumbh Mela – for the protection of this place from disaster, you found time to come here. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Madhavi Amma came from Mookambika because Mother said, “What are you doing here? Mohanji’s birthday is happening. Go there.” So Amma came here.
Sulakhe Maharaj is here from Shirdi. Thank you for coming.
Who else? Unni and Kannan are tremendously busy people. Kannan has come from Dubai. Unni came from Trivandrum. They are normally very busy. But the connection that we have from age 10 is still there at age 60. It’s been 50 years; the connection survived. And their spouses also. Thank you.
I’m not naming everybody, but I really appreciate all of you coming here. I wish all of you great health and awareness. Ayur Arogya Saukyam.
Everything good, everything positive. Let life be full and complete, this life. And if possible, let you taste divinity before you exit. I wish you great success. Thank you.
Transcribed by Nada Raković
Proofread by Rekha Murali
See more photos here