Interviews

Onscreen text:
Discovery Not Creation
Radio Interview Excerpt

Umhlobo Wenene FM Radio
Johannesburg, South Africa

Zizo and KCi
Interview Prem Rawat

Zizo Tshwete:
I’d like to know, when you go around and you teach the principles of having peace, do you think it's important that the leaders of nations buy into the idea so that it filters through to the people, or do you speak more to individuals?

Prem Rawat:
Well, let me just clarify one thing: I don't teach and I don't preach, and that's absolutely out of the question for me. All I want to do at most is to say things to people that will cause them, that will evoke something in them to start thinking for themselves, to start understanding, “Yes, peace has always been inside of me.” If I don't feel that peace, it is because of the obstacles that I have created, not somebody else has created. I have created for myself.

You know, distraction. You have to be attracted to a distraction. Because a distraction might be doing something, but then you get attracted to that distraction and that attraction takes you away from where you want to be attracted to. 

To be fundamentally sound, a building is built on a foundation. You don't see the foundation. Nobody decorates a foundation because it's buried. But the integral structure of that building, actually the integrity of that building depends not on what you actually see, but what is the foundation.

So, what is the foundation of a human being? You know, do you want to be happy? I don't see anybody going to any church, any temple, any God, and saying, “God, I've had too much fun. I'm too happy. Please do something to reduce this happiness.” When we get sad, we do do that. We say, “This is too much sadness. I want to get rid of sadness.” What does that tell you? That tells you that we like to be content, that we like to be happy, that we like to be in peace. We like to be in joy. We like to be in clarity.

Zizo Tshwete:
Right.

Prem Rawat:
And we don't like confusion. We don't like anger. We don't like fear. We don't like these things, but they're both in us absolutely.

I mean, if I may, I can tell you a little story, if that's okay. Once upon a time, there was a settlement. And in the settlement a lot of people were living and there was a chief. And one day the chief was approached by a young kid and he said, “Chief, I have a question. I'm confused. I have a question.” And the chief said, “What?” He says, “Sometimes I see that people are good. And sometimes I see the same people who are good, they are bad. How can this be? I mean, either a person is good or a person is bad.”

But he says, “No. Sometimes people are good. And then sometimes they're bad.” And the chief said, “That's because there are two wolves in us, a good wolf and a bad wolf. And they're fighting each other.” So, the boy thinks about it and said, “Why do they fight?” So, the chief says, “So they can have control over you. They can have supremacy over you.” So, the boy thinks about it and he says, “So, chief, tell me, which wolf is going to win?” And the chief said, “The one you feed.”

Zizo Tshwete:
Mm. Hmm. 

Prem Rawat:
So we feed the bad wolf.

KCi August:
Wow.

Prem Rawat:
The bad wolf will get strong. And a lot of people think we should beat the bad wolf. Beating the bad wolf is not going to help the good wolf. The good wolf has to be fed. Doing things to the bad wolf is not going to help anything. And sometimes we just get caught up. And it's like, if we could just remove the darkness from the room, there will be light, right?

KCi August:
I know.

Prem Rawat:
No. You know, you cannot take a bucket and try to remove the darkness and then hope there'll be light. No. Bring in the light and the darkness will automatically go away.

KCi August:
So, how do I get there somehow? Obviously, there'll be sacrifices along the way.

Prem Rawat:
No, no sacrifices. Because you already have it. See, there's a huge difference in trying to create peace in your life and trying to discover peace in your life. And I'm talking about discovery, not creation. Anything that we have to create that means that is not in us already, but peace is in us already.

Zizo Tshwete:
Wow, this is deep.

KCi August:
It’s more like finding peace in something that is already there.

Prem Rawat:
Exactly. It's discovery. It's discovery, not creation.

For many years, Prem Rawat has been referred to as a “Peace Ambassador” by millions of people around the world – an impressive title for sure. But what does that title actually mean – especially since the word “peace” means different things to different people. And “ambassador?” That word also brings a lot of different images to mind.In this upbeat, far ranging interview by the very animated Bridget M

asinga, of Johannesburg’s most popular independent radio station, KAYA FM, Prem elaborates. And as he does, the listening audience of 1.8 million, gets an unexpected opportunity to think about the topic in a new way – that, in fact, we are all Peace Ambassadors – or could be – as long as our “lamp it lit” and we have a passion for it.

