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Prem Rawat:

Well, hello, hello, hello, everyone. I hope you’re faring well. And over the weekend, I figured this would be a good time to answer some questions—so I’ve got some questions here.

And the first question we are going to deal with is from Sanjay, from, (I don’t know where he exactly is; he doesn’t say). But he says, “I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas on lockdown situations. It has really helped me understand the reality”—well, that’s good—“given strength and hope.” That’s exactly what I want—you to have strength, and I want you to have hope.

“Government officials, people are giving so many directives and suggestions for being physically safe from coronavirus. It would be very nice to hear from you for the same. Sanjay.”

Well, thank you for writing, Sanjay. And what I’d like to tell you is this. Look, I’m no doctor—and I’m not a virus expert by any stretch of the imagination—and I don’t do that.

But I can tell you one thing. Of everything that I have heard and I have gathered, two things: “Don’t give it to anyone—and don’t get it from anyone.” That’s it. Don’t give it to someone if you’re a carrier—and don’t get it from someone if they are a carrier.

Whatever that takes, very, very simple. Wash your hands. You go out; you wash your hands. Take it easy. Feel good; feel hope; feel safe. Have patience. You’re going to need patience. Patience is required. And have patience; feel good. And deal with this from courage. Not from weakness, but from courage.

So, I hope, you know—and again, you know, what I’m talking about here is for you to have a good time even in this situation. Because the “good time” that I’m talking about is inside of you. And tap into it.

So, you know, have a good time! Be coming from that place of patience and having courage—and having two goals, “Don’t give it to someone—and don’t get it from someone.” Whatever that takes. So, that’s it.

“What about those people who are essential workers; do you have any words for those, this time?” From Casey. Well, thank you for writing, again. They’re doing an incredible job; they’re really risking their lives so that the rest of us can go on and have some sense of normalcy in this situation.

So, one, I would like to thank all of those people around the world who are doing this. And two, I think—and like I said for Sanjay, [sp] we really all need to come from courage and patience. And those two things, we need to all exercise as human beings on the face of this earth, especially in regards to coronavirus.

That’s what it takes. You know, it takes approximately fourteen days for the quarantine to go on. And to spend that time, not go stir-crazy. And it takes patience.

So, I really—well, one, again, I would like to thank all those people who are doing this and providing that. Be safe. Obviously, you have a lot of courage. And please, be patient—and keep doing what you’re doing, so that the rest of us can go on being and having some form of normalcy in our lives. And, again, “thank you” from me.

“Thank you for the lifeline of wisdom you are sharing. I have a question. Although for many, this is a time of forced isolation, for many others it means being cooped up indoors with an active child, children, and no time to yourself and increased stress and irritability. Children don’t understand what’s going on and want to see their friends and go out and play.

“I hugely appreciate your parenting advice and perspective. Do you have any advice during this time? With love and thanks, Wendy.”

Well, my advice is, children will pick up on your irritation. Don’t be irritated. If you are irritated, something is wrong. When they start to smell the “wrong,” it’s over. Believe me, it’s over. At that point, it’s like a frustrated parent, you know, picking up a child and going, “Do not cry!” I mean, that child’s going to cry.

So, calm down. It’s okay. They’re your children; you’re around them, whatever. Engage with them. They have the sweetest way of seeing this whole thing. They don’t see the problem; they see much more of a solution; the solution is, “Why can’t we have a good time?”

You can have a good time. Coronavirus has no—you know, it doesn’t attack “good time” by any stretch of the imagination. You just have to discover what that good time is. And we have gotten so used to these routines of “good time” that we have forgotten how to tap into “good time.”

There was a time when there was no television. There was a time when there was no form of these “entertainment,” quote-unquote. There was a time, there were no iPads; there were no iPhones; there were no, you know, cellular phones; there weren’t these super-computers, nothing!

And so, what did people do? Well, people took it upon themselves—and even “time of silence” was great, was wonderful. But now that’s looked at as a punishment.

I mean, it’s really, really bizarre but a child, you know, will do something wrong and it’s like, “Well, go to your room and sit down and think about it!” Excuse me. That’s a good thing. You’re using it as punishment, but that’s a good thing, for somebody to sit down and think, think it out, think out your day because you’re going—everything is going so fast.

So, you may have to reinvent what once you and everybody knew—but now you have forgotten it, so it’s a question of actually reinventing that time with a child and having a good time!

And maybe taking a story and looking at it different ways and understanding different things, sparking the imagination—that’s all that a child needs. So far their imagination stays sparked, so then, that’s really good. But that’s what I think, anyways.

You know, so—but it’s not like I am a parenting expert or anything like that. So, I hope you understand where I’m coming from. And thank you, thank you for writing.

Here’s another question, “How can I choose clarity more? How can I choose serenity, kindness, compassion, love more? How can I afford to live a well-cared-for life of security, peace, joy and happiness that focuses on what is real, more and more?”

Look—well, whoever you are, thank you. Your name isn’t here, but—it’s a good question. And the most important thing is that these things that you talk about, “kindness, compassion,” they are in you. They are in you.

You know, you know exactly what anger is and what does anger look like. This is this emotion; it comes in and it explodes; you turn red; your blood pressure goes up; your heart is pounding; you’re mad; you’re—you know! You know exactly what anger is like. And after that anger is past, you can, of course, look back and say, “Yeah, that made me angry.”

Are you that familiar with kindness? You know what hate is like—but are you that familiar (as you are familiar with hate)—are you that familiar with kindness? Are you that familiar with compassion? Are you that familiar with peace? Are you that familiar with joy? Are you that familiar with happiness?

If you’re not, therein lies the problem because you should be. Those things are in you at any given moment. Those things exist in you at any given moment; it’s not like you leave your happiness behind. It is not like you leave your compassion behind. It’s not like you leave your joy behind. Wherever you go and whatever you do, it’s right then and there.

Just like anger, just like hate, just like confusion, we truly need to understand these attributes. And when we begin to really understand these attributes, then there is something inside of us that will begin to choose those attributes over the attributes that we, by default, choose now, which are anger and fear and everything else.

With so many people with this coronavirus, the biggest thing—people are afraid. And why are people afraid? “Oh, what’s going to happen to me?” And when you look at the numbers—and I was looking at them this morning—it’s far more people who have died of natural death than from this coronavirus.

But it’s not right; it’s not good—I’m not saying that. But when you look at the numbers in terms of just what happens every day, it’s not a huge thing! The numbers are not that big—even though they’re exponentially growing and growing and growing. And this is, again—a lot of the world leaders are not doing such a good job of leading people.

But regardless of that, what do you think being scared of this thing, of coronavirus, will do—absolutely nothing. All you need to do, like I said, is have that goal, “Don’t give it to someone; don’t get it from someone.”

So, we are very familiar with some attributes that we have—but we are not familiar with the other attributes we have. Knowing yourself then truly becomes knowing those attributes as well! Saying, “Yes, I have anger—and I don’t like anger. But I have compassion. I have joy.” And more familiar you get, easier it becomes to choose those.

Understanding that that’s who you are, your value—and this is an example that I give, is “What is the value of a box, of a small box?” And maybe all it has, that box, you know, all it holds is a ring—and the value of the ring is like 200,000 dollars. Then what is the value of the box?

Well, maybe the value of the box is fifty dollars. (Ten dollars, twenty dollars, whatever.) But so far that ring is in that box, the value of that box is also 200,000 dollars.

This is what you have to understand. Take out the ring from the box—and the value of the box is fifty dollars, (five dollars, ten dollars, whatever). So far that ring is in that box, the value of that box is equivalent to that.

And then? That’s the same thing that’s happening to you. So far in you, there is that thing called “life,” your value is infinite. Take that away—and of course, nothing; this is just a box. And this is what happens.

So, be more familiar with those attributes that you have; fall in love with those attributes. And then you can enjoy this life more and more and more.

Another question. “Thank you, Prem. Might you say something to those who have the virus? I have been texting the lockdown clips to many people who don’t know you. So fantastic for everyone.”

Well, all I can say is, look, again, the same thing. Do this—you have the virus; they’ve told you you have the virus—be patient. Feel good. Get good sleep. And face this thing with courage. Face this thing with courage. Not with fear. Face this thing with courage.

You will get better. People want you to get better. But you need to have that hope coming from inside of you.

Do this with courage; do this with patience. Let it run its course. Take the steps that are necessary. Feel well! Take those steps that are necessary. And I hope that you have an incredible, speedy recovery. And that would be wonderful.

Here’s somebody who writes, “Hi, Prem; I’d like to thank you for everything that you have shown me and for helping me.

