Q        Will the Master tell us of the many foreign visitors at the Dera every year?

A        We have quite a number of them. This time there were about sixty-five foreigners during the season.

Q        Does it get pretty cold there in the winter? Does it snow there?

A        Oh, no. Sometimes it goes below zero (Centigrade) and we may have a little frost in the morning. The winter is very pleasant and the days are usually sunny. You would love the winter there. The weather is conducive to good health. Sometimes it feels pretty cold for a couple of days, when it rains, but we have electricity and use small electric heaters.

Q        What is necessary for anybody to do, who wants to visit there?

A        He is most welcome, that is all.

Q        Lots of work to do?

A        I do not think there is any work for the foreigners there, unless they want to do anything. Board and lodging are absolutely free. If they want to do anything, they are most welcome to do so; and if they do not want to do anything they are still most welcome. There is no compulsion there -- absolutely none.

Q       There is a paradise.

A        Practically, most foreigners do nothing except running about after me.

Q       Master, the first thing people say to me when I tell them about this place is always, there must be some catch if they do not charge. How do they make a living? How do they get by? What do they do? And I do not know how to answer them.

A     Come and see for yourelf. Or you could ask Mr. Ross or Miss Eunice.

Q      What kind of fruit do they raise there?

A      We have no commercial activity. We have no agricultural activity. We have some land for our building program, but until we can utilize it for that purpose for which it was intended, that portion on which the buildings have not yet been started, is used to raise a few vegetables for our kitchen, and we have a little citrus fruit also. The kitchen is a free community kitchen, which we call Langar, and that is open to everybody, any time. Some who have been there must have told you that on our annual days we have over two hundred thousand people eating there, in that Langer, at each meal. And all those people just serve among themselves and some among their number cook the food; they bring everything and they eat it themselves. We do not have paid help there.

All our land is for building purposes, and our buildings are coming up quite rapidly, but we have certain difficulties of fiances, material shortages and all that. So, in the meantime, the land is utilized for raising vegetables and citrus fruits for us at the colony. But it is not a fraction of what is consumed there.

Q      How is the water?

A      Very tasty. I do not know from a chemical point of view, but very tasty and very healthy too. I always tell the foreigners when they come there that they should weigh themselves. When they leave they are usually about ten pounds heavier.

A     That must be so. You stayed longer.

Q     Maharaj Ji, are you considered a Hindu>

A      I am just a human being, as far as I am concerned.

Q      I mean, is your teaching Hindu?

A      Sister, I have just explained all that. WE are ll human beings. We are all sons of the same Father. we are a drop of the same Ocean. We are concerned with the teachings of the saints, and we are to live in this world. You may consider me anything you feel like, or call me an Indian if I am to be confined to any particular country.

Q       Are there other Living Masters beside you?

A       Well, brother, I do not consider myself a Master. I am here by the order of my predecessor. My only qualification is that I have been entrusted wiht a duty to perform by my Maser, and I am trying to do my duty to the best of my ability. There may be many Masters in the world.

Q       Do you personally have a Living Guru?

A       No. My Maser has departed, but I am initiated by him during his lifetime.

Q       Do you have contact with his soul?

A       One should not try to go into detail in such personal things. You are most welcome to ask me any question about the philosophy.

Q       What is the significance of the two rings that you wear?

A       Sister, there is no significance as far as the West is concerned, because neither is this a marriage ring, nor is this a divorce ring, nor is this some love present to me. My doctor may be here, Dr. Stone. He advised that if I wear a gold ring on this finger it is good for my digestion. So, on his advice I am wearing it for the sake of my digestion, but more to please my doctor friend. And the other one is not a ring at all. It is just a piece of silver that I had shaped into a ring. Once when I had an attack of piles, a friend of my mother said to me that if I wear this piece of metal, like a ring, on this finger, it presses a certain nerve which will cure my piles. So, I am still wearing this. They have no spiritual  significance whatsoever. I am wearing them to please certain sentiments of certain people, that is all.

Q       The bracelet ---  could you explain?

A        Oh, now you would like to do the same thing. I do not mind, sister. This actually is one of the signs of Sikhs. Sikhs are a class who call themselves followers of Guru Nanak, but, as far as I am concerned, I am a follower of my own Great Master. I keep full faith in him. Besides him, nothing exists for me, and if I have respect for anybody else it is due to my own Master that I respect them. Without him I would never have known them. So, for me, all of these claims in my own Master.

But, being born in a Sikh family, and being educated in a Sikh school, it was essential for me to wear this sign to indicate that I belonged to a Sikh family. I never wore this during my schoool and college days nor in the first few years of my professional career, but when I was going to get married, my mother presented me with this bracelet and said, "You have always been rebellious in our family by not following the family conventions or religious conventions of certain families or certain sects, but now since you are going to get married. I would like you to wear this bracelet so that you may keep up the family tradition." She had tried to find one of the very lightest weight, and a beautiful thing, and I just wear it to please her. It was quite a hard job to put it on, and could not take it off without cutting it --- therefore it remains where it is. It has absolutely no significance to me at all.

Q       Maharaj Ji, I am an old woman, and every day since I have been initiated I have prayed for the pirvilege of meeting my Master. Now I want to express my deep gratitude for your grace and mercy and great love that prompted you to come to America so that we satsangis would have this great privilege. Thank you.

A       Sister, I assure you that I am extremely happy over my visit. I have been through almost the whole of United States. This is my last stop, and the devotion, the love, the faith, the hospitality, the generosity of the satsangis, seekers and others, which I have received, is an experience which I can never forget. I really appreciate your devotion, your welcome, and I assure you that i am tremendously happy to see all of you, and I am also grateful to the Lord who has given me this opportunity to come all this way and see all of you individually and collectively.

Q        It is a great grace, because many of us cannot go to India, so you came to us. Thank you.

A        Sister, He has brought me, and I am before you, and we are all thankful to Him.

Pravin,

Thanks so much for posting this!. I have it in hard-cover but I love having electronic copies of great books as well, and this truly is a great one.

I spoke too soon. I appreciate the effort, but this book is really mangled. There are tons of duplicated sections, omitted parts, TONS of misspelled & omitted words (and sentence parts) and words that are "actual words," but that have absolutely nothing to do with what the original manuscript said.

There is a lot that is just like the original, but, if you care at all about what Charan Singh actually said and meant, too much that's not.

If so, then buy or borrow a copy of the book. If not, then enjoy this facsimile of "Charan Singh - The Master Answers; Audiences In America."  ;)

I finished all chapters today. There are so much to read in this book. It clears every bit of all doubts you have for spiritual meditation. I am planning to buy this book very soon. Thanks n Regards.