Don’t miss this exciting new podcast series hosted by Great Big Owl. Download and enjoy each new episode featuring Prem Rawat in conversations with a range of hosts. Subscribe to the channel for free and enjoy listening to Prem’s stories and messages of peace told during these unscripted and unrehearsed shows from around the world.

Now available on iTunes and Spotify, "Life’s Essentials with Prem Rawat" is a multi-part series of uplifting and colorful interviews Prem recorded while speaking about living life consciously. Enjoy the candor and spontaneous humor in this high spirited podcast series. Each episode will be made available every Tuesday for download.

Be sure to go to iTunes or Spotify and subscribe to Life Essentials.

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Prem Rawat speaks with DJs Fresh, Somizi, and Tigi at Metro FM during the Fresh Breakfast weekly show on conflict solutions. He offers pertinent tools for finding peace in a turbulent South Africa. “You are your constant source of peace and joy when you know yourself.”

Jessica Zweig:

You are clearly very inspirational, Prem. You literally travel the world and inspire people for a living. I’m interested to know, who inspires you?

Prem Rawat:

Well, I am inspired by everybody that I inspire. And when I see people being inspired by a message, my question always is, "Why? What did I say that is so unique, so incredible?"

And yet I see that all of a sudden, they thought where they were, versus where they now see that they are, that they are not without the tools in their life; they’re not alone; they’re not abandoned; they’re not in these dire straits. They’re actually doing pretty good.

And to acknowledge that in their lives—and a beautiful light comes shining through them. And that’s what inspires me. That’s really what inspires me.

Jessica Zweig:

Yeah, me too. Watching people wake up to their own power and joy is....

Prem Rawat:

Yeah, that, absolutely, it’s the most, most stunning thing to see, to observe.

Jessica Zweig:

Absolutely. I really want, you know, those listening to look at themselves with that ability. It’s such a core central theme of my work. I help people find their message and help them to build their platforms and to create awareness of those platforms, that they can impact more people and impact their careers and impact their lives.

I think a lot of people have self-limiting beliefs that they are worthy of being that person. They’ll look at someone like you—or maybe even me, people who have platforms—and say to themselves, “I, I couldn’t do that. I’m not worthy of doing that; I don’t know how to do that.” What advice do you have for those people?

Prem Rawat:

Let me tell you a little story—and I gave this example. And somebody asked me a question a long time ago. They were actually wondering, you know—they were talking about, “Is this good; is this good; is this good?” And I said, “The value of all these things that you have described to me is zero—and you are a ‘one.’”

So, when they heard that, they were really very angry with me. And in fact, they walked out. Because they were like, “And how could you say what I am talking about has to be zero?”

And I said, “But”—I continued with my analogy, and my analogy was, “Everything you’re talking about is zero—and you are a ‘one.’ Place zero in front of a one and what do you have? One!—and a zero. No value, nothing. Nothing changes.

“Put that zero after a one and it’s a ten; it’s a hundred; it’s a thousand; it’s a hundred thousand; it’s a million; it’s....” All these things, placed after you, after you are worth a lot. Placed before you? And they mean nothing, absolutely nothing. That’s math; that’s math. Yeah, I mean, anybody can do that math.

And to me, that’s the way I see it. You know, it’s just, “First, find yourself; then take all these things that you want to do and put them after you.” And they will be ten, a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, ten million, a billion, trillion, whatever.

But keep placing them before you? They mean nothing! Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Jessica Zweig:

I love that. “Be your own ‘one.’” Be the “one.” Brilliant, brilliant!

Where can people find you, more about you?

Prem Rawat:

Well, I am reachable through PremRawat.com. PremRawat.com, yeah.

Jessica Zweig: [simult.]

It’s a beautiful site. Beautiful.

I have one final question for you, Prem. You’ve given us such beautiful wisdom today. I would love to know—as I ask every guest—what do the words “simply be” mean to you?

Prem Rawat:

To be that “one”—without the zeros in front, with all the zeros after. And now you’ve got everything. Simply be. Simply, simply, simply, simply, simply-simply-simply. Not thinking about this; not getting into—but just simply be.

Look at a child; look at a baby. That baby knows how to simply be. You are still that baby. Well, you were once a baby—and you’re still that baby. That baby never died; that baby never went away.