“My daughter asked me a couple of years ago when she was seven or eight, ‘Dad, when I die will I remember you? And when you die, will you remember me?’ I didn’t want to BS her, so I replied, ‘Good question but I really don’t know.’ I’ve been thinking a lot ever since. So, the question for me became, ‘Does the heart have a memory? Or is it only aware of the moment now?’”

When you love someone and you are with that person, what exactly do you get out of them? What do they bring you? When you see that person, you love that person, they bring you joy. So what does that mean, “joy; they bring you joy?”

Well, what does joy look like? Has it got their name stamped on it? Or does that just make you feel good, being with that person, thinking of that person?

And that’s what the heart knows about, that feeling, that goodness, that joy that that other person might bring. Maybe the catalyst; they’re just the catalyst for it.

And of course, through whatever, if you have brought joy to each other, (she to you and you to her), then you will carry that joy, without any labels of names, forever! Because the heart is about being full.

And you may not be taking.... You know, when you to somebody’s house and you have a wonderful dinner, you don’t take that dinner with you wherever you go after one week, two weeks, three weeks. But you will remember that good time that you had at that dinner. And life is like that.

So, I hope that that answers your question—so, yeah, I’m not being very specific, I know. But the heart is about being full. And if she brings joy to you and you bring joy to her....

And this is what’s so important in the relationships, that we really understand that that’s what it is about, you know, “How can I bring joy to that other person and how can I receive the joy that that other person brings to me?”

Then, it’s really just that. Just that. And that’s a gift that you give to her—that has no value. Monetarily, you could never fix a value to it. The value of it is infinite. And the joy that she brings to you, the value of that is infinite; there’s no limit to it.

So, I hope that helps. So, thank you very much—and I’ll see you all very soon. There are quite a few more questions, by the way—but we’re going to keep the time about the same.

So, I’ll see you tomorrow! Thank you.

View all released episodes of "Lockdown" under the Series tab.

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope this video finds you all well. And again, just continuing with the questions today.

Another question is, “I’m confined with my wife, my mother-in-law and my daughter, eight-year-old Laura. Laura and me try to get the best of this time and I share with her your thoughts and guidance and she likes it. But my wife and my mother-in-law are quite afraid with anxiety. I would like to help them but I do not know how. Can you help me? Thanks.” And this is a question from Pedro.

Good question, Pedro—because I think a lot of people are very afraid of this thing, of what’s going to happen. And it’s not a big deal. When it really comes down to it, you have to take a few precautions.

Now, this virus is a common-cold virus, from what I have understood. And it really has very mild symptoms, unless you have problems, underlying problems; then it can get quite complicated. This is my understanding of what I have heard from various different doctors.

But basically, if you keep your hands clean and don’t touch your face, stay away from the person who possibly is a carrier for this disease, not be in an environment where their sneeze or something like that could be hanging around for a long time, then you really don’t have much to worry about.

So it’s, if you’re in isolation and you’re not going out there and you’re maintaining your distance, keeping your hands clean and not touching your nose and mouth and eyes, you have very little to be afraid of.

That may be a fact that goes in and makes a difference for a person or doesn’t. But really, what they need to understand is “There is still life. And the appreciation that they can have for this life is still important.” They’ll be okay. If they take precautions, they’ll be okay.

But, you know, and maybe in this particular set of circumstances, people get very confused—but hey, you’ve got to take those precautions when you cross the street!

You know, and a lot of times, when Americans go to England—and they drive on the other side of the road—and, you know, it’s quite easy to look the wrong way to see if the traffic is coming. And that’s, you know, they see, “Oh, yeah, it’s clear,” and they step out and they could be stepping out right in front of an oncoming car.

So, precautions, we have to always take. If we don’t take those precautions, we don’t manage to do or get our job done that we have to do.

So, it really is a question of setting the priorities straight. The priority cannot be to get scared. Because what that does is it’ll drag your body down. It wears on you.

And when that happens—I mean, anxiety, people are anxious about something—and they don’t sleep well. And that’s the worst thing you can do for your immune system. You need to get good sleep for your immune system to be at its peak, so you don’t have to.

See, the good news is, you can take precautions—and these precautions will assure you that you won’t get it. It’s as simple as that. And so there’s no reason to be afraid.

“Dear Prem, I have a question. Please, what can we offer, especially our children and grandchildren in times like these, apart from each other, kindness, love and empathy?” This is from Barbara, from Vienna.

Hello, Barbara. Good question. “What can we offer them?” The first thing—our family that we are maybe in lockdown with, one thing I wanted to tell you is, “Give everybody elbow room. Give everybody some space.” This is one of those things that, if we don’t do that, (especially if we are locked up in a house or a relatively small space), it can truly, truly drive everybody crazy.

So, please, take that kindness and make it mean something. And not just, “Oh, yeah, I’m going to be kind to you.” But make it mean something. And the way you can make it mean something is to give each other empathy, give each other that space that is very, very, very, very important.

So, I just, you know—and truly enjoy each other’s company, instead of sitting there and trying to find faults with each other. Because families have a way of doing that spectacularly. They just sit there and, “No, now that’s not how you do it. That’s wrong; this is that,” dah-dat-dat-dat, dah.... And this just drives everybody crazy.

Instead of doing that, give everybody space; give everybody respect. You know, we’re so eager to respect everybody outside of our family circle—but this is really a good time to give each other some respect, give each other some space, give each other some empathy, give each other some sympathy when it’s necessary.

Give each other an understanding. And appreciate each other’s company. When you appreciate something, something beautiful actually takes place.

And you need to appreciate each other’s company because, in fact, you do like each other. You don’t express it, but you do like each other. So, it’s a wonderful time to really do that, when you are in that situation, when it’s a lockdown situation.

“My question is, I am on some chat groups and people are having a difficult time and coming from a place of ‘doom and gloom.’ I want to share my thoughts with them about the beauty that we have—but I am a bit concerned that, because they have a very different perspective than me, they will not appreciate it. I don’t want to offend anybody by seemingly making light of the current situation.

“Do I share my thoughts and feelings only with those who I know share my perspective—or do I try to share with those who don’t?” And this is from David. I don’t know where you are from, David, but, great question.

And the reason why it’s a good question is because, you know, “Do you let people know the good news?” You don’t have to make light of it; it’s a serious situation for a lot of people.

And it is a serious situation. Because this is one of those viruses that, even though it’s in the family of viruses we get as a common cold—but this is one that we had never experienced before. This one hadn’t made that jump—and this one has made that jump.

And this is not the time for blaming each other or, you know, getting into that kind of stuff. But this is the time to really take everything one step at a time!

And the “doom and gloom” situation, people always want to paint that. You know, my suggestion to you would be, “Try; see how it goes.” Maybe you don’t get one hundred percent; maybe you get ten percent; maybe you get five percent, people who appreciate the message which is positive.

That would be wonderful. Because this is not the time of doom and gloom. I mean, there is no point in sitting there and lamenting, “My boat is sinking; my boat is sinking; my boat is sinking; my boat is sinking.” That’s not going to stop the boat from sinking! Do something; for God’s sake, do something.

And one of the most important things is to have a realistic perspective on this situation; weigh out all the bits and pieces, not just one thing.

Because, look, I say this many times. It’s like, you’re driving a car—and you see a sign and it says, “Speed limit,” you know, “fifty miles an hour” or whatever. What do you do?

Do you take your head and stick it on top of the speedometer and say, “Well, that’s the limit—and it didn’t talk about limit of ‘left’ and ‘right’ and this and that or, you know, hitting another car. No, I’m just going to make sure that I’m driving exactly fifty miles an hour—and hone in on that.”

Well, that’s going to definitely get you into an accident. And that’s what happens sometimes; people just zoom in on one thing.

And, you know, it’s like, I always question this one thing, “Why is it that people love to watch horror movies?” I mean, some of them are really grotesque. But some people enjoy that—they enjoy getting scared. And it’s like a “safe scary” thing, but they love being scared.

And so, maybe it’s another thing that’s just playing out for people, “Oh, it’s like, yeah, the doom and the gloom of it all. And it’s like, terrible and this is horrible and—we’re all going to die and, you know, I....”

But the thing is, human beings have gone through a lot. There have been plagues; there have been things that the medical science wasn’t there to even help out with. We are in a much, much better situation. At least, we can understand this. And we have a way to be able to understand this.

Now, are all the governments doing what they’re supposed to be doing? I don’t think so. And that—I’m not here to criticize them. We need to just get through this period. And that’s what’s important.

And so, yeah, “doom and gloom” is not what it’s about. I know there are people; I come across them all the time—you pull over to a stoplight and there’s, music is playing. And it’s not coming from my car; it’s coming from another car.

They certainly are upbeat about their music and they want the whole world to hear it! I mean, they’ve got their windows rolled down; they’re just going at it. And it’s like, “Look what I’ve got. And I’m playing this song....”

You enjoy. You enjoy yourself, first of all. You enjoy this message; great, enjoy it. You don’t want to be part of the “doom and gloom,” then don’t be.

And, you know, if you want to help people, sure, help them out. Maybe they will appreciate it; maybe they won’t. If they don’t, shut up. And if they do, keep going. It’s as simple as that. (Maybe I made it sound too simple.) So, I hope that helps.

Another one is, “My question is, ‘how to recognize that you are slipping back into unconsciousness before it takes hold—and you’re swept away into the drama and emotions?’ Thank you.” From Karen.

Hello, Karen. A great question. It’s a great question; this—and I’m telling you, this is relative to the situation that we are facing today. And this is very relevant in terms of every day that we live.

So, question is, “How do we recognize—you are slipping back into unconsciousness?” Because you’re going too fast. Things are happening too fast; slow down. Slow down. Take it one step at a time. That’s how life is meant to be lived.

Just because the world has gone on this tweak of, “Let’s see how much you can do, how advanced you can be, how much you can accomplish....” You know, look, I used to be one of those people who used to advocate 150 percent, 200 percent. The reality is, there is no such thing as 200 percent.

My understanding since then is, “Take it easy, one step at a time. What are you doing? What are you about to do?” Give it some thought. That’s what consciousness is about. “What am I experiencing? What am I feeling? Where am I headed? What are the consequences of what I am about to do?”

If people could do that, my God, all of a sudden, you wouldn’t have a need for prisons. You wouldn’t have a need for all these, you know, guns coming out and all these things that keep on happening.

If people could just have that in their life, very simple: “Slow down. Take it easy. Do things eyes wide open, not eyes closed. Understand what you are about to do.” And these are the ways. Because when that speed comes, that’s what speed does; it makes you blind to the obviousness of what you are about to do.

What a great way to practice this—what a great way to practice this every day that you are in the lockdown, because you can afford to slow down. You don’t have to—well, what are you going to speed up for? You know, there’s no reason to.

So, great question; “Slow down.” And look at it and assess what you’re doing, assess what’s going on. Be cognizant of things that you are about to do—instead of just doing them and then looking at the consequences later. So, I hope that helps.

Okay, here is another one that has to do with “the consequences of unconsciousness is doom.” “Is it possible the extent of the doom can make it impossible to experience the joy in the now? Needless to say, I found myself in a deep hole. Michelle.”

Look, I’m sorry you found yourself in a deep hole. You shouldn’t be. Because had you been conscious, you could have avoided it.

You know, the whole issue isn’t—in life, the whole issue isn’t about making things disappear, making your problems disappear. It’s really about going around them, learning the art of going around your problem, around....

You know, you don’t have to look at the mountain and say, “Well, I’ve got to go over that mountain." No, find a way around that problem. So much easier, so much nicer, so much more doable. And that’s how it should be.

So, don’t be unconscious—because that’s not what life wants you to be! Life wants you to be very conscious—and appreciating, every day, everything that is happening around you.

I don’t know if I’ve ever really said that “the consequences of unconsciousness is doom”—but I do agree that it’s pretty darn close to it.

And always understand one thing. There is nothing that you cannot change. You have a choice. At any given moment, you can always come down from the mountain and say, “Okay, I’ll find a way around this mountain; I’ll find a way around my problems; I’ll find a way around these issues.”

This is a choice you can always make—always make. And would it be a waste of time? No, it actually may save you a lot more time than you realize.

So, I hope that helps. And please, don’t be in a deep hole; don’t be in a pickle. You can come out of it. And you figured out how to get into it; you can figure out how to get out of it. And then, once you do? Most important thing is, “avoid, avoid, avoid.”

So, that’s all the time we have for today. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.

View all released episodes of "Lockdown" under the Series tab.

Prem Rawat:

Hello, hello, hello, everyone. I hope you’re all well, safe—and healthy in this time of coronavirus.

So, I’d like to just talk a little bit about, you know, so much that I hear all day long that goes on—a lot of uncertainty, a lot of bad decisions being taken. On one hand, yes, all these things that are happening out there affect us; of course they do. And some of those bad decisions, of course, affect us. Because you look at the United States; it’s number one now—for the wrong reasons, it’s number one!

And when you look at the population of China versus the population of the United States, it’s a lot less than China. And they actually did fare better. (And just, yeah, I’m just looking at numbers, okay; I’m not looking at political situations.)

So, we have to make some decisions for ourselves. And what decisions are those that we have to make? Well, under the circumstances, I cannot guarantee many things. But I can guarantee one thing to myself—that I will feel well within me. This I can guarantee.

Because I can do something about that. I may not be able to do anything about coronavirus; I may not be able to do anything about the testing; I may not be able to do anything about a million other things, the economy, the this, the that. But whatever happens, wherever I end up, wherever the situations end up....

Because, you know, it’s not easy. And everybody would love to know; everybody would love to just say, “Yeah, this is where it’ll be.” But it’s very difficult, because it’s just one mistake after another mistake after another mistake—and I’m sure they’re going to keep on making the mistakes.

But a long time ago, when the Arab Spring began and I was meeting some political figures—I was in Italy—and this lady I remember, she was very touched by everything that was going on with the Arab Spring. And she said, “How are people going to survive? How are people going to be okay? This is so bad.”

And I said, “That’s the only thing, ultimately, that ends up being okay—are the people. We have continued to be. Many regimes, many kings, many emperors have come and gone. Many civilizations have come and gone. But ultimately, we have survived.”

And that’s a pretty big statement. You know, when you look at these mighty empires that have fallen—but people have gone on. And they have morphed; they have allowed themselves to exist.

So, what can I do? Well, first of all, I have to come from strength, not weakness. Because weakness is not going to allow me to see the possibilities that might exist at that point in time. And the second, most important thing—you have to be flexible.

Last night, this is what I was thinking about—is like, you see these trees. And there are trees that are very rigid; they don’t flex. And they break! They’re gone; they’re done. And those trees that are flexible in the wind, in the storm, survive! Because they can flex, because they can bend, because they can move....

Now, of course, you know, the way we see ourselves is like, “Well, I’m not mobile; I am this—and this is who I am.” We want to see ourselves as a rock. But when that storm comes, that’s not the best thing to be. The best thing to be is to be flexible. And I’ll give you an example.

When I was in Brazil—of course, I left Spain and I flew to Brazil. And the reason why I left Spain is to go to Argentina. And then after Argentina, I was supposed to go to Uruguay. And everything was set—and we were going to do some events and, you know, going to visit a prison and “all that was going to be great.”

So I was looking forward to that. And I flew from Barcelona, flew to Brazil. And I was in Brazil. And then all of a sudden, (it was like, I think, the second day), I was supposed to go to Argentina, fly down to Argentina—I was four-and-a-half, four hours away from Buenos Aires. And all of a sudden, it was like, “No, nobody’s coming into Argentina; it’s a lockdown.”

“Wow. What’s going to happen now? Can we go to Uruguay? Naah, I don’t want to go to Uruguay because I don’t want to do an event and have all these people coming to see me.... And that could really, you know, trigger a coronavirus thing. And so, you know, I don’t want that, the COVID 19. I don’t want that.”

So I decided not to go. “So, what am I going to do? Maybe they’ll lift this; maybe something will happen.” And it was so frustrating. Because it was like, “Okay, let’s go to Africa then; let’s go to South Africa.”

“No, you can’t go to South Africa,” because by the time they found out that, you know, we could go to South Africa, then the next day it came out, “You can’t go to South Africa because they’re going into a lockdown.” And I was like, “Well, wait a minute. What am I going to do? What am I going to do?”

And then all of a sudden, I realized that the situation was so fluid—it was like water. It was just changing, changing, changing, changing, changing, changing, changing. And you know, change is one of those things! Most people are afraid of a change. They don’t understand what that change is all about and so they’re like, “I don’t want to change. I don’t want things to change.”

Well, in that moment, believe me, I didn’t want things to change. I had a plan! And, you know, my plan involved a lot of things. It wasn’t just me—it was all the people in Argentina who were going to come and see me. It involved those people; it involved a whole crew that was going to go down there for the stage setup, for the microphone setup, for the audio, video, all that setup that needed to happen.

And then, all the permissions that had been gotten for the prison, for my visit there. So, it was just this huge preparation that was afoot. And they had been waiting for a very, very long time for me to come. But it’s like, “Okay, stop. Look at the situation. It’s not going according to your ‘plan,’ quote-unquote, ‘plan.’” What is that plan?

You know, we have a camera—and the camera is here. And this camera makes pictures. I didn’t say “takes” pictures, mind you; I said it “makes” pictures. So this camera up here makes pictures. And these pictures are very, very powerful. They are not to be underestimated—and they are the root reason why I have expectations, because of these pictures that are created here.