Tap into that resource that you have to be that baby, and you will simply be. Because simply being is it—is it, is the it.

Jessica Zweig:

I’m crying; I’m smiling; I’m nodding; I’m tearing up at the same time. That was so beautifully stated. Thank you so much for explaining it that way. It touched my heart. And this is something I speak about all the time. And to hear you say it in that way was just really meaningful.

Thank you so, so much for being on my show. It is just such an honor to speak to you and to learn from you. And thank you for the reminder—to simply be. Because I needed it today, especially.

Prem Rawat:

Thank you; thank you so much for letting me be on your show and—great, wonderful; thank you. Thank you.

Jessica Zweig:

You just came out with this new book, Peace Is Possible: Thoughts on Happiness, Success, and Relationships for a Deeper Understanding of Life—such a beautiful title. What was the inspiration of this book, if I may ask?

Prem Rawat:

Well, again, you know, it’s just taking a very, very simple message—and, you know, the message that has been around for a long, long time that always gets shared by people, even before there were books—was verbally, the stories.

And so, it is taking these little stories that have been around for a really long time, and then tying this message of knowing yourself to those stories of the intricacy of everyday existence to the simplicity of those stories—and how the simplicity of those stories brings on a message that touches the heart.

That it’s not about.... I mean, something that happened at a book fair—these two gentlemen who had just come from prison, who had just been released from prison, came to the book fair. And they were walking around and they were like, “Ahhh.” They came over to the stall where the Peace Is Possible book was and they were like, “What’s that? What’s, what’s that all about?”

And somebody said, “Well, here it is; read it.” And the person started reading it, and he just, tears started coming from his eyes. And his friend said to him, says, “Why are you crying? Why are you crying?” And he said, “You read, read this book; read this book.”

And it touched them. And it touched them so sweetly and so gently. Because the message is there. There is a message that touches your heart. Everything that we do touches our mind, but there’s a message that touches your heart.

And I have tried to take this book, Peace Is Possible, and give that message that touches your heart a space—in this very, very busy world, in this incredibly frantic world, giving that message that touches your heart a space, a little page, a little, you know, period, a comma, an exclamation mark. And that’s what this book, Peace Is Possible, is all about.

Jessica Zweig:

And it’s beautiful.

You have a lot of quotes in the world, as an author and a speaker and a thought leader. And I, I’m a huge quote fan. I love them; I put them in all my presentations; I share a lot of my own quotes on Instagram; I quote people all the time; it’s my thing.

And I was, of course, looking at some of your quotes. Because you have been listed as one of the top one hundred most spiritually influential people alive today, along with Eckhart Tolle and Tony Robbins and Gabby Bernstein, Bruce Lipton. It’s pretty incredible. Just, thank you so much for, by the way, being on my show.

And there was one quote that you have said that really struck me, which is, “Living your life consciously is the most fun a human being can have.”

And fun, for me, is a core value for life: “If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?” I think that it’s the true measure of success—is how much fun we are having.

Can you talk about what that—what that means to you, to live a conscious life, to find that fun as a human being?

Prem Rawat:

Imagine being in a beautiful park—I mean, just gorgeous—the flowers are beautiful; the ponds are beautiful; the trees are beautiful. And all of a sudden you hear a noise. You don’t know what it is. You’re not aware of this noise and all of a sudden you’re frightened, and it jostles you.

Versus you’re taking the same walk and you go, “Oh! That’s a little bird! Oh, that’s, that noise is coming from that little frog that’s moving around.”

One, you don’t know what it is versus know what it is. And when you know what it is, it is so much fun! I mean, it is so much fun because now you don’t have to be in fear of where you are and what is happening. You are enjoying every step, every day.

The outcome of today is certain because you know what it is all about—rather than uncertain and “I’m going to try to keep my fingers crossed and make good things happen.” Well, good things are happening all the time.

You know, people say I’m spiritual—so, a lot of—involved with spiritualism, but I’m not. To me, what I try to tell people is, “You have to know. You have to know; you have to be aware. Not believe.” And believing is okay; it has its place. But at some point in time, you have to come out of the field of believing and go into the field of knowing.

And I am all for knowing. And knowing and understanding, being conscious on this road of life, now you know what that is that’s making that noise and you can enjoy it! And it’s like, “Ahh! I know what that is. That’s just a little froggie! It’s okay! Here I go!”