And so I had all these expectations. So, first, first, reaction, “Try to make happen. But it’s not going to happen; it’s out of your control. The situation is so fluid, you’ve got to become like water.”

Now, you know, when you’re packing—and traveling, packing, you have to be very careful of liquids. Because even if you don’t tighten a cap completely tight, it will leak out—because that is the nature of liquid. It requires so little space; it is so fluid that it’ll take any opportunity that it gets and it’ll escape. It’ll go where it wants to go.

So, all of a sudden, it was like, “Well, wait a minute. Why am I fighting all this? Because what I really need to do is be as fluid as the situation requires. Then there is no problem. Then there is absolutely no problem.”

Now, as a pilot, we do this all the time! I mean, if there is a thunderstorm sitting on your airway, you don’t stress. You go, “I’m going to go around it.” You take a look at your radar, take a look at your satellite picture and make a, you know, good, informed decision of which way best to go around that.

You’ll take a look at the wind. And if the wind is blowing one way, you don’t want to go downwind of that thunderstorm. If you can, go upwind. And if you go downwind, you may have to go for quite a while to get around it. And you make a good, informed decision. You know, see if you’re going to top it, not top it. “Do you need to go around?” And of course, it’s not a good idea to try to top it.

If it’s just a small thunderstorm, it doesn’t matter. But if it’s a big one, you know, and you’d lost an engine or something; you’re on top of it, then you have to go down? And what are you going to do? Because down below is something you don’t want to get into.

So, what you do is you go around, go around it. So, I realized, “I have to be fluid. I have to go—but I have to work with the situation. The situation isn’t going to work with me; I have to work with it.” And then it just all started to make sense. It’s like, “Yeah! In my life, that’s the way it is. I have to be fluid.”

Now, easy enough said under these circumstances. But when these circumstances are not there, do I understand that I have to be fluid then, too?

Or am I just sitting there making pictures—this camera up here is making pictures—not taking pictures, making pictures. And these pictures are pretty powerful pictures; I want things to be a certain way! And that’s it! “If it doesn’t work out that way, it’s terrible.”

And, you know, so, there are people who are going to say, “Well, you know, the rich and the powerful, they have that picture and they work for it.” Yeah, some of the rich and powerful have destroyed their entire fortune because of that picture in their head. And it goes on every day! It goes on every day. The picture gets created—and then it’s like, “I will try to make it happen the way this picture is.”

But it’s not about that. It’s not about making that picture happen. There is something else that has already been created and taken—there is a picture that has already been taken—and that picture is your wellness, your safety, your strength, your courage.

You see, that’s the whole thing. Everybody in this world knows about all the negatives that you have in you. You know about those. No questions asked; you know about the anger; you know about the fear; you know about the doubt; you know about the uncertainty.... Nobody in this world has to explain those to you.

But you don’t know about these other things that you have. And unfortunately, these other things are really, really powerful. Kindness—to yourself, first. Because unless that kindness is working for you, you’re not going to be able to be kind to others.

I know you want to be kind to others because that’s the doctrine that you have been preached. But the way it begins is first, that kindness has to be for you. First thing, the clarity, before you can put out any clarity for somebody else, that clarity has to be there for you! Otherwise, if you are not able to see....

You know, and what good does it do for a driver if everybody else can see fine but the driver can’t see? How long is that bus ride going to last; how long is that car ride going to last? How long is it going to be that that flight is going to be safe—if the pilot cannot see but everybody else can see just fine?

So—and you know, this is the caution that they have for the oxygen masks. “If you have a baby or if you have a child, first put your mask on. Because if you pass out because of the lack of oxygen, you will never be able to help that little child.”

So, you have to have that clarity first. You have to have that kindness first; you have to have that understanding first. And then and then only, will be able to effect it for somebody else.

So, this is what it becomes; this is what it is all about. You, as a human being, have these traits; you have these strengths. But because, whatever—you know, maybe nobody taught you that you had these strengths. But you know you have them. Well, this is the time to use them.

And if you do, if you come with clarity, if you come with understanding, if you come, not with doubt, but just clear—then I don’t see a problem. At the long run of it, I don’t see a problem. You will be able to make steps—especially those pictures that get created in your mind, if you were to be able to put them aside.

It happens—I see it everywhere, everywhere. I mean, and I give this as an example—and one time it was my grandson’s birthday. And we had gotten him some presents that we were going to—we were saving for the later part of his birthday party. And we had gotten him some presents that he got to open before.

And he comes to me—and he goes, “That’s the worst birthday I have ever had.” And I’m like, “Whoa.” You know, and then when he opened his really neat presents, he was like, “Oh, no, okay, this is a good birthday.”

Where did that come from? Because he had—he had something in his brain, in his mind, of how his birthday should be. And it wasn’t going according to that plan; it had changed.

You look at people who get married—and there used to be a whole show; it was called Bridezillas. And, you know, the bride’s gone crazy, because they have this idea of how the whole wedding should be—and it wasn’t going according to the plan.

So this camera that you have up there, it makes some pretty powerful pictures. And then you try to weigh everything against that, “How is that; how is that; how is that; how is that; how is that?” And that’s how your world revolves.

So, even in these circumstances, it’s kind of a little bit funny—because right now, you didn’t know what to expect, so this thing wasn’t really producing any kind of pictures. But now it slowly, as the time wears on, starts producing pictures. “This is how it should be; this is how it should be; this is how it should be.”

You know, why can’t families come together and tolerate each other—because of the pictures! “I expect this of you; I expect this of you and I expect this of you,” and it’s all about expectations. Put those aside—and all of a sudden you have a very fluid human being and you have a very fluid situation—that can move, that can change, that can go with it.

And that’s who you are. This is your possibility. This is what you can be. You don’t have to be this other being that is confused all the time, that is wondering and puzzled and bewildered and, you know, looking at anything of “where is that planet and where is this and where is that? And how does that work and how does that work and how does that...?”

No, you don’t have to be that. You can come from strength; you can come from clarity. And whatever the situation and whatever curveballs the situation throws at you, that I want you to know that you have enough strength that you can tolerate any curveball that coronavirus or anything throws at you. You can endure it; you can take care of yourself; you can be. You can be safe.

Of course, that’s between the two walls—that’s between the two walls. That’s the possibility. And your life, your existence should mean everything to you—because it is. It is the most precious gift, most beautiful gift that has been given to you, that already has been given to you.

And you’re the caretaker. How fortunate you are that you’re the caretaker of the most magnificent gift there ever can be—and it’s called “life.” It’s called “a human being”—that aspires to be free, that aspires to be content, that aspires to be in peace.

Be in peace. Be in joy. Fulfill those aspirations of the heart. And you too will see the value of life.

So, again, hope you feel good. Be safe—and be well. And be! Thank you.

View all released episodes of "Lockdown" under the Series tab.

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope everyone is well, doing well. And what I want to talk about today is about feeling hope, feeling good.

Because that’s something you can do. You don’t have to feel victimized by this; you don’t have to feel like “Oh my God, you know, this is the most horrible thing”—even though it is! It is the most horrible thing.

But you don’t have to be victimized by it. You can understand that you are the source of your own treasure. And you have a tremendous amount of treasure in you. You have hope in you; you have clarity in you; you have understanding in you. And these are the things you have to dig up now—for real. I mean, what other option do you have?

So, something has to happen; something like reality has to hit. I mean, here it is! You know, so what are you going to do? Things are not looking that good. You know that we’re almost, not quite—you know, we’re at the 800,000-plus mark, very rapidly approaching a million people.

And a huge death rate—not that bad, but still, one is too many, in my opinion. And there’s a lot of bad news out there, “Oh, this is terrible; that’s terrible and everything....” And yeah, there is—you know, we rely so much on world leaders to see us out of these pickles and these....

And some of the, some leaders are good, no question about it. But some leaders are out to lunch and they have not come back and they’re not coming back anytime soon. Because everything they do, they’re just more confused and more confused—I mean, truly, there’s no leadership in some places.

So, what happens next? You know, you have to stay isolated; yeah, the situation is not that good. “Where is the money going to come from? Where is the job security going to come from? Where are all these things going to come from?” Well, good questions. Truly, truly good questions.

And what can I do? I can’t open up a factory somewhere and try to offer jobs to people—I wish I could. So, what do I do; what can I do? Well, maybe I can help you tap into a source of hope, a source of clarity, a source of understanding, a source of the light that is in you.

So, not that it’s going to answer all your questions. But you, as a human being, will be far more fulfilled, better prepared to move forward, better prepared to take on this coronavirus, better prepared, in fact, to take on whatever might come your way.

And that would be a wonderful thing. That would be a wonderful thing. Because in life, bad things do happen. Things that are not wanted, things that we don’t like, they do happen. And when they do happen, you know, we get stumped, where it’s like, “Oh my God, now what’s going to happen?”

And that’s the obvious question, “Now what’s going to happen? I’m ruined; I’m destroyed; I’m this; I’m that.” And we can—it’s so easy for us to take on the negative side of things. And maybe we say, “Well, but that’s the reality.”

But there is another reality. And I would like to point out that reality to you. Under this dismal situation, under this incredible darkness, what you really need is a beacon, is a light. And there is one. And that’s the good news; there is one.

And that beacon, that light is in you. You are the source. You are that angel that has come, that can save—you, you! You are that beacon that you’re looking for, that little hope, that little knowing, “Okay, there, there it is.”

And, you know, when you go out in the ocean, when you can see the land it’s a whole different feeling; it's a whole different feeling—you can see the land. You know exactly where you are: “Okay, there is that. And if something happens, that’s the way we’ll end up with; that’s the way we’ll go.”

But then when you get out further—no land—and all you see is water, water, water, water everywhere. Water, water, water everywhere. And it all looks the same! Of course, it all looks the same. “So, where are we going?”

Well, at that moment, there is something that you have to look at. And if you don’t have anything fancy or something like that, but if you have a compass—because that compass is always pointing to that magnetic north.

What is that magnetic north? That is telling you, “There, the north is that way. And if your course is east (090), then steer 090 and you will go east—180 and you’ll go south, 270 and you’ll go west. You want to go north? No problem; follow the compass.”

Do you have a compass? Yes, you do. You have a compass within you. Not here. But here—the compass that always points to what the reality truly is. The reality? The reality is “You are alive.” The reality is “You exist.”

And so far you exist, you have incredible hope. You can accomplish anything you want! Anything that is not favorable to you, you can change it. This is the possibility.

And one of the examples I give—you know, things didn’t go very well for Ram. You know, a few thousand years ago—and things did not go well for him. He, the day—and you’ve already heard the story—the day he was supposed to be christened the king, he was instead told, “No, you’re not going to be crowned the king—but you have to go and be exiled for fourteen years.”

He’d recently just gotten married—and he said to his wife; he says, “Well, okay, I won’t see you for fourteen years.” And she said, “No way. I’m coming with you.” Looked at his brother and his younger brother, he said, “Well, I’m coming with you too.”

So, that’s bad enough, right? So, you’re not going to be king and you’ve got to go out into the jungle for fourteen years.... Okay, now you don’t have any technology. You’ve got to go out in this jungle; where are you going? No, to no particular place. Just wandering around, finding food, literally, just from the trees, bushes—berries, fruits, vegetables, whatever he can get hold of. You’re in exile!

Does it get worse? Well, of course it gets worse. Well, what happens? Well, what happens is, in the midst of all this, Sita gets stolen, kidnapped by Ravan and gets taken to Lanka. Now, Ram doesn’t even know where he’s taken her.

So, finally he meets some people who say, “Okay, you know, she’s in Lanka; this is where Raven has taken her, so why don’t you go there?” So he goes.

And you think that’s bad enough? No! Now, what’s he going to do? This king, Ravan, the king of Lanka, he is mighty; he’s powerful! How is he going to take him on? He’s got an army; Ram doesn’t have an army.

Ram doesn’t have an army; Ravan has a huge army. And not only that; the army, Ravan’s army is made up of monsters! And so, how is Ram going to even take this challenge on?

So, things get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, but Ram doesn’t lose that hope. He doesn’t succumb to it. He keeps his head above the water—and he finally gets an army together.

And he—don’t start laughing but it is hilarious—the army that Ram gets together is made of monkeys and bears. (Oh my.) And they don’t have the technology to make a bridge, so they take rocks—and they get them to float so that they can walk across the barrier to Lanka, to this island.

Never losing hope becomes so important—and there is no reason to lose hope; that’s why you need that compass, the compass that’s always pointing to that one direction, saying, “There it is! There it is; there is your beacon; there is your light; there is; there it is.” And you don’t need to lose. You don’t need to succumb; you don’t need to give in to all of this negativity.

You know, and a lot of times, you know, when we come across all that negativity, “Oh, this is a problem; that’s a problem,” people would start to get scared. And now you realize that, you know, social media is no help, no help whatsoever for this. And you have to make those decisions; you have to figure out what is fake, what is real.

And I’m not here to tell you about the bad; I’m here to tell you about the good—always, to tell you that there is that possibility in your life that you can be fulfilled. There is the possibility in your life that you can go forward.

Always, always, so far this breath is in you, keep moving forward. How incredible is that? How amazing is that, that even in this time of where you would lose all hope....

And a lot of people, I’m sure, are sitting there going, “Oh my God, you know, this is the biggest fiasco that ever hit.” Maybe it is the biggest fiasco. That just means, that much more, you have to push.

And talking about pushing, you know—you realize what you went through when you were born? Do you have any idea what you went through when you were born?

And somebody told me, it’s like a rocket taking off, a huge rocket taking off; that much energy has to be put forth—you, the baby puts forth to get out of the mother’s womb.

The transition that you have to make—literally, what maybe took millions of years, to go from totally being submerged in water to oxygen, has to happen in a matter of a few hours.

And the stakes are incredibly high. The stakes are incredibly high. And everything is against you. In a way, everything is against you; you are fragile; you’re weak; you have never been in this world before.

And talk about unknown; you’re stepping—are you stepping into a total unknown? Absolutely. You have no idea. Your brain isn’t working yet, not the way it should be, where you can make decisions and so on and so forth. It’s just a feeling and you go for it.

And it takes this incredible amount of energy. And you come out. And from having all that water and surviving on the mother, from the mother, from that, through that umbilical cord, you have to now do everything yourself. You have to now breathe for yourself.

So, the reason why I’m telling you this? You are no stranger to challenges. You are no stranger to challenges. And take on this challenge—and even in the midst of this incredible darkness, find your light. Find your joy; find your hope, find your understanding; find your clarity; find your heart.

And exist—and be! And not only be, but thrive! Feel good! Be. And be thankful. Three things—“Know yourself, live your life consciously—and have a heart full of gratitude.” Don’t forget those. Don’t forget those. That’s very, very important.

Know who you are—why? So that you know that these treasures are within you. That’ll give you more power; that will empower you more to move forward. That’s what you need to do.

You know, instead of going stir-crazy, like, “Oh my God, you know, where am I going to go...?” And the mind comes in and it’s like, “Oh, yeah, I want to go there; I want to go there; I want to go there; I want to go there; I want to go there.”

Hey, you are the creator of your circumstances. Either you create a heaven for yourself—or you can create a hell for yourself. It’s up to you. My recommendation? Create a heaven for yourself. Whilst you’re at it, create a heaven for yourself. Enjoy! Enjoy yourself, enjoy being! Enjoy existence.

Give it a thought; give it a thought—the earth is just cruising at thousands and thousands of miles an hour and there you are, totally protected. All is well.

Be. Understand. This breath is coming in you—your power, the mightiest of all things.

So, I hope you have a great day—and a wonderful day. Be; be safe; be healthy; be well. And most importantly, be.

I’ll see you again. Thank you.

View all released episodes of "Lockdown" under the Series tab.

Prem Rawat:

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re doing wonderfully. Besides all these crazy things happening with coronavirus and all that stuff, that you yourself are doing well—and that’s what’s important.

So, today, what do I want to talk about? And I was thinking about that last night—and I thought of something that would be really wonderful to, at least, talk about and consider, if nothing else. So, let me begin with this little story.

So, a man had graduated and he was going home, very happy he had graduated and that he knew that he’s going to be now looking for a job and doing, you know, all the things that, once you have graduated, you want to do!

So, he’s on his way going home and he sees an old man. And the old man has got a big, big, big, big load of wood on his shoulders, on his back, and he’s hunched over and he’s walking very slowly.

Upon seeing this, the man had an idea. He says, “Well, you know, I, I’m just starting off in life—and this man here, he has been traversing this road of life for a really long time. So why not ask him of how best to be in this world, how best to take advantage of all the things that would be wonderful? Because maybe I can learn something from this old man.”

So, as he caught up to him, he tapped him and he said, “Hey, old man, tell me how to make the most out of life. Because I’m just starting off—and obviously, you have been doing this for a really long time; you must have something you can tell me.”

The old man stopped. He took the big bundle, the load off his back. He stood up straight. Then he put the load back on his shoulders again, on his back again and he hunched over and he walked away.

Well, that’s the end of the story. Did the old man give this man a message—oh, absolutely. And the message is that in life, we walk hunched with a heavy load on our back, really heavy load.

And load of things that, you know—that it’s just like, “Oh, that person said that to me and that person said that to me. And he did that to me and I’ve got this problem with that person. And oh, that person doesn’t like me because of this and that person does this,” and all this weird stuff that we accumulate.

“Oh, you know, I am a failure.” “I am a successful person.” “I am a failure because of this; I am not good at this and I can’t do this and I can’t do that....” And I was thinking, “My God, you know, that is such a load that we carry on our shoulders.”

And now, here we are in this situation of a lockdown, don’t have too many places to go. What, what would it be like—and nothing else, to just consider resetting, resetting that button? What would it be like to just let go? And accept the beautiful, simple reality of existence. That, like a child, to wake up every day....

And I certainly remember waking up when I was a little child—and I was ready for the day; I was ready to accept the day. I was ready for the day’s challenges. Nothing was a routine; nothing was “Oh, I have to do this and I have to do this and I have to do this,” no. It didn’t matter.

Whatever the day was going to throw at me, I was going to accept it; I was going to accept the challenges. And I was excited, excited to be alive, excited to have that morning, excited to have that beautiful opportunity—and to accept those opportunities from a very open and a clear heart and mind.

Not already pre-contaminated, “Oh my God, you know, the day is going to be really terrible; the, but this is going to be that; this is going to be that.”

It’s like, one day there was a king—and he came out to his balcony. And he was looking over and he saw this man. And he was walking away and the man saw the king and he acknowledged him and, you know.... And that day the king had a horrible day, absolutely horrible day.

So, the king called this guy over—in the evening, he called him over and he says, “Put him to death.” And the guy says, “Well, why do you want to put me to death? Why are you killing me?” He goes, “Because—I just, this morning when I woke up, I saw your face. And I had such a terrible day that, you know, I’m putting you to death.”

The guy looked at the king and he said, “Sire, you just had a terrible day; I’m about to lose my life! And I saw your face—and that was the first thing I saw in the morning. So, you are even more unfortunate than I am”—to look at, anyways.

And so that, you know, it’s like, every day we get up—and already the tape recorder starts playing, “You’ve got to do this; you’ve got to do this; you are late; you are this; you are that. You know, that person doesn’t like you. Oh, you have to tell this person that. And you have to do this and you have to do that.”

And it goes from your family to your colleagues, to your friends, “Yeah, we’ve got to answer this; you’ve got to answer that. You’ve got to do this; you’ve got to do that. You, you, you know”—and I know there are people; they write a message and they need the reply right away. If they don’t get their reply right away they start freaking out and it’s like, “Oh my God, something is wrong.”

And you’ve got to look at the world and then you’ve got to—you’ve got to say, “Okay, you know, what’s going to happen here; what’s happening there; what’s happening? Oh my God, we’ve got to share this,” and all of this tape recorder that’s playing.

And, you know, in a way, should I blame anybody for this; should I think that that’s wrong? In one way, I can completely understand there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s perfectly okay. But the only thing that I see remotely wrong with all that is that it distracts me from me!

Now, there is a call that I have too—and maybe I don’t hear it every day. And certainly when I am mesmerized by all the problems of the world, maybe I don’t pay attention to it. But there is a call. There is a call from within, 24/7, 365. And that call is saying, “Be fulfilled. Be real. Be true. Be. Understand. Court clarity. Make all the things that are good part of your life.”

And that’s the heart’s call to action. And our call to action is, “Answer that; get the mail; get, look at the messages, you know; look at the news, the, do this and do that. And respond to this and respond to that.” And these are—tons of responsibilities.

So, the question is, can we just hit a button that can reset us? And maybe there is no such button that can reset us. But maybe in here, we can start to appreciate that life is trying to tell me something. That I am trying to tell me something. That indeed, this universe is trying to tell me something.

And when I look at—I look at everything. When I look at dirt—and this is who I am. I am that dirt. From these elements, the very thing that I look at and call just “dirt,” that’s what made me. This is—this skin, these bones, this blood, these muscles, the organs, that’s what they’re made out of.

And then the day that I hit the other wall; I’m gone, that’s what I’m going to become—dust. From dust we come and to dust we go. And yet, what about life?

Well, a lot of people go, “Well, what about life?” And the question comes up, “What about life,” because nobody pays enough attention to it. Nobody is saying “That’s what’s important.” Not all the other things that happen. What’s important? What’s important is the coming and going of this breath.

How sweet and powerful is this breath! How incredible is this breath—that it comes into you, and what does it bring you? No ordinary gift—an extraordinary gift. And it is the gift of life itself.

Sweetly, simply, to come into you, to fill you so that you can be alive, exist. You can think. And there is no limit to what you can think about; you can think about anything you want. And you should. You should be able to think about anything you want. But you should also think about your basic needs. And I’m calling them “needs.” Not wants, needs.

You have a need in you to be fulfilled. You have a need in you to be content. You have a need in you to be in joy. These are your needs. Without them, the consequences are horrible. Without them there is sadness; there’s depression; there is confusion.

And you know, it’s one of those things; it’s like, we talk about doubt. And doubt—fine. Well, should you have no doubt, ever? Well, no. Every chef, every cook, you will see them do one thing. After they make their dish, they’ll taste it. Why are they tasting it? They’re tasting it because they’re doubting. They want to know; they want to know for certain, the salt is right; the taste is correct.

They doubt it. They doubt it—but they do something to get over the doubt. And all they have to do is taste it. Tasting it, now they have no question whether it is good, whether it tastes good, whether it tastes correct like it should, whether the salt is right, the chilies are right, whatever—the seasoning is right: “Everything is good.”

So, doubt is not the issue. It is to get over that doubt. And when you’re stuck on the other side and you’re doubting, doubting, doubting, doubting, doubting, doubting, doubting, doubting.... I mean, right now, are you doubting? You shouldn’t be. Get over it. Get over it, because here is the opportunity.

And we know, somebody, I’m sure, is sitting there going “Why is this happening to me?” Well, you can sit there and question yourself till the cows, you know, come home in the evening that, you know, wondering, wondering, wondering, “Why is this happening to me?” Or you can say, you know, “What can I do that would truly benefit me at this time? I have room for improvement. I mean....”

I mean, I am sure there are people who don’t think they have any room for improvement, but take my word for it, everybody has room for improvement. And can you improve? Can you accept in your heart, in your mind, that you have a choice? And you can choose. You can choose all that that your needs are. You haven’t paid attention to them.

And what an incredible way to be able to reset, by listening, simply listening—and then doing something about those needs that you have, the need for joy.... To go outside, that’s not the need. That’s a want. The need is, you need to be safe.

But there are other needs too; there’s a need to be fulfilled. And that has nothing to do with “outside.” For that, you have to turn inside. For that clarity, you have to turn inside. For that beautiful understanding, you have to turn inside. Because that’s where you will find it. In you! In you—exists all those things that you think are so far away from you. And that’s the irony.

How beautifully Kabir describes that. “That that deer, the musk deer is looking for the scent of the musk. And it searches the forest—but that scent is actually coming from the deer’s own navel.” That’s where the musk is.

And it’s a tragedy. And how? That Kabir says, “Like there is fire in the flint, like there is oil in the sesame....” Little seed, sesame seed. You don’t think there is much oil in there but you squeeze a bunch of those seeds and there is a lot of oil, sesame seed oil. “And like in the flint, there is fire, so the divine is in you. And if you can awaken to that, awaken. If you can open your eyes to that, open.”

And where there is the divine, there is the clarity; there is the serenity; there is the understanding—all that is good is in you. Always has been, always will be. You will look for it outside—because that’s your habit. Now, nobody carries ice cream in their pocket. So when you want ice cream, you look for it outside—of course.

But the divine, you carry inside of you. The clarity, you carry inside of you. The understanding, you carry inside of you. The joy, you carry inside of you. Fulfillment, you carry inside of you—the true fulfillment. And that’s where you have to look for it. That’s where you have to see. That’s where you have to understand.

It’s not a question of “Oh, yeah, I know that.” It’s not a question of “Oh, yeah, I know that.” It’s a question of what are you doing with that—and if you know that the divine is inside of you, what are you doing about it?

Are you excited? I mean, how excited should you be? It should be no limits of how excited you should be that the divine is inside of you. You should be so excited that all those things that you look for, that you need, are inside of you. That that—that is another reality. We consider this world to be a reality—but there is another reality. And this is as real as it is. And sometimes it’s not very real.

I mean, you know, I had the best-laid plans. If somebody would have said, “In 2020, you know, there’s going to be a long period of time you’re not going to be doing events,” I would have said, “That’s not true. I want to go do events.” But the situation changed. I’m not going to invite people to a hall—open them up for contamination; I’m not going to do that.

So, here I am, trying to do my best, you know, to reach out to you, to talk to you through these videos. It’s not like there’s a ton of people in this room; there’s nobody else except me. I come in; I turn on the lights; I turn on the camera; I shoot. Then I take the card and upload the file and it, off it goes.

I’m used to talking on video but usually, there are a lot of people around—you know, somebody’s watching the camera; somebody’s watching the lights; somebody’s doing this; somebody’s doing the audio. But this is all just set up and—I do my thing. So, which one is real; what is real?

In April of 2019, there was no hint, (at least, to us), of any coronavirus. Everything was good. Everything was great. And all of a sudden, come around December, we start to hear, “coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus.” And everything starts to change. Then the next thing you know, lockdowns are happening. Lockdown here, lockdown there, lockdown everywhere.

But the reality of this breath has not changed. And because I was talking to somebody today on a phone call—and they said, “Oh, you know, everything has changed because of this.” And I said, “No. No. This is an obstacle, perhaps, in our plans—but the reality, the true thing has not changed.”

The breath still comes into you—and that’s what was keeping you alive before, is keeping you alive now—and hopefully, if you take those precautions, it will be keeping you alive for a lot longer than you want to, maybe. That would be great.

So, your life, your existence—a great time to even think about resetting. Let go; let go of all that burden that you carry on your shoulders—and stand up straight for a change. And walk this life, learn from this time. And enjoy being alive, even in this weird circumstance.

Don’t let it affect you. It doesn’t need to; it doesn’t need to affect you. It is what it is. All you need to do is take some precaution. And if you take those precautions, you’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.

So, take care of yourself. Be. Be safe. Be well. And most importantly, be.

I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you.

View all released episodes of "Lockdown" under the Series tab.

Prem Rawat:

Hello everyone; I hope everyone’s doing well—and safe, feeling good.

Today I thought I would just read a few comments and questions that have come from people who are attending PEP.

Oh, and by the way, yes, we are working towards the PEP, so you’ll just have to have some patience because usually when PEP is done—usually, you know, people come together and they all give their comments and thoughts, suggestions, ideas, obviously, but that’s not a happening thing.

So, we’re trying to do it so that I will do the lead on the—I’ll be the facilitator, basically. And then people will be able to write and send their comments or their findings and so on, and then I could read some of those to you. So, there’s a lot of prep that has to go on with it, but yes, we’re working on it. And it’s coming along nicely and I think it’s going to be fun.

So, here’s a question—and these are mostly from correctional facilities. And, “What does it mean to appreciate life, to savor each moment, to welcome each day as an opportunity for joy? There is love and kindness; there is hate and anger—but life is a gift. And I want to understand it as clearly as possible, to live every single day to its fullest.

“What grows in my garden of life will depend on what kind of life I live. Everyone has the power to transform, and this is my time.”

That’s what it means, actually—that you have answered your own question. Because to appreciate life, to savor each day, you have to start looking from a very different perspective. And, you know, this is—and this is going to be part of this training that I am putting together.

And one of the things that I came up with is called “un-change.” So, what does “un-change” mean? Un-change means that there was a time that you were in touch with all the goodness in your heart. Things were good! You had that eye; you had that perspective; you had that eye to look for the good. You didn’t look at things in a biased way; you looked at them from the eyes of reality.

Because we don’t see reality from the eyes of reality; we see them through our eyes. And by the time we start looking for that reality, our eyes that we are looking through are incredibly contaminated. But when we start seeing the reality with the eyes of reality, everything really changes—everything. The whole perspective really changes.

So, one of the things that you have to do is un-change, meaning there have been a lot of ideas that have been brought forth. And these ideas, some of them are okay—and some of them are not okay—and you have to weed out through them, you have to sort out through them, how you want to be. You have to make the decisions.

So, one of the things that the training is going to talk about—and I may be giving entirely too much away here—is “You have to be in control.” And you have to come from a clear perspective of “What do you want in your life?” What do you want; how do you want to be; how do you want to exist? Not how other people have told you, how other people would like it.

Because you see, it’s really a very weird little situation—because a lot of the demands on us, “We should be a certain way; we should be like this; we should be like this,” are actually made by society, so that we can fit into the society. Society wants to mold us.

But it actually backfires most of the time. Because in our molding, we start to lose ourselves and the more we lose ourselves, the more disoriented we become. And the more disoriented we become, then we start to go against what the society wants.

So, in fact, if you do know yourself, if you are in touch with that joy, if you are in touch with that beauty, you’re going to be a far better participating member of the society than the way the society approaches you to be a part of itself.

So, I’m not here for society; I’m here for you. And I want you to become strong; I want you to understand what it means “to appreciate life, to savor each moment.” And to do these things, you really have to develop, (or redevelop, I should say), because that’s the part of un-changing.

Because I am saying that you in your life, you know. And you have these powers in you. You have forgotten how to evoke them. You have forgotten how to evoke them and—can we come together and re-evoke those powers, that the criteria becomes kindness? And, you know, I don’t want to give more away of the training, but it looks like I can’t help it.

You know, and—and of course, we’re going to talk about this when the training happens, but to have patience with yourself, with your own understanding, because it takes a long time to walk out of that hole that we have put ourselves in. It takes a long time to start developing, redeveloping that perspective and start seeing reality with the eyes of reality.

So, that’s what it takes. “To welcome each day as an opportunity for joy,” you really have to become an opportunist. You have to really understand what this is all about. You really have to understand that concept of being in that shopping center—where you’ve got that limited amount of time and you’re not allowed to take anything with you....

You’re not allowed to take, physically, anything with you. So, this is the distinction you have to make; physically, you cannot take anything with you. You can have anything you want that’s in the shopping center—and that shopping center has just about everything. The only thing you will be able to take away.... And here is the trick. And the trick is to enjoy yourself in that....

You know, and my premise is that it’s like a lottery; you have won a lottery—and this award that you have won is that you get to spend an X amount of days in this shopping center. And this shopping center has shops that are just amazing. But you’re not allowed to take anything—when your time ends, you’re not allowed to take anything with you. So, what are you going to do?

Well, the strategy here is to enjoy every single day as much as you can—so that what you take with you when the time is over is that gratitude, is that thankfulness, is that enjoyment that you have had, “That, wow, that was wonderful; that was wonderful being there.” That’s the trick.

And it takes time. It takes time to come around to it, because it’s taken a long time to deviate from what our true potential is.

Another question—and this is a women’s correctional department, “Prem, how did you find peace?” Well, the same way you’re going to find peace, within me! I mean, I had to start—and you know, again, it takes a long time to start focusing inside. And my father was kind enough to give me a way, a mirror, that when I had that mirror, I could then take a look and see the true me, the real me.

So, then, of course, the comment is, “This is my favorite class. I try never to miss it. Happiness is not what we have, is what we feel.” You got it. That’s it! “Happiness is not what you have—but what you feel,” because happiness is about feeling.

Peace is not what you have. Peace is about what you feel. Joy is not about what you have—but joy is about what you feel. Love is not about what you have—but it is about what you feel. Clarity is not about what you have—but it is about what you feel. Brilliant. That’s it; you’ve got it.

“We look outside for fulfillment when we need to look inside.” Absolutely right. And this is from a university, adult education: “How can I separate myself from my worldly worries?”

Are you your worldly worries? The worries are—this is the point of it—the worries are always going to be there. It’s not like, if you took a vacation from your worries for two minutes, that they would disappear and you would have to go looking for them. No, they will find you. Don’t worry about losing your worries. They will always be there.

What you have to do is you have to be able to separate. It’s exactly like when sleep comes. And so, there you are; you may be sitting in a bus. And so the bus is full; it’s full of strangers. And of course, if you have ever seen a bus, you know, it is not exactly the most aerodynamic thing; it is not the most quietest thing.

And yeah, you know, bumps come; then it bumps up and down and a lot of times on the busses, the seats are not that comfortable....

Now comes sleep. So, you have noise—all the things that are going against you; you have noise; you are in the middle of the strangers, (not a very suited environment, well-suited environment to be falling asleep). You’re sitting in a stupid little chair that is not very comfortable. Again, not inducive to sleep, because you should be lying down. But here comes sleep.

And what happens? Well, what happens is all those other things that are not suited for it go right out the window—and slowly and slowly and slowly and slowly your eyes start getting heavier and heavier and heavier and you fall asleep.

That’s what has to happen here, too. The need, understanding the need, (not the want, the need), becomes so good; the thirst, (and I talk about it as “thirst”), thirst becomes so powerful that it supersedes all those other things. All those worries, all those, all the things that are not conducive for peace, it supersedes them. That’s what it’s all about.

Question is, “It’s important to know what’s going on in the world, but it’s not as important as what’s inside. How do I step back and do that?” Again, it’s a matter of habit. Because at one point in time, you didn’t care about what was going on in the world—because you were too young. You didn’t care about the world; you didn’t know what the world was. All you cared about was you.

Now you have learnt this behavior. And I would not say that, you know, you need to stop worrying about the world. No, it’s nice to know what’s going on in this world. But it’s also nice to know what’s going on inside of you. And this is, again, that un-change that has to happen.

Question, “He makes it sound so simple. The world is so un-peaceful. How do we go back? Is that even possible?” Well, yeah, of course, it is possible. If it isn’t possible then I’m just wasting my time. But I know I’m not, because I know I make the difference.

And as, that was the questions, but here are some of the comments: “I thought this class would be a philosophy on how to bring peace to the world, but Prem talks about a peace that’s already inside.” Yes. “The more I find peace within myself, the more it spills out to others.”

Yes, that’s what I’m saying. That’s that first thing that I talked about, you know, “where the society tries to mold you in a particular way....” But that’s not necessary because when you become whole....

You see, the thing is, when you are lit as a lamp, when you are lit as a candle, a lit candle can light unlit candles. If you take an unlit candle and rub it or bring it right to that fire that is on a lit candle, that unlit candle is not going to extinguish the lit candle—but quite the contrary; the lit candle will light up the unlit candle.

That is the most powerful rule—and that is what I bank on to bring peace to people in this world.

“Prem said that, ‘All you want is to be at peace,’ which was very profound. You look and look and look—and it’s in you.” Yes, it’s in you. “There is a song that goes, ‘People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.’ Prem would say, ‘People who know themselves are the luckiest people in the world.’” Absolutely, you got that right.

“This Peace Education course has surprised me because it’s not what I thought it would be. I look back at decades that went by when I wasn’t that conscious. What Prem is saying is simple, that it’s already here. It’s a matter of looking inward and finding contentment.” That’s right. That’s right; that’s right; that’s right; that’s right! You got it. See, it’s so simple. It’s so simple.

“A lot of us have never asked these questions Prem poses. We may have started off being inquisitive about ourselves, but then life happens. Prem helps me to be more open and reflective. Everything he says directs me back to my heart.” I hope so. I hope so.

This is, again—this is from a church, a Missionary Baptist Church. “I always pray for peace. Even with sexism, racism and other social ills, I want a peaceful nation.” We all want—we all want a peaceful place to stay. Believe me, we all want that; it’s not unique; this is your need! This is not a want; this is your need—and it’s very important.

“Do you think the way we are raised brings us into conflict with others?”

It’s not how we are raised; it’s how we are indoctrinated that brings us conflict with others—and that’s the indoctrination that has to get reversed. And that’s why I call it, not “the change,” but the “un-change” that needs to happen. And it’s a very powerful thing, the un-change—and hopefully, if we do have that training, that’ll come out.

And another question that was, “How can I better help teenagers?” Don’t treat them as teenagers; treat them as human beings and you can help them. Believe me, teenagers don’t want to be treated like a teenager. That’s what it is all about; remember when you were a teenager? You didn’t want to be a teenager; you wanted to be an adult!

You know, it’s a child making the leap to be wanting to be an adult. Don’t treat a teenager as a teenager and you will be their friend. Treat a teenager as a teenager and you will be their enemy. This is how simple it is. (Close to “enemy.”)

This is the Metro Reentry Facility. “It matters what I understand and what I don’t understand. My clarity is so important.” (That’s an expression.) “I can nurture kindness by treating others how I want to be treated.” Yes, of course.

“My four-year-old son was describing his new friend to me, saying that he likes transformers and his favorite color is green. ‘Anything else?’ I asked. He said, ‘His skin is darker than ours.’ For me, that would have been the first thing. But for my son, it was the last.” Absolutely. This difference of color, difference of this, difference of that, difference of language....

When the—but before you knew how to speak, what language was it? And you could communicate with anybody. You were communicating with your mother; you were letting her know, “I’m hungry.” You were letting her know, “Something is uncomfortable.” So, you know, this, of course, it’s very, very powerful, very beautiful stuff.

“I had an eye-opening”—and this is from a transitional center for women—“I had an eye-opening moment when Prem said ‘Your potential is a seed that lies dormant.’ I always thought peace was something to grow into. I didn’t realize it already exists in me.”

Another one, “I’m thriving, not just existing. Then my life can be really something.” Absolutely.

“Prem talked about ‘the dance of life.’ Sometimes the least little things can make us wobble. I want to stay strong with inner strength. Then I can say ‘I’ve got it.’”

Absolutely, that’s, the inner strength is what it’s all about, that you have—you have all those things already inside of you; you need to evoke them; you need to know how to get in touch with them. And that’s what knowing yourself is all about.

“If I know who I am on the inside, then forgiveness and joy never have to leave me. Everything else changes except who I truly am.” Absolutely. And especially in these circumstances, this is very true. “If I know who I am on the inside, then forgiveness and joy never have to leave me. Everything else changes except who truly I am.” That’s right.

Other things change, not you. And that’s why the un-changing. That’s why the un-changing.

“I would do anything for love. I looked for it everywhere but inside. Until we started looking within, we don’t know who we are.” Absolutely. Absolutely. You nailed that one.

“I grew up”—this is another one—“I grew up with horrible things happening to me, and I can’t forget. But it is my choice to forgive and to find out who I really am. I’m growing every day.” Yes, whatever happens.

Because this is what I talk about: “forgiveness.” What is forgiveness about? Forgiveness is not “accepting the other person’s actions”—or forgiving them. Forgiveness is you cutting the cords so that you can be free, so that you can go on. That’s what forgiveness is.

“Forgiveness is important. I am not doing it for the other person; I’m doing it for me.” Exactly; that’s what forgiveness is. You’re doing it for you, not for other people. So, it’s not about, “Oh, I will look, you know, great to the other people.” It’s really to cut those strings so that you can be free.

This is from Greece, (of all places), a women’s prison. “I was curious about the Peace Education Program and decided to check it out. At first, I could not understand. But with time, the program felt very necessary. And I learnt to love and understand myself. Because of this, I speak better and behave with respect toward other people around me.”

See, this is what I talk about—what the society wants you to do, they give you indoctrination to do that, but it doesn’t work out that way because if you don’t know yourself, it’s not going to work. But as soon as you start knowing yourself, you become much more whole; you become much more complete.

“Because of this I speak better and behave with respect toward other people around me. I have been positively influenced by this program and what I have learnt is now part of my everyday life.” Wonderful.

Another person saying, “Entering the prison’s doors a few days after losing my favorite family member, I said to myself, ‘Everything is finished.’ I wondered ‘Why her and not me?’ My peace was covered by the black veil of sadness and my soul was mourning. Something inside said, ‘Do something, my girl.’ That’s when I registered for the Peace Program.

“One day, I heard Prem say, ‘Humans live an average of 25,550 days.’ This is our time on earth. Then I realized that I still have time. He said not to be influenced by the worries, as long as the gift of breath is moving back and forth inside of me. I will persist, knowing peace is inside. I dream of a better tomorrow and try to remember that today is my reality.”

If you can know today—and know that today is your reality, tomorrow will be great, believe me. Because tomorrow, when that “tomorrow” comes, it’ll come as today—and what will you be busy doing? Looking at that tomorrow as “today,” in the reality that exists inside of you. That’s the way to do it.

“I attended the Peace Education Program and it has influenced me to do many good things in my life. I found peace deep inside. It might be a small seed but it is so beneficial. I can express it as love or as a hug because this is the way that it makes me feel inside. Every day I feel full from all I have been taught in this program and wish everyone could be influenced by peace.”

“Listening to Prem, I found peace inside of me. When I started to take care of the seed of peace, it started influencing my everyday life. I now wake up with joy and gratitude for everything. As I thirst for water, in the same way, I long for the feeling of peace.” Well, you know, what can I say? That’s, that’s the way to live. That’s the way to live.

This is from North Carolina, a women’s correctional facility. “The peace class was such an eye-opener. I really like learning about inner wealth and being content, no matter what the circumstances. Thank you.”

Another one, “Just listening to Prem gives me a sense of peace.” Thank you. And, “I learned from the Peace Education Program that I have peace inside and the power to make my own destiny.” Yes.

“Coming to the peace class is the best part of my day; it’s wonderful. During this time that our facility is on lockdown from the outside world, it is becoming especially evident how meaningful your service is to the women. This program, classes that you provide, are greatly missed during this time.” And that’s from the Correctional Program Supervisor.

So, I thought, you know, “Why not talk about that today with you,” because these expressions come and we don’t always get a chance to share that. So, I thought, you know, “Today, take a few moments and share that with you.”

These are people that, in a way, have been in lockdown, are in lockdown. And, you know, maybe soon this coronavirus thing will be over and we’ll be out and about, moving—but these people will still be in lockdown. And how important it is for them to feel peace.

So, I hope you feel peace. I hope you feel well. So, be well; be safe—but most importantly, be. Thank you.